Henry County AlArchives Biographies.....Koonce, Jefferson S. 1832 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 27, 2004, 12:31 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    JEFFERSON S. KOONCE, one of the enterprising and progressive farmers of
Henry county, was born in Alabama in 1832, near where he now resides. He was one
of eight children born to John F. and Susan S. (Cawthorn) Koonce. His ancestors
came from Germany at a very early day and settled in North Carolina, in which
state Mr. John F. Koonce was born in 1801. He was the son of John and Mary
(Fordham) Koonce. He came to Alabama in 1819, when he was eighteen years old,
and when the Indians were his principal neighbors. He entered a large tract of
land and became one of the pioneers of the county. He was married in 1827, and
his death occurred in 1859. He lived in Henry county till his death, and did
much to build up the county and to improve the methods of agriculture which he
saw in use here. His wife was a native of Georgia, and when she was ten years
old was brought by her parents to Alabama. They settled near Columbia, in Henry
county, in 1819, and lived there the rest of their days. She was married in her
nineteenth year, and was the mother of eight children, seven of whom reached
maturity, and three of whom are still living, Jefferson S., a brother and a
sister. This sister is now the wife of Lafayette Teague, of Texas. Jefferson S.
Koonce began life as a farmer's boy, attending the common schools of the county
at such times as his services could be spared on the plantation. In 1859 he
bought his father's old plantation to which he has added from time to time until
he now owns some 2,000 acres of land. He enlisted in company A, Sixth Alabama
infantry, under Capt. A. C. Gordon, and served until the state of his health
compelled him to resign. He then returned home and has followed agricultural
pursuits ever since. In 1875 he was married to Miss Catherine E. Wood, daughter
of W. H. Wood. She was born in Henry county in 1842, was well educated, and is
nor the mother of three children, viz.: Jefferson M., Susie M. and Bessie C.,
twins. Mr. Koonce has built a large and handsome residence near the corporate
limits of Columbia, which is surrounded by trees, flowers and shrubs, and is a
home in every way desirable. It is built upon a part of the land entered by his
grandfather. He has 400 acres of land near his home, which he has farmed
according to the latest principles of science, and has thereby increased its
productiveness 100 per cent during the last thirty years. Jefferson S. Koonce is
a great reader, and has a very fine library filled with the best literature. Of
this library he is justly proud. Politically he is a democrat, and he is in
every sense of the word a public-spirited man. He has done much for the
agricultural interest of the county. He was one of the originators of the new
cotton mill just completed here, and is a member of the board of directors.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 1097-1098
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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