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Robin Alford Sterling, AAFA #0320, has obtained from the Alabama State Archives a microfilm copy (16mm) of the reel that contains the Alford section of the Alabama Families Surname Clippings File. The Archives states that this "file consists mainly of clippings about Alabamians from Alabama newspapers and contains notices of appointments, marriages, legal proceedings, general news items, personal, obituaries, as well as articles and correspondence about family histories." Robin has transcribed much of the material, which we will be publishing in AAFA ACTION. This article incorporales the archive files that pertain to Julius Caesar Alford, 1799-1863. Some of the information from the files is incorrect - AAFA does not concur with all content and has not commented every inconsistency.
From pp. 278-280: this is a typed narrative attributed as "Prepared by Margaret Cox Tuggle, a granddaughter of LaGrange, Ga." There is no date associated with this on the file, but it was written by a lady who lived through the Civil War.
The Alfords of Wake County, North Carolina served the cause of freedom during the American Revolution.
Lodwick Alford emigrated to Georgia, settling first in Greene County. He was fresh from the war of 1812, where he ranked as Captain. His wife, Caroline Judith Jackson, was the daughter of Reuben Jackson of North Carolina, who won distinction at the battle of New Orleans. Their oldest son, Julius C. Alford. was born at Greensboro, May 10, 1799.
When his father moved to Troup Counly he remained for a while at Greensboro, studying law under Col. Foster. He married Eliza Cook. Judge Cone married one of her sisters and Rev. Chas. Sanders the other. As the whole current of Julius Alford's life was influenced by this marriage, I will digress to relate something of the history of these beautiful sisters. There lived in Florida under the Spanish rule an English Gentleman, George Cook, with his wife and four little daughters. It was an ideal home as pictured to these children in after years by a faithful servant. Troubles with the Indians arose: Col. Cook left home to meet the threatening enemy. He was killed in battle and his body-servant, a faithful slave, fled home to warn the plantation that the.red skins were coming. The news that "Master" was killed caused a panic in the negro quarters and all the slaves fled except this devoted body-servant. He went to the house and told the terrible news to his mistress and helped her to escape to the woods with the children. The flaming dwelling lighted their lurid way. The mother died from terror and exposure, leaving four little girls to the care of her brother, Nathaniel Ashley of Louisville, Ga.
He had them educated in the celebrated Moravian school at Salem, N.C.
After his marriage to Eliza Cook, Julius Alford moved to Troup County, then in possession of the Creek Indians. His father having built a home five miles from the point on the Chattahoochie now known as West Point, Julius decided to be near him and settled at the place now known as LaGrange. He suggested the name of this town at a public meeting, being an ardent admirer of LaFayette whose home bore that name. He named his youngest daughter Antionette LaFayette. About this time troubles with the Indians increased and Julius Alford commanded the forces that met them at West Point. He drove them below Columbus and defeated them at the battle of Chichesahatchie, driving them into the Seminole Country. Col. Alford, as he was now called, was elected to Congress in 1838 and in 1840. It was during his congressional career that he received the soubriquet of ''The War Horse of Troup."
I quote from a letter written by his sonin-law, Mr. B.J. Baldwin of Alabama. "It appears that there was a bill introduced in the House of Representatives to have all the Creek Indians removed to the West. A Northern member made a speech in opposition to an appropriation for that purpose, in which he made tight of the terrible crimes that the Indians had perpetrated upon the helpless women and children of Georgia and Alabama. Col. Alford rose in reply. He had magnificient height and bearing and a voice like a bugle call. He said he did not think his Northern friend was cognizant of the condition of affairs within the borders of the Indian Nation. "Could he but see what I have seen and hear what I have heard, it would make the blood run cold in his veins." Oh, that terrible war-whoop, and actually gave that war-whoop in the halls of Congress. Its piercing horror startled the listless members, their hearts sprang to the rescue of the women and children who were exposed to its frequent midnight challenge and the bill passed.
