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 38
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following his vocation as a farmer until the breaking out of the war. He enlisted as a private soldier in the Forty-fourth Alabama infantry, but was promoted to a captaincy, and served to the close of the war. To the marriage of Walter S. Cary with Miss Morrow. there have been born five children, viz. : Edgar S., Earl, Virgil, Tabor, and an infant. Mrs. Cary was born and raised in Montevallo, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Mr. Cary was elected a justice of the peace of Montevallo, but, after three months' service, resigned. He has always been an ardent democrat, but with the exception above noted would never allow his name to go before the people as a candidate for office.
E. P. CHANDLER, M. D., one of the most prominent physicians of Shelby county, was born in Talladega county, Ala., March 2, 1844. He is a son of Mordecai and Elizabeth (Bauts) Chandler, the former of whom was a native of South Carolina and a tailor by trade. In an early day he removed to Alabama, and was one of the first settlers in the town of Talladega. Here he followed his trade for a number of years, and then retired to the farm where he spent the remainder of his life. He served as a soldier in the Mexican war. His wife was a native of Georgia. Dr. E. P. Chandler was reared on the farm until he was seventeen years of age. In 1861 he enlisted in company B, First Alabama infantry, and served as a brave and true soldier should till the close of the war in 1865. While in the service he received one wound-in the foot. Among some of the hardest battles in which he was engaged were those of Franklin, Tenn., Waterloo, Peach Tree Creek, the battle of Atlanta, New Hope Church, Island No. 10, and numerous smaller ones. Up to the time of entering the service he had very limited opportunities of securing an education, and upon returning from the war he found that his father's estate was in great part destroyed. He was, therefore, left without education or prop- erty to make his own way in the world as best he could. Notwithstand- ing these disadvantages, he went to work with a determined will and in a year saved enough money to enable him to attend school one year. He then studied medicine one year privately and entered the medical college at Augusta, Ga., which he attended one term. He then located in Saint Clair county, where he continued in the practice of medicine twenty-seven years. At the expiration of this period he removed to Birmingham, Ala., where for two years he was engaged in the drug business, and he then removed to Vincent, Shelby county, where he resumed the practice of medicine, in which practice he continues to the present day: He came to Vincent at an opportune period, for just at that time Dr. Singleton, who had for many years been the leading physician of the place, gave up his practice to a considerable extent on account of failing health, and this large practice fell into the hands of Dr. Chandler: His practice is now very large, extending even into his old territory in Talladega county, and is well deserved. In 1869, Dr. Chandler married Miss Lula Allen, by whom he has five children, now living, viz. : John E., Mary A., Cornelia W.,
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James R., and Ella May. Mrs. Chandler was born in Saint Clair county, in 1848. Both Dr. Chandler and bis wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and he is a member of the temperance society. Dr. Chandler and his family stand deservedly high in every respect in the estimation of their fellow-citizens of Shelby county.
