USA > Alabama > Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. Volume I > Part 99
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ceiving a fair literary education at Dallas academy. As his father died when he was but little over three years of age, and at a period when the ravages of war had left his widowed mother with five small children and almost without means, he learned to work at an early age, and began his business career at twelve as a newspaper carrier for the Selma Evening Echo, which paper lasted only a few months; being thrown out of em- ployment, he decided to go in business on his own account in a small way as a newsdealer, and continued in that line for two years, during which time he attended school between the hours of 9 A. M. and 2 P. M., and pushed his business in the early mornings, afternoons and Saturdays. Having a desire to learn the book and stationery business, he entered the store of William G. Boyd as errand boy in 1877, and by close attention to business he was advanced until he became head salesman. He was with Mr. Boyd for over two years, when, on account of ill health caused by hard study and overwork, he was out of the store about eighteen months, but at the end of that time resumed his former position with Mr. Boyd, and remained with him up to his death in 1881. He was then for five years with Robert S. Wetmore, Mr. Boyd's successor in the same busi- ness. In 1886 Mr. Butler and Edward S. Gatchell formed a co-partnership and established themselves under the firm name of Butler & Gatchell, for the purpose of carrying on a general book and stationery business at 914 Broad street, where they remained for two years, but as their business had increased so that they outgrew their original quarters, they removed to the W. G. Boyd three-story brick building, it being the same place where Mr. Butler had spent eight years in learning and mastering his profession. He and Mr. Gatchell now have one of the handsomest stocks in Alabama, and from a small beginning, with only two clerks, they now give employment to a force of eight, and do a magnificent wholesale and retail business in their own and adjoining states. In 1888 they opened a branch house at Marion, Ala. (a small college town of about 2,000 inhabitants), but after running it about a year they had the misfortune to lose their stock by a disastrous fire which devastated one of the principal blocks of the town, so they decided to employ their entire capital in Selma, and at this writing (1892) are doing a safe and lucrative business. In 1888 (November 28), Mr. Butler married Miss Annie Hubbard, of Montgomery, Ala., and their union is blessed with one child, who is now a dainty little miss of sixteen months, but little Mamie bids fair to become in Selma what her mother was in Montgomery-a beautiful woman and loved by all who knew her. Mr. Butler is a charter member of the Alabama Booksellers' association, also a deacon in the Christian church, recording secretary of the Alabama Christian missionary convention, and superintendent of the Sunday school. He has held various positions in. the Y. M. C. A., being a director for five years and vice-president of the association in 1890. He is a member of the subordinate lodge, Central, No. 18, and the encampment No. 16, of the Independent Order of Odd
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Fellows, and is honorary member of a number of church and college societies. In closing this sketch we wish to say that Mr. Butler does not claim to be a "self-made man," but attributes all honor to his beloved and aged mother, who, by her teaching and example, sacrifices and · prayers, has made him what he is.
DARBY M. CALLAWAY, A. M., one of the most prominent educators of the state of Alabama, was born at Macon, Miss., January 4, 1847. His father was the Rev. Christopher C. Callaway, a man whose name is famil- iar to all who know anything of the history of education in the state of Alabama, or the history of Methodism within the same territory. Rev. Christopher C. Callaway was born in Lincoln county, Tenn., in 1822, and was taken in early life by his parents. who were of English ancestry, to Mississippi, where he grew to manhood. And here, in the pioneer days of Mississippi, he was deprived of the advantages of good schools, by which cause his early education was neglected, yet, being a man of strong intellect, he acquired much learning in after life without the aid of educa- tional institutions. When quite a young man, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and to the cause of religion he devoted the rest of his life, a life of great energy and usefulness. He married Emmerine 'Denton, of Mississippi, by whom he had nine children, one of whom is the subject of this sketch. When he was quite young, his parents moved to Greensboro, Ala., and here for years his father con- tinued in the active work of the ministry, devoting considerable time to the cause of education. Rev. Christopher C. Callaway was one of the princi- pal movers in the establishment of the Southern university of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, south, at Greensboro, Ala. With him originated the idea of the university, and for several years he labored with much zeal