This is an excerpt from the book Compiled records of BIBB COUNTY, ALABAMA PIONEERS VOLUME I: Biographies Genealogy Reports, Notes & Records
FREDERICK MONROE JAMES
BIOGRAPHY and GENEALOGY
(1793-1863)
Frederick Monroe James, an early pioneer to Alabama was born March 31, 1793 in Pitt, North Carolina, the son of Daniel Milton James and Rebecca (Mossle) James. He married Martha Hill, the daughter of another early pioneer April 8, 1817 in Warren County, Tennessee or North Carolina. Their two oldest sons were born in Tennessee. In 1821, Frederick and Martha moved to Bibb County, Alabama with Frederick’s brother, Adam and Martha’s brother Alexander Hill.
Frederick and Martha first settled west of the present-day town of Brent, Alabama but later moved across Haysop Creek. Land records indicate they began buying land from the government around 1831 and soon acquired considerable acreage. There they built their home and began to raise a large family. Frederick and Martha had the following children:
- Alexander Hill James born Jun 28, 1818 in Tennessee. He married Lucinda “Cindy” Sumners Nov. 29, 1838 and they raised a large family in Bibb County, Alabama.
- Daniel Milton James born April 29, 1820 in Tennessee. He married Sally Ann Parker Dec. 24, 1846 in Bibb County and they also remained in Bibb County and settled at the old James place which was later named Jamesville. They had many children.
- Elizabeth Ann Congleton James was born April 14, 1822 in Bibb County. She married Willis W. Nichols Aug. 11, 1836 but she died July 5, 1844 at the age of twenty. They had two children, one son and one daughter.
- Clayborn Monroe James was born Jan. 23, 1824. He married Nancy Horton Sept. 12, 1853 and they raised a family of ten children. in Perry County.
- John C. James was born March 11, 1828 and died April 22, 1860.
- Mahala Jane James was born June 9, 1830 in Bibb. She married Charles F. Horton Dec. 24, 1848, brother of her sister-in-law Nancy Horton. They also moved to Perry County, Alabama and had several children. Charles died Aug. 6, 1864.
- William S. James was born September 24, 1832 and died Sep. 3, 1844.
- Columbus F. James was born July 21, 1837. He married Mary J. Avery, daughter of another Bibb County pioneer family, on Nov. 21, 1857 and they had two children. Mary died in 1876 and Columbus married Nancy Logan. Columbus and Nancy had a son.
- Martha R. James was born September 17, 1839 in Bibb County. She died Nov. 1, 1844.
- Pleasant W. James was the youngest child of Frederick and Martha James, born April 23, 1843. He died Feb. 3, 1862.
Martha may have had complications from the birth of her last child because she died two days later, April 25, 1843. Martha is buried in Centreville Memorial Cemetery in Bibb County, Alabama next to her sons Pleasant W. and John C. James. Her other children, William S., Martha R. and Elizabeth Ann C., all who died within months of each other in 1844 are also buried in the same cemetery, not far away from her.
After, Martha’s death, Frederick had a large family to raise so he married again only four months later to Sarah Jane (Arnold) Walker. She was the recent widow of Samuel L. Walker. Sarah Jane was the daughter of Alabama pioneer family William A. Arnold and Elizabeth (Majors) Arnold. She was born July 8, 1825 in Bibb County, Alabama and first married Samuel L. Walker on Nov. 5, 1841 in Bibb County, Alabama. Samuel had been born in Bibb County, Alabama but was reared in neighboring Shelby County, Alabama. He died September 27, 1842 in Bibb County, Alabama at the young age of twenty-three, not even a year after their marriage.
There was a typhoid epidemic in the early 1840’s in Bibb County and this may have been the cause of so many deaths in Martha’s family as well as the death of Sarah Jane’s first husband.
Sarah took on a huge responsibility of Frederick and Martha’s large family in September of 1843 and one year later, she and Frederick had their first child Mary Elizabeth James born September 26, 1844. Their second soon followed with the birth of Mariah Ellen James Nov. 15, 1846 but tragedy followed January 13, 1848 with the death of Mary Elizabeth. They had their first son, William A. Dewitt James later that year, Dec. 21, 1848.
Frederick and Sarah’s family grew with the birth of more children. The children of Frederick and Sarah according to the 1860 census were:
- Mary Elizabeth James born September 26, 1844- died Jan. 13, 1848.
- Mariah Ellen James born Nov. 15, 1846. She may have died May 14, 1863.
- William E. Dewitt James born Dec. 21, 1848 – moved to Mississippi as a young man and become a doctor.
- Franklin Pierce James born Nov. 27, 1852 in Bibb county, Alabama
- Samuel Harmon James born July 4, 1856 in Bibb County, Alabama married Miss Mary Elizabeth Faucette Dec. 15, 1883 in Bibb County, Alabama and they had three children.
