VINTAGE VIGNETTES (PIONEER PROFILES OF MADISON, ALABAMA)

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1 VINTAGE VIGNETTES (PIONEER PROFILES OF MADISON, ALABAMA) {By John P. Rankin, Madison Station Historical Preservation Society, January 15, 2007; Revised January 23, 2007} Doctor George Richard Sullivan was born in January of 38 and raised in the Berkley community, an area near New Hope. His father, Isaac, was a physician from North Carolina, and his mother Mary was from Virginia. By the age of 21, George was listed as a physician in the 60 census, still living in his father s household. However, in 69 he purchased Lot 10 along the railroad tracks on Main Street, and he was serving as a City Councilman when Madison Station was incorporated as simply Madison. He later lived at 4336 Sullivan Street, when it was called the Huntsville Decatur Road. Madison s Sullivan Street is of course named in honor of the doctor, who treated patients in Limestone and Morgan Counties, as well as in Madison County, during his long medical career. In 62 George married Sallie Polk Walls, whose family is believed to connect to President James Knox Polk and the local Wall family for whom the Wall-Triana Highway is named. They had a son named Oscar Washington who was struck by lightning and killed at the age of 20 while plowing a field at Nubbin Ridge, the area around the junction of Burgreen Road and Brown s Ferry Road. They also had a daughter named Nellie who died at age 8 and has a unique tombstone with shoes on the top of it in the old section of the Madison City Cemetery along Mill Road near Hughes Road. The Sullivans had 12 children in total, with 9 of them reaching maturity. A child Jessie was born and died on the same day in 71. Sallie died in 1917, but George survived until Valentine s Day of In his latter years, Dr. Sullivan moved his practice to Decatur, where he lived with daughter Inez S. Harvey and her family, while continuing to treat patients into his early 90s, but he is buried in Madison beside his wife, Oscar, Jessie, and Nellie.

in the Shoal Ford area, where Highway 72 crosses Limestone Creek just west of

2 (Photo supplied by descendants, restored and enhanced by John P. Rankin) Jim Williams was born in February of 67 and raised in Limestone County, in the Shoal Ford area, where Highway 72 crosses Limestone Creek just west of the county line. His parents (Joseph Dempsey Williams and Cornelia Jane Trotman) moved their family

to Arkansas when Jim was in his early teens, but Jim came back to become a sharecropper just south of Madison in 83, at the age of 16. He farmed the land of Dr.

3 to Arkansas when Jim was in his early teens, but Jim came back to become a sharecropper just south of Madison in 83, at the age of 16. He farmed the land of Dr. William Thomas Pride, located southeast of Madison s historic district, until 92 when he bought his own farm of 0 acres. He married Martha ( Mattie ) Susan Whitworth of Madison on December 24, 89, and by 1913 they had acquired 1900 acres of their own. About 1903 they purchased the house of Dr. William Dunn, who had been the first railroad station agent in Madison. They had the house raised on logs, turned 90 degrees to face west, and moved north on the lot at 19 Front Street so that they could construct a two-story addition facing south. Their house has long been one of the most impressive of the old mansions in the historic district of Madison, and it incorporates the old Dunn house as probably the oldest surviving home in the district. (Photo from files of Madison Station Historical Society) In addition to cotton farming and operating a sawmill, James Edward Williams opened a general mercantile store at the corner now identified as Wise Street at Main Street a parking lot today. He raised a variety of livestock on his land and sold fresh meat and groceries, as well as dry goods in his store. He likewise had a livery business and sold farm implements. As perhaps his most farsighted move, he started the Madison Telephone Company in 1919, just 43 years after Alexander Graham Bell s patent for the device was granted and long before most Southern towns had such a system. Williams was civic-minded, hosting a town barbeque every 4 th of July at Betts Spring,

which was also called Williams Spring, now known as Lake Lady Ann or Sun Lake at the Edgewater development. He served as an alderman of the town, as well as being Mayor Pro-Tem in 1910.

Jim Williams died in July of 1943, at the age of 76 after traveling extensively in his retirement years, being driven around the country by his grandsons. Jim and Mattie at home, 19 Front St.