and energy in collecting from planters and others the funds neces- sary to place the institution on a sound basis. This institution of learn- ing was incorporated in January, 1856. It is the most important educa- tional establishment in the state of Alabama, and it has for many years been a popular and prosperous university. The distinguished and useful career of Rev. Christopher C. Callaway was suddenly cut short by death in 1867, when he was but forty-five years old, in the prime of life. In this year his son, D. M. Callaway, the subject of this sketch, graduated from the Southern university, having stood high in his classes and stand- ing high in the institution, which has since conferred upon him the degree of master of arts. Professor Callaway has since then devoted his entire life and most of his energies to the education of youth, and many of his pupils are scattered throughout the south, successful professional and business men. He began teaching immediately after leaving the univer- sity, at first conducting a private school at Marion for one year. He then, in 1868, removed to Selma, which city has since been the scene of his labors. For the first two years, after coming to Selma, he was a member of the faculty of Dallas academy, but since then he has conducted
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a private school, gaining high reputation as a scholar and as an educator. He is also a writer of more than ordinary ability, and has frequently con- tributed valuable articles to the daily papers of Selma and other places, and has delivered interesting talks in nearly every college in Alabama. He has not sought public notoriety or office, being content with the life of a teacher and of a respected private citizen. For a brief period he served the Confederate cause as a private soldier in Dan Adam's escort company, enlisting in 1864, and serving through the rest of the war. In the arena of politics, Professor Callaway has played the part of a worker on committees and as a delegate to conventions. not that of an office holder or office seeker. He is a democrat in politics, a master Mason, a member of the order of Elks, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. In 1979, he married Mrs. H. H. Nance, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Professor Callaway is one of the most highly respected citizens of the county, as well as one of the best educators of the state.
M. CANNING was born in county Galway, Ireland, February 18, 1834. He was reared and educated in Ireland and there learned the carriage- makers' trade. He left that country in 1852 and, landing in Mobile, Ala., proceeded to Summerfield, Dallas county, which place he reached in 1853 and resided there twenty years. Upon arriving at Summerfield he had but $3.50, and with this he began his career as a business man, which has been characterized by success. He was soon operating a carriage and wagon factory at Summerfield, at which location he continued until his removal to Selma in 1875. During the early part of the Civil war he as- sisted a Mr. Hopkins at Summerfield in raising a company of artillery, which proceeded to Montgomery, where it was learned that Mr. Canning was an excellent shop-man and mechanic and he was detailed to return to his place of business at Summerfield, where for the next four years he was engaged in manufacturing artillery hames for the Confederate gov- ernment. At the close of the war, Mr. Canning found himself a poor man, but he at once resumed his old trade. He remained at Summerfield till 1875, when he removed to Selma, and engaged in similar business. He at first worked under the firm name of Canning & Co., which was subse- quently changed to Canning & Gill, then to "Canning & Son." A year ago it was converted into a stock dompany under the name of The Canning Mannfacturing company. More than forty years Mr. Canning has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and has been an elder. In 1861 he married Miss Sallie Dallas, of Dallas county. and to this union. has been born one son, Turner, associated with his father in business. Pat- rick and Margaret (O'Brien) Canning were the parents of Mr. Canning. They were natives of Ireland, where they lived and died.
REV. RUSSELL CECIL, D.D., pastor in charge of the First Presbyterian church of Selma, was born in Mercer county, Ky., October 1, 1853. His early life was spent in his native state. He attended Princeton college,
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N. J., in 1874, and in 1878 graduated from the Princeton Theological seminary. During the years of 1878 and 1879 he visited Europe and Palestine, returning to his home in Kentucky in the summer of 1879. In the fall of the same year he took charge of the Presbyterian church at Nicholsville, Ky., remaining in charge for six years. His next pastorate was that of Central Presbyterian church at Mainsville, Ky., where he remained till the fall of 1889, when he took charge of the First Presby- terian church at Selma, Ala. January 19, 1881, Rev. Cecil wedded Miss Alma Miller, of Richmond, Va .; four children blessed their household. Rev. Cecil is an able and learned man, a sincere and devout Christian, a most excellent gentleman, and a well beloved pastor.
