USA > Alabama > Revolutionary soldiers buried in Alabama > Part 2
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Robert M. Cunningham, a son of Roger and Mary Cunningham, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1760. In 1775 his parents removed to North Carolina. Query 293 of the Historical and Genealogical Department of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser states that "Roger Cunningham and wife, - - Sturgeon, removed from near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Meck- lenburg county, North Carolina, just previous to the Revolutionary war. They had six children, -- Robert, William, James, Nelly, Mary and Margaret." There is little room to doubt that this is the same family as that of the subject of this sketch, and that his mother's name was Mary Sturgeon.
Robert served as a youthful soldier in the North Carolina con- tingent during the Revolutionary war, but it is not known to what regiment he was attached. At the close of the war he went to school to the Rev. Robert Finley, Mr. Robert McCulloch and the Rev. Joseph Alexander. In 1787, being 26 years of age, he entered the junior class in Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., and graduated in 1789.
On leaving college he returned to his parents and taught school while he studied theology. He was licensed to preach by the First Presbytery of South Carolina in 1792. Here he married his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles and Mary Moore, of Spartanburg District. A sketch of the life of Charles Moore is given in J. B. Landrum's History of Spartanburg, p. 189. He was a brave and faithful old patriot. Elizabeth died November 3, 1794, leaving a daughter who died young.
In the autumn of 1792 he went to Georgia and organized a church called Ebenezer, in Hancock county; he also preached at Bethany church. October 15, 1795, he married Betsy Anu, daugh- ter of Joseph Parks, of Prince Edward county, Virginia, and by this marriage he had five sons, one of whom was the Rev. Josepli Cunningham, a minister of ability. October 14, ISO5, he married
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as a third wife, Emily, daughter of Col. William Bird, of Warren county, Georgia, originally from Pennsylvania, who survived him. Hers was a family of distinction .- See Dubose's Life of Yancey. Three of her aunts on her father's side married signers of the Declaration of Independence, James Wilson and George Ross, of Pennsylvania, and George Read, of Delaware. . Her sister, Caro- line Bird, married Benjamin Cudworth Yancey, and was the mother of the great Southern orator, William Lowndes Yancey. Another sister, Louisa Bird, married Capt. Robert Cunningham of "Rosemont," South Carolina, a gentleman of great wealth, lib- erality and high culture, and an officer in the war of 1812. Their daughter, Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham, was the founder of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Memorial Association and was its first regent. Another sister married Jose Beene, of Cahaba, Alabama, a dis- tingnished lawyer and politician. A brother, Will E. Bird, was county judge of Dallas county, Alabama, 1836. It is a singular coincidence that Emily Bird married Rev. Robert Cunningham, of Georgia, and another sister, Louisa Bird, married Capt. Robert Cunningham, of South Carolina. Rev. Robert Cunningham at the time of this marriage must have won much distinction in a minis- terial and social respect. By this last marriage he had a son, Robert, a physician, who died in Sumter county, Alabama, and three daughters,-Mrs. Maltby, Mrs. Wilson and Louisa.
In 1807 he removed to Lexington, Kentucky, and was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian church. This town was even then celebrated for its wealth and intellectual culture and this pulpit required a minister of learning and eloquence. He remained in Lexington until 1822, when he removed to Moulton, in North Ala- bama. He had been laboring as a minister for thirty years, and, requiring some relaxation, he bought a plantation but preached in Moulton and surrounding villages. In 1826 he bought a farm eleven miles from Tuscaloosa and removed there. He built up churches in Tuscaloosa and at Carthage; he also preached occa- sionally at Greensboro, where his son, Joseph, was pastor. For eight years he preached a free gospel at Tuscaloosa. He preached his last sermon in 1838. Ile received the degree of doctor of divinity from Franklin College, Georgia (now the University), in 1827. In 1836 he removed to Tuscaloosa, and he died there on the JIth of July, 1839, 80 years of age. Dr. Cunningham was a man
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of impressive appearance; his height was more than six feet and his form was well developed; his features were good with expres- sive eyes; he was a man of learning, eloquence and power in preaching ; a man of charity, beloved by Christians of all denomi- nations, and his tenderness in preaching opened many hearts. This old saint was called in Alabama "Father Cunningham"; and he is thus described in Nall's Dead of the Synod of Alabama: "Very few men ever exhibited more of clear and sound intellect- of tender, melting pathos-and of bold and manly eloquence-than did this patriarch of the church."
GEN. JOHN ARCHER ELMORE.
"America shall not perish but endure while the spirit of our fathers animates the sons."
Elmore county was named in honor of Gen. Elmore. He was deservedly popular for his "candor, good sense and sociability."