WILLIAM S. CHANCELLOR, one of the pioneer settlers of Alabama, was born February 12, 1816, in Darlington district, S. C. He was a son of William and Nancy (Truit) Chancellor. The former was a native of South Carolina, and was a son of Jerry and Galatea (Gilbert) Chancellor. Jerry Chancellor was born in England, and came to America when sixteen years of age with his father and two brothers. They remained a short time in Virginia. This was during the Revolutionary war, and the father and his two oldest sons, William and Jerry, started for South Carolina, leaving the youngest brother, Jackson, in Virginia. When the father and. his two sons came near Camden, they could plainly hear the cannonading. They thereupon stopped and held a council as to what their own course should be. The result of this council was that the father told his sons that he should join the British, the sons deciding to join the Americans. From this time on, therefore, until the close of the Revolutionary war, the father fought in the British army against his sons, and the sons fought in the American army against their father. After that council near Camden, the father and sons never met again. After the close of the war, the grandfather, Jerry Chancellor, settled in South Carolina, where he remained until 1818. He then came to Alabama and settled on the Autauga side of the Alabama river. He had brought with him a colony organized by himself in South Carolina, and with this colony he remained till his death. William Chancellor remained in South Carolina until 1821, when he removed to Alabama just before the land sales, and settled on Nolin's creek, near Prattville, where he remained seven years. He then returned to his former home, and about 1845 removed to Texas, where he died. He was a lieutentant in the' state militia several years. He was a Baptist in religion, as was also his father. William S. Chancel- lor was raised on the farm and received but a limited education. This education, such as it was, was received in an old log school house on Brushy Knob, Indian Hill, with its puncheon floor and seats. Previous to his marriage he did not receive more than three months' schooling. He was married August 29, 1837 to Louisa M. Bridges, daughter of William and Mary (Tatum) Bridges, Mary Tatum, being a daughter of E. Tatum. Of the nine children born to them, five are still living. viz .: Thomas J., Alfred M., P. L., Jane and Louisa. Their mother was born in Montgomery county, Ala., and was a member of the Baptist church. In 1881 he married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth J. Kelly, daughter of William and Mary (McCulla) Caruthers, whose father was a native of Virginia. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. After his first marriage he had neither property nor money, and borrowed
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850 of Judge Brown with which to enter his first forty acres of land. After a great deal of misfortune he lost this land; but with that true grit which usually characterizes pioneers, he began again at the bottom, and by hard work and strict economy he had accumulated considerable property by the time the war came on. He had a large tract of land on the Wewokee creek, upon which he had built a mill which he operated in connection with his farm, but all was swept away by the war. In 1863 he enlisted in Capt. Hubbard's company, and served in the Confederate service one year. He was then elected tax collector of Coosa county, but had great difficulty in getting out of the army to take his office. And it was not until application was made to Gov. Watts that this was accom- plished, the governor issuing an order to Gen. Weathers that he be released, with which order the general immediately complied. After the - war he gathered up what was left, and sold off his stock, thus raising $50 with which he earned his second forty acres of land. This he cleared and improved and made money very fast for several years. In 1884 he embarked in the mercantile business, but having had no experience in that line, he lost 88,000 in fourteen months. Again he took hold and with an undaunted will he paid off his debts, and again accumulated property, and now owns 700 acres of land where he lives, 240 acres in Coosa county, beside considerable town property in Childersburg. Mr. Chancellor is one of the oldest Masons in Alabama, as well as one of the oldest citizens of the state. His life has been one long struggle with adverse circum- stances, but its closing days promise to be blessed with peace and plenty.
Ex-Gov. R. W. COBB is one of the most prominent lawyers and political leaders in Alabama. He was born in Ashville, Ala., Febru. ary 25, 1829. His youth was spent amid plantation scenes, and his early scholastic training was secured at the neighborhood schools. At the age of eighteen years he entered the university of Tennessee, at Knoxville, graduating in 1850. He then turned his attention to the study of law, his preceptor being Judge Thomason, of Ashville, Ala. Being licensed to practice in 1855, he located in Shelby county, Ala., and soon attained a high rank in his profession. He had secured a fine practice when the Civil war burst upon the country. In June, 1861, he became captain of company C, Tenth Alabama regiment, under Col. J. H. Forney, and remained its captain until 1863, when he was ordered to report to Gen. Bragg, at Murfreesboro, Tenn., and shortly afterward. to Gen. Joseph Wheeler. From that time until the close of the war, he had charge of a scouting party, and during that time had several narrow escapes, on two different occasions having his stirrup strap shot in two. At the close of the war he located at Marion, Perry county, Ala., again taking up the practice of the law. Here he remained until 1868, when he removed to Columbiana, Shelby county, remaining here until 1873, when he removed to Helena, Ala., where he has since remained. In 1872 he was first called
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into public life, being at that time elected state senator from the district composed of Shelby and Bibb counties, serving until 1878. In that year he was elected governor of the state, and the people, being well pleased with his administration, they re-elected him governor in 1880. Both his administrations were characterized by wisdom and propriety. Much against his own wishes, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Judge J. T. Leepers, as probate judge of Shelby county. The farmers' alliance and third party movements had done much to disorganize the democratic party in Alabama, and it was through the leading politicians of Shelby county that this appointment was brought about, they think- ing it would do much to reconcile the different factions, and to restore peace and harmony in the party's ranks. When this view of the condi- tion of things was presented to Judge Cobb, he did not stop to consider , his own welfare or feelings, but at once accepted the position, which he has held up to the present time. Judge Cobb was first married, in 1850, to Margaret McClung, daughter of Hugh L. McClung, of Knoxville, Tenn. Of this marriage, two children were born: John W., a planter, of Blount county, and Dora, wife of Richard Fell, Jr., of Shelby county. The mother of these children died in 1865. Judge Cobb married, for his sec- and wife, Fannie Fell, December 31, 1866. She is a daughter of Richard Fell, Sr. By this marriage there are two children, Edith and Richard C. John W. Cobb, father of ex-Gov. Cobb, was a Virginian by birth, but removed with his parents, when a boy, to Abbeville district, S. C., and there grew to manhood. He served in the Creek war, and rose to the rank of colonel. He was a member of the state legislature many years, representing St. Clair county. He was a member of the Baptist church, and an uncompromising democrat. No family in the state of Alabama stands higher than that of ex-Gov. Cobb.
