Calhoun County AlArchives Biographies.....Noble, James July 28 1832 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 15, 2004, 1:15 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
   JAMES NOBLE, SR, mayor of Anniston, was born in Cornwall county, England,
July 28, 1832. He is a son of James and Jenifer (Ward) Noble, both of whom are
natives of England, who came to the United States in 1837, locating in
Pennsylvania, and remaining there until 1855. They then removed to Rome, Ga.,
where Mr. Noble built a machine shop and foundry, and where he remained until
1885. He then removed to Alabama. James Noble, being a poor man and having a
large family to support, was unable to give his children more than a mere common
school education. He was the first foreman in the Philadelphia & Reading shops,
and welded the first railroad locomotive tires ever cut and welded in the United
States. James Noble, Sr., son of the above named James Noble, was taken out of
school before he was ten years old, and put to work in a tobacco factory, where
he worked for fifty cents per week. In 1849, he married Jane Stott, daughter of
Jeremiah and Nancy (Holden) Stott, she and both her parents being natives of
England. To this marriage there were born nine children, six of whom are still
living: Dixon, Jennie, Charles M., Anna, George, and Mary. Mrs. Noble was born
in England, and came to this country with her parents in 1835. In 1857, Mr.
Noble moved to Rome, Ga., and afterward went to Atlanta, and was foreman in the
boiler shops there until 1863. He was city alderman in 1862 and 1863. While at
Rome, Mr. James Noble built, in connection with his father and brothers, the
first locomotive ever built in the south, which was named the Alfred Shorter,
and which drew more troops during the war than any other locomotive in the
south. In 1863, he again went to Rome, and in 1864 and 1865, he was mayor of
Rome, and was the first chief of the fire department of that city, holding the
office for three successive terms. In 1873, he returned to Atlanta, and resumed
his old place in the railroad shops where he remained five years. He then
established himself in the boiler making business, remaining thus engaged in
Atlanta four years. In 1877 he removed to Macon, Ga., and remained two years,
and came to Alabama, locating in Jenifer, in 1879. Here he assisted in
constructing the narrow gauge railroad from Jenifer to Clifton, and was the
first engineer on that road. He remained in Jenifer about eighteen months, when
he removed to Anniston, Ala., and engaged in the boiler and sheet iron business.
He also became a partner in the Anniston foundry and machine shops. He has
always been a straight out democrat, and was elected mayor of Anniston, in 1890,
for two years. He is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, was made a Mason in
1855, in Pottsville, Pa., and took the royal arch degree, April 15, 1856, and
the council degree in Rome, Ga., in 1865. He is also a member of the order of
Elks. He has now (1893) twenty-three grandchildren living. Notwithstanding he
began life working at fifty cents per week yet he now is one of the leading
citizens of Anniston and has one of the most beautiful homes in the city.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 607-608

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