1By Jeanne Duff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey, Book Title Absalom and Elizabeth (Norris) Autrey and Their Descendents, Chapter II Section on Absalom Autrey Born 1802 and Wife Elizabeth Norris Autrey. "Pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.". " Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Their Descendants, With a Section on Thomas Norris
by Jeanne McDuff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey
Chapter II
Pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9::
Absalom Autrey was born 11 August 1802 in North Carolina. He was the son of Cornelius Autrey and the grandson of Absalom and Naomi Lucy Camp Autrey.
He moved with his parents to the north eastern part of the Mississippi Territory before he was ten years old. This was the section that later became Calhoun and St. Clair Counties, Alabama. By the early 1820’s this family had migrated to Perry County, Alabama.
A marriage license was issued to Absalom Autrey and Miss Elizabeth Norris on 11 January 1825 in Perry County, Alabama. On 22 February 1825 Absalom Autrey was married to Elizabeth Norris, daughter of Thomas and Celia (Teer) Norris, by Enoch Hays, Minister of the Gospel, in Perry County, Alabama. She was born 15 January 1810 in western Kentucky. Elizabeth Norris’ family is recorded in Chapter XVIII.
After Absalom and Elizabeth’s marriage, their family began grow at a steady rate. Fifteen children were born between 1827 and 1850: Sarah E., John Mabe, Lucinda, Harriet, Elizabeth Jane, William Norris, Cornelius, James Jackson, Celia J., Robert Martin, Syria, Martha Ann, Thomas Jefferson, Bird Griffin and Charles Henry. All of the children were born in Perry County, Alabama except Charlie Henry Autrey. He was born in Union Parish, Louisiana.
Absalom Autrey’s father –in-law, Thomas Norris, died in November, 1826. At the estate sale, Absalom bought a yoke of steers, six cows and calves, ten head of cattle, five sheep and one bay horse for a total of $239.50.
Absalom Autrey was a farmer in Perry County, Alabama. He probably was farming with Elizabeth’s brothers since Elizabeth’s father had owned land near Corinth, Alabama. This northern part of Perry County where they lived had hilly, red soil with deep ravines. Much of the land was covered with Forest. In the early days, there were many deaths from typhoid in this area.
Elizabeth Autrey's mother, Celia Norris, and her five brothers and three sisters lived within a few miles of the Autreys.
The land records of North Carolina and Alabama show that the Autreys had been land owners and farmers since they arrived in America. Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey bought 160.0 acres of land from Anthony Wayne and Mary Norris, brother of Elizabeth, on 13 January 1838. It was the southwest quarter of Section 9, Township 19, Range 11 in the Cahawba District of Perry County. Today, this land is in Dallas County. The county line between the two counties was changed several times between 1819 and 1850.
The Autrey's were Primitive Baptists. They were members of the Fellowship Baptist Church, which was located about two miles from their home in the village of Morrowville. In 1990, the only evidence of the little town is the church and the cemetery. The church is located in the Talladega National Forest on Alabama State Highway 37. Other families living in the neighborhood and attending the Fellowship Baptist Church in the 1830's and 1840's were the Mitchell, Reedy, Martin, Morrow, McGee, Norris, Stokes and Pierson. It is thought that Reverend Robert Martin was the pastor of this church. Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey named a son for the preacher in 1840.
The Autreys lived only about four miles from the town of Corinth, Alabama. Corinth was renamed Plantersville in the 1850's. This was probably the reason that the family tradition relates that the family moved from Selma, Alabama, instead of Plantersville, Alabama. Selma, a larger town, was eighteen miles away.
Absalom Autrey was highly respected by his wife's family. Elizabeth Autrey's aunt, Betsy (Teer) Baker, lived with Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey after her husband, Richard Baker, died in 1826, She had no children, and had moved from Kentucky to Alabama to be near her relatives. In 1834 Betsy Baker appointed Absalom Autrey her power of Attorney for the purpose of selling her property and collecting some debts in Hopkins County, Kentucky. Betsy Baker lived with Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey until her death in 1835. She left a slave girl in their care.
