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 II pt 1 > Part 45
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA
part in the battles of Richmond, Ky .. Perryville, Murfreesboro, siege of Vicksburg. Kenesaw Mountain and Baker's Creek. in the last two of which he was wounded in the head and thigh respectively. He surrend- ered with his company in 1565, on the hill opposite Columbus, where the last shot of the war was fired from one of the guns of his battery. Mr. Holland was married January 26, 1858. in Russell county. Ala., to Fannie M., daughter of Benjamin H. Baker, a union blessed with the birth of eight children. whose names are as follows: Lena, widow of John Howell; Mary, James C., Orlando M., Glenny B., Maude, Herbert S. and Daisy. Mr. Holland's father, J. C. Holland, was born in Hancock county, Ga., and when a young man located on the present site of Columbus, and became the first sheriff of Muscogee county. In early life he followed the blacksmith's trade, but later engaged in farming, which he carried on successfully until his death in 1853. His wife, whom he married Jan-, uary 1. 1-25, was Hettie Day, a native of east Tennessee. She bore her husband eight children, and died in 15-6, at the advanced age of eighty- four years. Of the family of eight children there are only three living at this time, namely: Emily G., wife of Thomas B. Gibson; J. S. and Hettie J., wife of J. M. Curran.
WILLIAM J. INGERSOLL .- The grandfather 'of this gentleman was really the discoverer of the electric telegraph system, now so generally in use throughout the civilized world. Dr. Stephen M. Ingersoll was born in Dutchess county, N. Y .. March 15, 1792, and was a self-educated youth, but so prepared himself that he was able to secure his degree of M. D. further along in life. He was a surgeon in the war of 1812, and for services thus rendered received a pension from the government. He came south early in the twenties and built the first house on the site of Col- umbus. Ga .; for a number of years he ran a ferry on the Chattahoochie river and also several saw mills. A man of much prominence in his neighborhood, he was selected by the government as one of the commis- sioners appointed to remove the Indians to the west side of the Mississippi river. A man of great mental strength. he was given to abstract specu- lation and to the investigation of the arcana of nature, and it is related of him that while traveling on a stage from Montgomery, Ala., to Columbus, Ga., in company with Prof. S. F. B. Morse, he descanted on the feasibility of electrical transmission of messages. Morse seized the idea, it is claimed, elaborated it and eventually produced the instrument which bears his name. The doctor lived until June 5. 1872, and doubtless had received many a many a message over the wires of a machine of which he had formed the first conception, but had not perfected. Dr. W. J. Ingersoll, son of Dr. Stephen M., was born in Jones county. Ga., and was reared in Lee county. Ala. : he was a graduate of the Philadelphia Medical college. and practiced his profession until his death, in 1851, at the early age of thirty years. William J. Ingersoll, whose name heads this sketch, is the son of Dr. W. J. and Marion (Thompson) Ingersoll, and
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was born February 6, 1849, on Ingersoll Hill. Lee county, Ala., and here he still has his residence. Mrs. Marion Ingersoll was born near Edin- burgh, Scotland, and is residing with her son. William J. She bore her husband four children, who were named William J., Stephen M. (deceased .. Josephine, wife of B. W. Edmunds, and Isabella, wife of John Baird. Mr. Ingersoll, since he has reached his majority, has given the greater part of his attention to planting and saw-milling, and is also heavily interested in real estate in Phonix City, and it was at his homestead, Ingersoll Hill, that the last battle of the late war in Alabama took place. Mr. Ingersoll was united in the bonds of matrimony October 18, 1874, with Miss Mollie L., daughter of J. R. Wynn of Talbot county, Ga., although the lady herself was born and reared in Russell county, Ala. Two children have blessed this union, viz. : Earnest L., now aged seventeen, and Mary Lucille, aged eleven years. The family occupy a high social position, being universally respected by their neighbors.
