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 33
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county, Ark., and in June, 1861, joined the Second Arkansas battery, and began operations around Nashville, Tenn., and then with Gen. Wheeler's cavalry the rest of the service. He fought at Shiloh, and at Murfrees- boro and Shelbyville, Tenn. He was captured June 27, 1863, and was at Camp Chase, Ohio, one month, and then at Camp Douglas twenty-three months, or until the close of the war in June, 1865. The first year of his prison life he fared moderately well, but the last year he nearly starved and suffered untold hardships. He was wounded twice at Shelbyville. After the war he returned to Arkansas, and in 1868 came to Pike county, Ala., where he has since resided, four miles south of Brundidge, where he owns a farm of 200 acres, all of which he has earned and obtained by his own efforts, and most of which he has under a high state of cultivation. In 1891 he was married to Orpha, daughter of Wingett and Tolatha Flowers, natives · of North Carolina, whence they emigrated to Pike county, Ala., where they married and spent the rest of their lives. He died about 1861, and she in 1874. They were the parents of eight children. Mr. Flowers was a member of the Primitive Baptist church. Mrs. Maughon was born in Pike county. Mr. Maughon is a zealous and active democrat, is honest and industrious and well to do, but for many years has been in rather feeble health. He . stands high in the community for his sterling character and general knowledge.
JOEL DYER MURPHREE was born in Smith county, Tenn., November 5th, . 1827. His father, James S. Murphree, was born near Louisburg, N. C., August 1st, 1796, and was one of a family of ten children. When a young man he left North Carolina and located at Carthage, Tenn., where he married Matilda S. Dyer, December 20th, 1820, the daughter of Joel Dyer, who was a man of some prominence, having served two terms in the legislature of , his state. Matilda S. was born in July, 1803, at or near where she was married. They had born to them eleven children. Mr. James S. Murphree's occupation was that of general trader and mer- chant. He merchandised at Rome, Tenn., about the years 1838 to 1841, and at Commerce, Tenn., until December, 1844, when he and family moved to Troy, Ala., where he continued merchandising until a short time before his death, which occurred July 20, 1856. Mrs. Matilda S. Murphree passed away June 30, 1875. She was noted for her faith in the efficacy of prayer. Both joined the Baptist church about the year 1836. Hon. Joel D. Murphree is the fourth in order of birth, of a famliy of seven boys and four girls, viz .: Mary B., born November 5, 1821, died October 22, 1890; Sarah A., born December 18, 1823, died June 2, 1891; William M., born December 28, 1825, died May 30, 1879; Joel D., born November 5, 1827, yet living; James K., born April 7, 1830, yet living; Elizabeth F., born June 13. 1832, yet living; Daniel B., born June 27, 1834, died December 31, 1890; Benjamin F., born November 22, 1837, died November 27, 1860; Edwin D., born September 14. 1840, died February 18. 1885; Thomas M., born January 4, 1843, yet living, and Almira M., born
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-PIKE COUNTY.
May 18, 1844, died July 7, 1853. Mary B. married Dr. J. B. Fannin, September 22, 1852; Sarah A. married Mr. W. M. Love, April 2, 1848; William M. married Miss Susan Henderson, March 1, 1849; Joel D. married Miss Ursula A. Mullins, January 18, 1853; James K. married Miss Adlaide Henderson, October 15, 1854; Elizabeth F. married Mr. Urban L. Jones, December 16, 1847: Daniel B. married Miss Mary W. Henderson, December 19, 1865; Benjamin F. married Miss Rebecca Hill, May 3, 1858; Dr. Edwin D. never married. Thomas M. married Miss Lizzie Howell, January 29, 1872. Of the above, Dr. Fannin, Joel D., James K., Daniel B., Edwin D. and Thomas M. Murphree and Urban L. Jones were soldiers in the Confederate war. which terminated in 1865, all of whom were honorably discharged, not one having lost his life, and only one (Daniel B.) wounded. The sainted mother prayed incessantly that her boys might survive the war and return home. Her prayers were answered. Hon. Joel D. Murphree attended in his youth, such schools as his neigh- borhood afforded which were meager. At eleven years of age, his father, needing his services, took him from school, and from that time until his majority he was continuously employed as salesman in his father's store. For his last year's services he received 8300, with which he and his brother-in-law, Urban L. Jones, commenced business at Troy, Ala. (mer- chandising), the firm being Murphree & Jones. Their business pros pered until the commencement of the Confederate war, 1861, at which time