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FITE, FRED, lawyer and member Alabama legislature, was born May 2, 1891, at Hamilton, Marion County; son of Bloomer R. and Jennie (Hoge) Fite, and brother of Arthur F. Fite (q. v.). He was educated in the public schools of Alabama; at the West Alabama agricultural college; and at the University of Alabama, where he graduated. LL. B., 1912. He located in Tuscaloosa for the practice of his profession, but later removed to Birmingham. He enlisted in Battery C, Alabama national guard, and later became second lieutenant in Troop B, 1st Alabama cavalry, but resigned before the troops were ordered to Texas for border duty. He re-entered the service when war was declared against Germany and served in the air forces of the United States. After the war ended he returned to his law practice in Birmingham. Mr. Fite was a member of the house of representatives of 1916, from Tuscaloosa County. He is a Democrat; a Methodist; a Mason; a Knight ot Pythias; and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fraternity. Married: in Birmingham, to Wilbur Leake. Residence: Birmingham. Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography by Thomas McAdory Owen, Vol III, Published by S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1921.  Submitted by Veneta McKinney


 GREENE, MISS FRANCES NIMMIO, educator, born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the late sixties. She is known to the public as "Dixie." She is descended through her father from an old South Carolina family, and through her mother from the best Virginia stock. Her mother's family have been literary in taste for several generations. Miss Greene received her education in Tuscaloosa Female College, where she made an excellent record for earnestness and intelligence. Since leaving school she has made teaching her profession.  While teaching in a mining town in north Alabama, she first conceived the idea of writing sketches for publication.  Her first attempt, “Yankees in Dixie,” was promptly accepted by the Philadelphia "Times." Since that time she has contributed to that paper many letters on southern affairs. She also writes for the Birmingham "Age Herald " and other southern papers. She has directed her efforts as a writer toward bringing about a better state of feeling between the sections by giving the people of the North a correct understanding of the negro and his condition, and also of the temper of the southern whites. Besides writing in prose, she sometimes writes verse, but has published only one poem. Source: American Women by Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Vol. 1, 1897. Submitted by Marla Snow


HUNTINGTON,  BACCHUS W.  was for some years a citizen of Sumter.  He is a native of New Jersey, and was born about the year 1817.  Well educated, he first removed to South Carolina, about 1839, and shortly afterwards opened a law office in Tuskaloosa.  He arose to distinction very rapidly at the bar, and in 1843 represented that county in the legislature.  In 1846 he came to Sumter, and was a very successful practitioner here.  Elected to the bench of the circuit court in 1852 over Judge Reavis, he resigned the position the year after, and removed to the city of New York to practice.  Judge Huntington was while here a consummate pleader, and was potent before a jury. Upon the bench he was prompt to decide, unapt to err, and gave promise of high rank in that position, if he had retained it.  His literary culture, genial nature, and rich mental gifts alone would have given him decided prominence.  He married a daughter of Mr. Daniel M. Riggs of Dallas. Source: "Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872"; by Willis Brewer; Montgomery, Ala.: Barrett & Brown, 1872 transcribed by Jeanne Kalkwarf 


JEMISON, WILLIAM CARLOS newspaper editor and mayor was born December 2, 1850 in Tuscaloosa and died March 28, 1901 in Galveston Tex.; son of William Henry and Elizabeth Ann (Patrick) Jemison (q.v.) and brother of Robert, sr., and John S Jemison (q.v.).  His education was interrupted by the results of the War of Secession but with the brave spirit that dominated the manhood of the period he met the stern duties of life. For a while he engaged in planting and school teaching pursuing his studies between hours of work He entered the law department of the University of Alabama and graduated in 1874, practicing only a few years, however, before engaging in the coal and iron business. He was mayor of Tuscaloosa 1889 to 1890 and 1894 to 1900 and during his incumbency, he invited the Rivers and Harbors convention to meet in his city and demonstrated to that body the possibilities of the Warrior river as a navigable stream of potential possibilities. He inaugurated the system of graded public schools during his administration as well as barge line communication with Mobile. He was editor and proprietor of the "Tuscaloosa Times" at the time of his death. Married (1) February 24, 1879 at Ocean Springs, Miss. to Eliska Leftwich, daughter of J. G. W. Leftwich of that place; (2) July 10, 1889 at Talladega to Clara Roberts. Children: by the first wife 1. Kate 2. Allen, Birmingham; by the second wife 3. William 4. Margaret. Last residence: Tuscaloosa.
[History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 3 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, 1921 - Transcribed by AFOFG]


