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 60
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engaged actively in manufacturing enterprises, to which he has continued to give attention ever since. He was president of the Washington avenue railroad company, of Mobile, during the period of its construction. and beside managing the paper mill, he has been engaged, more or less actively, in the manufacture of shingles, naval stores and lumber. From the date of the organization of the public schools in Mobile, October, 1852, to which reference has been made-Mr. Clark has given much time, thought and labor to the advancement of education in Alabama. With the exception of the so-called "reconstruction period." he has been con- tinuosly an active member of the board of school commissioners of Mobile county, and is now (1893) president of that body. He framed all the laws now in force for the Mobile system, and originated, framed and passed through the general assembly, of Alabama. in 1856, an Act giving to the public schools of Mobile, all the sums collected for the state for licenses for retailing spiritous liquors in said county. This act has been of vast benefit to the school system of Mobile-the collections therefrom for several years having exceeded $30.000 per annum, which was nearly one half of the annual income of school commissioners. In the year 1865, he was elected a trustee of the university of Alabama. and held that posi tion until the governor of the legislature, appointed under the constitu- tion of 1868, came into power. when the office was abrogated. In the year 1875, a new constitution was adopted, which restored the govern- ment of the state university to a board of trustees, and provided for their appointment by the governor, by and with the consent of the sen- ate. Under this act Mr. Clark was appointed and confirmed as trustee in March, 1876, and by successive re-appointments, has continued in office ever since. He gave to the important work of rehabilitating the univer- . sity, much of his time and thought. esteeming no labor too great, where the interests of this institution of learning were involved. When more room was needed to meet the increasing attendance, and it was deter- mined to make an appeal to the legislature for assistance, to erect addi- tional buildings, Mr. Clark was made chairman of the committee charged with that duty, and notwithstanding the discovery that the state treasury had been robbed of more than $300,000, and the case seemed hopeless, a large appropriation was finally secured to the university. This work required a constant attendance of several weeks at the capitol of the state, during the session of 18-2-83. When the fund became available, he was chosen chairman of the "building committee," under whose super- vision, several handsome halls. and convenient residences for the use of the professors, have been erected. This position he has held continuosly since. In recognition of his services in securing the appropriation from the state, and in erecting the buildings referred to. the trustees have named the largest and handsomest structure of them all, in which the great audience room, and the library of the university are located, &Clark hall," in his honor. In 1884, the congress of the United States made a .
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donation to the state of Alabama, for the use of the university, of 46,080 acres of the public lands lying within the state. The grant was accepted by the state, and the management thereof was turned over to the trustees of the university, by act of the general assembly, approved February 5, 1885. The trustees, in time provided for a committee of three of their number, to be called "the committee of the university land grant" to be elected annually, to whom was intrusted the care and sale of said lands, subject to such restrictions as the trustees might, from time to time, ordain. Mr. Clark was elected chairman of this committee, and has con- tinued, by subsequent elections, to hold this important and responsible position. He has also been chairman continuosly, since 1877, of the com- mittee to prepare the reports, required by law, of the trustees, to be sub- mitted at each session of the general assembly of the state. On the death of the lamented Enoch Morgan, who died in December, 1886, Mr. Clark was chosen to succeed him as president pro tempore, the governor of the state being ex-officio president. During all this period, Mr. Clark has found time, with "voice and pen, " to discuss industrial, educational and, sometimes, political questions, which, from time to time, have engaged public attention. He prepared in 1888, on request of the "commissioner of education," a monograph on the "history of education in Alabama," containing nearly 300 pages. and covering a period of nearly two cen- turies, from the earliest settlements in the "territorial era"-1702-1889. The monograph was published by the United States bureau of education, during the winter of 1889-90. Mr. Clark took an active part in politics during the "reconstruction period," allaying himself with the democratic and conservative party. in which he for years held positions of influ- ence and responsibility. He was chairman of the democratic executive committee of Mobile county; then chairman of the executive committee for the first congressional district, and was, for several years, a member of the democratic executive committee of the state of Alabama In the spring of 1885, he was appointed, by president Cleveland, collector of the port of Mobile, which place he acceptably filled during the Cleveland administration, and was continued in office more than a year afterward by Mr. Harrison, who declined to remove him, or to appoint a successor, before his commission expired. The reason assigned for this forbearance was the excellent record made by him as collector. Mr. Clark, although he has passed his three score years, is as vigorous and energetic, phy- sically and mentally, as at forty, and has no idea of "putting off his armor" and retiring from the activities of life. His temperate habits, his even temperament and careful regard of the laws of health, have probably had much to do with his present excellent physical condition.
