Barbour County AlArchives Biographies.....Andrew J. Locke June 6 1836 - 
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 12, 2004, 12:36 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    ANDREW J. LOCKE, postmaster of Eufaula, is a native of Alabama and was born
in Pike county on the 6th of June, 1836. His father, Richard Locke, a planter,
was born in North Carolina in the year 1790; married, in that state, Elva
Davenport, and later moved to Georgia, settling in Jasper county; thence to Pike
county, Ala., locating near the town of Monticello, where he lived a number of
years. During his residence in Monticello, Mr. Locke was appointed probate judge
of Pike county, in which position he served some years, and he is remembered as
a man prominently identified with public and political affairs as long as he was
a resident of Alabama. His first wife, by whom he had eight children, died in
1836, and he afterward moved to the couunty of Montgomery, where he was again
married, his second wife bearing him two children. He was married four times and
became the father of thirteen children, of whom the following are living at this
time, namely: Jesse, resides at Perote, Ala.; Mary, widow of Green Montgomery, a
pensioner of the Indian war of 1836, liivng at Eddy, Texas; Thomas S., resides
at Belcher, this state; Nancy, widow of Baldwin Miles, lives in Texas; Andrew
J.; Elias H., of Troy, Ala.; R. D., lawyer, formerly prosecuting attorney of
Barbour county and at the present time postmaster at Macon, Ga., and Mary. The
father, after a few years' residence in Montgomery county returned to Pike
county, and died there in the month of February, 1864. Andrew J. Locke was
educated in the common schools and left home to work for himself at the age of
fourteen, going to Eufaula and engaging as clerk in the goods house of Dennis &
Locke, in which capacity he continued for a period of four years, attending
school, during certain seasons, in the meantime. Subsequently he accepted a
similar position with the firm of Campbell & McRae, with whom he remained five
years, and for one year thereafter sold goods for Messrs. Locke & Sylvester. In
1859, he embarked in the clothing business at Eufaula, and conducted that branch
of trade with very encouraging success until 1861, at which time, becoming
imbued with a patriotic spirit, he entered the service of the Confederacy as a
member of company A, First Alabama regiment, with which he served at Pensacola
until discharged, on account of impaired health, a few months after his
enlistment. In 1862, Mr. Locke and two comrades raised a battalion of artillery,
in which he received the apointment of senior lieutenant, and which became a
part of Hilliard's legion. He remained with the command until a severe attack of
rheumatism compelled him to retire from active service, but after a short period
from the ranks, he again did valorous duty by assisting in the organizaton of
another company, of which he became second lieutenant. He accompanied this
company to Pensacola, Fla., where he remained until the expiration of his term
of enlistment, when he returned home and, in 1864, helped raise and equip a
third company, which joined Lee's army at Petersburg, Va., where, in the
trenches, Lieut. Locke saw his first service in the eastern campaign. He was
made first lieutenant of the last company, and assisted in recruiting, but did
not long remain at the front on account of the recurrence of his rheumatism,
which became so severe that he was again compelled to resign his commission and
seek the more congenial climate of his home state. On severing his connection
with the army, Mr. Locke resumed clerking in Eufaula, which he continued from
1865 till 1869, at which time he purchased a stock of goods and engaged in the
commercial business on his own responsibility. After two years of very
successful business, he disposed of his store, and during the succeeding two
years was engaged in purchasing cotton in Barbour county, and other counties of
southern Alabama. Discontinuing the business he again accepted a clerkship, and
was so employed until 1877, at which time he was appointed postamster of
Eufaula, the duties of which position he discharged until the close of President
Hayes' administration in 1880. From that time until 1890, he was identified with
the mercantile interests of Eufaula, but on the 18th of March, in the latter
year, was again appointed postmaster, which office he still continues to hold.
Mr. Locke is one of the few republicans of Eufaula, and he has always been bold
and decided in the expression of his political convictions, and that, too, at a
time, when it required very great personal courage to uphold the banner of his
party in Barbour county. During the reconstruction period, when the partisan
spirit was exceedingly bitter. Mr. Locke was compelled to defend his political
faith in the face of the most intense opposition; but with a determination which
never for a moment entertained any idea of surrender, he vigorously demanded the
right which the constitution accords to every citizen - the right of free speech
and equal protection under the law, and eventually compelled recognition and
respect from his political adversaries. He is earnest in his support of the
principles of his party, does all he can to promote its interests, and is one of
its most potent factors in Barbour county. Personally he enjoys great popularity
among all classes, irrespective of party affiliations, and he is in every
respect one of the wide-awake, enterprising and respectable ciitzens of Eufaula.
Mr. Locke was married May 7, 1867, in Clay county, Ga., to Miss Viola E. Ricks,
who has borne him two children, both deceased.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama" p. 440-442


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