W. P. KENNON .- The Kennon family is one of the oldest families in Alabama, Dr. W. P. Kennon being one of the pioneer settlers of the state. The doctor was born in Jasper county, Ga., in 1813, but in early manhood went to Columbus, Ga., to study law under the famous Colquitt. He was never admitted to the bar. as he preferred the medical profession. Later on, his father's family moved to Dover, Ala., but the Indians becoming troublesome, they found it necessary to retrace their steps. The young doctor elect now laid aside his studies, and joined a company under Capt. Brown's command, fully determined to chastise the redskins, whose acts of violence and theft he deeply resented. He also took part in several battles in Florida, in one of which he had a hand-to-hand encounter with an Indian chief. He often spoke of his many exploits and narrow escapes during these troublesome times. In 1838, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Story. and for several years the pair resided in Oak Bowery. Ala., where the doctor again resumed the study of medi- cine under Dr. Tucker, a noted botanical physician. Di. Kennon also practiced medicine very successfully here for several years. In 1850, he moved his family to Wacooche Valley, where he resided on the river-side a number of years. Some time in 1861, another removal was made; this time the family settled in Salem, Lee county, Ala., where the doctor left them, and entered the Confederate army. He served as a physician for his company until 1864, when an attack of rheumatism compelled him to withdraw. In politics, . the doctor was an uncompromising demo - crat, and always took an active part in advancing the interests of his party. He was a gentleman of much ability, and for forty years his services as a physician were in demand by the afflicted, and his death, in 1885, cast a gloom over the whole community. His widow survived him a few years, only. Dr. W. P. Kennon and his wife had born to them twelve children. nine of whom they reared to maturity, viz. : Dixon (died in the Civil war) ; Warner P .. Jr. ; Robert: Frank: Mrs. Julia Dunn: Mrs.
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Louisa White (deceased) ; Mrs. Sam. Hill; Mrs. Emma Head, and Mrs .. Frank Hill. Warner P. Kennon, Jr., familiarly known to his friends as "Babe." was reared in his native county (Lee), and in 1870 entered the mercantile business on his own account, in Salem, Ala., and has. through strict attention to the wants of his customers and fidelity to their inter- ests. . met with more than ordinary success. He is also interested in agri- culture, and at present he and his partner. R. L. Kennon, run from sixty to sixty five plows. In 1892, he erected an ax and handle factory, and this enterprise has also proved a most successful one. In politics. Mr. Kennon, like his father, is a stanch democrat, and is considered one of the best party organizers in the state. He is a county commissioner by appointment, but it is a well established fact that he could win any office within the gift of his fellow-citizens, if he were to put himself in the field. Mr. Kennon's marriage took place in 1871, in Salem, to Miss Margaret Corcoran, a scion of the old Barnwell family, the result of the union being the following children: Mary, William (deceased), Frances (deceased), Stokes, Paul Duncan. Charles. Nellie and little Bernard. In religion. Mr. Kennon is a Methodist, but his wife belongs to the Catholic faith, and has probably imparted to her children a better knowledge of the scriptures and Christian doctrine than that possessed by children of a different faith. The Kennon family is of Scotch extraction, the Amer- ican branch originating in Virginia, where they can easily trace their ancestry back to the famous Pocahontas.
F. G. MCELHANEY. D. D. S .- This genial dentist, planter. and hotel- keeper of Auburn, Lee county, Ala., was born May 11, 1526. in Chester county, Penn .. to Samuel and Mary ( Cowan ) McElhaney. Samuel was also a native of Chester county, Penn., born about 1778. His ancestors were Scotchmen who settled in the north of Ireland. whence the branch that settled in Pennsylvania. The Cowan family were of Welsh origin. Samuel ard Mary McElhaney were married in or about the year 1-07. in Chester county, and had born to them a family of ten boys and five girls, of whom thirteen grew to maturity and five are still living. viz. : David S., of Martickville. Penn. : John, of Shiloh. La. : Dr. F. G., of Auburn. Ala. ; Elizabethi, wife of George W. Lines, of Lanark, Ill .. and Mrs. Mary J. Graham, of Pittsburgh. Penn. The father of this family died in 1858. in the Presbyterian faith, the mother having preceded him to the grave in 1857. F. G. M. Elhaney came south. where a brother had preceded him, about the year 1-43, and located in Harris county, Ga., where he attended school a short time, and at the age of eighteen was appointed postmaster of Ellerslie, Harris county. In 1848, he returned to the north and entered upon the study of dentistry under Dr. John M. Anderson, at Kennett Square, Penn .. and two years later came to the south again and for a year practiced his profession at Columbus, Ga. About this time his brother died, and the doctor returned to Ellerslie, where he remained. until 1858, when he came to Alabama and settled in Auburn. Lee county,
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and has here been in practice ever since. In addition to his profession the doctor is interested in farming, and owns a plantation of 600 acres, " four miles west of Auburn, and he also is proprietor of the fine hotel property in the village, in the conducting of which he is ably assisted by Mrs. McElhaney. The doctor was first married on the 3d of September, 1852, in Harrison county. Ga., to Amelia Frazer, whose three children were named Carey, a liveryman at Auborn. Ala. ; Hortense, single, and Mary, the deceased wife of Willian O. Trammell. Mrs. Amelia McElhaney died in 1884, and in December of 1886 the doctor won the heart and hand of his second wife. Mrs. Mary J. Carter, niece of his first spouse. To this union have been born no children.'The doctor is a democrat in politics and for forty years has been a master Mason. He is a deacon and local preacher in the Methodist church, and is everywhere respected .
as an upright citizen and genial gentleman.
