CIVIL WAR WIA CONFEDERATE CAPT 25th ALABAMA INFANTRY CONGRESS AUTOGRAPH SIGNED
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| Reference Number: Avaluer:1441061 | Modified Item: No |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
WILLIAM ANDERSON HANDLEY (1834 – 1909)CIVIL WAR WIA CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY CAPTAIN OF THE 25thALABAMA INFANTRY, DEMOCRATIC PARTY US CONGRESSMAN FROM ALABAMA 1871-1873, CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA TAX COLLECTOR, STATE SENATOR OF ALABAMA 1888-1892, MEMBER OF THE STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1903-1907COMMANDER OF THE CAMP AIKEN SMITHCHAPTER OF THE UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS AT ROANOKE&PRESIDENT OF THE W.A. HANDLEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY IN ROANOKE, A VERY SUCCESSFULCOTTON... MILL THAT MANUFACTURED RAW COTTON. After the outbreak of theCivil War, Handley helped recruit the 25th Alabama Regiment -acompany of Confederate soldiers from Randolph County. Handley was elected Captainof Co. F. Handley saw combat after joining Maj. Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army ofthe Tennessee in Chattanooga, participating in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, and the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where Handley was wounded. As US Congressmanduring Reconstruction, Handley voted against desegregating schools.Here’s Handley’s Signature removedfrom a 19th Century Autograph Album, and Signed: “W. A. Handley, Roanoke Ala~~”NOTETHAT THE VERSO OF THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS THE ADDITIONAL SIGNATURE OF BRADFORD NEWCOMB STEVENS (1813-1885) DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN FROM ILLINOIS 1871-3The document measures 5” x 2½” and is in VG+CONDITION.A FINEADDITION TO YOUR ALABAMA CIVIL WAR ERA / MILITARY and POLITICAL AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION!<>::<>BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OFTHE HONORABLEWILLIAM ANDERSON HANDLEYWilliam Anderson Handley (1834-1909) served in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives and both houses of the Alabama Legislature. A Civil War Officerand lifelong member of the Democratic Party, Handley's tenure in nationaloffice was marked by a mixed record on votes related to the policies ofReconstruction. He is also remembered as one of the most important businessmenand philanthropists in Roanoke, Randolph County, Alabama.Handley was born in Liberty Hill, near Franklin, Georgia, on December 15, 1834 in Heard County, Georgia, to John Randolph and Nancy Thompson FormbyHandley; he had two brothers and two sisters. Handley's parents moved thefamily to Randolph County, Alabama where he was educated in the local schools.On November 8, 1859, in Wesobulga (present-day Cragford), Clay County, Handleymarried Adelia A. Mitchell, with whom he would have five children, only two ofwhom survived into adulthood. He began working as a store clerk in Louina, nearWadley, and eventually became the owner of the mercantile business.After the outbreak of the Civil War, Handley helped recruit a company ofConfederate soldiers from Randolph County. The regiment became known as theTwenty-fifth Alabama Regiment, and Handley was elected captain of Company F.The Twenty-fifth Alabama spent most of the war stationed in Mobile, MobileCounty, but saw combat after joining Maj. Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of theTennessee in Chattanooga, participating in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, andthe Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where Handley was wounded. He resignedhis commission soon thereafter and was replaced by his brother, Capt. FrancisMarion Handley, who was later wounded several times. Their other brother, JamesMadison Handley, served as a major in the Forty-sixth Alabama Infantry Regimentand was captured at the May 1863 Battle of Champion Hill in Mississippi, duringthe Vicksburg Campaign. After resigning his commission in 1863, William served out the remainderof the war in the Confederate civil service as a tax collector. At war's end, Handley held a stock of mercantile goods and $25, 000-$30, 000 in accounts aswell as promissory notes and securities that were virtually worthless with thecollapse of the Confederacy. Turning to northern creditors, Handley took upfarming before being forced to sell his property two years later to settle hisdebts. Afterwards, Handley borrowed $1, 000 and began another mercantilebusiness in Roanoke. He also became the commander of the Camp Aiken Smithchapter of the United Confederate Veterans. In 1870, Handley entered politics, running against Republican Benjamin W.Norris for Alabama's Third Congressional District seat in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives. The seat was held by Robert Stell Heflin of Wedowee; he hadtaken the seat from Norris in the 1868 election and declined to run forreelection. When Handley won the election, Norris accused him and his fellowDemocrats of numerous violations of voter fraud. Handley countered with similarcharges directed towards Norris and his fellow Republicans. After recounts andan investigation, Handley was declared the winner of the election. He went onto serve in the Forty-Second Congress from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873.Handley served as a member of the committees on suffrage and elections, taxation, and banks and banking, but his tenure in office was not marked by anymajor achievements. He surprisingly voted to affirm the validity of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which strengthened the civil rights of