Atticus Dickson Kirby (1868-1960)

Portrait from the Jackson County Chronicles, Vol 31, No. 1, 2019.

  While the name "Atticus" may be familiar to most as the first name of the beloved character Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's  To Kill A Mockingbird, that curious first name is seldom to be found amongst the annals of American politics. Three-term Alabama state representative Atticus Dickson Kirby is an exception to that rule, as he is the first "Atticus" to found by this author who served in some political capacity. Kirby had the honor of representing two different counties in the legislature (his first and second terms being spaced 24 years apart) and in the late 1930s briefly served as probate judge for Jackson County. 

   A native of Chattanooga County, Georgia, Atticus Dickson Kirby was born in the town of Summerville on June 16, 1868, the son of Francis Andrew Kirby and the former Harriet Ann Shropshire. Prominent in politics in his own right, Francis A. Kirby (1824-1885) represented Summerville in the Georgia State Assembly for fourteen years (1854-68) and for two years held the post of state superior court judge. 

  Atticus Kirby's formative years were spent in the town of his birth, where he attended local schools. From 1889-90 he was a student at Emory University in Atlanta and for a four year period in the late 1880s was employed by an uncle, J.W. Bale, in the city of Rome. This was followed by an eight-year stint as a traveling salesman from 1893-1901, and in April of the latter year married in Scottsboro, Alabama to Zaida Brown (1873-1967). The couple's near six-decade marriage would be childless.

   Kirby and his wife settled in Huntsville following their marriage, where he operated a mercantile store, and two years after his resettlement he was elected as secretary of the Retail Grocer's Association of Huntsville.

A Kirby-Brown wedding notice from the Birmingham Age-Herald, April 4, 1901.

   Having first entered politics in 1901 with a brief stint as a town councilman in his native Summerville, Kirby made his first entrance onto the Alabama political stage in November 1906 when he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, polling 1,219 votes. One of two Madison County legislators elected for the 1907-11 term, Kirby was named to the committees on Commerce and Common Carriers, Education, Labor and Immigration, and Municipal Organization. In 1934, twenty-three years after the conclusion of his first term, Kirby made his second run for the legislature, this time from Jackson County. After winning the May Democratic primary, Kirby went on to win the November general election, polling 2,726 votes. The 1935-39 session saw Kirby named to four new committees, those being the Military, Manufacturing, Public Buildings and Institutions, and Public Roads and Highways.

  Midway through his second term Kirby was appointed by then-Governor Bibb Graves as Probate Judge of Jackson County, succeeding Judge Ray McAnelly, who had resigned. Kirby sat on the bench until November 1938, and in November 1942 won a third term in the statehouse. During the 1943-47 session, Kirby again served on the Committee on Commerce and Common Carriers and was also named to the committees on Public Health, Public Welfare and Corrective Institutions, and Revision of Laws.
   Following his final term in the legislature, Kirby and his wife Zaida removed back to Scottsboro, where they resided at Brownwood, Zaida Brown Kirby's ancestral family home. He celebrated his 90th birthday in 1958 and died aged 91 in January 1960. Kirby's wife Zaida survived him by several years and following her death at 94 in 1967 was interred alongside him at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Scottsboro.

Cunningham Wilson Hickman (1860-1930)

Portrait from the Birmingham News, June 9, 1930.

   Lifelong Alabaman Cunningham Wilson Hickman was a Birmingham based attorney who, following his serving one term in his state's legislature, advanced to the post of judge of the court of common pleas of Birmingham. The son of former Jefferson County treasurer William Peyton (1827-1926) and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Hickman (1831-1900), Cunningham W. Hickman was born in Trussville, Jefferson County in 1860. His early education was obtained in the county of his birth and from 1883-84 was a student at the University of Alabama.