Perhaps the Orator's heart was fired not only by what he had seen and heard but as well by the horrors of his wife's early orphanage. She was at that time at home in LaGrange keeping it happy for his return. But at this period misfortunes awaited him, and the sudden death of his beloved wife broke up all the plans of his life. He moved to Tuskegee, Alabama and afterwards to the prairies below Montgomery. He left his home at LaGrange, the hill where now stands ''The LaGrange Female College" and threw himself into politics in Alabama but his fortunate star had set, although kept too busy by the practice of his profession and large farming interests to grow morose. He spent much of the latter part of his life in the pleasures of the chase, making long camp hunts with his son-in-law Mr. Baldwin. My father, Mr. A.E. Cox, who was his sonin-law also has told me that Col. Alford was not a secessionist, but being a delegate to the Secession Convention at Montgomery went with the majority heartily, to make it unanimous, and although then in feeble health raised a company in his county which he supplied from his private means for several years. I well remember when I made visits during the civil war seeing the plantation loose weaving cloth, the women knitting socks and the tannery making leather for shoes for "The Alford Guards."
Late in life he had married a woman devoted to the Southern Cause and it was a beautiful sight to see, as I once did, his lovely Iittle daughter seated high on the gate post handing socks to each member of ''The Alford Guards" as they filed by the gate going off to Montgomery. He was now very feeble. My last visit to him was to take him some medicine my mother sent. Medicines were then almost unobtainable. My Uncle William Alford of West Point went also, they were devoted brothers. Montgomery was then held by our forces. We obtained a pennit to pass the lines and went in a hack which carried mail out ten miles. At that point we secured two horses and made the last twenty miles horseback. We found my grandfather very ill but cheerful. He told his brother that he hoped to live to see the end of the war but he did not, he died January 1863.
Col. Alford was of an ardent temperment, which often found vent in bursts of eloquency, his oratorical powers were intensified in his son, George Cook Alford, a brilliant lawyer of Alabama who gave his life to Ihe Confederacy. His grandson, Hon. A.H. Cox of Atlanta has a good likeness of "The Old War Horse of Troup."
[On another sheet, p. 282, typed with some handwritten additions; source unknown]
Children of Julius C. Alford By 1st Wife, Eliza Cook
[Editor's note: In the June 1990 issue of AAFA ACTION, pp. 53-56, we published "Juliette Cox Spratling" by Benjamin Barnett Spratling III, AAFA #0263. This article, which was first published in the Alabama Genealogical Society, Inc. Magazine, documented the ancestry of Juliette Cox Spratling, daughter of Judge Albert Ewing Cox and Juliet Warren Alford, the daughter of Julius Caesar Alford, subject of this article. Since M.A. Tuggle (Margaret Cox Tuggle) was the author of the first part of this article, this list of children cannot have been prepared by her since it is missing her mother's name.]
- _____, m. A.E. Cox, of LaGrange, Ga.
Mrs. M.A. Tuggle, LaGrange, Ga., R.F.D. 2, is a daughter.
A.E. Cox, of Atlanta, is a son. He has a portrait of J.C. Alford.
[Someone has added "Mrs. Wm A. Wright 99 East 15th St. AlIanta is a daughter of Mrs. Tuggle"]
- Antoinnette LaFayette, m. Benj. Baldwin, Feb 1845. No issue.
- George Cook, m. _____
By 2nd wife, Mrs. Underwood, who was a sister of Benj. Baldwin, his son-in-law.
- Julius C. Alford, m. Caroline Judith Ellsberry.
- _____, a daughter, d. about 6 years of age.
- Sallie, m. Cadwalader Harris Beale, son of Jesse D.and Tremallah (Neale) Bealle of Suffolk, Va.
By 3rd wife, Martha Herin, widow of Thomas Coke Boswell, and daughter of Henry and Sally (McClendon) Herin. Married Feb. 22, 1853.
- Mattie Belle, m. Booth.
