Wilcox County

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Wilcox County, Alabama
On Southern-Style

Wilcox county map

Tour of Furman
Wilcox County Information
Wilcox County Historical Society
Palmer Cemetery
Wakefield History
Mount Moriah

Wilcox County True Blues
Flag Returns Home
Consuela Lee and the Snow Hill Academy--interesting story
William James Edwards biography-- founder of Snow Hill Academy  (Spike Lee's grandfather) who was reared on the R.O. Simpson place in Furman, Alabama
Dr. E. G. Burson, Jr. on Snowhill Institute

 

Welcome to Wilcox County on Southern-Style.  The listing of Furman, Alabama, as a National Historic District recognizes an area steeped with history.  Much of it mine. You are cordially invited to experience this history with the Driving Tour included below. 

 Our family has deep roots in Wilcox County, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to this gracious heritage.  Palmer Cemetery started in the garden of my 3rd great grandparents, Stephen and Juliet Hartwell Palmer, when their son Oliver died at the age of 10.  The Palmer-Britt Home was built by Stephen and Juliet Palmer.  Trails End was the home of my Great grandparents Elkanah and Elafare Barge Burson, built on Barge Mill Road where they raised my granfather, Elkanah George Burson and his sisters Mary Elizabeth and Ella Clare.  Barge Mill was run by Elafare Barge's father.  Elkanah Burson's father, Joseph Jackson Burson, helped build the Furman Methodist Church and the Burson family maintained the records until Eliece's death.  The Moore-Burson Rushing house is the home in which my father and his sisters, Eliece and Elizabeth grew up. My grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. E. G. Burson bought  Wakefield in 1943 and both of those homes are now owned by my sister and her husband, Tom and Dr. Sylvia Burson Rushing. 

Oak Hill is the site of my husband's Great parents, A.C. and Elizabeth Amanda Wardlaw  Bonham Ramsey's home most recently owned by the Bonners. 

In Pine Apple, the Hawthorne House was built by my husband, Joel Wardlaw Ramsey's Great great grandfather, Joshua Richard Hawthorne and his wife Patience Elizabeth King Hawthorne.  Dr. David Wardlaw Ramsey converted from Methodism and left the practice of medicine to become a preacher at the Friendship Baptist Church. 

I do have the Palmer Cemetery records on this website, as well as those for Mount Moriah.  Mount Moriah is on the line between Butler and Wilcox counties.  Many relatives are buried there as well, Wardlaw, Watson, McWhorter. 

The genealogies of these Wilcox County Lines are included on this website because they are those of this webmaster.

Dr. Elkanah George Burson and Elizabeth Jane Knight Burson

Great Grandparents:

 

Elkanah Burson and Ellafare Christian Barge Burson

and  Napoleon Oscar Knight and Margaret Lucy Watson Knight

 

Great Great Grandparents:

 

Joseph Jackson Burson and Elizabeth Dunn Burson

and George Abel Barge and Mary Ann Slaughter Barge

 

Lewis Jackson Knight and Catherine Palmer Knight

William Watson and Elizabeth Jane McWhorter

 

Great Great Great Grandparents

 

Joseph Jefferson Burson and Leah Burson

And Benjamin Dunn and Susannah Dunn

 

Stephen Palmer and Juliet Hartwell Palmer

And Edwin Knight and Martha Comer Watts Knight

 

Abel Barge and Martha Faust Barge
and Reuben Slaughter and Semantha Fluornoy

 

James Watson and unknown

David McWhorter and Mary “Polly” Wardlaw

 

Joel Wardlaw Ramsey and Sharman Burson Ramsey

David Wardlaw Ramsey and Emma Virginia Hawthorne Ramsey

 

 

 

 

