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 19
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
To illustrate some of the phases of his character. it may be well to men- tion an incident or two, which can be authenticated by many living wit- nesses. While in charge of the above mentioned hospital, he found it absolutely essential to place a guard around the building to protect the patients from straggling soldiers, and transient visitors. On a cold, rainy morning, he heard a noisy altercation with one of the guards, and a would-be intruder. when he reached the scene, the intruder, who was dressed in general's uniform, as he pushed away the guard, sharply demanded by whose authority he was prevented from entering the build- ing. adding that he was Gen. Maxey Gregg. "By my authority," exclaimed the doctor. "I am the surgeon in charge, and placed the guard there to protect my sick soldiers, and even if you were Gen. Long- street himself. you cannot enter here, without passing over my dead body." A painful pause ensued, as each one threateningly, and defiantly eyed each other, which was ended by Gen. Gregg, explaining that he, under orders, was repairing to headquarters of Gen. Longstreet, that he had no desire to intrude, against orders of the surgeon, and compli- mented the doctor upon his protection of his patients. Yet, as a special favor, he would be glad to be permitted to come out of the rain until the train came. Of course he was admitted, and enjoyed with the doctor a most excellent breakfast, during which they had a hearty laugh over the incident. When he was nominated to the legislature, he at first stood for the senate, and seemed to have a "walk over," as the opposition could not concentrate upon a candidate. The excitement was pretty high, the farmers, and country people generally for the doctor, and the lawyers and the city people generally for a lawyer. Several names were men- tioned, and finally Col. Daniel S. Troy, of Montgomery. was pitted against him. Several ballots were taken, with Dr. Nicholson increasingly in the lead. The doctor knew Col. Troy to be one of the best lawyers in the state, and knowing. at that particular time, when the country was making the most strenuous exertions to be relieved from radical and car- pet bag rule, that it was vitally important, for the best interest of the country, that its most able men should be in the legislature, and believ- ing Col. Troy better fitted, by his legal training, than he was for the position, he, without consulting with any one, just before the next ballot, which undoubtedly would have nominated him, arose to ask permission to withdraw his name, and motioned that Col. Troy be nominated by acclamation. Assoon as the convention recovered from its surprise, the motion was put, and carried. Dr. Nicholson was then (under slight pro- test from him) nominated by acclamation, for the house. This unusual action on his part was applauded and approved by many, but he was severely criticised by some of his best political friends.
JOHN CHARLES O'CONNELL, cotton commission merchant and buyer, was born in Mobile, Ala., October 12, 1837, and was educated at the Christian Brothers' school. At the age of seventeen he entered a foundry
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in Mobile, and remained about two years, and then went on a steamboat as engineer, eventually reaching the position of chief engineer. Subse- quently he became an engineer in the Confederate service, serving about eighteen months at the beginning of the war in the Twenty fourth Ala- bama regiment, and afterward in the navy until the war closed. He was wounded in Mobile bay while fighting Farragut. He located in Mont- gomery in 1871, and was employed as engineer and then as shipping clerk, and in 1874 went into the cotton business, which he now carries on. He is president of the Standard Building & Loan association, and of the National Banking & Trust company, and is a thoroughly practical busi- ness man. He was married in 1870 to Lucy A. Merritt, daughter of George W. Merritt, of Richmond. Va. Bernard O'Connell, father of John Charles, was a native of Ireland. He came to America when a youth, settling in Alabama in 1836. He was in the Mexican war, and was also caption of company B, Twenty-fourth Alabama infantry in the Confeder- 'ate service. He died in 1871. His wife's maiden name was Katharine Smith, a native of Ireland.
