Coffee County AlArchives Biographies.....Ham, Philip Jefferson 1841 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 16, 2004, 12:47 am

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    PHILIP JEFFERSON HAM, planter of Elba, Ala., was born in Crawford county,
Ga., in 1841. He was a son of James and Susan (Matthews) Ham, natives probably
of Edgefield district, S. C., but who came to Georgia at an early day, were
moderately well educated, married in Georgia, lived in Talbot county, then in
Taylor county, and in 1858 removed to Coffee county, Ala., settling five miles
northwest of Elba, and improved a farm, where Mr. Ham died very suddenly in June
of the same year, aged about fifty-five, leaving a widow and eleven children. He
was always a hard worker, and an industrious man, but was in moderate
circumstances when he died, which made it difficult for his widow to bring up
her children and educate them as she would have liked to do. He had two brothers
who settled in other parts of Alabama. Philip Matthews, the father of Mrs. Ham,
died near Knoxville, in Georgia. The mother of P. J. Ham, died in Coffee county
in 1882. She was vary persevering and industrious, was possessed of great
endurance, strong will and noble character. Mr. Ham was seventh in a family of
four sons and eight daughters, all of whom are now living but one son and one
daughter. Three of the sons served in the late war, viz.: James W. who enlisted
in company F, Thirty-third Alabama infantry, and was killed at the battle of
Perryville, Ky.; William W., who was in Company A, Thirty-third Alabama, from
1863 until the close of the war, and who now lives in Coffee county; and Mr. P.
J. Ham, who was reared on a farm and who, on account of the early death of his
father, received but a limited education. In March, 1862, he enlisted in company
A, Thirty-third Alabama infantry, for one year and spent the first few months at
Pensacola, was at Corinth soon after the battle there, and was then sent on the
Kentucky campaign and back to Murfreesboro, Tenn., which was the first general
engagement in which he participated. At Chickamauga he was wounded in the foot
and thereby disabled for six or seven months, during which time he was home. He
rejoined his command at Dalton, in 1864, and fought on to Peach Tree creek,
where he lost his left arm, by reason of which he came home for a short time,
and after a few weeks he was taken to the hospital at Atlanta. After his
recovery he spent about two years overseeing and has since lived near and at
Elba. He has become one of the largest land owners in the county, owning some
three thousand acres, a large portion of which is under cultivation. He has been
a man of great energy and industry and possesses good business ability, and what
property he owns he has obtained through his own efforts. He has always produced
his own supplies, thus making his cotton to a great extent a surplus crop. He
owes a large share of his success to his wife, who is a very industrious woman
and good manager of his domestic affairs. He was married in 1868 to Mary,
daughter of Noah and Elizabeth Carroll, natives probably of South Carolina, but
raised for the most part in Covington county, Ala., to which county they came
when the country was full of Indians, and where they suffered many hardships and
privations. They afterward removed to Coffee county, where they lived the
remainder of their lives. Mrs. Ham was born in Covington county, and is the
mother of ten children, viz.: Frances E., wife of A. J. Bryan; James Noah,
Philip Jefferson, Jr., Mary Elizabeth, Ada, William W., Trudy, Russia, Stephen
and Carrie, all living. The mother of these children died in 1888. She was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Mr. Ham has at various times
been connected with mercantile business for short periods. Some twenty years ago
he was county treasurer for three years. He always takes a reasonable amount of
interest in politics, but is not himself a politician. In 1890 Mr. Ham married
Miss Jessie Woodward, daughter of the late ex-Governor James Woodward and Mary
Ann Hall, natives of Tennessee and Florida, respectively. The former was for
many years a prominent physician at Pensacola. Fla., practicing there in the
hospital. He was in the late war and was at one time lieutenant-governor of
Florida. He died at Geneva, Ala., in 1886 and his widow now lives at Anniston, Ala.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 665-667


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