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 2 > Part 16
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 699
JOSEPH JONAS, cigar manufacturer and dealer, was born in Prussian Germany, March 5, 1842, and came to America at the age of seventeen, locating first in New York, where he made cigars as a journeyman for two and a half years, and then commenced to manufacture on his own account, in connection with his brother, Julius Jonas, and has carried this business on ever since, still retaining his interest in the New York factory, which is now in charge of Morris Jonas, another brother, Julius having died in 1872. Joseph Jonas came south in 1865, locating in Mont- gomery, Ala., where he opened the cigar store, which he still carries on, being now a wholesale and retail dealer. He was married, in 1869, to Emma Mayer, daughter of H. Mayer, of Germany, and to them have been born nine children, of whom eight survive, as follows: Julia, Otto, Frieda, Paul, Dora, Erna, Meta and Jonas, Jr. Jonas Jonas, father of Joseph Jonas, was born in Prussian Germany in 1800. He was a general specu- lator, having large real estate interests, factories, etc. He married Julia Solomon and to them were born nine children, of whom six now survive as follows: Jettche, wife of Jonas Solomon, Germany ; Morris Jonas, of New York; Joseph. of Montgomery ; Emma, wife of R. Dreyfuss, of Montgomery ; Carrie, wife of D. Frankel, of Germany; Rickchen (daughter) who lives with Joseph Jonas. The father died in 1882, and the mother in 1863. Miss Julia Jonas is a graduate of the Boston conservatory of music, and is a lady of great musical ability. Otto and Paul Jonas are with their father in his store in Montgomery. Mr. Jonas is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and is renowned for his charitable impulses.
GEORGE JONES, a farmer of beat No. 11, was born in Montgomery county, in 1848. He is a son of Jason and Mary J. (Peele) Jones, the former born in North Carolina in 1811, and the latter in Jasper county, Ga., in 1825. They came to Alabama with their respective parents, and married in Montgomery county in 1846 and spent the rest of their lives in this county. He died in 1886 and she in 1891. Mr. Jones was a prosper- ous farmer all his life, and was a self-made man. He was a good deal of a politician, was a prominent democrat and was in favor of the secession movement from the start. He was one of a large family born to George, Jones, who was probably a North Carolinian by birth, whence he came to Alabama about 1833, settling in Henry county, and there spending the rest of his life. He was a farmer and a good citizen and died in 1946. His widow died in 1863 in Montgomery county. Their youngest son, Amos Jones, served in the Confederate States army. David B. Peele, the father of Mrs. Mary J. Jones, was a native of Georgia, but was one of the early settlers of Alabama, residing at different times in Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery and Choctaw counties, dying, however, in Mississippi since the war. He was a farmer and reared a large family. George Jones was the second of a family of seven sons and five daughters, only three of whom are living, viz. : George, David P. and William G., all of
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Montgomery county, and good farmers. George Jones began life for himself at nineteen years of age as a farmer, and he was railroad agent at Oak Grove two years. Since 1872 he has resided on his present farm, owning 1,400 acres of land in all, most of it inherited from his father's estate. Beside farming, which he has followed all his life, he runs a saw mill and cotton gin. He is one of the leading farmers of the county. He is not a politician, but is always ready and willing to bear his share of his party's support. He is not married.
