By Staff
Liles family has descendants in several counties
By LYDIA GRIMES - Features Writer
I made a discovery this week that links an Escambia County family with a family that I have done some research on in Dale County. It was very interesting in that I had never seen the mention of this particular child in the family.
John Liles was (15 June 1755-1840) was born in 96th District, S.C. about 180 miles from Charleston. The names of his parents and first wife are unknown but it is thought that his father was Ephriam Liles. He fought against the Indians and was in the Revolutionary War in a company that also included his brothers, Henry and James. Other brothers were Arromanus Liles, William Liles and Ephriam Liles.
John moved to Georgia after the war until he moved to Alabama about 1818. He lived in several different places in Alabama and died in Covington County about 1841. He is buried at Liles Cemetery there. His name appears on a plaque placed in the rotunda of the Covington County Courthouse in Andalusia. He married second about 1807 in Jackson County, Ga. to Sally Ady but they had no children.
He and his first wife had Sherod Liles (16 Sept. 1778-17 Oct. 1836), Wade Hampton Liles (abt. 1790) and Cassius Liles (1797).
Sherod Liles was born in S.C. and moved to Jackson County, Ga. where he married Rebecca Smith (30 Oct. 1783-23 March 1869), the daughter of Jim Smith, the Indian fighter and Revolutionary soldier. They later moved to Alabama and both are buried in Covington County.
Although the family genealogy in the Escambia County Historical Quarterly lists only four children, I have found records that say they had four sons and seven daughters. Those children were Rebecca Liles, Sirena Liles (1 Oct. 1809-18 Nov. 1872) who married John Bonaparte Dixon, James Liles (1813-bef. 1870) who married Jane, Ephriam Monroe Liles (17 April 1815-28 Oct. 1901) who married Dorcas Ward and then Charity Dixon, Mary Ann Liles (27 June 1820-11 Nov. 1884) who married William Matthews, John Madison Liles (3 April 1829-27 April 1898) who married Elizabeth Campbell, William Sherod Liles (abt. 1831-1864), Cynthia Liles who married William Matheny, Susan Liles, Salatha Liles (abt. 1812) who married Thomas Ford and Anna Liles who married John Jackson Mancil.
One of the children that was not mentioned in the Quarterly was Mary Ann Liles who married William Matthews. I have done a lot of collecting of Matthews information as it was one of the first families to come into Dale County. In fact, my step-grandmother was descended from that family and I wanted as much on them as possible.
Serina Liles and John Bonaparte Dixon (who, by the way, was the son of Jeremiah Dixon and Elizabeth Goff) were the parents of Jeremiah Dixon (1831), James Dixon (1833), Elizabeth Dixon (1835), Rebecca Dixon (1835), John Dixon (1840), Ephriam Dixon (1843) and William Dixon (1845).
James Liles married Jane and had Sherod Liles (1844), William Liles (1846), James Liles and Richard Liles.
Ephriam Monroe Liles married first to Dorcas Ward (1822-1857) and they were the parents of Vincy Liles (29 Aug. 1849), John F. Liles (1851), William Forman Liles (1852), Wade Hampton Liles (23 March 1854-19 June 1949) and Amanda Liles (16 May 1856-3 July 1932). He married second Charity Dixon (d. 1 Oct 1893) and they had Rebecca Liles (1860), Synthia Liles (1862), Lucinda Liles (1864), Annie Liles (1866), Anjasta Liles (1868), Ephriam M. Liles (15 Aug. 1870) and Missouri Liles (abt. 1874).
The child that was most connected to Escambia County was John Madison Liles. He was born in N.C. and reared in Covington County, Ala. He married first 15 Aug. 1851 to Elizabeth Campbell (27 June 1831-9 Sept. 1875). He was a gunsmith. He was also the first tax collector and tax assessor of Covington County, both at the same time. He served in the Confederate service, was captured and sent to Ship Island, Miss. where he stayed for the rest of the war.
His wife was the daughter of William Granville Campbell (22 Oct. 1799-1864) and Elizabeth Mason (20 Dec. 1806-1879). The couple were the parents of ten children. John Madison Liles married second Amanda Campbell Saucier (1844). They had three additional children, Sallie Armoria Liles (8 Jan. 1878), Elizabeth Sara Liles (15 July 1880) and Andrew Jay Liles (18 Aug. 1884).
There are so many in the Brewton area who are descended from John Madison Liles and Elizabeth Campbell. I will stop for this week and pick up next week with their children. I will probably continue with this family for the next few weeks.
Happy hunting!