Members of the Cade family arrived in Covington County during the late 1870s or early 1880s. They moved here from Pike County where they had settled after migrating from Georgia. The earliest ancestor of this family to be identified is James Calvin Cade who was born in 1815 in North Carolina. He was married first to Mary Thomas who was born in 1814 in Hory, Brunswick County, S.C.

Very little is known to this writer of the Cade family of the years, 1840s through 1870s, when they resided near Troy in Pike County. One member of the family served as Pike County Court House Clerk. Limited records were found of Cade men rendering service in the Confederate Army. Two of James Calvin and Mary Cade’s sons were listed. John D. Cole enlisted on March 10, 1862, at Troy and was assigned as a private to Company H, 18th Alabama Infantry Regiment. One record showed he died in 1861, but it must have been 1862. His widow, Elva Elizabeth (Wilson) Cade filed a claim for widow’s pension on July 31, 1862. John D.’s brother, Daniel F. Cade, also served in the same company as John D. He enlisted as a private at Troy, Ala., on February 15, 1862. His death date was not found.

John D. and Daniel F.’s brother-in-law, Andrew Jackson Rhodes enlisted as a private on July 29, 1861, in Company H, 28th Alabama Infantry Regiment, the same one John and Daniel were in. Another brother-in-law, John Wesley Myrick, was assigned as a private to Company E., 1st Alabama Infantry. He appears to have died toward the end of the war in 1865, and there is a record of his widow, M.J. Myrick, filing for a pension claim. There was also a John Franklin Cade who enlisted in July 1864 in Troy who was a resident of Inverness in Pike County. He was assigned to Company B, 23rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. He was about 18 years old since he was born in 1846, and he was most likely a relative of John D. and Daniel F. Cade.

James Calvin Cade’s first wife, Mary, died in Pike County in 1873, and he was married the next year in 1874 to his second wife, Rachael Elinor Richardson. Rachael was the daughter of Augustus R. Richardson (1821-1901) and Sarah Ann McMichaels (1825-1849). Augustus and Sarah Ann Richardson were both natives of Georgia and died in Pike County, Ala.

James Calvin and Mary (Thomas) Cade had the following children: James W., b. 1835, d. 1880, m. Matilda Thairre Myrick (1834-1903); Mary J. “Malsie,” b. 1836, d. 1919, m. (1) John Wesley Myrick (1834-1865) (2) John B. Myrick; Agnes A., b. 1838, d. 1900, m. Andrew Jackson Rhodes (1835-1900); John D., b. 1841, d. 1861, m. Elva Elizabeth Wilson (b. 1842); Sara Ann, b. 1845, m. 1891, m. David Johnson; Daniel F., b. 1846, m. Josephine ?; Maryan E., b. 1849; Christila Hazeltine, b. 1852, d. 1917, m. 1872 Benjamin Franklin Long (1844-1922); Elizabeth “Lizzie,” b. 1854, d. in Texas; and Mary Ann “Alice,” b. 1856, d. 1936, m. 1873 James Madison Griffith Davis (1849-1920). Alice, the youngest child was about 17 years of age when Mary died in 1873.

During the next year in 1874, James Calvin was next married to Rachel Elinor Richardson. When they married, Rachael was about 29 years of age and may have been married previously to a Mr. Jackson as that name is shown for her last name in some record. At the time of the marriage, James Calvin was already about 59 years of age. They were residing in the Beulah community of Opp in Covington County when they both appear to have died in 1884. They along with several other members of the Cade family were buried in the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery.

James Calvin and Rachel Cade had two children: Joanna, b. 1874, d. 1943, m. (1) 1891 Moses Columbus Culpepper (1872-1907) (2) Robert Zollie Brown (1867-1947); and Calvin Augusta, b. 1881, d. 1959, m. 1901 Melissa Armittie Scofield (1880-1961). Melissa was the daughter of Robert Franklin “Frank” Scofield (1855-1930) and Jane Jincie Butler (1838-1925). Jincie or Gencie was the daughter of John Rice Butler and Mary Elizabeth Sasser of the Rose Hill and Burnout communities.

Calvin Augusta and Melissa Cade reared the following six children: Unnamed infant, b.&d. 1902; Rachael Elinor, b. 1904, d. 1964, m. 1925 Herbert Hardy; Daichel, b. 1905; James Franklin “Jimmy,” b. 1907, d. 1975, m. 1932 Wilma Lee Wiggins (1912-1987); Mittie B., b. 1909, d. 1994; and Farrier, b. 1913, d. 1969. In some records, Farrier is listed as Farrell O. Cade and that he died in Los Angeles, Cal. James Franklin “Jimmy” is the only one of these siblings to have children.

The oldest son, James Franklin “Frank” Cade, was born in 1907 in Covington County.

He was married in 1932 to Wilma Lee Wiggins (1912-1987), daughter of George Washington Wiggins (1857-1924) and second wife, Georgia “Washie” Odom (1879-1944). Wilma was the granddaughter of a prominent, earlier settler, Simeon Wiggins (1812-1863), and his wife Nancy A. Hudson (1821-?). This family resided for some time in the Wiggins Crossroads and Babbie communities of Covington County. Shortly after 1934, James Franklin “Frank” Cade moved his family to New Orleans, La., but they later returned to the Babbie community.

James Franklin “Frank” and Wilma Lee Cade reared the following three children: Jacqueline “Joyce,” b. 1932; Gloria Glene, b. 1934, d. 2003; and James Calvin, b. 1935, d. 2013.

Gloria Glene Cade, the second daughter of Frank Cade, was very interested in her family’s genealogy.

When The Heritage of Covington County, Alabama was compiled in 2003, she submitted two family stories, which she wrote from family knowledge and records.

She included a request to hear from anyone who might have additional information on her family.

Gloria reported that she had two “wonderful and lovely” daughters, Roxanna and Rita. She was also very proud of her two sons-in-law, Herbert Sherwin and Charles Sutton respectively. Roxanna has three sons: Dewayne Drake, Scot Sherwin and Shawn Sherwin, and a daughter, Alicia Christine “Chrissy” Renfroe Stinson. Rita has three daughters: Traci, Kami and Amanda.

She expressed appreciation for how her family had brought her great joy and happiness as well as creating happy memories.

Sources for this writing included Gloria Cade’s two stories mentioned above, Alabama Civil War Soldiers Data Base and Ancestry.com.

 

Anyone who may find an error in the above is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-804-1442; or Email: cthomasson@centurytel.net.