THOMAS G. JONES .- Thomas Goode Jones, the present governor of Alabama, was born in Macon, Ga., November 26, 1844. His parents came of Virginia stock, and more remotely his ancestors were English. His father, Samuel G. Jones, was a distinguished civil engineer, and was prominently identified with the building of many of the great railroad systems of the south. In 1850, Gov. Jones, then a boy of six, moved with his parents to Montgomery, where he has ever since resided. After a course in the common schools, he was placed at the Virginia Military institute, where Jackson was then a professor. He was ordered to Rich- mond, while still a boy, to drill volunteers who were then gathering fast at that point, war being then assured. He was only eighteen, when, in 1862, he saw active service in the famous valley campaign of Jackson. Coming out of this campaign, he enlisted in a company called the Par- tisan Rangers. Being recommended by Jackson for appointment in the regular army, and his appointment being pressed by Attorney-General Watts, he was named, by Gen. Gordon, as aid-de-camp on his staff, and served with Gordon throughout the war. The connection thus formed laid the foundation for a friendship and soldierly affection between the two men, that has grown, rather than diminished, with the years. Young Jones made an admirable soldier. He has always, as the French say, taken his courage in both hands, and it is not to be wondered at that he was twice thanked, by Gen. Seay, for bravery on the field of battle. He saw the curtain drop on the great drama of the new world, at Appomattox, and himself bore a flag of truce into the Union lines, on that historic April day. Returning to Montgomery, he entered upon the, to him, dis- astrous business of planting, devoting his leisure time to the study of the law. In 1866, he was admitted to the bar. In 1868, he became one of the editors of the Daily Picayune, a democratic journal, published in Montgomery, and in his work as a journalist laid the foundation for a style of singular perspicuity and force. He did not, however, remain long at the editor's table, and resumed his practice at the bar. He was brought prominently before the country at large, by an oration delivered on Memorial Day, April 26, 1874. His address on this occasion is perhaps the most memorable of any address of like kind delivered in either sec- tion. He struck a higher note than had been struck before, or has been since. It was a profoundly eloquent appeal to the better and safer intel- ligence of the country to dismiss the prejudice and bitterness of the war
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS -- MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
and to live together as fellow-countrymen, and not as enemies.' This address brought the young lawyer wide fame. In 1875, he was elected to the city council of Montgomery and for nine years. in one capacity or another, as a member of that body he impressed himself upon the affairs of the municipality. He resigned his place in the council to accept a seat in the house of representatives, and begun there a public career, which soon gave him prominence in the politics of the state. He was returned to the house in 1886, and was elected speaker of that body. In 1890, after one of the most exciting contests ever known in the state, he was nominated, by the state democratic convention, for the office of gov- ernor, and was triumphantly elected in August. As governor he exhibited all the qualities his friends had been accustomed to associate with the name of Thomas Goode Jones. He was vigilant, and he was bold. He never shrank from any responsibility. He heard advice gladly, but he . was never the slave to advice. Like all men with sovereign gifts of mind and with moral courage, he has faith in himself, and he has not hesitated to rely upon his own conscience. In 1892 he was renominated and re-elected. In the contest before the democratic primaries, for a renomination, Gov. Jones showed a superb temper and skill. The campaign opened in December, 1891, and closed the June following. He spoke in every sec- tion of the state. There has, possibly, never been in Alabama a higher exhibition of pure intellectual energy, than in the speeches of Gov. Jones, in the canvass. Gov. Jones was called to be governor of Alabama amid conditions, and at a time, that made his course an unusually difficult one. There was great political interest, and a critical and hostile minority, stood ready to condemn every important act of his administration. He has borne himself admirably. however, and it may be truthfully said that Alabama has never had a governor. more loath to do wrong, more keenly anxious to conserve the interests of all the people, and he has brought to this spirit the added gifts of abilities of the highest order. Gov. Jones was, for many years, connected with the Alabama state troops, first, in 1876, as captain of the Montgomery Greys, and later, from 1880 to 1890, as colonel of the Second regiment. He has always taken a soldierly pride in the equipment, organization and drill of the state troops, and to no one man in the state is their present high state of efficiency more largely due. Gov. Jones was married, in 1866, to Miss Bird, of Montgomery. They have a large family of lovely children.
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EDWIN BOYCE JOSEPH, was born in Montgomery, Ala., October 19, 1852, was educated there and at Holcombe's high school near Liberty, Va., and at the East Alabama college at Auburn, Ala., leaving the latter in his senior year. Then he commenced his business life as a bookkeeper in a wholesale grocery in Montgomery, Ala., and remained about six years, and then went into the manufacture of tobacco at Oxford, N. C., continuing about three years. In 1877 he was elected secretary of the Capital City Insurance company at Montgomery, and served as such until
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1885, when he was elected president , which office he now holds. Mr. Joseph is director of the South & North. Alabama railroad, and director and vice-president of the Montgomery, Tuscaloosa & Memphis railroad and president of the Highland Park Improvement company. He was one of the projectors and president for several years of the first street rail- way system in Montgomery. This street railway was the first to adopt electricity as a regular motive power for its entire line in the United States. He also served as alderman of Montgomery, Ala., for six years. Mr. Joseph was one of the reorganizers of Montgomery Greys military company, after the war, and resigned a lieutenancy of that company, in 1881, to accept the adjutantcy of the Second regiment state troops and held that rank about four years, when he resigned. He belongs to the K. P., A. O. U. W. and the Elks. Mr. Joseph was married, in 1876, to Elizabeth H. Smith, daughter of P. C. Smith, of Montgomery, Ala., a former prominent merchant of Montgomery, Ala., but now deceased. Thomas Joseph, father of Edwin B., was born in the Western Islands (Azores) in 1812, and came to Alabama about 1835, locating at Mont- gomery, where he was a wholesale merchant and operated a large flouring mill. He was president of the Capital City Insurance company from 1871 to 1881; was a leader in all railroad enterprises and director in a number of them at various times. He married Sarah A. Riley, a native of New York city, of Irish descent, on her father's side, and from the Boyce family on her mother's-the Boyce family being descendants of Jacob Hardenbroeck, one of the original four proprietors of Manhattan Island. To them were born seven children, of whom six are living. The eldest son, W. F. Joseph, was in the Confederate service during the latter part of the war.
