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 54
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Mr. Ludwig was married, in 1876. to Anna Estes, daughter of Ludwell H. Estes, of Columbia, Tenn., and they have two children: Bernard Estes and Marie Gertrude. Mr. Ludwig is the son of Conrad Ludwig and Gertrude Ludwig. who had five children: Conrad, Frederick William, Elizabeth. wife of Joseph D. Rebman: Gertrude Sophia. wife of Carl Galwitz, and Bernard F. The mother of these children died in 1952, at Memphis. Tenn., and the father in 1871, at Courtland, Ala. Mr. Ludwig was a candidate, in 1876, for the legislature on the republican ticket, and was only defeated by forty-eight votes in the county. His unquestioned integrity, candor and gentlemanly deportment, win friends among all who know him. Under his popular administration the business of the postoffice had so increased, that in June, 1592, the department inaugu- rated the free delivery system, of which the citizens of Huntsville are justly proud.
DR. HENRY MCDONNELL. now of Huntsville, was born in Madison county, Ala .. near Huntsville. May 18, 1848, and educated in the schools of the city. the principal one being that taught by Carlos G. Smith. He attended medical lectures at the university of Virginia, in 1867-68, and in 1869-70, and also at the university of Louisiana, graduating from the latter in 1870. He then went to Lauderdale county, Ala., and formed a partnershp with his uncle, Dr. A. H. Jones, and practiced about a year, and then moved to Madison county. Ala., in 1978, and in the fall of that year he moved to Huntsville. Ala .. where he has since resided and prac- ticed. The doctor belongs to the Madison county (Alabama) Medical society and to the State Medical association. He was married, in 1878. to Miss Ada Fennell, daughter of I. Fennell. of Huntsville, Ala., and to them have been born four children, as follows: Fennell. Beulah May, Lizzie and Henry. The doctor belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. south, of which he is a steward.
JAMES C. MCDONALD, one of the leading young lawyers of Huntsville. was born in that city November 7, 1571. He is a son of Christopher McDonald, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., and came to Huntsville in 1866, and since that time has engaged in business in Huntsville. His mother was Miss Catherine M. Callaghan, daughter of Michael J. Calla- ghan, of Huntsville, who was one of the oldest inhabitants of the city. James C. McDonald went to the private schools of Huntsville until his fourteenth year. when he entered St. Mary's college, near Belmont, N. C., and graduated in 1889. He returned home and went into the office of the late L. W. Day, and studied law, and was admitted to practice in August, 1891. The following October he entered the post-graduate class of the Georgetown university school of law at Washington, D. C., and received his degree in that institution in June, 1892, and is now success- fully engaged in the practice of his profession at Huntsville. Mr. McDonald is the only child of his parents. his mother having died in October, 1873, and his father was married again February, 1992, to Miss
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Mary Sweeney of Saratoga, N. Y. Mr. McDonald is a young man of exemplary habits, and great personal popularity.
HENRY , MCGEE (deceased), one of the most highly respected and popular citizens of Huntsville, was born near Perrysville, Penn., June 14, 1835, where he was educated and lived until 1867, in which year he removed to Huntsville, and engaged in farming. In the fall of 1869 he purchased the valuable corner where his hotel and other buildings now stand. He was first in the ice business, and then restaurant with lodging accommodations. His genial temper and happy disposition drew him large patronage, and a few years later he built the popular hotel which bears his name. Mr. McGee was twice married. Isabella L. McGee, his first wife, was a native of Allegheny county, Penn .. of the name of McGee (although no relation to Mr. McGee), who died July 19, 1865, leaving two children, a boy and a girl-the former who died near Huntsville, in October, 1868. In December. 1870, he married his second wife, Miss Kate Weaver, of Alabama, who died January 18, 1891, without issue. To give an idea of the popularity of the man, we quote the following from the Huntsville Mercury, published on the occasion of his death, June 20, 1892: "Huntsville has buried a number of good, noble and true citizens, but in her burial of Henry McGee, Thursday morning, our town will do honor to a man and citizen that has rendered more service to her and her people than any man of latter years. To say that he will be missed is only a faint expression on an assertion that poorly supplies the truthful fact. Always kind, pleasant and gentle, and his mildness and cultivation were characteristics that made his association agreeable at all times. If he bore ill-will toward anyone or had prejudices, he kept them profoundly to himself, and was never wont to complain or picture the faults of others. His life was consistent-one for the good and upbuilding of things, moral and material. Mr. McGee was a devoted Christian, a consistent member of the Catholic church; he was true to its teachings and died steadfast in the faith."
