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Mobile County
Alabama
Genealogy and
History |
Biographies
BUCHANAN, ADMIRAL FRANKLIN,
Every U. S. schoolboy knows about the fight in Hampton Roads
between the Monitor and the Merrimac, and about the naval battle in
Mobile Bay, when Farragut said, "Damn the torpedoes! Jouett, full speed!
Four bells, Captain Drayton!" But many a schoolboy's parents may have
forgotten how one man played a principal role in both duels, was wounded
in both. He was Franklin Buchanan, Admiral, Confederate States Navy.
Franklin Buchanan, probably named
after the late great Ben Franklin, was born in Baltimore in 1800. At 15
he entered the U. S. Navy as midshipman, at $19 a month, and, like other
midshipmen, found it hard to buy all the proper uniforms on that pay. At
23 he served under Commodore David Porter against the Caribbean pirates.
Six years later he went as third lieutenant to the famed frigate
Constellation, four years older than himself, which had spouted
broadsides against the French, the English, the pirates of Tripoli. In
1835 he married Anne Catherine Lloyd of Baltimore, who bore him eight
children—all daughters. When the Naval Academy at Annapolis was founded
(1845), Buchanan was made Superintendent. A stern disciplinarian, he
once unbent so far as to forward the following application from 38
cadets to the Secretary of the Navy: "Sir—We the undersigned midshipmen
of the Naval School at Annapolis respectfully request permission to wear
our beards, with the exception of that portion of it upon the upper
lip."
When the Mexican War broke out
(1846), there was no holding Sailor Buchanan: he applied for active
service, was accepted, and saw it. "For services rendered in Mexico," he
was officially complimented by the Maryland Legislature, presented with
160 acres in Iowa. The Civil War found him in command of Washington Navy
Yard. He resigned, later asked to have his resignation reconsidered; was
told curtly that his name had been "stricken from the rolls of the
Navy." Sailor Buchanan said good-bye to his family, went to Richmond,
became captain in the Confederate Navy. In March, 1862, in the
reconditioned, ironclad Merrimac (rechristened the Virginia) he sallied
out against the Union fleet blockading Norfolk. As they went into
action, Sailor Buchanan spoke to his men. Said he: "Those ships must be
taken, and you shall not complain that I do not take you close enough.
Go to your guns!" Down went the U. S. S. Cumberland; the Congress went
up in flames. Sailor Buchanan, wounded in the thigh, was promoted to
Admiral. Soon after the Virginia's drawn battle with the Monitor,
Norfolk was abandoned, the Virginia scuttled.
Buchanan's last and best fight was at Mobile Bay,
two years later. As the ironclad Tennessee headed for the midst of
Farragut's squadron, Buchanan ordered his bow gun "not to fire until the
vessels are in actual contact." Surrounded by three monitors and all of
Farragut's battleships, "for more than an hour [the Tennessee) withstood
the combined pounding of 200 guns." Buchanan's leg was broken. Said he:
"Well, Johnston, they have got me again. You'll have to look out for her
now; it is your fight." Soon after, the Tennessee ran up the white flag,
Buchanan was taken prisoner. Exchanged in '65, he returned to Mobile,
helped defend the city until its capture, then gave his parole. When the
war was over, he left his family once more, but only for a year, when he
went back to Mobile as Secretary and State Manager of the Alabama Branch
of the Life Association of America. His last years were spent with his
family in his mansion at Easton, Maryland, where Death came for him when
he and the century were 74 years old.