Absalom Autrey was appointed the Administrator of the estate of Richard Baker Norris. Richard Norris, Elizabeth's brother, had died in 1840 in Perry County, Alabama, at the age of 25. He left a wife and two small children.
In the mid-1800's, cheap land was available from the federal government in Louisiana. Two of Elizabeth's brothers, Thomas W. Norris and John Jackson Norris, had moved to Union Parish, Louisiana in 1847. Soon other family members including Absalom Autrey and family and neighbors began to make plans to migrate west to take advantage of this land opportunity. They loaded their possessions and provisions into ox drawn covered wagons. There was room for very little furniture. The mantel clock, which is still in possession of a family member was placed between two feather beds. The farm animals followed the wagons.
In the fall of 1847, these family members made the journey from Alabama to Louisiana: Elizabeth Autrey, Albert R. and Sarah (Autrey) Neighbors and their children, Elizabeth, Louise and Jane; John Brown L. and Lucinda (Autrey) Mitchell and son John Abby; Joseph N. and Harriett (Autrey) Wiley; John Mabe Autrey; Elizabeth Jane Autrey; William Norris Autrey; Cornelius Autrey; James Jackson Autrey; Celia Autrey; Robert Martin Autrey; Syria Autrey; Martha Ann Autrey; Thomas Jefferson Autrey; Bird Griffin Autrey, Celia (Teer) Norris; William Syria and Harriett Norris and their children Celia, James William Syria, Jr., Margaret Lou, Elizabeth, Absalom and Cinthia; Charles J. and Celia (Norris) Henry and their children Sarah, Celia Jane, Robert James, William J., Mary Isabella and Thomas N. Henry. There were nineteen children in the group who were ten years old or less. With so many young children making the trip, one can only imagine the perils of such a journey.
Absalom Autrey made the trip to Louisiana ahead of the other family members. After making arrangements with his brothers-in-law, John Jackson and Thomas W. Norris, in Union Parish, Louisiana, he returned to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He met the family and helped them cross the Mississippi River.
Log barges were used to cross the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. For years this hazardous experience was often remembered and related by family members. They crossed the Ouachita River at Trenton and finally arrived in the Dubach area of Union Parish, Louisiana. It had been seven weeks since they left Alabama. They arrived just before Christmas 1848. The families lived in tents until a house was built.
The foundation of the house was made from large boulders and big triangular shaped piers made from tree trunks. They constructed the double pen dogtrot house from hewn pine logs that were cut from the property. The logs were notched on the ends and held together with large, wooden pegs.
Each side of the house had a large room in front and a smaller room at the back. A ten foot passageway, or dogtrot, rant he length of the house. A door from each room opened to the passageway. A front porch was built across the entire width of the house. A stairway was constructed at the back of the dogtrot that led up a loft room. This attic room served as a bedroom for the Autrey sons.
A chimney of native ironstone was built at teach end of the house. The fireplaces in the largest rooms were used for heat as well as for cooking. The roof was made of shingles or shakes that were split with a frow.
Some of the tools that were used by the Autrey family that are in the possession of the descendants are: the frow, broad ax, hand sickle and the head lighting tool with the fire box. Other articles that were in the Absalom Autrey home that are with family members are: Elizabeth's bread tray, a large meat platter, Autrey family Bible, a bed, the sideboard and a 16 x 20 portrait of Mary Jane (Moncrief) Autrey.
There was abundant wild game in the area: deer, squirrels, ducks, geese, turkeys and rabbits. According to family traditions, more than 400 deer were killed the first year the Autreys lived in Louisiana.
There was a cellar under the front east room of the house. Vegetables, fruits, meat barrels, a grist mill, peanuts, potatoes and later home canned foods were stored in the cellar. A smokehouse, used for curing meat, was built behind the house on the east side of the yard. There was also a cow shed in this area. A wooden fence was built around the house with a gate in the front.
