Conecuh County AlArchives History .....History of Conecuh County 1881
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CHAPTER XXV.

Present Representative Men of Conecuh-Rev. Andrew Jay-Dr. J. L. Shaw, etc.

   Approaching, as we are, the conclusion of our county history, so thrillingin historic event, and so conspicuous in the biography of prominent spirits, 
it has been thought proper to devote attention to those who are at present recognized as the representative men of Conecuh. Prominent among these is

REV. ANDREW JAY,

who is a native of the county, and has shared largely in its fortunes and 
its reverses. He was born within three miles of his present home, at Jayvilla, on 
February 16th, 1820. His father was one of the earliest emigrants to the county, 
and upon his removal hither was quite poor. But he was not lacking in 
those qualities of industry and economy, which invariably find expression in 
accumulation. His father surrounded himself and family with a competency of 
life's necessities. His son was early taught the habits of industry, and has 
led quite an active life. His mental acquirements were secured within the 
narrow compass presented by the school facilities of his boyhood days. When he 
had attained man-hood the academy was established at 
Evergreen, and for three successive sessions, 
he studied there with vast advantage to himself. After 
his marriage to Miss Ashley-daughter of Capt. Wilson Ashley-he devoted his 
attention to planting. At different periods of his life he has been elevated 
to positions of trust and distinction. During the period when considerable 
attention was bestowed upon the organization of an efficient militia, Mr. Jay 
was selected as the major of a battalion. He was successively commissioner of 
roads and revenue, tax assessor and Representative to the General Assembly. 
For two consecutive terms he served Conecuh in the Legislature. Mr. Garrett, 
in his "Reminiscences of Public Men of Alabama," pays him a deserved 
compliment when he speaks of his ability as a legislator, and the marked 
attention bestowed by himself upon the interests with which his position was 
invested. Up to the period of the formal emancipation of the slaves, Mr. Jay 
had gathered about him a respectable fortune. And during the period of his 
prosperity, his liberality was proverbial. Whatever enterprise was inaugurated 
for the public weal, found a generous response at the hands of Mr. Jay. No one 
advocated with more profound earnestness the establishment of the railroad 
through Conecuh, than did he. He was one of the most liberal contributors to 
the enterprise. He gave largely to the endowment of Howard College, and the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville, Kentucky.

   Aided by his noble wife, he found peculiar delight, during the war, in 
raising supplies of clothing and food for the Confederate soldiers, and 
shipping them to their distant encampments. Perhaps no one in the county has 
suffered more keenly the misfortunes entailed by the war, than Mr. Jay. Like 
many others, he was left by the cessation of hostilities, involved in 
financial embarrassments, arising mainly from security obligations. The 
burdens which he has borne would have crushed the spirit of many another man; 
but he has borne all with philosophic and Christian fortitude, and now the 
dawn of a brighter day is beginning to tinge the darkness of years. After 
retiring from the political arena, Mr. Jay was ordained to the Baptist 
ministry, and now his attention is divided between the farm and the pulpit. 
Throughout his life, his career has been such as should excite the profoundest 
admiration. He never swore an oath; was never engaged in a fight; was never 
intoxicated; never gambled in the least; was prompt in meeting all 
appointments made by himself. He is said never to have refused lodging to any 
one, upon application, except one time-then his family was quite sick, and the 
applicant quite drunk. His life has been largely devoted to the weal of his 
county.

DR. JOHN L. SHAW

is a native of North Carolina. He was born in Robinson county, in that State, 
on December 22nd, 1814. He was educated at Donaldson Academy, in Fayetteville, 
North Carolina. After engaging in teaching for a period of years, in his 
native State, he removed to Alabama in 1841, and taught again at Prattville. 
Being desirous of fitting himself for the practice of medicine, he engaged to 
study with Dr. Kelly, of Coosa county. Subsequently he attended lectures at 
Louisville, Kentucky, returned to Alabama and practiced one year in Talladega, 
and in April, 1845, removed to Conecuh and located at Evergreen. After his 
marriage to Miss Permelia Crosby, he removed to Bellville, where, for quite a 
number of years, he engaged in an extensive and lucrative practice. In 1858 he 
removed to Pineville, Monroe county, thence to Evergreen in 1867, thence again 
to Pineville, in 1868, and finally to Bellville, in 1874. He was, perhaps, the 
first to suggest the preparation of the history of Conecuh. Dr. Shaw is 
appreciated for his disinterestedness in the public good, and for the 
uprightness of his daily life. Since his residence in the county, few men have 
been more active than himself, in the promotion of every public interest. 
Though quite advanced in years, he is still ardently devoted to the duties of 
his favorite profession.