ORSON LUCIUS CRAMPTON, M. D., a physician and surgeon, of Mobile, was born in New York state, October 9, 1843. His father, who died in 1846, was John W. Crampton, a native of New York and a farmer, ' whose
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ancestors came from Dublin, settling in Connecticut. Sir Philip Crampton, the noted surgeon of Dublin, was the first cousin to Dr. Crampton's grand- father. Orson Crampton's mother, who is still living, is Harriet Camp- bell, a native of New York. He is descended through the maternal side from the Scottish clan Campbell, of which the Duke of Argyle is the present head. Dr. Crampton's maternal great-grandfather was first cousin to Gov. Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts. Dr. Crampton received an academic education, and in early manhood taught school four years, beginning at the age of fifteen. Having studied medicine during the last two years of his experience as teacher, he entered Bellevue Hospital Medical college in the fall of 1862, from which he graduated in February, 1865. Immediately upon graduation, he entered the service of the United States as acting assistant surgeon, serving from March 5, 1865, to Decem . ber 12, 1870, stationed meanwhile at New Orleans. Fort Gaines, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and other places. In 1870 he took charge of the United States Marine hospital at Mobile, holding this position six years, when he began to devote his entire time to the practice of medi- cine in Mobile, where he is now a general practitioner, with a large and lucrative practice. Dr. Crampton is a member of the Mobile county Medical society, of the Alabama State association, and of the American Medical association. In politics he has not been inactive, having been twice elected, though a republican, to the school board of Mobile, of which body he is still a member, both democrats and republicans uniting to elect him. He was appointed a member of the board of county commis- sioners in 1872, and served two years. He is now examining surgeon for the New York Mutual Life Insurance company. Dr. Crampton's relig- ious tendencies are toward the Presbyterian faith, of which church he is a member. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is also a Knight of Pythias, having been the first chancellor commander of Mobile lodge, K. of P., No. 67. Dr. Crampton has been twice married. his first wife, Miss Claffey B. LaTourrette, of Pittsburg, whom he married in 1878, died in 1888, leaving one child, a son. To his present wife, who was Miss Katharine Simpson, of Evanston, Ill., Dr. Crampton was married in 1891.
FRANKLIN PIERCE DAVIS, one of Mobile's prominent and active young business men. and manager of the cotton compress association, was born in Mobile, Juue 13, 1852. His father, D. R. W. Davis, was a native of South Carolina, and came to Alabama, locating at Mobile when a young man. He continued to reside in that city until his death in 1866. He was a commission merchant for a number of years. During the war he was quite active in military matters, and assisted in raising two or three companies. His wife was Mary Norris, who was born in Alabama, and who died in 1887. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom survive. Franklin P. Davis was born in Mobile, and educated at Barton academy. After leaving school Mr. Davis took a clerkship in an insurance company, and subsequently was clerk for a commission house
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for one year. In 1872 he took a position as clerk for one of Mobile's cotton compresses, and after three years' time he engaged in the cotton compress business for himself. He bas continued in the same business up to the present time. For the past seven years he has held the position of manager for the Mobile Cotton Compress association. He is a member of the cotton exchange, and is chairman of the river and harbor commit- tee of the exchange. Perhaps the most conspicuous action of Mr. Davis as a citizen of Mobile, was that looking toward the improvement of her harbor. For a number of years the government appropriations for improving Mobile harbor had not been as large as ber citizens thought they should have been, taking into account the importance of that harbor. In 1888 the appropriation for its improvement was placed at the low sum of $35,000, and at this time Mr. Davis, recognizing the necessity' of some action on the part of the citizens, undertook to create an interest in the matter, which should, if possible, result in securing larger appropri- ations. He brought the matter before the cotton exchange, and asked for the appointment of a river and harbor committee, of which he was himself appointed chairman. This committee asked for a conference with the river and harbor committee of the chamber of commerce, which was granted, the object in view being the raising of sufficient means to send a