THE ANDERSON SHERIFFS of JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA with Additional Materials for All Jefferson County Sheriffs from 1819 Forward
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THE ANDERSON SHERIFFS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA With additional materials for all Jefferson County Sheriffs from 1819 forward. Two of the early Jefferson County Sheriffs were Anderson, Peter August 7, 1835 - - August 25, 1838 August 25, 1841 - - August 23, 1844 August 12, 1847 - - August 17, 1850 and his son Anderson, Thomas A. September 2, 1880 - January, 1885 [?] Peter Anderson was the great-great-grandfather of Martha {Skinner} Thomas, and Thomas A. Anderson was her great-grandfather. Direct family links to those two early Sheriffs of Jefferson County stimulated this project. These materials were prepared January-May, 2004 by Carl O. Thomas & Martha S. Thomas Knoxville, Tennessee To the best of our knowledge, materials included here are generally in the public domain. Others should feel free to make use of these materials. In such cases, please provide reference to the original sources that are cited throughout the following text. 1 Appreciation A number of sources were used in preparing these materials. One important source was “A List Compiled in The Department of Southern History and Literature,” of the Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama, September 16, 1943. A copy of that list was provided by the kindness of Jack and Judi Parker, Birmingham, Alabama. They also provided the photographs of old grave markers from the Pinson, Alabama area. Judi Parker also provided help with genealogical searches, and with historical information about the Pinson, Alabama area. Another important source was material found at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department web site, identified in the text. This includes an historical listing, and a large - though not complete - gallery of photographs of past sheriffs. We appreciate the work done by Sheriff Mike Hale and his staff to build that web site. Ms. Delilah Evans of Warner-Robbins, Georgia provided important help with finding information on line and in her personal files about Alabama. Ms. Melba Clark of Decatur, Alabama provided a copy of the old photograph of Henderson and Zuda Belle Reese. Ms. Linda Mardis of Cullman, Alabama provided important genealogical search assistance. Wanda Taylor of Hattiesburg, MIssissippi, daughter of Flossie {Reese} Glenn and grand daughter of Zuda Belle {Anderson} Reese provided notes from her personal files. Much of the material was prepared originally by Robert McCombs. Mr. Don Veasey, Curator of Photographs, Department of Archives & Manuscripts, Birmingham Public Library located the old 5x7 photograph of Thomas A. Anderson, and also provided other archival references found in the following text. Important family oral history was provided by Tommie Audel {Reese} Bird of Knoxville, Tennessee. She is the grand-daughter of Thomas A. Anderson, and the youngest of the children of Zuda Belle {Anderson} Reese. Information also was obtained from old family Bible pages and from hand written materials prepared by Zuda Belle {Anderson} Reese and Bertha {Reese} Skinner. Page copies are included at the end of the text. Other information sources are identified as they appear in the text. We are grateful for all of the generous help that has made this project possible. ERRORS Errors often creep into genealolgical materials. Information may be unavailable ... diffferent sources may not agree .... errors may arise from incorrect transcriptions ... etc. Whenever possible in these materials, we have indicated corrections and/or undertainties about accuracy, leaving the original materials unchanged. Nevertheless, users of these materials should be alert to the possibility of other undiscovered errors. 2 The Following Section is From A List Compiled in the Department of Southern History and Literature Birmingham Public Library Birmingham, Alabama September 16, 1943 The material provided here was transcribed by Carl O. Thomas [December, 2003] from a copy of Birmingham Library materials provided by the kindness of Jack and Judi Parker, of Birmingham, Alabama. PREFACE Names and dates of commissions for all sheriffs from 1819 through Sept. 1, 1896, except Smith and Morrow, were obtained from a copy of a copy of “A Register of County Officials, Jefferson County, Alabama, 1819-1900” made by the WPA for the library in 1937. Smith and Morrow and all names since 1900 were obtained from Birmingham City Directories and Alabama Official and Statistical Registers, 1903-1939 and newspaper clippings. Contemporary publications and historical works thought likely to contain information were consulted. A WPA typewritten copy of “Minutes of the Board of Revenue of Jefferson County from February 1856 to February 1871” was of some assistance in determining dates. Dates for terms in general were supplied by checking constitutional and statutory provisions under “sheriff” and “elections” in all Constitutions 1819- 1901 and State Codes from 1823-1840. The list is complete except for the term 1832-1835. Cruikshank lists Stephen Reader as an “early” sheriff. We do not find him so listed on the copy of the Register in the library. {The name does not appear in the subsequent list from the office of the current Sheriff Mike Hale.} One Stephen Reader is listed as a Justice of the Peace in 1822. He may turn out to be the missing name for 1832- 1835. There is, of course, the possibility that a coroner or an appointee may have served out an unexpired brief term which the various sources consulted would not reveal - as Coroner Russum served two months between the death of Hartsfield and the appointment of Downs. All names were checked against the State Biographical Index to published works in the Southern Collection of the library. Only 13 of the 34 men are in the Index - - Kelly, Grace, Hagood, Truss, Morrow, O’Brien, Higdon, McAdory, Hartsfield, Russum, Downs, McDuff, and Harry E. Smith. Owen in his sketch of 3 Hagood states that he was sheriff from 1874-77 and acting sheriff from 1880- 1884. Another writer mentions Truss as having served two terms. Neither is indicated on the official register in the library as serving two terms. In view of the above facts and also because the “Official Register” in the library is a “copy of a copy”, we believe for accuracy that the list should be checked against the official list in the office of the Secretary of State or possibly in the Jefferson County Probate Office. In the absence of an original official register, certain records in the court house known to have been regularly signed by the sheriff might be used as a check. Since 1887 bound newspapers on file in the public library might reveal the desired information. Search through bound newspapers would however be a much more laborious task than checking the official list or the county records. September 16, 1943 NOTE BY COT: This PREFACE contains a number of caveats about the accuracy and the completeness of the information, and suggests steps by which these might be improved. SHERIFFS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA 1819-- 1963 Some brief “historical benchmarks” have been added by COT to help put everything into historical perspective. 1813-14 Creek Indian Wars March 3, 1817 Became the Alabama Territory 1. Reed, Levi October 28, 1819 - - October 5, 1822 Copy of official Register from which taken is not clear what dates “Term Ended” are in the column headed “Remarks.” In the column headed date “Commissioned” are the dates Oct. 28, 1819. December 13, 1819 Jefferson County formed December 14, 1819 Alabama became the 22nd State of the Union 2. McWhorter, John October 5, 1822 - - March 20, 1824, Resigned Spelled “McWhorter” in the copy made by WPA from the official Register. In all other places it is spelled “McWorter.” 3. Ayers, John B. March 20 - - August, 1824 ..To complete the McWhorter term.. 4. Murray, James August, 1824 - - August 22, 1826 4 5. Ayers, John B. August 22, 1826 - - August 8, 1829 6. Scott, William A. August 8, 1829 - - August, 1832 7. Reader, Stephen [?] Undoubtedly there is a name missing from the Register as copied by WPA. The law provides for a term of three years, and there are three years unaccounted for here. Cruikshank lists one Stephen Reader as among the early sheriffs, but there is none on the copy in the library, therefore three years are unaccounted for. A Stephen Reader is on the Register as a Justice of the Peace in 1822. {Handwritten notes include possibly Moses Kelley, Jr. 1833-1834, and part of 1835. There also are some illegible handwritten notes at this point in the original typescript.} 8. Anderson, Peter August 7, 1835 - - August 25, 1838 ...Great-great-grandfather of Martha {Skinner} Thomas.. Spelled “Sanderson” on one copy of the Register in the library. Because of similarity with the name “Peter Anderson” writer wonders if that might be a typographical error. Peter Anderson is listed in the sheriff’s office three times. 1836-37 Second Creek War 9. Kelly, Moses August 25, 1838 - - August 25, 1841 1838-39 Trail of Tears forced removal of Cherokee and other Indian tribes to the west 10. Anderson, Peter August 25, 1841 - - August 23, 1844 ...Great-great-grandfather of Martha {Skinner} Thomas... 11. Grace,Bayliss E. August 23, 1844 - - August 12, 1847 12. Anderson, Peter August 12, 1847 - - August 17, 1850 ...Great-great-grandfather of Martha {Skinner} Thomas... 13. Killough, Abner August 17, 1850 - - August 17, 1853 14. Hudson, Richard August 17, 1853 - - August 16, 1856 15. Eubank, Wm. C. August 16, 1856 - - August 9 [?], 1859 Spelled Eubanks in a copy of the official Register from which the information is taken. In the same list James Eubank is spelled without the final “s”. Cruikshank says that Wm. C. Eubank and Jas. T. Eubank were father and son. 16. Hudson, Richard August 9 [?], 1859 - - August 13, 1862 17. Killough, Abner August 13, 1862 - - July 25, 1865 1861-65 CIVIL WAR 5 18. Hanby, Wm. F. July 25, 1865 - - August 8, 1868 Spelled Hamby in a copy of the official Register from which this information is taken.