Barbour County AlArchives Biographies.....John M. Alston June 16 1850 - ?
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 11, 2004, 10:59 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    JOHN M. ALSTON is descended paternally from an old Georgia family, and on
the mother's side takes his ancestry from Wales. His great-grandfather was James
Alston, who married a Yancey, a member of the same family to which the great
statesman and orator of that name belonged. John Alston, son of James A. Alston,
had a son by the name of James A. Alston, who was born in Elbert county, Ga., in
the year 1815. James Alston was taken when a lad to Marengo county, Ala., and
early in the thirties returned to Georgia, locating in the county of Monroe,
where in April, 1838, he married Rebecca J. Norwood, daughter of Caleb Norwood,
whose father, John Norwood, came from Wales in an early day and settled in North
Carolina. James A. Alston and family lived in Georgia until his death in 1853,
and his widow subsequently removed to Sumter county, Ga., thence, in 1874, the
family came to Alabama, settling in Barbour county, near the village of Spring
Hill. Mr. Alston served in the Indian war of 1836, and it was from the effects
of disease contracted while in the army that his death was caused. Mrs. Alston
was born in the town of Charlotte, N. C., December 8, 1822, and in 1825, was
taken by her parents to Tennessee, in which state the family lived till 1829,
when they removed to Talboton county, Ga., thence in 1836, to the county of
Monroe, where, as already stated, she met and married Mr. Alston. James A. and
Rebecca Alston became the parents of five children, namely: Mrs. Mary J. Jordan,
deceased; Joseph A., deceased; James M., John M. and W. A. John M. Alston was
born June 16, 1850, in Georgia, and after obtaining a fair English education
began clerking at the age of twenty-one for an agricultural firm in the city of
Atlanta. Subsequently he removed to Sumter county, Ga., and there farmed for
five years, at the end of which time he changed his residence to Barbour county,
Ala., locating near Spring Hill, where he now owns a fine plantation, consisting
of 3,000 acres of very valuable land. Mr. Alston has paid much attention to
agriculture, and as a result of close study and intelligent observance has
become one of the most thorough and prosperous planters in Barbour county. He
impresses all with whom he comes in contact as a man of strong character, and as
a citizen few people in the community stand higher in the estimation of the
public. For some years Mr. Alston has taken much interest in politics, which he
thinks should be lifted from the present depth of degradation into which it has
fallen in Alabama, and while a firm supporter of the principles of the
democratic party believes that only good men and true should be preferred for
official positions. He has attended every county convention since becoming a
resident of Barbour county, and his wise counsel has frequently been of great
value in shaping the course of local affairs, and bringing to the front the most
competent and available candidates. He is also greatly interested in religious
work and has always been found on the side of measures looking to the moral and
intellectual enlightenment of the community. He has filled several offices in
the Methodist church, with which he has for many years been identified, holding
at this time the position of steward and Sunday school superintendet. Mr. Alston
was happily married, April 18, 1883, in Barbour county, to Willie B., daughter
of Rev. A. J. Briggs, and is now the father of four children: James Briggs,
deceased; William B., Daisy McFarland, and Jane Norwood.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama"


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