  Although he did not complete the university's academic course, Hickman continued studies at the university's law school and in 1886 graduated with his bachelor of laws degree. He soon relocated to Birmingham to begin practice. He married in 1902 to Flora Buell (1873-1960), who survived him upon his death in 1930. The couple would have six children, William Peyton (died in infancy in 1903), Cunningham Jr. (died in infancy in 1906), Paul (1906-1919), Frances (1908-1989), and Flora (1911-2008).

   Hickman entered politics in November 1902 with his election to the Alabama House of Representatives, and during his one term (1903-07) sat on the following committees: Agriculture, Banking and Insurance, the Judiciary, and Municipal Organizations. Hickman would also have some strange name company amongst his fellow legislators, serving alongside Genubath Coke Williams, Littleberry James Haley, Cleophas Rhett McCrary, and Boswell DeGraffenreid Waddell, who was profiled here in November 2017.

  Several years after leaving the legislature Hickman returned to political life with his election in July 1914 as judge of the Birmingham Court of Common Pleas, 1st division. Succeeding outgoing judge Isaac Benners, Hickman served on the bench until his death on June 9, 1930, at his family home in Trussville. He was survived by his wife and two daughters and was interred at the Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

From the Dothan Eagle, June 10, 1930.

Orizaba Manasco (1882-1919)

From the 1905 Birmingham Medical College composite portrait.

  Following December 24th's profile on Alabama state senator Shorter Clyde Hudgens, another oddly named Alabaman squeaks in under the wire before the end of the year--Orizaba Manasco of Walker County. Although he lacked length of years (he died aged 37 in 1919) Manasco carved a notable career for himself in his native county as a physician and state representative, dying in office before the completion of his term. The son of John (1852-1923) and Sarah Jane (Grace) Manasco, Orizaba Manasco was born in Townley, Alabama on January 28, 1882.

  Born into a leading Townley family, Manasco's grandfather was Gen. John Manasco (1800-1895), a fourteen term Alabama state representative who had earlier been commissioned a Brigadier General by President James Knox Polk. Manasco was also a delegate to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1875, and by the time of his death at age 95 had achieved near-legendary status in his county. Bestowed the unusual name "Orizaba" upon his birth, Manasco shares his first name with the like-named city in the Mexican state of Veracruz, an area that gained importance during the Mexican-American War. Sadly no source mentioning Orizaba Manasco (or his family) denotes why he gained the name of a Mexican city as his given name.

  A student in schools local to the Walker County area, Manasco decided upon a medical career at an early age, and following study at Howard University enrolled at the Birmingham Medical College. Graduating with his medical degree in 1905, Manasco established his practice in Townley in 1906 and married in April of that year to Elzodie Demaris "Hodie" Boshell (1885-1964). The couple were wed until Orizaba's death in 1919 and had five children, Fred Sinclair (1906-1975), Charles Mayo (1910-1983), Gilmore Kurley (1912-2005), John (birthdate unknown) and Sarah (1918-1921).

  In addition to practicing medicine in Townley Manasco became a leading figure in the civic and fraternal life of his community, holding memberships in the Masonic order, the Shriners, Knights Templar, and was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. He began his political career in 1913 when he took office as a member of the Townley Board of Aldermen (serving until 1918) and in that year was elected as Walker County's representative in the Alabama state legislature "by a flattering majority."

From the 1903 Birmingham Medical College composite portrait.

  Manasco's tenure in the legislature saw him chair the house committee on temperance and held seats on the committees on Corporations, Education, Penitentiary and Criminal Administrations, and Public Health. Manasco's time as a state representative, although brief, was favorably reviewed in his 1919 obituary:

"Although a new, inexperienced member, Dr. Manasco soon became one of the leading figures in the legislature and fathered important legislation in reference to vocational education, temperance and health laws."

  In early 1919 Manasco developed severe health problems, later to be noted in his obituary as the effects of "emenia" (anemia/lead) poisoning. These health concerns led him to seek treatment at Hot Springs, Arkansas, and later at the St. Luke's Hospital in Little Rock. He failed to recover and died at that hospital, aged 37, on April 9, 1919. The loss of the popular legislator and physician was felt significantly in Townley, with his obituary noting an attendance of nearly 3,000 people for Manasco's funeral services. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Manasco family cemetery in Townley.