 JONES, HARVEY ELLIS
Harvey Ellis Jones, of Mobile, was born April 28, 1842, at Tuscaloosa,
and is the son of'George L. Jones, of Tuscaloosa,, (son of Frederick Jones, of Hillsboro, N. C., son of another Frederick Jones, the Royal Chief Justice of N. C.) and! wife Madeline Clitherall, daughter of Dr. George Clitherall, U. S. army, and wife Caroline Burgwin, of the "Hermitage,near Newbern. He was educated in the private schools, at St. James College, Hagerstown, Md., and at the University of Alabama, but did not graduate. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Jones entered the Confederate army, April 28, 1861, as 2nd sergeant Co. "E," 3rd Alabama Regiment, Infantry, C. S. A.; and was promoted captain, and assistant Adjutant-General of Gracie's Alabama brigade. On March 31, 1865, he lost a leg in battle at White Oak Road', Va, He engaged in various business occupations until he was appointed recording secretary to Governor Thomas G. Jones, serving from 1890 to 1894. He was private secretary to Governor Wm. C. Oates, 1894-96; member of the Railroad Commission 1895-99; and Adjutant-General of the State, 1894-96, and served as State Tax Commissioner from 1901, succeeding William J. Wood, to its abolition by acts of March 7, 1907. On the creation of the State-Tax Commission, he was named as an associate member. He has been Adjutant General of the Alabama. Division, United Confederate Veterans, since the organization of the Division. He is a Democrat, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. On November 24, 1869, Mr. Jones was married at Spring Hill, near Mobile, to Marion, daughter of Right Reverend R. H. Wilmer, Bishop of the Diocese of Alabama, and wife Margaret Brown, of Albermarle county, Va., daughter of Alexander Brown, of Perth, Scotland, and wife Lucy Shandon Rives,, sister of William Cabell Rives, the Virginia statesman.
[Alabama Official and Statistical Register by Thomas M. Owen, 1907 - Transcribed by AFOFG]


LEACH, SEWELL JONES, dentist and business man, was born in New York City, November 14, 1812, and died in Tuscaloosa, August 6, 1885; son of Ephraim Leach and Sophia (Jones) Leach. His educational advantages were limited as he was unable to attend school longer than four months in any one year. At the age of eighteen, he took up the profession of teaching and for two years conducted a school in the state of New York. He then took up the study of dentistry at Utica, N. Y., and removed to Mobile, 1837, where he began the practice of his profession. Remaining there only one year, he moved to Tuscaloosa and engaged in the jewelry business with his brother, Cyrus Sidney Leach; moved to Union town, 1840, and again practiced dentistry at the same time managing his plantation in Marengo County. Returning to Tuscaloosa, 1842, he resumed the practice of his profession. He, with Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, afterwards president of Columbia college, New York, successfully conducted a series of experiments in producing sun pictures, antedating the promulgation of the discovery by the distinguished Frenchman, Daguerre. Dr. Leach throughout his entire life was a machinist of the rarest ability. On account of his practical knowledge of machinery he was employed to purchase the outfit for the first cotton mill built in Tuscaloosa, 1846, and also for the paper mill. He established, 1852, on the banks of the Warrior River, in Tuscaloosa, the Leach and Avery iron and plow co. It was destroyed by fire, 1859, rebuilt, and during the war was employed in casting cannons for the Confederate government, until 1864, when it was burned by the Federals. On account of declining health, 1878, he accepted the less ardous position of general superintendent and machinist of the Tuscaloosa cotton mills, into which the foundry was converted. He was a Mason; an Odd Fellow; and an Episcopalian. Dr. Leach, although a northerner by birth, was a man of strong southern feeling. Married: October 10, 1839. to Elizabeth Faulcon. daughter of James Harris and Rebecca Emily (Alston) Fitts (q. v.). Children: 1. James Harris, d. in infancy; 2. Sidney Fitts (q. v.), m. Mary Lee Peck; 3. Emily Alston, m. James Slaughter Carpenter; 4. Samuel Thomas, student at the University of Alabama, 1862-63, member of Fowler's battery, C. S. Army, 1863-65; 5. Norma Lela, m. John Snow (q. v.) ; 6. Carolyn Medora, m. Edward E. Kirkham; 7. Susan Virginia, d. young; 8. Leila, d. in infancy; 9. Sewall Leach, University of Alabama, 1874-76, bookkeeper, 1888- 94, manager laundry and electric light plant of University of Alabama, general manager S. F. Alston furniture co., m. Kate Brantley Arrington, of Tuscaloosa; 10. Edward Faulcon, 1023 University of Alabama, 1874-77, agent U. S. express co., University of Alabama, 1874-77, agent U. S. express co., Birmingham, 1887-92, private, Co. F, Second Alabama volunteer regiment, Spanish-American War, m. Marie Louise Tail, of Montgomery; 11. Fitts, d. young. Last residence: Tuscaloosa.  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