their estimated wealth was 875,000. After the cessation of hostili- ties, they resumed business at Troy, which continued about two years, when they dissolved co-partnership. After which Mr. Murphree was engaged in various honorable pursuits. The results of the war caused the unavoidable failure of nearly every merchant in the south, all of whom were owing more or less to houses in New York and other northern cities. Those who were able to pay anything, compromised their liabili- ties at from 10 to 50 cents on the dollar. Mr. Murphree could have done the same, but preferred to pay 100 cents, which he says was the proudest act of his life; not only so, but the payment of the full amount at that time gave him a standing in the commercial world that has been worth ten times the amount he could have saved by a compromise, besides the satisfaction of mind of having done the right thing by his creditors. His wealth is now estimated at $100,000. A great man has well said that "success is the rule by which men must be tried." Tried by this rule, Mr. Joel D. Murphree will stand the test in very nearly all departments of life. He grew to wealth in our midst, but not in disregard of his good name. He maintained for himself the bearing and position of a gentleman, honest in his dealings with men, and upright in whatever business he might be engaged. His life had an object in view, and that object was the honest accumulation of a fortune, which should be useful to himself and to others; useful to business and morals, to society and. religion. His success is largely due to his temperate habits, honesty,
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and personal attention to the details of his business. Mr. Murphree is now, and has been from his youth, a strong advocate of the cause of temperance, and has contributed to the press many articles in its advo- cacy. He regards the traffic in intoxicating liquors as a great sin, and an impediment to civilization, and never fails to condemn it upon all proper occasions. He has been a member of Troy lodge, No. 56, F.& A.M., since May, 1850, and served the same as secretary for fifteen years; he is also a member of Tyrian chapter, No. 54. In 1891. being the oldest member of the lodge, he delivered, by request, an address on "Practical Freemasonry," which elicited higb commendation. In politics Mr. Mur- phree is a sound democrat, always voting for the nominees of his party. In 1855 he was defeated for the legislature by the know-nothing party, but in 1857 was triumphantly elected to that body, and was again chosen in 1872. In 1875 he was nominated and elected a member of the consti- tutional convention, and assisted in framing the present constitution for the state. He was chairman of the county executive committee of his county for fourteen years, reaching to 1890, at which time he was dis- placed at the instance of the alliance party. He has often been a dele- gate to political conventions of his county and state, and in 1884 was a delegate to the national convention at Chicago, that nominated Cleveland and Hendricks. The marriage of Mr. Murphree took place January 18, 1855, to Miss Ursula A. Mullins, daughter of Thomas K. and Amelia Mullins, who came from Lee county, Ga .. and settled in Pike county, Ala., in 1849. Mrs. Murphree is a native of Georgia, and was born April 12, 1832. They have five children, born to them in the following order: Josephine, wife of Charles B. Goldthwaite; Thomas E., Allie, wife of J. S. Carroll: Joel D., Jr., and Nettie. Mr. and Mrs. Murphree are members of the Baptist church, and are ever foremost in church work and church charities, and their social standing is of the highest in the country.
BURR RAMAGE, a planter of Dixon Beach, was born in Chambers county, Ala., in 1841. He is a son of Benjamin and Caroline E. Ramage, natives of Newberry district, S. C., the former having been born in 1809 and the latter in 1812. The latter came to Alabama with her parents when she had grown to womanhood. Benjamin Ramage received a fair education, but his wife had very limited opportunities in this direction. They married in Chambers county, Ala .. and lived there until 1853, when they removed to Pike county and settled on the place adjoining that upon which Mr. Ramage now lives. Both were members of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Ramage died in 1886, but Mrs. Ramage is still living. Mr. Ramage, though not an able-bodied man, yet managed to make a good living, and was industrious, honest and upright, and was highly respected by all who knew him. His father was named Benjamin Ramage, and died in South Carolina, when the father of Burr Ramage was a boy. If not born in Ireland he was of Irish extraction. Robert
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-PIKE COUNTY.
Ramage, the maternal grandfather of Burr Ramage, was a relative of Benjamin, and came from South Carolina prior to the Indian war of 1836. He settled in Chambers county, where he died about 1856. He was a farmer and reared a large family. Burr Ramage was the second of a family of five sons and three daughters. Robert was in company H, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry from 1863, and fought from Dalton to Atlanta and back to Nashville, where he was captured and soon after- ward taken to prison; Charles H., Simeon, Joannah, wife of John Smith; Mary, wife of A. B. McDowell; Dollie and James, deceased. Burr Ram- age was reared on a farm and received a fair common school education. Early in 1862 he entered company H, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry, and joined Kirby Smith's army at Chattanooga. He was in the Kentucky campaign and siege of Vicksburg. after which he was paroled and came home, remaining about three months, when he rejoined his regiment at Demopolis, Ala., and then joined Bragg's army near Chattanooga. He served all through the Atlanta campaign and back to Nashville with Hood. After the battle of Nashville, in which he took an active part, he retreated to Alabama, and afterward joined Johnston in North Carolina, fighting at Bentonville, the last battle fought by that army. He sur- rendered at Salisbury, N. C., while on detached service. He was wounded at Vicksburg and disabled for about a month. After the war he resumed farming, and in 1867 he married Nancy A., daughter of Eldridge and Annie Lockhart, early settlers of Pike county, where Mrs. Lockhart now lives, Mr. Lockhart having died in Texas before the war. Mrs. Ramage was born in this neighborhood, where Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart were mar- ried. Mr. Ramage has four children, Pearl, Annie, Kyle and Laura. He has two farms in the neighborhood of his home, containing, in the aggre- gate, 580 acres, all obtained by his own hard work. His crops consist of cotton, corn and all the necessary provisions for his family and stock. He has somewhat more than half his land under cultivation. Both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church, and his is one of the best families in the county.
ISRAEL L. TURNER, a planter and mechanic of Monticello, Pike county, was born near Milledgeville, Ga., in 1836. He is a son of John and Dor- cas (White) Turner, the former a native of Georgia, the latter a native of South Carolina. Mrs. Turner came with her parents to Georgia and married near Milledgeville, where she and her husband lived until 1839, when they came to Pike county, settling about six miles northeast of Brundidge upon a small improved farm adjoining the property where Mr. Turner now lives. Mrs. Turner died soon after moving to this locality, and Mr. Turner marrying again removed to Pike county, Ark., where he died July 15, 1891, at the age of about ninety years. He had been a hard- working, well-to-do farmer and a good manager, but a man of limited edu- cation. His father, Henry Turner, was probably born in Georgia, but removed to Alabama when a very old man and died during the war at the
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war at about ninety years. His wife had died in Georgia, John Turner was a member of the Primitive Baptist church, and his wife of the Mis- sionary Baptist church. Israel L. Turner was the second of a family of six sons and seven daughters, four of who are living, viz .: Israel L., Isaac of Pope county, Ark .; George and Susen, also of the same county. James was killed near Decatur in northern Alabama, while serving in Wheeler's cavalry, and John, since deceased, served all through the war and was wounded near Atlanta. Israel L. Turner was reared on a farm, and received a limited education. He remained at home till his marriage in 1861 to Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Barr, who came from Virginia to Georgia and thence to Pike county, Ala., at an early day. They both died at the home of their son-in-law. Mrs. Turner was born in Georgia and has five children, viz. ; Allie, wife of James Ship- man, of Barbour county; Sallie, wife of Bascom James; William, Thomas and Addie. Mr. Turner has lived in the neighborhood he now resides since 1853, and, since his marriage, on his present farm of 260 acres. It is a good farm and well improved. Mr. Turner is a practical, progressive and successful farmer, producing nearly everything consumed on a farm. He also breeds fine Jersey and Holstein cattle, mules and other live stock. When he began work upon this farm there were but thirty acres cleared and now it is nearly all under cultivation. This fact alone would lead any one to infer that Mr. Turner is a hard-working man and a good manager. Early in 1862 he joined company H, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry, fought at Shiloh, in the Mississippi campaign, and at the siege of Vicksburg, where he was captured, paroled and then went home, remaining there about sixty days. when he rejoined the army at Florence. He fought at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, being in the wagon department and driving a wagon down Lookout moun- tain, a very dangerous undertaking, as he had to pass between the two armies. He also served through the Atlanta campaign and back to Nash- ville with Hood; but he was not in the battle of Franklin. In the battle of Nashville he took up the flag after the color bearer had been shot down. On the retreat from Nashville he brought up the rear and went with the wagon train to Cornith, from which place he went to South Car- olina to join Gen. Johnston, with whom he remained until that general surrendered. He was, however, at that time at Newburn, S. C., where he surrendered. He at once started for home on horseback: but when be- tween Macon and Atlanta he gave his horse to a one-legged soldier and took the cars for Eufaula, having served in the army three years and five months. He has never aspired to public office. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and he has , been a steward in the church for twenty-five years. He is proud of the fact that one of his boys has not missed an attendance at Sunday school for five years.