Manasco's obituary from the Daily Mountain Eagle, April 12, 1919.

Folsom LaMont Glass (1892-1969)

From the Greenville Journal-Advocate, June 6, 1962.

  A two-term member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Greenville, Folsom LaMont Glass etched his name into Alabama history in 1959 when he introduced legislation that would see the camellia flower be designated as the official state flower. A lifelong Alabaman, F. LaMont Glass (as most sources list him) was born in Greenville on December 22, 1892, one of eleven children born to Ross Callen and Rebecca (Tillery) Glass. 

  Glass would be a student in the public schools of Garland and Georgiana, Alabama, and married in November 1917 to Lillie Belle Kerr (1895-1982). The couple's marriage extended over five decades and saw the births of two daughters, Elaine (1921-2002) and Floretta (1926-1984). Prior to his service in state government Glass had been employed as a telegraph operator for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and would go on to become a merchant in the Greenville area. 

  In November 1958 F. LaMont Glass won election to the Alabama House of Representatives, polling 2,195 votes on election day. During the 1959-63 house term, Glass sat on the committees on Local Government, Local Legislation #1, and Transportation, and in mid-1959 introduced a bill that would designate the camellia as Alabama's official state flower. Prior to Glass' initiative, the Alabama state flower had been the Goldenrod (a type of weed), and Glass' constituents in Butler County eventually convinced him to put forth the camellia (the namesake of Greenville's nickname "The Camellia City") as a possible new state flower. In August of that year, Glass's measure passed the house and was signed into law. This term also saw Glass and fellow Butler County representative H.B. Taylor introduce a bill that would "revamp Alabama's state marriage law" in 1961, legislation that did away with a previous statute that noted that "couples were required to obtain a marriage license in the county where the woman lived, or in the county where the couple planned to wed." The effects of this legislation are still felt in modern-day Alabama, and as a piece of segregation-era legislation, the bill could be used to make issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples optional, rather than mandatory. 

   F. LaMont Glass would win a second term in the legislature in 1962 and during the 1963-67 session served on the committees on Agriculture, Local Legislation No. 1, and Rules and State Administration. Two years after completing his term Glass died in Greenville on August 20, 1969, at age 77. He was survived by his wife and daughters, all of whom were interred at the Magnolia Cemetery in Greenville.

Tarvey Wheeler Bennett (1903-1950)

Portrait from the Anniston Star, May 3, 1942.

   Two-term Alabama state representative Tarvey Wheeler Bennett's death at the age of just 46 in 1950 curtailed an already bright political career, and in addition to his service in the legislature had earlier distinguished himself as a milk producer and distributor, being the general manager of the Calhoun County Creamery. 

   A lifelong Calhoun County resident, Tarvey Wheeler Bennett was born in Duke, Alabama on August 8, 1903, being the son of William LeAndrew and Emma Elizabeth Bennett. Bennett attended the public school at Cedar Springs, Alabama and would go on to study business at the State Teachers College in Jacksonville. He married in March 1922 to Mary Olivia Ford (1906-1983), with whom he would have four children: Alice Olivia (1923-1991), John William (1925-1982), Carter Wayne (1927-2001) and Bernard Franklin (born 1931).

   Following his marriage, Tarvey Bennett entered into farming and eventually became the owner and operator of a dairy farm in Jacksonville that comprised 150 dairy cows. Beginning in 1925 he became affiliated with the Calhoun County Creamery, and after fifteen years of service became its General Manager in 1940. Regarded as one of the "outstanding manufacturing establishments" in the northern part of the state, this creamery would prosper under Bennett's stewardship, eventually becoming "one of the largest Milk Pasteurizing and Bottling plants in North Alabama."

From the May 3, 1932 Anniston Star.