Written by Charles Lee Lewis, Published in Time Magazine, Monday,
Dec. 30, 1929; Submitted by Kim Torp
LEADBETTER, DANVILLE,captain U. S. Army, brigadier-general
C. S. Army, was born in Livermore, Maine, in 1811, and died at Clifton,
Canada, September 26, 1866. In 1832 he entered the West Point Military
Academy; was graduated brevet second lieutenant, First Artillery on July
1, 1836; transferred to engineers, November 1, 1836; transferred to
artillery, December 31, 1836; transferred to engineers, July 31, 1837;
was promoted to first lieutenant, July 7, 1838; commissioned captain,
October 16, 1852; and resigned December 31, 1857. From 1838 to 1845,
Lieut. Leadbetter served on garrison duty at Oswego Harbor, New York;
from 1845 to 1848 he was in charge of the engineer agency in New York
for the purchase and shipment of supplies for the construction of
fortifications; he was then a member of a joint commission of naval and
engineer officers for examination of the Pacific coast; in 1853 he was
in Mobile as superintending engineer of the repairs of Ft. Morgan and
the building of Ft. Gaines; the custom house at Mobile was built under
his superintendence. Resigning from the army, Capt. Leadbetter lived as
a private citizen of Mobile until the outbreak of the War of Secession;
he accepted the commission of lieutenant-colonel from Alabama and was
placed in command of Ft. Morgan; in August, 1861, he was assigned to
duty in Richmond as acting chief of the Engineer bureau; in November,
1861, Col. Leadbetter was assigned to the command of the troops
stationed for the protection of the railroad between Bristol and
Chattanooga, his duties being to reconstruct bridges, repair and keep
open the line of communication between these two points; he also had the
arduous task of preserving order and in holding in check the disaffected
and insurgent east Tennesseans along the line of the railroad and in the
adjoining regions. On March 6, 1862, Col. Leadbetter was promoted to the
rank of brigadier-general; on April 29, 1862, he had an encounter with
the Federal army marching upon Chattanooga; he was in command of a
brigade, with Gen. Bragg in his campaign in Kentucky; he was later
ordered to Mobile to superintend the construction and completion of its
defensive works; and on October 23, 1863, Gen. Leadbetter was announced
as chief of the engineer department of the army of Tennessee. His first
work with that army was the construction of the lines along Missionary
Ridge, while Gen. Bragg was investing Chattanooga. Gen. Leadbetter left
Longstreet, November 23, 1863, and arrived in Dalton, Ga., December 3;
served the Confederacy faithfully until the close of the war; at its
close removed to Mexico and afterwards to Canada. Married: to a Mrs.
Hall, nee Kennedy, a native of Alabama. Last residence: Clifton,
Canada.
Source: History of Alabama and
Dictionary of Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead
Owen, Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921; Submitted
by Barb Ziegenmeyer
LE BARON, WILLIAM A., commission merchant, and
vice-consul, was born November 7, 1827, at Pensacola, Fla.; son of
Charles and Ann (McVoy) Le Baron, the former a native of New Orleans,
La., a merchant; grandson of Colonel Le Baron, a quartermaster, with the
rank of colonel in the Seminole War, and for some years vice-consul at
Mobile for Mexico and Spain, and of Martin McVoy, a native of Scotland,
who migrated to Baldwin County, and piloted Gen. Andrew Jackson and his
army from Mobile to Pensacola in the War of 1813. Mr. Le Baron was
educated in Mobile, completing his studies at Spring Hill college
perfecting himself in Spanish as well as in English. In 1846 he helped
to organize the "Mobile cadets," and engaged in the cotton compress
business, 1856. In 1862, he was elected lieutenant colonel 24th Alabama
infantry regiment, C. S. Army, but resigned this office a few months
later to enter the navy, acting from 1863 to the close of the war as
clerk to Commodore E. Farrand. On the restoration of peace between the
sections he joined his father in the commislon business, becoming soon
afterwards a partner in the firm. He was appointed in 1881, vice-consul
at Mobile for Spain; and in 1888 for Mexico, and in 1889, for Nicaragua.
He is a Democrat and Roman Catholic. Married: in 1848, to Eliza J. Robb,
a native of the city of Mexico. Children: nine children were born of
this union. Residence: Mobile.
Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama
Biography By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Owen, Published by
The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921-Submitted by Dawn
Conway
LESESNE, JOSEPH WHITE, lawyer, chancellor, was born in 1811, in
Georgetown, S. C., and was drowned by the upsetting of a sailboat in
Mobile Bay, October 15, 1856, while crossing from his residence at Point
Clear; son of John Lesesne; grandson of Daniel and Mary (Simons)
Lesesne. His family was of Husue- n'ot extraction, being descended on
the paternal side from Isaac Lesesne, the founder of the family in South
Carolina, who emigrated to America in 1679, and on the maternal side
from Benjamin Simons, a Huguenot, who was a member of the assembly in
1761. The Simons family is prominent and widely connected in South
Carolina. His great-grandmother was Mary Esther DuPre, whose family were
Huguenots of noble extraction. One of his Lesesne ancestors was a
captain under Gen. Francis Marion in the Revolution. He received his
education chiefiy in and around New Haven, Conn., and attended Yale
college when he was seventeen years old. He left Yale with Andrew P.
Calhoun and others who refused to inform upon a fellow student, and
entered the South Carolina college, at Columbia, where he was graduated
with first honors, 1832. He then engaged in politics; wrote for the
"Columbia Telescope," a Nullification paper; and became co-editor of
that paper. He went to Yorkville, S. C., in December, 1834, and read and
practiced law for one year, then moved to Mobile where he spent the
remainder of his life. He was associated in the practice of law in
Mobile with John Forsyth and William D. Dunn, and soon took high rank at
the bar. He was appointed by Gov. Fitzpatrick as commissioner to make
the annual examination into the affairs and condition of the Branch bank
of Alabama, at Mobile; and on the death of Chancellor Crenshaw, in 1847,
was appointed chancellor of the southern division by Gov. Martin. The
legislature elected him to that position for a term of six years, over
Hon. Francis Bugbee, of Montgomery, and he filled the office during that
time. During the heated controversies of 1855-1856, he assisted in the
political guidance of the "Register," and acquired considerable
reputation as a political writer. He was a Democrat of the Calhoun
school. Married: December, 1834, to Miss Cooper, a daughter of President
Thomas Cooper, of South Carolina college. His eldest son was drowned
with him, but another son, a member of the capsized party, was rescued.
Henry Deas Lesesne, who was connected with the Alabama steel works, at
Mobile, in 1900, is a grandson. Last residence: Mobile.
Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of
Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen,
Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921; Submitted by
Barb Ziegenmeyer
LEVERT, OCTAVIA
(WALTON), author, was born in 1810, at "Bellevue," near
Augusta, Ga., and died March 13, 1877, at that place; daughter of George
and Sally Minge (Walker) Walton, the former a native of Georgia, who
removed to Pensacola, Fla., was territorial secretary under Gen. Andrew
Jackson, at one time acting governor, removed to Alabama and was mayor
of Mobile, 1837-39; granddaughter of George and Dorothy (Camber) Walton,
the former a native of Prince Edward County, Va., was apprenticed to
learn the trade of carpenter, studying at night, removed to Georgia at
end of apprenticeship in 1769, studied law, admitted to the bar in 1774,
practiced in Augusta, secretary of the provincial congress in 1774,
member of committee of safety, member council of safety, served several
terms in State legislature, delegate to continental congress, 1776-81,
signer of Declaration of Independence, soldier in Revolutionary War,
captured at Savannah, governor of Georgia, 1779-81, chief justice of
Georgia, 1773-86, elected a delegate to the federal constitution
convention in 1787, but declined, governor in 1789, chief justice in
1793, appointed to the United States senate to fill the vacancy caused
by the resignation of James Jackson, serving from November 16, 1795, the
Indians at Easton, Pa., and to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokees in
Tennessee, and judge of the middle circuit of Georgia, whose silver
garter buckles are preserved in the Alabama State department of archives
and history, his wife the daughter of Mr. Camber, an Englishman of
Georgia who returned to England at the outbreak of the Revolutionary
War; and of George and Eliza (Talbot) Walker; great-granddaughter of
John and Mary (Moseley) Talbot, the former a native of Amelia County,
Va., member of the house of burgesses, one of the signers of the
Williamsburg declaration of independence, June 4, 1774, removed to
Georgia in 1783, served several times as member of the state
legislature, died in Wilkes County, Ga., brother of Gov. Matthew Talbot,
of Georgia; great-great-granddaughter of Matthew and Annie (Williston) Talbot, the former a native