DR. DAVID HUBBARD MCLAIN, a leading medical practitioner of Gurley, Ala., is a native of Winston county, Ala., where he first saw the light of day, April 23, 1861. He was educated at the schools of Mt. Hope and at the academy taught by Col. John Peebles. at Spring Hill. Tenn. He left the latter school in 1969 and remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years of age, and in the fall of 1872, entered the office of Dr. J. M. Clark, at Mt. Hope, Ala., and took up the study of medicine and afterward graduated from the Alabama Medical college in 1875. In the same year he located at Allen's Factory, in Marion county, and practiced there one year, and went to Maysville in May, 1576, where he still remains, though he established an office in Gurley in 1879. and recently re-established it. He has a large and profitable practice, which extends over the eastern part of Madison county. He is a member of the Madison county Medical society and the State Medical association, and has served
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two terms on the board of censors of the Madison county society. He is a Knight of Honor and a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church of Maysville. He is a democrat of the old school type, and has always taken a deep interest in polities but never sought office. On June 10, 1850. he was married to Ella, daughter of C. C. McBroom, of Gurley, and they had two children, one of whom, Allen, survives. Mrs. McLain is a graduate of Huntsville Female college. Dr. McLain's father was Allen B. McLain, of North Carolina, who came to Alabama with his parents when a child, and located in Walker county, and devoted his life to farming. He married Mary Hewlett, daughter of William Hewlett, of Virginia. They had ten children, as follows: Margaret, wife of Thomas J. White, of Corona, Ala. ; Mary, deceased wife of Thomas B. Nesmith. of Vernon. Ala. ; William H., of Madison county. Ala. : who was in the Confederate service two years; Bettie, deceased wife of A. V. Underwood, of Madison county, Ala. ; Dr. D. H., Felix D., of Fern Bank, Ala .; Rebecca, wife of J. E. Hewlett, of Birmingham, Ala .; Adine. wife of G. W. Rush, of Vernon, Ala. ; Dueanna, and Eunice, widow of Dr. Emmet Morton of Guin. The doctor's father died in 1870, and his mother in 1889. Dr. McLain's maternal great-uncle, David Hubbard, was a Virginian and an officer in the war of 1812 and was wounded at the battle of New Orleans. He was a candidate for congress some timein the fifties against George S. Houston.
JERE MURPHY, cotton broker and several times mayor of Huntsville, was born in that city, January 18, 1834, and educated at the schools there, attending principally the one taught by Daniel B. Long, and a country school taught by Jonathan Mayhew. He left school at the age of seven- teen and went into the office of the Democrat, and learned the trade of a printer, and worked on that paper as foreman for several years, and was appointed to a mail agency on the Memphis & Charleston railroad, and served in this position until the opening of the war. In 1862, he went into the army as a third lieutenant in Col. Russell's command. He was in a number of severe skirmishes, and was at the battle of Chickamauga. He returned to Huntsville after the close of hostilities, and opened a blacksmith and wood-working shop and carried it on about two years. In 1874. he was elected mayor of the city, and was re-elected in 1875-6 and 1877. serving four successive terms. In 1859, he was elected again, . the term of service having been increased to two years, and in 1891 was re-elected. Many material and permanent improvements have been made in Huntsville under the wise administration of Mayor Murphy, notably the splendid system of water-works. stand-pipe system, extensive sewer- age, etc. The population of the city has also doubled. Mr. Murphy, who is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., and a genial. companionable gentleman, was married February 28, 1867, to Mary, daughter of Conrad Beeman, of Huntsville. Ala., and they have six surviving children-Jere, Mary Belle, Ella Lee. Corinne Katherine, Stephen H. and Robert E.
