Crenshaw County AlArchives Biographies.....Fonville, John C. April 3 1842 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 18, 2004, 10:52 am

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    HON. JOHN C. FONVILLE, a prominent farmer of Crenshaw county, was born in
Darlington district, S. C. April 3, 1842. He is a son of Rev. John A. and Rachel
(Sloan) Fonville, natives of North Carolina, both born in 1809, the former in
Orange, and the latter in Dublin, counties. After their marriage they removed to
South Carolina, and in 1853 came to Lowndes county, now Crenshaw county, Ala.
Here he improved a farm, upon which Mrs. Fonville died in 1865 and he in 1870.
Both had been members of the Missionary Baptist church for many years. He had
been a minister of the church for more than thirty years. He was a self-made and
practical man, and while he was conservative was very strong in his opinions.
For about ten years previous to his death he was a member of Sandy Ridge lodge,
No. 223, F. & A. M., and he was always active in public matters. He was one of a
large family born to Rev. Frederick Fonville, who died in North Carolina, where
he had lived many years. He was a free-will Baptist minister all his life. He
was of French descent. Grandfather Gibson Sloan also died in North Carolina. He
was a very large slave owner, and raised a large family, his wife dying in
Alabama. John C. Fonville was the fifth of a family of nine children, as
follows: Mary and Margaret died young; Susan F., widow of Samuel Stakely,
deceased; Fredrick Gibson, killed at the explosion of Petersburg, having been a
member of company B, Fourteenth Alabama infantry, serving as lieutenant and
adjutant; John C.; Sarah M., widow of Dr. T. P. Burgamy, deceased; and Dr. James
B., deceased in 1885, was in the Seventeenth Alabama infantry from 1862 till
captured at Atlanta, and imprisoned at Camp Morton till 1865, graduated from
Atlanta medical college; Professor William Drakeford, president of the Alabama
military institute at Tuskegee, Ala., is a graduate from Howard college , and
Theodosia. Mr. Fonville was reared on the farm and received a good education,
which, however, was cut short by the breaking out of the war. July 1, 1861, he
joined company B, Fourteenth Alabama infantry, as first sergeant, was mustered
in at Auburn, and was discharged October 1, 1861, on account of disability, the
result of an accidental shot before the was. In June, 1862 he joined De Bar
Delaman's Partisan Rangers, afterwards the Fifty-sixth Alabama cavalry, and
began operations at Mobile in the department of the Mississippi, and in the
spring of 1862 they went to north Mississippi, from which time they were known
as Ferguson's brigade. They fought Sherman in Tennessee and also in Mississippi
and. afterward joined Johnston and fought in the Atlanta campaign at Jonesboro
and with Hood on his way north as far as north Alabama, when they were sent to
follow Sherman on his march to the sea, and to North and South Carolina. At
Greensboro, N. C., they met President Davis, and were with him until he reached
Washington, Ga., where they heard of Johnston's surrender and they surrendered
themselves. He was always ready for roll-call and was home once on detail for
clothing, and other necessary articles. After the war he engaged in farming till
1869, when he married Florence, daughter of Judge Caswell and Eliza Clifton, the
former a native of Huntsville, Ala., and the latter of Warrenton, N. C. He died
in Jackson, Miss., in 1855, and she in 1860. He was a prominent lawyer and was
at one time the clerk of the supreme court of Mississippi, a position now held
by his son. Mrs. Fonville was born in Jackson, Miss., and was educated there and
at Clinton, Miss. She is the mother of eight children. With the exception of one
year, when he lived at Tuskegee, Ala., for the purpose of educating his
children, Mr. Fonville has lived on his present farm in the extreme northwest
part of Crenshaw county, where he owns 600 acres of fine land. In 1878 and 1879
he represented his county in the legislature and served on the committee of
education as well as other committees. He has been prominent in politics for
some years and in 1892 was a candidate on the Kolb ticket for secretary of
state. He is a leading member of Panola alliance and was once lecturer for the
county alliance. He was for several years, W. M. of the Sandy Ridge lodge, No.
223, F. & A. M., and both he and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 779-780
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI



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