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 32
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pioneers of Pike county. He was a prosperous planter and a man of no little influence and ability. Edward H. Johnson is the eldest of five chil- dren, four sons and one daughter, by the first marriage of his father. One son, Robert S., died between Vicksburg and Jackson while en route home from service as a soldier. He first enlisted in a boy company as first lieutenant, and was stationed at Mobile, and when he was about to be superseded by a cadet from Tuscaloosa, he resigned, returned home and joined the Fiftieth Confederate cavalry. Toward the latter part of the war he was captured near Pensacola, taken to Ship Island and paroled, and started via Vicksburg for home. The only surviving brother is William A., a warehouseman, of Bryan, Tex. The only sister is Mary Ann, wife of Adam Benbow, of near Bryan, Tex. The doctor was edu- cated at Troy, at Mount Ida and other places, till the breaking out of the Civil war, and in May, 1962, he joined company E, Fifty-sixth Alabama infantry. After about eight months' service at Mobile, he operated in north Mississippi and Tennessee, intercepting Gen. Sherman, en route to Chattanooga, afterward returning to Mississippi, and in 'the spring of 1864, joining Johnston's army in north Georgia, and fighting all the way to Atlanta, following Sherman into North Carolina, and surrendering with Johnston. His first engagement was at Mud Creek, Miss., and his last at Peach Tree Creek. He was never captured nor wounded. He returned home most of the way on foot, worked on a farm that summer, and also that of 1866, attending school during the intermediate winter. He then read medicine with Dr. Benjamin Meadows, in Crenshaw county, and took his first course of lectures in Atlanta, Ga., in 1868, and in Feb- ruary, 1869, graduated from Washington university, now the college of Medicine and Surgery, at Baltimore. He immediately located at Rut- ledge, where he had a successful career as a practitioner of medicine until 1888, since which time he has lived at Troy, where he now enjoys a successful practice. He is a member of the State Medical association, and was for some years president of the Crenshaw county Medical soci- ety. He was also a member of the board of censors of that society. On his settlement at Troy, he became a member of the Pike county Medical association, and the next year he was its president, and a member of its board of censors. He was, at one time, county physician of Crenshaw county, was tax collector of that county, by appointment of Gov. Hous- ton, was postmaster at Rutledge during President Grant's administration, holding the office until he left the place. He was for some years W. M. of Rutledge lodge, No. 256, F. & A. M., but now a member of Troy lodge, No. 56. He was prelate, also vice chancellor, and now is C. C. of Pike lodge, K. P., and he is always active in politics, and in all public affairs. In June, 1869, he was married to Sarah E., daughter of John D. and Mary H. Chapman, natives of Georgia, but who removed, when young, to Alabama. Mr. Chapman died in Crenshaw county, where he had served as justice of the peace for many years, and from which county he
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was for one term elected to the state legislature. Mrs. Chapman is still living. Mrs. Johnson was born in Elmore county, Ala., and is the mother of five children. Both Dr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south.
JAMES JOHNSON, a planter of Tanyard beat, No. 6, was born in Craw- ford county, Ga., November 29, 1840. He is a son of Isaac and Martha C. (Kelley) Johnson, natives of Jones county, Ga., Me Isaac Johnson hav- ing been born May 8, 1808. and died April 6, 1871, and Mrs. Martha C. Johnson being born August 8, 1815, and dying June 27, 1879. They were married in their native county, and removed thence to Crawford county, and in 1851 removed to Pike county, Ala., settling on a small improve- ment, near where James Johnson now lives. Here they spent the rest of their lives. Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Christian church for. many years. Mr. Johnson was an industrious and energetic man, but did not accumulate very much property. He however made a good, honest living. He was a thorough democrat all his life, but was not a politician · nor an aspirant for public honors. He was a volunteer in the Indian war, but was not called into service. The father of Isaac Johnson came from Ireland, was of Scotch-Irish origin, and died in Jones county, Ga. He was formerly from North Carolina, and was the father of nine sons and six daughters. Samuel Kelley, Mrs. Johnson's father, was born in North Carolina, but went to Georgia when a young man and spent his life there as a mechanic. He was of English parentage, was probably in the Mexican war, at the close of which his wife died. They were parents of a large family. James Johnson was the third of a family of three sons and seven daughters. William Washington, now deceased, was a member of company A, Sixtieth Alabama infantry, was in numerous engage- ments, having enlisted in 1862, and served in the Virginia army. James enlisted, February 14, 1862, ir company E, First Alabama infantry, was mustered in at Pensacola, and soon after went to Island No. 10, where he was captured and spent thirty or forty days at Camp Randall, Madison, Wis., and was then taken to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he remained about five months. He was then taken to Vicksburg and exchanged, and was at the siege of Port Hudson, where he was captured again, paroled and went home, where he remained about six weeks. He was then ordered to rejoin bis regiment at Cahaba, Ala., went to Meridian, Miss., for the winter, and in the spring spent a few months at Mobile and Fort Gaines. He then joined the Tennessee army at Allatoona Pass, fought on to Atlanta and Jonesboro, and back with Hood to Franklin and Nash- ville, and accompanied that general to Mississippi and to Mobile and Montgomery, where he received a permit to go home. Here he was taken sick and did not return to the army. He was not wounded during the war. He was company commissary most of the time, but otherwise a private soldier. After the war he assisted his father a year or two, when he began life for himself as a farmer. He and his elder brother farmed
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
together, each having one horse or mule, thus making a team between them. In this way they were soon able to buy a farm and get a good start. In 1873, Mr. Johnson married Mary C., daughter of Felix G. and Elizabeth (Miller) Mulkey, natives, respectively, of Wilkes and Jones counties, Ga. Mrs. Mulkey died in 1860, and Mr. Mulkey, in 1862, mar- ried again, removing to Pike county, and has since resided near Clay Hill; he is now seventy five years old. He has always been a farmer, and in politics, up to the war, was a whig of the most ultra kind, and since the dissolution of the party has been a republican, but has not been over active. For several years he has been an invalid. He had eight children by his first wife and six by his last. He had two sons in the late war: William G., who ran away from home to join the army, and served a short time, and his brother John also served a short time. Both were taken prisoners, William G. serving in prison at Camp Morton, Indiana, and John at Camp Chase, Ohio. Mrs. Johnson-was born in Jones county, Ga., and has five children, viz .: William Washington, James F., Vir- ginia Alvira, Minnie, and Nannie Lou. Since his marriage Mr. Johnson . has lived at his present farm, where he owns 400 acres, of which about 200 acres are cleared and fairly well improved. What property he has he has accumulated by his own exertions, starting with nothing. He has always raised all his own supplies, and raises cotton only as a surplus crop. His success is due largely to his own hard work, good manage- ment and economy. He has one brother, Robert, in Texas; his sisters who lived to mature years, were: Louisa, wife of B. H. King; Nancy C., wife of A. J. Benton; Martha, deceased wife of W. H. Manning; and Julia, deceased wife of James Finlayson; Lizzie, wife of D. W. Hughes, deceased. Two other sisters died young.
ALEXANDER B. MCDOWELL, planter of Dixon's beat, was born in Montgomery county, in 1842. He is a son of Alexander and Charlotte T. (Brown) McDowell, natives of South Carolina, the former born in 1805, the latter in 1807. They were married October 29, 1825, and came to Alabama prior to the Indian war in 1836. They lived some years in Barbour county, then removed to Montgomery county, and finally, in about 1832, came to Pike county, where Mr. McDowell died, Septem . ber 21, 1863, his widow dying in 1882 in Hempstead county, Ark. Mr. McDowell was a hard-working industrious man, and accumulated consid- erable property, was esteemed by all who knew him, was a Mason and a a great worker in the order, and both he and his wife were for many years prominent members of the Missionary Baptist church. His father was of Scotch extraction, and was born probably in South Carolina. He came to Alabama in an early day with his wife. Some time afterward he was killed by a runaway team on his way to Montgomery county. His occu- pation was that of a farmer. John Brown, the maternal grandparent of Alexander B. McDowell, also came from South Carolina and received his education in Montgomery county. He was a blacksmith and the father
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-PIKE COUNTY.