LEACH, SYDNEY, physician, was born January 25, 1875, at Tuscaloosa; son of Sidney Fitts and Mary Lee (Peck) Leach, who lived at Tuscaloosa, the former a soldier in the C. S. Army, who served as a sergeant in Fowler's battery, Smith's regiment of artillery; grandson of Sewell Jones and Elizabeth (Faulcon) Leach (q. v.), and of Elijah Woolsey and Lucy (Randall) Peck, of Tuscaloosa. He was educated in the Tuscaloosa public schools; attended University high school at Marion, and Marion military institute; was graduated from the Alabama polytechnic institute, B. S., 1894 and from the University of Virginia, M. D., 1896. He served in various hospitals in New York, and was a member of the house staff of the New York polyclinic medical school and hospital in 1899; was appointed first assistant physician of the Alabama insane hospital, and served in that capacity, 1899-1904; since that time has been practicing medicine at Tuscaloosa. He is a Democrat, an Episcopalian, and a Mason. Married: April 25, 1900, at Tuscaloosa, to Nanieta Somerville McEachin, daughter of Archibald Bruce and Eudora (Somerville) McEachin, who lived at that place. Children: 1. Minturn Peck, d. 1904; 2. Mary Lee; 3. Sidney McEachin, d. 1905; 4. Archibald Bruce; 5. Eudora Somerville; 6. Randall Peck. Residence: Tuscaloosa.  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


LINCECUM, GIDEON, naturalist and pioneer settler, was born in April, 1793, in Hancock County, Ga., and died November 28, 1873, at Long Point, Texas. He was educated in a country school in South Carolina; served in the War of 1812; studied medicine and taught school in Georgia, removed to Tuscaloosa which was then located in the wilderness, later went to Mississippi and finally located in Texas. He was the collector of many valuable specimens in natural history. Last residence: Long Point, Texas.  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


LITTLE, GEORGE, teacher and geologist, was born February 11, 1838, at Tuscaloosa; son of John and Barbara (Kerr) Little, the former a native of Corry Hill, Dumfries, Scotland, a resident of Tuscaloosa from 1835-80. druggist there for forty years, teacher in Charleston, S. C., manager of the Iron works at Beatty'a Ford, N. C., and connected with a number of other business activities; grandson of William and Janet Little, of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and of George and Margaret (Pool) Kerr, also of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the former was for forty years a teacher in Tuscaloosa, and died there at the age of ninety-two, in 1864, whose daughter 'Barbara (Kerr) Little, taught in Tuscaloosa also for forty years. Dr. Little received his early education from his mother and his cousin, Miss Mary Irving, 'George Bell, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and other teachers of the period. He attended the University of Alabama, 1851-55, and graduated with the A. B. degree. During 1857-58, he attended the University of Berlin and in 1858- 59, studied at the University of Gottingen from which he received the Ph. D. degree. In 1906, the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Alabama. He taught in Tuscaloosa, 1855-57-65; was professor of natural science, 1860-61-66-67, Oakland college, Mississippi; professor of mineralogy, and geology and agriculture, University of Georgia, 1876-78; State geologist, Mississippi, 1870- 74; State geologist, Georgia, 1874-81; geological expert, Chattanooga, Tenn., 1889-92; geological expert, Tuscaloosa, 1892-1912; secretary Tuscaloosa board of trade, 1909-12. While a student at the University of Alabama, he held the rank of corporal and sergeant successively in the cadet corps. He entered the Confederate Army as a private in Lumden's Battery, 1861, and was promoted through the successive ranks of orderly sergeant, lieutenant, captain of artillery, major and lieutenant-colonel at the close of the war. He is a Democrat and Presbyterian. He is a trustee, Pontotoc, Miss., Presbyterian collegiate institute; fellow American association advancement of science. Author: inaugural thesis for degree of Ph. D., Gottingen, Germany, 1859; "Selenium and the Selenlurets;" "Reports of progress of the mineral, geological and physical survey of Georgia;" "Ores, minerals and woods;" "Handbook of Georgia;" "Cretaceous fossil;" in Philadelphia Academy of Science, part III, 1876; "Clays of Alabama," 1900. Married: May 13, 1869, at Sardis, Miss., to Caroline Patillo, daughter of Rev. Daniel Gillespie and Mary Ann (Patillo) Doak, who lived at Zion church, near Columbia, Tenn., the former was a native of Guilford County, N. C., the latter born in Person County, N. C., 1843; granddaughter of John Franklin Patillo and great-granddaughter of Rev. Henry Patillo, author of Patillo's sermons, and a soldier in the Revolution. Children: 1. Mary; 2. Daniel Doak, teacher, 1891-96, student Presbyterian theological seminary, Louisville, Ky., 1897-1900, pastor Presbyterian church, Montevallo; 3. George Kerr, U. S. engineer; 4. James Waddell, U. S. engineer; 5. John Goulding, ciyll engineer; 6. Margaret Carolyn. Residence: Tuscaloosa.  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


