Saffold Roots

Son of Reuben Saffold.

Son of Reuben II and Mary (Phillips) Saffold, lawyer, legislator, and chancellor was born January 12, 1812 in Wilkes County, Georgia and died November 4, 1853 in Montgomery, Alabama. He received his early education in Dallas County, and later attended Franklin College (University of Georgia) Athens, Ga. He was a junior orator (1830) and valedictorian and honor graduate, A.B. degree (1831). He received the honorary degree of M.A. from the University of Alabama (1843). He read law under his father in Dallas County, and attended the law school of Yale University (1833-34). He was admitted to practice in 1833 and located in Cahaba, later moving to Montgomery. He served in the Alabama legislature, 1835, and on October 18, 1853 he was appointed Chancellor of the southern division of the state. He was a Democrat, a Methodist, and a Mason.

On February 11, 1845 he married at Montgomery, Frances Elvira Bibb. Frances was the daughter of Rev. Peyton and Martha (Cobb) Bibb of Montgomery. Rev. Bibb owened two riverboats, the “Monroe” and the “Carolyn.” He was a Methodist minister and business man.

Frances’ father, Peyton Bibb, was the son of William Bibb, captain of cavalary, Virginia line, Revolutionary war. William and his brother Thomas were the first and second governors of Alabama. (William was the first, from 1819-1820, and upon his death Thomas served from 1820-1821). Bibb County, Alabama was names for William Wyatt Bibb.

Frances’ mother, Martha Cobb, was the daughter of Thomas Cobb and Patsey Martin of Columbia County, Ga., the former a judge of the court of the ordinary.

Patsey Martin was the daughter Carles Martin and Patsey Moon, of Albermarle County, Virginia and Edgefield and Abbeville Districts, S.C. Patsey Moon was the daughter of Jacob Moon, an officer in the Revolutionary army who was killed in the battle of Guilford Court House, N.C. in 1781.

Joseph Phillips Saffold was the father of (1) William Reuben Saffold (died in childhood), (2) Peyton Bibb Saffold who married Laura (McDaniel) Morse of Montgomery, (3) Mary Ellen Saffold who married William Finley Joseph of Montgomery, and (4) Joseph Phillips Saffold of Montgomery.

Source: Dictionary of Alabama Biography

Bibb County was created by the Alabama Territorial Legislature on February 7, 1818. It was one of the first thirteen counties to be added to the seven already existing when Alabama was still a part of the Mississippi Territory. Originally, it was called Cahaba (spelled Cahawba for many years) to preserve the name given it by the Choctaw Indians, Oka Aba. On December 4, 1820, the State Legislature renamed it in honor of the late Governor William Wyatt Bibb. As it was then constituted, it contained much of what is now the southern part of Shelby County and the western part of Chilton County. Its present area is 625 square miles.

From “Selma; Her Institutions, and Her Men” by John Hardy, pub. 1879.

A native of Dallas county, Alabama and a son of Hon. Reuben Saffold, one among the first settlers of the eastern part of Dallas county, and an eminent man in the early days of the State. The subject of this article was born on the 20th day of April 1826, near Pleasant Hill, in Dallas county. After receiving a classical education, and graduating at the Sate University with much credit at Tuscaloosa, he read law under the instruction of his father and was admitted to the bar in Cahaba in 1847. He engaged in the practice of his profession with his brother, Hon. Joseph P. Saffold, at Cahaba, where he at once took a reputable and honorable position among the members of that bar, among whom were some of the first men of the South. He continued in his profession until the rumbling of war was heard. Though having supported Breckinridge and Lane in a sense of duty to his party, he did not urge, as most of the leaders of that party of immediate and separate State secession upon the election of Lincoln, but Judge Saffold believed the remedy for the South was within the Union. However, after the State seceded and men were called for he volunteered and performed military service on the Gulf coast. After the surrender he located in Selma, and again entered upon the practice of law. On assuming control of the State by Hon. L. E. Parsons, in 1865, as Governor, he appointed Judge Saffold to the office of Judge of this Judicial Circuit, which position he held until 1867, when he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention from Dallas county, in which body he was most useful and conservative member. In the same year Gen. Pope appointed him to the office of Mayor of the city of Selma, which position he held until 1868, when the State reassumed its original position as one of the States of the Federal Union, and he was chosen to the supreme Court bench of the Sate. The duties of this position, the numerous important decisions in the Alabama reports, ample prove he discharged with ability and treat diligence, for the six years for which he was chosen. Since 1873 Judge Saffold has been engaged in the practice of law in Selma, where he is much respected by even those who differ with him politically, for his ability as a lawyer, and his sound, conservative and practical mind. He is amiable and courteous in his social relations, always giving the greatest respect and attention to those with whom he may come in contact.