JOHN CORLEY, & prominent agriculturist of Shelby county, was born August 4. 1821, in Edgefield district, S. C., and was a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Price) Corley. They were early settlers in South Carolina. The paternal grandfather of John Corley, Sherwood Corley, though a native of the United States, was of English descent. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving with Commander Watson, who had command of a detachment of Francis Marion's men, sent out to harass the British. John Corley was raised on the farm, and had but limited educational facilities, attending school only two or three months in the winter, after the crops were taken care of for the season. But he attended Coke high school in Abbeville district, S. C., for ten months, and on the death of his father. returned to the farm. In 1842. he married ' Mary Rhinehart, daughter of John and Sarah (Chapman) Rhinehart. By this marriage there were eleven children, only one of whom is now living, John S. Their mother, born in 1822, died in 1868. On June 6, 1871, Mr. Corley married Amanda E. Johnston. daughter of William and Mrs John- ston. While Mr. John Corley's principal business has been farming, yet
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on two or three different occasions he has been engaged in merchandis- ing. He was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, in 1869, but had been a licensed preacher for several years before he was ordained. He was present at the death of the Rev. Leonard Tarrant, who made this statement to him, when he was asked if he had any message to any of his friends. "Last night I was in the cold waters of death up to my ankles; this morning to my knees, and now to my loins. This was in the month of February, and there was snow on the ground. The buttercups were in bloom, and my soul is like those flowers, blooming for immortality." John Corley had been many times solicited to accept office, but never would consent except during the war, when he accepted the postoffice at Harpersville, and served as postmaster during the war. He has been a Mason since 1866. He began life a poor boy, but when the war came on he was the owner of several slaves, which he lost, of course, through the war. He was then obliged to com- minced over again at the foot of the hill, but such has been his success since then that he now owns $10,000 worth of real estate in Birmingham and 900 acres of land where he lives. He joined the church when thir- teen years of age, and has never taken a drink of whisky in his life. He is thus a strictly religious and temperate man, and stands high in the estimation of all who know him.
W. S. CROSS, merchant, Pelham, Ala., was born in 1851 in Shelby county, Ala. He is a son of Richmond and Martha ( Lindsey ) Cross, both natives of Alabama. Richmond Cross was a soldier in the late war, a member of John T. Morgan's command. W. S. Cross was reared upon the farm, and attended the common schools in the neighborhood for a short time, but when the war came on his opportunities for securing an education were, for the time, cut short. After the war he worked upon the farm until 1872, in the meantime going to school on days when he could not work. In 1872 he went to Chester, S. C., and there for one year he was a clerk in his uncle's store. He then returned to Alabama, and began teaching school, clerking in a store during school vacations. This course of life he continued until 1877, when he entered the normal school at Florence, Ala., but as the measles soon broke out among the students, he returned home and began teaching again. By hard work and close economy, he accumulated enough money by 1881 to start a small store at Pelham, and since then, by strict attention to business, he has built up a good trade, Beside conducting the business at his store, he also handled cotton, doing a fair business in this line. During the Birmingham boom he pur- chased some interests in lots in that city, and was wise enough to sell at the right time, thus realizing something in this speculation. This is but an illustration of the good judgment exercised by Mr. Cross in his business transactions, and is the secret of his success in lite. He now owns some fine property in Pelham, which he has improved with dwellings and store houses. All the money he had when he began business, and all he
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has now, he has accumulated by his own industry and good business tact and common sense. In 1880 he married Anna McWhorter, daughter of John and Nancy ( Ward ) McWhorter. Mr. Mcwhorter was a soldier in the late war. To the marriage of W. S. Cross with Miss Mcwhorter, there have been born five children, viz .: Edgar, Harvey, Leland, DeWitt, and Anna Lee. Their mother was born and and raised in Butler county, Ala., and both herself and her husband are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.