MAJ. THOMAS W. OLIVER, a prominent planter of Montgomery county, was born in that county in 1827. He is a son of Samuel C. and Mildred Spencer ( McGehee ) Oliver, the former of whom was born in Elbert county, Ga., in 1799, the latter in Oglethorpe county, Ga., about 1810. They were married about 1825. Samuel C. Oliver when a boy had very limited educational advantages, but read Latin privately, and then studied medicine with Drs. Richardson and Watkins. In 1819 he entered a medical college in Philadelphia, and afterward graduated from the medical college at Baltimore, Md. He began the practice of medicine before he was twenty-one years of age, lived in Georgia until 1826, when he came to Alabama, settling near the present location of MeGehee's Switch. He practiced there with great success and had a very extensive practice, going sixty or seventy miles occasionally to see his patients. He was prominent in politics and was for seventeen years, a member of the state legislature, serving in both branches of that body with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He removed to the city of Montgomery in 1846. He was a member of the state senate at the time of his death in 1848. He was a leading member of the legislature, and was instrumental in securing the removal of the capital of the state from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. He was a prominent member of and worker for the Protestant Episcopal church. He was a man of broad views and yet was conservative in his actions. He was one of a family of seven sons and three daughters, viz .: Samuel C., Thomas, McCarty, James, John, Christopher, Junius. Mary, Millie, and Susan, born to the Rev. McCarty Oliver, a native of Georgia, who lived in that state many years, but who, in 1840, removed to Chambers county, Ala., where both he and his wife, Susannah, who was a descendant of Gen. Roger Clarke; died. Rev. McCarty Oliver was a farmer and a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and
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was one of the best and purest men of his day. He was of a very humane disposition and was very sympathetic. He was also one of a family of seven sons and three daughters, viz. : Peter, John, James, Thomas, William, Dionysius, Jr., MeCarty, Martha, Nellie, and Fannie. The father of these children, Dionysius Oliver, was a native of Petersburg; Va., but during the progress of the Revolutionary war, in 1778 or 1779, removed to what is now Elbert county, Ga .. and there spent the rest of his life. His wife, Mary Ann Winfrey, was a daughter of Valentine Winfrey, of whom but little is known. Abner McGehee, the father of Mrs. Mildred S. Oliver, was a native of Georgia, was one of the pioneers of Montgomery county, and was one of its most prominent citizens. He is mentioned more fully elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Oliver died May 4, 1887. She was a woman of great culture and refinement, and a most elegant Christian lady. She was the mother of three sons and two daughters, viz .: Thomas W., Dr. Abner McCarty, a graduate from the medical department of the university of the city of New York, and a prominent physician of Montgomery, now deceased; Mary M., wife of Dr. Mckenzie Johnston of Galveston, Tex .; Susan J., now Mrs. Stockwell of Sealy, Tex .; Dr. Samuel Clark, who died a few years after the war. He was a surgeon in the Confederate army, serving in a Texas command, being a resident of that state at the time, but returned to Alabama after the war. Maj. Thomas W. Oliver received a good common school education in his youth, and graduated from the university of Alabama in 1847. Soon afterward his father died and he was made manager of the estate. He has followed farming all his life. In December, 1854, he married Miss Mary E. Brown, daughter of Dr. Thomas and Eliza ( Dixon ) Brown, both of whom were natives of Georgia, but who came to Alabama early in their lives. They both died on the farm upon which Thomas W. Oliver now lives. Mrs. Oliver was born in Montgomery county, and died in 1880, leaving one son, Thomas Winfrey Oliver, Jr .. Maj. Oliver, joined the First Alabama cavalry, Col. Clanton, as quartermaster, with rank of captain, and fought at Shiloh and many other places, scouting through Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and other states, until the fall of 1862, when he resigned on account of sickness, but in 1863, he rejoined his command as major, in which, capacity he served until the close of the war. During the time of his service he traversed nearly all the Gulf states, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and others, but was in but few general engage- ments. He was a gallant soldier and rendered the Confederate States valuable aid. He was never either captured or wounded. He surrendered with Gen. Forrest on the Warrior river in Alabama. Since the war he has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and is one of the leading planters of the county, residing seven and a half miles east of Mont- gomery, where he has a fine home. He has been content to live a private life, is a man of superior intelligence and one of the best and most highly esteemed citizens of Montgomery county.
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
WALTER WASHINGTON PEARSON, a member of the Montgomery bar, was born in Tallapoosa county, Ala., January 16. 1862. He was educated there and at the Agricultural and Mechanical college at Auburn, Ala. While at college he became a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He went to Mobile in January, 1883, where he was a teacher in the Bar- ton academy for nearly three years. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1885, at Dadeville, from which place he went to Tuskegee, where he engaged in the loan business, in connection with the practice of law. Next he came to Montgomery, Ala., where he formed a law partnership with Joe Callaway, which lasted from September, 1887, to October, 1889, when he formed a partnership with A. D. Sayre, which continues under the firm name of Sayre & Pearson. While living in Tuskegee, on the 2d day of March, 1887, he married Miss Lavinia Trimble, daughter of J. B Trimble, of Montgomery. Mr. Pearson's grandfather, Thomas Gilroy Pearson, was a native of North Carolina, and was born March 16, 1829, and came to Alabama with his parents in December, 1850; he was a farmer all his life, served -in the Confederate army, ill health rendering him unfit for field duty. He married Miss Amanda Veazey in 1853, and to them were born five children, all now living. The death of George W. Pearson took place in 1876, at his residence near the village of Hackneyville, Tal- lapoosa county, Ala.