He was buried in the old family burying ground at the old homestead, "Huntington," in Elmore county. The following in- scription is upon his tombstone:
In Memory of GEN. JOHN ARCHER ELMORE, who was born in Prince Edward County, Va., August the 21st, 1762, and died in Autauga County, Ala., April the 24th, 1834, aged 71 yrs. 8 mos. & 3 days. He was a soldier of the Revolution in the Virginia line and afterwards a member of the Legis- lature of So. Ca., and a General in the militia. He was a member of the Legislature of Alabama and filled various other offices of Honor and Trust in both States. He was an affectionate husband, a kind and indulgent father, a humane master, a devoted friend, and a patriot citizen.
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Gen. John Archer Elmore was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, Aug. 21, 1762, and died in Autauga county, Alabama, . April 24, 1834. He entered the Revolutionary service, a mere lad, in Greene's command in the Virginia line; was with him in his tour through the Carolinas, and with him at the surrender at York- town. This is shown by the archives in Washington; O'Neal's Bench and Bar of South Carolina, vol. ii, pp. 85, 88, and Brewer's Alabama, p. 109. After the Revolution he settled in Laurens district, South Carolina, and resided there many years, during which time he was often a member of the legislature. He moved to Autauga county, Alabama, in 1819 and served one term in the house of representatives from this county.
His first wife was Miss Saxon, by whom he had two sons : Hon. Franklin II. Elmore, of South Carolina, who succeeded Mr. Cal- houn in the United States senate, and Benjamin F. Elmore, treas- urer of South Carolina. His second wife, Miss Ann Martin, was a member of the famous Martin family of South Carolina, and descended also from the Marshall family of Virginia, and from Lieutenant Nathaniel Terry, of Virginia. By this second marriage there were five sons and several daughters. One of the daughters married Gov. Benj. Fitzpatrick, another married Hon. Dixon H. Lewis of Lowndes ; another married Dr. J. T. Hearne, of Lowndes, and she is still ( 1904) living in Montgomery. The sons were Hon. John A. Elmore, a distinguished lawyer in Mont- gomery; William A. Elmore, a lawyer in New Orleans since 1835, superintendent of the mint until the outbreak of the war, and who died in Philadelphia in 1891; Capt. Rush Elinore, who commanded a company in the Mexican war and was territorial judge of Kansas; Henry Elmore, who was probate judge of Ma- con county prior to the war, and who afterwards moved to Texas ; Albert Elmore, of Montgomery, secretary of State in 1865 and collector of customs in Mobile under President Johnson .- Mc- morial Record of Alabama, vol. ii, p. 427.
THOMAS HAMILTON.
"Nor while the grass grows on the hill, and streams flow through the vale, May we forget our father's deeds or in their covenant fail."
Thomas Hamilton, one of the five children of David Hamilton and Margaret Carlisle, was born in Belfast, Ireland, April 9,
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1758. Their family emigrated to America about 1762, landing in Virginia after a voyage of nearly three months. Upon their ar- rival, David Hamilton settled in Culpeper county, where he lived with one of his sons. Thomas Hamilton was married on the 28th of May, 1782, to Temperance Arnold, daughter of Ben- jamin Arnold and Ann Hendrick of South Carolina. During the Revolution, Benjamin Arnold, an old man, left South Carolina on account of the troubles resulting from the war, and carried his family for greater safety to Culpeper county, Va., where they became acquainted with Thomas Hamil- ton. After their marriage in 1782, they returned to the old home of Benjamin Arnold in South Carolina, where they settled upon a place between Andy creek on the east and Horse creek on the west in Greenville district. Here they lived until 1821, when they moved to Butler county, Ala., near Greenville, and remained there until 1826, when they moved to Lowndes county, ten miles south of Benton, where they both died. They are buried in Watkins cemetery, near Collirene, Lowndes county. Thomas died in Au- gust, 1844, aged 86, and his wife July 22, 1849, aged 87. The spot is marked by a marble obelisk, erected to the memory of the family. The following inscription, with no dates, is among others : "Thomas and Temperance Hamilton rest here." Thomas Ham- ilton was with Sumter but not in the regular army. He was at the battles of the Cowpens, Eutaw Springs and King's Mountain. He was in the brigade commanded by Colonel Campbell at the lat- ter place. After his death in 1844, over sixty years after the Rev- olutionary war, few of the participants of that mighty struggle were left on earth. The citizens of Lowndes county asked per- mission to bury him with military honors.
This account was prepared by a descendant, Gordon Rives Catts, now a cadet at West Point. The name of Thomas Ham- ilton of Lowndes county, Ala., may be found in the Census of Pensioners for 1840.