4 which was also called Williams Spring, now known as Lake Lady Ann or Sun Lake at the Edgewater development. He served as an alderman of the town, as well as being Mayor Pro-Tem in He was a trustee of the Madison Church of Christ and director of the First National Bank of Huntsville, which became First Alabama Bank and is now Regions Bank. Jim Williams died in July of 1943, at the age of 76 after traveling extensively in his retirement years, being driven around the country by his grandsons. Jim and Mattie at home, 19 Front St., Madison, AL (Photos from Madison Sta. Hist. Society files) Dr. John Slaughter, namesake of Slaughter Road, married Mary Lanford and had a daughter Charlotte ( Lottie ) who married James H. Cain, a Madison merchant. Dr. Slaughter s wife lived was raised in the mansion of her father, William Lanford, who was a son of Madison County pioneer Robert Lanford. Robert and Bartholomew Jordan (a Revolutionary War patriot) were charter members of one of the earliest Methodist churches in north Alabama, known as Jordan s Chapel, located near the Botanical Gardens on Bob Wallace Avenue. Robert had come to the area with LeRoy Pope, the Father of Huntsville. Robert s son William married Bartholomew Jordan s granddaughter Charlotte Fennell, daughter of Isham J. Fennell and his wife Temperance Jordan. The Fennell monument is one of the largest in Huntsville s Maple Hill Cemetery. Dr. Slaughter was a physician in Huntsville when he married Mary Lanford, but when her father William developed stomach trouble in his latter years, he moved his practice to the Lanford mansion on the east side of Indian Creek, immediately north of the S-curves of Old Madison Pike. The mansion today is almost entirely hidden from view by trees, but it is still one of the most impressive in the region, having been the social center of the area,

the southern portion of the estate. Dr. Slaughter built a small brick office building for his practice in front of the mansion, using the mansion s basement as a laboratory.

5 with many elaborate dance parties held there in the 50s and 60s. After William Lanford s death in 81, his plantation was divided between Mary and her sister Martha (Landford s son Robert had been killed in the Battle of Shiloh), with Mary inheriting the house and the southern portion of the estate. Dr. Slaughter built a small brick office building for his practice in front of the mansion, using the mansion s basement as a laboratory. However, after his death and Mary s passing in 1913 the house was sold out of the family. Eventually, Dr. Slaughter s office was used as a hatchery for chickens, but today it is gone. Dr. Slaughter s daughter Lottie married James H. Cain in 96 and moved to Madison. She had her new house built at the corner of Arnett Street and Buttermilk Alley, which at that time was called Hobson Street. Today Jeanne and Stan Steadman live in the large dwelling. Jim Cain was a brother of Robert Parham Cain, who married Lena Martin, a daughter of Elijah Thomas Martin, who was a brother of George Washington Martin. Robert Parham Cain operated a store at 110 Main Street (Whitworth Realty today), believed to be the oldest store in Madison. This building was constructed for merchant G. W. Martin, who purchased the site on February 13, 57, as the first known sale of a lot in the town planned by James Clemens. A son of Robert Parham Cain, Robert Earl Cain, continued to operate a store there, but tragedy struck in the 1920s. In April of 1928 his wife Annie Nance Cain was struck and killed by a train as she crossed the tracks in Madison. In February of 1929, Robert Earl Cain Junior drowned in a cistern behind the store, and his father moved away from town to Lawrence County, where he became an automobile salesman. He left his only surviving child, a daughter, in the care of his mother and visited her in Madison frequently until his own passing. More details of the family stories can be seen in the book Madison Memories: A Connected Community, (Photo of Dr. Slaughter Lanford Slaughter Camper home

) Cain Store at 110 Main Street (now Whitworth Realty and Gallery) {Older photo of store shown

6 from files of the Madison (Photo by John P. Rankin of picture in files Station Historical Society.) of the Heritage Room at the Huntsville Madison County Public Library, courtesy of Ranee` Pruitt.) Cain Store at 110 Main Street (now Whitworth Realty and Gallery) {Older photo of store shown below} (Photos by John P. Rankin of house plus data in files of the Madison Station Historical Society.)

