The Family of Mary Lou Screeton :Information about Josiah Higgins
Josiah Higgins (b. Abt. 1812, d. 12 Nov 1890)
Notes for Josiah Higgins:
Josiah Higgins' will dated 13 October 1890 and probated in Lauderdale County, Alabama, on 17 November 1890 (recorded Will Book P, Page 346) listed wife as Kate B. Higgins and children as Calvin Higgins, Katharine Parker, Martha J. Lindsey, Izillar Simons, Margaret Hairell, D. B. Higgins, Richard Higgins, and Elender E. Tune.
Quoting from MY HIGGENS ANCESTORS, by William Lindsey McDonald:
"Our Higgins family arrived at Green Hill in Lauderdale County, Alabama, in 1818.My Great Great Grandfather Alexander Higgins, being a skilled gunsmith, worked for a time at the Kennedy Gun Factory in Green Hill.David Kennedy brought this factory to Green Hill from Upper Moore County, North Carolina, in 1823.The Kennedy rifle was first introduced during the American Revolution at Philadelphia.However, David Kennedy's father moved the plant to North Carolina when the British invaded Pennsylvania.A number of skilled gunsmiths moved to Green Hill fro North Carolina with the Kennedys.I believe that our Higgins must have either lived at an earlier time in Upper Moore County, North Carolina, or they, in some fashion, had connections with the Kennedy gun makers.Dan Wallace, a Wayne County, Tennessee, antique gun authority, says that there was a "Kennedy characteristic" to the guns made by our Higgins family."
"About 1830 our Alexander and son Josiah Higgins moved from Green Hill to Waterloo in West Lauderdale County.Alexander was listed as a blacksmith in the early census records (blacksmiths, gunsmiths, silver smiths, and white smiths were trades often used interchangeably by the census taker to designate the gun maker.)According to my notes he died sometime after 1860 and is buried near Waterloo.I believe that our Alexander Higgins lies in an unmarked grave in the old Simpson/Whitten Cemetery near Second Creek."
More About Josiah Higgins:
Burial: Unknown, Simpson/Whitten Cemetery, Waterloo, Lauderdale County, Alabama.663, 664
More About Josiah Higgins and Chealty Smith:
Marriage: 4 Jan 1831, Lauderdale County, Alabama.665
More About Josiah Higgins and Catie B. Till:
Marriage: 12 Jul 1883, Lauderdale County, Alabama.666, 667
Children of Josiah Higgins and Chealty Smith are:
- +Calvin Higgins, b. 6 Oct 1831, Lauderdale County, Alabama668, 669, 670, d. 3 Aug 1905, Lauderdale County, Alabama671.
- +Catherine Higgins, b. 12 Dec 1833, Lauderdale County, Alabama672, 673, d. 10 May 1905, Panther Creek, Lauderdale County, Alabama674.
- +Martha Jane Higgins, b. 1836, Lauderdale County, Alabama675, 676, 677, d. 1888, Lauderdale County, Alabama678.
- Izillar Higgins, b. 1837, Lauderdale County, Alabama679, 680, 681, d. Bef. 1890, Arkansas682.
- Margarett Higgins, b. 1841, Lauderdale County, Alabama683, 684, 685, 686, d. Aft. 1920687.
- Zechariah Taylor Higgins, b. 1843, Lauderdale County, Alabama688, 689, 690, d. Bef. 1890, Alabama691.
- +Dock Bedford Higgins, b. 21 Oct 1844, Lauderdale County, Alabama692, 693, 694, 695, d. 11 Mar 1917, Lauderdale County, Alabama696, 697, 698.
- +Richard Higgins, b. 3 Oct 1848, Lauderdale County, Alabama699, 700, 701, 702, d. 9 Feb 1919, Lauderdale County, Alabama703, 704.
- Ellender Elizabeth Higgins, b. 15 Jan 1850, Lauderdale County, Alabama705, 706, 707, d. 20 Apr 1898, Lauderdale County, Alabama708, 709.
- Charlie Higgins, d. date unknown.