Early Settlers Including Bibbs, Scotts, Jamiesons and Sykes, Montgomery, Alabama =============================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed and copyrighted by: Greg Stokes <> ================================================================================= April 2004 From the book "Early Settlers of Alabama" written 1899 by Col. James Edmonds Saunders and published in New Orleans. The Scotts and Jamiesons John Dandridge Bibb was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, March 10, 1788. Mary Xenia Oliver was born in Peters Virginia, 18 September 1799. They were married May 6, 1812. He died on the Yazoo river in Carroll County, Mississippi, May 9, 1848; and she in the same county October 13, 1846. They had 14 children, but only 5 lived to be grown up, and of these only will we speak. - 1, Elvira Antoinette who was born in Madison County, (then Mississippi Territory) 6 September 1814, married Dr. Samuel Booth Malone (a surgeon on board the Vincennes, when she sailed around the world), April 2, 1833, and died February 24, 1839. They lived in Columbus, Miss. , and had 3 children. - Ellen, who married William Gibson and died in Matagorda, Texas, about 1864. - Selwyn B., who was killed at the second battle of Manassas, and Antoinette B., who married Alfred Glover, of Alabama. They had several children. 2. William Crawford, son of John Dandridge, was born in Montgomery County, Ala. , 1st January, 1820 , and married Priscilla A. Sims , of Tuscaloosa, Ala. , 11th May, 1842. Their children were: Cornelia D., who married Vernon H. Vaughn 4th October 1860, and have (1876) four children. Vernon H., Mary P., Joseph and Anna. They reside in San Francisco. John Dandridge, who married Eusebia Foreman, and Mary Frances , who married Charles H. Leffler , in 1867 ; and has two children, Charles D. and Mary. His first wife having died in 1842, Mr. William C. Bibb, in 1853, married Rebecca Lanier Harris, daughter of Gen. Jeptha Harris. The issue of this second marriage was William C. Bibb, Jr., born in Montgomery County, Ala., 27th February, 1854 - and Sallie Hunt Bibb, who married Oscar Thomason in 1876 , and 2nd of August, 1886 , Dr. Cornelius Hardy , of Columbus, Miss. William C. Bibb and family live at Montgomery, Ala. 3. Dandridge Asbury, doctor of medicine, son of John Dandridge Bibb , was born in Morgan County, Ala. , 10th November, 1827 , and died in 1861 ; leaving two children, Laura E. and Dandridge A. 4. Algernon Sidney, son of John Dandridge Bibb, was born in Morgan County, 4th January, 1829, and married Mary E. Carraway in 1841, by whom he had two children; Mary Katharine who married Mr. Van Lyttle, and Charles C. Bibb. The wife of Algernon Sidney, having died, he married Miss Hoad, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 1876, and lived in Phillips County, Ark. They had two children, Thomas and Anna. 5. Laura Angerona, daughter of John Dandridge, was born at Columbus, Miss., 19th October, 1833 ; married Henry L. Rogers in 1852, and died in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1866, leaving several children. Wife and husband are both dead. The Wyatts and Scotts and Colliers were related to each other in several ways. Cornelius Collier (the grandfather of the distinguished Alabamian, the late Henry Watkins Collier, who was judge of the Supreme Court and Governor of the State) married Elizabeth Wyatt. He was a wealthy planter of Lunenburg County, Va., and his family seat was "Porto Bello" in York County, Va. The Colliers were originally from England, but all of them who settled in America were Whigs during the Revolution. It was a mournful illustration of the way family ties are ruptured by civil war, that at the time young Wyatt (son of Cornelius) was pouring out his life blood at the battle of Eutaw Springs in the cause of American Independence, his English cousin, Sir George Collier, a rear admiral of the Red, was ravaging with his fleet the coast of Rhode Island. About the same time Tarleton with his dragoons was trampling the crops at Portobello into the ground; proudly unconscious of the fate, which awaited him at Yorktown. The father of Governor Collier was James Collier, who married Elizabeth Bouldin. There were three brothers of the Scotts of English origin, in the county of Gloucester, Va., Frank, James and Thomas. 1. Frank Scott married and remained in Gloucester. 2. James Scott married Francis Collier, sister of Cornelius Collier, of "Portobello." 