freedmen, while also voting against desegregating schools and a supplement to the1866 Civil Rights Act. In 1872, Handley ran against Republican Charles Pelham and lost. Uponreturning to Roanoke, he repurchased his old business and established themercantile firm of Moore, Manley, and Handley, which reportedly became thelargest and most successful business in the county. Later, the firm was dissolvedand reorganized as the firm of Manley, Handley, and Hornsby. In 1876, Handleyserved as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention held in St. Louis, Missouri. In February 1882, Handley expanded his business to Birmingham, establishing the firm of Moore, Moore, and Handley. From 1888 to 1892, Handleyserved in the Alabama State Senate. In 1901, Handley was sent as a delegate tothe Alabama State Constitutional Convention, which established white supremacyin the state by disenfranchising African American males as well as many poorwhites. From 1903 to 1907, he served in the Alabama House of Representatives. In the early 1900s, sources differ on the year, Handley founded the W.A.Handley Manufacturing Company in Roanoke, a very successful cotton mill thatmanufactured raw cotton, spun thread and yarn, and wove cloth and other fabricsfrom cotton and wool; it stayed in operation, with a few brief closings, untilthe 1980s. Prior to the establishment of this company, Roanoke had only onebank and one railroad. Within six years of the factory's opening, Roanoke hadanother bank as well as a rail line on the Atlanta, Birmingham, and AtlanticRailroad, which connected Randolph County to Birmingham and Savannah, Georgia.William also served as the vice-president of the Moore and Handley HardwareCompany, one of the largest hardware stores in the South. Handley donated land and money to a variety of organizations in RandolphCounty to construct new buildings and schools, including a school for AfricanAmerican children, the W.A. Handley Colored Academy, founded in 1909. His onlystipulation was that all of the buildings, like Handley Mills, Handley ChapelSchool, and Handley High School, be named after him. He also served as Presidentof the Board of Trustees of the Roanoke Normal College, which later becameRoanoke High School. His son, Guy Hartwell Handley, also donated funds and landfor the construction of a Rosenwald school that replaced the Chapel School. In spring 1909, Handley suffered a severe fall from which he neverrecovered. He died in Roanoke on June 23, 1909, and is interred in CedarwoodCemetery, Roanoke, Randolph County, Alabama, USA.<<>> THE TWENTY-FIFTH ALABAMA INFANTRY. This regiment, made up of Loomis' and McClellan's battalions, was organized at Mobile, December, 1861. It was engaged at Shiloh, April 6th and 7th, at Farmington, May 9th, and at Bridge creek, May 28th and 29th. A1though with General Bragg in Kentucky, it did not take part in any serious action. At Murfreesboro, December 31st to January 2, 1863, it was distinguished and suffered severe losses in both officers and men. It was at Chickamauga, September 19th to 20th, and at Missionary Ridge, November 23 to 25, 1863; fought with Johnston in the Georgia campaign in 1864, and was particularly noted for its brilliant record at New Hope, May 25th to June 4th, especially in the battle of the 25th. In Hood's first sortie from Atlanta, July 22nd, and the second sortie at Ezra Chapel, July 28th, the regiment lost half its force. It was engaged in the battles at Columbia, November 29th; at Franklin, November 30th, and at Nashville, December 15th to 16th. Fought at Kinston, March 14th, and Bentonville, N. C., March 19 and 21, 1865. It was consolidated about April 9th with the Twenty-second, Thirty- ninth and Fiftieth Alabama under Colonel Toulmin, and was surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. Among its killed and wounded were Captain Harper, who fell at Shiloh; Capts. Archibald A. Patterson an D. P. Costello, and Lieuts. W. C. Gibson and H. B. Schofield, who were killed at Murfreesboro. Its commanders were Cols. John Q. Loomis and George D. Johnston, afterward brigadier-general, and Lieut.Col. William B. McClellan. Maj. Daniel E. Huger, at one time in command, was killed at Chickamauga while serving as assistant inspector-general on General Manigault's staff. Source: Confederate Military History, vol. VIII, p. 134 <>::<>BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OFTHE HONORABLEBRADFORD NEWCOMB STEVENSBradford Newcomb Stevens (January 3, 1813– November 10, 1885) was a U.S. Representativefrom Illinois.Born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, Stevens attended schools in NewHampshire and at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and graduated from DartmouthCollege, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1835. He taught school six years in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and New York City. He moved to Bureau County, Illinois, in 1846, where he engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and alsoworked as county surveyor. He served as mayor of Tiskilwa, Illinois.Stevens was elected as a Democratto the Forty-secondCongress (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873). He resumed mercantile andagricultural pursuits. He died in Tiskilwa, Illinois, November 10, 1885. He was interred in Mount Bloom Cemetery. I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club(UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and theAmerican Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). Isubscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed.~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twentyyears.~
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