Several years earlier the Fuqua family of Covington County was introduced in this column, and the earliest generations from France to Virginia and on south were presented last week. That writing ended with an identification of the children of Absalom and Tabitha (Barrow) Fuqua. However, one of their sons, Andrew Jackson, who was born ca 1855, was missed in that listing. Tabitha was residing in his household in Holmes County, Florida, in 1880. Today, many of Absalom and Tabitha’s later descendants will be outlined.

Their oldest son, William Wesley Fuqua, was married to his first cousin, Nancy Caroline Archileus or Archillus, daughter of Charley and Mary “Polly” (Barrow) Archileus. Mary was a sister to Tabitha (Barrow) Fuqua, and they are believed to have been the daughters of John and Elizabeth Barrow. Tabitha and Mary have been reported to be of Cherokee Indian descent. Considerable research has been done to document this, but significant records are limited. It is interesting that a land deed in Covington County during the 1800’s list William Wesley Fuqua’s wife as his squaw.

Charles R. Archileus was a native of Pennsylvania, and one researcher claims he was of Dutch and Delaware Indian extraction. He was married to Mary “Polly” Barrow circa 1825 in Florida. They were residing in Covington county only four houses away from Absalom and Tabitha (Barrow) Fuqua in 1830. Charles owned one slave at that time. The Fuquas had moved back to Oak Grove, Florida, by 1840, and they lived between the family of John Barrow and Jesse Senterfitt, who was a step brother to John Barrow. The Archileus family was enumerated in Pike County in 1840, but they had returned to Covington County by 1850.

In 1855, Charley Archileus acquired 80.04 acres of land in the Montezuma Township, which was next to 40.02 acres purchased in 1856 by his son-in-law, William Wesley Fuqua. William W. also homesteaded 80.04 acres in same area in 1870. Charley chose an ideal site where Coker Mill Creek forked, and he probably operated a gristmill at that location. Charley died sometime after 1867, but his place of burial is not known. He was probably was buried in the Jordan Cemetery, located off Brooklyn Road and in the community where he lived.

William Wesley Fuqua and wife, Nancy Caroline (Archileus) lived near her father, Charley. William and Charley were both listed as registered voters in Covington County in 1867. William had rendered service during the War Between the States. He served as a private in Brady’s Company, Covington County Reserves. He was a county guard and was sent to Camp Watts for a few days. After being discharged from there, he was conscripted and sent to Mobile where he served for 15 days. On July 3, 1896, his application for a Confederate pension was approved. After his death on July 8, 1898, his widow, Caroline Fuqua, applied on July 16, 1900, for assistance from his service.

While their burial site is not known, there is some speculation that they would have been buried in the Jordan Cemetery, which was located near where they lived. There are several unmarked graves located adjacent to a headstone only indicating Mr. Fuqua and Mrs. Fuqua and one for a Hulda Fuqua. Someone has suggested that the Fuqua couple is probably Edward Fuqua, son of William Wesley, and his wife, but another idea is that it might be William Wesley and Nancy Caroline Fuqua.

William Wesley and Caroline Fuqua reared the following children in Covington County: Martha Ann, b. 1859, d. 1930, m. Henry Joseph Rabren; Edward, b. 1861, m. Evelyn ?; John, b. 1863, d. 1953, m. Evie Eveline or Evelyn Wishum (1869-1946); Mary Magdalene “Maggie,” b. 1866, d. 1955, m. Daniel Damascus Rabren; James Alexander “Jim,” b. 1869, d. 1948, m. Ella Jones; and Elizabeth D., b. 1871, m. Ed Smith.

William W.’s brother, Henry Moton Fuqua, was born in 1834 in Santa Rosa County. He also served in the War Between the States. In 1869 when he was 34 years old, he married Sarah Elizabeth Arwood King, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Matilda (Adkinson) King. Henry died in Escambia, Alabama, in 1917 at the age of 82. He and Sarah had the following children: John Wesley, b. 1870, d. 1953; Mourisa, b. 1871; Margarita A., b. 1873; Harrison, b. 1875; John Lee, b. 1877; James William, b. 1879; Mary A, b. 1883; Charles, b. 1885; Sarah Ann, b. 1885, d. 1952; and Henry Newton, b. 1887.