THOMAS I. PENN, planter and merchant of Opelika, Lee county, Ala., is a native of Oglethorpe county, Ga., and was born September 12, 1831, a son of John T. and Elizabeth Penn. natives respectively of Virginia and Georgia. John T., a native of Patrick county, was born in 1774. was of English descent, and traced his family back to the founder of the " Keystone " state, William Penn. John T. Penn was a farmer and mer- chant by occupation. He was reared in Virginia. but emigrated to Ogle- thorpe county, Ga., when a young man, and there married Miss Wallen, about the year 1795. and ended his days in 1839-a Methodist in religious belief, and in politics a democrat. Mrs. Elizabeth Penn survived her husband until 1870. Her people were Georgians for several generations back of her own birth, and were an honored and respected family. She reared a family of seven children. named as follows: William, James and Henry C., all deceased: Thomas L., whose name opens this sketch. Eliza, Matilda. and Mary. Thomas L. Penn was reared in Oglethorpe county. Ga .. but at the age of twenty came to Alabama and located in Chambers county, where he began his business life by clerking for a firm at Cusseta, whom he succeeded in business three years later, in partnership with , another gentleman, under the firm name of Penn & Scott. They con- tinned together three years-at the end of which period Mr. Penn bought out Mr. Scott's interest and continued in business on his own account. until the outbreak of the war. At the close of the war. he resumed mer- . cantile trade. and carried it on extensively for a number of years, but became gradually interested in farming, and now has a plantation of about 3,600 acres, near Cusseta. and still conducts a plantation store. From 1885 to 1591. also. he was the senior member of the wholesale firm of Penn & Co., of Opelika, the junior member of the firm being his son-in-law, H. B. T. Montgomery. Mr. Penn has always been a safe business man and has profitably invested the wealth that industry and business talent have brought him, being now the owner of considerable !
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business property in Atlanta. Ga., and Opelika, beside bank stock. Mr_ Penn -was married December 26, 1861. at Cusseta, to Miss Enoree W. Penn, a distant relative, who bore hin two children, viz. : Jimmie Lulu,. who was married to H. B. T. Montgomery, but was snatched away by death October 5, 1887: the second child, Walton T., reached his twenty years of life, when he, too, was taken away from his heart-broken parents by typhoid fever September 16, 1985, having graduated only the June previous from Auburn Agricultural and Mechanical college, and having gone into business with Mr. Montgomery. with the anticipation of a long and useful career. The loss of their two children was a most severe stroke to the parents, and the effects of the blow will never be healed. The two bright little boys (Penn and Louis Walton) left by Mrs. Mont- · gomery, are being reared by Mr. and Mrs. Penn, who have a delightful home, which the grandchildren materially brighten by their presence. Mr. Penn was patriotic as a native of the south, and in 1962, entered company G, Thirty-seventh Alabama infantry, which was mustered into service just after the battle of Corinth. but his health broke entirely down and he was compelled to resign. Mr. Penn is a democrat in his politics, and a member of the Methodist church.
