Old Live Oak Cemetery
William Rufus King:
- One of Cahawba's most illustrious inhabitants was William Rufus King. In his lifetime, King served as U.S. Senator, Ambassador to France and as Vice-President of the United States. King and associates organized a business called the Selma Land Company, which held its first auction in May of 1819. The name Selma, meaning high seat or throne, was chosen for the town envisioned by Mr. King.
Senator John Tyler Morgan:
- Morgan was first, foremost, and always a Southerner, often braving storms of protests from fellow Democrats to support measures that he felt to be in the best interest of Alabama and the rest of the South. Morgan is known as "the father of the Panama Canal", a measure he strongly supported. By 1860, Morgan was a leading political fixture who represented Dallas county at the state secession convention following the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln. Morgan voted in favor of secession and was soon commissioned to the Alabama Infantry as a major. He later recruited the 800-man 51st Alabama Cavalry where he became general. He was elected to the US Senate in 1876 and served for 30 years.
Grave of Rev. Arthur W. Small:
- Minister of First Presbyterian Church, site of the famous Lady Banksiae rose which shed its petals as his body was brought from the Battle of Selma, of which he was a casualty.
John M. Parkman:
- The legendary "ruined banker" that still resides at Sturdivant Hall which you will visit later in this tour.
Confederate General Edmund W. Pettus:
- In 1858 Judge Pettus moved to Dallas County where he became a member of the law firm Pettus, Pegues, and Dawson. In 1861, he joined the Confederate Army at Cahawba. He was elected to the Senate in 1896. The bridge named in his honor opened in 1940 and was the sight of the Voting Rights march in the 1960's.
Benjamin Sterling Turner:
- Turner was a slave to Dr. James Gee, owner of the St. James Hotel. While Dr. James Gee was off at war, Turner ran the hotel. He set up a stable and wood yards of his own. In 1862, Turner bought $200 worth of Confederate bonds and is said to have had more money than his former master by the time he was freed in 1865. In 1870, Turner became the first black congressman from Alabama.
Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones:
- A native of Virginia, he commanded the naval ordinance works here and the Ironclad vessel "Merrimac" in the battle vs the Monitor. Jones also helped perfect the design of the famous Brooke Cannon, the largest and best made. He came to Selma in 1863 and married local girl, Gertrude Tartt.
- The Jones family still resides in his home on Tremont Street and are still very prominent in the community. A fictionalized Commander Jones was featured in a Civil War series on television recently. Notice the "ap" preceding the middle name. This is a Welsh tradition that the family still follows today. It means son of, for example Catesby, son of, Roger Jones.
"Miz Eliza" - Eliza Evans Jones:
- Born in 1856 and died in 1940. She moved into Grace Hall after the Civil War to help her widowed niece run the boarding house she had established there.
Grave of Col. NHR Dawson & Elodie Todd Dawson (half-sister to Mary Todd Lincoln):
- This statue was carved in Italy. When it arrived in Selma Mr. Dawson wasn't satisfied with the hair as it was not as beautiful as his wife's, so he returned it to Italy be re-done. NHR Dawson was one of Selma's leading citizens during the mid-1800's. He later became the first Alabamian ever to serve as a U.S. Commissioner of Education. Dawson was active in reorganizing the Democratic and Conservative party to oppose the Republicans during Reconstruction. In 1880, he was chosen Speaker of the Alabama House. He helped to raise money for both Dallas Academy and the city's Charity Hospital. He served as senior warden at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Selma, where his funeral services were held.