After the house was finished, Absalom Autrey went to New Orleans to buy furniture. The bought two four-poster beds, a marble topped sideboard and a bureau. The furniture was shipped by water to Monroe then hauled to the new house by ox wagons.
Absalom Autrey was a large land owner in Union Parish. In addition to the land where the house was built, he bought 320 acres on 4 August, 1851, 159.5 acres in March 1852, 60 acres on 14 January, 1854. he also purchased 79.91 acres in Jackson Parish in March, 1861.
There was no church near the Autrey house. Church was held in the homes. The Autrey house was often used as a place of worship. Some of the families lived too far to return home at night, so they slept in their wagons, or on pallets on the floor of the Autrey home.
In 1852 Joseph N. Wiley, Harriett Autrey's husband, died. He was the first person to be buried in the Autrey family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home. His grave is unmarked.
The Autrey Schoolhouse was built west of the house across the road. In 1860 James Jackson Autrey was the teacher at this school. The schoolhouse was also used as a place of worship.
On 23 July 1860 Elizabeth Autrey came to journey's end and was buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery behind their log home.
The Autrey family members undoubtedly believed in states rights because all eight of the Autrey sons who were old enough, enlisted in the Confederate Army. James Jackson, Robert Martin, Cornelius and Syria joined in 1861. John M. enlisted in 1862 and Thomas Jefferson and William Norris in 1863. Bird Griffin enlisted in 1864. Only six sons returned home in 1865. James Jackson Autrey died of an unknown disease in August 1863 at Mt. Jackson, Virginia. Syria Autrey was wounded in Richmond, Virginia. He died 17 January 1864 from blood poisoning caused by a hand wound.
The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1861 taxing the landholders of every state for the cost of the war. The assessments were made in 1864 and the tax was not collected until 1865. The penalty for nonpayment was the confiscation of the property. At that time American dollars were almost nonexistent in southern households and the people were disenfranchised and could neither vote or hold office. The taxes assessed the family members were as follows: Absalom Autrey, $3.77; John Autrey, $1.49; William Autrey, $2.27; John B. L. Mitchell, $1.96; S. M. Fuller, $2.59 and William J. Field, $.47.
Undoubtedly, the Autrey family had many Confederate dollars on hand at the end of the conflict. One of Absalom's grandchildren, Dewey (Autrey) Harris, recalled playing with Confederate dollars that were kept in a bureau in the bedroom of the Autrey home.
Absalom Autrey married Kezia McCalla after Elizabeth's death. No children were born of this union. She died 25 September, 1879 in Dubach, Louisiana. Absalom Autrey died 14 February 1885. They were buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home.
References/Contacts for The Early Autrey Family
Absalom Autrey Bible (have copy)
Autrey Bulletin #8, Pages 10, 11, 112, 13, 14 - Vicki (Herren) Autrey (Alabama Association)
Civil War Tax in Louisiana 1865 - McCall & McBride
Estate of Richard Baker Norris, Alabama State Archives
Estate of Thomas Norris, Alabama State Archives
Farley, Willie (now deceased)
Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery, Plantersville, Alabama
Harris, Dewey (Autrey) (now deceased)
Hawkins, Sam
Henry Cemetery, Hico, Louisiana
Hopkins County, Kentucky, Deed Book 7, Pages 217-218
Hopkins County, Kentucky, Will Book of 1826
Jackson Parish, Louisiana Record of Patents, Volume II, Page 131
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book B, Pages 417,418
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book EE, Pages 196
Meet Our Ancestors - V. Mayo Bundy (have copies of his books)
Norris Book - Mrs. Walter Frank & Bettye Green
Perry County, Alabama 1840 U.S. Census
Perry County, Alabama Marriages
Perry County, Alabama Record Book of 1826, Page 355
Perry County, Alabama, Deed Book C, Pages 109, 110
Perry County, Alabama Minutes Orphan's Court, Book C, Page 187
Pioneer America, Volume XIV, #3 - Ruth (Childress) Murray
Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers & Commands, Volume I
Andrew Booth
Ruston Daily Leader, June 28, 1976
Union Parish, Louisiana 1850, 1860 U.S. Census
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book D, Pages 480, 481
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book F, Page 49
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book H, Pages 137, 138
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book N, Pages, 246, 313, 312, 417-422."