WILLIAM C. Ross .- This flourishing and old-time planter of Lee county, Ala., was born in Troup county, Ga .. February 2, 1829, son of Isaac and Narcissa (Sledge) Ross. Isaac Ross, the father, was a native of South Carolina, born near Columbia, about the year 1797, but at the age of fifteen was brought to Alabama with his parents. and their family, who settled near Fort Decatur, having made the trip in the primitive style of wagons known as the "hogshead," hauled by cows. Here in the wilds he was reared, enduring the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and here, in 1827, he married Miss Sledge, shortly after which event, owing to the unhealthy climate of the neighborhood, he moved to Troup county, Ga., locating within a mile of LaGrange, where he kept his residence from 1828 to 1834. In the latter year he came to Chambers county, Ala., and settled on a plantation, now owned by his son, Will- iam C. The Indian troubles, which arose soon after, compelled the family to return to Troup county, Ga., but when the trouble had been quieted down, the family returned to the Alabama plantation and resided on it until their children became of school age, when they moved to Oak Bowery, several miles north. to avail themselves of the advantages offered by the schools at that point. In 1853. Isaac Ross moved with his family to Elmore county, Ala., and built a fine residence near Tallassee, in which he passed the remainder of his days, his death occurring in 1865, and that of his widow in 1565. Mr. Ross had been a member of the state militia and saw some service during the Indian war. In politics he was an old-line whig, but never held office, although frequently besought by his fellow-citizens to accept positions of honor and trust. He was an anstere moralist, but not a member of any religions denomination; he
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was honest to the core, and there was never & slur cast on his good name. A man of energy, industry and business tact, he had accumulated a fine estate before the outbreak of the war, but having great faith in the Confederate government, he bought its bonds in large numbers, which, of course, were never redeemed; but still he did not die an impor- erished man. To him and wife were born cleven children, of whom eight still survive, viz. : William C., Clara. now Mrs. A. A. Barton. of Texas; Helen, wife of Thomas Glenn. of Auburn. Ala. ; Parthenia, married to J. J. Abercrombie, of Opelika, Ala. ; Ella W .. now Mrs. Thomas L. Frazer, of Opelika: Isaac. a dairy farmer near Opelika; Walter. a life insurance agent: and Wiley. manager of an alliance store, both of Ope- lika. William C. Ross received his preparatory education at a Catholic school near Lebanon, Ky., and latter attended the college at Harrisburg. Ky.,`which he quit when a junior. He has ever since followed agricul- ture as a vocation, and before the recent war was one of the heaviest producers in the south, raising from 1,000 to 1,500 bales of cotton annually ; at present he owns and cultivates about 3.000 acres of land. In 1854, Mr. Ross married, in Portsmouth, Va., Miss Sarah F. Toomer, and his domestic felicity has been increased by the birth of eight children, the following six being still living to comfort the waning years of their parents: James T., Clara E .. Alice, Mary. Willia, wife of Osceola Kyle, lawyer, of Decatur, Ala., and William C., Jr. In politics Mr. Ross is a democrat, as will be seen. The Ross family is one of the oldest-settled in this section, and none is more highly respected.
.JOHN SUMMERSGILL, the popular and efficient "boss" of a department in the Eagle and Phoenix cotton factory of Georgia. at Phoenix City, Lee county, Ala., was born July 27, 1852, in Columbus, Ga., and is a son of Thomas and Mary' (McCallister) Sammersgill. Thomas was a native of Manchester, England, and in early life followed the sea. At about the age of twenty-three. being then the mate of a merchantman, he withdrew from the vessel at Pensacola, Fla .. and found his way to Columbus, Ga., about the year 1850. He there found' employment in the Eagle cotton mill as foreman of the carding-room, and held the position until the destruction of the mill by fire in 1865, when he went to Cedar Shoals, Ga., and had charge of a cotton mill until his death, on the 8th of August, in the year named. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Mary Summersgill was born in South Carolina. is of Scotch- Irish descent. and was married in 1850 to Mr. Summersgill, to whom she bore a family of four boys and one girl, named as follows: John, whose name stands at the head of this sketch: James, mayor of Phoenix City, Ala. ; Henry, a resident of Phoenix City; Edward, who died at the age of six years; Emma. wife of John T. Abner, superintendent of the Swift cotton mill at Columbus, Ga., and Thomas, now of Phoenix City. After a widowhood of a few years Mrs. Summersgill was married to W. R. Martin, but is now again a widow and resides with her daughter, Emma.
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At the age of fifteen years, John Summersgill entered upon an appren- ticeship of four years at the molder's trade with Porter & Tell, of Colum- bus. Ga., and at the expiration of his term entered the employ of the Eagle and Phoenix Cotton-mill company, with whom he has ever since held various positions of responsibility. being now in charge of the baller department. He has always been a favorite with employers, as well as with the general public. Three times has he been elected mayor of his adopted city by the democrats, and he also holds a commission as a notary public. He has passed all the chairs in his lodge as Odd Fellow, of which order he has been a member many years. The marriage of Mr. Summers- gill was solemnized September 13, 1574, to Miss Dona. daughter of Clinton and Effie Dickens. This lady was born and reared in Alabama, is a devout member of the Baptist church, and is now the happy mother of five chil- dren, viz .: Henry, Ina May, Clinton, Katie Belle, and a babe not yet named. The family stands high in the esteem of the community in which they live, and certainly by the example furnished by Mr. Summersgill is worthy the emulation of the rising generation, as he has lifted himself, through his industry and integrity, from the condition of a humble mill hand to that of a man of wealth and prominence.