delegation to Washington to lay the matter before the river and harbor committee of that body, and if possible to secure an increase in the appropriations. He was successful in his efforts, money was raised and delegates sent to Washington, with the result that the appropriation for that year was increased from $35,000 to 8250,000. Since then liberal appropriations have been secured each year. The bill passed by the last congress calls for the completion of the work. When completed the channel will be 600 feet wide and twenty-three feet deep. The action of Mr. Davis in this matter is duly appreciated by the citizens of Mobile, and he receives due credit for the part he has taken in this movement, resulting in such great advantage to the commerce of the city. He is now advocating a scheme to make Mobile the coaling station for vessels passing through the Nicaragua canal, when completed, by having the general government open waterways from the Great Warrior coal fields to the gulf of Mexico, at an estimated expense of $6,000,000. For quite a number of years Mr. Davis has been conspicuously connected with the militia of the state. He organized the Lomax rifles, and was the first captain of the company. One year after the organization of this company it won first honors at the maiden drill at Mobile, and the same week ranked fourth in the inter-state contest with sixteen of the best drilled companies in the country. Two months later the company drilled a close third at Philadelphia in a large field of veteran companies. Soon after- ward, Mr. Davis was unanimously elected colonel of the First Alabama militia. When the great national drill at Washington was first spoken of he resigned the command of the First regiment and went back to his old
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company, with the view of taking it into the great drill, which was the largest ever held in the United States. There were entries from every state in the Union. There were thirty-four actual contestants, and the Lomax rifles won first honors and $5.000. Mr. Davis belongs to the Ma- nassas club, and was for years actively identified with the Infant Mystics, contributing much time and labor to make successful the grand displays held from time to time. Mr. Davis is possessed of much artistic talent and uses the brush and pencil in a manner which places him far beyond the field of the amateur. For several years he has been engaged in col- lecting a series of water-color paintings, life size, of all the birds of . Alabama, which collection is now almost complete, and is destined to be of great scientific beauty and value. Mr. Davis was married in 1877 to Miss Corinne Clnis, daughter of Frederick Cluis, of Mobile. To, this union there have been born six children, four of whom still survive. Mrs. Davis died in 1887.
PHELAN B. DORLAN. sheriff of Mobile county, Ala., was born in that city January 2, 1854. His father is Mulford Dorlan, a native of New York state, who came to Alabama and located at Mobile at the age of eighteen. He is still living in Mobile county and is a merchant by occu- pation. His father was Nathan Dorlan, also a native of New York, and the son of a Scotchman. The mother of Phelan B. Dorlan was Martha Lyons, a native of Mobile county. She is also living. Her father was Paul Lyous, a native of Alabama, a Revolutionary soldier, who died at the extreme age of one hundred and eleven years. Phelan B. Dorlan was educated in the common schools of Mobile county, and throughout his . early life he worked upon the farm and clerked in his father's store. He remained with his father until he reached the age of twenty-three. He was married December 18, 1877, to Miss Sarah J. Case of Mobile, who is his present wife. Immediately after his marriage, he located in Mobile, where he has resided ever since. In 1877, he engaged in the grocery business and followed it four years. In 1879 he was elected county coroner and served one term of four years, and since 1883 he has given his attention to different pursuits. For five years he was engaged in the wholesale and retail oyster business, and for three years he was manager of the Gulf City pickling works. In politics he is a stanch democrat and he is one of the most active workers for his party in the county. and he uses all honorable means and instrumentalities to promote the success and welfare of the party to which he belongs. He is a member of the Catholic church, of Knights of Honor, of the American Legion of Honor, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Young Men's Benevolent Association, of the Commercial club, of the order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias, of the Alhambra club, and of the Alabama state artillery. Mr. Dorlan and wife have two children, one son and one daughter. Mr. P. B. Dorlan was elected sheriff Mobile county, Ala., without opposition August 5, 1893, which office he still holds.