   In 1940 Bennett experienced his first taste of public service when he was selected as an assistant U.S. Census Supervisor for Alabama's 4th Congressional district. Bennett's campaign notice from the Anniston Star relates that he "completed his work second in the entire United States", and that his efficiency received personal praise from the Federal Census Director. Active in several fraternal groups in the Calhoun County area, Bennett was a longstanding Mason, a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the Elks Lodge.

    A former Vice-President of the Alabama League of Young Democrats, Tarvey W. Bennett launched his political career in early 1942 when he announced his candidacy for a seat in the Alabama State House of Representatives from Calhoun County. He would win the election that November and during the 1943-47 session sat on the committees on Aviation, Agriculture and Labor. Bennett won another four-year term in November 1946, garnering 3,061 votes on election day, and at the start of the 1947 session was named to the committee on Conservation. 

   Tarvey Bennett wasn't a candidate for reelection in the spring 1950 Alabama house primary and died unexpectedly of a heart attack during the last months of his term, his death occurring on August 6, 1950, just two days short of his 47th birthday. He was survived by his mother, wife and all of his children and was interred at the Edgemont Cemetery in Anniston, Alabama.

From the 1947 Alabama legislative composite photo.

Bennett's obituary from the August 7, 1950 Anniston Star.

Acklin Upright Hollis (1865-1947)

From the "Notable Men of Alabama", published in 1904.

     One of Lamar County, Alabama's more prominent residents during the early 20th century, Acklin Upright Hollis was a farmer and merchant during his early life and later went on to hold the offices of Lamar County sheriff and mayor of the town of Sulligent. Hollis would reach his highest degree of political prominence in 1918 when he was elected as a member of the Alabama State House of Representatives from Lamar.
  Born in Lamar County on June 11, 1865, Acklin U. Hollis was the son of former Confederate Army veteran and two-term Alabama legislator Daniel William Hollis and his wife Margaret Miller. Bestowed the highly unusual name "Acklin Upright" upon his birth, Hollis attended public schools in Lamar County and as an adolescent worked on the family farm. He married in October 1887 to Fannie Elizabeth Lowe (1865-1932) in Ironton, Missouri, and the couple later had two sons, Knowlton Lowe (1889-1950) and Peter Miller Carlisle Hollis (born 1894).
    In the early 1900s, Hollis entered the field of merchandising, becoming the manager of the Hollis Brothers Warehouse Co. in the town of Sulligent. During this time he continued farming and later won election as the sheriff of Lamar County, holding office from 1900-1907. A year after leaving this post, Hollis was elected as mayor of the town of Sulligent, serving in this capacity for six years (1908-1914). In addition to his service as mayor and sheriff, Hollis had earlier served as a justice of the peace and postmaster for Sulligent.
   The latter part of the 1910s saw Acklin Hollis continuing as a farmer and businessman, and in November 1918 the citizens of Lamar County elected their former sheriff to a term in the Alabama State House of Representatives. Taking his seat at the beginning of the new year, Hollis served in the legislature from 1919 to 1921 and during his term sat on the house committees on Corporations, Penitentiary and Criminal Administrations, and Public Roads and Highways. 
  Three years after leaving the legislature Acklin Hollis was reelected as Mayor of Sulligent and served a three-year term, 1924-1927. Little else is known of his life after this date, except a notice in the History of Alabama and Her People, Vol. 3, which notes that he maintained memberships in "the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Masonic fraternity and the I.O.O.F." Acklin Upright Hollis died on February 24, 1947, at age 81 and was interred alongside his wife at the Sulligent City Cemetery in Lamar County, Alabama.

