JULIUS CAESAR ALFORD BRIDGES

The following bio was taken from page 122 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Julius Caesar Alford, son of James M. (1816-1872) and Mary Matilda (Pressley) Bridges (1820), was the first Bridges to settle in Rusk County. J.C.A. was of thirteen children and was born in Henery County, Georgia on February 16, 1839. He was baptized April 4, 1839.

We do not know anything of Julius’ boyhood days, but he married Mary Ann Cosper, September 10, 1857 in Randolph County, Alabama. She was born February 2, 1841 and was the daughter of Rev. Joel Henery and Millie Eliza (Bagby) Cosper. J. C. A. was a Methodist minister and a circuit rider. He served in Confederate Forces 34^th Alabama Infantry Regiment as Second Lieutenant during the Civil War.

After raising five children in Alabama and Georgia, Julius decided to pick up roots and come west. He and his family left Randolph County, Alabama in October 1868 with the Cosper Caravan, bound for Texas and Arizona. Why they came is not known. It seems that they were ambitious, courageous, and adventurous. To them Texas may have been a new beginning after the war.

The caravan left with forty-two grown people, sixty-four children, two faithful slaves and twenty wagons. Wagons were pulled by oxen, steers, one team of mules, and several horses. Twenty-three hound dogs were brought along to guard the caravan at night and to hunt by day with the boys for food.

The trip was long and rugged. They crossed the Mississippi River on a small flat boat, almost like a raft. There were many problems; nevertheless, they moved on through wet and muddy land in Louisiana, crossed the Red River on a steamboat, and arrived in Rusk County, Texas. Here they stopped for the Christmas holidays. The J. C. A. family decided to settle in Chapman, where they purchased land and raised their family.

J. C. A. was an elder in the Methodist Church and a member of the East Texas Annual Conference. He was minister at Church Hill Methodist Church in 1880-1881. He became a Mason at Pine Hill Lodge No. 95 during 1875.

His family donated additional land to the Buckner Cemetery family plot, making it a community burying ground. Here he buried their infant twins who died at birth. They were not named. On October 8, 1881, J. C. A. died and was buried there. From then on the burial place was named "The Bridges Cemetery." A large marker was placed at his grave by descendants of the family.

After J. C. A. died, Mary Ann lived with her children. She spent summers here and winters in Bell County, Texas. She died March 21, 1912. The weather was so stormy and icy that she was buried there in Bell County.

Children from this marriage were: Edward Towles, Alabama (1858-1877) married Amelia Lowrie; Euphrasis Jane, Alabama, (1860-1876); Frances Marion, Georgia (1863-1934) married Mary Elizabeth Lowrie; Julius Casear Alford, Jr., Alabama (1865-1939) married Emily Hillin; John Wesley, Alabama (1867-1916) married Fannie Lowrie; James Watson (Jim), Rusk County (1870-?) married Lula McNally; Mary Elizabeth, Rusk County, (1872-?) married Jerry Waldrop; Isaac Newton (Buster), Rusk County, (1872-?); Robert Lee, (1875-?); Enoch Marvin, Texas (1877-?) married Lena Garrison.

Three sons followed their father into the ministry. They were Towles and J. W. (Jim), who served the Blossom Hill Methodist Church 1881-1892, 1908-09, and Robert Lee (Bob).

Two sons remaining in Rusk County were Francis Marion (Frank) and John Wesley. Most of their descendants are still here.

Submitted by Mrs. Bertha Camp