JOHN ELLIOTT DENSLER, deceased, was a native of Alabama, and was born December 12, 1840. He was a son of Dr. Henry L. and Mary (Elliott) Densler, who came to Alabama in January, 1840. They were both natives of Georgia, and of German descent. The paternal grand- mother was a Virginian. John Elliott Densler was raised in Dallas county, Ala., and up to the time he was nineteen years of age he attended the common school in Burnsville, Dallas county. In 1861 he enlisted in company C, Fourth Alabama infantry, under Capt. Dawson, and served as became a brave and true private soldier during the war. After the war he returned to Dallas county, where he remained until 1871. During this period of six years he followed farming for the first four years, and then taught school one year. In 1871 he removed to Wilsonville, where he became engaged in merchandising, in which he was engaged until his death, November 16, 1889. August 12, 1874, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Arthur, daughter of Adam B. and Sina A. (Robison) Arthur. Adam B. Arthur was a native of Camden, S. C., born 1813, was educated at Lexington, Ky., Medical college, and on leaving college established himself in the practice of medicine at Claiborne, Monroe county, where he remained until the beginning of the war, when he removed to Pleasant Hill, Dallas county, remaining there four years, and then removing to Cahaba, Dallas county, where he died in 1872. His mater- nal grandfather, Adam Fowler Brisbane, was a general in the Rev. olutionary war. The mother, Sina A. Arthur, was a native of Florida, born in 1825, and came to Alabama in 1839. To the marriage of our sub- ject there were born three children, viz .: Lula W., Johnnie May and Olive Arthur. The mother of these children was born and brought up in Alabama. John Elliott Densler was an ardent democrat and a recognized leader of the party in Shelby county. He was chairman of the executive committee for several years, and took an unusual degree of interest in politics. He was solicited time and again to become a candidate for the legislature, but always declined. He was a member of the Knights of Honor. His widow has continued the business in which he was engaged at the time of his death, besides managing a hotel. She is a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and is highly respected by every one.
J. H. DURAN, liveryman at Calera, was born at Social Circle, Ga., April 6, 1838. He is a son of George and Millia (McSwane) Duran, both
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natives of Georgia, but the parents of each of them were natives of North Carolina, and of Revolutionary fame. They were pioneer settlers of Georgia, coming there when that country was in a wild state. George Duran, the father of our subject, was a private soidier in the war of 1812. He was married in Georgia, and came to Alabama with his family in 1842, settling on Muckford creek, eight miles east of Goldsville. Mr. J. H. Duran was raised on the farm, and had no educational advantages until after he was eighteen years of age. He remained in Tallapoosa county until 1856, when he removed to Columbiana, Shelby county. His mother being then a widow and poor told him she could not give an edu- cation, and that if he could do anything for himself he had the liberty to do so; he therefore took up his little bundle of clothes and started for Columbiana, but when he came to the river he could not get across. He thereupon told the ferryman his condition and asked to put him across, which the ferryman refused to do for nothing. So young Duran offered him his pocket knife, which the ferryman took and kept for putting him across the river. It afterward gave Mr. Duran, when he was in business for himself, great pleasure to sell this same ferryman goods upon credit. After reaching Columbiana he went to Hardy S. Nelson, who is now his father-in-law, and applied to him for assistance to attend school. Mr. Nelson took him in, charged him 86 per month for his board, which he was to work out, and afterward paid him 88 per month for working on the farm. He remained with Mr. Nelson over two years. In the spring of 1859 he accepted a position as court bailiff under sheriff H. I. Sawyer, at one dollar per day. He rode twelve days, took his $12, and went to Mobile, and upon arriving there he had only 82 left. He then began to look for work, and at length accepted a position with Zeb. Hub- bard, working four