Ariosto Appling Wiley (1848-1908)

   A four-term U.S. Representative from Alabama at the turn of the 20th century, the oddly named Ariosto Appling Wiley was a distinguished lawyer in that state prior to his time in Congress. Born in Clayton, Alabama on November 6, 1848, Ariosto A. Wiley was the son of James McCaleb (1806-1877) and Cornelia Appling Wiley (1816-1872). A prominent figure in his own right, James M. Wiley served as a circuit court judge in Alabama and would attain high rank in the Masonic fraternity, being Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Alabama from 1856-57. Ariosto Wiley removed with his family to Pike County while still a child and attended schools local to that area. He decided upon a career in law at an early age and in the late 1860s enrolled at the Emory and Henry College in Virginia. He would graduate from that school in the class of 1871  and soon after established his law practice in Clayton.
   Wiley removed from Clayton a short while afterward and settled in Alabama's capital city of Montgomery, where he would build up a law partnership with Samuel F. Rice, a former state supreme court justice. Wiley married in November 1877 to Mary "Mittie" Noble (died 1935), to whom he was wed for three decades. The couple would have one son, Noble James Wiley (1878-1957), later to serve as a Colonel in the U.S. Army.

Portrait from "Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical", 1888.

    Having advanced "to the front rank of his profession" at the beginning of the 1880s,  Ariosto A. Wiley's sterling character eventually resulted in his being nominated for a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1883. He would win that election and represented Montgomery County in that body in the session of 1884-88, serving on the committees on the Revision of Laws and Commerce and Common Carriers during that term. Further political honors had been accorded to him in 1880 and 1884 when he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, in the latter year seeing Grover Cleveland win the Presidency.

  Reelected to the state house in 1887, Wiley would go on to serve in the sessions of 1888-90, and 1896-97. The years 1890-1893 saw him serving in the Alabama Senate, a body that he would be reelected to for the session of 1898-1899. In the last named year, Wiley was appointed by then-President William McKinley as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th Reg. U.S. Volunteer Infantry, an outfit that would soon be deployed to Cuba for the Spanish American War. Wiley would also be retained as an adviser to General Leonard Wood, with whom he would help establish a "civil government" in Cuba's Eastern province.

Courtesy of bioguide.congress.gov.

     Ariosto Wiley's political career reached its apex in 1900 when he was nominated for a seat in Congress from Alabama's 2nd congressional district. He would coast to an easy victory that November, defeating Populist candidate William Mulkey by a vote of 12, 496 to 124. Wiley's reelection win in 1902 saw him best his opponent by over 6,000 votes and during the 1902-04 session sat on the house committees on the Militia and Pensions. Wiley would win a third term in 1904 and fourth in 1906. During his last term in the house, Wiley was invited to speak before a group of Spanish-American War veterans in Washington, D.C., during which he spoke of his time in Cuba, noting:

" I see here....men from all sections of the Union who gallantly responded to the call of duty in 1898. I hold a commission in that war from William McKinley, the ideal President of a great country. I treasure that commission as one of my most beloved and personal possessions."

From the Evening Star, May 10, 1906.

  In 1908 Ariosto Wiley's health began to suffer a "physical breakdown" due to the effects of inflammatory rheumatism. In an effort to restore his health Wiley vacationed in Hot Springs, Virginia, dying at a hotel there on June 17, 1908 at age 60. His son Noble was at his side at the time of his death and he was later brought back to Alabama for burial at the Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery. He was survived by his wife Mittie, who remarried following her husband's death and later died on Christmas Day 1935.

Wiley's obituary from the Evening Star, June 18, 1908.

Nimrod Lindsay Norton (1830-1903), Nimrod Davis Denson Sr. (1856-1927), Nimrod Davis Denson Jr. (1887-1958), Nimrod Hunter Chenoweth (1811-1894), Nimrod Whitfield Scott (1858-1943), Nimrod Richard Elliott (1826-1905)

Portrait courtesy of Find-a-Grave.