LITTLE, JOHN,Presbyterian minister, was born April 29, 1874, at Tuscaloosa; son of Dr. John and Amanda (Harris) Little. He was prepared for college by Prof. W. H. Verner; was graduated from the University of Alabama B. A., 1893, and from the Presbyterian theological seminary of Kentucky, 1899. He was ordained to the ministry by the Presbytery of Louisville, Ky., 1899. Rev. Little was founder and superintendent of the Presbyterian colored missions of Louisville. The institution was opened February 1, 1898, and is in the nature of institutional churches for negroes, giving religious instruction and industrial training under the supervision of white teachers.  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


MCEACHIN, JAMES S., a rising young lawyer of Vernon, Lamar county, Ala. was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala. January 20, 1862, the eldest of a family of six children, born to ARCHIBALD B. and DORA (SOMERVILLE) MCEACHIN, natives respectively of North Carolina and Virginia.  His paternal grandparents were PETER and MARIA (MCEWEN) MCEACHIN, both North Carolinians, and his maternal grandparents were JAMES and HELEN (WALLACE) SOMERVILLE, both of whom were born in Orange County, Va.  ARCHIBALD B. MCEACHIN is still living, and is quite prominent at the Tuscaloosa bar.  JAMES S. MCEACHIN received a first class academical education in Tuscaloosa, preparatory to his entering the University of Alabama, from the law department of which institution he graduated in 1882, and now holds a high position at the bar of Lamar county.  He has filled the office of district solicitor of the sixth circuit, having been appointed by Gov. Jones, and has filled the position of chairman of the democratic county committee, of both Tuscaloosa county and Lamar county, and has on several occasions been sent as delegate to democratic conventions - performing his duty thoroughly on all occasions and to the satisfaction of his numerous friends.  For twelve years he has been a member of the state troops, and was the organizer of the Warrior guards of Tuscaloosa.  he served two years as lieutenant of the Birmingham rifles, organized the Jones rifles of Lamar county, and held the captaincy thereof three years, and is now major in the second regiment of state troops, having it would seem, an innate predilection for military tactics.  Mr. MCEACHIN was married in August 1882 to Miss ANNA G., daughter of JOHN W. MCPHERSON, and a native of Virginia.  This felictious union has been blessed by the birth of five children, named as follows: JOHN W., HELEN W., TILLIE, ARCHIBALD B., and HENDERSON S.  Mr. MCEACHIN is an Odd Fellow, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.  His position in social circles is an enviable one, and professionally he is highly respected by his fellow practitioners as well as by the public in general.  Source: From Memorial Record of Alabama. By Hannis Taylor, Brant & Fuller, Publishers, Madison,   Wis. 1893. Transcribed and submitted by Veneta McKinney


 SANDERS, WILLIAM HENRY
William Henry Sanders, of Mobile, State. Health Officer, was
born in Tuscaloosa county, July 9, 1838, and is the son of Dr. Charles Peak and Elizabeth Ann (Thompson) Sanders, of Charleston, S. C., and the grandson of William and Martha (Ditmore) Sanders, and of Dr. Matthew and Arabella (Keys) Thompson. His paternal grandfather, a native of England, emigrated to Charleston, S. C.; and his maternal ancestors resided in Anderson district, S. C. His father removed from Tuscaloosa county to Clinton, Greene county, and from this point he matriculated in the University of Alabama, 1856, and from which institution he graduated with the A. B. degree in 1858. Having entered the Jefferson Medical College, he graduated with the M. D. degree in 1861. On June 11, 1861, he enlisted in Co. "C," llth Alabama Infantry Regiment, C. S. A.; was appointed assistant surgeon of the regiment in Sept. 1861; and promoted as surgeon of the command, March 6, 1863, by the Confederate States War Department. Sometime after the War of Secession he located in the city of Mobile, where he practiced his profession. He served as President of the State Medical Association, 1890-91. In 1897, on the death of Dr. Jerome Cochran, Dr. Sanders was chosen by the State Medical Association to succeed him as State Health officer, a place he still holds. Dr. Sanders is a Democrat, and is unmarried.
[Alabama Official and Statistical Register by Thomas M. Owen, 1907 - Transcribed by AFOFG]


