Colbert County AlArchives Biographies.....Roulhac, Thomas R. November 8 1846 - living in 1893
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 17, 2004, 12:11 am

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    THOMAS R. ROULHAC, an attorney of northern Alabama and a citizen of
Sheffield, Ala., was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, November 8, 1846. The
Roulhac family is of French origin, the first ancestor of the subject of this
sketch came to this country as an officer under the Marquis de La Fayette.
Before the Revolution, however, an uncle of his had made his home in eastern
North Carolina, and his residence still remains in a good state of preservation.
He was an ardent supporter of the colonies in their struggle for freedom, and
advocated among his friends in France the extending of active aid to their
efforts. Many instances of his firm and zealous support of the American cause
have been related. The family was thus among the earliest settlers of that part
of the old North State." Joseph B. G. Roulhac was a man of considerable means,
and active in the business enterprises of his state. He was a member of the
constitutional convention of North Carolina of 1833 from the county of Bertie.
He married the eldest daughter of Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, who for many
years presided in the highest court of that state, and whose decisions have
reflected credit on its judiciary. Of this marriage Thomas R. Roulhac was the
fifth child and second son. From Dr. Wilson's school, Mr. Roulhac entered the
military academy at Hillsborough, and from that institution entered the service
of his state as a drillmaster before he was fifteen years of age. After this
service and a stay of a few months at school, he re-entered the Confederate army
as a private in Ramseur's artillery, then commanded by Captain Basil Manly, in
which he remained until after the battle of Gettysburg, participating in this
battle with McLaws' division, when he was commissioned a lieutenant in the
Forty-ninth North Carolina regiment of infantry, which constituted a part of the
brigade of General (now Senator) M. W. Ransom. With his regiment he took part in
all the battles of General Lee's army up to Five Forks, where on the 1st of
April, 1865, while in command of the sharpshooters, he was captured and was held
a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island until after the close of the war. He then
returned to North Carolina, and read law with his grandfather, Judge Raffia, and
in June, 1837, received his first license in that state. The year following he
obtained the license which admitted him to practice in all the courts. In 1868
he sailed from New York for California, and there practiced law in Merced county
for three years. In December, 1870, he went to Greensboro, Ala., to be married
to the daughter of Colonel Allen C. Jones of that place, with the expectation of
then returning to California; but entered into a law partnership with Hon.
Robert H. Smith, of Mobile, and remained in partnership with that eminent lawyer
until his death in 1878. He continued in the practice of the law at Greensboro,
until 1889, when he removed to Sheffield, and there opened an office with Mr. J.
H. Nathan. He moved his family there in the following February, and has since
continued to reside in that city. He has held no public office except one term
as mayor of Greensboro, to which he was unanimously elected. He declined to
again be a candidate, convinced, as he said, that such a thing could not happen
twice in any man's life. Mr. Roulhac and wife have had six children, five of
whom are living.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 699-700


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