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ELISHA S. WHALEY, a farmer of Pike county, was born in Henry (now Spaulding) county, Ga., in 1823. He is a son of Isaac and Ruth (Smith) Whaley, born in Jasper and Putnam counties, Ga., respectively. Isaac Whaley and his wife were both reared on the farm, and received a very limited education. In abont 1833 they removed to Chambers county, Ala., and in 1853, to Pike county, where Mr. Whaley died in 1859, and Mrs. Whaley in 1867 or 1868. Mr. Whaley was a well-to-do farmer, hard working, industrious, and frugal. He was a stanch whig all his life, but was in no sense a politician or a public man. He was one of a large family born to Zachariah Whaley, who was of Irish descent and a Revo- lutionary soldier, of a sturdy and industrious race, and who died in Upson county, Ga. Josiah Smith, the maternal grandfather of Elisha S. Whaley, died in Spaulding county, Ga., a very old man, having lived for many years, perhaps during his whole life, in that state. He was a boy dur; ing the progress of the Revolutionary war. Elisha S. Whaley was the second of a family of five sons and two daughters. He was reared on a farm and had very limited opportunities for securing an education. He came with his parents to Alabama, but married in Talbot county, Ga., in 1856, Serena N., daughter of Ebenezer Whaley, a brother of Isaac. He was born in Hancock county, Ga., and died in Talbot county. Mrs. Whaley was born in Jasper county, Ga. They have no children, but soon after the war they adopted Eli A. McPherson, when he was about two and a half years old, whom they have reared and given a fine education at the. state Normal school at Troy. He graduated from the Lexington, Ky., business college. In 1853, Mr. Whaley settled on his present farm, four miles southwest of Troy, with about fifteen or sixteen acres cleared, a few pole buildings, hewed log floors, etc. He has thus spent nearly forty years on the farm, starting with nothing, and is now the owner of about 1,700 acres in different tracts. His home farm of 1,200 acres is one of the best equipped and best cared for in the state. It has good fences, good buildings. and a fine orchard, with perhaps the best variety of fruit in the county. Mr. Whaley is a practical farmer, always produc- ing to sell instead of buying to sell again. He served three years and seven months in the late war as a private soldier and sergeant in company E, Forty-sixth Alabama infantry, most of the time in the quartermaster's department, operating in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, etc., in Stevenson's division, and was in active service most of the time. He was captured at Vicksburg, paroled, and came home for a short time. At the Nashville fight he became detached from his command, and did not rejoin them for several months, and then at Rienzi, Miss. Soon after- ward he was sent to South Carolina, and was detailed to join Gen. Lee, but surrendered at Catawba Hill, N. C., with a supply train. He came home at once. reaching it May 17th, and the next day, Sunday, was follow- ing the plow, the crops being very much in need of attention, the negroes having left the field. Since then he has persistently pursued
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farming and stock raising with almost phenomenal success. He has been for many years a member of Troy lodge, No. 56, F. & A. M., and also of the chapter. Both he and his wife have been members of the Missionary Baptist church for nearly half a century, and stand high in the community.