YOUNG M. RABB.

   The subject of this sketch was born in Old Town Beat, five miles east of 
Evergreen, on April 4th, 1826. His educational training was commensurate with 
the advantages enjoyed at that period. He was among the matriculates at the 
Evergreen Academy in 1840. Here he was fitted for a collegiate course, but was 
prevented taking such a course by the untimely death of a brother. By this 
event the management of his father's estate fell completely upon himself. But 
having naturally a sprightly mind, he continued to address himself to literary 
pursuits, as he had opportunity. In September, 1847, he connected himself with 
the Baptist Church at Evergreen, and shortly after became one of its deacons, 
which position he has held to the present. He was married, in 1848, to Miss 
Polly H. Stallworth, and at once turned his attention to planting. He was 
regarded a successful planter during the palmiest period of that pursuit in 
Conecuh. In 1856, we find him a citizen of Evergreen, whither he had removed 
for the education of his children. Here he formed a partnership with S. A. 
Barnett (now a citizen of Mobile), in a mercantile interest, which was 
conducted with success until the beginning of the late war. For many years Mr. 
Rabb was a member of the Commissioners' Court of the county, where he was 
exceedingly scrupulous in regard to the expenditure of the people's money. 
After the close of the war, he relinquished his farming interest, and embarked 
in a timber enterprise in Escambia county, Florida, as the partner of W. D. 
Mann. Here the failure of the contractors, under whose auspices the firm 
operated, involved it in serious embarrassment, thereby rendering Mr. Rabb 
unable to sustain that spirit of hospitality and benevolence for which he was 
characteristic during more prosperous periods. In 1880, Mr. Rabb offered 
himself to the people of Conecuh as a candidate for the Judgeship of the 
Probate Court. He was, however, defeated by Judge Walker, a former incumbent 
of the office, and the regular nominee of the people. The many virtues of Mr. 
Rabb, his devotion to the public interest, and his intellectual 
qualifications, make him one of the representative men of Conecuh.

DR. A. J. ROBINSON.

   This gentleman is a native Georgian. He was born in Fayette county, in that 
State, on January 16th, 1833. His parents were poor-but his father, by no 
means, humble in his influence. He was repeatedly elected to the State 
Legislature. For his public services he realized but little remuneration, and 
hence was unable to give his children the intellectual advantages which they 
might have otherwise enjoyed. The subject of our sketch was the eldest of the 
family of children, and upon him devolved the necessity of laboring upon the 
farm for the support of the younger children. He was an industrious laborer 
upon the farm until he was fully nineteen years of age, enjoying at brief 
intervals the advantages of country schools. But with his father absent as a 
public servant, and himself the first of a family of thirteen children, these 
opportunities for scholastic training were exceeding scant. At the age of 
nineteen, Dr. Robinson removed to McDonough, Georgia, where he attended a good 
school for six months. On the 17th of August of that year, he was married to 
Miss Josephine Moffett, of Crawford, Georgia. She is the cousin of Col. J. S. 
Boynton, the President of the Georgia Senate.*
_________
* In 1881