 SHORTRIDGE, GEORGE DAVID, a distinguished citizen of this county, was the son of Hon. Eli Shortridge of Talladega, and was born in Montgomery county,  Kentucky, Nov. 10, 1814.  He came with his parents to Tuskaloosa in 1826, and had but a partial education when he accepted a clerkship in the office of the supreme court, two years later.  He was subsequently a clerk under Hon. J. I. Thornton of Greene, secretary of state, and was also a clerk in a book store.  He was one of the first students at the State University, but was not graduated.  While reading law in his father’s office he edited a newspaper.  Licenses as an attorney in 1834, he was elected solicitor the same winter, and removed to Montgomery.  There his talents soon brought him into notice, and he was twice elected mayor of the embryo city. In 1838 he represented Montgomery in the legislature.  Pecuniary reverses and ill-health soon after caused him to retire to his plantation in this county,  but he recuperated and resumed the practice here.  In 1846 the legislature elected him to the bench of the circuit court over Messrs. P.T. Harris, T. A. Walker, Lincoln Clarke, and J. W. Womack.  In 1850 he was continued on the bench by a large popular majority.  After holding the responsible office nine years, he resigned it in 1855 when nominated for governor.  His party was in a minority in the State, and he was defeated by Gov. Winston.  Soon after this he removed to Selma, and was the associate there in the practice with Hon. J. R. John.  He remained there a year or two, then returned to this county, which he represented in the constitutional convention of 1861.  This finished his public career.  The ruthless hand of war was laid heavily on him in the loss of his three sons and only son-in-law.  He died in 1870.  Possessed of a handsome person, an easy address, a wide range of knowledge, and a genial and ready wit, Judge Shortridge was one of the most interesting men of his day.  He was an able, upright, and patient judge; as  literateur he wielded a graceful pen; and as a gentleman he belonged to the best school.  His popularity was the result of kindness of heart, liberality, and an observance of the amenities due from man to man.  His wife was a daughter of Mr. Edmund King of this county - Source: "Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872"; by Willis Brewer; Montgomery, Ala.: Barrett & Brown, 1872 - transcribed by Jeanne Kalkwarf 


SMITH, WILLIAM RUSSELL, 1815—1896,  In versatility of genius, varied and successful achievement, often  in the face of apparently insurmountable obstacles, and in a broad and untrammeled grasp of public affairs, William Russell Smith takes easy rank among the first of distinguished Alabamians. Journalist, author, lawyer, and political leader, he was eminent in every field of endeavor in which he entered. He was born in Russellville, Kentucky, March 27, 1815, the son of Ezekiel Smith, a prosperous pioneer and planter of Kentucky, and Elizabeth Hampton, who were married at Bowling Green, Kentucky, August 8, 1806, both being descended from old colonial families who, having their American origin in Virginia, had migrated to Kentucky. The boy was named for Colonel William Russell, of Virginia, a kinsman, from whom the town of Russellville, Kentucky, took its name. After the death of her husband, the widow gathered the remnants of the patrimony and her slaves, and upon the advice of friends and relatives, and in their company, moved to Huntsville, in what was then the Territory of Alabama, with her six children, Sidney, the eldest; Louisa, Glovina, and Adeline, William, the fifth, and Joseph, an infant who died at Huntsville. There she built a stone house, near the great spring, which was still standing when the Civil War came on. After a sojourn of a year or two in Huntsville, the mother, for what reason is not known, but possibly on account of the dwindling family fortune, sold the house at Huntsville, and removed to Tuscaloosa. Here, in the autumn of 1823, during an epidemic, she died of a fever, leaving her five orphans (Sidney, aged sixteen, being the eldest) to face the battle of life far from relatives or old friends. She was buried in the graveyard in Tuscaloosa, near the spot where her distinguished son now lies.

The death of the mother wrought a great change in the condition of the children. A family named Potts — Mrs. Potts having nursed Mrs. Smith in her last illness — took charge of the children and of their little remaining property. The slaves ran away, the property was speedily dissipated, and the children were temporarily scattered among the neighbors, William remaining with the Potts family. Here, his little property being gone, he was mistreated by Mrs. Potts, deprived of his linen clothing, for which gingham and homespun were substituted, compelled to wait for his meals until the family had finished, and otherwise made to feel his dependent condition. He received severe whippings for trifling childish faults — perhaps the first and only blows he ever had felt. The culmination came when one night he crept out of his attic window and down the sloping roof to the ground, and ran away. After wandering about for two or three days, he was restored to his brother. About this time a cousin came from Kentucky and endeavored to persuade the children to return to the home of their birth; but Sidney, who had then obtained employment, opposed this. Shortly afterward his sister, Louisa, married William A. McDaniel, a tailor, in whose shop the boy was employed. It was not long, however, before it was discovered that the little orphan was an embryo genius; and kind friends of whom he always spoke with affection came forward to assist him, the most generous being General George W. Crabb (to whose memory and achievements Judge Smith paid tribute in his 'Reminiscences,') who advanced the money for his education, which his future law student afterward repaid him. In 1826 or 1827 he entered the school taught by Dr. Reuben Searcy, later one of the most distinguished physicians of West Alabama, and, in 1829, the school of the Rev. Nathaniel H. Harris, M.A., where he spent two years in preparing for college.