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ROBERT E. MURPHY, auctioneer and ex-sheriff of Huntsville, Ala., was born in that city, July 2. 1-39, and educated in the school taught by Col. William McKay. At the age of sixteen he went to clerk in a whole- sale grocery in Huntsville, and remained there three or four years. In 1860, he entered the office of the county clerk, remaining about four years; in 1863, he went to Nashville, Tenn., and took up the auction and commission business, and was for sometime government auctioneer. He lived in Nashville six years and then removed to Memphis, where he continued the same business, which. however, he abandoned at the end of one year and returned to Huntsville. He was elected sheriff of Madison county in 1874, for three years; he was also an alderman under Mayor Irvine, and re-elected under Mayor Thomas W. White, and in 1888, was re-elected sheriff. To all the offices to which he has been elected, he has been the republican candidate. though Madison is a democratic county. He is a member of Monte Sano lodge, No. 1, K. of P., in which he has held all the chairs of office and has been representative to the supreme lodge. He was married, January 2, 1861. to Elizabeth D., daughter of Barnard Moore, a native of Virginia. The father of Robert Murphy was Jeremiah Murphy, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, and his mother was Nancy Hanks. , Nine children were born to the couple, of whom three are living-Margaret, widow of William Smith, of Huntsville, Ala .; Jere, now mayor of Huntsville, and R. E. Mr. Murphy's father died in 1861, and his mother in 1866.
JOHN L. RISON, the popular and well known druggist of Huntsville, was born In that city, October 18, 1939, the son of Archibald Rison, of Carthage, Tenn., who was an early settler of Huntsville, where he was among the first manufacturers of cotton gins in that city. He had three sons-William R., John L., and Wilson B. The mother of these boys was Martha (Bibb) Rison, who was born in Huntsville in 1816. The grandfather of John L. Rison was Richard Rison, a native of Virginia, who came to Tennessee about 1755, where he spent the balance of his life. He had two sons who fought in the battle of New Orleans. John L. began the drug business in Huntsville, Ala .. in the capacity of a sales- man, when a boy of fourteen years. In 1859. by his careful and thrifty business methods, he accumulated sufficient means and acquired sufficient technical knowledge to open a drug store of his own, which he accord- ingly did, and has conducted that business ever since with good success. Mr. Rison is a public-spirited citizen, large in his charities and devoted to the interests of Huntsville and its future. On February 22, 1860. he was married to Miss Erwin, a daughter of Rev. A. R. Erwin, a minister of the Tennessee conference Methodist Episcopal church, south, and . president at the time of his death of the Huntsville Female college. Mr. Rison is a Knight Templar, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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W. R. RisoN, banker of Huntsville, was born in that place, January 20, 1837, and was educated at the common schools. At the age of fifteen years he engaged as a clerk in a grocery store, and continued until 1853, and then kept books in a dry goods house until 1859. In that year he went into the Northern bank of Alabama, remaining there until he was detailed to the mining department in the military service of the Confeder- ate government, and in the summer of 1864 he was attached to the Fourth Alabama cavalry as first lieutenant, and served as such until the close of the war, at which time he was commanding the company. He was in several skirmishes, but was never wounded. After the war he engaged in the mercantile business in Aberdeen, Miss., until March, 1866, when he went to Huntsville, Ala .. and established a private bank, with a capital stock of 840,000. His son is now engaged with him in the banking busi- ness, the firm being W. R. Rison & Cc. The capital stock is $100,000. In 1872, Mr. Rison was appointed coanty treasurer of Madison county, and in 1874 was elected to that office. From 1876 to 1882 his bank was the recognized financial agent of the state to pay the interest on the "horse shoe money." He is a director in the Huntsville cotton mill, and is vice-president of the Dallas Manufacturing company. He is a royal arch Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was married June 18, 1858, to Maria L. Jones, daughter of Leroy and Mary (Brandon) Jones, of Huntsville. and they have one son-Archie L., his father's partner. Mr. Rison's father was Archibald Rison, of Tennessee, and his mother Martha Bibb. They had three children-W. R., John L., and Wilson B. W. R. Rison's father died in 1862, and his mother still lives. 2
REV. JOIIN DIXON SIMPSON, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, at Huntsville, Ala., was born at Bradford, Coosa county, Ala., April 22, 1858. He entered the ministry at the early age of nineteen, and the itinerant connection of the church at the age of twenty. He became a member of the Alabama conference at the age of twenty years, and after remaining there five years, was transferred to the north Ala- bama conference, when, after three years, his health became impaired, and he left the active ministry for a time and went to Greensboro, Ala., and completed his education at the Southern university. graduating there with the degree of bachelor of philosophy. After his graduation he re-entered the active ministry of the Methodist church, was for a time assigned to a pastorate in Jefferson county. Ala., and was for two years presiding elder of the Decatur district. and since 1890 he has been the beloved and efficient pastor of the First Methodist church at Huntsville. He was married in Mobile. April 13, 1880, to Miss Hortense Wilson, daughter of J. J. T. Wilson. deceased. There are two children of the union, one of which, John William, born in 1890, still survives. Mr. Simpson is a Mason. a Knight of Honor, and a Knight of the Golden Eagle. His father is William Kennedy Simpson, a native of South Caro-
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lina, who moved to Georgia with his parents when a boy and soon after came to Alabama. His wife was Susan F. Dixon, of Winchester, Tenn. They had six children, of whom five lived to maturity. as follows: Jos- eph B., of Birmingham, Ala. ; Ella. John D., William Kelly, and Mary S. The mother of these children died in 1978.
