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 26
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was thoroughly conversant with the principles of law and made an able judge. As governor of Alabama he was sincere, and his administration was marked and remembered for its wisdom and sagacity. He made a good governor and was a well defined exponent of the sentiment of his people who thoroughly loved him for his boldness, sincerity, wisdom and honesty. As a speaker he was lucid, forcible, eloquent, and his work of whatsoever form was performed with vehemence and great zeal. He was recognized as a model of probity. In his manner he was a fine look- ing gentleman, six feet in stature, of stout and symmetrical phy- sique, with good features and a florid complexion. He was public spir- ited, and a popular leader, and was beloved by all who knew him Thomas W. B. Moore was born in Spartanburg district, S. C., in 1805. and was the first of his family to come to Alabama. He settled in Perry county, but later went to Mississippi, and marrying Miss Elizabeth Bur-, ton, of Monroe county, Miss., he then settled in Clay county, Miss., where he lived for several years; then he removed to Palo Alto, Chicka- saw county, Miss., where he died in 1955. He was an extensive planter, and going into Mississippi at an early date, 1828, he became a pioneer of that state. He had four sons and two daughters, viz: Charles H., Andrew B., Rhoda J., James A., Samuel, and Mattie E. The mother of these children was born in Spartanburg district, S. C., in 1810, and died at the home at Palo Alto, Miss., in 1854. The religious faith of the parents was of the Presbyterian church in early life, but in their new home in Mississippi they became members of the Christian church, there being no Presbyterian church in their community. James A. Moore, whose name forms the heading of this sketch, was about fourteen years of age when his father's death occurred. His home was then made with his uncle, Dr. Robert Foster, of Perry county, Ala. He received an academical education and was then sent to New Orleans, where he com- pleted a commercial course in 1861. Returning to his home in Perry county a few weeks later, he became a private in the Marion light infantry, commanded by Capt. Porter King, the late judge of Marion. This company was afterward known as company G, of the Fourth Ala- bama regiment. In this company Mr. Moore continued as a private throughout the course of the war. It was his ambition to go through the war as a private in active field duty. He was a soldier of courage and zeal, and among many others he participated in the following battles: Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, siege of Knoxville, battles around Richmond, and at Petersburg, and on the sur- render, was at Appomattox Court House. But one furlough, one of indul- gence for thirty days, was ever given or asked for by Mr. Moore. At the close of the war, a poor man, Mr. Moore returned to Perry county and accepted a clerkship with the firm of Evins & Barry, general mer- chandise, at Marion; six or eight months later he was offered an interest
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in the business under the name J. A. Moore & Co., and accepting the offer he became manager, and for two years he continued as such. He then became sole proprietor, and the style became James A. Moore. Two and a half years later Messrs. Wyatt and Fitzgerald became asso- ciated with him, and the business was continued under the firm name of Moore, Wyatt & Fitzgerald Mr. Wyatt withdrew sixteen months later, and under the firm name of Moore & Fitzgerald the business continued with increasing volume and prosperity up to 1883, over a period of four- teen years, when the firm suspended mercantile business in Marion. As a business firm Messrs. Moore & Fitzgerald have considerable real estate possessions in Birmingham, Ala., and they are large stockholders in the Marion Central bank, successor to the Marion Savings bank, of which Mr. Moore is president and Mr. Fitzgerald is cashier, they having held such offices since 1884. Its stock, when Mr. Moore became its president in 1884, was worth less than 50 per cent on the dollar; the bank is now one of the most prosperous and strongest small banks in Alabama. This wonderful prosperity and success of the management of the bank has been due to the sagacious business qualities of Mr. Moore and Mr. Fitz- gerald. They were ever as successful as merchants and planters and live stock growers. In politics Mr. Moore has taken part simply as a democrat. not as a partisan. For five terms, of one year each, he was mayor of Marion, and under bis management several important changes were made, and under rigid economy the city treasury, though empty when he became mayor, was turned over at the end of his administration with several thousand dollars surplus. He has been a warm friend of education. For over twenty years he was a member of the board of trustees for the Marion Female seminary, and of the board he has been president for the last ten years or more. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church, of which he has been an elder for over eleven years, and for eight years he has been superintendent of its Sunday school. He was married in 1872 to Miss Sarah F. Robinson, a daughter of James B. Robinson (deceased) a prominent citizen of Madison county, Ala. His family is a prominent one in that county, and they come from Russell county, Va., in which he was born, and they hold colonial deeds to their early possessions in that county. Mrs. Moore was born in Marengo county, Ala., but her parental home was at Huntsville, Ala. Mr. and Mrs. Moore enjoy a high social standing, and are active leaders in the Presbyterian church. Mr. Moore is a typical business man, of good old Scotch-Irish descent, and his life has been characterized by the integrity, firmness and stability of that lineage.