of a large family. Alexander B. McDowell was the eighth in a family of five sons and five daughters. All but one of the sons were in the late war. William was a private soldier in the Fifteenth Alabama infantry, and was killed at the battle of Sharpsburg, Mo .; John was a member of the same regiment, and was discharged after about a year's service, on account of ill-health; James B., now of Hempstead county, Ark., was in company H, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry, from 1864 to the close of the war, serving in the Tennessee army: and Alexander B., in May, 1862, joined company H, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry, went to Loachapoka, then on to Chattanooga, and did his first fighting at Tazewell, Tenn. He was then engaged in the Kentucky campaign and in the defense of Vicks- burg. He was captured, paroled, and sent home for about two months. He then rejoined the army at Demopolis. Ala., and was in the battles around Chattanooga. He then fought all through the Atlanta campaign, back with Hood to Nashville, at which place all but three of his company were captured. He then retreated to Mississippi, whence he was ordered with others to join Gen. Johnston in North Carolina. He fought in the battles of Kingston and Bentonville, in which latter battle he was twice wounded, once in the left wrist and a few moments later in the left arm, by which wounds he was for a short time disabled, but surrendered soon after with Johnston. After his surrender he returned home, most of the way on foot, and began immediately to retrieve the losses of the war by turning his attention to farming. On November 28, 1867, he married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Ramage. She was born in Chambers county in 1843, and is the mother of three children, William B., Oscar L., and Charley C. Since their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. McDowell have lived in their present neighborhood. Mr. McDowell owns a farm of 749 acres, more than half of which is under cultivation. He commenced with noth- ing after the war, and what he now has he has accumulated by his own efforts. From time to time he has purchased additions to the land he had, until his number of acres is what has been mentioned. For some of his land he has paid as high as 822 per acre. His prosperity is due to his personal supervision of his affairs, good management, and in not hes- itating to take hold of hard work himself. While he never aspired to public office, he has managed to live a life of comparative happiness and contentment. feeling satisfied to cast his lot with the farmers, and he has always been proud of his choice. As a result of this choice he is to-day one of the most prosperous and independent of the farmers of Pike county, and is well and widely known for his honesty and fair dealing. Both he and his wife have been members in good standing of the Mis- sionary Baptist church for many years.
JAMES D. MCEACHERN, farmer of Dixon's beat, No. 7, was born in Robinson county. N. C .. 1825. He was a son of John and Elizabeth (Con- oley) McEachern, who were natives of the same county. John McEach- ern was highly educated .. About 1837 he removed to Sumter county,
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
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Ga., but in 1840 he removed to Pike county, Ala., settling near Hobdy's Bridge, and after spending the rest of his life in Pike county, died in 1847. Mrs. McEachern died in 1879. Both Mr. and Mrs. McEachern were Presbyterians for many years, and were active workers in the church. He was a stanch democrat, but was not what might be called a politician. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was stationed at Norfolk, Va. He was a Mason for many years. He was a farmer in moderate circum- stances, was scrupulously honest, and was liberal and kind-hearted-too much so, it was thought by some, for his own success in life. His father, Daniel McEachern, was a native of Scotland, but spent much of his life in North Carolina, dying in Cumberland county, when the father of James D. was a boy. His wife also died in the same county. Both of them were Presbyterians. Grandfather Daniel Conoley, and wife, Nancy Campbell, were natives of Scotland, where they were reared and married, and a few days afterward left their native country for the United States, settling in Cumberland county, N. C., with a Scotch colony, with which he came to this country, and spent the rest of his life in that county. Their family consisted of six sons and four daughters, and many of their descendants are still living. Some of the sons became quite prominent, and one of them, John F. Conoley, came to Alabama in 1836, settled in Selma, became a merchant, and served as sheriff of the county. He then became a lawyer, was very successful in this profession and made a for- tune before the war. He became colonel of the Twenty-ninth Alabama infantry, and fought all through the war in the Tennessee army, losing his eldest son in the war. After the war he resumed his law practice, and was probate judge at Selma a good many years. His second son, William, is in the United States navy, and his youngest son, Douglas, is a Methodist minister, is a fine lecturer, and has spent much of his time in the old country, more especially in the Holy Land. James D. McEachern