    Today's lengthy write-up highlights the lives of several obscure political figures, all of whom sport the unusual first name "Nimrod". The first of these men, Nimrod Lindsay Norton, was a minor political office holder in the government of the Confederate States of America and earns a place here on the site due to his service in the Confederate Congress from Missouri. Born in Carlisle, Kentucky on April 18, 1830, Nimrod L. Norton was the son of Hiram (Hyrum) and Nancy Norton and his unusual first name can be traced to Nimrod, the biblical "King of Shinar" and a descendant of Noah.
   Norton's early life saw him attend school in a log cabin near his home and he would go on to attend both the Fredonia Military Academy (located in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York) and the Kentucky Military Institute. He married in October 1853 to Mary Hall (1834-1900), with whom he would have eight children. Shortly after his marriage Norton and his wife relocated to Callaway County, Missouri, where he would operate a farm.
    Mentioned in the Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress as having been "opposed to secession", Norton cast his lot with the Confederacy and took to raising one of the first Confederate regiments north of the Missouri River. He would later serve amongst the staff of General Sterling Price and in November 1864 was elected to the Confederate Congress. His time here proved to be short, as health concerns began to plague him in January 1865, necessitating a "permanent leave of absence" from future legislative proceedings.
   Following the conclusion of the Civil War Norton returned to Missouri and two years later removed with his family to DeWitt County, Texas. Norton would relocate to Austin sometime later and was later selected by then Governor Oran Milo Roberts to serve as a commissioner to supervise the surveying of 3,000,000 plus acres of land in the Texas high plains that had been sold to defray cost expenses for construction of the new state capitol.    
   Norton would continue service to Governor Roberts as a member of a building commission responsible for overseeing building designs for the new capitol building. Widowed in 1900, Norton continued to reside near Austin until his death on September 28, 1903, at age 73, and was later buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

Judge Nimrod D. Denson Sr., courtesy of www.samfordlaw.com

     A distinguished figure in Alabama law circles for over four decades, Nimrod Davis Denson was elected to numerous political positions during his life, serving at various times as Mayor of Lafayette, Alabama; a member of both houses of the state legislature; and judge of the Alabama circuit court. Denson's public profile reached its apex in 1904 when he was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court. Born in Russell County, Alabama on June 20, 1856, Nimrod D. Denson was the son of Augustus and Elizabeth Ivey Denson. 

   Nimrod D. Denson began his schooling in the county of his birth and went on to attend the Auburn College from 1873-75. He studied law in the office of his brother William and was admitted to the bar in 1877. Soon after his admittance Denson formed a law partnership with J.J. Robinson, their firm continuing until its dissolution in 1882. Denson married on December 19, 1883, to Carrie Vernon (1861-1953). The couple would be married for over forty years and had four children, Carrie Luphelia, Mary Elizabeth, Nimrod Jr. and John Vernon. Both of the Denson sons would follow their father into practicing law, becoming prominent attorneys in the Opelika, Alabama area. 

   Nimrod D. Denson made his first foray into Alabama political life in 1881 when he served as intendant (Mayor) of Lafayette, Alabama. After a two-year term in that office, he was nominated for the Alabama State Senate from that state's 9th senatorial district, and in November 1883 defeated Republican nominee Henry McCoy. Denson would serve a four-year term from 1884-88 and shortly after his term concluded was nominated "without any solicitation" for the Alabama House of Representatives. He would win election to that body in November and served in the session of 1889-91.

   Denson continued his rise in politics in 1891 when he was elected as a circuit court judge for Alabama's 5th judicial circuit. His tenure on that court extended from 1892 until 1904, and in the latter year was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court. His time as a state supreme court justice proved to be short, as he resigned in 1909 to resume the practice of law in LaFayette, Alabama. 

  Following his return to the practice of law Denson would move his practice to Opelika, Alabama and was retained as general counsel for the West Point Manufacturing Company, a prominent textile producer founded in Georgia in the early 1880s. Denson was later joined in his practice by his sons John and Nimrod Jr., continuing in his profession until his reappointment to the 5th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama in 1923. 

   Nearly seventy years old at the time of his appointment, Denson's second tenure on the circuit court lasted until he died in Columbus, Georgia on March 25, 1927. His obituary in the Roanoke Leader relates that he had suffered heart trouble while en route to Columbus and a few days later succumbed to a heart attack at the home of his niece. Following his death, he was memorialized as a leader active in the prohibition movement, as well as a prominent figure in his church. Judge Denson was later returned to Alabama for burial at the Rosemere Cemetery in Opelika and was survived by his wife and sons. 

