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Note: Bio of Elbert E. Southall, Washington Co, MO Elbert E Southall, one of the oldest established merchants of Caledonia, is the son of Field T and Lucy (Spencer) Southall, both natives of Virginia. After marriage they moved to Haywood Co, TN, where the mother died. Later, the father moved to Mississippi, and finally to Arkansas, where he passed away. She lived to be about thirty-six years of age, and he fifty-two. He was a merchant and farmer, and for several years was sheriff in Virginia. Both he and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had been married previous to his wedding Miss Spencer, and had one child. To the last marriage were born three sons and three daughters.
The second child, Elbert E, was born in Amelia Co, VA, in 1833, and
obtained his education in the subscription schools of early times. He remained with his father until his death, after which he farmed and taught a short time, and then turned his attention to merchandising. Having served as clerk in Powhattan, AR, (<i>1860 living in Powhattan, Lawrence Co, AR with merchant James Fisher - MAM</i>) he and a partner purchased a $6,000 stock, mostly on credit, but energy and industry soon brought them out, and they continued successfully until the war. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate States army, and served until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Jackson, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nashville, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, etc. In a skirmish at Lovejoy Station he was slightly wounded.
Returning home, he found his business wrecked, and in 1865 he came to Caledonia, and with the exception of about three years, has followed mercantile pursuits. The same year he married Miss Eliza E Long, daughter of Horace M Long, who came to this county many years since. Two children were born to Mr Southall and wife: Minnie I (deceased) and Cyrus L, a promising young business man. Both he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a Democrat in his political views. In 1882 he was appointed postmaster at Caledonia, and has held the office ever since. He is a member of the A.O.U.W. (Ancient Order of the United Workmen)
(If EE really did fight at the battle of Franklin he was lucky to have survived much less not been wounded. MAM)
The A.O.U.W. - The American fraternal benefit network began with the organization the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Meadville, Pennsylvania on October 27, 1868. The AOUW was founded by John Jordan Upchurch, a Mason, with the aim of adjusting "all differences which may arise between employers and employees, and to labor for the development of a plan of action that may be beneficial to both parties, based on the eternal truth that the interests of labor and capitol are equal and should receive equal protection." Each member paid $1 into the insurance fund to cover the sum of not less than $500 in benefits paid to a members dependents when he died. Each time a member died, $1 was due from the surviving members to reestablish the fund. Fraternal benefits societies soon became quite popular as a means of providing financial protection to working class people at an affordable rate. Additionally, Fraternal benefits societies typically maintained a lodge where members could meet together in a spirit of fraternalism and brotherhood. In at least one case - the Populist movement - the fraternity evolved into a powerful political organization providing a voice for their members.
Although John Upchurch did not intentionally seek to establish a new system of insurance, the seed of his original idea was in fact planted. The crux of Upchurch's ideology was to "bring together then conflicting social interests, capitol and labor, to provide a means of arbitration with which to settle difficulties that were constantly arising." However, that seed, once planted grew into the tree of mutual protection, "under whose shelter millions today rest in security from want and dependence."
The emblems and symbols used by the AOUW are steeped in Masonic attributes, featuring the All-Seeing Eye, the Holy Bible, Anchor and Square and Compasses, over which the motto "Charity, Hope and Protection" are displayed. It even boasts of having three independent degrees as a rite of passage into the order. Its membership numbered in excess of 318,000 in 1895.
Quoted from an excerpt of a lecture given by Upchurch defining the AOUW, the pervasiveness of the tenets of Masonry are easily recognized, when he said, "Today we have members from the highest professions and the lowest grades of mechanical labor. We come into this organization on the same great level. It is not money, but it is purity of character and uprightness that brings us here, and we can take each brother by the hand as an equal. Brothers, in this organization we have done more to harmonize the human family, high and low, than all the other organizations that ever existed."
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