A. D. PITTS, a lawyer of Uniontown, Ala., is the son of Philip Henry Pitts, a son of Thomas D. Pitts, who was a captain in the war of 1812 and a native of Essex county, Va., who removed to Alabama in 1833. He had four children, Philip Henry, D. W., A. B. D., and Mrs. Adeline Boyd. The father of these children settled in Perry county, Ala., where
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he lived until his death. He was a planter by occupation, and was well known and popular throughout the county. In politics he was a whig and he was followed in his political views by his son Philip Henry, who was born in Caroline county, Va., in June. 1816. He was educated at the Rappahannock academy and taught school several years after coming to Alabama; but to the occupation of farming he devoted most of his atten- tion during life. He married Miss Margaret Davidson, daughter of J. H. Davidson, and only sister of Col. A. C. Davidson, a well known citizen of Perry county. To this marriage there were born six sons and four daugh- ters. The eldest daughter married Hon. Mims Walker, of Alabama, John Davidson was a member of the Fourth Alabama infantry, and was killed at the battle of Gaines' mill; Kittie married Thomas Hudson; Thomas Daniel was killed during and in the Civil war; P. H. is the next son; A. D. Pitts was the next, and his sketch closes this mention; David W. Pitts is a planter in Perry county; Arthur B. Pitts was assassinated in 1889 by negroes in Mississippi. Martha is the youngest member of the family living. She is married to a gentleman in Augusta, Ga. One child died in infancy. The father of these children died in 1884, while the mother is still living, in Uniontown. A. D. Pitts was born in Perry county, February 4, 1851, and was prepared for college at Green Springs, ' by Prof. Tutwiler. He graduated in 1872 from Davidson college in North Carolina. He was then engaged for two years in farming and was then appointed tax assessor for Perry county by Gov. Houston. He served three years in that office and, after reading law, he was admitted to the bar in 1879. In 1888-89 he served a term in the legislature from Perry county. In politics he has always been a democrat. He is a deacon in the Presbyterian church, a master Mason, and a Knight of Pythias. In 1886 he married Miss Juliet Meredith, niece of Judge .T. W. Coleman.
EDWIN SHEILD, who at the time of his death was one of the oldest citizens of Perry county, Ala., was born in York county, Va., Decem- ber 27, 1810. His parents were Samuel and Maria (Drummond) Sheild, both of whom were born in Virginia. They were also married in that state and lived there till their death. They had eleven sons and three daugh- ters, and of these Edwin was the third. Samuel Sheild was a son of Robert Sheild, who was also a Virginian, and he in turn was the son of Samuel Sheild, an early emigrant from England to Virginia. Mrs. Maria Sheild was a daughter of John Drummond, who came from Scotland to Virginia. Edwin Sheild's father was a farmer by occupation, but for many years was in public office. He was clerk of the superior court and county court of York, and Warwick county, Va. Edwin Sheild was reared in York county, Va., and graduated, in 1830, from William and Mary col- lege in Virginia. He afterward studied law, but finding that profession not in accord with his tastes, he devoted himself to teaching school. In 1848 he came to Alabama, locating, first. in Marengo county, and after
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his marriage, November 27, 1853, he removed to Perry county and settled near Uniontown, where he bought a plantation. Here he resided and managed his plantation, teaching a private school occasionally. Recently he removed to Uniontown and retired from active life. He married Miss Mary Jane Semple, who was born in New Kent county, Va., November 20, 1824. Her father was James Semple, who was born in Williamsburg, Va., . and who married Miss Elizabeth Miller. of Goochland county, Va., and of Huguenot descent. James Semple was a son of Judge James Semple, of the general court of Virginia, his native state, but his father came from Scotland. To the marriage of Edwin Sheild with Miss Semple, there have been born five children, only two of whom are living, viz. : Mary S. Hungerford, of Uniontown, and Edwin Sheild, Jr., of New York city. Mr. Sheild was never desirous of public office, and in politics was a demo- crat, having been a whig before the war. He was and his wife and family are members of the Presbyterian Episcopal church. He died at his resi- dence in Uniontown, March 6, 1893.
