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 49
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removed to La Place, Macon county, Ala., where he taught school for five years. In 1846 he commenced reading medicine under Dr. Burr Johnston, of Macon county, Ala .. and subsequently removed to Lowndes- boro and read medicine with Dr. H. V. Wooten, and in 1848 graduated from the university of Louisiana, now the Tulane university at New Orleans, and in the same year located at Sandy Ridge. in Lowndes county. At the end of one year, his former preceptor, Dr. Wooten. ten- dered him a co-partnership in the practice of his profession at Lowndes- boro, which he accepted and returned there. This co-partnership con-
tinued until Dr. Wooten removed to Memphis, Tenn .. and accepted the chair of professor of principles and practice of medicine in the Memphis Medical college, and Dr. Cilley has practiced at Lowndesboro ever since, with success. He thus has practiced in this county for nearly half a cen- tury, and is, perhaps, the oldest practitioner in the county. He has for' many years held the office of censor in the Lowndes county Medical society, and was formerly a counselor in the state Medical association. He was married April 21, 1831. to Miss Caroline Sarah Saffold, daughter of Judge Reuben Saffold, of Dallas county, one of the pioneer citizens of Alabama, and one of the first supreme justices of this state. He was an able lawyer, and died near Pleasant Hill, Dallas county, where Mrs. Cilley was born. She was educated in the Judson institute at Marion, and married at her sister's, Mrs. Bolings, in Hayneville, Ala., and died June 17, 1856, and was the mother of three children, viz. : Mary B., who died in 1855; Philip Noble, died in 1857. and Sarah Cavis, who still sur- vives. On April 14, 1859, Dr. Cilley married Sarah Kast, daughter of James K. Whitman, of Lowndesboro, Ala, who was born in Halifax county, Va., in 1813, and when young went to Tennessee, and when about twenty-one years old removed to Lowndesboro, where he married Mary Brown McCall, and lived there the rest of his life. He was a mer- chant and a planter, and died in 1880. Mrs. Whitman was born in Cam- den, S. C., in 1818, and died in 1874. Mrs. Cilley was born in Lowndes- boro, educated at her home school. and is the mother of two children, viz .: Elizabeth Louise, wife of T. W. Howard, and Rosa Bibb, wife of Rev. R. M. Hunter, a Baptist minister of Jasper, Walker county, Ala. Dr. Cilley has been engaged in planting for some years. In 1886 and 1887 he was a member of the state legislature, served on the committees on temperance. education and public buildings. He has always been active in public affairs, and has always taken part in the advancement of the public interests. He was a member of Acacia lodge, No. 72, F. & A. M., and has taken both the chapter and council degrees. He is a member of the Sons of Temperance, and of the I. O. G. T. He was the author of the law to prohibit the sale of intoxicants in Lowndes county.
. He has always been a very zealous temperance worker, is a deacon of the Missionary Baptist church, and he is an active worker in, and is super- intendent of, the Sunday school. Dr. Cilley's first wife was a member.
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and his present wife and two of his daughters, are members of the Bap -. tist church, while another daughter, Miss Cavis, is a Presbyterian. All are zealous workers for the cause of religion. Dr. Cilley was not subject to military service during the war of the rebellion, but whenever he could hear of any of the army boys in distress, he spared no pains nor expense in ministering to their wants and necessities.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM N. CLEMENTS. general merchant, ginner, planter, etc., of Fort Deposit, was born in Orange county, N. C., in 1838. He is a son of Capt. Payton C. and Angeline (Rencher) Clements. the former of whom was born in Wake county, N. C .. in 1805. and the latter in Orange county, same state, in 1822. They were married in 1836, and in 1838 came to Alabama, settling in Greene county when the country was a wilderness. They spent their lives in that country, and died in 1870, within a few days of each other. He was a farmer by occupation, energetic, industrious and self made. He was a captain of the state militia some years. He was the youngest of seven sons born to William Clements, a native of Scotland, reared and married in his native country, and came to America prior to the Revolutionary war. He and two brothers served in that war on the side of the colonies, and afterward settled in North Carolina, William Clements dying when Capt. Payton C. Clements was a boy. His profession was that of a civil engineer, and he was employed by the government of that state. Nelson Rencher, father of Mrs. Angeline Clements, died in Greene county. Ala., when Capt. William N. Clements was a boy, and his wife died in Lowndes county at the age of eighty-eight. Capt. Clements was the eldest of a family of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters. Three of the sons were in the late war. viz .: Wiley H., who was in the Forty-fifth Alabama infantry all through the war, and died in 1874: Quincey E., who was in the same command with his brother, and died in 1877. Both were wounded in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and William N., who began life for himself at the age of nineteen, as a clerk at Forkland, Greene county, Ala .. for three years. He then. in 1859. removed to Fort Deposit, when there were but few railroad ; houses in the place. He purchased a stock of goods, and on March 19, 1859, commenced business and sold the first goods sold in the place. On February 16. 1861. he joined company C. First Alabama state troops for one year. but was soon regularly enrolled in the Confederate army, and was among the first troops to be enrolled. On June 2, he was made second lieutenant. and in the follow- ing January, he was made first lieutenant. He spent the first year at Pensacola. and in the spring of 1-62 the command to which he belonged. was ordered to Island No. 10. Mississippi river, where he was taken prisoner, but soon made his escape. and made his way down to Fort Pil- low, where he was in charge of a water battery until the fall of that post. He then went to Memphis, Vicksburg. Grenada. Miss., Holly Springs, and thence to Corinth, where he fought the second battle at that place.