PHELAN B. DORLAN.
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CARNOT C. DOUGLAS, tax assessor of Mobile county, was born in Mobile, August 27, 1848. His father, Sidney T. Douglas, died in Febru- ary, 1868. For many years prior to his death he was a prominent insur- ance agent in Mobile .. The mother of Carnot C. Douglas was Elizabeth Bolles, a native of Pendleton district, S. C., she is still living. Mr Douglas was reared and educated in Mobile, his principal preceptor being Prof. Amos Towle, an educator of reputation. From 1874 to 1884 he was employed in a clerical capacity for the Mobile & Ohio Railroad company, and in 1885 he became chief deputy of William Brainard, then sheriff of Mobile county, and he continued with him until October, 1835, when Mr. Brainard died. Mr. Douglas then entered the employ of Zuberdier & Behan, wholesale grocers of New Orleans. in the capacity of salesman, and remained with them two years. In 1888 he was elected tax assessor of Mobile county for a term of four years, and he is now serving in that capacity. In politics he is a democrat, and he is a mem- ber of the order of Odd Fellows. He was married in 1835 to Miss Lula Warner, of Mobile, by whom he has two children living, one son and one daughter.
RICHARD FELDER, chief of police of Mobile, Ala., was born at Mont- gomery, Ala., May 10, 1843. His father, Richard Felder, was a native of South Carolina, and was a farmer by occupation, and was a captain of militia, under Gen. Jackson, in the war with the Indians. His death occurred in 1859. Richard Felder's mother was Jane P. Duggan, & native of Charleston, S. C., who died in 1886. Richard Felder was edu- cated in private schools, at Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, and in the spring of 1861, at the age of sixteen. he enlisted in the Confederate serv- ice as a private soldier, in the Montgomery True Blues. a portion of the Third Alabama infantry. He served with the company throughout the war. He participated with it in some of the most important fights, among them being Malvern Hill, Newbern and Plymouth, besides many smaller ones. He was paroled in April, 1865, and arrived at his home on the twentieth anniversary of his birth. For the next five years he fol- lowed farming in Butler and Montgomery counties, Ala., and in 1870 located at Mobile. Here he engaged in the storage and commission business, first as a clerk, and later. on his own account, giving the busi- ness his attention for several years. In 1885, President Cleveland appointed Gen. William W. Alten marshal for the middle and southern districts of Alabama, and Gen. Allen, in turn, appointed Mr. Felder his deputy for the southern district, and in this capacity he acted until 1889. In this year the administration of the government's affairs passed back into the hands of the republican party, and Mr. Felder was super- seded by a republican. However, while acting as chief deputy to Gen. Allen, he was offered the position of chief of police, of the city of Mobile, and after conferring with Gen. Allen, and with the mayor, and members of the city council, all of whom agreed that he might retain his
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office as deputy, and, at the same time, serve as chief of police in Mobile. In this dual capacity, he remained about six months; but since that time he lias devoted all his time to his office as chief of police of the city of . Mobile, and it is generally conceded that he has made a most excellent officer, having given general satisfaction to the police officers, and to the public. The police force of Mobile. under his able and efficient manage- ment, and that of his predecessor, has become noted for the moral senti- ment that pervades it, and it is recognized as one of the most efficient forces of the kind in the country. In politics, Chief Felder is a demo- crat. He is a member of Trinity Protestant Episcopal church, of Mobile, and a vestryman in his church. He is a Knight of Honor, an Odd Fel- low, a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and president and treasurer of St. Martin's Guild. Mr. Felder has been twice married, the first time, to Miss Mary E. Monette. in 1971. She died, in 1876, leave ing two sons, one having died before, and one of the two she left, since her death. In 1881, Mr. Felder married Miss Antoinette O. Belknap, his present wife, by whom he has had four children, one son, and one daugh- ter having died, and one son and one daughter still surviving. In 1881, Mr. Felder went to New Orleans to accept a position under the New Orleans cotton exchange. In that year there was a great strike of the employees of the cotton exchange, and men were sent for to Mobile. In response to this call, Mr. Felder went to New Orleans and accepted the position as