52 Cousins~ John Rufus Eddins

The “52 Cousins” series of biographical sketches are Artificial Intelligence (AI) compiled narratives of selected individuals from my Genealogical database.  The selected AI will used documents and data from my RootsMagic Genealogical Software. All genealogical data is my research material acquired over the past 46+ years of research. Today's Biography of John Rufus Eddins (1837-1921) was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 4 and is entitled:

"John Rufus Eddins"

1837 – 1921

Wilcox County, Alabama  •  Falls County, Texas

 

Overview

John Rufus Eddins was born on 15 November 1837 in Wilcox County, Alabama — a rural, heavily forested corner of the Deep South where cotton was king and small farming families carved out a living from the rich Black Belt soil. He lived through one of the most turbulent eras in American history: the antebellum South, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the long transition into the early twentieth century. A farmer for virtually his entire working life, John married young, raised a large family, survived imprisonment as a Confederate soldier, and eventually followed his children westward to Texas, where he spent his final decades. He died peacefully in December 1921 at the remarkable age of 84, remembered by his community as a pioneer and a man of steady, quiet vitality.

Parents and Early Life

John was the son of William Riley Eddins (born 1793 in South Carolina, died 1878) and Nancy Manning (born 1810 in North Carolina, died 1840). His father William was already 44 years old when John was born — a seasoned farmer who had made his way from South Carolina to Alabama, part of the great migration of settlers who flooded into the newly opened lands of the Deep South in the early 1800s. Sadly, John's mother Nancy died in 1840, when he was only about three years old, leaving William to raise the family without her.

The 1850 census captures a snapshot of the Eddins household in Wilcox County when John was about 13 years old. Living under William's roof were several siblings: Abner W. (age 23), James R. (age 19), Francis M. (age 9), Riley H. (age 5), Amanda (age 3), Davis (age 1), and Christianna (age 19). It was a full and lively house — a frontier farming family navigating life in the American South in the years just before the Civil War would tear everything apart.

Alabama in the 1830s and 1840s was still in many ways a frontier state. Wilcox County, situated in the heart of the Black Belt region, had been organized just a generation earlier in 1819 — the same year Alabama achieved statehood. The economy revolved around cotton cultivation, and the landscape was dotted with farms large and small. For the Eddins family, like most white Southern farmers of modest means, life meant hard work, close community ties, and deep roots in the land.

Starting Out: Land and Property

By the time he was 20, John was already making moves to establish himself. On 3 December 1857, James T. Eddins, A.W. Eddins, and wife, Christianna Eddins sold him a parcel of land in Wilcox County for $350. The deed conveyed the SE¼ of SW¼ and SW¼ of NW¼ of Section 15, Township 10, Range 11, recorded in Deed Book "N", page 487. That $350 was no small sum in 1857 — roughly equivalent to several thousand dollars today — and it speaks to a young man with serious intentions and enough savings or credit to buy land outright from his own family.

This land purchase came just two years before his marriage, suggesting John was deliberately setting himself up for the next chapter of his life. It also reflects a common pattern of the era: land within extended families changing hands as younger generations established their own households, keeping the community and the acres close together.

Marriage and Family

Emeline Lucretia Beard (1842–1916)

On 12 January 1860, John married Emeline Lucretia Beard in Camden, the county seat of Wilcox County. She was 17 and he was 22. Emeline (also spelled Emaline in various records) was born in Alabama in April 1842 and would prove to be a steadfast partner through the upheavals that followed. Their marriage lasted 56 years, until Emeline's death in 1916, five years before John's own passing.

Together they had nine children, though not all survived childhood — a heartbreaking but commonplace reality of nineteenth-century family life. Their children were:

• Baby Boy Eddins (1861–1861) — an infant son lost in his first year, almost certainly in the turmoil of the Civil War's opening months.

• Abner William Eddins (1866–1942) — born after the war, Abner lived a long life of 76 years.

• Leonidas Polk Eddins (1869–1942) — named perhaps in honor of Confederate General Leonidas Polk, killed in the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.

• Marcus Elbert "Pink" Eddins (1872–1938)

• Kate Eliza "Pinke Lou" Eddins (1874–1944) — who later married Frank Anding and settled in Falls County, Texas.

• Charles Floyd Eddins (1875–1940) — who would later become John's caretaker in old age, with John living in Charles's home in Marlin, Texas, as recorded in the 1920 census.

• Curtis Ramsey Eddins (1878–1949)

• Baby Girl Eddins (1880–1880) — another infant lost, this time in the difficult post-Reconstruction years.

• Claude C. Eddins (1882–1882) — a third child who did not survive infancy.

The 1900 census notes that Emeline had borne 8 children and 6 were still living — a testament to both the size of the family and the sorrows they carried. By 1910, after another decade, the count had risen to 9 children total, reflecting what was likely little Claude, the last baby.

The Civil War: Soldier and Prisoner

Just months after his marriage and only a year after buying his land, the world John Eddins had been building was turned upside down. When the Civil War broke out in April 1861, Alabama quickly seceded and began raising troops. John enlisted in the Confederate Army and was mustered into Company H of the 17th Alabama Infantry Regiment — recorded as "Jno R Eddins" on the muster rolls dated 25 September 1861. He held the rank of Corporal.