- Washington James born ca. 1856 was on the 1860 census with Frederick and Sarah Jane and their children. He may or may not be a child. No further information is known about him.
- Martha James born 1860 in Alabama is also on the 1860 census with Frederick and Sarah Jane and their children. She may or may not be a child. No further information is known about her.
Frederick Monroe James died Oct. 12, 1863 and is buried beside his first wife, Martha in Centreville Memorial Cemetery in Bibb County, Alabama. It is truly speculation as to what happened to Sarah Jane but her parents lived in Oktibbeha, Mississippi and her son William Adam Dewitt James is later found in 1910 Mississippi census practicing as a doctor, so this is a possibility that she moved to be near her elderly parents after Frederick’s death and took the younger James children since the War between the States was still taking place. I’m sure life must have been difficult for her in Bibb County.
A census sheet in 1870 Oktibbeha, Mississippi in the district next to her parents reveals a Sarah J. Saunders born 1825 in Alabama married to Chas. Saunders born 1810 in South Carolina with Frank James born 1852 Alabama and Samuel born 1855 Alabama.
The 1860 of Oktibbeha, Mississippi indicates Charles Saunders was married to Elizabeth. Perhaps his first wife died and he married Sarah J. and took in her youngest sons. This all must be proven but seems possible.
Samuel Harmon returned to Bibb County, Alabama by 1880 when he is found in the 1880 Bibb County, Alabama census living with his cousin, Henry A. Peters. Henry Peters’ mother was Sarah (James) Peters, daughter of Adam James. Adam James was the brother of Frederick Monroe James, who traveled to Bibb County, Alabama with Frederick.
During the “Alabama Fever” period of United States history, early settlers migrated to Alabama from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee in search of more land to grow tobacco and/or distance themselves from the Revolutionary War. Bibb County, Alabama Pioneers Volume I focuses on the pioneer families of FREDERICK MONROE JAMES (b. 1793-d. 1863) ADAM JAMES (1800-1884) HOPKINS LEE (b. 1765-d. 1834) STEELE FAMILY (who immigrated from S.C. ca. 1780), WILLIAM WRIGHT, (b. 1778 SC) and GEORGE PETERS (b. 1790 Italy) Genealogy reports with supporting evidence, notes, brief biographies, wills, deeds and census records, when available are included.Descendant surname include: ADAMS, ARNOLD, AVERY, BAKER, BAMBERG, BARNES, BATES, BLAKE, BISHOP, BOLING, BOLLING, BOSCHUNG, BOYD, BRACKNELL, BRADLEY, BRAG, BRANSDORF, BROADHEAD, BURNS, CANTERBURY, CARDEN, CARR, CARROLL, CAUSEY, CATES, CHAMPION, CLARY, CONWAY, COOK, COOPER, COTTINGHAM, CREEL, CREWS, CROCKER, CRUNK, DAUGHERTY, DAILEY, DIXON, DOCKERY, DOVER, DREOLIA, DUGGAN, EASTERWOOD, ERVIN, FAIR, FARMER, FAUCETT, FAUCETTE, FERGUSON, FIKES, FONDREN, FRANCIS, FRIDAY, FRY, FULGHAM, GEORGE, GOLDEN, GREATHOUSE, GRIFFIN, HANCOCK, HAND, HART, HAYES, HILL, HOLLAND, HORTON, HUBBARD, INGRAM, ILES, JACKSON, JAMES, JOHNSTON, KINNAIRD, KIRBY, KORNEGAY, KROUT, LAGRONE, LAND, LARKIN, LEE, LEMLEY, LEWIS, LEVERT, LIGHTSEY, MADDOX, MAJOR, MARTIN, MASON, MCALLEN, MCBRIDE, MCCALEB, MCCULLEY, MCDOWELL, MCLEOD, MCMILLAN, MEDDERS, MEIGS, MERPHY, MESSER, MILLER, MILLS, MITCHELL, MONTGOMERY, MUELLER, MURPHY, MYRICK, NICHOLS, OGLESBY, OWENS, PALMER, PARKER, PEARSON, PETER, PETERS, PETERSON, PHELPS, PIERSON, QUINN, RAGLAN, RAGLAND, RAINES, REACH, REED, RITCHIE, ROAN, ROBINSON, SATTERWHITE, SHAW, SHOWS, SHUTTLESWORTH, SMITH, SNIPES, STACEY, STACY, STAMPS, STARLING, STEELE, STEFANICK, STEWARD, STEWART, STRICKLAND, THOMPSON, TIBBS, TUCKER, TURNER, VARNEL, VERNON, WAGGONER, WAGONER, WALKER, WALLACE, WARD, WOOD, WOODWARD, WOOLLEY, WRIGHT, WYATT, YEAGER, YOUNG