- Cecile, d.
- Lodwick H. Alford m. [something written in, illegible]
[The following appears to have been clipped from a Who's Who book on Alabamians.]
Alford, Julius Caesar, lawyer and member of congress, was born May 10, 1799, in Greensboro, N.C., and died January 1863, near Montgomery; son of Ludwick and Judith (Jackson) Alford, the former of England who emigrated to America and located in Wake County, served as captain in the War of 1812, removed to Greene county, and later to Troup County, Ga. [AAFA NOTE: Lodwick was the son of Julius Alford, born in NC (not England), the grandson of Lodwick Alford, and the great-grandson of James Alford of VA.]; grandson of Reuben Jackson, of North Carolina, who won distinction at the battle of New Orleans. Mr. Alford was educated in the common schools and an academy in North Carolina; studied law under Col. Foster of Greensboro, N.C., was admitted to the bar, and began Ihe practice of law at LaGrange, Ga. He commanded a company in the Creek War of 1836; was elected as a States Rights Whig to the 24th congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George W.B. Towns; was defeated for re-election to the 25th congress, but was re-elected as a Harrison Whig to the 26th and 27th congresses. Because of his fearless and stonny declaration in popular assemblies, he was known as the "War horse of Troup." He moved to Tuskegee about 1850, resumed the practice of law and later settled near Montgomery; was a prominent member of the Union convention that assembled in Montgomery in 1852 and ran for re-election in congress, 1855, but was defeated, after which he retired from public life. Married: (1) Eliza Cook; (2) Mrs. (Baldwin) Underwood; (3) Mrs. Martha (Herin) Boswell, widow of Thomas Coke Boswell, and daughter of Henry and Sally (McClendon) Herin.
Children by first wife;By second wife:
- daughter, m. A.E. Cox, of LaGrange, Ga.;
- Antoinnette Lafayette, m. Benjamin Baldwin;
- George Cook, lawycz, died from wounds received while in C.S. Army;
By third wife:
- Julius Caesar, planter, student at University of Alabama 1862-63, Corporal Rucker's escort, C.S. Anny, m. Carolina Judith Ellsberry, d. 1871;
- daughter, d. young;
- Sallie, m. Cadwalader H. Beale, son of Jessie D. and Tremallah (Neale) Beale of Suffolk, Va.;
- Mallie Belle, m. _____ Booth;
- Cecile;
- Ludwick H. Last residence:Montgomery County.
[Undated Letter to the Archives] File No.B. Thomas M. Owen, L.S.D. [?] Director
Department of Archives and History
State of Alabama
Dear Sir,
.... I enclose copy of an article I have had several years, and I do not think I can add very much more and I will only add the statement that Alford is an English name and the first emigrates of that name settled in North Carolina, Wake County. The eldest - Lodwick Alford [some missing] daughter of Reuben Jackson of North Carolina, who was a Captain at the Battle of New Orleans and he is buried in the old Alford place near West Point, Georgia where his tombstone says he died from service to his country.
.... I regret that my age and feebleness will not permit me to write more of my own recollections of my adored grandfather, 'The War Horse of Troup."
Very Respectfully
Mrs. M.A. Tuggle
LaGrange, R.F.D. No.2
[Letter dated 30 Aug 1926. From printed stationary] File No.B. Mrs. William A. Wright
99 East Fifteen Street
Atlanta, Georgia
Mr. Peter Bronnon
My Dear Mr. Bronnon,
My grandfather Julius Caesar Alford died at his prairie home, about thirty (30) miles from Montgomery, Pike Co., and was buried in the County church yard near his home. Born June 10, 1799, Wake Co. N.C. Died Jan I, 1863.
His father was Lodwick Alford, not Ludwick as per your letter. Mr. Mack Beale must have gained his idea of his being buried in Opelika from the fact that later on his widow lived in Opelika, Ala. Mrs. Travis, (formerly Miss Jane Beale) an aunt of Mr. Mack Beale might be able to aid you as her brother, Mr. C.H. Beale knew all the Alford history.