Portrait courtesy of www.samfordlaw.com

   Public service (and odd names) would continue in the Denson family in Nimrod Davis Denson Jr. (1887-1958), who received a brief mention earlier. Born on January 3, 1887, Denson attended school in LaFayette and in 1904 graduated from the University of Alabama. He would practice law with his father and brother John in Opelika beginning in 1914 and later signed on for service in World War I, serving with the American Expeditionary Forces from 1918-19.

    After his return stateside Denson married on October 21, 1920, to Annie Elizabeth Rush (1897-1989). The couple would have three children, Charles Rush (1923-1971), Nimrod III (birth-date unknown) Carolyn (born 1930), and John Vernon (birth-date unknown). In 1926 Nimrod Denson Jr. entered politics for the first time when he was elected as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Lee County. 

   Serving in the session of 1927-29, Denson later was a member of the Alabama delegation to the Democratic National Convention held in Philadelphia, serving as an alternate delegate. Nimrod D Denson Jr. died in Alabama on June 13, 1958, and was survived by his wife and children. He was interred at the same cemetery as his parents. 

  Another  "Nimrod" that made his name known in politics was Butler County, Ohio resident Nimrod Hunter Chenoweth. Born in Middlesburg, West Virginia in May 1811, Chenoweth was the son of Philemon Cromwell and Sally Lyle Chenoweth. He relocated to the Ohio area in 1828 at age 17, settling in the town of Middletown. For a good majority of his life, Chenoweth was employed as a carpenter and civil engineer, and is recorded by the 1906 work Middletown in Black and White as "being one of the engineers of the Miami and Erie Canal when it was constructed."

   In 1837 Chenoweth married Ms.Jane Anderson (born 1815) with whom he had several children. He won election as Mayor of Middletown, Ohio sometime in the 1840s but his exact dates in office remain unknown at the time of this writing. Chenoweth died at age 82 on January 30, 1894, and was later interred at the Middletown Historical Pioneer Cemetery. 

   A distinguished son of Ensley, Alabama, the interestingly named Nimrod Whitfield Scott served a term as Mayor of Ensley and also represented the county of Jefferson in the Alabama State Legislature. Born in on August 11, 1858, near Rome, Georgia, Scott was the son of Pillsbury and Emily Anthony Scott. The Scott family removed to Alabama when Nimrod was five and he later lost his father when he died during active service during the Civil War. Nimrod Scott attended "country schools" in Jefferson County and as a young man is recorded by the Alabama Official and Statistical Register as teaching "a country school for five years." He married in October 1882 to Ms. Estelle Samples (1866-1954) and later had a total of eight children, Roscoe, Maude (1885-1947), Lester Lively (1888-1987), Edith (1890-1976), Ola, Paul, Romaine Samples (1902-1981) and Jessie Gregg. 

   In the years following his marriage Scott became a prominent merchant in the towns of Ensley and Pratt City and after Ensley was incorporated as a city in 1899, Scott was elected as its first mayor. He served four terms in this office and during his tenure accomplished much good for the young city, with the 1922 edition of the Men of the South noting that 

"during his term as mayor of Ensley he paved most of the city's streets and built two school buildings, all out of the general fund. He built the city hall and a complete sanitary sewerage system upon a basis whereby the fixed charges were less than four thousand dollars."

   After leaving the mayor's office in 1906 Scott served as police court judge and held a seat on the Ensley Board of Education. In November 1914 he was elected to a term in the Alabama State House of Representatives and his one term in this body saw him serve on the committees on Local Legislation, Corporations, Penitentiary and Criminal Administration, and Municipal Organization. His term concluded in 1917 and in his later years was a member of a number of local fraternal organizations, including the Odd Fellows and Red Men Lodges, as well as the Knights of Pythias. Nimrod W. Scott died on October 14, 1943, at age 85 and was survived by his wife Estelle, who died in 1954 at age 88.

