Hello, Family Trails readers, on our 5th Weaver Wednesday this July. We get one more week this month to visit Clairmont Springs, and as promised, we can finally see what we know about William Dawson Haynes. These pictures are of W. D. and his wife, Lucretia Pace Haynes.
Family trees can get complicated, confusing, and sometimes frustrating, but take a look at this picture below….my grandson, Raughley, drew this for me 6 months ago. Children remind us to keep things simple…this picture encourages me to keep learning about my family tree…it just can't be so hard.
Lucretia Pace and W. D. were my grandmother, Ivera's maternal grandparents. Lucretia's family can be traced back to her English roots in the 16th century. (See blog posts, "We're Coming to America" and "How Did We Ever Get Here?")
W. D.'s family can be traced as far as the early 1700's in Maryland, but there is a gap that needs filling around the time of the Revolutionary War. His parents moved to the Alabama territory before it was a state. William Dawson and his siblings were born in Georgia, then the family moved to Alabama in the Old Liberty Church community near what became Lineville. He was born on July 5, 1830. He married Lucretia Holland Pace on November 9, 1854. He had a mercantile business, "Haynes Mercantile Company," and he served as the president of the Board of Trustees of Lineville College. He fought in the American Civil War and was held as a prisoner when his regiment surrendered outside of Atlanta. He served as the first president of the Lineville National Bank.
This is a letter that W. D. wrote to his granddaughter, Ivera Weaver on September 17, 1920. (Let me put a little perspective on the time frame of this letter…W. D. 's 90th birthday had just taken place. My grandmother, Ivera, was 24 when she must have written him a letter asking him to recount his adventures as a Confederate soldier. This letter is his response.)
Dear Grand Daughter, Your letter received today and contents noted. I joined as a volunteer in the Confederate Army August 1862. Company F. 51 Alabama Regiment. N. D. Johnson of Talladega was my Captain. Senator John T. Morgan was Colonel of said regiment. General Joe Wheeler was our General. I was at that time 32 years old. I served two years and 8 months in the Tennessee Army. Our regiment was organized at Oxford, Ala. We first went to camp at Oxford and remained there a month. Then went to Tenn. Our first fight was in suburbs of Nashville. The next battle was at Luvern, Tenn. Had it on Captain Dick McCannis farm in Nashville. I could mention quite a number of others but I suppose it is not necessary to do so. I served to the end of the war which was about the middle of April 1865. I am glad to know that you and your father's family are well. Our school at Lineville is fine. Tell your mother that I received a letter today from Dawson. He and family are well, though he said the worms and jackrabbits and birds were trying to eat up their crop. Doves are there by the thousands and jackrabbits the same in number. The cotton crop in Clay will be light. Corn on upland fairly good. Love to your mama and all the balance. God abundantly bless you all is my prayer.
Tell your mamma to write me.
As ever your Grandfather.
W. D. Haynes
Here is W. D. Haynes's 90th Birthday picture at Clairmont Springs. He is the gentleman seated in a coat and tie with a white beard. Below is a list of the family members who were there. At some point, someone copied this picture and typed numbers on each person and typed this list below. I could not scan that picture with the numbers on it, but at least we can read this list to see who was there.
Here is a retyped article from the Lineville Head Light, that was written about his birthday gathering.
The Lineville Headlight was the weekly Lineville paper from 1904-1937.(Click on the highlighted title of newspaper to read more about it and other old papers in the Library of Congress.)
Surrounded by eight of his children, twenty-eight of his fifty-five grand-children, and eight of his twenty-six great-grand-children, Mr. William D. Haynes, Sr. of this city, celebrated his ninetieth birthday at Clairmont Springs on Monday, July 5th. This great and good man has eighty-nine living children, grand-children, great-grand children, and of this number fifty four were present on this grand and glorious occasion to pay tribute to father and grand-father.
Mr. Haynes has not lived as long as Methuselah, but he has lived in the most important era of the world's history and has, no doubt seen more of life than did the oldest man. When he first saw light of day in Green County, Georgia, on July 5, 1830, Andrew Jackson was serving his second year as president of the United States and George Washington had been dead less than thirty one years. In early childhood his parents removed to the Liberty Community of Talladega, now Clay County, but while still a young man, he came to Lineville, where he has since been engaged successively in farming, the mercantile business, and banking.
Mr. Haynes has lived a useful, industrious, honorable , and upright life, and is esteemed, honored and loved by a wide circle of friends in this and other states. He has always been a pillar of the Lineville Baptist Church and has always given his money un-stingily to the church of which he is the only living charter member. His grandfather and father before him were Baptists, and it is a remarkable fact that his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, without exception are Baptists.
The four sons and daughters who were present to celebrate their father's 90th birthday were W. D. Haynes, Jr, of Merkel, Texas, D. P. Haynes of Anniston, B. H. Haynes of Lineville, and John J. Haynes of Columbiana, and Mesdames R. H. Moon and R. R. Parker of Lineville, C. S. Weaver and J. H. Wilder of Talladega, all useful, honored, and respected citizens of the social, religious, professional, and business circles of their respective communities. The beloved wife, Mrs. Lucretia Pace Haynes and one daughter, Mrs. Ella Haynes Ingram, have passed over the river.
It is a remarkable fact that seven of the living children, (all except Mrs. J. H. Wilder) are themselves grandfathers or grandmothers.
At the noon hour a most beautiful luncheon was spread in the pavilion under the spreading oaks where Mr. Haynes' colonel of the Confederate army, the Late Senator John T. Morgan, played with Indian playmates in his boyhood days. The luncheon was most elegantly served in cafeteria fashion by the daughters , granddaughters, and great-grand daughters of this great and good man. It was a feast fit for the gods.
Following the luncheon, exercises were held in the pavilion which the youngest son, Honorable John J. Haynes, acted as toastmaster. After paying tribute to the "greatest living American" he introduced a grandson, Reverend Earl Parker who in a most interesting way, sketched the family history. He followed Mr. W. D. Haynes, Jr., Mrs. D. P. Haynes, John H. Ingram, and Mr . C. S. Weaver, who spoke interestingly, touchingly, and beautiful, touching different phases of the life of father and grandfather. Representing sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters and great-grandsons and great-grand-daughters, Gorden Wilder, grandson, in well-chosen words, presented the man whose honor this 90th birthday celebrations held with a walking cane. This phase of the program was ended with a speech by Rev. J. J. Smylie, who spoke f the heritage of a good name Mr. Haynes has bequeathed to his descendants. The photographer then made pictures of this interesting family grouped in different ways. In some groups four generations were represented.
Besides the family a few friends were invited to this family reunion and birthday celebration, and among the number the writer who is now Mr. Haynes' Sunday School teacher, and Mr. Haynes was the writer's first Sunday School teacher.
Mr. Haynes caries his four score years and ten lightly. He is the picture of robust health, walks without a cane, and reads without glasses. The sons and daughters, grandsons and great grandsons, and great-granddaughters and invited guests voted unanimously in favor of holding his 100th anniversary birthday at Clairmont Springs on July 5, 1930.
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| Old Lineville Cemetery |
This was quite a good bit of reading for a blog that is supposed to be interesting AND fun. Thank you for working though it all. W. D. had a very active life and lived until he was 96, so there is more in the family archives that we could pull out at a later date, but for now this is where our trail will once again take another path next week.
Goodbye, dear Clairmont, our "Bright Mountain."
Love,
Mariellan
