Dale County AlArchives Biographies.....Doster, O. C. 1856 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 18, 2004, 5:23 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    O. C. DOSTER, attorney at Newton, was born in Barbour county, Ala., in 1856.
He is a son of Obed C. and Mary Doster, the former of whom was born near Monroe
Union county, N. C., and was taken to Georgia, when quite young by his parents,
who settled in Talbot county, that state, remaining there but a short time, when
they removed to Alabama, settling in Dale county. The father, however, soon
removed to Barbour county, where he was married to Miss Mary Campbell, and
followed the occupation of farming the rest of his life. He was a very
unostentatious man, but took a reasonably active interest in public affairs.
Politically, he was a whig, and after that party became extinct, while he still
adhered to his whig principles, yet he usually voted the democratic ticket.
Without being a candidate, or in any way seeking the position, he was elected to
the legislature, at the first session after the close of the Civil war between
the states, and served six years. Previous and at the commencement of the late
war, he was an advocate of southern rights, and protection under the
constitution and flag of the Union, but when Alabama seceded he went with his
people. He was born in 1819 and died in 1883. He joined the Methodist Episcopal
church, south, early in his married life, and lived a consistent member thereof
until his death. The mother of our subject was born and reared in Barbour
county, where she was married at the age of nineteen, and became the mother of
nine children, six of whom still live. Early after marriage she joined the
Methodist Episcopal church, but after the death of her husband she united
herself with the Missionary Baptist church. In 1885, she was married to John P.
Barr, a farmer, who resides in Henry county, Ala. Obed C. Doster grew to manhood
as a farmer, attended school in the winter months when he could be spared from
the farm. He proved an apt scholar, and by the time he had reached his
twenty-first year he was qualified to teach school. He then taught school and at
the same time operated his farm, and previous to an accident, by which he partly
lost the use of his right hand, he was considered the best penman in Dale
county. In 1885 he moved to Newton and established the Newton Messenger, a
weekly newspaper, which he edited and published for five years, and under his
efficient management the Messenger attained a large circulation and many
friends. In 1883, he commenced to study law, without an instructor, and
continued in this manner until he was master of the profession. On June 12th,
1887, he was admitted to the bar, and on January 16, 1891, he was admitted to
practice in the supreme court of the state. He was married, in 1876, to Miss
Lydia A. Barr, a daughter of John P. Barr, a prominent farmer of Pike county,
Ala. Mrs. Doster was born in Barbour connty, in August, 1862. She was married in
her sixteenth year, and is now the mother of nine children, seven of whom are
living: Obed C., James P., Lydia E. A., Mary J., Grover, Vidah, and Harry M.
Mrs. Doster was several years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south,
but of late years has been a member of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Doster
was elected to the office of mayor of Newton in 1890. He was elected chairman of
the democratic county executive committee of Dale county in 1888, and served two
years, refusing to allow his name to be used for re-election. July 1, 1892, he
was appointed, by the democratic state executive committee, one of the committee
of four to re-organize the democratic party of Dale county, which committee
performed its labors to the satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Doster became a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, when a boy, but united with the
Missionary Baptist church in 1883. He has in the course of his life had many
obstacles to overcome, the greatest of which was perhaps the limited education
he received in his youth. This, however, he has done much to overcome by private
application in later years, and he now has a fine law practice, not confined to
Dale county, and his reputation as a lawyer is rapidly expanding. He is a
democrat of the straightest sect, and is a leader in his party. He has a host of
friends who recognize in him a man of ability, of honor and of public spirit.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 813-814
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI



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