|
Aaron Vincent
b. 13 Feb 1835 Chambers County, Alabama, United States m. 12 Dec 1861 Talladega, Talladega, Alabama, United States Margaret Missouri Finch d. 7 Feb 1901 Vinedale, Talladega, Alabama, United States Buried at Oakhill Cemetery in Talladega, Talladega, Alabama, United States 11 Children: Ida, Oyer, Inez, Oakley, Elmer, Alvin Eugene, Lutie, John William, Ullman Lewellyn, Rhuey Elena (Ruby), and Grover. Military: His tombstone says, "SERG CO A 46 ALA INF REGT CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY." Education: according to the 1900 census he could read and write. Career: Farmer. In 1850, Aaron was living with his father in Wetumpka, Elmore County (then Coosa County), Alabama. On the 7th of July 1860 he appears on the 1860 Coosa County Census, Mt. Olive Post Office, age 25, in the household of William Finch, his future father-in-law. The 1860 Coosa County Census also shows his birthplace is Georgia but other records say he was born in Chambers County, Alabama. Either place of birth could be right. Aaron's daughter Ida says Aaron's parents, John and Nicey, moved to Chambers County, Alabama between 1835 and 18401 By 1860, Aaron was a young merchant with a net worth of $1,000.00 (about $28,500.00 in 2013 dollars). Wealth was abundant in the antebellum south for Whites, Indians, and some free blacks because of the slave trade. Some from each of these ethnicities owned slaves. For instance, William Johnson (1809-1851), a wealthy black barber and slave owner, lived in Natchez, Mississippi where there were more millionaires per capita than any city in the U.S. According to Wikipedia, by the time a Federal Road was built through their lands, "A number of Muscogee chiefs acquired slaves and created cotton plantations, grist mills and businesses" which was about 18062. Doubtless, white land speculators played a role in the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Between 1831 and 1838 (1847 for the Chickasaw), nearly 60,000 Indians from the 5 civilized tribes along with thousands of their black slaves were removed from the southeastern United States freeing up lands and former Indian plantations in southern Georgia and central Alabama for whites to move in. Aaron's father, John Vincent (1787-1871), enlisted during the Creek Indian Wars of 1813-1814 (part of the War of 1812). War veterans were awarded land for their service. Following the Indian Removal Act, Aaron's father moved his family to central Alabama as previously mentioned. With his $1,000.00 in 1860, Aaron and a business partner had acquired comfortable circumstances prior to the Civil War. Unfortunately, upon his return from the war, Aaron's circumstances had worsened. Aaron's Civil War and later pension application records confirm he was a merchant. Perhaps because of his wealth and knowledge, his rank was corporal from his earliest war records, later sergeant, and finally 1st Sergeant at the time his service was over. At his enlistment, he was a resident of Hanover, Coosa County, Alabama, a little town 12-1/2 miles south of Sylacauga. He travelled 8 miles south, probably down what is now US231 to Rockford, Alabama where he enlisted the 24th of February, 1862 into what eventually became George Brewer's "A" Company of the 46th Alabama Volunteers. Capt. Brewer was a minister from Wetumpka. Some records say Aaron was 26 years old when he enlisted, one says he was 30. According to family records he was born the 13th of Feb., 1835 so he had just turned 27. His war record shows he was in every conflict the 46th Regiment was engaged in, including: Tazewell, TN (Aug., 1862), Port Gibson, MS (May, 1863), Baker's Creek, MS (May, 1863), Vicksburg, MS (July, 1863), Lookout Mt. (Nov. 1863), Missionary Ridge (Nov., 1863), Rocky Face Mt. (Feb. 1864), Rocky Face Mt. (May, 1864), then on to Resaca, Calhoun, Cassville, New Hope, Kenesaw, Marietta, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and Jonesboro (from May to Aug. 1864) as General Sherman cut his path through Georgia to the sea. After the rebel forces of the 46th Alabama Vols regrouped, they fought 2 more battles at Columbia and Nashville, TN by the end of 1864. Aaron's name appears on a roll of he prisoners of war captured at Vicksburg on Independance Day, 1863. He was later paroled by Major John C. Fry of the 20th Ohio. You can read more