At different times he has been engaged in the newspaper business; and I am informed that he is now assisting Prof. B. T. Washington in collecting certain statistics for the Tuskegee school. Mr. Curry is a man of rare energy and will force, and being endowed with good intellectual gifts there is no reason why he may not become one among the strongest men of the State.
Curtis, Hon. A. H., of Marion, Ala., was born in Raleigh, N. C., December 29, 1829. He came to Alabama in 1839 with the Haywood family. He was the property (?) of E. Haywood, and served as a waiting boy in the store of Stockton & Hunt for many years. He moved to Marion in 1848 and was the body servant of R. T. Goree for two years. After this he was barber for some years. Succeeding by industry and economy in obtaining some cash, he, in 1859, paid Mrs. E. Haywood $2,000 for his freedom, and during the same year went to New York and was emancipated. After the war he engaged in mercantile pursuits and the barber business. In 1870 he was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly of Alabama, and in 1872 he was elected State Senator from the Twenty-second senatorial district. No other colored man ever presided over the Senate of Alabama. He was connected with the legislature of the State for eight years, and not only enjoyed the respect of his fellow legislators of all parties but closed his service in this connection with growing confidence in his integrity. He was baptized in 1851. In 1850 his marriage occurred. His wife was a suitable helper for him and is still alive enjoying the honors and success which justly crown their offspring. The Curtis brothers and sisters are a praise to their parents. The senator was a strong man in society, in church, in State. He died near Marion, July 20, 1878, as the result of a bruise from a fall from his buggy. Three of his sons are successful physicians; two are north; Dr. A. J. Curtis is in Montgomery.
Davis, Rev. Philip, late of Talladega, was born in 1813, in the State of Virginia, near the North Carolina line. He was baptized in 1841, and about the year 1843 he began to speak to his neighbors of the doctrines and hope of the gospel. Early in life he married, and became the father of a large family. After he was brought to Calhoun county, Ala., he continued his labors in the ministry of the gospel, as he had opportunity, constantly increasing in favor with both God and man; and this was true of him to the day of his death, which occurred December 30, 1881. I first met this pious man in December, 1875, in Talladega. He was not a learned man, but he knew the holy scriptures, and was wise in the things of salvation. The more he was known the better he was loved; and his unassuming, gentle, chastened, self-forgetting spirit, as exhibited at home and abroad, was simply charming. As I have looked upon this unmixed, full-blooded representative of the Negro race, arrayed in the beauty of the Christian spirit, I have felt proud of him as a witness for my people. He was not fully installed in the ministry until the close of the war. The late Dr. J. J. D. Renfroe was the leading man in the presbytery who officially set him apart to the sacred office. His last words were: “Like one of old, I have finished my course and am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is come.” He left a pleasant home for his family.
Davis, Rev. C. M., of Flint, Morgan county, was born in the State of Tennessee. He was led to faith in Christ and was baptized by the Rev. F. A. Chapman. He says that his early life was rather wild, but when his eyes were opened he turned with all his heart. In 1885, in May, he was set apart to the ministry by Revs. F. A. Chapman and C. C. Matthews. Mr. Davis is one among the most promising young men in the Flint River Association. He is a discerning, aspiring man, who believes in studying to know the truth, so that he may not have reason to feel ashamed of his teaching, nor spend his time and energies without producing effects. The writer had special opportunity to know him at the State school, where the former was teacher and the latter was student. He is clear-headed, kind and conscientious.
Dawson, Rev. Iverson, of Eutaw, is a man rich in natural endowments, both of body and mind. Upon no man in Alabama has nature been more profuse in the bestowment of choice gifts. He is tall, well proportioned, kind hearted, genial, sociable, magnetic, clear-headed and ever sanguine. He is, no doubt, the strongest man in the Bethlehem Association, of which body he has been clerk for many years; and in every section of the State, and in every phase of business, he is recognized as a man of power and character. As a public speaker, he is both pleasing and instructive.
The vote, which in 1887 retained our university at Selma, was largely owing to his influence and labors.
Mr. Dawson has a pleasant home and an interesting family in the town of Eutaw, where he now serves as pastor. His home is placed on the roll of asylums for tired missionaries. He is a brave, fearless opponent and a true and trusty friend. At this time, he is editing a paper in his town in the interest of the republican party. The writer sincerely wishes that every motion of his strong manhood might be laid wholly upon the church’s altar, and that he could consent to leave the running of political papers to others.
Dinkins, Charles Spencer, D. D., general Sunday School missionary of Alabama for the American Baptist Publication Society, was born September 15, 1856, near Canton, Miss. Mr. Dinkins never knew his father, and his mother, Mrs. Sarah Dinkins, died when he was only 13 years of age. One year prior to her death, he was led to faith in the salvation of God as presented in the gospel, under the preaching of Rev. Jordan Williams, by whom he was baptized into the fellowship of the Mount Zion Church, Canton, in the fall of 1868. For such a boy, at such a time, to make the favorable acquaintance of such a man as Mr. Williams, was a peculiar providence. As in the cases of Saul and Ananias, and Philip and the eunuch, God brought the parties together.
Mr. Williams, perceiving the superior talents of the youth, privately inquired of him whether or not he desired to educate himself, and when the affirmative reply was obtained, he at once influenced his church to provide the means.
On Friday night, January 28, 1870, Mr. Dinkins took the cars for Nashville, Tenn., arriving at that point on Sunday morning. That day he met the good Dr. Phillips, who cordially accepted him at once, and remained his admiring friend to the close of his (Dr. Phillips’) long and useful life.