Robert Fearn (1795)
Photo from Eden |
| Born: | March 3, 1795, Danville, Virginia |
| Died: | September 7, 1865, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Buried: | Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Brother of: | Dr. Thomas Fearn |
| Brother of: | George Fearn |
| Father of: | Robert Fearn (1830) |
Notes:
• Son of Thomas Patton Fearn (1745-1805) and Mary Burton Dodson (1763-1845) - Find a Grave
• Married Eliza Maria Henderson December 15, 1818. She was born on December 23, 1799 in Hendersonville, TN and died April 15, 1865 in Huntsville, AL - Find a Grave
• Alderman 1838, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1850, 1851, - Record II
• "In December, Huntsville was authorized to appropriate money for the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, incorporated by Act 206 of January 7, 1850, in Alabama. The same railroad had been incorporated in Tennessee on February 2, 1846. The road was organized in May 1850, for Alabama, and Huntsville's George P. and Robert Fearn were elected Directors, along with Huntsville's Samuel Cruse, Treasurer. Commissioners for the road in Madison County were John W. Otey, F. J. Levert and Cruse." - Record I
• "February, 1852, also saw passage of Act 177, authorizing incorporation of the North Alabama Telephone Company to connect with the Morse or Southern Telegraphic line at Florence or Tuscumbia." Robert was one of the main stock holders. - Record I
• R.L. Fearn was a manager for Huntsville's auxiliary of American Colonization Society. "Regular orthodox 'abolition' speeches were the order of the day when this society met. Its members were unstinted in their accusations against the institution of slavery, as one of 'injustice and cruelty.'" The society's focus centered on an idea to gradually emancipate slaves and return them to their ancestral homes. - Betts
• "Robert Fearn & Company, located on East Side Square, placed an advertisement in the newspaper: 'Just received a large assortment of glassware; engraved jellies, cut ditto, engraved wines, scalloped dishes, butter plates, preserve cups, salts with and without feet, decanters, candlesticks, chandeliers, fruit baskets, graduated measures, pitchers, chimney ornaments.'" - Eden
• "Many of the early settlers of Huntsville were highly cultured, wealthy, plantation owners, lawyers, doctors, and men of letters. They did not focus all their attention upon business affairs and political caucuses. They also thought of the cultural life of the growing community. So we find that even before Alabama became a state, a library had been established. We know that on December 10, 1818, one William Atwood purchased two shares of stock in the Huntsville Library Company. These certificates are signed by Thomas G. Percy as president and Robert Fearn as treasurer of the company. This is the earliest record, not only of the Huntsville Library but of any library in Alabama." - Russell & Herrin
• "The library was only open to men. 'Public' means the opposite of private, but does not mean all citizens, only those men who pay." - Hays
• On December 10, 1818 "William Atwood purchases two shares of stock in the Huntsville Library Company. Certificates list Thomas G. Percy as President and Robert Fearn as Treasurer." This is very early in the "Alabama Library Chronology" - Wright
• The first library in Alabama was established in Huntsville in 1818 and Robert Fearn was on the first library board. - Record II
• "Viduta - derived from Spanish 'vida' meaning 'life' In a time when yellow fever, malaria, and cholera threatened, Dr. Thomas Fearn and his brothers Robert and George were drawn by the cool air and medicinal springs to establish a small colony on the northern section of Monte Sano Mountain in 1827. In 1833 the town of Viduta was officially established. The area contains a variety of architectural styles, dating from the late 1800's. Approximate boundaries: Lookout Drive (N); Denison Avenue (S); Monte Sano Boulevard (W); and Shelby Avenue (E). Listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, March 8, 1994." - Luttrell
• Monte Sano Turnpike Co. Organized August 22nd, 1859. Capital Stock, $12,000. Robert Fearn President. - Directory
Related Links:
• Betts - Early History of Huntsville Alabama, by Edward Chambers Betts, 1916, page 56.
• Directory - Huntsville Directory, City Guide and Business Mirror. Volume 1. 1859-'60, by Reprinted by The Strode Publishers in 1972, page 28.
• Eden - Eden of the South: A Chronology of Huntsville, Alabama, 1805-2005, by Raneé G. Pruitt, Editor, 2005, pages 9, and photo on page 13
• Find a Grave - Page created by Jason Presely with genealogical information and photo of grave.
• Hays - From Carnegie to Fort Book: The History of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, by Paul A. Hays, 2005, page 3.
• Luttrell - Historical Markers of Madison County, Alabama, by Frank Alex Luttrell, III, Editor, Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society, 2001, page 131.
• Maple Hill - Maple Hill Cemetery, Phase One, by Diane Robey, Dorothy Scott Johnson, John Rison Jones, Jr., & Frances C. Roberts (Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society), page 8.
• Record I - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Volume I, by James Record, Printed 1970, pages 103 & 107.
• Record II - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Volume II, by James Record, Printed 1978, pages 348 & 389.
• Russell & Herrin - Article titled "History of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, by Mrs. C. H. Russell and Mrs. Claude Herrin, in Commemorative Album, Celebrating our City's Sesquicentennial of Progress, Huntsville, Alabama, by James E. Taylor, General Chairman, printed in 1955, page 61.
• Wright - Alabama Libraries Prior to World War I: A Chronology in Progress by J.J. Wright, UAB. (Originally found at http://sites.google.com/site/alachron/.)
The Following Pages Link to this Page:
• Betts
• Directory
• Dr. Thomas Fearn
• Eden
• George Fearn
• Hays
• Luttrell
• Maple Hill
• Record I
• Record II
• Robert Fearn (1830)
• Russell & Herrin