The 17th Alabama Infantry was a fighting unit from the very beginning of the war. Organized in the summer of 1861, the regiment saw action in some of the conflict's most brutal campaigns across the Western Theater, including operations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia. For four years, John served as the war ground on and the casualties mounted on both sides.

On 20 July 1864, John was captured near Atlanta, Georgia. This was during the Atlanta Campaign — General William Sherman's relentless push toward Atlanta, one of the most significant Union offensives of the entire war. Atlanta was a crucial Confederate railroad hub and industrial center, and its defense was fiercely contested. John's capture came just days before Sherman's forces finally encircled the city; Atlanta fell on 2 September 1864, a blow that many historians credit with ensuring Abraham Lincoln's re-election that November.

As a prisoner of war, John was transported all the way to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois — one of the Union's largest and most notorious POW camps. Camp Douglas held tens of thousands of Confederate prisoners over the course of the war. Conditions there were grim: overcrowding, inadequate food and shelter, brutal winters for men accustomed to the Deep South, and rampant disease. An estimated 4,000 or more prisoners died at Camp Douglas, earning it a dark reputation in Southern memory. That John survived his imprisonment — and lived to age 84 — was no small feat.

He was also present early enough in the war to have witnessed the land he and Emeline had worked slipping through their fingers. On 31 October 1861, just weeks after mustering in, John and Emeline sold their Wilcox County land to one Hamblinton Johnston for $1,200 — more than three times what John had paid for it four years earlier. Whatever the reason for the sale — the uncertainty of wartime, a need for cash, or simply practicality — it marked the end of their first attempt at putting down permanent roots.

Reconstruction and Rebuilding

When the war ended in April 1865, John would have made his way back to Wilcox County, Alabama, to Emeline and whatever remained of their life together. The Reconstruction era (1865–1877) was an extraordinarily difficult time for the white rural South. The old agricultural order had collapsed with the end of slavery, labor arrangements were in flux, and economic depression settled over the region for years. Cotton prices fluctuated wildly, and small farmers struggled to stay afloat.

Despite everything, John and Emeline rebuilt. By the time of the 1880 census, they were living in Pine Apple, Wilcox County, with five children at home: Abner (13), Leonidas (10), Marcus (8), Kate (6), Charles (5), and baby Ramsey (1). John, now 42, listed his occupation as Farmer. A woman named Masuira White, age 26, also lived with the household — likely a domestic helper or farmhand's family member. The family had survived the war, survived Reconstruction, and was once again putting down roots in familiar Alabama soil.

The post-war South was slowly changing. Sharecropping and tenant farming had replaced the plantation system for many, while railroads began stitching the region together and opening up new possibilities. It was in this environment that John and Emeline began to think about the future — not just in Alabama, but perhaps farther afield.

A New Chapter: Texas

Sometime around 1880 — the same year as the last Alabama census record — John and Emeline made the significant decision to move the family to Texas. His obituary states that he "had resided in Falls County since 1880, coming to Texas in that year from Conecah County, Ala." (Conecah County borders Wilcox County to the south, suggesting the family may have spent time there before departing.) In Texas, John purchased a home on Blue Ridge in Falls County, and it is there that he would spend the final four decades of his life.

The move to Texas was part of a larger wave of migration in the late nineteenth century. Texas was growing rapidly — Reconstruction had ended, railroads were expanding, and land in central Texas was relatively affordable compared to the worn-out soils of the older Southern states. Falls County, situated along the Brazos River in central Texas, was prime farming country, and many former Alabamians and other Southerners were settling there.

By the time of the 1900 census, John and Emeline were living in Justice Precinct 2, Falls County, with their adult sons Charles (24) and Ramsey (21) still at home, along with daughter Katie (who appears to have been counted as age 2 — likely a recording error given she was born in 1874). John was 62 years old and still working as a farmer. The census notes the couple had been married 40 years.

A decade later, the 1910 census finds them in Justice Precinct 1, Falls County, still farming. John was 71 and Emeline 68, having marked 50 years of marriage. Six of their nine children were still living.

Emeline died in 1916, after more than half a century beside her husband. John was 78 years old. In his final years, John moved to Marlin — the county seat of Falls County — to live with his son Charles and Charles's wife Phoebe. The 1920 census shows him there, listed as "Father," age 82, in Charles's household along with grandchildren Susie (18), John (15), and Percival (11).

Death and Legacy

John Rufus Eddins died on the night of Tuesday, 21 December 1921, in Marlin, Falls County, Texas. He was 84 years old. His obituary in The Rosebud News, published 30 December 1921, captured the gentle manner of his passing:

"At the advanced age of 84 years the end came to the life of John R. Eddins during the night of Tuesday, the hour no one definitely knows, as life was extinct Wednesday morning when a member of the family went to his room to wake him. Mr. Eddins was in a bright and cheerful mood Tuesday night and chatted with the family and a friend until his usual bedtime, retiring in apparently as good health as he has had in some time. Due to decrepitude of age, he had not been active for several years, but his remarkable vitality was evident until the last."