The sixteen year-old boy entered the University of Alabama on the opening day in the spring of 1831. Ambitious and diligent, young Smith, ably taught by earnest teachers, and emulating his brilliant fellow students, attained a high standard of scholarship in a thorough course of English, French, classical and scientific studies. Withal he assiduously cultivated the muses, as is attested by the publication of his first book while he was yet a student at the University. This little book of 112 pages, containing sixteen poems, unique in being, probably, the first literary production as such published in Alabama, is entitled 'College Musings, or Twigs from Parnassus,' printed by D. Woodruff at Tuscaloosa, in 1833. It was followed shortly afterward by 'The Bridal Eve,' an Indian romance in verse. Early in 1834, within a few months of graduation, young Smith was compelled, from the necessity of earning a livelihood, to leave the University. He entered the law office of General Crabb, his friend and patron, and so diligently did he pursue his studies that at the end of one year he passed the necessary examination and was  admitted to the Bar. He began practice at Greensboro in 1835, at the age of twenty. He was short of stature — about five feet, five inches in height — but with a sturdy, well-knit frame, capable of great and prolonged endurance, both physical and mental. He had dark brown hair, large eyes of the same color, and a large, expressive mouth, indicative of an affectionate and generous nature, and at the same time of unbending determination. In 1836 his elder brother, Sidney, joining one of the Alabama companies, which were raised for that purpose, went to Texas to aid the fight for Texan independence, and there he was killed in the Goliad massacre of March 27, 1836 — this being William's twenty- first birthday. In the mean time hostilities had broken out with the Creek Nation, and the young lawyer, fired with the military spirit inherited from his soldier ancestors of two wars, and nurtured by his mother's teachings, raised a company of mounted infantry, of which he was elected captain, and proceeded, in the regiment commanded by Colonel Joseph P. Frazier, to the seat of war. But, the Indian War having been just brought to an end, his company was disbanded and he returned home. There he met the news of his brother's death and of the destruction of the whole of Fannin's command by the treachery of Santa Anna; and he immediately set out, visiting several counties, and addressing audiences wherever he could find them, in an endeavor to raise a force to rally to the support of the Texans and to avenge the blood of the American patriots who had been so foully slaughtered at Goliad. The desire to avenge the untimely death of his brother, who had been father and mother to the orphan boy, who shared with him the inheritance of a brilliant mind, and for whom he entertained a passionate affection, must have dominated all other motives for this intended incursion into military fields. The company that he recruited went as far as Mobile, where the news of the battle of San Jacinto, and the subsequent success of the Texans, caused it to disband. Instead of returning home, young Smith remained in Mobile and for a year devoted himself to literature, soon establishing a magazine. This magazine was The Bachelor's Button, a monthly periodical, purely literary in its character, the first number of which was published at Mobile in December, 1836. It had the distinction of being the first periodical of the kind ever published in Alabama. The first four numbers were published in Mobile, but in 1837 Judge Smith returned to Tuscaloosa where the fifth and sixth — the latter the last — numbers were published. This magazine of 1836-1837, to which young Smith was a large contributor, as well as its editor, might well hold a prominent place in our Twentieth Century publications.

Upon the adjournment of the Convention in March, 1861, Judge Smith went home and raised the Sixth Alabama Battalion, which grew into the Twenty-sixth Alabama Regiment, of which he was commissioned Colonel; and at the same time he prepared for publication the 'History and Debates of the Secession Convention,' a work of the very highest value. He went into the camp of instruction; but was almost immediately elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, in which he served from the beginning to the end, in 1865. After the close of the war, he ran for Governor in 1865, but was defeated and entered the political field but once again, namely in 1878, when he was defeated for Congress. He resumed in Tuscaloosa the practice of law, and also devoted himself to literary pursuits, principally the translation into English couplets of parts of Homer's "Iliad." About this time Judge Smith began also the preparation, under a joint resolution of the General Assembly, of a condensation of the Alabama Reports, which were published in ten volumes, the first in 1870, and the tenth in 1879, covering all the reports from Minor to the Eighth Alabama Reports, inclusive. In 1870 he was elected president of the University, and served as such for about a year. The Board of Trustees was composed of Radicals, and it was thought that the election of Judge Smith would win over to the University the support of the people; but the antagonism to them was reflected on him, and seeing that he would be unable, under the existing state of feeling, to build up the institution, he retired.

