Dallas County AlArchives Photo person.....Alpheus Monroe Fowlkes 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 19, 2004, 10:28 pm

Source: Brant & Fuller (1893)
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   ALPHEUS MONROE FOWLKES, a prominent business and railroad man of Selma, Ala.,
was born in Franklin county, N. C., November 22, 1838. His parents were Edward
T. and Mary (Foster) Fowlkes. Col. Fowlkes, (originally Fowlkes) and Col. Mason
of the British army came to America with a grant of land in Virginia, from the
English crown, for military services, their grant being now known as Prince
Edward county, Va. They landed in Alexandria county, Va., where they made their
home a short time; but later Col. Fowlkes settled in Prince Edward county, Va.,
and from him, a Welshman, have descended the Fowlkes family in this country.
They are now very numerous, those in Virginia being mostly planters, and they
are to be found in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. Edward T Fowlkes, father of A. M. Fowlkes,
was reared and educated in Virginia and, marrying, settled in Louisburgh, N. C.,
where he entered into the practice of law. He married Mary Foster, in Matthews
county, Va., a lady related to the Stapletons and other prominent families of
Virginia. She was born in 1811, and bore her husband three sons and five
daughters. In 1850 Edward T. Fowlkes removed from North Carlolina to Marion,
Ala., where he died in 1851 and his widow in 1875. The father was a lawyer of
ability, and was born in Lunenburgh county, Va., in 1807. After his death the
family began to separate; Mr. A. M. Fowlkes was about twelve years of age when
his parents removed to Alabama. He was educated at the Howard college, then
located at Marion, Ala., receiving a liberal education and leaving college in
1855. His chosen profession was that of civil engineer, and he became secretary
of the Perry Insurance Trust company at Marion, Ala., and was holding that
position when the war came on. Early in 1861 he joined the Confederate service,
being made first lieutenant of company A, Twenty-eighth Alabama infantry. The
captain of this company was soon made major, and without receiving a commission
Lieut. Fowlkes acted as captain of the company for two years; but in 1863 was
promoted to the rank of major on the staff of Gen. Joe. E. Johnston, and when
Gen. Hood was put in Johnston's place Major Fowlkes was retained, and when Gen.
Johnston once more resumed command Maj. Fowlkes still retained his place on the
staff. Maj. Fowlkes fought in many battles, among which may be mentioned Shiloh,
Farmington, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Missionary
Ridge, siege of Atlanta, and Bentonville. After the war he engaged in farming.
In 1868 he became treasurer of the Selma, Marion & Memphis railroad (now the C.,
S. & M.), of which railroad company he was made the receiver in 1871, holding
control of the road till 1878, when it was sold under foreclosure. Maj. Fowlkes,
however, continued as superintendent and treasurer up to 1882. In 1883 he came
to Selma and embarked in the wholesale and retail hardware business, in which he
has since continued, building up a very large trade, until he now conducts one
of the most important hardware establishments in Alabama. In October, 1886, he
became one of the purchasers of the New Orleans & Selma railroad and since has
been the general superintendent, secretary and treasurer of the road, which
under the new corporation is known as the Birmingham, Selma & New Orleans
railroad. He is president of the Selma Land company, director in the Hotel
Albert company, and was president of the Selma Bridge company, in which capacity
he superintended the construction of the bridge across the Alabama at Selma, and
for one year thereafter was manager. He is also a director in the Improvement &
Furnace company, and has been and is identified with other business enterprises.
He is a thorough business man and has taken an active part in the several
enterprises tending to upbuild Selma, in which city, as elsewhere, he is known
and held in the highest esteem. He has been a warm friend of education, being
for the past several years a trustee of the public schools of his city. He and
his family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has
been steward for years. In 1859, at Marion, Ala., he was united in marriage with
Miss Bettie Jemison, and to the union have been born two daughters. As a
business man Maj. Fowlkes is possessed of ample ability, and though after the
war he began with no capital, has succeeded in amassing a good estate and has
played no small part in the business world; as a railroad man he has displayed
no usual ability, being eminently practical in the business management and,
being himself a civil engineer by profession, he has proven well fitted for the
railway positions he has held. He is also engaged in farming. He has at his
store, in Selma, a very large line of all kinds of hardware and agricultural
implements, and to him deference is paid by all.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 868, 869-871
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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