JOSEPH MASON KENNEDY was born in Hamilton, Scotland, in June, 1851, there attended school up to the age of fourteen, and then joined his father in Montgomery, Ala .. who had been in America since 1854. Mr. Kennedy went to school in Montgomery, after his arrival, for two years, and then engaged in the business of house painting until he was twenty-one, changed to that of sign painting until 1875, then took a trip around the world. coming back to Montgomery. Ala., in September, 1876. He then went into partnership with his father, in the work of contract- ing for painting until 1878. began contracting for himself in 1886, and then went into partnership with his father, A. M. Kennedy, as a dealer in paints and oils. Joseph Mason Kennedy was married, in 1877. to Mary A. Irwin, daughter of Capt. R. L. Irwin. a native of Illinois, and has two children. Absalom M., and Lenora Maggie. Absalom Kennedy was born in Hamilton, Scotland, in 1831, received his education there. and came to America in 1854, locating first in Augusta, Ga., and then in Montgomery, Ala., whe went into business in 1857. He entered the Confederate service in the spring of 1861, in the Twenty-third Ala- bama regiment, Col. Bibb, and afterward Col. Beck, commanding,
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
and served through the whole war. After the war was over, A. M. Kennedy returned to his business in Montgomery, and has carried it on ever since. He has also served two terms. as alderman. He is a Presbyterian, as is his son, the latter being also a Knight of Pythias. A. M. Kennedy was married first, in 1850, in Scotland. to Anna McQueen, and to them was born one son, Joseph Mason. The mother died in 1852, and A. M. Ken- nedy married in 1836, in Augusta. Ga., Lenora Shiver. Joseph M. Ken- nedy's paternal grandfather was Alexander Mason, the name Kennedy being added to Joseph Mason's father's name. Joseph Mason's grandfather was a soldier in the Crimean and Indian wars, and for his military services received a pension from the British government.
R. F. KOLB was born in Eufaula, Ala., April 16, 1839, and was edu- cated at the schools there until he reached the age of fifteen. He then went to Howard college, at Marion. Ala., remaining there until the winter , of 1857. He then went to Chapel Hill, N. C., where he was graduated in June, 1859. Returning, to Eufaula, Ala., he engaged in agriculture, until July, 1887, when he entered upon the duties of commissioner of agriculture at Montgomery, having been appointed to that office by Gov. Seay, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of. E. C. Betts. In September following he was appointed by Gov. Seay to the same office, for two years, and in 1889 was re-appointed and served until September, 1891. In 1890, while in office of commissioner of agriculture, he was a candidate for governor, and came very near being nominated, being nar- rowly defeated after a four days' struggle by a combination. In 1892, he was again a candidate before the people for governor. After a warm contest in the primaries, he claimed the nomination, with the result that there were two conventions. The resulting canvass was most exciting, and Capt. Kolb insists he was fairly elected by over 45,000 majority. Gov. Jones, however, was seated. R. F. Kolb was married. in 1860. Jan- uary 1, to Mary C., daughter of Thomas Cargile, of Eufaula, and to them have been born three children, as follows: Emily F., wife of L. J. Rich- ardson; Reuben and Thomas H. Mr Kolb entered the Confederate serv - ice in February, 1861, enlisting in company B, First Alabama regiment of infantry, as a private, and served as such for the term of enlistment, twelve months. He was then mustered out and at once raised a battery of artillery, known as Kolb's battery, and re-entered the service in March, 1862, and served until about November, 1864, and then com- manded a battalion of artillery until the close of the war, with the rank of major, though he never received his commission as such. . He was in all the battles of the western army from 1862 to the close of the war. On July 28, 1864, he was wounded in the leg at the battle of Atlanta. Capt. Kolb's father was David C. Kolb, a native of Chehaw district, S. C., who came to Alabama about 1837, locating at Eufaula, where he was married, in 1838, to Emily Shorter, daughter of Gen. R. C. Shorter, by whom he had but the one child, R. F. Kolb. Capt. Kolb's parents both died while
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
he was an infant, and he was brought up by his grandfather, Gen. R. C. Shorter, until young Reuben was fourteen years old, and then by his uncle, Gov. John G. Shorter. Capt. Kolb is a gentleman of fine pres- ence and most engaging manners. He is commonly described as "genial," but the word hardly does justice to his cordial air, his quickness at repartee, and his unassuming directness that have endeared him as a leader to a large number of Alabamians.