JOSEPH HUMPHREY SLOSS, ex-member of congress and real estate dealer of Huntsville, was born in Somerville, Ala., October 12, 1826, the son of Rev. James L. and Letitia Campbell Sloss. He was educated at Florence, and at the early age of eighteen he was admitted to the bar. He practiced first in St. Louis for three years. and afterward moved to Edwardsville, Ill. He went to Alabama in 1861, and raised a company of which he was made captain, and was attached to the Fourth Alabama cavalry. For gallant service he was promoted to major, in 1863. When the war was over, Maj. Sloss formed a partnership with Robert B. Lindsay, afterward governor of the state, and practiced law at Tuscum- bia, until Maj. Sloss was elected to congress in 1871. He served in the Forty-second and Forty third sessions of congress, and in 1879 he was made United States marshal for the northern district of Alabama. The duties of this office required his residence in Huntsville, whither he removed in 1879, but in 1852 he resigned the marshalship to go into real estate. Maj. Sloss is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. - He was married, in 1850, to Miss Mary L. Lusk, and is the father of five children: James L., deceased; Mary L .. deceased: Josie L., deceased; Percy M. and Annie C. Rev. James L. Sloss. the father of Maj. Sloss, was born in 1792, in north- west Ireland. He came to America when a boy, and located in South Carolina, and was educated at Princeton college, N. J. He afterward became a Presbyterian minister at Cahaba. Ala. He died in Florence, in . 1844. He had a family of four sons and three daughters, five liying. Ann Eliza, wife of Col. A. D. Coffee: Mary L., wife of M. J. Warren, of Tuscumbia; Letitia V., wife of Gen. F. S. Rutherford, now of Illinois, and Thomas M., captain in the late war, and afterward a circuit judge in Texas, dying in 1573, and Robert C., a farmer of Illinois. The father of Mrs. Letitia V. Sloss, nee Campbell, was David Campbell, the first United States judge of the Tennessee territory.
JUDGE HENRY CLAY SPEAKE. judge of the eighth judicial circuit of Alabama, and a prominent citizen of Huntsville, was born in Lawrence - county, Ala., on June 17, 1834, and is the son of James B. and Sarah B. (Lindsey) Speake. James B. Speake. the father. was born in Kentucky in 1803, where he received his education, most of which was acquired after he was grown. He removed to Alabama in 1832, locating in Law- rence county. near Oakville, where he taught school for several years. After his marriage in June, 1-33, he settled on a plantation. He served as county superintendent of Lawrence county several years; was a mem- ber of the constitutional convention that framed the constitution în 1865, and served in the legislature as an active member in the sessions of 1870,
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1872, 1876 and 1878. He was very active in the Baptist church, and belonged to the Masonic fraternity. His father was Basil Speake, a native of Maryland, who settled in Kentucky about 1790. His ancestors were from England, coming over with Lord Baltimore, and settled in Maryland. Judge Henry C. Speake was reared on a farm and received a common school education during his boyhood, and at the age of twenty years taught school to procure money with which to attend the law department at Cumberland university, from which institution he graduated in 1857. The following month he located at Decatur, and with the exception of six months, in 1860. spent in Texas, he resided there until the late war. He entered the Confederate army in August, 1862. as a private in com- pany D, Fourth Alabama regiment of cavalry, and was soon after pro- moted to sergeant-major, and later. to adjutant of the regiment. In January, 1564, he was appointed quartermaster of the regiment, and was captured with a part of Forrest's command, near Columbus, Ga. After the war he settled in Moulton, and in 1874 was elected chancellor of the northern division of Alabama, which position he held until 1880. In August, 1880, he was elected judge of the eighth judicial circuit of the state. and re-elected in August, 1886, and August, 1892; in the two latter elections he received the almost unanimous or solid vote of the district, regardless of party. His present term expires in 1898. As a lawyer, Judge Speake was a success, which success has been continued on the bench. As a chancellor he was just and equitable at all times, and under all circumstances, and won high praise for his able opinions and decis- ions. As a judge he is able and conscientious, and discharges the duties of his high office with