3. Thomas Scott married Catherine Tomkites. Their son Frank married Nancy Wyatt, the Mrs. Scott, of Lawrence County, of whom we have been speaking. (See Scott Family.) And now a little in regard to the relation of the McGehees to the Scott family. To show this, I will quote a paragraph from Governor Gilmer's old book, because it has gone for an age out of print. "Micajah McGehee was a native of Virginia, and descended from a Scotch family. He was broad-shouldered, short-necked, and was a tobacco planter of the right sort. He knew nothing about books, and spoke out what he thought directly, and in the plainest way. Soon after he became his own man, he was employed by Mr. Scott (Mr. Thomas Scott above mentioned, I suppose) to do some plantation business for him. According to Virginia fashion intercourse between employers and employed was without restraint. Nancy Collier Scott soon saw that, in the looks of young McGehee, which suited her fancy. It is not in woman's heart to be unmoved by admiration. She looked in return at the hearty, hale, strong-built, rosy cheeked youth, until his image became so impressed upon her imagination that saw others very indifferently. When two such people have wills under such influences, they are very apt to find a way to do as they want. The gentility of the Scotts induced them to look down upon the working Micajah, and oppose the union. The young people, nevertheless, got married. Not choosing to belong to the society of those who thought themselves above them, they removed to Georgia. Though Micajah was wanting in polish, his father-in-law understood his worth, and gave him liberally of his property. He made good use of it by purchasing a large body of the best land in Georgia, particularly suited to the production of tobacco, which was then the staple of the State. He was an adept at cultivating and putting it up in the best way. Though he was without book learning, he had the instinctive capacity of the Scotch people, for making and keeping money. Mrs. McGehee was kind and hospitable. She added to the genteel habits of her own family the industry of her husband's. She never tired in working for her husband and children. She performed a feat of industry, which was hard to beat. She Broad River had one." Having disposed of the collateral branches of her family, but very briefly, we will return to Mrs. Scott, the mother of Mrs. Jamieson. Mrs. Scott died in 1836, at the house of Mrs. Unity Moseley, near Wheeler, this county, a relative; and the family then scattered in all directions. The plantation was sold first to Major Watkins, then became the property of his son, James L. Watkins, and is now owned by Mr. Hayes Matthews. Mrs. Scott (Nancy Wyatt) had thirteen children. I have received a list of them from Mrs. Benagh, daughter of Governor Collier. 1, Joe Wyatt Scott, who married Polly Carrington, daughter of Gen. George Carrington; 2, Katherine Tompkins Scott, who married Dr. Gordon, of Charlotte County, Virginia; 3, Sallie Scott, who married Dr. Young, of Missouri; 4, Nancy Wyatt Scott, who married Mr. Jamieson, of Charlotte County, Virginia (and moved to Lawrence County, Alabama); 5, Frank Scott, who married a Miss Price, of Charlotte County, Va. ; 6, Judge Thomas Scott, of Louisiana, who married a French lady; 7, Charles Scott, a lawyer in Louisiana ; 8, Robert Scott, who was a lawyer in Louisiana, and died there; 9, Elizabeth Scott, who married a Mr. Williams, of Virginia ; 10, Polly Scott who married Thomas Bowldin Spencer, of Charlotte County, Va. ; 11, Martha, who died young 12, John B. Scott, who married a French lady in Louisiana ; 13, William Scott, who died in Texas - he left two sons, Frank and Tom, who moved to Alabama. The Sykes Family. In early times there came a colony of them from Greenville County, Va., and settled in North Alabama. They were ten in number, and settled in Morgan and Lawrence counties, but mostly in Morgan, and around Decatur. They were nearly all in affluent circumstances. They were industrious, honest, thrifty; and were endowed with good solid minds; more distinguished by judgment than imagination. The Sykes family became a power in this section, and Dr. Henry W. Rhodes was connected with them by marriage, as he married Miss Dancy, sister of the wife of Colonel James T. Sykes. He owned the land where the town was laid off, and the ferry, which crossed the Tennessee River there. He was a man of genius, of enterprise and of unflagging industry. When in 1832 a branch of the State Bank was to be located (though not a politician) he was selected, and sent to the legislature to secure the location for Decatur, which was the youngest of all the neighboring towns by fifteen or twenty years. But then the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur railroad was partly finished, and the canal around the Muscle Shoals under construction; and the Doctor by urging the central position of Decatur, and the convenience of approach, succeeded in securing the bank. There was a great scramble for it, and the defeated towns were so much disgusted that a correspondent of one of our leading papers wrote home, that the bank had been located at "Rhodes' Ferry Landing." Decatur was indeed very small then, and I am not certain that it had been incorporated, but from this time it grew rapidly, until the great crash in money matters, and the failure of the State Banks. The canal also failed. It