I have quite a bit of the history of the Alford family, but just now am not able to put it in shape to send you and there are links missing, rather conflicting.
Mrs. Margaret Alford Hogg of Macon, Ga. is a daughter of Mr. William Alford and I have written her asking for information. Mrs. J.W. Hogg, 678 Courtland St., Macon, Ga.
Some records say Julius C. Alford lived in Montgomery Co.; some say Pike Co. Certainly his last home was about 30 miles below Montgomery and that he died was buried. This we know from records in the handwriting of one eldest sister, Mrs Margaret A. (Cox) Tuggle in which she tells of her last visit to our grandfather Julius Caesar Alford, in company with Mr. William Alford son of Julius C. Alford.
Brothers[?) of Julius C. Alford, he being the eldest child of Lodwick Alford, Jr. and Judith Jackson.
Erasmus Alford
Andrew Alford
Lodwick Alford
Whit Alford
William Alford
This information I had from Mary Hogg Schaub, daugher of Mrs. J. R.[?] Hogg, Macon, Ga....
Yours Truly,
Mary L. (Cox) WrightLa Grange, Ga. Nov 17, 1916
[To] Thomas M. Owen
Department of Archives and History, Alabama
Dear Sir,
To reply to your questions of Aug. 18, 1916, I have written to members of my family, and made a visit to the graveyard at the Old Alford Place near West Point, Ga.
I enclose you the short letter I received from my mother's aged cousin, now 86 years of age.
I regret that I cannot give you the names of the parents of Lodwick Alford, but of Judith Jac1cson. I can give the names of his father, Capt. Reuben Jackson of N.C. who was killed - one of the few at the Battle of New Orleans. Upon the handsome and well kept marble tomb of his wife, Judith Jackson Alford, CapL Lodwick Alford recorded the name of his wife's father.
Living to extreme old age, Lodwick Alford buried many of his family and his wife Judith Jackson slept years by the place he kept by her side for himself. He was born 1775, died 1857, 82 years of age. It was this Lodwick Alford and his wife Judith Jackson Alford (daughter of Capt Reuben Jackson of N.C.) who were the parents of Julius C. Alford.
You ask a definile stalement as to whether both Lodwick Alford and his wife were both from Wake County, N.C. I cannot say definilely. I infer so, because both men were in the Battle of New Orleans in the same company and they were son and father-in-law. Unfortunalely, the old Alford Bible was burned not very long ago in the house of one of the living Alfords. I was much disappointed when I asked to see it to find that it had been destroyed. You see that I have no way to get the names of Lodwick Alford's parents as he emigrated from England [see previous AAFA NOTE]. I suppose to Wake county, N.C.
In the interest of correct history, the recofds of the courthouses in North Carolina could be examined perhaps even now in Wake County. But no one cares or is able to afford the expense of verifying tradition.
I wish to request Mr. Beale through you to furnish the history of my grandfather's life, the names of his family and chiidren after his first marriage. I was with them very little, and I see my memory is failing fast and I am not now able to rely upon the correctness of what I read. I am now seventy-five years old.
Cordially,
James M.A. TUilldeNov. 17,1916
Mr. C.H. Beale
Dear Cad,
I am about ready lo send some papers lo your Department of Archives and History. [Some words illegible] Dear [Sir?], I have been lo the Alford house recently. I found the old house standing in very good repair and the burial grounds well kept with marble cover over each grave. Now I have come to this conclusion. Julius C. Alford was a man belonging to two stales: Georgia and Alabama and his first brilliant career in Georgia was the short life of youth. His long life in Alabama is his history. I well remember upon a visit lo him during the Confederacy when Uncle Bill Alford and I as my mother's representative went to Montgomery from West Point lo carry contraband medicine obtained by my father in Virginia through the blockade lo our sick grandfather and brother that we found Julius C. Alford surrounded by wife and children of that good wife working for the Confederacy under his direction.