was one of a family of eight children, three of the brothers and one sister dying in North Carolina. He was reared upon the farm, with limited educational opportunities, and so what education he secured was obtained by his own efforts. He came to Alabama with his parents, and began life for himself at the death of his father, when he was but eighteen years old. He, at that time, took charge of the family, and, being an invalid, the responsibility was a great one for him. In 1861 he married Hasseltine J. Anderson, born in Troup county, Ga., daughter of James Anderson, a native of South Carolina, and a mechanic, who died in Pike county, Ala. Mrs. McEachern died in 1866, leaving two sons and a daughter, viz .: John A., a physician of Brundidge, a graduate of the medical department of the university of Louisville, Ky., having, however, previously graduated in the literary course from the Southwestern uni- versity, of Clarksville, Tenn .; William C., hardware merchant of Troy, who was educated at Clarksville. Tenn. ; and Hasseltine J., wife of Will- iam C. Van Hoose, of Troy. Mr. McEachern was married the second
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-PIKE COUNTY. 849
time, to Mrs. Mildred Anderson, daughter of M. C. Corley, and his wife, Mahala, both natives of Edgefield district, S. C., from which place they removed to Chambers county, Ala., in 1836, and there died. They were both members of the Missionary Baptist church. Mrs. McEachern was born in South Carolina, and has three children, viz .: Hadley A .. Cono- ley P., and Mary L. Since. 1840, Mr. McEarchern has lived in Pike county, and on his present farm, two miles west of Brundidge, for thirty- three years. This farm consists of 410 acres, most of it being under a high state of cultivation, the improvements being made mostly by Mr. McEachern. While he himself has been a Presbyterian for many years, both of his wives were Baptists. He has always been in poor health, which has to a great extent interfered with his prosperity, but notwith- standing this interference, he is universally esteemed for his honesty and high moral standing.
MCLENDON FAMILY .- Elder George Grandberry Mclendon was born in Morgan county, Ga., December 14, 1807. He moved with his father to Alabama in 1818, one year before Alabama had assumed her statehood, and settled near Burnt Corn, Conecuh county. Living there six years, he moved with the family to Pike county, Ala., in 1824, near what is now known as Brundidge, where he grew to manhood and married Miss Martha Martin, January 15, 1828, and engaged with the pioneers of Pike county in felling the forests perparatory to the developing of the agricult- ural resources of the then wild and beautiful lands of the new state. He was baptized by Elder Hillsman Hill and connected himself with the Salem Baptist church, July 9, 1832; ordained to the office of deacon April 27, 1833, and was elected clerk, July 22, 1837; ordained to the ministry July 27, 1840. As is always the case in new countries, he had almost no opportunity of obtaining even the merest rudiments of an education; he began his public life as a minister barely able to read a chapter in the Bible or the most familiar hymn. With his desire to preach came a desire to improve the mind, and by a course of hard study and careful reading, accompained with much prayerful thought, his latent talent began to develop, until in a short time his services were in demand by many of the best churches within a radius of forty miles of where he lived. When the association to which Mr. Mclendon belonged saw the necessity of evangelizing the destitute neighborhoods within its borders, he was selected for three years to preach in these localities as the missionary of the association. The field to which he was sent embraced southeast Alabama and west Florida, where, under his scriptural teachings, a large number of Baptist churches were organized, out of which, in a few years, several influential associations were made, whose influences are powerful factors in forming hundreds of prosperous and happy neighborhoods. Owing to his popularity as a preacher and the development of his mental powers, he was a number of years chosen as moderator of Salem associa- tion. After the three years' service mentioned above, he resumed the
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relation of pastor to as many churches as his time and age would admit until the present time, 1892. Although he will soon be eighty-five years of age, he never fails to command the respect and close attention of the congregation, that will gather at short notice to hear him declare the unsearchable riches of Christ. His mind is logical. He reasons from cause to effect, and he never leaves a congregation without leaving his impress upon the people as a faithful witness of his Lord and Master. As a Baptist he has always been ready to give "a thus saith the Lord" for his teachings, and he believes no other religious tenets are scriptural save those held by the Missionary Baptists, known as Landmark Baptists. No one was ever heard to charge Mr. Mclendon with inconsistency, because he was always known to practice what he preached. He is now the only pioneer preacher of the early days of southeast Alabama, and the only constituent member now known to be living of the Salem associa- tion. Perhaps it will not be saying