WILLIAM HEARNE.
"There be of them that have left a name behind them that their praises might be reported."-Ecclesiasticus.
In the Memorial Record of Alabama, vol. ii, p. 426, mention is made of William Hearne from North Carolina, a Revolutionary
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soldier, and it states that he died in Lowndes county, Ala. The grave is in a private burying ground which is now on the planta- tion belonging to I. D. Hanser of Opelika. It is on that part of the plantation that he bought of the Mickle estate, and very near Manack Station. It is surrounded by a brick wall and apparent- ly contains three or four graves.
William Hcarne was a great-grandson of William Hcarne of Maryland (1630), a wealthy merchant and planter. Thomas Hearne, a son of this colonist, married Sally Wingate; he had twelve children, one of them, Nehemiah, married Betty - and lived in Somerset county, Md. A son of Nehemiah, William Hearne, was born in Somerset county, Md., in 1746; he married his cousin, Tabitha Hearne, and moved to North Carolina, when it was a new country. At the commencement of the Revolution- ary war he cnlisted and served during the seven years and only missed being at General Gates' defeat at Camden by being left behind with smallpox. He came to Alabama in 1819; he died September 21, 1832, in Lowndes county, Ala. These facts are obtained from the Hearne History, p. 383.
He left many descendants, among them may be mentioned the late Dr. Joseph T. Hcarne, physician and extensive planter of St. Clair, Lowndes county.
JACOB HOLLAND.
"Not honor they sought, nor life's shallow fame, Nor glory, nor hope of renown."
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Very little is known of this Revolutionary soldier, who came from South Carolina and is buried at Ilebron churchyard, in Greene county.
The following inscription is upon his tombstone :
Sacred to the memory of JACOB & SARAH HOLLAND Jacob departed this life Oct. Ist, 1852, Aged 91 years. Sarahı May 13th, 1851, Aged 87 years.
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CHARLES HOOKS.
"O few and weak their numbers were -- A handful of brave men But to their God they gave their prayer And rushed to battle then."
Charles Hooks is buried in Montgomery county, about twenty miles from the city of Montgomery, in a family burial ground on his plantation. It is now known as the "Old Moulton Place." His services in the Revolution in North Carolina are mentioned in Wheeler's History of North Carolina, and Mrs. Ellet's Women of the Revolution. There is an interesting chapter in the latter book, called "Mary Slocumb," which gives a delightful account of the beautiful home and patriotic deeds of Mary Hooks Slocumb, elder sister of Charles Hooks. Her husband was Lieutenant Eze- kiel Slocumb, who raised a troop of light horse to watch the ene- my and punish the Tories. In April, 1781, just after the battle of Guilford Court House, the British colonel, Tarleton, made his headquarters at the Slocumb home in Wayne county. Charles Hooks, a lad of thirteen at the time, was away with his brother- in-law, Lieut. Slocumb, in hot pursuit of some Tory marauders. They narrowly escaped being captured upon their return, as they were ignorant of the fact that a thousand men were in possession of their home, but the warning of a faithful slave enabled them to retreat with safety.
Charles Hooks was born in Bertie county, North Carolina, Feb- ruary 20th, 1768, and died in Montgomery county, Alabama, on the 18th of October, 1843. After the Revolution he married Mary Ann Hunter; she was the daughter of Isaac Hunter and Priscilla -, and granddaughter of Isaac Hunter of Chowan, N. C., who died in 1752, and whose will is on file among the records at Edenton, N. C.
Charles Hooks became a man of distinction. He went to the legislature from Duplin county in 1802-03-0.1 and again in ISI0- II. He served seven years as a member of Congress in 1816-17 and again from 1819 to 1825. He moved to Alabama in 1826.
The descent of Charles Hooks is as follows:
(1) William Hool:s, of Chowan county, North Carolina, who died in 1751 at an advanced age. Issne: William and John.
(2) Jolin Hooks died in 1732; his wife was Ruth
-; several children, among others,
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(3) Thomas Hooks, who married (1) Anna -, and had children Mary, Charles and one other; married (2) Mrs. John Charles Slocumb.
Many descendants of Charles Hooks are living in Alabama.
COL. JOSEPII HUGHES.
"Give them the meed they have won in the past, Give them the honors their merits forecast."
Col. Joseph Hughes came from Union district, South Carolina, to Greene county, Alabama, in 1825. He was buried at Hebron cemetery in that county.
The inscription upon his tomb is as follows:
In memory of COL. JOSEPH HUGHES, who departed this life September 4th, 1834. Aged 85 years.
