General Notes

Custom Field:<_FA#> He owned a 1912 Buick.@@S726784@@Date of Import: Jul 31, 2003
[coosa1.ged]
Founder of the annual homecoming at Poplar Springs Baptist Church and
Flint Hill Methodist Church, both located in Coosa Co., AL.
Local and Personal
"The formal announcement of John A. Darden, of Goodwater, for
representative in the legislature is expected within a short time."(1)
Local and Personal
"Hon. John A. Darden, candidate for Representative in the legislature,
was looking after business in the probate office Monday, and incidentally
shaking hands with our people."(2)
(1)The Chronicle, Local and Personal, 2 Jan 1914, p. 5. Printed in
Rockford, Coosa Co., AL. Microfilm: Located in the Alabama Archives and
History, Montgomery, AL.
(2) The Chronicle, Local and Personal, 30 Jan 1914, p. 5.
"JOHN A. DARDEN CONDITION IS FAIR
The condition of John A. Darden, local attorney, confided in the
Russell Hospital at Alexander City, is slightly improved.  Mr. Darden’s
hip was broken just below the joint.  His leg has been placed in a
plaster cast and will have to remain that way for some time.  He is able
to see visitors and many friends have gone down to see him.  Dr. T. H.
Sreet is the attending physician."  (1)
(1) The Goodwater Enterprise, John A. Darden Condition Is Fair, 1 Jan
1937, p. 1.
John ran an advertisement in the Rockford Chronicle on 1 Feb 1940, page
3, as the agent in Goodwater, Coosa Co., AL for The Royal Insurance Co.,
LTD. of Liverpool.
"John Austin Darden was born at Bentleyville, Coosa county, Ala., on the
2nd day of April, 1879.  He is the son of John Alexander and Georgia
Elizabeth (Webb) Darden. His father and mother were born and reared near
Hanover, Coosa county, Ala.  His paternal grandfather,  Uriah Addison
Darden, was a native Georgian and moved to Talladega Ala., about 1845,
and in 1850 to Coosa county, where he died in August, 1903, at the age of
seventy-nine years. His paternal grandmother was a Miss Mary Logan,
daughter of Alexander Logan, one of the veterans of the War of 1812, and
one of the earliest settlers of Coosa county, where his daughter was
born.  Austin Pain Webb, who was also a native Georgian and an early
settler of Coosa county, was his maternal grandfather.  His maternal
grandmother was a Miss Mary Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of Stephen Thomas,
who came to Coosa county soil in early pioneer days.  John Alexander
Darden, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a teacher by
profession, and spent his life in Coosa county, dying on Jan. 20, 1885,
leaving his wife and four children, John Austin, William Anderson,
Georgia Hester, and Annie Alexander, the oldest being only six years of
age.  He was a Democrat and identified himself with the Baptist church,
of which his wife was a member.  In 1890 the mother of John Austin died.
After the decease of the mother the brother and sisters, together with
John Austin, made their home with their grandfather Darden.  John Austin,
the subject of this article, had very meager opportunities for schooling;
being the oldest, he was the mainstay for helping his widowed mother to
make a living on the farm, where he plowed from the time he was eight
years old.  After the death of his mother he continued to work on the
farm as before with his grandfather.  In the meantime he had studied
diligently the two or three months he was permitted to attend school and
between schools he continued his studies daily at home, sitting up late
at night Lincoln-like.  At the age of seventeen he hired a hand to help
gather the crop, so he might attend one full term of winter school at
Andrews’ Chapel.  Here he had only attended a month when his uncle, Addie
Darden, who was teaching school in the community where young Darden was
living, was taken sick and John Austin was selected temporarily to teach
his school until the recovery of his uncle.  His uncle failed to recover
for