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He then returned to Holly Springs, where he was assigned to duty on Gen. John D. Villepigne's staff, with the rank of captain. They then went to Port Hudson, where Gen. Villepigue died, and Capt. Clements rejoined his old command, and was in the siege of Port Hudson, La., fifty-two days. At the fall of the place he again made his escape through Gen. Banks' . army of 35,000 men. being four days getting five miles from the fort. He then went to his home, and after- ward to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at -Meridian, Miss., and secured leave of absence until his command should be exchanged. He was assigned by Gen. Johnston as assistant quartermaster to the parole camp at Cahaba, Ala .. until January. 1864. when the exchange was effected and he was then ordered to Meridian, and thence to Mobile, where he had charge of a battery for sixty days, when he was ordered to Dalton, Ga., and fought all the way down to Atlanta, but, shortly before the fall of that city. when in charge of a supply train, he was surprised about daylight one morning, and captured by McCook's raiders. About nine o'clock that night. it being very dark. he again made his escape. He reached his command after considerable difficulty. He returned with Hood to Tennessee, fought at Franklin, and then returned to Mississippi, and to Mobile. whence he was ordered to North Carolina, and fought at Kingston, Bentonvillle and Smithville. surrendering at Greensboro, N. C. He was wounded but once. at Port Hudson, while in command of a battery, when Admiral Farragut attempted to pass. After the war he returned to Fort Deposit. then went to New York, compromised with his creditors, purchased a new stock of goods, resumed his former vocation, and has been thus engaged ever since. He has since the war been unusually successful as a buisness man, and has accumulated a handsome property. He now owns 2,800 acres of land in different parts of the county, and also one of the best cotton gins in the county. In 1868 he married Fannie Gilmer, daughter of William B. Gilmer. a native of Georgia, who came to Alabama in 1818, and died at Fort Deposit. He was a man of no little prominence. and one of the first settlers in the county. Mrs. Clements was born in Montgomery county, and died in 1875, leaving one son, William Early. On December 16, 1855, Capt. Clements married Miss Willie Kirby, daughter of Moses B. and Hattie Kirby. of La Grange, Ga. She was born in Troup county, Ga .. and has three sons, viz. : Kirby. Murphy and Otis. Capt. Clements is rot an aspirant for political honors, but for about nine years prior to 1890 he served as county commissioner by appointment. He is a member of Chevalier lodge, No. 40. Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist church. His first wife was a Methodist. It is worthy of note that his grandfather was one of three brothers who came to America, the name at that time being Clement.