weighmaster. He was told by the strikers that he would not be allowed to work, and that, if he attempted to do it, he would receive , bodily harm. Mr. Felder was not, however, to be easily frightened by threats, and politely told the strikers, that he had engaged to work for the Exchange, and was ready to perform any service it had for him to do. When he first entered upon his duties as weighmaster, he was sur- rounded by an angry mob, upon which he gave notice. that he would shoot down the first man that attempted to interfere with the progress of the work. He gave command to his assistants to proceed with the work, and the work went on without interference, the most of the strik- ers having made up their minds that Mr. Felder was not to be trifled with. This act of bravery on his part broke the back of the strike, and the result was a compromise. under which the strikers were restored to their posi- tions. The Exchange, then having no further use for Mr. Felder's serv- ices, paid him $1,500, and he thereupon sought another position. For two years he acted as bookkeeper, in New Orleans, for Capt. A. C. Dan- ner. In 1883, he returned to Mobile. and for two years thereafter he acted as agent for the New York Loan & Trust company, serving in this capacity until he became chief deputy to General Allen. as above narrated, in 1885. It will thus be seen that Mr. Felder's life has been a very active one, and one in which he has performed every duty imposed upon him in a most conscientious and able manner.
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ANGELO FESTORAZZI, M. D., physician and surgeon of Mobile, was born in that city, June 17, 1864. He is a son of Capt. Sylvester Festor- azzi, the Italian consul at Mobile, and an old and prominent citizen. Dr. Festorazzi was educated at St. Joseph's college, Spring Hill, Ala., from which he graduated in 1484. He at once entered upon the study of medi- cine under the preceptorship of Dr. Rhett Goode, of Mobile, and he after- ward completed a three years' course of medicine in the medical college of Alabama, graduating Marchi 31, 1887. He then entered the post-grad- uate school in New York city, and there pursued his studies about three months. At the expiration of this time he was appointed to a position in the summer corps of physicians of the board of health of New York city. He held the position about three months, and during the winter of 1887-83 he acted as an assistant to'the ambulance corps of Manhattan hos- pital, New York city. He was then appointed surgeon of the out patient department of the Chambers street hospital in the same city, which posi- tion he held about two months. He then, in May, 1388, returned to Mobile, passed a successful examination before the board of censors of the county, and has ever since practiced his profession in Mobile. He is a member of the Mobile county Medical society, and is a general practi- tioner of medicine, but gives his attention chiefly to surgery. He is a member of the Catholic Knights of America, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is the local medical examiner for both of these orders. He is a member of the Catholic union and of the Catholic church. He is assistant surgeon of the First regiment Alabama state troops, and of the famous Lomax Rifles of Mobile. He is member of the association of military surgeons of the national guard of the United States, and at its organization he was a member of the committee which drew up the constitution and by-laws of the organization. He was appointed by Dr. Nicholas Senn, of Chicago, president of the order, to respond, on behalf of the association, to the address of welcome at the meeting of the asso- ciation in St. Louis, April 19, 20, and 21. 1892, and he was appointed to deliver a paper on the .Causes and methods of prevention of camp diar- rhœa," before the meeting.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FITZPATRICK, one of the most prominent citi- zens of Mobile, and the head of the well-known house of B. F. Fitzpat- rick & Co., cotton factors, was born in Morgan county. Ga., July 13, 1816. His father was Alexander Fitzpatrick, a native of Greene county, Ga .. born July 4, 1791. He was a son of Benjamin Fitzpatrick. a native of Greene county, also. Alexander Fitzpatrick was first cousin to Benjamin Fitzpat- rick, ex-governor and ex-United States senator from Alabama. The great- grandfather of B. F. Fitzpatrick was Joseph Fitzpatrick, a native of Vir- ginia, whose father was a native of Ireland. The wife of Alexander Fitzpatrick was Nancy Hill. a native of Green county, Ga., and a daughter" of James Hill. a native of Virginia. Alexander Fitzpatrick was a farmer all his life, his death occurring in 1850, and his wife dying in 1868. They
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