He was buried on 22 December 1921 at Stranger Cemetery in Stranger, Falls County, Texas — a small rural community just outside Marlin. His wife Emeline rests beside him there. His daughter, Mrs. Frank Anding (Kate Eliza Eddins), was living nearby in Falls County at the time of his death.

John Rufus Eddins was a man shaped by extraordinary times. He was born into a slave-holding Southern society, survived the catastrophic Civil War as both a soldier and a prisoner, rebuilt his life through the hard years of Reconstruction, uprooted his family for a new beginning in Texas, and quietly outlived most of his generation. The obituary called him a "pioneer" — and in both the literal and figurative sense, he was. A farmer to the end, a husband for 56 years, and a father of nine, his life traced the arc of an entire era in American history.

 

Quick Reference: Key Dates

15 November 1837 — Born, Wilcox County, Alabama

3 December 1857 — Purchased land in Wilcox County for $350

12 January 1860 — Married Emeline Lucretia Beard, Camden, Alabama

31 October 1861 — Sold Wilcox County land for $1,200

25 September 1861 — Enlisted, 17th Alabama Infantry, Company H, as Corporal

20 July 1864 — Captured near Atlanta, Georgia; sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago

c. 1880 — Family relocated to Falls County, Texas; settled on Blue Ridge

1916 — Wife Emeline died after 56 years of marriage

21 December 1921 — Died, Marlin, Falls County, Texas, age 84

22 December 1921 — Buried, Stranger Cemetery, Stranger, Falls County, Texas

John Rufus Eddins is my 1st Couisn 4X Removed.

 ______________________________

1. Jno R Eddins, compiled military record (Company: H; 17th Alabama Infantry Regiment), U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Provo, Utah: www.ancestry.com), N/A.

2. 1850 U. S. Census, Wilcox County, Alabama, population schedule, Wilcox County, Alabama, ; Page: 360A (stamped); Line 31, Dwelling 218, Family 218, Househoild of Wm J. EDINGS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 3 May 2022); citing  National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 16.

3. Land Deed - James T. Eddins and A.W. Eddins and Christianna Eddins  to John R. Eddins; 3 December 1857; Deed Book #"N"; Page(s) 487; Register of Deeds; Camden,  Wilcox County, Alabama; July 2024.

4. Corp. John R Eddins, compiled military record (Company H; Regiment 17 Ala. Inft), US CIVIL WAR PRISONER OF WAR RECORDS, 1861-1865, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Provo, Utah: www.ancestry.com), N/A.

5. Land Deed - John R. Eddins & Emaline L. Eddins to Hamblinton Johnston; 31 October 1861; Deed Book # "O"; page(s)183.

6. 1880 U. S. Census, Wilcox County, Alabama, population schedule, Pine Apple, Wilcox, Alabama, enumeration district (ED) #184, Page:#238A (Stamped); Line:#26, Dwelling:#456; Family:#466, Household of John EDDINS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : online July 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T9_0035.

7. 1900  U. S. Census, Fall County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct 2, Falls, Texas;, enumeration district (ED) #18, Page:#94B (Stamped); Line:#90, Dwelling:#140; Family:#140, Household of  John EDDINS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online July 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T623, Roll 1634.

8. 1910  U. S. Census, Falls County, Texas, population schedule, Justice Precinct 1, Falls, Texas, enumeration district (ED) 45-46, Page:#61A (Stamped); Line:#39, Dwelling:#10; Family:#10, Household of John EDDINS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online July 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T624, Roll 1552.

9. 1920  U. S. Census, Falls County, Texas, population schedule, Marlin, Falls, Texas;, enumeration district (ED) #70, Page:#51B (Stamped); Line:#94, Dwelling:#64; Family:#65, Household of Charles EDDINS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online July 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T625, Roll.

10. John Rufus Eddins, death certificate #33619 (21 December 1921), Vital Records, Department of Health, Austin, Travis County, Texas.

11. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed  3 May 2022); Memorial page for John R Eddins; (15 November 1837–21 December 1921); Find a Grave memorial # 27310076, Citing Stranger Cemetery; Stranger, Falls County, Texas, USA.

12. PIONEER GONE - John Rufus Eddins obituary, The Rosebud News, Rosebud,Falls County, Texas, 30 December 1921. Courtesy of Fran Hargrove.

13. "Alabama Marriages, 1816-1942," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : online August 2024), Marriage:  John R. Eddins & Emiline L. Beard; Marriage Date: 12 Jan 1860.

14. Emeline L Eddins, Martin, Falls, Texas, USA death certificate #340 (31 December 1916).

15. 1880 U. S. Census, Wilcox County, Alabama, population schedule, Pine Apple, Wilcox, Alabama, ED #184, Page:#238A (Stamped); Line:#26, Dwelling:#456; Family:#466, Household of John EDDINS.

16. Emeline L Eddins, Martin, Falls, Texas, USA death certificate #340 (31 December 1916).

17. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Emeline Lucretia Beard Eddins (17 April 1842–31 December 1916), Memorial # 27310160.