DR. JOSEPH T. HEARNE, retired physician and surgeon, and extensive planter of St. Clair. Lowndes county, was born in what is now Lowndes
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county, February 7, 1819. He is a son of Thomas and Abigail Hearne, both born in North Carolina. the former in 1780, and the latter in 1782. They both went with their respective parents to Georgia, where they were married, and in 1818 came to Alabama, settling in the woods in what is now Lowndes county, near where the city of Lowndesboro now is. Mr. Hearne died there in October. 1836, and Mrs. Hearne in 1865. He was a planter, and was conservative in politics and other public affairs. He was one of the first settlers in Lowndes county, and the very first in his own immediate neighborhood. His father, Elisha Hearne, was a native of Delaware, who went to sea for a term of years. Afterward he married and removed to North Carolina, and later to Georgia, where he died. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. A brother of his, William Hearne, the maternal grandfather of Dr. Hearne, was also in the Revolu- tionary war. He came to Alabama in 1819, and died in Lowndes county in 1832. He was a planter and mechanic, and was a sailor for some years in early life. His wife also died in Lowndes county, aged eighty-six years. His father, Ebenezer Hearne, was a native of Wales, and died in Delaware, when the sons were boys. Dr. Joseph T. Hearne was the youngest but one of a family of nine children, eight of whom lived to years of maturity; but of whom only three are now living, he and his two sisters. He was reared on a farm in the pioneer days of this county, and received a good academic education at Lowndesboro, after which he studied medicine under Dr. H. P. Perry, in 1842, and graduated from the university of Pennsylvania. in 1844. After practicing a short time in the city hospitals of Philadelphia, he returned to his home. and practiced there until 1857. Since then he has turned his attention to farming and planting. He was married, in 1853. to Ann Henrietta, daughter of Gen. John Archie and Ann Elmore, both born in Virginia. married in South
Carolina, and came to Alabama, where they settled in 1817, in what is now Elmore county. and it was after them that the county was named, and there he died in 1834. He was a general in the war of 1812. was a planter after coming to Alabama, and also ran a saw-mill. He was one of the very first settlers of Elmore county. His eldest son, Hon. Franklin Elmore. succeeded Hon. John C. Calhoun in the United States senate from South Carolina. The other sons were Thomas and William. The latter died in Philadelphia in 1891. He had been a resident of New Orleans since 1535, and was superintendent of the mint there until the outbreak of the war: Capt. Rush Elmore commanded a company in the Mexican war, and was territorial judge of Kansas; Hon. Henry Elmore was probate judge of Macon county. prior to the war: John A. Elmore was one of the most distinguished lawyers of Montgomery; Albert Elmore, now of the old home in Elmore county, is the only son now living. Gen. Elmore was very popular in his day, and one of the most widely known men in the state. His wife died in 1855. Mrs. Hearne was born in Elmore county. in 1829, and was educated in Alabama. Georgia and South Carolina. She
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has had two children, both of whom are now dead. During the war Dr. Hearne remained at home providing for soldiers in the field and their families at home to the best of his ability. Although frequently requested to do, he never permitted his name to be used in connection with office. From 1870 to 1830 he did a very large advance business to farmers. He now owns about 1,800 acres of land. He was formerly a Mason and an Odd Fellow, but he has allowed his connection with these orders to lapse. His wife is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Dr. Hearne is doubtless the oldest native resident of Lowndes county, and is one of its best known citizens. He is a typical southern gentleman and is very energetic for a man of his years.
DR. DANIEL STILES HOPPING, physician and surgeon of Letohatehie, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., in 1830. He is a son of Ephraim S. and Parmelia A. (May) Hopping, the former of whom was born in New Jersey, in 1799, and the latter in Oglethorpe county, Ga., December 12. 1807. Mr. Hopping was educated at Princeton college. He then came south and married in Georgia. He was professor in the state university at Athens for some years. Afterward, he devoted his attention to the manu- facture of cotton. He was a man of ability and influence, and was a dele- gate to the democratic national convention that nominated James K. Polk for the presidency, in 1844. In religion, he was a Presbyterian. was one of two sons and two daughters, and the only one of the family who ever came south. He died in 1853. His father, Daniel Hopping. was a native of Amelia county, Va., was of English descent, and was a farmer. He has some distinguished relatives, one of whom was, at one time, the governor of Rhode Island, Mrs. Parmelia A. Hopping is still living. She is a daughter of Philip and Elizabeth May, both natives of North Carolina, whence they removed to Georgia. dying in Oglethorpe county. Philip was a