MILTON P. LEGRAND, vice-president of the Montgomery & Florida railroad company, and president of the Commercial Fire Insurance com- pany, was born in Wadesboro, N. C., November 10, 1832, and is a son of William C. and Jane (Paul) LeGrand, natives also of North Carolina, and of Huguenot and English descent, respectively. The family came to Ala- bama, in 1837, and settled in Tuskegee, where William C. LeGrand died, at the age of thirty-nine, in 1839, and his widow in 1842, leaving one son and four daughters. Milton P. received his elementary education at Tus- kegee, and had intended to prepare himseif for the study of medicine, ,and as a preliminary step entered a drug store store at Marion, Ala., with the understanding that he was to be initiated into the mysteries of pharmacy as well as be taught the science of medicine, but the latter part of the contract was never fulfilled. However, Mr. LeGrand devoted his time and energies to self-tuition and, on returning to Tuskegee to open a drug store on his own account, he was as well posted in the theory of medicine as the ordinary graduate. He carried on his store at Tuske- gee about three years and then removed to Montgomery, where for a few years he conducted a similar business ou a much larger scale. His fail- ing health, however, warned him to relinquish the drug business, and after a year's recuperative rest, he embarked in the grocery and dry goods business and built up the largest trade in that line Montgomery ever possessed, and this he continued until 1882. In 1876 the Commercial Fire Insurance company was organized, and Mr. LeGrand was made its president, and under his able management the company has attained a reputation unequalled by that of any other company in the state. Mr. LeGrand was also one of the organizers of the Montgomery & Florida railroad company, and in 1881 was eletced its president, but in 1886, find- ing his other business duties too arduous, he yielded up the presidency and took the position of vice-president. Mr. LeGrand, notwithstanding his physically by weak condition, has a wonderfully strong intellect and power of endurance, and his success is the more to be wondered at when it is remembered that when he returned from two years' service in the Confeder- ate army his capital consisted of 75 cents. Mr. LeGrand was married at Tus- kegee, to Miss Louisa Jones, in February, 1854. ; She is the daughter of the late Dr. E. W. Jones, of Tuskegee, and the mother of three children: Milton P., William H. and Eloise.
JOHN HENRY LEIGH, tax collector of Montgomery county, Ala., was born in Orange county, N. C., June 2, 1836, and was educated in his
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
native county, and at Hughes academy, now in Alamance county, N. C. Leaving school at about the age of eighteen, he farmed with his father until 1857, when he came to Montgomery county, Ala., where he farmed until April, 1861, when he entered the Confederate service, enlisting as a private in the Montgomery mounted rifles, commanded by Capt. J. H. Clanton. This company was assigned to the First Alabama cavalry, and was known as company K. Mr. Leigh was made sergeant in 1862. and in 1863 was made lieutenant, which rank he held until the war closed, taking an active part in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro and many minor skirmishes. After the war he came back to Montgomery county, Ala., and settled down to farming, which he still continues. He was elected tax collector of Montgomery county in 1884, and was re-elected in 1888. Mr. Leigh was married in 1850 to Mary M. Clark, a daughter of Judge James Clark, of Americus, Ga. Spencer Leigh, father of John Henry, was born in Orange county, N. C., in 1808, and lives in Durham county, N. C. He is and has been a farmer all his life. He married Martha Mooring, a native of North Carolina, and to them were born seven children. of whom five now survive. One son, Houston Leigh, served in the Sixth North Carolina regiment of infantry, going out in 1861, and was killed at Gettysburg. Another son, William Leigh, entered the Confederate service in Arkansas and served through 'until 1864, when he was captured and held until the war closed. Jackson Leigh, grand- father of John Henry Leigh, was a native of Virginia, and was of Scotch descent.