1The Descendents of Cornielus Autrey. "
Page 30
Absalom Autrey owned 152 acres of land by the Coosa River at Greensport, Alabama. on 26 May I 824 he deeded this land to three of his sons: James, Enoch and George. Also, he gave these same three Sons his furniture, rifles and livestock,
Absalom Autrey and his wife are listed on the 1830 St. Clair County U.S. Census as being between the ages of 80 and 90 years. Their sons, George and James, were living in the next households.
From the story passed down in the family, Absalom Autrey died at the age of 98, the night the “stars fell in Alabama”. On 13 November 1833 there was a large meteor shower that could be seen from all parts of eastern North America. If this was the date of’ Absalom Autrey’s death, he was 93 years old at the time. Absalom Autrey was buried near Greensport, Alabama. Greensport is within two or three miles of the land that Absalom had willed to his sons,
Absalom Autrey patented 159.19 acres of land on 5 January 1849 through Military Warrant #17 163. It was on this property that Absalom and his sons built a log house.
Absalom Autrey was a large land owner in Union Parish. In addition to the land where the house was built, he bought 320 acres on 4 August 1851, 159.5 acres in March 1852,40 acres on 14 January 1854. lie also purchased 79.91 acres in Jackson Parish in March 1861.
There was no church near the Autrey home. Church was held in the homes. The Autrey house was often used as a place of worship. Some of the families lived too far to return home at night, so they slept in their wagons, or on pallets on the floor of the Autrey home.
In 1852 Joseph N. Wiley, Harriet Autrey’s husband, died. He was the first person to be buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home, His grave is unmarked.
Absalom Autrey’s father-in-law, Thomas Norris, died in November 1826. At the estate sale, Absalom bought a yoke of steers, six cows and calves, ten head of cattle, five sheep and one bay horse for a total of $239.50.
The Autreys were Primitive Baptists. T hey were members of the Fellowship Baptist Church, which was located about two miles from their home, in the village of Morrowvillc. In 1990 the only evidence of the little town is the church and the cemetery. The church is located in the Talladega National Forest on Alabama State Highway 37. Other families living in the neighborhood and attending the Fellowship Baptist Church in the 1830’s and 1840’s were the Mitchell, Reedy, Martin, Morrow, McGee, Norris, Stokes and Pierson. It is thought that Reverend Robert Martin was the pastor of this church, Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey named a son for the preacher in 1840.
The U.S. Congress passed a law taxing landholders for the support of the Civil War. Absalom’s tax was $3.77.
The Autrey Schoolhouse was built west of the house across the road. In 1860 James Jackson Autrey was the teacher at this school. The schoolhouse was also used as a place of worship.
The Desendents of Cornielus Autrey" Page 31
On 23 July 1860 Elizabeth Norris Autrey came to journey’s end and was buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery behind their log home.
Absalom Autrey married Kezia MeCalla after Elizabeth’s death. No CHILDREN were born of this union. She died 25 September 1878 in Dubach, Louisiana. Absalom Autrey died 14 February 1885. They were buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home.
Absalom was living with his son Charlie Henry in 1880 Louisiana, Lincoln Parish
census. Lincoln Parish was formed in 1873.
An article in the California Guardin2 dated July 10, 1878 stated that Absalom had
over 170 descendants.’3
Jeanne and Jo have a book that details this family you will want to get. We are only listing Absalom and Elizabeth’s CHILDREN and grandCHILDREN. V.M.B.
ABSALOM AUTREY HOUSE.".
1By Jeanne Duff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey, Book Title Absalom and Elizabeth (Norris) Autrey and Their Descendents, Chapter II Section on Absalom Autrey Born 1802 and Wife Elizabeth Norris Autrey. "Pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.". " Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Their Descendants, With a Section on Thomas Norris
by Jeanne McDuff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey
Chapter II
Pages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9::
Absalom Autrey was born 11 August 1802 in North Carolina. He was the son of Cornelius Autrey and the grandson of Absalom and Naomi Lucy Camp Autrey.