too much to say that no one in the state, where he was known, has enjoyed a greater share of the confidence of the people, and perhaps, no one has merited it more than he. The father of Elder George G. Mclendon was Josiah Mclendon of North Carolina nativity, and perhaps related to all the MeLendons in the United States, and maternally he is related to the Grandberry family, his mother being the daughter of Elder George Grandberry of North Carolina, one of the first preachers of the Baptist persuasion. George Grandberry of Harris county, Ga., was uncle to Elder Mclendon. Elder George Grand- berry Mclendon had born to him six sons and four daughters; the three eldest sons are living. Five of the sons served in the late war, as Con- federates, viz. : Hon. J. R. Mclendon, a prominent farmer of Montgomery county, Ala., who. served in the army of Tennessee until he lost a hand by accident. He is a man of fine education and has followed teaching and farming most of his life, and in the years 1888 and 1889 represented Montgomery county in the legislature; as a successful farmer he has taken, within the last five years, five first premiums at the state fairs for " the largest and best display of farm products. Mr. Mclendon, in the year 1856, married Mary Jane, daughter of Dr. J. C. Courtney, of Mont- gomery county, Ala. J. D. Mclendon, the next eldest son, after receiving a liberal 'education in Orion institute, Pike county, Ala., engaged in farming and merchandising until the late war, when he enlisted in company G, Fifty-third Alabama volunteers, and served until surrendered at Columbia, S. C., May 1, 1865, since which time he has been engaged in farming and general merchandising. He was made a Mason in 1855, Orion lodge, No. 177; was master of Ramer lodge, No. 243, one year, and is now secretary of Harrison lodge, No. 246, Henderson, Pike county, Ala. Mr. Mclendon married Susannah, daughter of W. B. Myrick, in 1859. Jackson J., the next elder son, now of Ramer, Montgomery county, Ala., served also in the Confederate war until surrendered by Gen. R. E. Lee, April 9, 1865. In early life he followed teaching and farming, and
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is now engaged in farming and architecture; his extreme modesty has pre- vented him showing his moral worth as a citizen where his lot has been cast. Eor several years he was township superintendent of free public schools, and is now clerk of Ramer Baptist church. Mr. Mclendon was married to Miss Elenor E. Cook of Montgomery county, Ala., in 1858. Jasper G. and Joseph F. were both wounded in the battle of Shiloh, April 7th, 1862-the latter mortally: the former was never heard from. Judson Cary, the youngest of the six, was killed on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, in July, 1891. He was married in 1869 to Miss Josephine Burgess, daughter of William Burgess of Pike county, Ala. Two of the four daughters died in infancy; the other two married and have since died. Julia Ann, the elder of the two, left a son, George Edge, now of River Falls, Covington county, Ala .; the other. Josephine, left three children, two sons and one daughter, viz. : James T., Mollie.F. and Clarence M. Talbot.
MITCHELL D. MAUGHON, planter of Greene's beat, No. 8, was born in Walton county, Ga., in 1833. He is a son of Wiley and Sarah (Freeman) Maughon, natives of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. Wiley Maughon went to Georgia a young man and there followed teaching school for a good many years, later followed farming, and died in Walton county, Ga., in 1863. His widow died in 1870. She was a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Maughon was a well-to-do farmer, active in pub- lic affairs and a good citizen. His father, William Maughon, spent all his life in North Carolina, was a farmer, was seven years in the Revolu- tionary war, and was of the first generation of his people born in this country. His parents were Scotch-Irish, and reared a large family. Samuel Freeman, the maternal grandfather of M. D. Maughon, died in Georgia. He was likewise a farmer, reared a large family, and served in the Indian war of 1836, and he was likewise of Scotch-Irish parentage. Mitchell D. Maughon was the eighth in a family of nine sons and three daughters, all but one of the sons being in the late war, viz. : Sidney, now of Gwinnett county, Ga., who served in the Virginia army from Geor- gia; William, now of Walton county, Ga., who was in the same command; Peyton, now of Walton county, Ga., also in the same command;' Francis, now of Morgan connty, Ga., also in the same command; John, now of Pike county, Ala., who served in the Thirty-third Alabama infantry, and in the Tennessee army; James, also of Pike county, was in a Georgia command, and Wiley, who was in the army of Virginia, was captured and it is supposed died in prison, as he was never afterward heard from. Thomas, of Walton county, was an invalid. and therefore not able to enter the service. Martha, widow of Samuel Snow, deceased, of Walton county, Ga .; Elizabeth, wife of William Wayne, of Walton county, Ga .; Rebecca, wife of James Caldwell, of Walton county, Ga. Mr. Maughon was reared on a farm, with a fair English education. He began life for himself at the age of twenty-two, as a farmer, and in 1859 went to Clark
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