HENRY CLAY WILEY, of the firm of Gardner & Wiley, and one of the most distinguished lawyers of Troy, Pike county. Ala., was born at Clay- ton, Ala., October 4th, 1840. He is a son of Judge J. McCaleb and Elizabeth (Duckworth) Wiley, the former a native of Cabanas county, N. C., born in 1806, and the latter born in Dallas county, in 1815. Judge McCaleb Wiley, after receiving a good literary education at Chapel Hill, N. C., at first chose medicine as his life profession, and having come to Alabama with his parents when a young man, read medicine, and in due course of time, graduated in medicine at Philadelphia. He first located in Dallas county, Ala., for practice, then removed to Clinton, La., where he continued practice a few years, when he changed to Butler county, Ala., where he continued in practice until 1839. He then settled in Clay- ton, Ala., and here, on account of ill health, he relinquished his practice and devoted himself to the law, in which practice he continued at Clayton until 1859, when he removed to Troy, where he met with abundant suc- cess. Soon after the close of the Civil war he was elected judge of his circuit, and held the position with distinguished success for eight years, but his health again failing, he retired to private life a few years before his death in 1878. He was a man of great force and magnetism and an able debater; he was of noble bearing and commanding appearance, tall, erect and well proportioned, and he was social and genial in disposition. He was general of the state militia in an early day, and during the late war was commissioned a colonel, but he did not enter the service. He was one of the most prominent Masons of the state, having taken the thirty-second degree, and at one time was the grand master of the grand lodge of the state of Alabama. He was a Presbyterian in his religious belief, but was not a member of any church. He was three times married, and had born to him four children by his first wife, and five by his second, but by his third marriage there was no issue. Ivan Wiley, father of J. McCaleb Wiley, was also a native of North Carolina, and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. but removed to Alabama some time in the twenties. He was a farmer and miller, and died at his residence near Courtland. James McCaleb, the maternal grandfather of Judge Wiley, was a native of North Carolina, was connected with the Mecklenburgh secession, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and was known as Capt. McCaleb. Randolph Duckworth, the maternal grandfather of Henry Clay Wiley, was born and married in North Carolina, soon after the latter event coming to Alabama and settling in Dallas county, where he died at quite an advanced age, a wealthy, influential and highly respected planter. Henry Clay Wiley is the third born in a family of three sons and one
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daughter. The two brothers, Maj. James H. Wiley and Dr. Thomas W. Wiley, of Mckinney, Tex., both served in the Confederate army in the war. After receiving a good training at the Clayton school, Henry Clay Wiley attended Davidson college, in North Carolina, one year, and then two years at Oglethorpe college, Ga. In 1859 he went to Richmond. Tex., and there taught school until 1861, when he was among the first to offer himself as a volunteer in the Confederate army, on the breaking out of the war of secession. He joined Terry s Rangers, afterward the Eighth Texas cavalry, was sent to the army of the Tennessee, and was in every engagement in which that command took part, excepting the last fight at Franklin, Tenn., beginning at Bowling Green, Ky., and on to Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Perryville, Ky., and from Chattanooga to Atlanta, where he was taken ill. On his recovery he joined his command at Milledge- ville on the way to Johnston in North Carolina. He took part in the fight at Bentonville, N. C., and just prior to the general surrender he tried to get his conpany out for the purpose of joining the trans-Missis- sippi army, but on reaching Hamilton, Ga., he heard of Gen. Dick Taylor's surrender. Nevertheless he continued on to Columbus, Ga., at which place he heard of the surrender of Kirby Smith, and upon the receipt of this information, he abandoned his design of crossing the Mississippi and disbanded the company he had commanded for two years, although he had never received a captain's commission. During his field service he had many narrow escapes from death, having had several horses shot from under him, his clothes shot to pieces and his mustache shot off, and yet escaped without a wound. The war being over, he vis- ited Troy, Ala., to see his people, his intention being to return to Texas; but he changed his plans and at once entered upon the study of the law. In January, 1866, he was admitted to the bar, and the same year was mar- ried to Miss Henrietta Worthy, a native of Upton county, Ga., daughter of Dr. A: N. Worthy, who had removed from Georgia to Macon county, Ala., and later to Troy, where he still resides. Mr. Worthy began his professional life as a physician, but relinquished medicine for the law, and soon after the close of the war was elected to the state senate for four years, being the only democrat in that body. Mrs. Wiley departed this life in 1873, leaving three children, and in 1875 Mr. Wiley married Miss Ophelia, a sister of his first wife and a native of Troy, to which marriage have been born two children. Henry C. Wiley's firm is one of the foremost in the legal profession in southeast Alabama, and Mr. Wiley is himself an honest counselor and a ready speaker. is devoted to his profession, and for eight years was solicitor for Pike county. He is a bright, and ardent Freemason, and is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the K. of H., K. of P., and other secret societies. He has filled the position of W. M., of Troy lodge, No. 56, F. & A. M., has officiated as H. P. of the chapter, as eminent commander of the council, and grand king of the
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