The looms were weaving cloth. Shoes were being made from the tannery for the Alford guards. I saw recruits march by his gate going lo the army. While his pretty step daughler sat upon the _____ gale post and handed socks to each recruit as he passed. Those socks were knit by his family. A devoted Confederate, he was working for the Alford guards though fast failing in health. [Some words illegible] Now I realize as never before the sorrow that [I do not have] the accurare memory I was once so blest with. I am now seventy-five years old. You and others in Alabama can still have names and dates correct lo record his long life as an Alabamian, but I have noL
I have sent all I can now obtain or recall. I am glad lo turn this over lo the Department of Archives and History. Thomas M. Owen _____ Director.
Reserving only the Georgia record of the life of Julius C. Alford in the first manuscript which I wrole several years before I knew anything of the Alabama Department of Archives and History. That first memorial of Julius C. Alford's life, I gave lo my cousin Eugenia [Sanders?] who is now past 80 years [a few words illegible] she gave a copy of it to her near relative, a minisler who is now dead, but I was prudent enough lo keep a copy myself.
When you put the malerial I now send lo Dr. Owen in shape for reliable keeping let me have a copy of the Alabama history of Julius C. Alford or let me have the privilege of reading it over. I will be glad to see you and Lod at any time at my home.
[Affectionarely?],
M.A. Tuggle
[Some notes on a scrap of paper]
Lodwick Alford 1st emigrant lo America - Judith Jackson his wife, daughter of CapL Reuben Jackson of Battle of New Orleans - Sons of Lodwick Alford: Julius C. Alford, died 1863 - Erasmus Andrew William, Mexican War, served his country Julius Caesar, War Horse of Troup, died Jan 1863 - Whitman George Cook Alford, son of Julius C. and Eliza Cook, his wife, was lawyer in Alabama, went into Confederale service, was wounded in battle, went home on furlough and died there from the wound.
These names are not in order of seniority, strictly.
AAFA NOTES
AAFA members who are descendants of Julius Caesar Alford:Benjamin B. Spratling III #0263
Julius was enumerated in the 1850 census of Montgomery, Alabama with son Julius S. Alford age 5 and daughter Sally L. Alford under one year.
William Wright Sullivan #0646
James Alford #725
According to Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Julius married Mrs. Martha Herrin Boswell, daughter of Henry and Sally (McClendon) Herrin and the widow of Thomas Coke Boswell. Martha was born May 19, 1819 and died July 8, 1880. They were married February 22, 1852. Why were children listed below for this third marriage not included in the will? The fact that son Lodwick Herrin showed Margaret Boswell as his sister (probably half-sister) in the 1900 census supports this marriage. It was probably widow Martha Boswell Alford with her Boswell and Alford children enumerated in 1870 Opelika, Lee County, AL.
Eliza Ashley Cook was his first wife. They were married Mar 14, 1824 in Greene County, GA. She was the daughter of Colonel George Cook and Jane Ashley. She was born Apr 25, 1804 and died Jul 6, 1843 in White Sulpher Springs, Meriwether County, GA. Their children were: George Cook Alford who died during the Civil War; Antoinette Lafayette Alford who married Benjamin J. Baldwin; Juliet Warren Alford who married Albert Ewing Cox and Eliza E. Alford who married Moses Austin Martin.
His second wife was Sarah F. Underwood whom he married Aug 8, 1844 in Montgomery County, AL. Their children were: Julius Stanley Alford who married Caroline Judith Ellsberry and Sallie Jackson Alford who married Cadwalader H. Beale.
Julius married his third wife, Martha Herrin Boswell, on Feb 22, 1852 in Montgomery County. Their children were Cecile Alford, Lodwick Herrin Alford who married (1) Sallie Swint and (2) Sallie Boswell, and Mattie Bell Alford who married Arthur R. Booth.