Samuel Blackburn Marks

Samuel Blackburn Marks

• Father: William Mathews Marks b. 1 February 1807, d. 28 August 1876
• Mother: Catherine Ann Crain b. 18 September 1809, d. 18 November 1895

• Samuel Blackburn Marks was born on 7 April 1844 in Montgomery County, Alabama.
• William Mathews Marks and Catherine Ann Crain appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1850 in Montgomery, Alabama. Other members of the household included Samuel Blackburn Marks, James Marks, Mary Louise Marks, Spencer Crain Marks and Elizabeth Thornton Marks.
• He married Martha Means circa 1869.
• He married Laura Lewis James, daughter of Lorenzo James and Eliza Ann Wortham Scott, say 1873.
• Samuel Blackburn Marks and Laura Lewis James appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1900 in Montgomery, Alabama, at 305 Catoma Street and one male servant.. Other members of the household included Ellen Scott Marks, Charles Lewis Marks and Henry Churchill Marks.
• He was a farmer, according to the 1900 census.
• Samuel Blackburn Marks and Laura Lewis James appeared in the US federal census of 1 January 1920 in Montgomery, Alabama, at 305 Catoma Street. Other members of the household included Henry Churchill Marks, Sallie Watkins Wood and Hugh Marks.
• Samuel Blackburn Marks died on 28 November 1921 at age 77 in Montgomery County, Alabama.
• He was interred at Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama.
• The following appeared on 30 November 1921 in The Montgomery Advertiser: The remains of Samuel B. Marks, for more than half a century am admired and influential figure in the life of Montgomery, were laid to rest in Oakwood cemetery Tuesday afternoon after impressive services at the home on Catoma street which he had occupied for fifty years. The large crowd which attended the services was noticeable by reason of the fact that it contained representatives of the families of the earliest settlers of Montgomery county. /P/ Mr. Marks, who died at the age of 77, was a conmecting link between the early planters, who came from Virginia and settled near Pike Road before the city of Montgomery had been established. Except for the years he spent in the Confederate army, Mr. Marks had lived continuously in Montgomery county and his family connection included nearly all the planter families who came to Montgomery previous to 1825. /P/ At the sevices Monday there were two of the four surviving members of the famous Cadet Company of boy soldiers which left the University of Alabama in 1863 and which later became the bodyguard of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. With Mr. Mark's death, only four members of the company now live, Captain George W. Halls, William B. Whiting, A. P. Tyson and John Metcalf. The total enrollment of the company was 125. /P/ Mr. Marks' continued interest and service for the Montgomery Library was recognised by the presence of the members of the board of trustees of the library as honorary pall bearers. The culture for which Mr. Marks was noted found an expression in sympathy for and service for the library. It was said of him that his wide store of information and his accurate scholarship was only equalled by an instinctive and considerate courtesy towards everybody. He was regarded as one of the last of the personages who brought down to the present the love of learning and the politeness which characterized the slave holding classes of the Old South. /P/ He had lived unostentatiously and apart from the strife and controversies of modern life. Yet in the management and the increases of a large estate, he was looked upon as a remarkably intelligent and efficient man of business. And, notwithstanding his preoccupation in cultural affairs, he never lived aloof from mankind, but took a keen daily interest in the daily affairs of his people, his city and his state. /P/ The beautiful funeral services at the house were conducted by Rev. Richard Wilkinson of St. John's church. The pall bearers were: Honorary, B. P. Crum, Ray Rushton, C. P. McIntyre, Robert Ligon, Bernard Lobman and T. Sheehan. /P/ Active, William Marks, Col. J. M. Williams, W. C. Holt, W. A. Gunter, Jr., Dr. J. L. Gaston and Dr. C. T. Pollard.
• A biographical sketch was published in Thomas McAdory Owen's 1921 History of Alabama and' Dictionary of Alabama Biography:
       MARKS, SAMUEL BLACKBURN, planter and capitalist, was bom in Montgomery County, April 7, 1844; son of William Mathews and Catherine Ann (Crain) Marks, and brother of Spencer Crain Marks (q.v.) Mr. Marks received his early education in the public schools of Montgomery and was a student at the University of Alabama at the outbreak of the War of Secession. He left the University in 1863 and enlisted in Co. A., Seventh Alabama cavalry and served throughout the war as a private. He was wounded at Lowndesboro, during the Federal raid under Gen. James H. Wilson. After the war he became a planter of Montgomery County and is now a stockholder in the First national bank, the Jasper coal and coke company and numerous other business interests of the State. Married: (1) in 1868, to Martha, daughter of Robert Means, of Pointe Coupee Parish, La; (2) in 1879, to Laura Lewis, daughter of Lorenzo James (q.v.) Children: by first wife: 1. Hugh Means, planter of Montgomery County; by second wife: 2. Ellen, m. (1) Dr. Moharren Bey, of Munich and (2) L. Stafford Betty, of Montgomery; 3. Charles, planter, physician; M. D. University of Virginia; m. Priscilla, daughter of John B. and Priscilla (Tyler) Scott, of Montgomery; 4. Churchill, planter, student at Alabama polytechnic institute for two years; m. Sallie Watkins, daughter of Dr. M. L. Wood (q.v.) Residence: Montgomery.

• Last Edited: 23 Nov 2015