months for his board. He then worked for wages for about five months, and by the strictest economy managed to save up $100. With this money he started an oyster saloon, which he ran about five months. He then taught school until the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in company C, Twenty-fifth Alabama infantry, Capt. Wiley Pope, and served until 1863. He then returned to Columbiana, having been what was termed a "high private" in the war. This was because he was a cripple when he went into the army and was not under the same regu- lations as the rest. He was in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth. Upon his return home he accepted a position as deputy sheriff under James Walton and served about two years, and was at Columbiana March 31, 1865, when a detachment of Gen. Wilson's raiders set the town on fire and set the prisoners free that were there confined. In 1863 he was appointed sheriff of Shelby county by provincial Gov. Parsons, serving only one year. While in business in Mobile before the war, he was accustomed when he got a 820 bill to exchange it for gold. When he enlisted in the army he had $380 in gold thus obtained, which he buried in a barrel for safe keeping. In 1866 he dug up his gold, exchanged it for Confederate
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money at the rate of $15 for one of gold, and with this money bought cotton. This cotton he held until 1867, when he sold it at a large profit, and with the money received for his cotton established himself in the mercantile business in connection with H. S. Nelson, which partnership was continued for sixteen years. He then retired from the firm and entered upon the charcoal business, which he continued four months, and then removed to Calera in June, 1882. Here he established himself in the merchantile business, but in 1884 he lost by fire all he had thus invested. He then established himself in the saw mill business, which he also lost by fire. On June 7, 1991, he established himself in the liv- ery business and is thus engaged at the present time. On January 28. 1865, he married Elizabeth E. Nelson, daughter of Hardy S. and Sarah A. (Elliott) Nelson, by whom he had seven children. six of whom are living, viz. : Walter, Lottie, Charles S., Claude B., Edgar D., and Alma. , Their mother was born and raised in Shelby county, and both she and her husband are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and have always been earnest and liberal workers in the Sunday school, and church. Mr. Duran is a Knight of Honor and an Odd Fellow. Septem- ber 9, 1890, he was appointed manager of the Calera Charcoal & Chem- ical company, and on May 1, 1891, he was appointed manager of the Calera Land company, which has a capital of 8375,000, the capital of the Charcoal and Chemical company being 8105,000. Mr. Duran is an active member of the democratic party, and one of the best citizens of the county.
DAVID EDWARDS, M. D., one of the oldest physicians of Shelby county, was born in Lowndes county, Ala., November 23, 1832. He is a son of Zachariah A. and Elizabeth (Ivry) Edwards. Zachariah A. Edwards was a native of North Carolina, and came to Alabama in 1816, settling in Lowndes county, where he remained the rest of his life, with the exception of seven years spent in Talladega county. He was a farmer all his life, except three years that he spent in merchandising at White Hall, Ala., and two years at Benton, Ala. He was captain of a company organized to take part in the Seminole war, but the war came to an end without their services being required. David Edwards, the grandfather of Dr. Edwards, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Dr. Edwards was reared on the farm, and had the advantages only of a com- mon school education. In 1859 he entered the Augusta medical college, at Augusta, Ga., and graduated in 1860. On leaving college he removed to Shelby county, locating about six miles south of Wilsonville, removing in 1861 to Wilsonville, establishing an office and beginning here the prac- tice of his profession. He has since remained at Wilsonville, and has acquired a large and lucrative practice throughout the surrounding coun- try. In 1862 he enlisted in company K, Thirty-first Alabama infantry, served as a private soldier six months and was then promoted to be orderly-sergeant, serving as such officer one year, when he was commis-
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