He was twice married; the name of his first wife has not been ascertained. She left seven children; their names were William, Wright, Joseph, Mary, Martha, Sarah and Jane. Col. Joseph Hughes married for a second wife, Annie Brown of South Caro- lina; they had three children, Stewart, James and Annie. She was an aunt of Governor Albert G. Brown, of Mississippi. Her brother, John Brown, was killed at the battle of Cowpens. All of the children of Col. Hughes came to Alabama except William, who married and settled in South Carolina, and Wright, who was captain of a steamboat on Broad river in South Carolina. Mary married - Kennedy; Martha, - Morris ; Sarah, -
Maberry ; Jane, --- Bruner; Annic, - -- White.
Col. Hughes was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. He is well remembered by Mrs. Jay, of Benevola, Ala., who is now ( 1904) in her ninetieth year. She has often heard him speak of his experiences in the Revolutionary war and she has seen and handled his sword and pistol which were sacredly preserved because of their Revolutionary associations.
Some of the brave exploits of Lieut. Joseph Hughes are de- scribed in Saye's Memoir of McJunkin; an interesting biograph- ical sketch of him may be found in a pamphlet entitled The Life of Col. James D. Williams (1898), by Rev. J. D. Bailey; and
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several notices of Capt. Joseph Hughes occur in Draper's King's Mountain and its Heroes, from which the following brief account of his life is taken, pp. 122, 129, 131-33, 277.
"He was born in what is now Chester county, South Carolina, in 1761, his parents having retired there temporarily from the present region of Union county, on account of Indian troubles. He served in 1776 on Williamson's Cherokee expedition and sub- sequently in Georgia. Governor Rutledge, early in 1780, com- missioned him as a lieutenant and he fought under Sumter at Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock; and then shared in the heroic action of Musgrove's Mill. His dare-devil character and adven- turous services in the up-country region of South Carolina during the summer and autumn of 1780 have already been related.
"Then we find him taking part in the memorable engagements at King's Mountain, IJammond's Store and Cowpens. Though yet a lieutenant, he commanded his company in this latter action. He was not only a man of great personal strength, but of remark- able fleetness on foot. As his men with others broke at the Cow- pens and fled before Tarleton's cavalry; and though receiving a sabre cut across his right hand, yet with his drawn sword, he would out-run his men, and passing them, face about and com- mand then to stand, striking right and left to enforce obedience to orders; often repeating with a loud voice: 'You d-d cowards, halt and fight,-there is more danger in running than in fighting, and if you don't stop and fight you will all be killed.'
"But most of them were for a while too demoralized to realize the situation or to obey their officers. As they would scamper off, Hughes would renewedly pursue and once more gaining their front would repeat his tactics to bring them to their duty. At length the company was induced to make a stand on the brow of a slope, some distance from the battle line behind a clump of young pines that partially concealed and protected them from Tarleton's cavalry. Others now joined them for self-protection. Their guns were loaded quickly and they were themselves again. Morgan galloped up and spoke words of encouragement to them. The next moment the British cavalry were at them; but the Whigs re- served their fire till the enemy were so near that it was terribly effective, emptying many a British saddle, when the survivors re- coiled. Now Colonel Washington gave them a charge,-the bat-
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tle was restored when Howard with his Marylanders with the bay- onet, swept the field. Tarleton acknowledges that 'an unexpected fire from the Americans, who came about as they were retreating, stopped the British and threw them into confusion' when a panic ensued and then a general flight. It was a high and worthy com- pliment from his old commander, Colonel Brandon, who declared that at the Cowpens 'Hughes saved the fate of the day.'
"As a deserved recognition of these meritorious services he was promoted to a captaincy early in 17SI, when he was scarcely twenty years of age and led his company with characteristic valor at the battle of Eutaw Springs. The Tories had killed his father during the war and many a dear friend, and his animosity against the whole race was alike bitter and unrelenting. In 1825 he re- moved to Alabama, first to Greene county and then to Pickens, where he died in September, 1834, in his seventy-fourth year. For more than twenty of the closing years of his life he was an elder in the Presbyterian church and the rough and almost tiger- like partisan became as humble and submissive as a lamb. He rose to the rank of colonel in the militia. He was tall and com- manding in his appearance, jovial and affable in conversation ; yet his early military training rendered him to the last stern and rigid in discipline. In all that makes up the man he was a noble speci- men of the Revolutionary hero."
JOHN WADE KEYES.
"No lack is in your parent stock No weakling founders builded here; They were the men of Plymouth Rock- The Puritan and Cavalier."