JESSE B. SHIVERS, judge of probate, Perry county, Ala., was born in Marengo county, Ala., April 27, 1839. His father, Offa Lunsford Shivers, M. D., was a native of North Carolina, born in 1815, a son of Jesse B. Shiv. ers, also a North Carolinian, and a pioneer of Greene county, Ala., where he was a planter of influence and wealth. O. L. Shivers was but a small boy when his parents came to Alabama. He was educated in lit- erature at the university of Alabama, but did not graduate from that institution; his professional training was obtained at Memphis, Tenn., and at Lexington, Ky. From the latter state he went to Texas, when, with Gen. Sam Houston, he took, to some extent, a part in the struggle that set the state free from the control of Mexico, and for his service he later received a pension from the republic of Texas. On his return from Texas, he finished his medical education at Memphis, and after a few years in practice there, he located at Marion, Ala., where he gained a high rank as a practitioner. In the latter years of his life he retired from active practice, and died, much lamented in 1881. He married Miss Catherine Woodfin, who still survives, in her seventy-third year. This lady was born in Virginia, whence her father, James Woodfin, came to Alabama by wagon in an early day. and settled in Marengo county. To this union of Dr. Shivers and Miss Woodfin, were born five sons and two daughters, who are all still living. Judge Jesse B. Shivers graduated in June, 1859, from Howard college, then in Marion, but now at Birmingham. For a year after graduation, he taught a private school in Wilcox county, Ala., and then attended the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., where his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war. Returning home in the early part of 1861, he became a private in company K, which left Perry county for Richmond, Va., where, with other companies, it was formed into the Eighth Alabama regiment. In June, 1862, at Fra- zier's Farm, in the famous seven days' fight, he was seven times shot,
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losing his left arm, and suffering such other disabilities, that he was never again able to do duty as a soldier. In 1853, he was licensed to practice law, which profession he followed until elected judge of probate. For the first ten years after the close of the war, he served as mayor of Marion, and was, for ten years more, superintendent of education for Perry county. In August, 1886, he was elected judge of probate of Perry, and then in August, 1892, re elected. In June, 1871, he married Miss Maria L. Robinson, of Huntsville, Ala., and, as the result, five children bless his home.
DR. OFFA LUNSFORD SHIVERS .- This abie physician was born at his present place of residence. Marion. Perry county, Ala., May 24, 1849. and is a son of the late Dr. Offa Lunsford Shivers of the same place. The younger, Offa L., graduated from Howard college, of Marion, June 27, 1867, receiving the B. S. degree, and for a brief period thereafter taught school at Hickory, Miss. On his return to Alabama he farmed for three years near his native city, but failing health caused his relinquishment of agriculture. He then went under a course of medical instruction under Dr. E. B. Thompson, and having fully prepared himself for higher study, entered Tulane university at New Orleans, La., from the medical depart- ment of which institution he graduated in 1878. He first practiced at a country seat, in Perry county, and later, for nine years, practiced at Newbern, Hale county. In 1885, he returned to Marion to reside per- manently, and here he enjoys an extensive and still growing patronage. He is especially skilled in the treatment of disorders of the ear, eye and throat, having taken two post-graduate courses in the study of these affections, and he also makes a speciality of the diseases of women and children, in the treatment of which he has made an enviable reputation. In 1886, Dr. Shivers was instrumental in effecting the organization of the Alabama Surgical and Gynecological association at Birmingham, Ala., from which, in 1887, was evolved the Southern Surgical and Gynecological association. He is a member of Perry county Medical society, and was for seven years, a counselor, of the Medical association of the state of Alabama. He is, also, a member of the American Medical association, which he joined at its meeting at Chicago, in 1887. He holds member- ship also in the Masonic order, and, as a Knight of Pythias, has twice been a representative to the grand lodge. Dr. Shivers was happily married in 1875, to Miss Minnie Cocke, daughter of Hon. Jack F. Cocke, . once a state senator from Perry county, the result of the union being two sons and three daughters. The doctor is not only progressive in his pro- fession, but also as a citizen. In 1888, he devised a treatment for hemor- rhoids, which dispenses with the use of the knife, causes no hemorrhage and acts without giving pain, and has the endorsement of many able physicians and surgeons as the best appliance ever invented for the pur- pose. In 1889, the doctor and his brother, E. D. Shivers, purchased the Marion oil mills, which they have since operated as an oil mill, ginnery,
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cotton press and grist mill. His enterprise is limited only by the amount of his capital. The doctor is strictly moral in his habits, and, with his wife, is a member of the Baptist church. He is much interested in educational matters, and is a member of the board of trustees of the public schools.