wealthy farmer and an Episcopalian. Dr. Hopping was the second in a family of nine, five sons and four daughters. All the sons were in the late war, viz. : Daniel Stiles; May, was in Wheeler's cavalry all through the war, and now lives in Texas; Paul was in Stonewall Jackson's command, was shot at Gettysburg through the chest, and is now an orange-grower in Florida; Augustus, now of the Indian Territory. and a stockman. was in the same command with his brother May: Samuel was also with Wheeler, though quite a young man, and is now a mer- chant of Texas. Dr. Hopping was educated at Athens, remaining there two years, and then read medicine at Lexington, Ga .. and graduated from Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia. in 1-52. He practiced medicine at Lexington, Ga., until 1-57. and then removed to his present home. where he has since been in practice except during the years he was in the army. In May, 1862, he joined company A, and was in the hospital service of Bragg's army during the entire war. He was at Atlanta at the time of the surrender. He immediately resumed his practice at home, and is now one of the oldest physicians in the county. He was one of
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-LOWNDES COUNTY, 429
the vice-presidents of, and is now one of the counselors of. the State Medical association, and has read some able papers before that body. He was married. in 1856. in Oglethorpe county, to Miss Mary H. Hanson, daughter of Richard and Sophia Hanson natives of Maryland and Georgia, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson died in Georgia. Mr. Hanson was a lawyer and farmer. Mrs. Hopping was born in Oglethorpe county, Ga. Dr. Hopping has a stock farm where he breeds Hambletonian horses, in which he takes great pride. He was formerly a Mason in Georgia, but has permitted his membership to lapse. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Dr. Hopping is one of the most genial of gentlemen,
ISAAC N. JORDAN, general merchant of Fort Deposit, was born in Lowndes county, in 1858. He is a son of Samuel and Mary (Blackwell) Jordan, the former a native of Georgia, and the latter of Alabama. When but twelve years old Samuel Jordan came with his mother to Alabama. In that state he received a limited education married and settled down in Lowndes county, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1981, at the age of seventy-three. He was a prosperous farmer and a self-made man. He was a member of Fort Deposit lodge, No. 291, F. & A. M., and a member of the Baptist church. He was married three times, his first wife being Sophia McFarland, by whom he had five children, viz. : James M., of Texas; Prof. Samuel, one of the proprietors of the High- land Home college in Crenshaw county. and a minister of the Christian church; David L., of Texas: Mary, deceased wife of William Jones, of Texas; Flora, widow of George Tankersley, of Texas. Samuel Jordan's second wife was the mother of Isaac N. Jordan, and died when he was quite small. She was the mother of five children, viz .: Fannie and Will- iam, who died young; Georgia: Josephine, wife of W. L. Hairston. and Isaac N. The latter was reared on a farm and received a good common school education at Strata academy, under Prof. J. M. Barnes, now presi- dent of Highland Home college. He then clerked in Montgomery for two years, when he removed to Fort Deposit and worked there for a short time, then farmed a year, and afterward engaged in merchandising at Highland Home for two years. and since 1887, he has been a merchant at Fort Deposit. He is now one of the leading merchants of that place, owns 400 acres of land and considerable town property beside. He also owns stock in a flouring mill at Estill Springs, Tenn. In 15 2 he married Eugenia Lightfoot, daughter of William and Martha Lightfoot, the former of whom was a native of Georgia and the latter of Autauga county. Ala. Mrs. Jordan was born in Lowndes county. She is the mother of four children, three of whom are living. Mr. Jordan is a member of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Baptist church, while Mrs. Jordan is a Methodist.
WILLIAM D. MCCURDY, a prominent planter and breeder of fine horses, of Lowndesboro. was born in Troup county, Ga .. in 1536. He is a son of Edward S. and Mary J. (Harris) MeCurdy, the former a native of North
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Carolina, and the latter of Hancock county. Go. Mr. McCurdy attended school but a few weeks, his parents being poor, and he was apprenticed early in life to the gin making trade. This trade he followed a good many years with marked success. He became moderately wealthy, and was an extensive planter at the time of his death, in fed5, owning at that time, about 3,000 acres of land. He was strictly a self-made man, indus- trious, progressive, of sound judgment and of an indomitable will. He went to Georgia a young man, married there. and about 1838 removed to Chambers county, Ala., where he spent the rest of his life. He was extremely averse to office holding, but was a devout Methodist. He was one of a family of two sons, and three daughters, born to his parents, who were of Scotch descent. and who died in Meriwether county, Ga., in 1866, living at the time with his second wife. He was a very poor man, and his son Edward S., at his death, made