dignity and entire satisfaction. Possessed of an eminently judicial mind and a most wonderful memory, and being with all his experience still a close student. it is not surprising that he has met with such universal success. Unbiased in his decisions by either politics, religion or friendship, he administers the law without fear or favor according to his best jugdment, made up only after as careful and painstakng review of the facts and the law, and with a high regard for the responsibility of his position and a desire to discharge his duties as he understands them, Probably no judge in Alabama has rendered more decisions and had fewer reversals by the higher courts than has Judge Speake. With the bar he is universally popular, the members esteeming him for his uniform courtesy and kind treatment of them in and out of courts. His popularity extends beyond the legal profession, and he was called to the chancellorship and judgeship by the voice of the people, who considered his eminent fitness for the positions, and in neither case was it in response to solicitations upon his part. And his re election, at the expiration of his second term, demonstrates that in the minds of the people they have made no mistake. Judge Speake was married January 27. 1860, to Carrie O., daughter of Jonathan Mayhew, remembered as an educator of more than ordinary ability, who was originally from New
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England, To their marriage six children have been born, two of whom are living. Judge Speake removed to Huntsville in December, 1876, where he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
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THOMAS J. TAYLOR, probate judge of Madison county, Ala., was born at Maysville, in that county, July 2. 1829. the son of M. and Nancy J. McCartney Taylor. He had a fair common school education, and at the age of nineteen began life as a teacher. In 1858 he was elected county surveyor, and held that office until 1862, when he went into the army as a second lieutenant of company K, Forty-ninth Alabama regiment. He was in the battle of Shiloh, and shortly after he was elected to the captaincy of his company. He was captured at Port Hudson, and con- fined as a prisoner at Johnson's Island, Point Lookout and Fort Dela- ware, until the close of the war. After his return from the war he taught school for three years, and at the end of his time was again elected county surveyor until 1871; then tax assessor in 1890; clerk of the court for six years, and in 1886 he was elected to the important office of pro- bate judge, being re-elected in 1892 for another term of six years. He married, in early manhood, a Miss Douglas, daughter of John Douglas, who came from Lynchburg, Va .. about 1819. The children of the union are: Kate, wife of S. M. Seward; Nannie J., wife of William L. Jones; Lillie, wife of W. A. Walls: Laura L., wife of William Wengo, and Wade Douglas, seventeen years of age. The judge and his wife belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian church. and he belongs to the Odd Fellows and Knights of Honor, The father of Judge Taylor was a native of Lexing ton, Ga., and his wife of Madison county, Ala. He was a farmer and merchant, He had nine children, as follows: Thomas J., John M., deceased, a prominent newspaper man of New Orleans, was a colonel in the late war, and a member of the Louisiana legislature: Grant died in a hospital during the war; Charles, a private in the Seventh Alabama cavalry, and a railroad man of Louisiana; Felix M., major of the Fourth Alabama cavalry, served through the war, and died in Memphis in 1886; Waverly, a member of Gen. Dick Taylor's staff, and now a farmer of Louisiana; George L., a soldier at the age of fifteen years, became a courier to Gen. Wheeler, and was killed at Murfreesboro: Mary, wife of Clinton Hayworth, of Louisiana, and Lucy, wife of Pleas Davison, of Louisiana. Judge Taylor's grandfather. George Taylor. was born in Virginia in 1788, He fought in the Revolutionary war as a lieutenant, under Gen, Henry Lee, and was in the battles of Monmouth, Guilford Court House and King's Mountain, He came to Alabama in 1809. The earliest branch of the Taylor family came to America with Lord Balti- more, and the McCartneys from Scotland.
DAVID VORENBERG, the enterprising manufacturer of Gurley, was born in Boston, Mass., March 3, 1865, and came to Alabama in 1-80, and clerked in Huntsville seven years, and then he and his brother. Issie, went into the mercantile business at Paint Rock, Ala., their present
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