HON. JORDAN CHAPPELL COMPTON .- This distinguished attorney-at- law, of Selma, and the president of the senate of Alabama, was born in Jackson, Butts county. Ga., and is the eldest son of Pleasant M. and Lydia R. (Devereaux) Compton. His parents descended from among the oldest colonial families of Virginia. His mother is a descendant from the well-known Harrison family of that state. The Comptons came from England. Three brothers of them, after the revolution in England, which resulted in the beheading of Charles I., settled in Maryland. They had been loyal to the king. Two of these brothers afterward re- moved to Virginia, and their descendants have removed thence to Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and other southern states. * Jordan Compton, the paternal grandfather of J. C. Compton, was the son of John and Anne (Cross) Compton, of Dinwiddie county, Va., and after marrying Susan Chappell, a daughter of Philip and Sarah (Dickie) Chappell, of Halifax county, Va., removed and settled in 1807 at Monti- cello, Ga. In the war with Great Britain, in 1812, he commanded a company of horse on the coast of Georgia, near Darien. died at the age of eighty-two years, and was a very successful planter. Pleasant M. Compton, son of Jordan and Susan (Chappell) Compton, and the father of J. C. Compton, while representing Butts county in the Georgia legislature, as a whig, was elected by the legislature surveyor general of the state, which important office he held for ten years. He died on the 19th of March, 1890, in the eightieth year of his age at Mill- edgeville, Ga., where he had been a very prominent and wealthy business man for many years. Jordan Chappell Compton was educated at Ogle- thorpe university, in Georgia, and at the Mathematical and Classical school of Benjamin Hallowell &. Sons, in Alexandria, Va., the celebrated Quaker school, and one of the best known schools in the United States at that time. While engaged in the study of law he enlisted as a private in company H, Fourth regiment Georgia volunteers, and served with that regiment at Norfolk, and at Richmond, Va., until after the series of battles at the latter place in 1862, when he was commissioned in the pro- visional army of the Confederate States, and ordered to Gen. Bragg's
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army in Tennessee; there he was attached to the staff of Maj .- Gen. Henry Heth, and served on that general's staff in Bragg's Kentucky campaign. Afterward, he accompanied Gen. Stevenson's division to Vicksburg, Miss., and in January, 1863, he was one of three chosen by an examining board, from many applicants, for service as an artillery and ordnance officer. During the siege of Vicksburg by Gen. Grant's army, he was in personal charge of the ordnance depot of the besieged army, a place of great responsibility and peril; after the capitulation of that army, and his exchange, he was placed on duty with Gen. John- ston's army at Meridian, Miss .; from thence he was ordered by the sec- retary of war at Richmond, Va., to the Selma arsenal as second officer in command under Col. James L. White. This arsenal was probably the largest in the Confederate States. He participated in all the battles in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, in which his respective commands were engaged, and surrendered with the Confederate forces at Meridian, Miss., in 1865. He married in Selma, Ala., in 1865, Miss Ada Norris, the eldest daughter of Mr. William J. Norris, the president of the Commercial bank of Alabama at that place, and made Selma his home. He was admitted to the bar of the state, by the supreme court, in June, 1869, and has been actively engaged in his profession since that time. He is an active member of the democratic party, and has served as chairman of its county and congressional committees in notable cam- paigns. In 1884, he was a delegate from the fourth congressional dis- trict of Alabama to the national democratic convention at Chicago, which nominated President Grover Cleveland. In 1886, he was, by accla- mation, nominated for state senator, and was elected without opposition. He served in the senate in the session of 1886-7 as chairman of the com- . mittee on local legislation, and was a member of the judiciary committee; during the session of 1888-9 he served as chairman of the judiciary com- mittee. In 1890 he was re-elected to the senate, and during the session of 1890-1 he again served as chairman of the judiciary committee. At the session of 1891-2 he was unanimously elected president of the Ala- bama senate, which position he now holds. Maj. Compton is a fine type of the educated gentleman, with genial manners and cultivated tastes. As a lawyer he stands high in his profession, and has an extensive and lucrative practice. As a member of the Alabama senate he has made a distinguished record. He is not given to much speaking in that body, but when he takes the floor he is listened to with marked attention, and is effective and convincing. He has exerted great influence in securing wise legislation. As a citizen he is greatly beloved and respected in the community where he resides, and is always in hearty sympathy with all movements looking to the advancement of his city and state.