   During the winter following his marriage, Dr. Robinson removed to Stewart 
county, Georgia, and began work upon a little farm, in connection with 
occasional intervals of school-teaching. In 1856 he sold his interest in 
Georgia, and removed to Covington county, in this State, settling upon Pigeon 
creek. In the midst of his varied reading he had acquired a peculiar fondness 
for the investigation of the science of medicine. Resolving to adopt the 
practice of medicine as a profession, he disposed of his place on Pigeon 
creek, and removed to Brooklyn, for the purpose of pursuing a more systematic 
course of study. Here, by stress of necessity, he was forced to divide his 
time between his studies and labors in the wagon shop of D. M. Dodson-his 
wife, meanwhile, assisting as teacher in the academy at Brooklyn. In 1857 and 
1858 he attended lectures in Memphis, Tennessee. Here license to practice was 
granted him, and he returned to his home, and entered at once his chosen 
profession. In 1859 Dr. Robinson formed a partnership with Dr. John Scott; but 
after a year's connection with this gentleman, the copartnership was dissolved 
by the withdrawal of Dr. Scott. During the summer of 1859 Dr. Robinson 
attended another course of lectures at Atlanta, Georgia. Returning to his 
home, he found himself rapidly introduced into an extensive practice. For 
several years his practice in the portion of the county in which he resided 
was simply overwhelming. Declining health forced him gradually to retire. 
Since his retirement from the duties of a physician, he has been honored by 
the people of Conecuh during two different sessions with the position of 
Representative to the General Assembly. In this capacity he has proved to be 
quite useful, and has won for himself considerable distinction as a 
legislator. He served Conecuh during the last session of the General Assembly. 
   Dr. Robinson is a gentleman of many sterling qualities. His usefulness has 
been realized not only in direction of public affairs, but also in the sacred 
matters of the church. He is profoundly interested in the spiritual elevation 
of the masses. Possessing the highest sense of right, he is admirably fitted 
to become a prominent director in all matters relating to the public weal.

NICHOLAS STALLWORTH,

familiarly known as "Nick," is the third child of Hon. James A. Stallworth. He 
was born at Evergreen on the 9th of August, 1845, and hence is now but thirty-
six years of age. He left school at the early age of fourteen, to accompany 
his father-then in declining health-to Washington. He spent the winters of 
1859-'60-'61 in the National Metropolis. Returning with his father in 1861 to 
Conecuh, he at once joined the "Conecuh Guards," though he was a lad of only 
fifteen. His honored father accompanied him to Montgomery, and there meeting 
several of his quondam associates in the United States Congress-who were then 
members of the Confederate Congress --they proposed to secure for "Nick" the 
commission of lieutenant in the regular army. This was communicated to him by 
his father and friends; but the offer he politely refused, saying that he 
preferred a place in the ranks with the companions of his boyhood days. Upon 
the organization of the Fourth Alabama Regiment, he was found to be the 
youngest member in the entire command. He went with the Fourth Alabama 
Regiment to Virginia, and served in all the campaigns and battles in which it 
participated until the battle of Cold Harbor, where he was wounded and 
discharged. For some time prior to this he had been suffering from a bowel 
affection, and was in feeble health when he received the wound. Returning to 
his home, he found his mother stricken with grief by the double affliction of 
the loss of her husband and eldest son. The mother communicated to her son the 
dying request of his father, that if he should survive the bloody scenes of 
the war, he should go at once to the University of Alabama and complete his 
education. Regaining his health, "Nick" repaired to the University, and 
entered the Junior Class, in 1863. But his university course was cut short by 
sickness, and after an attendance of only eight months, he returned to his 
home. After the recuperation of his health, again he was offered a position on 
the staff of Gen. Samuel Adams. But before the offer was responded to, General 
Adams was killed. He was also tendered a position on the staff of Gen. Thomas 
C. Hindman, but declined. Subsequently he accepted the Adjutancy of the Twenty-
third Regiment of Alabama, then under the command of Maj. Nick Stallworth. 
Leaving at once for Virginia, he reached Petersburg; but the communication 
being cut between that place and Richmond, he was forced to turn his face 
homewards after several vain attempts to reach his command. The death of his 
brother-in-law, Captain Broughton, left him the oldest male member of the 
family, and he was forced to remain at home by the sad dependency of the 
family, combined with the shattered condition of his health. The war closing 
soon after this, he found himself ladened with unusual responsibilities for 
one so young. With no resources at command, he addressed himself with heroic 
spirit to whatever his hands found to do. After varied struggles with adverse 
circumstances, and hard labor with his own hands, for some time, he determined 
to address himself to the study of law. This he did with P. D. Page, Esq., and 
was soon admitted to practice.