Portrait courtesy of www.henrycohs.org.

   In a recent update to this article (July 15, 2016), another political "Nimrod" has been located...Nimrod Richard Elliott of Indiana. A native of Perquimans County, North Carolina, Elliott was born in that county on May 4, 1826, being the son of Ephraim and Eliza Harden Elliott. He relocated with his family to Indiana in 1829 and four years later settled in Henry County. Elliott married in 1850 to Jane Cooper and in the following year moved to Mechanicsburg, Indiana, where he established a mercantile store. He would continue in that business for over forty years and also had a hand in similar operations located in Cadiz and Middletown, Indiana.

   In 1874 Elliott and two partners founded the Farmer's State Bank at Middletown, beginning with "a capital stock of 50,000 dollars." The bank would later be reorganized as the Farmer's Bank of Anderson about a year later, and Elliott would hold the post of bank vice president for four years. In 1882 a new Farmer's Bank of Middletown was organized, with Nimrod Elliott as its president.

   Recorded as a "stanch Democrat", Elliott would serve as a Democratic presidential elector on the Cleveland ticket in 1884 and also attended that year's Democratic National Convention as an alternate delegate. He would reach his highest degree of political prominence in 1894 when he became the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 6th district. Running for re-election against Elliott was two-term incumbent Republican Henry Underwood Johnson (1850-1939), a former prosecuting attorney and state senator. On election day it was Johnson who emerged victorious, besting Elliott by a substantial margin, 22,704 votes to 10,707.

   Nimrod Elliott retired from business in February 1895 and at the time of his death on January 16, 1905, was recorded as owning "750 acres of land" in the townships of Harrison and Fall Creek. He was survived by his wife Jane and two children, Erasmus Leonidas and Ida Florence, all of whom are interred at the Mechanicsburg Cemetery in Mechanicsburg, Indiana.

Hurieosco Austill (1841-1912)

    A state senator, businessman and military figure from Alabama, Hurieosco Austill was born in Mobile on February 16, 1841, being the son of Colonel Jeremiah (1794-1881) and Margaret Eads Austill (1805-1890). Huriesoco attended the University of Alabama during his youth and after graduating from this institution in the class of 1861 enlisted in the Confederate Army's First Alabama Battery of Artillery. During his military service Austill rose from second lieutenant to Captain, and after receiving a minor injury in battle was captured at Fort Morgan. He was subsequently held as a prisoner of war until the close of the hostilities.
    After the war's conclusion Austill returned home to Mobile and recuperated before beginning the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and shortly thereafter entered upon practice in Mobile, operating here until his death forty years later. Austill married in December 1873 to Aurora Roberta Ervin (1853-1928) and later became the father to three children, Margaret (born 1874), Robert Ervin (born 1878), Jennie Fee (born 1882), Hurieosco Jr. (born 1884), Aileen (born 1888) and Jere (born 1890).
   Beginning in 1874 Austill served a six year term as the Chancellor of the Southern Division of Alabama. In 1880 he made his first entry into politics, being elected as one of Mobile's representatives to the Alabama General Assembly. He served two years in the lower house of the legislature before being elected to the Alabama state Senate in 1882, again representing Mobile. His term in the senate concluded in 1886.
   Following the conclusion of his senate term in 1886 Austill spent the remainder of his life engaged in railroad work, being one of the founders of the Mobile and West Alabama Railroad. He would later serve as the president of the Mobile, Jackson and Kansas City Railroad for a time. Austill died on July 3, 1912 at age 71 and was subsequently interred at the Spring Hill Graveyard in Mobile, Alabama. The rare portrait of him shown above was taken at the Alabama Division of United Confederate Veterans meeting that was held in Macon, Georgia around 1910. 
   As with many of the individuals that will eventually be posted here,  it is unknown where Austill's unique first name originated from.