of Ireland, whose people by lineage were from Castle Talbot, Ireland,
and descendants of the Earl of Shrewsbury, who emigrated to America,
located in Maryland, later removing to Virginia, and residing at
different times in Amelia, Prince George, Lunenburg, Charlotte and
Bedford Counties, Va., and of Col. William Moseley, of Princess Anne
County, Va. Madame LeVert received her education from her grandmother,
mother, and an old Scotch tutor. At the age of twelve she spoke fiuently
French, Italian and Spanish and conversed in French with Lafayette upon
his visit to Pensacola. She also christened the new capital of Florida
"Tallahassee." She spent 1833-34 in a tour of the United States and
everywhere was received with enthusiasm. In 1835 she moved to Mobile
with her parents and spent the years 1853-54, and 1855 in Europe. Up to
that time she was the only American who obtained access to the better
circles of European society and in 1855 she was an officially accredited
representative from Alabama to the Paris exposition. She met such
interesting people as the Brownings, Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie, Pope
Pius IX, Harriet Hosmer, Crawford Ives, Lamartine and others; in America
she numbered among her personal friends such distinguished citizens as
Washington Irving, Edwin Booth, Henry W. Longfellow, Henry Clay, Millard
Fillmore, N. P. Willis, Jefferson Davis, Daniel Webster, Alexander H.
Stephens, Robert Toombs and John C. Calhoun. She was one of the
originators of the plan of the American women to preserve Mount Vernon
and was for years vice-regent for Alabama of the Mount Vernon
association. Although opposed to secession she remained in Mobile
throughout that period and did all in her power to alleviate the
sufferings of Southern soldiers. In 1865 she and her daughters made a
last visit to New York and Washington. She appeared for a time in 1874
as a public reader and later returned to her old home near Augusta, Ga.
Author: "Souvenirs of travel," 1857. Married : in 1836, in Mobile, to
Dr. Henry Strachey LeVert, son f Dr. Claude LeVert, fieet surgeon to
Rochambeau, and wife, a Miss Met- calf, of Virginia, niece of Admiral
Edward Vernon, under whom Lawrence Washington served at the battle of
Carthagena and in whose honor he later named his home, "Mount Vernon."
Children: 1. Octavia, d. unmarried; 2. Annette, m. Regyle Reab, of
Augusta, Ga. A son and was the author of many articles published in
different periodicals. Married: (1) at Augusta, Ga., to Frances,
daughter of Moses and Elise (Schwartz) Goldsmith, of that place; (2) in
1907, at the home of her sister in Selma, to Fanny, daughter of Simon
and Elise Cohen of Montgomery. No children. Last residence: Fort Smith,
Ark.
Source: History of Alabama
and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie
Bankhead Owen, Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921;
Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer
LOCKE, THOMAS COURTNEY , major, U. S. Army, and assistant adjutant general of
Alabama, was born September 10, 1881, at Clapham, Surrey County,
England; son of Richard Langford and Eliza Julia (de Tunzelman) Locke,
the former a native of New Castle West, Limerick County, Ireland, who
was a civil engineer for the British government in India thirteen years,
and was the London representative of the East India tea co. ; grandson
of John and Jane (Langford) Locke, of Dublin, Ireland, and of Waldemar
and Georgina (Finch) de Tunzelman, of London, England. He is a
descendant in the fourth generation from the great philosopher, John
Locke, and of Reginald Courtney, Earl of Devon. Major Locke left England
and came to Hillsboro County, Fla., moving in 1897 or 1898 to Mobile. He
was educated in the public schools of Florida and at the Alabama
polytechnic institute, Auburn, where in 1910 he received certificates in
electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mechanical drawing and
physical geometry. He enlisted in Co. A, 2nd Alabama infantry regiment,
Alabama National Guard, April 23, 1902, and has held commissions as
second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, and on November 20, 1913,
was commissioned major in the adjutant general's department. On June 18,
1916, he was assigned as adjutant of the 1st Alabama brigade: saw
service on the Mexican Border at Nogales, Ariz., October 29, 1916, to
March 18, 1917; became adjutant of mobilization camp, Montgomery, March
22, 1917; and continued as such until September 17, 1917, when he became
adjutant of the 62nd infantry brigade, at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. He
waa overseas with the 31st Division, from October 31, 1918 until
November 11, 1918, when he was placed in charge of the embarkation of
troops at Bassens, Bordeaux, returning to America on August 10, 1919. He
was appointed assistant quartermaster for the national matches, Navy
rifle range, Caldwell, N. J., and on October 31, 1919, he was discharged
from the service. He now holds rank of major, quartermaster corps, and
on April 1, 1920, was appointed assistant adjutant general of Alabama.