History Celebration 
& Driving Tour 
The Furman Civic Club is sponsoring this celebration of Small 
towns in Alabama on April 17, 2010, and the subsequent driving 
tour of homes, churches, schools, and other historic sites in 
this east Wilcox County town. Furman was designated a National 
Historic District in 1999 along with the nearby towns of Pine 
Apple and Oak Hill. 
Featured homes include “Wakefield”, the classic steamboat 
gothic house featured in the book Silent in the Land, the 
Moore-Burson-Rushing Home, the Watson-Pryor-Moorer Home, 
“Patience Plantation”, the Purifoy-Lipscomb home featured in 
Kathryn Tucker Windham’s Thirteen Ghosts of Alabama and 
Jeffrey, “Fox Hill”, restored by Don and Katrina Bell, the 
McCondichie-Stabler Home, the Palmer-Barlow-Britt Home, and 
the Perdue-Estes Home. In addition, Bethsaida Baptist Church, 
Furman Methodist Church, Hopewell Church, Snow Hill 
Institute, Palmer Cemetery, Old Snow Hill Cemetery, Snow Hill 
Cemetery, and Purifoy Cemetery are included on this tour. 
As noted above, Furman was designated a National Historic 
District in 1999 and has many antebellum homes and structures 
still standing. The town has a fascinating history beginning circa 
1802 when the first settlers came to the area from South 
Carolina. Most of the Wilcox County towns were settled by 
Scotch, Irish, and English settlers, and Furman also to some 
degree. However, many of the early settlers of Furman came 
from the South Carolina low country and were of French 
ancestry. The William Snow family settled on a high hill north 
of present day Furman, now the site of Old Snow Hill Cemetery 
around this date. Thus, the early community was known as 
Snow’s Hill. It was renamed Furman in 1872 after the town of 
Furman, South Carolina, and a new community was founded a 
few miles to the west - and named Snow Hill. Furman Academy 
was a popular school in the late 1800's with students from 
throughout the State of Alabama. Some fascinating persons 
came from this small town, including Elkanah Burson, an 
attache’ to General Robert E. Lee and John Purifoy, a member of 
Company C. Mr. Purifoy later served Alabama in many 
important offices including Secretary of State. Mr. Burson, an 
original member of the Wilcox True Blues company, delivered 
the Confederacy surrender papers to General Ulysses Grant at 
Appomattox. He then returned home to Furman and later served 
in the Alabama House of Representatives. One of his great 
granddaughters is now the owner of Wakefield. Another is 
married to the great grandson of D.W. Ramsey, the second 
commandant of theWilcox True Blues! Some direct descendants 
of these original settlers still own homes and property in Furman. 

This Driving Tour is dedicated to the memory of Les Moorer,
who was instrumental in the organization and success of the
1997 Fall Tour of Homes. Les, a native of Furman, passed away
on Thanksgiving Day 1997, and is interred at Old Snow Hill
Cemetery. He and his family are responsible for restoring this
site, and his was the first burial in the cemetery since 1923.

Furman Civic Club 
P.O. Box 7 
Furman, Alabama 36741 
Return Service Requested 
FURMAN HISTORY 
CELEBRATION & DRIVING 
TOUR BROCHURE 
Furman Alabama 
National Register of Historic Places 
Saturday 
April 17, 2010 
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM 
Wakefield 
Homes & Churches with 
 * Will be Open on this Date 
Lunch Served at Furman School 
11:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m. 
Lunch: $7 
Tour: $10 
Lunch and Tour: $15 
Begin your Tour 
 at Furman School 
Furman Civic Club 
P.O. Box 7 
Furman, Alabama 36741 
FURMAN DRIVING TOUR 
& 
HISTORY CELEBRATION 
Of Alabama’s Small Towns 
Celebration Headquarters 
Furman School 
Historical Marker Unveiling at 2:00 PM 
Furman Civic Club 
P.O. Box 7 
Furman, Alabama 36741 
Telephone 251-746-2293 
email - grsouth@frontiernet.net.com 
WELCOME TO 
FURMAN, ALABAMA 
“Take a Look Back”