Covington County AlArchives Biographies.....Prestwood, James Austin June 11 1855 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 17, 2004, 9:11 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    JAMES AUSTIN PRESTWOOD, one of the leading timber men and one of the most
wealthy citizens of Covington county, is a resident of Andalusia. He was born in
Coffee county, June 11, 1855. He is a son of Thomas F. and Margaret (McIntosh)
Prestwood, natives of Georgia and Alabama respectively. Mr. Prestwood came with
his parents to Coffee county when a boy, received a limited education, married
and spent the rest of his life as a successful farmer. He was industrious and
honest and had a bright future awaiting him, but in, the fall of 1861 he joined
the Confederate army as a private soldier, fought at Shiloh, Corinth and
Missionary Ridge, and from Dalton to Resaca, where he was mortally wounded,
taken to a hospital at Atlanta and died in 1864, after three years of gallant
service for the cause he loved so well. His father was Terry Prestwood, and he
came from Georgia at an early day to Coffee county, where he spent the rest of
his life. He had four sons in the late war, viz.: Joseph, who came home with
small pox during the war and died; and his father, mother and a grown sister all
contracted the same disease and all died; Thomas, the father of the subject;
Francis Marion, who was all through the war and who is now one of the most
extensive planters in Coffee county, and one of the largest in southeastern
Alabama; Herman, who served all through the war. The maternal grand-father of
James A. Prestwood, John McIntosh, was a native of Scotland. The subject is the
second of five children, the others being Terry, a resident of Andalusia; John
W., of Geneva, Ala.; Nancy, wife of James W. Bradshaw, of Andalusia; Mary
Thomas, wife of Jasper Holloway, of Coffee county. Mr. J. A. Prestwood was
brought up on a farm by his widowed mother and never attended school but three
months in his life. At nineteen years of age his mother gave him his time and he
at once went to Andalusia and there worked as a mill hand, teaming and so forth
for three years, when he felt certain he could make a success of the business
himself. His career justified this confidence and he now owns two of the leading
mills in the county, cutting from 14,000 to 16,000 pieces each season, worth
$2.75 each. This cut timber is rafted down the Conecuh and Escambia river to the
Pensacola market. He employs about eighty-five men, and runs about seventeen
teams, some of which he owns. He owns 4,500 acres of land individually and a
half interest in 1,600 acres of timber land beside. He also owns considerable
property in Andalusia and in Geneva. In 1890 and 1891 he erected one of the most
expensive and elegant mansions in southern Alabama. This mansion he has
protected against fire by a large tank, which he supplies with water by a fine
wind-mill, one of the very few in Alabama. He is also engaged to some extent in
farming. For thirteen years until recently, he was engaged in the saloon
business, and now owns a bar at Geneva. Notwithstanding his dealing and having
dealt in liquor, he has never taken a dram in his life: neither has he ever used
tobacco in any form. He is regular in his habits and is a fine specimen of manly
health. His mother is still living in Coffee county, is about sixty years old
and is a member of the Missionary Baptist church. In 1878 Mr. Prestwood married
Mary Elizabeth Fletcher, daughter of Judge A. J. Fletcher. Mrs. Prestwood was
born in Covington county and is the mother of six children, viz.: Millard
Fillmore, who was drowned in 1891; James Mordan; Freddy Gardner, deceased; Maud
E., deceased; John Dun Bibben; Fletcher Burnett. Mr. Prestwood has never sought
office but always has been an active worker for the democratic party. He has on
several occasions been a delegate of the state convention, and for some years
has been a member of the county central committee. He is a member of the
Missionary Baptist church and is highly respected by his neighbors and friends.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 758-759
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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