JUDGE J. H. STEWART, one of the leading members of the bar in Marion, Perry county, Ala., was born in Greene (now Hale) county, near Newbern, February 10, 1841. His father, Warren D. Stewart, was born near Camden, S. C., in 1820, and died in Cabell county, Miss. Allen Stewart, the father of Warren D., was a native of Scotland, and came to the United States in 1799. He first settled near Camden, S. C., but sub- sequently removed to Tuscaloosa county, Ala., where he died quite a wealthy planter. His wife, née Swilley, was a native of South Carolina, and became the mother of ten chlidren. Warren D. Stewart was about seven years of age when brought to Alabama. He devoted his life to farming and was prosperous and wealthy. but died comparatively young. He married Miss Hannah H. Rodgers, of Greensboro, Ala. Her father, Enos Rodgers, was a native of Greene county, N. C., and of Irish descent, and married a Miss Hart, of English origin. The Rodgers family came to Alabama when Hannah H., was about seven or eight years old. This lady is still living, and is the mother of one son and three daughters. Judge J. H. Stewart, this only son, was reared chiefly in Dayton, Marengo county, Ala., received his primary education in the old-field schools and was prepared for college at Prof. Tutwiler's Green Springs academy. He then attended the university of Virginia about two years, when the call to arms sounded and he left the university where he was studying law, and in April, 1861, joined company D, Eleventh Alabama infantry, and served as a private till the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. In 1862 he was wounded. and was disabled for duty about three months; rejoining his company, he was again wounded and laid up for about two months; but he was nowise daunted, and rejoined his regiment once again. The latter part of his service was passed with a battalion of sharpshooters, Mr. Stewart acting as courier for the major of his division. After peace had been restored, Mr. Stewart was licensed to practice law and located at Uniontown, Perry county, Ala., in April, 1866, where he soon rose to distinction. and in August, 1880, was elected judge of probate; in November of the same year he removed to Marion, where he has since remained. At the close of his term six years as judge of probate he resumed the practice of the law and now stands in the front rank of the legal fratenrity of Perry county. In November of 1866, the judge mar- ried Miss Virginia Graves of Huntsville, Ala., the result of the union being five children. The parents are members of the Episcopal church and in politics the judge is a democrat.
JOHN CARTER WELCH, a successful business man of Uniontown, Ala., was born in Itawamba county, Miss., Sepetmber 6, 1845 His parents
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were Henry Hunter and Amelia (Pattison) Welch. The former was a native of North Carolina and of Welsh ancestors. He was reared in mid- dle Tennessee, and in north Mississippi. His wife was born in Georgia, and was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. They had two sons and three daughters. He was a merchant in Mississippi, up to the coming on of the war, and after the war he followed farming. They are both now deceased. John Carter Welch was reared in Mississippi, and by the time he was fourteen years old he had secured a fair education at Pontotoc, his home. When he was seventeen years old, he enlisted in the Confed- erate army, becoming a private soldier in the Forty-first Mississippi infantry. He was discharged at Corinth on account of physical disa- bility, but in 1863 he enlisted in Bradford's battery, from Pontotoc, then doing duty in the army of Virginia, and remained there in service until the close of the war. Mr. Welch soon afterward located at Uniontown, Ala., that is, on May 22, 1866, where he began business as a jeweler and silversmith. He is a practical watch maker, but he has not followed that trade for some years. He has had for some years a large trade in jew- elry, books, stationery and fancy goods. He is also interested in farm- ing, and deals in real estate in Uniontown. In politics he is a democrat, and has served four years as mayor of Uniontown. It was due to his efforts and energy that the water works of the town were established. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and has been steward of his church for fifteen years. He is a royal arch Mason, and served two years as master of the blue lodge. He was married, in 1874, to Miss Carrie Stewart of Marengo county, who is a Mississippian by birth, but was reared at Dayton, Ala. They have two sons and two daughters. Mr. Welch served one year as jury commissioner, under Gov. Houston. He has always taken an active interest in municipal affairs, having served the city in the capacity of mayor or councilman for more than twenty years, and is at present filling the latter position.