In 1879 he removed with his family to Washington, where he resided during the remainder of his life, practicing law for several years, but devoting the greater part of his time, even until his death, to literary pursuits. In the early 'eighties he edited and published The Law-Central, to which he contributed a series of exhaustive studies in criminal insanity, including a study of the Guiteau case. In 1889 he published one of his most valuable contributions to the history and literature of Alabama: 'Reminiscences of a Long Life; Historical, Political, Personal, and Literary.' During the succeeding years of his life he prepared a second volume of the same character, but it was never published. In 1890 he published a humorous poem, in rhyming couplets, entitled " Was it a Pistol? A Nut for Lawyers," descriptive of a trial by jury for the carrying of a concealed pistol by an unsophisticated country youth, who was also a ventriloquist. He printed also, for private circulation, a number of poetical pieces, the principal one being  "Polyxena: A Tragedy," based upon the story of that character in the "Iliad." He retained the vigor of his intellect unimpaired to the very day of his death, which occurred in Washington, February 26, 1896, of an acute attack of bronchitis, the funeral services being conducted at the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist by the Bishop of Mobile. He was a man whose love for his kin never hesitated; whose affection and loyalty to his friends never wavered; a man singularly free from any taint of envy, jealousy, or malice, even toward an enemy; indeed, it seems that it might have been well for him politically had he cherished resentment.  Source: Thomas M Owen, Library of Southern Literature; Submitted by Janice Rice

(Note: Burial next to his mother Tuscaloosa Alabama)


WALKER, HICKMAN PIERCE, merchant, was born February 8, 1839, at Tuscaloosa; son of Robert B. and Frances Elizabeth (Spiller) Walker, the former a merchant, was born at North Port; grandson of Moses Walker, of North Port, and of Hickman and Sally (Payne) Spiller, of Danville, Va. He received his early education in the county schools at Taylorsville and attended the University of Alabama; entered the Confederate Army, July 13, 1861,-as 2d lieutenant, Co. G; made lieutenant colonel, 18th Alabama infantry regiment, in the retreat from Tennessee, under General J. B. Hood. He was a member first board of education of Tuscaloosa. He is a Democrat; Baptist; and a Mason. Unmarried. Residence: Tuscaloosa.  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


WALKER, TANDY, pioneer blacksmith and woodsman, was born in Virginia and died in Alabama or Texas, in 1842. One of his grandmothers was a Miss Tandy. He removed to the Tombigbee Country, 1801, then an Indian frontier, guarded by military posts, and beginning to be occupied by white pioneer families. Mr. Walker was the government blacksmith at St. Stephens, then an army post, and was also interpreter between the whites and Indians. He was the hero of one of the most thrilling of the border incidents, preserved in Alabama history, the rescue of Mrs. Crawley, a Tennessee white woman, who had been kidnapped and brought to the "great falls" now Tuscaloosa, by "Little Warrior" to be burned at the stake. He was a fearless Indian fighter. Married: Mary Mays. Children: 1. Sarah New- step, m. Caswell Reynolds of Newbern; 2. Millie, m. Edward Easley.  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


WALLACE, JAMES B., old time lawyer of Tuscaloosa. Deceased.  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


WEBSTER, JOHN, soldier of the American Revolution. He was born in Caroline County, Va., in 1743. Early in the struggle for independence he enlisted in the Continental army and served under Gen. Washington. He was with the American army at Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. In 1817 1741 he came to Alabama and during the last ten he came to Alabama and during the last ten years of his life he lived in Tuscaloosa with his son, John J. Webster. He died in Tuscaloosa, September 6, 1839, in the 97th year of his age. Flag of the Onion, Tuscaloosa, Ala., September 14, 1839.  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


WHITFIELD, LOUIS B. 1027 district 1876-1880; was re-elected in 1880 was re-elected in 1880 and 1886, serving in that office for sixteen years; and later became associate judge of the city court of Gadsden. He was a trustee of the University of Alabama for six years; is a Democrat; a Methodist, serving the church as secretary of the Eufaula district conference and as statistical secretary of the Southern Alabama Conference ; and is a Mason. Married : December 19, 1865, in Tuscaloosa. to Lillie Lawrence, daughter of William Haywood and Ildegerte Lucy (Anthony) Lawrence, of Tuscaloosa; granddaughter of Josiah and Charity (Haywood) Lawrence; great-granddaughter of Col. William Haywood, who was colonel of militia forces of Edgecombe District, N. C., a member of the provincial congress of North Carolina at Halifax in April, 1776, a member of the committee in that body which drafted the State constitution and the bill of rights a member of the council of state in 1776, and one of the commissioners who signed the Revolutionary currency of North Carolina; great-great-granddaughter of John Haywood who moved from New York to North Carolina, was a colonel of militia, a member of the Nortn Carolina assembly, 1746-1752, commissioner of coast fortifications in 1748, and surveyor to Earl Granville. Children: 1. Lawrence Haywood, m. Augusta Alston; 2. Vela, m. George W. Peach; 3. William Lovard ; 4 Charles W., m. Nettie Passmore; 5. Henry Pitzhugh 6. Alto Vela Residence: Gadsden. 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