HON. GEORGE H. CRAIG .- This young and brilliant attorney-at-law of Selma, was born in Cahaba, Dallas county, Ala., December 25, 1845, and is a son of James D. and Elvira S. (Berry) Craig, natives of South Caro-
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lina and Mississippi, and of Scotch-Irish and Welsh descent, respectively. James D. Craig was a lawyer by profession. He served as clerk of the circuit court of Dallas county, when a young man, and subsequently returned to his practice in Selma, which he followed until 1874, when he went to San Francisco, Cal., where he died in 1882, at the age of eighty- three years, filling, at the time of his death, the office of master and examiner in chancery. George H. Craig had been for two years a student of the university of Alabama, when the Civil war came on. He was then sixteen years of age, but he at once became a volunteer in a ninety-day regiment of Alabama infantry. commanded by Hon. William E. Byrd. He remained with his regiment, however, for eight months, the last two of which he held the rank of commissary sergeant. To prevent his re- entering the army, young Craig was sent by his father to the university of Alabama, where he was incarcerated, at it were, from 1863 to June, 1864, when he was mustered into the cadet corps of Selma, of which, a month later, he was made orderly sergeant. The cadets served as a part of the state troops at Pollard, Ala., then on the gulf coast at and near Blakely, Ga., and in the fall were ordered back to the college at Tusca- loosa; in December, 1864, they were garrisoned at Mobile, Mr. Craig hav- ing risen to the rank of first lieutenant. Again they were ordered back to Tuscaloosa, and during the attack on that city by the Federals, Lieut. Craig had command of one skirmishing wing. On the dis- bandment of the cadets, Lieut. Craig joined Gen. John T. Morgan's escort, and surrendered with him at Meridian, Miss. After the war had closed Mr. Craig settled in Selma and studied law, under private tutors, was admitted to the bar in December, 1867, and began practice as a member of the law firm of White, Portis & Craig, the style being sub- sequently changed to that of White & Craig. One year later, at the age of twenty-three, Mr. Craig was appointed, by the governor, sheriff of Dallas county, and held the office twelve months. The following year, 1869, he was elected judge of the criminal court of Dallas county, by the republican party, filled the office four and one-half years, and then resigned, to accept the gubernatorial appointment as judge of the first judicial circuit of Alabama. The following November his party elected him to succeed himself for a term of six years. At the expiration of his term he was re-nominated, but declined to make a second race, preferring to return to private practice. In 1882 he was nominated by the republicans as their candidate for congress from the fourth district of Alabama, and was elected by 12,000 majority; but his seat was contested, and it was not until after a fight of two years' duration that he was permitted to take his place in the forty-eighth congress. In 1884 he was re-elected by the same large majority, but he claims was counted out. March 1, 1885, he was appointed, by President Arthur, United States district attorney for northern and middle Alabama, held the position till July of this same year, and was then displaced by the Cleveland administration. From that
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time until the present he has devoted himself to law practice, and has enjoyed a most prosperous business as senior of the firm of Craig & Craig. Mr. Craig was united in . matrimony, April 8, 1868, with Miss Alvira White, daughter of ex-judge John White, of the circuit court, and niece of ex-Congressman Alexander White of Alabama.
