Biography: Samuel Fitts Alston born January 6, 1859

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SAMUEL FITTS ALSTON

BIOGRAPHY and GENEALOGY

(1859-1922)

Dallas and Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Samuel Fitts Alston was born January 6, 1859, in Selma the son of Joseph John and Louisa Josephine (Jones) Alston, both of North Carolina. When he was fourteen years of age, he moved with his parents to Paris, Texas, where he began work, and within two years had secured the position of deputy clerk in the district court of Lamar County, Tex.

In 1879, he settled in Tuscaloosa where he was employed for several years in the express office. He purchased a bookstore with Charles Fitts as partner in 1881. Five years later he sold out his interest and entered with C. N. Maxwell in the jewelry business. He disposed of his interest in that undertaking in the spring of 1887 and became a member of the banking house of J. H. Fitts & Company, and one of the incorporators of the Tuscaloosa and Castle Hill Real Estate & Manufacturing Company of which he was elected secretary and treasurer, and subsequently general manager.

In 1896 he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Tuscaloosa Cotton Mill and served in that capacity until the mill was destroyed by fire in 1897. For the next eight years he operated five vehicle and furniture stores in Tuscaloosa, Blockton, Brookwood. Cottondale, and Gordo. He was one of the promoters of the City National Bank and served as vice president of that institution and later president. He was president of the bank when he died in January 11, 1922. He erected the Alston office building, known as “Tuscaloosa’s first sky scraper” in 1910.

Samuel was a member of the Episcopal church. He married in 1883, Fannie Fitts, daughter of J. H. Fitts, of Tuscaloosa.

Their children were:

James Fitts Alston (May 21, 1884 – September 2, 1953) m. Mary Hewell Nabors. He was President and Chairman of the Board of the City National Bank of Tuscaloosa and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Marilou Alston (b. Mar 14, 1887) m. Dec. 20, 1911 at Christ Church, Tuscaloosa, Charles Murray Rudulph. (b.Nov. 15, 1879 Gordonsville, Lowndes Co., Alabama) He was the son of Caroline White (Beasley) and James Murray Rudulph. Mr. Rudulph was an M. D. of the University of Alabama and practiced medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. Marilou was a graduate of St. Mary’s School, New York City and A. B. Vassar 1909, member of the Alabama Historical Association and of the North Carolina and Delaware Historical Societies; also a member of the Cadmean Circle, the oldest Literary Club in Alabama. She was President of the Southern Associatin of College Women in 1918 and belonged to the Little Garden Club, Garden Club of America and the American Orchid Society.

Samuel Fitts Alston died January 11, 1922 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His wife, Fannie, died January 30, 1949 in Birmingham, Alabama. They are both buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

SOURCES

1.History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 3 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen

2.Southside Virginia Families, Volume I -By John B Boddie, John Bennett Boddie 1966

3.The Bankers Magazine, Volume 104

4.The Alstons and Allstons of North and South Carolina – By Joseph Asbury Groves

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About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey