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 35
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA,
for the term commencing in 1892, was brought about by a combination of republicans and alliance men.
WARREN W. PITTMAN, merchant of Roanoke, Ala., was born June 11, 1851, in Randolph county, Ala. He received an academic education, and at the age of twenty-two began life for himself as & farmer. He con- tinued in this course in life until 1881. when he established himself in the mercantile business at High Shoals, Randolph county, as a member of the firm of Weathers, Ussery & Pittman. At the end of two years he sold his interest in this firm and returned to the farm. At the end of another year he re-entered mercantile life at Hook Mills. Here he remained until 1888, when he formed a partnership with J. C. Mayfield under the firm name of Pittman & Mayfield. In 1889 that business was closed out and the firm was re-organized under the name of Mayfield, Pittman & Co., which has done business at Roanoke ever since. This firm carries an average stock of $10,000, and transacts an annual amount of busi- ness of 875,000. Besides his interest in the business of this firm Mr. Pittman owns a plantation of 840 acres of land. He was married March 14, 1883, in Randolph county, to Docia Mayfield, daughter of W. S. and Emeline G. (Ussery) Mayfield. The family of Mayfields were origin- ally from North Carolina, but moved from there to Gwinnett county, Ga., and thence to Benton (now Calhoun) county, Ala., in 1836. W. S. May- field was born in 1833. married in Randolph county October 7, 1855, and reared a family of twelve children. The mother of these children died September 15, 1888. Her father was a soldier in the late war, serving in company F, Fifty-ninth Alabama infantry. By his marriage to Miss Docia Mayfield, Mr. Pittman has one child. Willia Verna, a daughter eight years old. Politically Mr. Pittman is a democrat, is the principal merchant in his town, and belongs to a family held in high esteem.
C. A. PRESCOTT, merchant and mill man of. Wedowee, is a son of Alvin and Sarah K. ( Veal ) Prescott, the former of whom was a native of North Carolina, and, after losing his first wife, removed to Newton county, Ga. Here he was married to his second wife, Miss Sarah K. Veal. Leaving Georgia in 1842, he came to Alabama, settling in the eastern part of Randolph county, where he lived until his death, which occurred December 25, 1860. He was a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal church for many years. He reared a family of ten children, five of whom are now living, viz .: Elizabeth, now Mrs. Freeman, of Tuscaloosa county, Ala. ; Eliza, now Mrs. Parma, of Randolph county, Ala. ; C. A .; Matthew, of Randolph county, Ala .; and Georgia, now Mrs. Marrow, of Randolph county, Ala. C. A. Prescott was born Feb- ruary 1, 1836, in Newton county, Ga. He came to Alabama when six years old and has lived in the vicinity of his present home ever since. He was married October, 1861, in Randolph county, Ala., to Miss Sarah A. Marrow, by whom he had the following children, viz. : Alice, now Mrs. Owens, of Wedowec, Ala .; C. M., of Roanoke, Ala., a merchant: and
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J. S., also a 'merchant of Roanoke. Mr. Prescott, although opposed to the war of secession, entered the service of the Confederate States, Sep -- tember 13, 1862, as a member of Walthall's battalion, and was engaged in the recruiting service all through the war. For ten years after the war was over he followed farming, and then he sold his farm and established himself in the milling business near Wedowee, which he conducted four years. He then established himself in the mercantile business, which he has continued to the present time at Wedowee, under the firm name of Prescott & McMurray, the firm carrying a stock of about $3,000. He is also interested in the milling business in two different places in the county, one of these places being ten miles east on Wedowee creek, and the other one mile north. He is also interested in farming to some extent. He has served the county one term as commissioner, four years from 1880. In politics Mr. Prescott is a republican. He is a master . Mason, and is senior warden of his lodge, No. 93. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and is a deacon of his church. Mr. Prescott is one of the leading merchants of Wedowee, and is of a good family and is highly respected by the entire community.