GEORGE A. CUNNINGHAM, of the firm of Cunningham & Blakey, phar- macists at Selma, of which city he is a native, was born March 23, 1863. His father, Thomas Mosby Cunningham, who was a native of Marengo county, died a few years ago at Selma, where for many years he was en- gaged in the drug business. He began the life of a druggist at an early age as a clerk in a drug store in Dayton, Marengo county. He subse quently became proprietor of the same drug store and conducted it as proprietor until a short time before the war. He then came to Selma and established himself here in the same business. However, Wilson's famous raid toward the latter part of the war reduced him to poverty, his place of business and stock of goods being entirely destroyed. After the war he managed to resume his drug business, and continued it with success up to the time of his death. His widow and family still reside in Selma, highly respected by all. George A. Cunningham was reared and educated in Selma, but after the death of his father, with whom he be- came a drug clerk at the age of twelve or thirteen years, found himself under the necessity of earning his own support, and became a clerk in a drug store at Selma, thus defraying the expense of a six months' term at school in a private academy at Selma. By this means he succeeded in securing a fair literary education. For the first two years after his father's death he was a drug clerk for different firms at Selma, and then for nine years he was clerk for Cawthon & Coleman at Selma. He then completed a course in pharmacy at the Philadelphia college of pharmacy, and traveled for one year for the Peaslee Gaulbert Co., a wholesale drug firm of Louisville, Ky., through Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and a part of Florida. On July 1, 1891, he became associated with R. O. Blakey, the firm name being Cunningham & Blakey. They purchased the drug establishment owned by O. B. Heidt & Bro., and since that time have enjoyed a large and steadily increasing trade, both wholesale and retail. Mr. Cunningham is a young man, energetic, self-made and of high character. He is a. Mason of the Selma Fraternal lodge, No. 27, is an Odd Fellow and a. member of the Episcopal church.
R. J. DAVIDSON, merchant of Selma, Ala., was born in Orange county, N. Y., in 1829. He received a common school education in his native county, and in 1845 went to New York city to learn the trade of a house painter. He came south in 1849, lived in Louisiana one year, and moved to Selma in 1850. Here he followed his trade until the commencement. of the war, accumulating considerable property, chiefly in negroes. He enlisted in 1861 as a member of company C, Thirty-sixth Alabama infantry under Colonel L. T. Woodruff of Mobile, and served in the army of Ten-
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Very Truly your N. H. R. OQueson
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nessee under Gens. Bragg and Johnston. He was slightly wounded at Rocky Face Ridge, and was captured at the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. He was then taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he remained a prisoner until the final surrender of the Confederate armies. He then returned to Selma, and has been merchandising here ever since. He has been chief of the fire department, and has served two terms as mayor of the city of Selma. In 1854 he married Miss Clara Elizabeth Berg, then of Selma, but a native of Mobile. They have nine children, six sons and three daughters, and the family is of the Presbyterian faith. Mr. Davidson is practical business man, has a good standing as a merchant, and is gener- ally well respected.
N. H. R. DAWSON .- This gentleman is the eldest son of Lawrence E. and Mary Wilkinson (Rhodes) Dawson. and was born in Charleston, S. C., February 14, 1829, and now resides at Selma, Ala. His father was born in Charleston, December 9, 1799, and was the son of John Dawson, Jr., and Mary Huger. John Dawson, Jr., was the eldest son of John Dawson and Joanna Broughton Monck. John Dawson was a native of Westmoreland, England, and was born April 14, 1735, and emi- grated to the colony of South Carolina when quite a young man, and settled in Charleston, where he became a successful and wealthy merchant. He was a member of the South Carolina convention of May, 1788, which adopted the Federal constitution of the United States. His sons-in-law, Col. John Glaze and Capt. William Postell, were delegates to the same convention. He married October 9, 1760, Joanna Broughton Monck, the only daughter of Col. Thomas Monck, and granddaughter of Col. Thomas Broughton, who was governor of the colony of South Carolina from May, 1735, to his death in 1738. His wife was Anne Johnson, the only daughter of Gen. Nathaniel Johnson, who was a distinguished soldier and a member of the British house of commons; governor of the Leeward Islands in' 1689, and afterward governor of South Carolina from 1703 to 1709. He died in 1713, leaving one son, Robert Johnson, who was the last gover- nor of the colony under the proprietary government. John Dawson and his wife, Joanna Monck, lived to old age, and died in Charleston, he on May 7, 1812, and she on October 9, 1819, leaving three sons and one daughter surviving them. Their descendants are found in South Caro- lina, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas. John Dawson, Jr., was born in Charleston, July 8, 1765, and was a prominent merchant and citizen of his native city. He was intendant of Charleston for three successive years, from September, 1806, to September, 1809. His wife, Mary Huger, was a daughter of John Huger and Charlotte Motte, who were descended from Daniel Huger and Jacob Motte, who were among the Huguenot immigrants who canie to South Carolina from France, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1786. John Huger filled many positions of honor in society, was a member of the council of safety during the Revolution, and intendent of Charleston in 1792, and a
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