R. J. TRAMMELL. a prosperous planter of Lee county, Ala., was born July 23, 1836. in Meriwether county. Ga. His father. Elisha Trammell. was a native of Clarke county, Ga .. was born in 1802. and when twenty years of age moved to Harris county. and thence to Meriwether county. where, in 1832. he married Miss Mary C. Dunlap. which union resulted in the birth of eight children, viz. : Dr. J. D .. of Escambia county. Ala. ; R. J., of Lee county: John R., deceased: Harrison, who died of small-pox while in the Confederate army at Richmond. Va .: Mary C., wife of D. C. Shutze, of Columbus, Ga .; S. S .. wife of Louis Schluessler, a merchant of LaFayette, Ala .: James D. deceased, and D. W., deceased. In 1860 Mr. Trammell moved to Columbus county. Ala .. where he engaged in plant- ing and milling. and lately erected. as one of the. principal stockholders, a cotton factory or the Chattochoochie river. below West Point. He was a gentleman of energy and ability. and a deacon in the Baptist church for many years, and died in 1586. The Dunlaps are of Irish extraction, but long residents of America, Joseph Danlap. the grandfather of Mrs. Mary C. Trammell, having been born in Georgia. and having died in Meriwether county in 1858, outliving his granddaughter. Mrs Trammell, who passed away in 1852. R. J. Trammell. in 1856, began farming ou his own account. in conjunction with milling. and was quite prosperous until 1861, when he enlisted in the first company of volunteers that left his county-the Eckles Guards, which were attached to the Eighth Geor- gia infantry, and designated company D-in which company he was raised from the ranks to the position of first lieutenant. He took part in the first battle of Minassas, the seven days fight around Richmond, the second Manassas battle, and the battle of Sharpsburg. After this last
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named figlit he was seized with a violent attack of confluent small-pox, which invalided him for nearly a year. and prevented him from further . performing duty as a soldier. On his recovery he engaged in milling, planting and manufacturing, but is now engaged in planting only, having a plantation of about 3.000 acres. At LaGrange, Ga., in 1871, Mr. Tram- mell was joined in matrimony with Miss Nannie Stephens. who died in 1887, the mother of three children, viz .: Robert J .. aged twenty years; Mary Fannie, eighteen, and Harrison fifteen years old. Mr. Trammell is a democrat, a master Mason and a Knight of Pythias. holding the respect and confidence of all who know him.
THOMAS F. WILLIAMSON. a leading merchant of Opelika. Lee county, Ala., was born in Lowndes county, Ala., January 12, 1841. His father. Thomas J. Williamson. was a native of North Carolina. but, when a child, was taken by his parents to Troup county, Ga., where he grew to manhood, and where. in 1837, he married Miss Martha C. Bailey. a native of Tennessee, who, when a girl, was taken to Troup county by an elder brother. To the union of Thomas J. Williamson and wife, were born seven children, in the following order: John E .. Thomas F., whose name heads this paragraph; Mary E., widow of John S. Aycock, Waverly, Ala. ; Carrie C., wife of James R. Greene, Waverly; Charles R., a Methodist minister, now stationed at Mount Meigs, Ala .; Sarah E., wife of John W. Allen, Gold Hill. Ala., and Samuel Parks. Some years after his marriage, Thomas J. Williamson moved from Troup county, Ga., to Lowndes county. Ala., and several years later to Chambers county, thence. in 1882, to Opelika. where he now resides, having lost his wife in 1880. In his earlier years Mr. Williamson was a Methodist preacher, but afterward became a merchant. Thomas F. Williamson, with whom this sketch has most to do. enlisted, in 1862. in company D. Thirty- seventh Alabama regiment, and in a very short time was promoted to be a sergeant. and, in 1864. was appointed orderly-sergeant. He fought at Iuka. Corinth. Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain. Missionary Ridge. and in the Atlanta campaign: was then ordered to Mobile. and thence to North Carolina. where he surrendered. At the conclusion of the war he settled in Opelika, and has here been engaged as a merchant ever since. now carrying a stock worth $6.000, and doing an annual business of $16.000 to 820,000, and is recognized as a careful and upright dealer, and as thoroughly responsible financially. In 1859 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen of Opelika, and was re-elected in 1591. His mar- riage took place at Opelika. in 1868. to Miss Lavonia Frederick, who has presented him with nine children. of whom eight, still living. are named as follows: Carrie L., wife of J. M. Scott, of Lee county: Annie E ..
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