7 (Photo by John P. Rankin of data in files of the Madison Station Historical Society.) James Clemens, The Founder of Madison, was born in Pennsylvania in 1778, but he came to Huntsville from Kentucky in 12. He was related to Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain ), and his ancestry included Gregory Clemens (Clements), a member of the English Parliament at the time of Oliver Cromwell. Gregory signed a

8 death warrant for King Charles I of England and was subsequently hanged. His widow and children emigrated to Virginia in 1664, from which location part of the family moved to Pennsylvania, according to some on-line genealogies. James Clemens entered the mercantile business in Huntsville with a partner who returned to Kentucky after a few years. Their store was in a building at the corner of what is now Clinton and Church Streets in Huntsville, on a lot that reached south to the Big Spring. By the early 20s (some reports indicate by 16), James Clemens had a two-story store-house constructed on the lot, and that house was recently moved from its original location to rest at Pratt Avenue and Meridian Street. In recent publications, the structure was reported as being the Jeremiah Clemens house, but actually it was never owned by the U. S. Senator son of James. In fact, Jeremiah (born in 11) was reported to be 5 years old when the house was constructed, and then he was sent away to military school in LaGrange when he was 15. He never inherited title to the property, as he died in 65, only 5 years after his father s passing. James estate, which included two lots in Mooresville plus three plantations with residences, was tied up in court until the 70s, so Jeremiah did not live long enough to receive title to the house or lot in Huntsville. (Photo by John P. Rankin) As James realized that time was drawing to an end for him, at the age of 76 in 54, he purchased ¾ of the 16 th section of school lands in Township 4 South, Range 2 West. Previously, the entire section had been reserved by the U. S. government for the state of

9 Alabama as a means of funding public education. James knew that the railroad would need a depot in that location, halfway between Huntsville and Decatur. His intent was to found a town around the railroad station, with the name of Clemens Depot. However, when the Memphis & Charleston Rail Road drew the town on their maps, they labeled it as Madison Station for unknown reasons, thereby denying James Clemens his memorial town. Clemens had laid out a town plat and sold at least 15 lots plus a one-acre tract in the town before he died. The acre was sold to George Washington Martin, a grandson of Frank Ephraim Martin (Revolutionary War soldier who was granted land in the area from a Georgia land lottery and settled on the northeastern slope of Rainbow Mountain in 05, while it was still Indian territory). G. W. Martin also purchased the first lots sold, Lots 12 and 13, on February 13, 57. Most of the lots fronting on the railroad were 66 feet wide and 198 feet long. These dimensions resulted from the length of the standard surveyor s chain -- one chain wide and three chains deep. The lot sizes allowed for each purchaser to erect a house with a garden spot behind it, backed up by room for an outhouse plus grazing space for a cow or horse and some chickens. Many of the lots along the railroad were used to erect storefronts, buildings that had a store in the front section of the house. Early owners subdivided some of the lots along Main Street, so that several stores were eventually emplaced on those lots. Clemens believed in the future of his town, as he bought the 4 th quarter of the 16 th section from its original purchaser, William Gooch, just a few weeks before he died in 60. Clemens also was something of a social reformer, as was his son Jeremiah. Both men freed their slaves in the 50s, well before the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. Additionally, the last lot that James himself sold, only 3 months before his death, was to a free black man, Edmund Martin from Morgan County. That particular lot was at the corner of what today is Sullivan Street and Front Street, an eminent location in the town of the early days. Moreover, several of his lots were sold to women, back in a time when few women were afforded property rights in their own names. Considering its founder s actions, it is no wonder that Madison has always been a progressive town, enjoying a high degree of social tranquility and acceptance of all people, including former Union army men and their families after the war. Even without any monument to the founder, Madison today continues the legacy of James Clemens. It is hoped that someday soon, there will be a suitable monument erected on the Village Green along the railroad tracks to commemorate Mr. Clemens and other pioneers of the village.