He moved with his parents to the north eastern part of the Mississippi Territory before he was ten years old. This was the section that later became Calhoun and St. Clair Counties, Alabama. By the early 1820’s this family had migrated to Perry County, Alabama.
A marriage license was issued to Absalom Autrey and Miss Elizabeth Norris on 11 January 1825 in Perry County, Alabama. On 22 February 1825 Absalom Autrey was married to Elizabeth Norris, daughter of Thomas and Celia (Teer) Norris, by Enoch Hays, Minister of the Gospel, in Perry County, Alabama. She was born 15 January 1810 in western Kentucky. Elizabeth Norris’ family is recorded in Chapter XVIII.
After Absalom and Elizabeth’s marriage, their family began grow at a steady rate. Fifteen children were born between 1827 and 1850: Sarah E., John Mabe, Lucinda, Harriet, Elizabeth Jane, William Norris, Cornelius, James Jackson, Celia J., Robert Martin, Syria, Martha Ann, Thomas Jefferson, Bird Griffin and Charles Henry. All of the children were born in Perry County, Alabama except Charlie Henry Autrey. He was born in Union Parish, Louisiana.
Absalom Autrey’s father –in-law, Thomas Norris, died in November, 1826. At the estate sale, Absalom bought a yoke of steers, six cows and calves, ten head of cattle, five sheep and one bay horse for a total of $239.50.
Absalom Autrey was a farmer in Perry County, Alabama. He probably was farming with Elizabeth’s brothers since Elizabeth’s father had owned land near Corinth, Alabama. This northern part of Perry County where they lived had hilly, red soil with deep ravines. Much of the land was covered with Forest. In the early days, there were many deaths from typhoid in this area.
Elizabeth Autrey's mother, Celia Norris, and her five brothers and three sisters lived within a few miles of the Autreys.
The land records of North Carolina and Alabama show that the Autreys had been land owners and farmers since they arrived in America. Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey bought 160.0 acres of land from Anthony Wayne and Mary Norris, brother of Elizabeth, on 13 January 1838. It was the southwest quarter of Section 9, Township 19, Range 11 in the Cahawba District of Perry County. Today, this land is in Dallas County. The county line between the two counties was changed several times between 1819 and 1850.
The Autrey's were Primitive Baptists. They were members of the Fellowship Baptist Church, which was located about two miles from their home in the village of Morrowville. In 1990, the only evidence of the little town is the church and the cemetery. The church is located in the Talladega National Forest on Alabama State Highway 37. Other families living in the neighborhood and attending the Fellowship Baptist Church in the 1830's and 1840's were the Mitchell, Reedy, Martin, Morrow, McGee, Norris, Stokes and Pierson. It is thought that Reverend Robert Martin was the pastor of this church. Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey named a son for the preacher in 1840.
The Autreys lived only about four miles from the town of Corinth, Alabama. Corinth was renamed Plantersville in the 1850's. This was probably the reason that the family tradition relates that the family moved from Selma, Alabama, instead of Plantersville, Alabama. Selma, a larger town, was eighteen miles away.
Absalom Autrey was highly respected by his wife's family. Elizabeth Autrey's aunt, Betsy (Teer) Baker, lived with Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey after her husband, Richard Baker, died in 1826, She had no children, and had moved from Kentucky to Alabama to be near her relatives. In 1834 Betsy Baker appointed Absalom Autrey her power of Attorney for the purpose of selling her property and collecting some debts in Hopkins County, Kentucky. Betsy Baker lived with Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey until her death in 1835. She left a slave girl in their care.
Absalom Autrey was appointed the Administrator of the estate of Richard Baker Norris. Richard Norris, Elizabeth's brother, had died in 1840 in Perry County, Alabama, at the age of 25. He left a wife and two small children.
