Crenshaw County AlArchives Biographies.....Sikes, Thomas A. 1831 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 18, 2004, 12:48 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
   Thomas A. SIKES, farmer of Rutledge, Ala., was born in Sumter district, S.
C., in 1831. He is a son of William and Frances (Jones) Sikes, the former a
native of North Carolina, born about 1805, the latter born in South Carolina,
about 1815. In about 1834, they removed to Barbour county, Ala., and in 1838, to
Pike county, and after living four years in Coffee county, they returned to Pike
county. In 1847, they removed to Florida, and in 1848 back again to Alabama,
settling this time in Crenshaw county, where Mr. Sikes died in 1863, and Mrs.
Sikes in 1891. Both of these people were very devotional members of the
Methodist Episcopal church for many years. Mr. Sikes was a good farmer, but on
account of rheumatism, with which he was afflicted for many years, he was not
able to serve in the Indian war of 1836. He was then living in Barbour county.
His father died when he was quite a small boy, and then he was bound out to a
man who was dissipated, proud and cruel, and young Sikes soon left for better
appointments, going to his mother in South Carolina, where he lived until his
marriage. The maternal grandfather of our subject, William Jones, was the father
of five children and died in South Carolina. Mr. Thomas A. Sykes was the second
of a family of six sons and five daughters. The eldest son, John H., was killed
at Richmond, Va., in July, 1863, while serving as captain of his company, which
belonged to a Florida regiment; Joseph A., the youngest, ran away at sixteen and
served in the Tennessee army, and later in the boy company at Mobile. After the
war he removed to Texas and died there. The subject was reared on the farm,
attending school only about seven months in all. He is therefore a self-made
man. In March, 1855, he was married, in what is now Crenshaw county, to Louisa,
daughter of Smith Summerland, a South Carolinian, who removed to Crenshaw county
at an early date. He is now living, at the age of seventy-eight. He served
during the late war for a short time in, what was known as "old man's company."
Mrs. Sikes was born in Montgomery county, and is the mother of eleven children,
viz.: William Smith; Martha, wife of G. P. Kendrick; Emma F., wife of F. A.
Huston; John Thomas of Newton; Mary E., wife of Eugene Daniel; Erskine B;
Walton; Shorter; Lena, and two deceased in infancy. In March, 1862, Mr. Sikes
joined Hilliard's legion, and served in the Tennessee army until Longstreet
returned to Virginia, and from that time to the close he served in Virginia,
fighting at Drewry's Bluff, at Petersburg, and at other battles. He put in a
substitute to work in the tunnel there and secured a furlough home, and at the
expiration of his leave of absence started back to join his command, but at
Columbus, Ga., he was pronounced unfit for duty, and was at Macon when Lee
surrendered. After returning home he resumed farming, and since 1872 he has
lived at Rutledge for the purpose of educating his children. For some time he
was engaged in the livery stable business, and also in the grocery business, but
conducted his farm all the time. He owns 440 acres at Rutledge, and at one time
he owned over 1,100 acres of land, all of which he had acquired by his own
unaided efforts. He is one of the leading farmers of the county, and one of its
most enterprising and industrious citizens. In 1868 he was elected tax
collector, and served seven years. He was county treasurer six years and was a
most creditable officer. He is a member of Rutledge lodge, No. 357, F. & A. M.,
and has taken the royal arch degree in Thomas M. Bragg chapter, No. 99, at
Rutledge. Both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church. Not
having enjoyed the best of educational advantages himself when young, it has
been his chief desire to give his children at least a fair education, and he so
highly appreciates the value of learning that he has always been a hard and
careful student since attaining his majority, when he has had time and
opportunity to apply himself, realizing that knowledge, can not like riches take
to itself wings and fly away.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 793-794
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI



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