FOUNTAIN P. RANDLE, superintendent and manager of the cotton fac- tory at Rock Mills, is a son of Rev. William and Lucretia (Edwards) Randle, the former of whom was born in Virginia in 1806. His father, Wilson Randle, moved to middle Tennessee, when he was a mere youth, settling in Stewart county, near Fort Donelson. He was of Scotch- Irish descent, and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Rev. William Randle lived in Stewart county until reaching manhood, when he joined the Methodist conference, of which he remained a member thirty years, preaching in different parts of Tennessee. He married near where he was reared, about 1830, and brought up a family of seven children, six of whom are now living, viz .: C. L., judge of Paducah circuit, living at Hickman, Ky .; Georgia, wife of John Bottomly, of Franklin, Ky .; Wiley E., principal of high school at Sulphur Rock, Ark ; Fountain P .; Mattie, widow of C. W. Taliaferro, of Roanoke, Ala .: and A. G., hotel keeper at Roanoke. Ala. The father of these children died in Franklin, Ky., in 1870, and the mother at Rock Mills, Ala., in 1887. The Edwards family, to which she belongs, came from Virginia. Fountain P. Randle was born September 25, 1839, near Fort Donelson. He received a com- mon school education and left college without completing the regular course in order to enter the Confederate army. His county furnished fifty Confederate soldiers and 1,000 Union soldiers. Mr. Randle was one. of the fifty Confederate soldiers. He went to Bowling Green, Ky., and enlisted in company F, Sixth Kentucky infantry as a sergeant, in 1861, having seen some service, however, before enlisting, at the taking of the Louisville & Nashville railroad. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, where he was slightly wounded; in the siege of Vicksburg, in that of Baton Rouge, Murfreesboro, Hartsville, the Atlanta campaign, and was severely wounded at Resaca, being shot through the body. He then spent
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some time in the hospital at Atlanta, and went in front of Sherman to the sea. He was at Savannah for a time, then at Charleston, and then at Camden, and was finally paroled at Washington, Ga. After the battle of Chickamauga, he was made adjutant of his regiment, for gallant conduct. and his name was used in general orders for such conduct. The colonel of his regiment lived at West Point, Ga. At that time other regiments were receiving articles from the ladies at home, and the colonel of the Sixth Kentucky, wrote to his wife to see that his regiment was not for- gotten. A pair of fine socks with the Confederate flag knit into them came back to the regiment with a card attached, addressed, "To the gal- lant Randle." This card was signed by the sender. Mr. Randle wrote to the lady, a correspondence being the immediate result, and after the war they were married. Mr. Randle now declares that he got more out of the war than any other southern soldier, "A blessed, good wife.", In 1866, Mr. Randle went into the sewing machine business at Franklin, Ky., remaining there for a year. He then located at West Point. Ga., and went into the mercantile business until 1871, when he became president of the Rock Mills Manufacturing company, which operated a cotton mill at Rock Mills, Randolph county, which mill was burned down in 1881. There being no insurance on the building, Mr. Randle lost all he had made. Another company was then formed and the mill rebuilt, and this mill has since been in operation. Of this company Mr. Randle is secre. tary and treasurer. The products of the mills are sheetings and yarns. Mr. Randle was married in November, 1867, to Miss Lucretia Atkinson, whom he met during the war. They had one child, William Nathan, a boy of fourteen years. In 1884. Mr. Randle was elected to the legislature from Randolph county, and served one term. In politics he is a demo- crat. He is a chapter Mason, and is junior warden of his lodge. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is chairman of the board of stewards of his church. In 1868, he gave his wife's cousin, an orphan girl, an education in college. Several years ago she went to Shanghai, China, and has been there engaged in missionary work ever since.
GEORGE W. STEVENS, druggist of Roanoke, Ala., is a son of Wilkins and Henrietta (Pound) Stevens. Wilkins Stevens was a native of North Carolina and was reared in that state. While still a young man he removed to Putnam county, Ga., where he married, and where he lived until 1854. He then came to Alabama, locating in Chambers county, about nine miles southwest of West Point, Ga. In 1860 he moved up into Randolph county, where he bought a tract of land four or five miles square, on which the manufacturing town of Rock Mills now stands. Here he lived the remainder of his life dying in 1872. He was a farmer the most of his life, but toward the latter part of it he turned his attention to manufactur- ing. He was a man of great energy and thrift, and accumulated consid- erable property. He was a member of the Primitive Baptist church.
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B. F. WEATHERS.
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-RANDOLPH COUNTY.