He is a Baptist and a member of the Kappa Sigma college fraternity.
Unmarried. Residence: Montgomery.
Source: History
of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen,
Marie Bankhead Owen, Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company,
1921; Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer
LOTT, ELISHA B., public official, was born October 16, 1819, in Mobile
County; Ron of Jesse and Levica (Williams) Lott, the former a native of
Georgia, a farmer, who settled in Mobile County in 1800, and died in
1843, the latter a native of Washington County, who died about 1875. He
was reared on a farm in Mobile County, and was educated in the common
schools of the county. When he was eighteen years of age, he went to
Mobile, and after clerking for several years, engaged In merchandising
for himself. He continued in that business until 1853; was elected tax
collector of Mobile County in 1854; and was elected to that office
thirteen times, serving in all thirty-seven years. He made a trip to
California in 1849 on account of the impaired condition of his health,
and returned in 1852. During that time, he devoted his attention to
mining. He served in the C. S. Army as a member of the Thirty-sixth
Alabama infantry regiment, 1862-1865, and at the close of the war held
the rank of first lieutenant. He was wounded at the battle of
Chickamauga and was disabled for three months. He was a Democrat; a
Baptist; a Mason; and a member of the Young Men's Christian Association.
Married: January 20. 1845, to Mary E. Swain, of Mobile. He had eleven
children of whom four sons and six daughters are living. Last residence:
Mobile.
Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography,
By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, Published by The S. J.
Clarke publishing company, 1921; Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer
WEBB. JAMES HENRY, lawyer, was born July 16, 1863, at
Greensboro, Hale, then Greene County; son of Dr. William Thomas and
Frances Young (Dickins) Webb, the former a skilled physician, was born
on Brush Creek, near Greensboro, in 1815, when the present State of
Alabama was the eastern half of Mississippi territory, and lived at
Greensboro until 1866, when he removed to Mobile, and died at his county
home "Nanna Hubba," July 25, 1883; grandson of Thomas and Martha
(Dickins) Webb, who lived at Brush Creek, Miss. Ter., to which place he
came from Tally-Ho, Granville County, N. C., and of Robert and Martha
(Young) Dickins, of Greensboro. His early education was received in the
schools of Mobile County, later he attended the Barton academy in
Mobile, and finally entered the Southern university from which he
graduated in 1882 with the A. B. degree. In 1885 he graduated from the
law department of the University of Alabama, having previously read in
the office of James E. Webb, at Greensboro, and had a summer course of
lectures under the learned Prof. John Minor at the University of
Virginia. He entered upon the practice in Mobile immediately upon
completing his studies. He was elected solicitor of Mobile County,
November, 1892, and held that office for sixteen years, resigning
November, 1908, to accept a partnership with John W. McAlpine, the firm
still existing as Webb and McAlpine. He is a Democrat; Presbyterian;
Mason; Elk; Knight of Pythias; and an Odd Fellow. Married: October 3,
1888, at Stockton, Baldwin County, to Frances, daughter of Daniel and
Margaret Catherine (McMillan) Williams of that place. The McMillan
family was Scotch-Irish, long lived and possessed of deep piety.
Children: 1. Mary Frances; 2. Margaret Catherine; 3. Celia; 4. Martha;
5. and 6. (twins) Grace and Agnes; 7. Janie. Residence: Mobile.
Source: Owen, Thomas and Marie Owen, History of
Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol 4. Chicago, S. J.
Clarke Publishing Company, 1921. Submitted by Dawn
Conway
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