was whispered that the U. S. Engineer had made a mistake in the level of the lowest lock, and boats could not ascend. I trust that this may not be the case with the new canal now being completed. But another very material cause of the suspension of the growth of Decatur was that the Chickasaw lands in Mississippi, fresh and fertile, were opened for settlement; and the Sykes family, almost in a body, (with many other planters) moved away. These early friends of Decatur, in its first effort for success, are all gone. Could they have lived to see this renascent town, it would have given them exquisite pleasure. Will this new effort succeed? It certainly has been made upon a correct principle, and this is a foundation of industrial pursuits. If its manufactures are confined to heavy articles, and the provisions of the late railroad law are enforced, so that distant factories cannot flood the South with their products; if in the inception of these enterprises, the projectors of the town can secure banking capital enough to enable manufacturers to The common ancestor of the Sykes ' was Benjamin Sykes, an Englishman, who married Alice Wren, in the county of Greenville, in the State of Virginia. One of his sons was Benjamin Sykes, of Virginia, who married Mary Rives. His sons were Richard, William, James and John. Another son of Benjamin Sykes and Alice Wren was Dr. William Sykes, of Virginia, who married Birchett L. Turner. His sons were James Turner, Joseph, Dr. William A., Benjamin, Simon Turner, and Dr. George Augustus. Of all these, William and James only, settled in the eastern part of Lawrence County, and the rest in the county of Morgan. In this brief article we will make no attempt to give a full account, or even a list of this numerous family, but furnish brief sketches only of the members of it mentioned above. Of these: 1. Richard Sykes, son of Benjamin Sykes and Mary Rives, was father of Augustus A. Sykes, who was so long a commission merchant in Mobile. He married Georgia, oldest daughter of Dr. George Augustus Sykes, of Aberdeen. She is now a widow with a number of children, amongst them the eldest son, named Clifton, who is a very promising young man and fine farmer. 2. William Sykes, son of Benjamin Sykes and Mary Rives, moved from Lawrence to Columbus, Miss., I am not informed as to his descendants. 3. James Sykes, son of Benjamin Sykes and Mary Rives, married Martha W. Lanier, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Lanier, of Greenville County, Virginia, and related to the Harris-Lanier line. He moved from Lawrence County to Columbus, Miss. His son, James William, married his cousin, Marcella, daughter of Dr. William A. Sykes, of Aberdeen. The issue of this marriage was two daughters: Wildie, who married James Saunders Billups, son of Col. Thomas C. Billups by his second marriage with Mrs. Frances A. Swoope, who was a daughter of Reverend Turner Saunders ; and another daughter, Ida Sykes, who married T. Carlton Billups, son of Col. Thomas C. Billups (by his first marriage) with Sallie Moore, daughter of Judge Moore (See Saunders family). 4. John Sykes, youngest son of Benjamin Sykes and Mary Rives, died about the age of twenty- six, unmarried. And now we will sketch the sons of Dr. William Sykes, the other son of the common ancestor, who married Birchett L. Turner, and lived in Greenville County, Virginia. 1. James Turner Sykes lived about six miles west of Decatur - was a tall, handsome man; commanded a regiment in the war of 1812, and was stationed at Norfolk, He married Sallie Dancy. He was a member of the Legislature in 1828, was president of the Branch Bank at Decatur for many years, and was, generally, a leading citizen. He had three sons - Dr. Frank W., Dr. Andrew Jackson and James Turner. Dr. Frank W. Sykes was born April 19, 1819. He graduated at the Nashville University, and took his diploma as a physician in the Transylvania University. He located in Courtland, in this county, in 1840, and such was his skill, confidence and perseverance that he soon enjoyed a full practice. After a few years, he married Elizabeth, a daughter of Gen. Jesse W. Garth, who lived near Decatur. The General was senator from Morgan county for many years, and a man of note and influence. He was a practicing lawyer when a young man, and used to attend the Morgan County court, but he soon retired from the bar and became a very successful planter. Dr. Frank Sykes purchased the plantation owned by Mr. George W. Foster, and retired from the practice. He was several times elected to the House of Representatives of the State, and in 1865 as State senator. During the reconstruction period he was fairly elected United States senator, but he was unjustly excluded from his seat. In public life, Dr. Sykes was an honest and efficient representative of the people. His mind was of a robust order, and he was an earnest and forcible debater, always respected and feared by his adversaries.