He was married in Putnam county, and reared a family of seven children, viz. : William, who was a lieutenant in the Confederate service, and was in command of his company on the last day of the battle of Gettysburg, but was never heard of afterward; James, of Temple, Bell county, Tex .; Isabella A., widow of J. C. Sharman, of Rock Mills, Ala .; Mary M., wife of William R. Sharman. of Rock Mills, Ala .; George W .; Milton S., of East Lake, Ala. ; and Clara S., wife of James Wilson of Rock Mills, Ala. The mother of these children still lives on the old homestead at Rock Mills. George W. Stevens was born August 21, 1859, at the old home- stead in Chambers county. His common school education was finely sup- plemented by a course of three years at the Agricultural and Mechanical college at Auburn, Ala., where he graduated in the class of 1880, with the degree of bachelor of engineering, and since then the same college has conferred upon him the degree of master of arts. At the time of his graduation he received a gold medal for writing the best essay on the subject of geology. Any specified subject connected with geology was permitted to be selected, and Mr. Stevens chose "coal," and as before stated, received the first prize. The first year after leaving college he had charge of Roanoke Normal college, as president of the institution, and was twice re-elected to the same position. He then removed to Lineville, where he had been elected president of the Lineville college. He remained in this position five years, and was again elected, but being offered his old position at Roanoke, he returned to that place and taught school there three years. During the last of these three years the school building burned down, but the term was filled out in the churches. In 1892 he resigned his position and started a drug store, which he is now managing. He was married, in 1881, at Roanoke, Ala., to Miss Cora L. Mickle, of an old and respectable family. By this marriage he has four children, Lotan Adelle, Ucal Pound, Lauron Eris, and Evan Horwaday, who was born August 26, 1891, and died October 20, 1891. Politically, Mr. Stevens is a democrat. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is master of finance; both he and his wife are members of the Mis- sionery Baptist church, and he has been superintendent of the Sunday school and is now a teacher. He is a man of much more than ordinary education and intelligence, is of an excellent family, and is most highly respected by the entire community,
B. F. WEATHERS, cashier of the Bank of Roanoke, at Roanoke, Ran- dolph county, Ala., is a son of Isham T. Weathers and Sarah Ann. (Thompson) Weathers, of English and Scotch descent, the former of whom was born in Rutherford county, N. C., October 31, 1811. He was a son of Isham Weathers, who died here, August, 1863, at the age of ninety-three, and who was a soldier in the war of 1812 and 1814, under Gen. Andrew Jackson. 'In 1823, Isham Weathers moved from North Carolina to Wilkes county, Ga., in 1925 to Greene county, and in 1827 to Fayette county, where Isham T. Weathers grew to manhood, and took
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
part in the Indian war of 1836. He was a member of Capt. John D. Still's company, and under the command of Gen. Winfield Scott, United States army. He married in Fayette county, Ga., in the early part of 1839. In 1841 his father, Isham Weathers, removed to Randolph county, Ala., set- tling six miles north of Roanoke, on High Pine creek. In 1842. his son, Isham T. Weathers, followed, locating on same creek, on adjoining lands. Here he lived and raised a large family of children, consisting of nine sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living and have families
of their own. The parents of these children are still living. hale and hearty. Mr. Weathers has always been a prominent man in the county, and was a justice of the peace for twenty-one years in succession. Capt. B. F. Weathers, eldest of the nine, and four of his younger brothers were in the Confederate army, passed through the four years, partici- pated in many battles, not one of them ever receiving a wound or mark. Andrew J. Weathers was elected probate judge of Randolph county in 1892, and is now holding said office. Capt. Benjamin F. Weathers was born November 8, 1839, in Fayette county, Ga. He received an academic education at Roanoke. Ala., the town in which he now resides. He was in school at the breaking out of the war. On the 12th of August, 1861, he was commissioned by Gov. Andrew B. Moore. of Alabama, second lieutenant of the Dowdell rangers. of Randolph county, P. H. Brittan being then secretary of state. On September 9, 1861, with his company, he left Roanoke, and on the 18th, was mustered into the Confederate service in company E, Seventeenth Alabama infantry as first lieutenant, with Thomas H. Watts colonel of of the regiment. He was at Pensacola at the destruction of the navy yard, commanded his company in the famous charge at the battle of Shiloh, that captured the Federal Gen. Prentice and his whole division in an open field charge, 2,700 men. He entered the fight with forty-seven men. came out with himself and seven men. His brigade commander, Gen. Gladen, was killed, Gen. Withers, of Mobile, commanding the division. After the battle was over he was promoted to be captain by Gen. Bragg for gallantry. He was in the evacuation of