CHARLES A. WILKERSON, M. D., one of the most able general physi- cians and surgeons of Marion, Perry county. Ala., was born in Tusca- loosa county, same state, April 19, 1854. His parents were Pressley H. and Eliza (Foster) Wilkerson. Pressley H. was born near Boonsboro, Ky., in 1811. of Virginian parents, who were, doubtless, of English origin. He came to Alabama in 1829, and died at his home in Perry county, Feb- ruary 14, 1891-an octogenarian. Mrs. Eliza (Foster) Wilkerson was a native of Georgia, and was a child when brought to Alabama by her parents, who located at "Foster's settlement" in Tuscaloosa county. She there was married to Mr. Wilkerson, bore her husband eight sons and two daughters. and died in October, 1890, at the age of seventy-nine years. Charles A. Wilkerson was reared in Tuscaloosa county, was edu- cated at Howard college, then at Marion, Perry county, took a special course, preparatory to the study of medicine. This study he began at Tuscaloosa under private tutor, after which he attended the medical
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department of the university at the city of New York, from which he graduated in 1875, and since has taken three hospital courses at New Orleans, where he also took a course on the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear and throat. In 1875, he located in Perry county, and began the practice of medicine at a country seat about ten miles southwest of Marion, and shortly afterward moved to the city, where he has since met with uniform successs. He is now the president of the board of censors for Perry county, and a councillor of the Alabama State Medical associa- tion. In 1877 he married Susie Allen, a native of Perry county, and to this union have been born five sons and one daughter. The doctor, in addition to his practice, has a considerable interest in farming lands in the county, which receive from him the necessary superintendence. The family are members of the Baptist church and are of high standing socially.
PICKENS COUNTY.
HON. JOHN A. BILLUPS, a well known lawyer and public man of Pickens county, was born in Georgia, March 25, 1831. He is a son of Col. Richard and Eliza (Humphries) Billups, both natives of South Car- olina. Col. Richard Billups was born in 1796, and his wife in 1801. He was a farmer, was married in Sumter district, S. C., in 1820, and had eleven children born to him, viz .: Hermione, Mary, William, a physician of Grenada, Miss .; Ann, Richard, John A .; Octavia, deceased, Eliza, Alonzo, Robert, deceased, Myrtis, deceased. The father of Col. Billups was William Billups, a Virginian by birth. The father of Mrs. Eliza Billups, William Humphries, was a native of Ireland, a school teacher by profession, and a teacher of Gen. Jackson at the Warsaw school. Hon. John A. Billups was married December 26, 1867, to Helen Garrett, a native of Summerfield, Ala., and a graduate of Centenary college. She is a daughter of Greenbury and Mary Garrett, both natives of Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Billups have no children. Mr. Billups was educated in Pickens county, and went out with the first company of Pickens county privates called "Lane Guards," under Adj Lanier, which company became company B, Second Alabama infantry, comamnded by Col. Harry Maury. He was in many of the battles of the war, among them being those at Fort Morgan, Corinth, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, all the battles fought on Gen. Johnston's great retreat, Jonesboro, Bentonville, and numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes, surren- dering in April, 1865. After the war, he returned home to Pickens county, where he has continued to reside ever since. He began the study of law in 1866, with Willett & Terry of Carrollton. remaining a student with them two years, in the meantime practicing his profession. having been admitted to the bar in the fall of 1-66. From 1868 to 1871 he was district attorney solicitor, and in 1874 -- 75, he represented Pickens county
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in the state legislature. In 1876 he was elected to the state senate from Pickens and Greene counties, and he was again elected in 1882. In 1880 he was appointed register in chancery, which office he now holds. In 1876 he was appointed trutsee for the state of Alabama in settlement of the indebtedness of the Alabama & Chattanooga railroad company, whose bonds had been indorsed by the state. This matter was in litigation ten years, and in 1886 he succeeded in making a final settlement with the state and bond holders, being retained by the bond holders to close up all litigated matters. In 1878 he was a candidate for secretary of state before the democratic convention, but was defeated by Maj. W. W. Screws, who was both nominated and elected. He has always been a democrat, and has voted the ticket of that party ever since Gen. Lewis Cass was the presidential candidate in 1852. Mr. Billups and his wife are members of the Carrollton Presbyterian church, and he has been, an elder in the church since 1868.
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