   In 1872, and again in 1874, he was chosen Representative from Conecuh to 
the Legislature. At the session of 1875-'76 he was elected Solicitor of the 
Eleventh Judicial Circuit. In this circuit he had to cope with many of the 
ablest legal spirits of the State, and yet his course was attended with 
remarkable success from the beginning. By the respectfulness of his 
deportment, and the urbanity of his disposition, he won the esteem of his 
legal brethren in all parts of the circuit; and by his efficiency and 
impartiality as a judicial officer, he secured almost universal popular 
esteem. He is justly regarded one of the most promising young men in the State.

COL. P. D. BOWLES.

   Pinckney Downie Bowles is a native of South Carolina. His place of birth 
was Edgefield District. He received his educational training at the Citadel of 
Charleston, South Carolina, and at the University of Virginia. His collegiate 
course completed, he returned to his native State, and engaged in the study of 
law under Gen. Samuel McGowan. (Now on the Supreme Bench of South Carolina.) 
He came to Alabama in April, 1859, and went into the office of Hon. James A. 
Stallworth, where he remained until the beginning of the war. In 1860 he was 
elected Colonel of the Twenty-eighth Regiment of Alabama Militia; and also 2nd 
lieutenant in the "Conecuh Guards," in the summer of 1860. In January, 1861, 
he went in that capacity with the company to Pensacola. When the company 
returned home, and upon its reorganization, he was chosen captain, and went 
with his gallant company to Virginia. Henceforth the war record of Colonel 
Bowles is inseparably connected with the illustrious career of the Fourth 
Alabama Infantry "of which he was the brave and faithful commander" almost 
throughout the entire war. He led his regiment into the majority of the 
fiercest battles fought on the soil of Virginia. The regiment belonged to the 
famous brigade commanded by General Bee, who was so conspicuous at the first 
battle of Manassas. It was in the battle of Seven Pines, Cold Harbor, Malvern 
Hill, Second Manassas, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Suffolk. It 
joined in the invasion of Pennsylvania, and was engaged in the fierce conflict 
at Gettysburg. It went with Longstreet when he was sent to reinforce Bragg in 
North Georgia; it returned with him when he marched through East Tennessee, 
via Knoxville. Rejoining the Army of Northern Virginia, it was engaged in the 
battle of the Wilderness, and at Spottsylvania. In the operations of the 
Second Cold Harbor it was again engaged; and then lay for ten months behind 
the defences of Petersburg, sharing in the various movements and assaults 
connected with that eventful period. And finally, with ranks depleted by death 
and disability, it surrendered with the rest of the army at Appomattox Court 
House, with two hundred and two men.

   During this long and bloody period, Colonel Bowles was ever found at the 
head of his regiment. I believe only one brief respite from service was given 
him and that was on the occasion of an amorous mission to his adopted county 
in February, 1863, when he was married to Miss Stearns, daughter of the late 
Judge Stearns.

   Though Colonel Bowles did not receive his commission as brigadier, he was 
placed in the command of five regiments, near the close of the war, and a full 
brigade staff ordered to report to him. When he returned to Conecuh, in 1865, 
he had but fifty cents in his pocket. Without delay, he opened an office at 
Sparta, and resumed the practice of law. The following year he was elected 
county solicitor for Conecuh, in which position he served for a long period, 
with efficiency.

   Though having so eventful a record, Colonel Bowles is still comparatively a 
young man. He is now a resident of Evergreen, and is a successful practitioner 
of law.

GEORGE ROBERT FARNHAM.