Corinth, Miss. His company was then ordered to Mobile. Capt. Weathers was then placed in command of the light house battery just below the city, with several heavy guns, commanding the bay, and remained there from August, 1862, until March, 1864. During the time, he was, by order of Gen. Slaughter, put on detachment service as drill officer, and drilled several companies of the Twenty-ninth Alabama regiment, in the use of heavy artillery. When Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was retiring before Gen. Sherman in the summer of 1864. Capt. Weathers was ordered to join Johnston at Resaca, Ga., and he then participated in all the subse- quent battles down to Atlanta. When Gen. Hood went to Tennessee Capt. Weathers commanded his company in Gen. C. M. Shelley's brigade, Gen. Wall- thal of Mississippi commanding the division in the assault on the Federal
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breastworks at the battle of Franklin; in the first charge his company. being on the extreme right. was in the lead, and upon reaching the top of the breastworks he found himself looking into the guns of the Federal soldiers, and was compelled to surrender. He was taken to Gen. Schofield's head- quarters, sent to Johnson's Island, Ohio, and kept there in prison until the war was over. He was released on June 19, 1865, and returned home to his father's place July 4, 1865; he taught a country school that fall, and on March 10, 1866, he removed to Roanoke, where he began a mercantile business, which he continued for several years. On January 6, 1867, he was married to Miss L. J. Mickle, the daughter of William D. Mickle, of a highly respected family, and a well to do planter. They have three children, two daughters and a son, Mary E. and Sarah Effie, and Wil- liam M., a young man, and assistant cashier of the bank of Roanoke. Capt. Weathers, in 1873, closed out his mercantile business, and turned his attention mostly to farming and milling. In August, 18.5, he was elected a delegate from Randolph county to the state constitutional con- vention, that framed Alabama's present 'constitution. From 1880 to 1886 he was in the office of the probate judge. In June, 1888, he was nomi- nated in his senatorial district by a democratic convention, to represent it in the general assembly of the state, which he declined to accept, for the reason he was then engaged in improving some city property that required his personal attention. In 1890, he became a stock holder in the bank of Roanoke, then starting; he was at first chosen cashier, and has occupied that position ever since. . He owns a good plantation, and considerable town property. Politically, he is a democrat; he is also a royal arch Mason, and senior warden of Roanoke lodge, No. 132, F. & A. M. Some of his family are Methodists, and others are Baptists.
DR. WILLIAM WEATHERS, a prominent business man of Roanoke, and brother of B. F. Weathers, whose memoir appears just above this, was born August 5, 1847, in Randolph county, Ala., on the old home- stead. He received an academic education in the schools of Roanoke, and in the fall of 1864, enlisted as a private soldier in a company of boys which went out as an escort to Gen. Adams. The service he saw was principally in the state of Alabama, resisting Yankee raids. While in a skirmish at Selma he got separated from his company, and was in immi- nent danger of being captured as several of his comrades were, but he swam the Alabama river and got away. He remained away three days and nights, when he slipped through the Yankee lines and rejoined his company. Upon returning from the war he attended school one year, and then gave his attention to farming. In 1866, he was married to Miss Nancy P. Ussery, by whom he has had eleven children, nine of whom are now living, viz. : Florence R., wife of A. J. Stewart of Roanoke, Ala .; Robert E. Lee, of Roanoke, Ala .; Lulu B., Stella P., William E., Stan- ley E., Guy S., Lionel L., and Annie M. Mr. Weathers followed .farm- ing two years after his marriage. Then, in company with C. J. Ussery
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and his son, he went into the mercantile business, under the firm name of C. J. Ussery & Son, at High Shoals, Randolph county. In 1872 and 1873, he attended medical college in Atlanta, Ga., and commenced the practice of medicine at High Shoals, at this time disconnecting himself with the mercantile business. He practiced medicine there for a number of years, and becoming afflicted with rheumatism, he again engaged in the mer- cantile business at High Shoals. In 1884, he moved to the old homestead which he had bought, and lived there until December, 1890. when he moved to Roanoke, Ala .. and started a mercantile business, which he still continues to conduet. On January 29, 1891, he lost his wife by la grippe. He has always been a democrat, has worked for the success of the party, but, though offered position, he has always declined. He is a master Mason, and acted as worshipful master of his lodge, and has represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state. He is, and his wife was, a member of the Baptist church. He still retains his farming interests, and also owns a home in town. The family to which Mr. Weathers belongs, is one of the oldest and best in the state. One of Mr. Werthers' younger brothers was elected, in 1892, probate judge of the county.
RUSSELL COUNTY.
