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The Rudd family has descendants associated with Covington County, Ala., so it is the subject of today’s column. The early generations of ancestors were found outlined on Ancestry.com, and the more recent descendants and their history were provided by current family members.

 

The earliest mention of a Rudd as recorded in the authorized pedigrees affected to this work is William Rudd, Lord of Meath, Ireland, in 1076. The earliest ancestor identified for this story was Burlingham Rudd who was born to Walter Rudd and Anna Pricard in 1706 in Holt, Norfolk, Eng., and he died in 1790 in Anson County, N.C. He emigrated to South Carolina in 1729 and later settled in Anson County. He came to America at the “insistence” of the Crown (George II) because of his arrest and conviction for horse stealing (whether it was a valid charge, or a false charge to “encourage” settling of America is unknown). In a family tree on Ancestry.com, he is shown to have married Mary Elizabeth Pleasants, who was born in 1710, and died in 1790. Among their children was a son named Burlingham Rudd II who was born in 1742 in Anson County, N.C., and lived until his death in 1836 in Goose Creek, Charleston, S.C. He was married to Sarah Whaley, who was born in 1740 in Anson County, N.C., and died in 1827 in South Carolina.

 

Burlingham and his wife, Sarah, were the parents of a son named George Washington Rudd, who was born in 1780 in Anson County, N.C., and died in 1832 in Georgia. George was married to Susannah Shepherd, who was born in 1785 in North Carolina, and died in 1850 in Coffee County, Ala. They were the parents of Edward Burrell Rudd, who was born in 1818 in Barnwell County, S.C., and died in 1875 in Clintonville, Coffee County, Ala. In 1844, he was married to Frances Victoria Clay, daughter of Edmond Clay Sr. (1780-1855) and Rhoda Patterson (1805-1852). Frances was born in 1838 in Decatur, Ga., and died in 1918 in New Brocton of Coffee County.

 

Burrell and Frances Rudd had 15 children born during a period of 28 years. They appear to have all been born in the Clintonville area of Coffee County, Ala. They were the parents of the following: James Dallas, b. 1845, d. 1928, m. 1886 Nancy Ann Watson (1847-1870); Martha Jane, b. 1846, d. 1929, m. 1872 George Washington Gunter (1843-1909); George Washington Jr., b.1848, d. 1926, m. Jane Wilson (1855-1944); Margaret Susannah, b. 1851, d. 1932, m. Aaron Washington Helms (1844-1916); Edward Beverly “Elmer,” b. 1853, d. 1889, m. Lucy Cox (1856-1899); Robert Piercy, b.&d. 1856; Richard Loveless, b.&d. 1857; Malissa Emma, b. 1859, d. 1949, m. 1877 William Adinirim Baggett (1857-1931); Twins: Lorensy Dow, b. 1860, d. 1934; and William Penn, b. 1860, d. 1952, m. 1881 Susan Prescott (1859-1927); Charles Daniel “Charlie,” b. 1862, d. 1934, m. Avalon Zada Avery (1881-1956); Frances Victoria “Fannie,” b. 1866, d. 1951, m. 1885 William Robert McCarty (1865-?); McKenneth Curtis, b. 1868, d. 1958, m. 1894 Maggie Viola Miller (1865-1958); Humphrey Beverly, b. 1870, d. 1959, m. 1893 Lilla Ophelia Chapman (1876-1956); and India Anna, b. 1873, d. 1928, m. 1892 Monte Wilkerson Crosson (1873-1945).

 

The youngest son, Humphrey Beverly Rudd, was born in 1870 in the Clintonville community of Coffee County, Ala., and he died in 1959 in the State of Georgia in the Atlanta area. He and his wife were buried in the Westview Cemetery near Atlanta. Humphrey was married in 1893 in Coffee County to Lilla Ophelia “Lillie” Chapman who was born in 1876 in Enterprise, Ala., and died in 1956 in Atlanta, Ga. In 1920, they were residing in the Damascus Community, west of Lockhart, Ala., Covington County, Ala., but by 1928, they had moved to the Atlanta area.

 

Humphrey and his wife, “Lillie,” were the parents of the following children: Jewel Sadina, b. 1894, d. 1973, m. 1920 Clifford Gaston Gannon (1889-1970); Harley Conan, b. 1894, d. 1990, m. Ida Mae Mosely (?-1987); Corbett Beverly, b. 1896, d. 1989, m. 1925 Mary Ruth Edmonson (1906-1992); Burrell Wilson, b. 1902, d. 1961, m. 1924 Lena Graham Justice (1905-1961); Tully Hunter, b. 1905, d. 1978, m. Bertha Eugenia Pace (1914-2000); Rosa Pearl, b. 1908, d. 1985, m. George Pirkle Sweat (1904-1970); Ruby Ophelia, b. 1910, d. 2002, m. Hubert F. Townsend (1908-1996); and Humphrey Martel, b. 1913, d. 1989, m. 1934 Vaudie Louise Dewrell (1911-1999).

 

The third son of Humphrey Beverly, Burrell Wilson Rudd, was born in 1902 In Enterprise, Ala. and died in 1961 in Florala, Ala. He was enumerated as a child in his family when the 1910 census was recorded for Coffee County, Ala. In 1920, he and family were residing in Florala, but one record shows them as being located in Crisp, Ga. in 1930. and later in Cordele, Ga. However, they appear to have returned to Florala by 1935 where they lived until his and his wife’s death.

 

In 1924, Burrell was married in Andalusia to Lena Graham Justice (1905-1961), daughter of Rufus Thigpen Justice (1886-1956) and Anna Paul (1887-1981). Rufus Thigpen was the son of Marion Washington Justice (1853-1931) and Macedonia Irene Sellers (1854-1908). Anna Paul Justice was the daughter of Daniel Grant Paul (1851-1935) and Charlotty Elizabeth Greathouse (1854-1893). Burrell and Graham were the parents of the following children: Miriam, b. 1925 Florala, Ala., d. 2010 Pensacola, Fla., m. John Franklin Holley Jr. (1924-2000); Wilson Ronald, m. Ichiko “Dinah” Maezawa; Rodney Lavon, m. Jimmie Nell Dewrell (1936-2019); and Nolan Wayne, m. Norma Bowers.

 

Miriam (Rudd) and John Franklin Holley Jr. were married at her parent’s home in the Damascus Community in December of 1945, and after a short furlough following their honeymoon, John reported back for duty with the USMC, serving in Hawaii during the latter part of WWII, and Miriam moved to the Atlanta area to stay with relatives during the interim. After the war they made their first home in Chickasaw, Ala., and were later to make homes in a number of other locations as John was to become a minister in the Baptist Church. One of his tenures was with the Carolina Baptist Church located in the Carolina community a few miles south of Andalusia. Other pastorates were in Montgomery, Ala., Pensacola, Fla., and Crestview, Fla. They were the parents of three children: Joyce Burrell, b. 1946 Andalusia, Ala., d. 2019 Pensacola, Fla., m. 1976 George Hanford White; Kenneth Neal, b. 1954 Mobile, Ala, m. 1991 Vivian Lee Foster; and an infant daughter, b.&d. 1958.

The sources for today’s story included Ancestry.com for the earlier generations and records from family members. Anyone who might discover errors in the above or who should have additional data on this Rudd family is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-804-1442; or Email: cthomasson@centurytel.net.