Covington County AlArchives Biographies.....Rousseau, James P. 1824 - living in 1893 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 17, 2004, 9:21 pm Author: Brant & Fuller (1893) HON. JAMES P. ROUSSEAU, farmer, of Rose Hill. Beat No. 4, was born in Greene county, Ala., in 1824. He was a son of Mozea and Martha (Carson) Rousseau, the former a native of Putnam county, Ga., and the latter of Alabama. Mr. Rousseau received a common school education. came when a young man to Alabama, married in Greene county and removed to Texas, where Mrs. Rousseau died when James P. was about four years old. Mr. Rousseau died about 1833. He had been a farmer and had been in one of the Indian wars, His father was John Rousseau, a farmer, a French extraction, being of perhaps the third generation born in this country, the first of them settling in Virginia, whence the family emigrated to Georgia, and from which sprang some of the best families of that state. He died in Putnam county, Ga. James Rousseau was secretary of state in the state of Georgia. James Carson, maternal grandfather of James P., was a native of the state of South Carolina, but came to Alabama about the time this state was formed. His wife was a descendant of General Pickens of Revolutionary fame. He raised a small family and died in Putnam county, Ga. James P. Rousseau was the fourth of five children, all deceased but him. He was raised by an uncle, James Pickens, of Marengo county, Ala., and when thirteen years old was sent to Davidson college, North Carolina, where he spent five years, completing his education and taking the regular collegiate course. He then went to Texas and there taught school for one year, thirteen years in Georgia, anti eighteen years in Alabama, where he was recognized as one of the best educators in the state. He was married in Georgia in. 1847 to Elizabeth, daughter of William and Sarah Matthews, both natives of Putnam county, Ga., and both of whom died in that state. Mr. Matthews was a farmer and raised a large family. Mrs. Rousseau was born in Pike county. Ga., and is the mother of five children, viz.: Dr. George M:, a dentist of Montgomery, educated in his profession at Thomasville, Ga.; Eudora, wife of William Riley; Lavinia, wife of George M. Crittenden, of Texas; Elizabeth A., wife of Noah Caton; Ida, wife of Clant O'Neal. All the children were educated under the instruction of their father, and received a good English education. Mr. Rousseau, lived for some years in Crenshaw county, but then returned to Covington county, his former home. He now owns a fine farm of about 400 acres in two tracts near Rose Hill, all of which he has accumulated by his own efforts. He has been in public life many years, serving some years as justice of the peace. In 1874 he was elected to the legislature from Crenshaw county, and served during the stormy time of the overthrow of radicalism. During this term he served on the committees on agriculture, on the capital and on the penitentiary. In 1890 he was elected to the same position from Covington county, and served on the committees on temperance and penitentiary. He has always been active in public matters, and for the past forty years has been a Mason. He is now a member of Rose Hill lodge, No. 253, F. & A. M. He has been president of the Farmers' club, of Covington county, for some time, and is a local Methodist preacher, in which church he has for many years been a steady worker. Early in the war he enlisted as first lieutenant of company A, Forty-second regiment, and served two years or more in the service of the Confederate States, and at Vicksburg was discharged on account of sickness. Mrs. Rousseau, like her husband, is a prominent member of the Methodist church, as also are all of the daughters. The family is one of the leading and most influential families of the county, and is highly esteemed. Additional Comments: from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 760-761 Published by Brant & Fuller (1893) Madison, WI This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 4.3 Kb