about the history of the 46h Alabama HERE. I can't tell whether Aaron ever applied for a war pension but his wife, Margaret, applied for widow's pension several years after Aaron's death. I have placed all of Aaron Vincents Civil War records HERE. The 1870 Talladega County Census, Childersburg Post Office, shows the value of 35-year-old Aaron's estate reduced to $300.00 and his birthplace as Alabama. In the 1905 letter from Aaron's daughter Ida Vincent (1863-1938) to her cousin Marian Kelly (1881-1955)1, Ida said, "Aaron married Miss Margarett [sic] Missouri Finch Dec. 12, 1861. He served four yeas [sic] in the Civil war and returned home without scratch but a poor man indeed." Family legend has it that Aaron's business partner treated him poorly while he was away at war and he had to start over when he returned. He was not a happy man. "Hard work and poverty embittered his life so that he was never a kind father," according to Ida. She thought his mood was due in part because of his married life. "His unkindness and unhappy state of mind was partly due to conjugal infelicity." Whatever his level of "poverty" as Ida describes it while she was being raised, Aaron had acquired quite a nice bit of property by the time he died. During a trip to visit the grave of John Vincent (1787-1871) on the 30th of May, 1990, my father and mother took me to visit the Talladega County courthouse. There we saw that Aaron Vincent (1835-1901) died intestate. Probate court records gave the settlement of his estate which included about 585 acres of land. When my grandfather and grandmother ultimately inherited this land, on it were the old Vincent home, a blacksmith shop, a barn, a small store, and other property previously owned by Aaron (according to my dad and his siblings). Aaron did not die a poor man. June 29th, 2013, 3 of Aaron's great-great-grandsons and a great-great-great-grandson visited the Vincent burial plot at Oakhill Cemetery in Talladega, Alabama. Click HERE for a photo (Note: The tall monument is a Family marker. Aaron's marker is at ground level). -Ron.V Follow the hyperlinks on this page for more information. Some of the records and heirlooms I've acquired about Aaron Vincent and his father John Vincent were given to me by my Aunt Evelyn Vincent Farris (1913-1980) and interviews with her, my father Wilburn G. Vincent, and their sister Celia Vincent Bass. Some records were acquired by my own research. Most of the records on my Vincent lineage for generations were from the resources collected by Maud McLure Kelly. Maud was a descendant of Louisa Catherine Vincent (1837-1898), Aaron's sister. Unfortunately, Maud's records have been very difficult to sift through. They became somewhat jumbled after she donated them to Samford University. That's where Cousin Caroline, another descendant of Louisa Catherine Vincent, came to the rescue. For years she's been sorting through Maud's records documenting them, verifying the sources, organizing them. We can thank Cousin Caroline for many of the records on this and other pages. Please be sensitive and do not share her documents without permission. Linking to this website is ok. For these and other documents of Aaron Vincent & family, click the following links: Marriage Record of Aaron Vincent and Margaret Finch, Coosa County Marriage Book C, pg.314 (from Cousin Caroline) Photo of Aaron's son, Oakley, Oakley's wife Oma, and their son Aaron at the old Aaron Vincent place 1828 John Vincent Family Bible in which Aaron's info appears as: "Aron V - B_ Febr 13 - 1835" Other Documents: Aaron Vincent 1901 estate settlement TRANSCRIPT (Partial and incomplete) Aaron Vincent 1901 estate settlement Pg 17 IMAGE Aaron Vincent 1901 estate settlement Pg 18 IMAGE Other Sources: 1- A letter from Ida Vincent to her cousin Marion dated Aug. 22, 1905 or click HERE for a transcript. Visit the following link for a good history of the times Aaron's father John lived in. Read how brilliant Creek leaders like Alexander McGillivray (Hoboi-Hili-Miko) and William McIntosh (Taskanugi Hatke) were wealthy slave owners. Read also about the Creek Indian War John fought in, and the cruel Indian Removal Act that allowed our ancestors to move from North Carolina to Alabama land formerly owned by the Indians. 2- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscogee_people |