provision in Iris will for his support. and that of his wife. Mrs. Mary J. MeCurdy is still liv- ing in Chambers county, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Her father, Edmund Harris, died in Chambers county, while on a visit to a son, being a resident of LaGrange. Ga., at the time. He was a large and prosperous planter, was a self-made man, was a strict Methodist. and reared a large family of children. His wife was an aunt of the eminent ex-congressman, Dixon H. Lewis. William D. McCurdy is the eldest of a family of eight, five sons and three daughters, viz. : William D .. Rebecca, widow of Nathan Robinson: James F., of Chambers county, who served in the late war; Lenora A., deceased wife of John A. Jones, also deceased; Edward S., was in the army of Virginia, as a cadet from the university of Alabama, and died in 1883: Lewis H., a promi- nent planter of Lowndesboro; Addie, deceased wife of Isaac Reese, of Chambers county, and Edmund B., who was killed, in 1990, while on duty as conductor. on the Louisville & Nashville railroad. William D. was educated at Oak Grove, near home. and in 1953 graduated from Emory college at Oxford, Ga. He then taught school for a few years. and then engaged in farming. In 1859, he married Cornelia H. Reese, daughter of Nathan and Amy Reese, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter a native of Autauga county, Ala. Mr. Reese came to Alabama a young man, married here and spent the last years of his life at Lowndesboro. on the farm upon which Mr. MeCurdy now lives. He died in 1860. his wife having died some years before. Mrs. McCurdy was born at Lowndes- boro, educated there, and at LaGrange Methodist college. She is the mother of five children, four of whom are living. Mr. McCurdy has fol lowed farming all his life, but in 15-0 he became acquainted with the Tennessee Coal & Iron company, was engaged in the mining business at the Pratt mines about seven years. In 1857, he and Col. J. F. B. Jack- son purchased the Florence Hotel, which they ran until 1892, when they sold it. During this time Mr. MeCurdy spent most of his time with his business, but his home was still at Lowndesboro. He is one of the most
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extensive planters in the county. owning 5,300 acres of land, most of which he has acquired by his own efforts. He is also one of the leading breeders of horses in the state, and owns some of the best stock in the Gulf states, and some of his horses are well trained. He is also engaged in breeding thoroughbred .Jersey cattle. He is well known as one of the leading horsemen in the state. He has a fine home, and is an earnest worker for the success of the Methodist church, of which both he and his wife are members.
HON. JOHN V. MCDUFFIE, a prominent planter of Hayneville, Ala .. was born in Steuben county, N. Y., in 1841. He. is a son of Isaac and Cynthia (Baker) McDuffie, the former of whom was born in Montgomery county, N. Y .. in 1803, and the latter in Pennsylvania in 1805. Isaac McDuffie was a man of more than ordinary education and took a very active part in local politics. By trade and occupation he was a black- smith, and died in 1892, his widow being still living. He was and she is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a son of William McDuffie, who was born and died in New York. His father, William McDuffie, was born in Scotland and came to America in 1758. A son of his, named Thomas. was captured and killed by tories and their Indian allies during the Revolutionary war, at White Plains. Samuel Baker. father of Mrs. Cynthia McDuffie, was born in Connecticut in 1761, and died in 1854. He belonged to the Dutchess county volunteers from 1781 to 1783, serving at Stony Point and at other places during the Revolu- tionary war. He was a sergeant in the war of 1812. His wife, a Miss Easter Fields. was a daughter of a Revolutionary soldier, who was killed at White Plains. Judge MeDuffie is the fifth in a family of six, three sons and three daughters. When yet quite young, he went west, and received his early education in Illinois. At the breaking out of the war he was attending the Lutheran college of Iowa, and in July. 1:61. he joined company B, Second Iowa cavalry, serving first as sergeant and later as sergeant-major of the regiment. After drilling at Davenport, Towa, and St. Louis, Mo., he went to southeastern Missouri, whence. with his command, he was ordered to assist the reinforcement of Grant at Fort Donelson. He was also present at the engagements at New Madrid. at Island No. 10, before Corinth. after Shiloh. during the first Mississippi campaign, the siege of Vicksburg, Iuka, Corinth. October 3 and 4, and other battles-his last general engagement being the battle of Nashville-after. which engagement he participated in the chase after Hood into Alabama and Mississippi, coming on into Ala- bama, and being mustered out at Selina. He soon afterward removed to Lowndes county. and purchased a large plantation and has since resided in that county. In 1870 he married Mrs. Martha Alice Kelley, a daughter of Christopher and Emily (Jolinson) Quinn. Mr. Quinn was born in county Down. Ireland. and Mrs. Quinn in Ohio, and they both died at Painesville, Ohio. Mrs. MeDuffie was born in Lake county, and married
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