Christian Co Genealogy Trails

JEFFERSON DAVIS was born June, 1808, in Christian county, Kentucky. He studied in Transylvania college in his native State, and on finishing his course, entered West Point in 1824, and graduated in 1828, receiving the appointment of brevet second lieutenant. He served in the Black Hawk war, became first lieutenant of dragoons in 1833, and participated in the various expeditions against the Camanches, Pawnees, and other Indian tribes on the frontier. Resigning from the army in 1835, he returned to Mississippi, and began his career as a planter. In 1843, he became an active politician, and in 1844 was chosen one of the Democratic Electors for the State of Mississippi. In 1845, he was chosen to represent that State in Congress, when he displayed considerable abilities as a speaker, and won a high political reputation. In July, 1846, he was appointed Colonel of a Mississippi regiment for the Mexican war and joined General Taylor on the Rio Grande, participating in the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. In the latter, he was severely wounded, and received the commendation of General Scott. Returning to Mississippi in the summer, the governor of the State appointed him to fill a seat left vacant in the United States Senate. After his term had expired, in March, 1851, he was chosen for another period. In 1852 he was made Secretary of war, under Franklin Pierce's administration, at the close of which he was again elected to the Senate of the United States by the Mississippi Legislature, for the full term of six years. On January 9th, 1861, Mississippi, by an ordinance of Secession, separated from the Union, and soon after Mr. Davis resigned his seat in the Federal Senate. The rebel Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, on Monday, February 4th, 1861, and, during several successive days, perfected the organization of the infant Confederacy. On the sixth day a "provisional" Constitution was adopted, and Jefferson Davis elected President of the seceding States. He was the animating spirit of the Confederacy; its armies obeyed him, its privateers by his directions preyed on the commerce of the United States, and all movements of importance were under his supervision. On the surrender of Lee, Davis fled, and was captured at Trivinsville, Georgia, on the 11th of May, 1865. From thence, he was transferred to Fortress Monroe, a prisoner of the Government.
Source: A Complete History of the Great Rebellion of the Civil War in the U.S. 1861-1865 with Biographical sketches of the Principal actors in the Great Drama. By Dr. James Moore, Published 1875; Contributed by Linda Rodriguez

PRUDE, JAMES OSCAR, planter and county official, was born September 23, 1856, on his father's plantation in Tuscaloosa County; son of William Wellington and Lucretia Eliza (Owen) Prude, the former a native of Jefferson County, the only child of his parents, although each by former marriages had large families, and after the death of his parents he became a member of the household of his half brother and guardian. Col. James McAdory, was placed in the Jack Baker school at Jonesboro, where he remained four years, receiving a sound practical education, grew to manhood and became a large planter and slave owner in Jefferson County, owning the "Glenn Springs" property, west of the present city of Bessemer, going in 1848 to Tuscaloosa County, was for many years member of the commission board of Tuscaloosa, rendered great aid to the Confederate cause as a manufacturer of clothing and shoes for the soldiers, died and is buried in Evergreen cemetery, Tuscaloosa; his wife, was born at what is now Birmingham, the Owen home standing on the site of the present Louisville & Nashville depot; grandson of William and Celia (McAshan) Prude, the former a native of Laurens District, S. C., who in 1815 settled on the Jones Valley trail in the Pleasant Hill community, near what is now McCalla, Jefferson County, removing to Tuscaloosa County in 1825, where he purchased lands twelve miles from the county site, in the Sipsey River bottoms, and conducted a cattle ranch, the latter a native of Ca Ira, Buckingham County, Va. . who removed with her father to Christian County, Ky. , where she met and married her first husband, Thomas McAdory, whose widow she was at the time of her marriage to Mr. Prude, and of Thomas and Mary Eliza (Elmore) Owen, the former a native of Abbeville District, S. C., was educated at the old LaGrange college, near Guntersville; located in Okolona, Miss., in 1849, and passed the remainder of his life there; great-grandson of John and Mary Prude, of Laurens District, S. C., the former a Revolutionary soldier, and of David and Lucy (McGraw) Owen, the former a Methodist minister who are both buried at Russellville, Franklin County; great-greatgrandson of John Prude of Manchester, England, who came to America prior to the Revolutionary War, and located in Charleston, S. C. The Prude family is of French extraction, having emigrated from Normandy to England. The McAdory family is of Scotch-Irish origin, and the Owens are of Welsh stock. Mr. Prude received his preparatory education at the Pleasant Hill academy, under Prof. I. W. McAdory, 1870-73, and entered the University of Alabama from which he graduated with the B. S. degree, 1876. After completing his own education he was made principal of a rural school in Tuscaloosa, which position he held during 1877-79. During that time he read medicine under an eminent practitioner, but later abandoned the idea of becoming a physician. He was appointed clerk of the probate court of Tuscaloosa County, serving under Judge Newbern Hobbs Brown, and held that position during 1880-84, after which date he was elected sheriff for a term of four years. In 1892 he became clerk of the circuit court, and served six years. In 1898 he opened a bond and brokerage business in Tuscaloosa which he conducted until 1909, after which time he retired to his plantation. "Owenwood," to devote his entire time to agriculture and livestock. He is a progressive farmer and applies all modern methods to his business. He is a Democrat and a Methodist. Married: December 20, 1882, at Bolton, Hinds County, Miss., to Lucy Avery, daughter of Alonzo Latham and Agnes Emily (Brumby) Brown, residents of Hinds County, Miss., who refugeed in 1863, to Greensboro, during the War of Secession, the family residence in Bolton having been taken by the Federal troops for use as a hospital, the former a graduate of the University of Mississippi, a merchant and delta planter, a large slave owner, and soldier of the Mexican War, being under Col. Jefferson Davis, in the siege of Monterey, and during the War of Secession raised a cavalry company for the Confederacy in which he served; granddaughter of Jesse and Ann (Stevenson) Browne, of Benton, Holmes County, Miss., and of Dr. Robert Horatio and Agnes (Benlow) Brumby, the latter a native of Charleston, S. C., a Baptist and graduate of Judson college, Marion, and a descendant of Richard and Elizabeth (Hesse) Haynesworth, who settled in Sumter District, S. C., in 1738, and from whom descended a line of distinguished educators, and professional men of the south; great-great-granddaughter of Henry and Lucy (Warmack) Browne, of Wake County, N. C., Whigs and Episcopalians; great-great-granddaughter of Jesse Browne of South Hampton County, Va., native of Jerusalem, Va., born 1768, a physician, Episcopalian and Whig, who migrated to North Carolina; great - great - great - granddaughter of Jesse Browne who emigrated to America from England about 1735, whose father, prior to coming to the United States, was an eminent physician in Manchester, England, of Irish descent; great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Jesse Browne, a native of France and whose wife was of Irish descent. Mrs. Prude was born in Greensboro, at the Avery home, 1863, and was educated at Clinton, Miss., and at Mary Sharp college, Winchester, Tenn., and was a cultivated and lovable woman; died at Tuscaloosa, June 30, 1900, and is buried in Evergreen cemetery. Children: 1. Agnes Brumby; 2. James Oscar, jr.; 3. William Wellington, a graduate of the U. S. military academy, West Point, N. Y., and died in young manhood; 4. Mary Eloise; 5. Eugenia Owen; 6. Alonzo Latham; 7. Lucy Avery. Residence: Tuscaloosa.
[History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 4 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Mrs. Marie (Bankhead) Owen, 1921 – Transcribed by AFOFG]