The last resting place of this Revolutionary soldier is in an old family burial ground upon his plantation, three miles from Athens on the Huntsville road. His lovely rural home was situated upon a hill about half a mile from Swan creek. His wife, Louisa Tal- bot Keyes, lies beside him. John Wade Keyes was born in Mystic, near Boston, Mass., Sept. 25, 1752, and died near Athens, Ala., Feb. 13, 1839. His ancestry and many acts of his life are told in a book of the Keyes family called Solomon Keyes and His De- scendants, by Judge Asa Keyes, of Vermont, published in Bat- tleboro. We find from this that he was the son of Capt. Hum- phrey Keyes and Marcella Wade. His father was a sea captain of
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Boston. After many successful voyages he was wrecked and taken captive by the Algerines. IIe was a prisoner for years, but finally made his escape. Upon his return to Boston he took: John, his oldest son, and went down into Virginia. An old family record in Tennessee shows that Capt. Humphrey Keyes in 1775 was pro- prietor of "Keyes Ferry" on the Shenandoah river. A member of the family has now in his possession a letter written by Gen- eral Washington relative to the survey of the Keyes Ferry tract on the Shenandoah near Charleston, Jefferson county, Virginia. John Wade Keyes married January 27, 1773, in Virginia, Louisa Talbot, niece of President Monroe. She was born near Alexan- dria, Va., April 20, 1756, and died near Athens, Nov. 6, 1836. This happy couple lived together for sixty-three years.
Early in the Revolutionary war there was i call made for vol- unteers under Gen. John Thomas in the Shenandoah Valley. John Wade Keyes was the second man to enlist ; he was engaged in the battles of Bunker Hill, Lexington, Trenton, White Plains, Princeton, Brandywine and King's Mountain. Capt. John Keyes settled near Alexandria, Virginia, moved thence to the vicinity of Blountsville, Sullivan county, East Tennessee, and finally to Athens, Limestone county, Alabama, where he was one of the pioneer settlers. It is said that he would never consent to apply for a pension and when asked for his reasons he would reply, "I fought for patriotism, not pensions." He greatly honored and loved George Washington and he showed his admiration by nam- ing his twin sons for him; one was called George and the other Washington. George Keyes commanded a company under Gen. Jackson and was afterwards made a brigadier-general of militia. . Among the descendants of Jolin Wade Keyes were Chancellor Wade Keyes, one of the most prominent jurists that Alabama has produced; George P. Keyes, a noted journalist; Col. John B. Richardson, of New Orleans, commander of the famous "Wash- ington Artillery" during the war, and others of distinction at the present day.
EPHRAIM KIRBY. -
"They battled for God, their country's fair name And the flag that never came down."
Ephraim Kirby was the first Superior Court judge in what is now Alabama. He was also the first General Grand High Priest
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of the Royal Arch Masons of the United States, 1798-ISof, and he is probably the highest ranking Mason ever buried in Alabama. Judge Kirby was the grandfather of Edmund Kirby Smith, the distinguished Confederate general. The following sketch of his life is condensed from a paper? read by Hon. Thomas M. Owen before the Alabama State Bar Association, June 29, 1901 :
"Mr. Kirby was born Feb. 23, 1757, in Judea Society, Ancient Woodbury, Conn., and was the son of Abraham Kirby, a farmer. The house in which he was born has long since been destroyed, but the land on which it stood is still known as 'the Kirby farm.' About 1763 his parents removed to Litchfield, Conn. His boyhood days were spent in the occupation usually engaging a farmer's lad, but incidents of these years, and of his early education are wanting.
"However, he was trained as a patriot, for on the news of the battle of Lexington, he joined a company of volunteers and ar- rived at Boston in time to take part in the battle of Bunker Hill. In the latter part of 1776, together with other young men of Litchfield county, he united in forming a company of volunteer cavalry. The men furnished their own horses and equipment ; and served about two years. The following is Mr. Kirby's record for this period of service; 'Ephraim Kirby, private, enlisted Dec. 24, 1776, of Litchfield, farmer. Stature 5 ft. 6, complexion dark, eyes dark, hair brown. Discharged Aug. 7, 1778.' His daring and bravery were conspicuous on many fields. He was in many battles and skirmishes. In the engagement at Elk river he re- ceived seven sabre cuts on the head, and was left on the field as , dead. From the fearful cuts on his head he is said to have lost a portion of his brain, and he was for a long time unconscious. However, his intelligence was suddenly restored, and he at once re-entered the service of his country, continuing active until inde- pendence was achieved. At one time he was a lieutenant in a Rhode Island company. In all he is said to have been in nineteen battles and skirmishes, receiving thirteen wounds, including the sabre cuts already mentioned. These honorable evidences of ser- vice he carried with him to the grave.
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