   This prominent young attorney was born near Bellville, on January 23rd, 
1845. He was reared by his great-grandmother, Mrs. Nancy Savage, whose piety 
and usefulness were proverbially known for many years, throughout Conecuh. His 
course of instruction was cut short at the Bellville Academy, by enfeebled 
health, when he had reached the age of fifteen, and was recuperated by active 
work on the farm. When a youth of only sixteen, he enlisted in the Confederate 
army, having joined the "Monroe Guards," under Capt. Giles Goode. He went with 
his command to Pensacola, whence, after a brief service of three weeks, it was 
ordered to Virginia. Near the close of 1861 he was prostrated by a protracted 
attack of measles; he was discharged and returned to his home. The following 
year he resumed his studies at the Bellville Academy, and in the fall of 1862 
was entered as a cadet upon the matriculation roll of the University of 
Alabama. In the early part of 1865 he graduated in the regular course of that 
institution, with the exception of mathematics, and was pursuing the last 
studies in that branch when he retired. His course at the University was 
marked with distinction. He was appointed first a sergeant in the corps, then 
promoted to a second lieutenancy, afterwards to the adjutancy, and when he 
left the University he was senior 1st lieutenant. While at the University the 
corps of cadets did service, as soldiers, for three weeks in Mobile, and again 
at Jacksonville. In 1864, while going home upon a tour of vacation, about 
fifty or sixty of the cadets reached Montgomery, where they found the city in 
the midst of the most intense excitement, growing out of the threatening 
demonstrations of General Rousseau. Governor Watts ordered the cadets to 
remain in Montgomery and assist in its defence against Rousseau, who was then 
at Chehaw. Arms having been furnished them, a soldier of the regular army was 
appointed to the command, and they were permitted to elect their other 
officers. Mr. Farnham was at once chosen 1st lieutenant, and the buoyant 
cadets leaped upon the train and started at once for Chehaw. They were 
accompanied by some regulars, who happened to have been in Montgomery at the 
time, and also by some raw reserves. But for the military training and 
thorough efficiency of the cadets, the entire command would have been 
captured, and the city of Montgomery would have fallen. Subsequent to this, 
Mr. Farnham served as adjutant in the corps of cadets, near Spanish Fort. In 
the early part of 1865 he raised a cavalry company among the students of the 
University, which was designed to serve as the body-guard to General Buford, 
and the company left the University, to return to their homes to secure horses 
and equipments; but just at this juncture the State was overrun by the Federal 
troops, and before a thorough organization could be effected, the war closed. 
In 1866, Captain Farnham commenced the study of law in the office of General 
Martin, at Sparta, and in September, of the same year, was admitted to 
practice. The first year of his legal career was spent as a partner of General 
Martin, after which he practiced alone, until his late connection with M. S. 
Rabb, Esq. In 1868 he was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the 
Democratic Party of Conecuh, and in this capacity served without intermission, 
for ten years-the last four of which he was the chairman of the committee. In 
1870 he was unanimously nominated for the county solicitorship, by the 
Democratic Party, but was defeated by the Radicals. In August, 1876, Captain 
Farnham, underwent the greatest of all changes-the renovation of his spiritual 
character. He became at once an active member of the Baptist Church at 
Evergreen, and finds peculiar delight in the work pertaining to the office of 
Sunday School Superintendent. In 1880 he was elected the President of the 
State Sunday School Convention. During the same year he was nominated for the 
Senatorship of his district, and was overwhelmingly elected-having received 
the largest vote ever cast in the district, 5,435. He was sustained by both 
the Democratic and Republican Parties. During the approaching session he 
signalized his usefulness as a legislator, by securing the passage of a bill 
providing for the humane treatment of prisoners-the proper ventilation, 
heating of cells, and the proper supply of pure water for drinking purposes. 
He also secured an amendment to the section of the code relating to the 
regulation of the hire of convict laborers, so limiting the time as not to 
remand persons to slavery under the color of law. He earnestly strove to 
secure the passage of bills relative to reformation in the voting system of 
Alabama. In this he encountered strong opposition in the State Senate. His 
object was to secure an amendment to sections 274-276 of the code, relative to 
numbering and the size of ballots. By dilatory motions and parliamentary 
manoeuvring, the action upon the bills was delayed. By resolute effort he 
forced a vote upon them toward the close of the session, and lacked only a few 
votes of securing the passage of the bill providing for the numbering of 
ballots. His speech upon the election law was published in the Montgomery 
Advertiser, and won alike the approbation of the press and the people. For one 
so gifted, so young, and energetic, and withal so virtuous in his life, there 
is a future of the most radiant promise.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Conecuh County, Alabama
By

Rev. B. F. Riley
Pastor of the Opelika Baptist Church


Columbus, Ga.;
Thos. Gilbert, Steam Printer and Book-Binder
1881



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