10 Sarah Orrick Chilton Pickett (By John P. Rankin, January 16, 2007; Rev. Jan. 21, 2007) During my research into the pioneer families of Madison, some have asked which of the pioneers would I most like to meet in person, if that were possible. The answer is simple. It would be Sarah Orrick Chilton Pickett. I first encountered her when walking through the old section of the Madison City Cemetery on Mill Road near Hughes Road. Her tombstone is near the center of that part of the cemetery, but it is very plain and small, as well as old. It has no dates on it, but subsequent research revealed much more about her. She was born in 1793 and died in 65. The only thing that caught my attention that first day was the name of her son, as also named the adjacent tombstone -- Steptoe Pickett (Junior). In 11, Sarah Chilton married Steptoe Pickett ( ) at Currioman Planatation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. They moved to southeastern Limestone County (Alabama) around 21, living near the Blackwells and the Colliers along the river between Mooresville and Triana. Sarah s husband Steptoe was educated at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, before going on to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. Steptoe Sr. lived from 1790 to 43, and he was a son of Col. Martin Pickett and Ann Blackwell of Paradise Plantation in Fauquier County, Virginia. Sarah and Steptoe Pickett had 13 children. Among them were the following: Richard Orrick Pickett (14-98), who commanded the 10th Alabama Cavalry under General Roddy. This was one of the units that defended the northern Alabama area during the last phases of the Civil War. Richard's house on Seminary Street in Florence is still standing, according to Chris Edwards and Faye Axford in their book The Lure and Lore of Limestone County (1978). Steptoe Jr., buried beside Sarah in the Madison City Cemetery. He lived from 16 to 84. His first wife was Frances Ward, and she died in 50, just over one year after their marriage and only two months before her 21 st birthday. She is buried in the old Triana City Cemetery with a large and impressive obelisk to mark the grave. The monument indicates that the family had great wealth before the Civil War, as opposed to Sarah s simple tombstone, which indicates the financial hardships of life in the South after the war. The second wife of Steptoe Jr. was Eugenia Sale. She was a daughter of Captain Dudley Sale, who served as Quartermaster of Company F of the 9th Alabama

11 Infantry during the Civil War. This unit was made up of mostly local troops from this area. The 5th child of Steptoe Sr. & Sarah O. Pickett was Felicia. There is a Felicia Pickett buried near Sarah in the Madison cemetery, but she is a granddaughter, not Sarah s daughter who married Governor Reuben Chapman. Sarah s daughter Felicia lived to have children of her own, surviving through the Civil War. Governor Chapman and his wife are buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, along with several other governors of the state. The 7th child of Steptoe Sr. & Sarah was Dr. John Scott Pickett (23-87). He married Martha Blackwell, daughter of William Henry Blackwell and Eliza Collier. The 9th child of Steptoe Sr. & Sarah was Dr. William Henry Pickett (26-90). He studied at Yale University and graduated as a physician from the University of Louisiana in 48. He married Amy Raines Collier, daughter of Edward Collier. The 11th child of Steptoe Sr. & Sarah was Sarah Virginia Pickett, who married Samuel Blackwell, a son of Henry Blackwell and Eliza Collier, whose brother Henry Watkins Collier was a Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and Governor of the state. The 13th child of Steptoe Sr. & Sarah was Anna Corbin Pickett ( ). She married Thomas Bibb, who was the 3rd child of Thomas Bibb Sr., the 2nd Governor of Alabama and brother of the William Bibb who was the 1st Governor of the state. The Bibb family lived in the nearby mansion that Thomas Bibb Sr. built in 26 at Belle Mina, near Mooresville. The community of Belle Mina took its name from the name of the mansion, Belle Manor" -- meaning Beautiful House. While the Pickett family itself was quite prominent in early Alabama, the intermarriages with the Blackwell and the Collier families assured that the most influential people of the region visited in the Pickett homes and that the Picketts attended the grand parties that these families held on the local plantations, including the governor s mansion at Belle Mina. The Collier plantation along the river was called Myrtle Grove, and all of these families came from Virginia around to 20. Their children and connection by marriage of these families included some famous folks, such as William Walker ("Man of Destiny" who became a President of the country of Nicaragua), and Mary Harrison Dent (who was a close relative of Julia Dent, wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, who fought on the "other side" during the Civil War). They also had an intermarriage with the local Withers family, whose daughter Susannah married Clement Comer Clay. Clement Comer Clay owned a plantation where the airport is today, and he became the 8th Governor of Alabama and namesake of the recently destroyed Clement Comer Clay bridge where

Considering that the governors and their sons had pretty much their choice of fair maidens for wives, and that Sarah O.