M. L. CLIATT, planter of Jernigan, Ala., is & son of William and Louisa (Averett) Cliatt. The former was born in Hancock county, Ga., 1813. He remained in his native county some years, but removed, when young, to Russell county, settling near Jernigan. He was married, about 1837, his wife, at the time, being but twelve years of age. Their family con- sisted of sixteen children, only five of whom are now living, viz. : Fan- nie, wife of William T. Cowles, of Columbus, Ga .; James W., a planter, of Loffin, Ala .; Anna E .. wife of L. C. Corcoran, of Loflin, Ala .; M. L. Cliatt, and Sallie W. wife of C. W. Moore, of Jernigan, Ala. The parents of these children lived in this part of Russell county all their married lives, the former dying in 1875, the latter in 1878. The father was a well informed man, was thrifty and accumulated considerable property. Both the Cliatts and the Averetts were of Irish descent. Grandfather Matthew Averett came from Hancock county, Ga., in 1836, and fought in the Indian war of that year. Mrs. Louisa (Averett) Cliatt was born and raised in Hancock county, Ga. M. L. Cliatt was born October 5, 1851, in Russell county, received a common school education, and at the age of twenty-one began life for himself. He has always been a planter, and now owns a plantation of about 2,000 acres, besides some property in Florida. He was married, in 1877, December 20, to Mary A., daughter of J. J. Thornton, who is also of a Georgia family. They have but one child, Wade Hampton, now fourteen years old. Politically, Mr. Cliatt is a democrat, and has served as magistrate. He is a master Mason, mem- ber of Halsey lodge, No. 68, A. & F. M., and at the present time is
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junior deacon. He is a member of the Baptist church, and is a deacon of this church. Mr. Cliatt is a thrifty, industrious and well-to-do planter, and stands high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens.
O. P. FITZSIMMONS, planter, of Oswichee, Ala., is a son of Paul and Ellen N. (White) Fitzsimmons, the former of whom was a native of South Carolina, born in Newport. He was raised in Charleston, S. C., and mar- ried in Augusta, Ga. . He was a man of great influence, and one of the largest slaveholders in the south. His father, Christopher Fitzsim- mons, was born in Ireland, but came to this country and settled in Charleston, S. C., just after the Revolutionary war. The White family is also of Irish descent. the father of the mother of O. P. Fitzsimmons hav- ing been born in Ireland. His name was William White. The father and mother of Mr. Fitzsimmons were married in Augusta, Ga., in 1827, and lived there the rest of their lives. The former died in 1840, the lat- ter in 1873. Their family consisted of six children, only two of whom are now living: Catharine F., wife of John P. Whitehead, of Washing- ton, D. C., and O. P., whose name heads this sketch. The latter was born October 27, 1828, in Augusta, Ga. He took the usual course of study at the university of Virginia. He then studied medicine, but never practiced the profession. He has been a planter all his life. He lived in, and near Augusta, until 1880, when he removed to Atlanta. He has owned the present plantation thirty-one years, but has lived upon it only a few years. He was appointed, by President Hayes, United States mar- shal for the state of Georgia, and held the office three and a half years. He was married in 1848, in South Carolina, to Miss Mary B., daughter of W. G. and Elizabeth M. Baynard, of an old South Carolina family. They have seven children, five sons and two daughters: Paul, a surgeon in the United States navy; W. B., planter, living with his father; O. P., Jr., an Episcopal minister at Birmingham, Ala .; E. M., a merchant at Chi- cago; George, a physician at Greensboro, S. C .; Mary E., wife of T. W. Baxter, Atlanta, Ga., and Ellen W., single, living at home. The mother of these children died July 20, 1889. Politically, Mr. Fitzsimmons is a democrat, and religiously, a Presbyterian. Wade Hampton is his uncle,
by marriage. The plantation of Mr. Fitzsimmons is in the famous "Oswichee Bend" of the Chattanooga river. Col. Fitzsimmons' family is one of the best in the state, and it is evident from the above brief narra- tive, that his children are sustaining, and are destined to sustain, its fine reputation.
E. HERNDON GLENN, probate judge of Russell county, was born October 26, 1843. He is a son of Massillon M. and Barbara W. (Herndon) Glenn. The former was a native of Abbeville district, S. C. and was a son of James E. Glenn, who moved to Barbour county, now Russell county, Ala., and settled in what is known as Glenville, in about 1832, and built the first house in that section. Two of his sons, the father and 51*
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