In the mid-1800's, cheap land was available from the federal government in Louisiana. Two of Elizabeth's brothers, Thomas W. Norris and John Jackson Norris, had moved to Union Parish, Louisiana in 1847. Soon other family members including Absalom Autrey and family and neighbors began to make plans to migrate west to take advantage of this land opportunity. They loaded their possessions and provisions into ox drawn covered wagons. There was room for very little furniture. The mantel clock, which is still in possession of a family member was placed between two feather beds. The farm animals followed the wagons.
In the fall of 1847, these family members made the journey from Alabama to Louisiana: Elizabeth Autrey, Albert R. and Sarah (Autrey) Neighbors and their children, Elizabeth, Louise and Jane; John Brown L. and Lucinda (Autrey) Mitchell and son John Abby; Joseph N. and Harriett (Autrey) Wiley; John Mabe Autrey; Elizabeth Jane Autrey; William Norris Autrey; Cornelius Autrey; James Jackson Autrey; Celia Autrey; Robert Martin Autrey; Syria Autrey; Martha Ann Autrey; Thomas Jefferson Autrey; Bird Griffin Autrey, Celia (Teer) Norris; William Syria and Harriett Norris and their children Celia, James William Syria, Jr., Margaret Lou, Elizabeth, Absalom and Cinthia; Charles J. and Celia (Norris) Henry and their children Sarah, Celia Jane, Robert James, William J., Mary Isabella and Thomas N. Henry. There were nineteen children in the group who were ten years old or less. With so many young children making the trip, one can only imagine the perils of such a journey.
Absalom Autrey made the trip to Louisiana ahead of the other family members. After making arrangements with his brothers-in-law, John Jackson and Thomas W. Norris, in Union Parish, Louisiana, he returned to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He met the family and helped them cross the Mississippi River.
Log barges were used to cross the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. For years this hazardous experience was often remembered and related by family members. They crossed the Ouachita River at Trenton and finally arrived in the Dubach area of Union Parish, Louisiana. It had been seven weeks since they left Alabama. They arrived just before Christmas 1848. The families lived in tents until a house was built.
The foundation of the house was made from large boulders and big triangular shaped piers made from tree trunks. They constructed the double pen dogtrot house from hewn pine logs that were cut from the property. The logs were notched on the ends and held together with large, wooden pegs.
Each side of the house had a large room in front and a smaller room at the back. A ten foot passageway, or dogtrot, rant he length of the house. A door from each room opened to the passageway. A front porch was built across the entire width of the house. A stairway was constructed at the back of the dogtrot that led up a loft room. This attic room served as a bedroom for the Autrey sons.
A chimney of native ironstone was built at teach end of the house. The fireplaces in the largest rooms were used for heat as well as for cooking. The roof was made of shingles or shakes that were split with a frow.
Some of the tools that were used by the Autrey family that are in the possession of the descendants are: the frow, broad ax, hand sickle and the head lighting tool with the fire box. Other articles that were in the Absalom Autrey home that are with family members are: Elizabeth's bread tray, a large meat platter, Autrey family Bible, a bed, the sideboard and a 16 x 20 portrait of Mary Jane (Moncrief) Autrey.
There was abundant wild game in the area: deer, squirrels, ducks, geese, turkeys and rabbits. According to family traditions, more than 400 deer were killed the first year the Autreys lived in Louisiana.
There was a cellar under the front east room of the house. Vegetables, fruits, meat barrels, a grist mill, peanuts, potatoes and later home canned foods were stored in the cellar. A smokehouse, used for curing meat, was built behind the house on the east side of the yard. There was also a cow shed in this area. A wooden fence was built around the house with a gate in the front.
After the house was finished, Absalom Autrey went to New Orleans to buy furniture. The bought two four-poster beds, a marble topped sideboard and a bureau. The furniture was shipped by water to Monroe then hauled to the new house by ox wagons.
Absalom Autrey was a large land owner in Union Parish. In addition to the land where the house was built, he bought 320 acres on 4 August, 1851, 159.5 acres in March 1852, 60 acres on 14 January, 1854. he also purchased 79.91 acres in Jackson Parish in March, 1861.