JUDGE FRANCIS C. RANDOLPH. of Montgomery, was born in Tusca- loosa, Ala., December 6, 1841, and is a son of B. F. Randolph, a native of Virginia, who came to Alabama in 1819, locating at Tuscaloosa, where he resided until 1850, when he removed to Montgomery. Francis Corbin Randolph was educated at Green Springs and at the university of Vir- ginia, from which latter institution, on January 9, 1861, he entered the Metropolitan Guards as a private soldier, and remained in the service to close of the war. At the re-organization of the command to which he was attached in April, 1861, the Metropolitan Guards were merged into the Third infantry. He left the Third the following fall, and joined Semple's battery, in which, in January, 1862, he was made sergeant. April, 1863, he was promoted to adjutant of the Seventh Alabama cavalry, and a week later was commissioned captain of company A, which he commanded for about one year, when he was made major of the regiment, and as such commanded it to the close of the war. At the cessation of hostilities he returned to Montgomery, where he had read law and been admitted to the bar, and entered into the practice of his profession. In August, 1880, he was elected judge of probate, and was re-elected in 1886. He is now chairman of the democratic county central committee, a member of the state committee, and is regarded as one of the best political workers in the state. He was married in Uniontown, Ala .. December 6, 1866, to Miss Sallie T. Nicholson, daughter of Robert W. Nicholson. The judge is a prominent Knight of Pythias, Knight of Honor, and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
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DR. GEORGE RIVES, a practicing physician and surgeon of Snowdoun, Montgomery county, was born in what is now Elmore county, August 26, 1827. He is a son of Dr. George and Eliza Ann (Glenn) Rives, the former of whom was born in Bedford county, Va., in 1796, and the latter in Hancock county, Ga., in 1806. Dr. George Rives was a cousin of Will- iam C. Rives, John Y. Mason and Gen. Winfield Scott, three of Virgin- ia's most distinguished sons. He graduated in medicine from the uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and in 1818 came to Alabama, and in 1824 was married in what is now Elmore county. He spent the rest of his life in this county, with the exception of a short time in Virginia soon after he was married. He died in Elmore county in August, 1867. He practiced medicine all his life without any compensation whatever, and was one of the most generous and hospitable gentlemen ever in the state. He was always active in public affairs, but never was an office seeker. He, how- ever, served in the secession convention of the state. He was a very prominent member of, and an active worker in, the Protestant Methodist church for many years, and was very fond of hunting. His father, Nathaniel Rives, of Lynchburg, Va., was a native of that state, was of Scotch-Irish descent and died at Lynchburg. 'He belonged to one of the best families of the state. Mrs. Eliza Ann Rives was a member of the Protestant Methodist church more than sixty years, lived in Elmore county more than seventy years, and died, July 19, 1892, aged eighty- four years. She was a daughter of Capt. Robert Glenn, who was probably a Virginian, but who was reared and married in Hancock county, Ga., and about 1817 came to Alabama, settling in what is now Elmore county, following farming there for the rest of his life, and dying in 1829. His wife was Mary Lewis, an aunt of Dixon H. Lewis. She also died in Elmore county. Dr. George Rives was the third of six sons and three daughters who lived to maturity, viz. : Dr. Robert Y., who died in Texas before the war; Judge Nathaniel, who served as a captain in the Third Louisiana infantry one year, then raised a company, and was in the Trans-Mississippi army to the close of the war; he was a promi- nent lawyer and a distinguished judge of Louisiana several years. now deceased; Dr. George, Willlam T., who was in the Eighth Texas infantry all through the war and is since deceased; John, who served in the Sixth Alabama, and is now living in Elmore county; Frank, who was in the Sixth Alabama Independent Rifles in 1861 and 1862, and in the Fifty-sixth Alabama later, in which he was killed; Ann Eliza, deceased wife of Dr. Thomas Hall; Mattie T., deceased wife of John Powell, and Caro- line B. Dr. Rives received a common school education, after which. for a few years, he followed farming. In 1849 he began the study of medi- cine with Dr. William Rives, and in 1852 graduated from the university of Pennsyleania, and soon afterward began the practice of medicine in the neighborhood in which he lives at the present time. He has been in practice ever since, except during the war and from 1870 to 1876, when
