Eli Forrest Denson, M. D. of Pelham, Alabama was a practicing physician, a farmer, and stock raiser. He came to Pelham on his graduation from the medical department of Vanderbilt university in 1879, and had been one of its chief citizens since that time. He was a native of Rome, Georgia, where he was born Feb. 15, 1853, the son of Wiley Clinton Denson(b. 1840 d. 1911) and Mary (Stubblefield) Denson (b. May 19, 1831 – d. Oct 29, 1903).
The grandfathers were Eli Denson and John Stubblefield, the paternal grandmother a Miss Wooten. His father was a merchant in Rome in his earlier manhood and later at Greensport, Ala., and was also quite extensively engaged in farming in Shelby county. Dr. Denson’s father resided with him in his later years, his wife having passed to her rest in 1903.
During the great Civil War, he served his State for two years in General Forrest’s cavalry. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Odd Fellows, and he and his wife were life-long members of the Baptist church. They had a family of seven children, six were living in 1904. The deceased one was a son, Charles who died while in attendance at Jefferson Medical college. One daughter was named Minnie Josephine Denson (b. 1856 d. 1927) Minnie married ca. 1877 John Ward McWhorter (b. Nov. 15, 1854 d. Jun 1928).
Dr. Forrest Denson was educated at Oxford college and Vanderbilt University and practiced in Pelham for over twenty-five years. He was a proprietor of a drug store and owned a fine farm near the town. In 1878, he married Mrs. Emma C McWhorter of Alabama and they had ten children, named as follows:
Dr. Eli Forrest Denson died July 14, 1910, and his wife Emma Corrine (McWhorter) Denson died June 6, 1937 and they are buried in Pelham City Cemetery, Shelby County, Alabama. His parents are buried in Pelham City Cemetery as well.
SOURCES
Notable Men of Alabama edited by Joel Campbell DuBose Volume III