There was no church near the Autrey house. Church was held in the homes. The Autrey house was often used as a place of worship. Some of the families lived too far to return home at night, so they slept in their wagons, or on pallets on the floor of the Autrey home.
In 1852 Joseph N. Wiley, Harriett Autrey's husband, died. He was the first person to be buried in the Autrey family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home. His grave is unmarked.
The Autrey Schoolhouse was built west of the house across the road. In 1860 James Jackson Autrey was the teacher at this school. The schoolhouse was also used as a place of worship.
On 23 July 1860 Elizabeth Autrey came to journey's end and was buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery behind their log home.
The Autrey family members undoubtedly believed in states rights because all eight of the Autrey sons who were old enough, enlisted in the Confederate Army. James Jackson, Robert Martin, Cornelius and Syria joined in 1861. John M. enlisted in 1862 and Thomas Jefferson and William Norris in 1863. Bird Griffin enlisted in 1864. Only six sons returned home in 1865. James Jackson Autrey died of an unknown disease in August 1863 at Mt. Jackson, Virginia. Syria Autrey was wounded in Richmond, Virginia. He died 17 January 1864 from blood poisoning caused by a hand wound.
The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1861 taxing the landholders of every state for the cost of the war. The assessments were made in 1864 and the tax was not collected until 1865. The penalty for nonpayment was the confiscation of the property. At that time American dollars were almost nonexistent in southern households and the people were disenfranchised and could neither vote or hold office. The taxes assessed the family members were as follows: Absalom Autrey, $3.77; John Autrey, $1.49; William Autrey, $2.27; John B. L. Mitchell, $1.96; S. M. Fuller, $2.59 and William J. Field, $.47.
Undoubtedly, the Autrey family had many Confederate dollars on hand at the end of the conflict. One of Absalom's grandchildren, Dewey (Autrey) Harris, recalled playing with Confederate dollars that were kept in a bureau in the bedroom of the Autrey home.
Absalom Autrey married Kezia McCalla after Elizabeth's death. No children were born of this union. She died 25 September, 1879 in Dubach, Louisiana. Absalom Autrey died 14 February 1885. They were buried in the Autrey Family Cemetery located behind the Autrey home.
References/Contacts for The Early Autrey Family
Absalom Autrey Bible (have copy)
Autrey Bulletin #8, Pages 10, 11, 112, 13, 14 - Vicki (Herren) Autrey (Alabama Association)
Civil War Tax in Louisiana 1865 - McCall & McBride
Estate of Richard Baker Norris, Alabama State Archives
Estate of Thomas Norris, Alabama State Archives
Farley, Willie (now deceased)
Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery, Plantersville, Alabama
Harris, Dewey (Autrey) (now deceased)
Hawkins, Sam
Henry Cemetery, Hico, Louisiana
Hopkins County, Kentucky, Deed Book 7, Pages 217-218
Hopkins County, Kentucky, Will Book of 1826
Jackson Parish, Louisiana Record of Patents, Volume II, Page 131
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book B, Pages 417,418
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book EE, Pages 196
Meet Our Ancestors - V. Mayo Bundy (have copies of his books)
Norris Book - Mrs. Walter Frank & Bettye Green
Perry County, Alabama 1840 U.S. Census
Perry County, Alabama Marriages
Perry County, Alabama Record Book of 1826, Page 355
Perry County, Alabama, Deed Book C, Pages 109, 110
Perry County, Alabama Minutes Orphan's Court, Book C, Page 187
Pioneer America, Volume XIV, #3 - Ruth (Childress) Murray
Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers & Commands, Volume I
Andrew Booth
Ruston Daily Leader, June 28, 1976
Union Parish, Louisiana 1850, 1860 U.S. Census
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book D, Pages 480, 481
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book F, Page 49
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book H, Pages 137, 138
Union Parish, Louisiana, Deed Book N, Pages, 246, 313, 312, 417-422."