12 Highway 231 crosses the Tennessee River. Clement and Susannah are buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville also -- in a plot near where Governor Reuben Chapman and his wife Felicia Pickett are buried. Considering that the governors and their sons had pretty much their choice of fair maidens for wives, and that Sarah O. Chilton Pickett produced two daughters who married into governors families, she must have been a beautiful woman herself. Furthermore, she would have great stories of the old plantation life and balls in the mansions, balanced by tales of life during and immediately after the Civil War, especially with respect to interfaces with General U. S. Grant and his in-laws in the South. Sarah would have to be one of the most interesting characters to live in early Madison.

13 Elijah Thomas Martin was a younger brother of Madison s first merchant and initial lot owner, George Washington Martin. Both were children (along with 9 other siblings) of Richard Martin and his wife Lydia East Pass Fitts Martin. Lydia was a daughter of Walker Fitts, who married Susannah Pass. Susannah died in 49 while living in Richard Martin s household, so Elijah Thomas Martin (who was born in 33) grew up with his maternal grandmother until he was 16. The Martin family came to the area in 05 per old letters when Richard s father Frank Ephraim Martin won a tract of the Indian lands in the Georgia Land Lottery. Georgia claimed the land and sold or otherwise allocated much of it before the United States government declared the Georgia deeds as null and void in order to settle numerous disputes and court cases arising from multiple sales of the same lands to different settlers. Frank, Elijah s grandfather, fought in the Revolutionary War, and there are indications that he came to the area from Virginia with brothers Andrew and Jesse. The wagon train included the families of William East, Jesse Fitts, William J. Canterbury, and Elisha Rainboll (or Rainbolt, according to some spellings) -- all of whom settled on the east face of Rainbow Mountain. In fact, it is likely that Rainbow Mountain drew its name from Elisha Rainboll, as settlers inquired about who owned the north face of the mountain while they passed along the old settlement trail between Huntsville and Athens, now called Highway 72. The connection of the Martin and Fitts families with William East is not yet known, but since Lydia s second name was East, there almost certainly is one. Elijah Thomas Martin inherited a large tract of land from his grandfather, according to family records. He was also remembered as raising a lot of corn that got converted to whiskey in his hidden still, in order to support a quart per day habit that he had as well

14 as treating his friends and business acquaintances. In spite of his love of the spirits, nobody ever reported seeing E. T. (also known as Uncle Lige ) under the influence. In fact, E. T. was so well liked that he became a Justice of the Peace in Madison for over 50 years. When he held court on his porch, he often made up his mind about the verdict long before the opposing attorneys finished their arguments. He would simply jot down his decision on a small piece of paper and leave it with the lawyers, advising them to consult it after they finished debating the finer points of their cases. At such times, E. T. would depart to join his friends in a game of Rook that always began at a store along the tracks at 4 p.m. E. T. was well educated for his day, and he had begun to study law with an attorney in Huntsville when the Civil War started. He immediately left the practice and joined the Confederate forces. Family sources say that he rode with General Nathan Bedford Forrest s cavalry as a sharpshooter. In his later years, he was the subject of an article in a Birmingham newspaper that reported his claim to have killed more turkeys than any other man in Madison County. He stated that he had many times stood in front of his brother George s store and shot turkeys from trees behind the railroad depot. E. T. also was an accomplished horseman, having imported special breeds and performed riding tricks at town celebrations and picnics. He was at least 6 feet 4 inches tall, and often sat in front of the Main Street stores to tell stories of the old days, as he had lived in the area before Madison was founded, and he saw its growth throughout the 00s. E. T. died in 1925, having outlived 6 wives. His wives are buried in the old section of the Madison City Cemetery, with last wife Rosa Hill beside him. She was the daughter of Judge William W. Hill, who also served in the Confederate military and is buried beside Rosa. Perhaps one of E. T. s finest legacies derived from his love of Greek mythology and legends. When local families asked him to suggest sophisticated names for their newborns, E. T. was fond of using names from early Greek literature. Thereby he introduced into the Madison area unusual given names for generations to come -- names such as Agamemnon, Menon, Antigone, Socrates, Plato, Homer, and others. Madison s E. T. was truly a uniquely intriguing citizen of the early days.

15 E. T. Martin s home at 310 Martin Street E. T. Martin at right, holding care as if a rifle E. T. Martin sitting in front of William Binford Humphrey s store

CLARK CEMETERY, 65-2

CLARK CEMETERY, 65-2 Summary Report When doing historical investigations of old cemeteries and the people represented by the tombstones in them, some are not immediately easy to research. The story of