WITHERS, JONES MITCHELL, planter, lawyer, merchant, editor, legislator, and major-general C S. Army; was born January 12, 1814, in Huntsville, and died March 13, 1891, in Mobile; son of John Wright and Mary Herbert (Jones) Withers, the former a planter and native of Dinwiddle County, Va., the latter a daughter of William Frederick Jones, and a native of Brunswick County, Va. The family to which General Withers belonged was of English descent, registered in 1487, in the College of Arms, and settled in Fairfax County, Va., in 1745, descendants of Col. Augustine Claiborn of "Windsor," King William County, Va. He attended the Greene academy in Huntsville until he was seventeen years of age, going from there to the military academy at West Point, from which he graduated July 1, 1835, resigning December 5, 1835, and returning to his home in Huntsville. In May of the following year he enlisted for the Indian campaign, on the staff of Major-General Patterson, and was later transferred to General Jessup's staff. In 1838 he was admitted to the bar and later became private secretary to Governor Clay, and secretary of the senate. He removed to Tuscaloosa, where he was elected a director of the State bank. In 1841, he made his home in Mobile, where he practiced law, and was a commission merchant. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel April 9, 1847, of the 13th Alabama infantry regiment, for the War with Mexico, and on September 13 of the same year was appointed colonel of the 9th Alabama infantry regiment. He resigned May 23, 1848, and returned to commercial life in Mobile. In 1855, he was elected a representative from Mobile County, on the American ticket; was mayor of Mobile, 1858-61. At the outbreak of the War of Secession he was commissioned colonel of the 3rd Alabama infantry regiment, and was promoted brigadier-general, July 10, 1861, and commanded the defenses of Mobile. On September 12, 1861, the war department of the Confederate States placed him in charge of the State of Alabama and that portion of Mississippi east of Pascagoula River. His command, known as the "Army of Mobile," was extended on December 20, 1861, westward, so as to include Pascagoula Bay and that portion of Mississippi east of Pearl River. In the battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, he commanded the 2nd division of the 2nd corps, and later the 2nd division of the 1st corps, and was promoted major-general August 16, 1862, to rank from April 6, 1862. On October 7, 1862, he was detached from General Bragg's army and sent to reinforce Gen. Kirby Smith near Salvisa, Ky. On February 6, 1864, he was assigned to the northern district of Alabama. At the close of the war he became the editor of the "Mobile Tribune." He was a Democrat; Mason; and a Presbyterian. Married: January 12, 1837, Rebecca Eloise, daughter of Hon. Daniel Morgan and Harriet (Brevard) Forney, both of Lincoln County, N. C., the latter a descendant of Gen. Peter Forney and of Capt. Alexander Brevard of the Revolution. Children: 1. Harriet Brevard, m. Major Daniel E. Huger, who served on the staff of his father-in-law, Major-General Withers, and was by him, on July 14, 1864, recommended to be appointed brigade-commander; 2. Daniel Forney, deceased; 3. Mary Jones, m. Gen. Bryan M. Thomas; 4. Sylla McDowell, m. H. E. Witherspoon, deceased; 5. Jones Mitchell, deceased; 6. Charles Hopkins; 7. Herbert, deceased; 8. Eloise Forney, deceased; 9. Virginia Clay, m. G. B. Cleveland, deceased; 10. Daicey L. , m. Collier Humphreys, deceased. Last residence: Mobile. Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Volume 4 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, 1921 - Transcribed by AFOFG


WOOD, BERNARD AUGUSTINE, civil engineer, was born February 14, 1867, at Tuscaloosa; son of Sterling Alexander Martin and Leila (Leftwich) Wood (q. v.). He graduated from the University of Alabama, 1887, with the B. E. degree, and received the honorary degree of C. E. from the same institution in 1917. He was resident engineer, Louisville and Nashville railroad, 1888, and assistant engineer, International boundary survey, United States and Mexico, 1891-93; Nicaragua Canal board, 1895; mining engineer in Colorado, 1896; assistant and resident engineer, Mobile and Ohio railroad, 1897-1909, and chief engineer for the same road since January, 1910. He is a Democrat; Roman Catholic; member of American railway engineering association; and of the Kappa Alpha college fraternity. Married: (1) November 28, 1898, to Maebelle McEachin, of Tuscaloosa; (2) April 19, 1905, to Lilla McCarley, of Okolona, Miss. Residence: Mobile.
[History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Volume 4
By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, 1921 - Transcribed by AFOFG]


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