Escambia County AlArchives Biographies.....Sowell, Thomas S. October 11 1840 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 23, 2004, 5:05 am

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
   HON. THOMAS S. SOWELL, son of James L. and Mary Sowell, was born in Lancaster
district, S. C., October 11, 1840. Paternally he is descended from English
ancestors, who came to America in the time of the colonies and settled in South
Carolina, in which state his grandfather, James Sowell, was born and raised.
James L. Sowell was born in Sumter district, S. C., in the year 1799, and was by
occupation a planter. He was married in South Carolina, in 1820, to Mary Hunley,
daughter of Absalom Hunley, of Virginia, and in 1846, moved his family to Monroe
county, Ala., whither his father had preceded him in 1818. In 1852, he became a
resident of Conecuh county, but in 1865 returned to the county of Monroe, where
his death occurred the same year. Mrs. Sowell survived her husband some years,
departing this life in the summer of 1886. James L. Sowell was a man of local
prominence, a leading politician of the democratic party, and at different times
held various public positions, among which were those of probate judge of Monroe
county and tax assessor for the county of Conecuh. The following are the names
of the living children of James L. and Mary Sowell: William C., resident of
Monroeville, and probate judge of Monroe county; Thomas S.; Sarah, widow of J.
P. Andress; and Emma S., wife of H. M. Rumbley. The names of those deceased were
Martha, died in infancy; James R, member of company A, Forty-second Alabama
infantry, killed October 4, 1862, in the battle of Corinth; Almira J., died in
1886, and Vancy, who died in infancy. Thomas S. Sowell was brought to Alabama by
his parents when seven years of age, and passed his youthful days on a farm in
Monroe county, attending school at intervals in the meantime. At the age of
twenty-one he responded to the call of his state for volunteers and enlisted,
March 15, 1861, in company C, Second Alabama infantry, with which he served one
year. In 1862, he re-enlisted, this time in the Forty-second regiment, of which
he continued a member until the close of the war in 1865, and with which he
participated in the southwestern campaigns, including the battle of Corinth,
where he received a bullet wound in the forehead, and in the siege of Vicksburg,
where he was made a prisoner. After his exchange in September, 1868, he rejoined
his regiment at Demopolis, Ala., thence marched to Chattanooga and took part in
the battles of Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. He was with Johnston's army
from Resaca to Atlanta, and participated in all the battles of the Georgia
campaign, but, before the surrender of Atlanta, his command was ordered to
Mobile; then, after a few months' stay, he rejoined Johnston's army in the
Carolinas and took part in the battle of Bentonville, in which engagement Mr.
Sowell was again wounded, a ball penetrating his left lung, passing entirely
through his body. For some time thereafter he was an inmate of the Central
hospital, Greensboro, N. C., and upon his recovery, after the surrender in 1865,
he returned to Alabama and entered the service of B. L. Lovelace, as clerk in
that gentleman's mercantile establishment, in Brewton. After three years spent
in this capacity he embarked in the mercantile business in partnership with J.
R. Downing, a firm which continued until the latter's death, in 1871. Later he
disposed of his stock of goods, and was engaged in farming until 1883, at which
time he removed to the town of Wallace, and became manager of C. L. Sowell &
Co's large milling interests at that place, discharging the duties of the
position for a period of five years. In 1888, he returned to Brewton, and for
three years thereafter carried on the livery business; then, disposing of his
barn, he re-embarked in merchandising at Wallace, in partnership with his son,
William D. Sowell, which firm continues. Mr. Sowell has always taken an active
interest in public affairs, served several different times as justice of the
peace, and in 1875, was appointed tax assessor of Escambia county, filling that
position very creditably for three years. In 1880, he was elected representative
from Escambia county to the state legislature, and while a member of that body
introduced and secured the passage of the bill providing the prohibition law,
which has had such a beneficial effect in checking intemperance in Escambia. He
took an active part in all the deliberations of the legislature during his
official term, served on a number of important committees, and proved a potent
factor in promoting much local legislation affecting the southern counties of
the state. In 1888, he was again appointed tax assessor and still holds that
office. Mr. Sowell was united in marriage, in 1867, to Belle, daughter of Duncan
Rankin, to which union have been born the following children: James D., Flora
V., William D., Thomas S., Nannie B., and Texanna A., all living except the
first named, who died in infancy. Fraternally, Mr. Sowell is identified with the
Masons, and also belongs to the Knights of Honor. He is a democrat in politics,
an earnest advocate of temperance reform, and all public enterprises find in him
a zealous friend and liberal patron. He is a worthy and highly esteemed citizen,
and against his official record and private character a breath of suspicion has
never been uttered.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 1002-1004
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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