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he was at Waxahachte, Tex. In 1853 he married Mary W. Holmes. daughter of Henry and Ann H. (Walker) Holmes, the former a native of South Carolina, and the latter of Virginia. They were married in South Carolina about 1815, and in 1820 came to Alabama, settling in Montgom- ery county, where they spent the rest of their lives. Mr. Holmes was one of the leading farmers of his day, was a good and worthy citizen and died in 1865, and his wife in 1883. Both were members of the Missionary Baptist church. Though Mr. Holmes was an uneducated man, yet he was in many respects remarkable for fine natural gifts. Mrs. Rives was born in Montgomery county, and had five sons, viz. : Henry Holmes, died in infancy ; George, Edward Walker, Frank Lewis, deceased, and Robert Glenn. The three living sons are farmers of Elmore county. In the sum- mer of 1861 Dr. Rives served in Virginia with the Independent Rifles, but was not regularly enlisted. In 1862 he joined company A, Fifty-sixth Alabama cavalry, and became captain of the company, and fought at Mud creek, in the Mississippi campaign and from Rome, Ga., to Atlanta. He then went to the Carolinas with Johnston, and surrendered 'with him. He was never wounded nor captured, but fought always with courage and gallantry, and was frequently offered, but as often refused, promotion. After the close of hostilities he resumed the practice of medicine, and is now one of the oldest practitioners in Montgomery county, having been engaged in the practice of medicine over forty years, all but six of which have been in this county. Dr. Rives is also extensively engaged in farm- ing, owning over 2,000 acres in Elmore county, besides a good farm upon which he resides. All his property has been acquired by his own unaided efforts. His wife is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and is a most refined and accomplished lady.
REV. DR. JOHN WESLEY RUSH was born in Montgomery county, Ala., March 22, 1833, and when about four years old was taken by his parents to Tuskegee, Macon county, Ala., where he lived until 1848. when he was sent to Emory college, in Georgia, where he completed the course in 1853. 'He then returned to Russell county, Ala., and taught school about six months and then commenced to preach in the Methodist Episcopal church, south, when about twenty-one years of age. He was admitted into the conference in the fall of 1854, and in the fall of 1857 was sent as missionary to the negroes, having done considerable of similar work in his youth. In the fall of 1858 his health gave way, and he was elected a professor in the Female college at Tuskegee, Ala., where he remained until the fall of 1861, when he entered the Confederate service as captain of the Macon Rifles, and served as such about fifteen months. He was captured at Island No. 10, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, and later to Johnson's Island, and held about six months. On his release he returned to Alabama, locating in Clarke county, and was presiding elder of the Selma district when the war closed. Then he was sent to Marion for three years, Mobile four years, Prattville two years, Selma district four
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years. Prattville two years, Birmingham four years, as editor of the Christian Advocate, thence to Selma four years, and in the fall of 1890 to Montgomery, where he is now doing most excellent ministerial work. The honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Emory college, Ga., and on the same day. also, by the Agricultural and Mechanical college, Ala. Dr. Rush was married in Oxford. Ga., April 25, 1854, to Miss Octavia Andrew, daughter of Rev. James O. Andrew, at that time bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and to them were born ten children, of whom seven survive-two sons and five daughters. The sons are-Charles Andrew Rush, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and John Osgood Rush, now in college at Greens- boro, Ala. Dr. Rush was for many years trustee of the Male college at Greensboro, and is now trustee of the Female college at Tuskegee., Charles G. Rush, father of the doctor, was born in Lincolnton, N. C., in 1782. He was a planter all his life, and was captain in the militia of South Carolina. He was a very popular man, strong intellectually, and a power in the community. He married Sarah Norman, of Georgia, whose father was Maj. Norman, of the Revolutionary war.