The next brother, John Fuqua, was born in 1837 in Florida. He died in Brewton in 1921 at the age of 86 and was buried in the Bradley Cemetery. He and his first wife, Esther, had the following six children: Jackson, b. ca 1855; William, b. 1859; Isaac H., b. 1862, d. 1946; Nancy, b. ca 1864; John Moton, b. ca 1866; and Rebecca, b. ca 1870. Esther died at 51, and then John married next to Roxie Susan King, daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Matilda (Adkinson) King. They had two children, John T., b. 1884, d. 1974; and Joe, b. 1885.

The next brother, James F. Fuqua, was born in 1835 in Walton County Florida. He was a Confederate Veteran of the War Between the States. He died at 82 and was buried in Brewton in the Fuqua Cemetery. When he was 34, James was married to Elizabeth “Babe” Haveard, daughter of Charles and Sabra (Goff) Haveard. They reared the following children: Sabra Alabama, b. 1871, d. 1947; James L. “Jimmie,” b. ca 1873; Thomas Charles, b. 1873, d. 1949; Joseph Grant, b. 1875; John William, b. 1877, d. 1971; Andrew, b. 1877, d. 1951; Henry, b. 1880; Doctor “Dock” Judge, b. 1882, d. 1964; Florida F., b. 1884, d. 1956; Nancy Ida, b. 1888, d. 1970; Albert, b. 1889; Edd Burton, b. 1890, d. 1935; and Sam, b. 1893.

The next brother, Reuben Fuqua, was born in 1841 in Conecuh County. He died at the age of 91 years in 1932 and was buried in the Fuqua Cemetery in Brewton. He married Lottie Cincinnati Adkinson, daughter of Britton Tryon Jr. and Mary (Payne) Adkinson. Lottie was born in 1849 in Coffee County and died in 1898 in Escambia County. They had the following 12 children: Mary, b. 1872; Jefferson “Jeffey,” b. 1875, d. 1916; Celia D., b. 1877, d. 1947; Joseph B., b. 1879, d. 1939; Julia, b. 1881; Lawrence Benjamin, b. 1883, d. 1971; Dennis, b. 1884; Kenneth G., b. 1885, d. 1952; Reuben A., b. 1887, d. 1928; Obby, b. 1890, d. 1935; Nellie, b. 1892, d. 1937; and Walter L., b. 1891, d. 1969.

The next brother, George Fuqua, was born in 1843 and died before 1870. His wife, Elizabeth was born in 1846 in Alabama. They had three children before his untimely death: Lizzy, b. 1861; George, b. 1863; and Thomas, b. 1868.

The youngest daughter, Mary Pollyanna Fuqua, was born in 1848 in Conecuh County and died in Louisiana in 1904 at 55 years of age. She was married in 1867 to William Henry Barneycastle in Conecuh County. They had the following children: Olive, b. 1868; Mary Florida, b. 1871, d. 1951; James Henry, b. 1874, d. 1910; William Thomas, b. 1875; Elzie K., b. 1879, d. 1945; John Curtis, b. 1882, d. 1962; Martha Jane, b. 1885, d. 1962; Sarah Delanie, b. 1887; and Malcolm Malachi, b. 1891, d. 1961.

Information is readily available on the other siblings in this family. The majority of these descendants tended to reside in Escambia County Alabama, Conecuh and Covington Counties and in Florida near the Alabama line. Many of them continue to live in these areas. The James F. Fuqua family had an annual family reunion in October about four miles northeast of Brewton to which the children of his siblings are also invited.

The primary source for this writing was Fuqua records compiled by Barbara Martin, a descendant of James A. Fuqua, who resides in Baker, Florida. Some records were also gleaned from Wyley Ward’s “Early History of Covington County, 1821-1871” and his “Original Land Sales and Grants in Covington County, Alabama.”

Anyone who might have corrections to the above or additional information on the Fuqua or any allied families is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; call 334-222-6467; or e-mail: cthomasson@centurytel.net.