ROBERT FULWOOD LIGON, ex-lieutenant-governor of Alabama, was born in Clarke county, Ga., in 1824. Receiving an academic education, he came to Macon county, Ala., and taught school a year and then read law under the late Judge David Clopton, whose partner he afterward became, having been admitted to practice in 1846. He served six months as captain of a company in the Mexican war, and in 1849 represented Macon county, Ala., in the legislature, from 1861 to 1865 he served in the state senate. When the war began he entered the service as captain of a company in the Twelfth Alabama regiment, but an affection of the spine forced him to resign before the close of the war. After practicing his profession at Tuskegee, in Macon county, Ala., for some years, he moved to Montgomery, Ala., where he now resides. R. F. Ligon, in 1872, was spoken of for governor, being named in the convention without his knowledge. This was the time that Oates, Herndon. et al., were before the convention, where Herndon was nominated. In 1874, Mr. Ligon was "conscripted" to run for lieutenant-governor, was nominated with Gov. Houston, made a thorough canvass of the state, and elected. This was the downfall of the republican party in the state. In 1876 he was nomi- nated for congress from the Fifth district, ran against Booth (republi- can), was elected by a large majority, and served one term and then retired. Since then he has refused to accept any office, and has looked
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
chiefly after his planting interests, which are scattered over several counties.
NATHAN LOBMAN, dry goods merchant, of Montgomery, was born in New York city, June 2, 1851, but was brought south when young by his parents. He received his education at the school tanght by Col. Thomas Herbert, in Greenville. Ala. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, he clerked for two years in Greenville for L. Bear & Co., and then, in 1869, moved to Montgomery and opened a general store, which he carried on two years, and then moved to Pineapple, Ala., and opened a general store there, together with L. Steiner, under the firm name of Steiner & Lobman, and carried on the business nineteen years, and then returned to Montgomery and opened a wholesale dry goods house. Mr. Lobman was married, in 1885, to Carrie Pollock, daughter of Joseph Pollock, of New York city, and to them were born three children, as follows: Theresa, Walter and Myron. Henry Lobman, father of Nathan, was born in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1822, and came to America about 1848, locating in New York city, where he remained three or four years, and then came to Greenville, Ala., where he remained until 1860, and then moved to Montgomery, Ala., where he now lives. He married Theresa Steiner, of Tachau, Austria, and to them were born nine children, of whom seven grew to maturity and six now survive, as follows: Carrie, wife of I. L. Fraleigh, of Birmingham, Ala .; Nathan, of Montgomery; Mena, wife of Jacob Greil, of Montgomery; Susan, wife of L. Steiner, of Montgomery; Emanuel, of Montgomery; and Rosa, wife of Aaron Drum, of Greenville, Ala. The mother of these children died in 1875. Nathan Lobman is a Freemason, a Knight of Pythias and a mem- ber of the B'nai B'rith, and is very much respected by the citizens of Montgomery.
JACOB LOEB, grocer of Montgomery, Ala., was born in Alsace, France, in April, 1842, and came to America in 1856. He located at Montgomery, Ala., and clerked for J. Harson, wholesale grocer, for two years, then clerked for Beal & Moore, general merchants, and remained with them until 1861, and then commenced to run the blockade under Joseph H. Johnson and kept that up until 1864, going between Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn., and Little Rock, Ark. In 1864, he located in Cairo, Ill., where he went into business and remained until July, 1865, when he came back to Montgomery, and went into business with his brother. He married, in 1869, Miss Carrie Myer, daughter of Jacob Myer, deceased, of Montgomery. Jonas Loeb, father of Jacob Loeb. was born in Alsace, and died there in 1875, aged seventy-three years. Jacob's mother's maiden name was Judith Loeb, she died in 1865, the mother of five children, viz. : J. Loeb, Sr .. Jacob. Esther, Fannie, wife of Herman Strasburger, and Samuel. Mr. Loeb is a Knight of Pythias, and as a citizen and business man stands very high in the esti- mation of the citizens of Montgomery.
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