DR. JOHN T. SANKEY, a retired physician and surgeon, of Tharin, Montgomery county, Ala., was born in Greene county, Ga., in 1825. He is a son of William D., and Margaret D. (Daniel) Sankey, natives of the same county, where they were educated. and lived until about 1835. They then came to Alabama and settled in Montgomery county, where they spent the rest of their lives. Mr. Sankey was a prosperous farmer, a self made man, and a man of character. He died in 1863, while his widow died in 1882. The father of William D. Sankey was Dr. John T. Sankey, a native of Virginia, from which state he removed to Greene county, Ga., where he practiced medicine for many years. His father was the Rev. Richard Sankey, a native of Ireland, who married a Scotch lady, named Miss Thompson, and came with her to America about 1777. They probably died in Virginia. He was a Presbyterian minister. James Daniel, father of Mrs. Margaret D. Sankey, was a native of Georgia, in which state both he and his wife died. He was of Irish descent, a farmer, and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Dr. Sankey is the eldest of a family of eight children, all of whom are dead except himself and a sis- ter. He came to Alabama with his parents, but soon returned to Georgia, and lived with his uncle. He was educated in Greene county, and later he attended the university of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. He then turned his attention to the study of medicine, and in 1830 graduated from the university of Pennsylvania, and began his practice in Montgomery county, where he has practiced ever since. He is now one of the oldest physi- cians in the county. In 1851 he married Rebecca H. Daniel, daughter of Dr. James and Mary Daniel, who removed from Virginia to Georgia, and later came to Alabama, settling in Montgomery county, where Mr. Daniel at first followed farming. Mrs. Sankey was born in Georgia, and
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has borne eight children, viz .: Dr. George, a graduate from Louisville medical college, Kentucky: Ella, died when young; Bettie, wife of E. H. Grant: William; Maggie; Robert, died when young: and Frank; the fourth child died when an infant. and was not named. Mrs. Bettie Grant was educated at the Montgomery Female college. The sons received their English education at Montgomery, and the youngest son finished his education at Auburn college. Early in the late war Dr. Sankey joined the First Alabama cavalry, but was detailed by petition for home service, on account of his being a physician. After having given liberally to his children, he yet owns a fine farm. While he is an active worker for his party, he has never sought office. Mrs. Sankey and all the children, except the eldest son, are members of the Presbyterian church.
T. SCOTT SAYRE, lawyer, was born in Montgomery, Ala., May 20, 1856, and educated in his native city. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he at once began to study law with his father, Paul T. Sayre, was admit- ted to the bar in 1879, and practiced for himself with success for several years. In October, 1887, he formed a partnership with Horace String- fellow and Paul LeGrand, which partnership continued until October, 1891, since which time he has been doing business on his sole account. Always active, energetic, shrewd and of quick perception, popular and well posted in politics, he was selected, at the age of thirty, secretary and treasurer of the democratic central committee of Montgomery, and has several times been delegate to Montgomery county conventions. Paul T. Sayre was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1821, and was graduated at Princeton college, N. J. He was a class-mate of Frank P. Blair, of Missouri; Senator James T. Beck, of Kentucky, and other distinguished men. He was admit- ted to the bar in 1842, in Eufaula, Ala., his parents having moved to Alabama when he was a child and built the house in Montgomery where President Davis lived. Mr. P. T. Sayre practiced law in Eufaula, Ala., until 1854, and was for many years prior solicitor of that circuit. In 1854 he moved to Montgomery, Ala., where he practiced until his death in June, 1887. He married Mary Virginia Scott, daughter of Thomas B. Scott, of Alabama. The father of Paul T. Sayre was William Sayre, who was born in New Jersey; moved to Norfolk Va., when a young man and there married Miss Baker. He was a merchant. Thomas B. Scott, father of Mrs. Mary Virginia Sayre, was a native of Lowndes county, Ala. He was a planter and was son of John Scott, who with others entered the land from the government on which Montgomery now stands. T. Scott Sayre has been always recognized in Montgomery as one of the keenest legal practitioners in the city, by both the bar and the public at large.
WILLIAM WALLACE SCREWS, editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, was born February 25, 1839, in Barbour county, Ala. He was educated at the school in the village of Glennville, then Barbour, now Russell, county, where he spent his life until he was nineteen years of age. It was intended that he should have the benefit of a collegiate course, and
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