Aaron Franks

 Lamplighter in Huntsville

Born:c1814, Kentucky

Notes:

•  In 1871 "Huntsville Gas Light Company decided to sell more capital stock and rebuild their gas works. Thirteen gas lamps were put on city streets and Huntsville appointed its first official Lamplighter, Aaron Franks." Also listed in Record's second volume 1874-1877, 1882-1883. - Record

•  May 5, 1874: "City of Huntsville Board of Aldermen Minutes recorded that Alderman Patterson made a motion for the compensation of the Street Lamp Lighter. Aaron Franks was appointed to fill the position for eight dollars per month." - Eden

•  In her fictionalized story of a period of Huntsville's history, Sarah Huff Fisk mentions Aaron Franks as a nozzleman for the Volunteer Fire Department. - Fisk

•  Active in First Baptist:
     1868 served on the Absentee Visitation Committee.
     1868 served on the committee to solicit contributions to finish the church building.
     1870 appointed to receive the ministers and messengers for the meeting of The General Association of North Alabama.
     1870 appointed messenger to the Liberty Baptist Association meeting.
      1883 delegate to the Session of the Liberty Baptist Association. - Bobo & Johnson

•  Wife's first name is Lucinda sometime called "Lou" - 1880 Census

•  Lists his work as a Confectioner. - 1870 Census

•  In the index of Madison County Probate Records is case 3892, in 1885, "resignation as constable." - Editor's Note


Related Links:

•  1870 Census - This view of the census can be seen only with an Ancestry.com paid subscription. (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7163&iid=4257604_00353&fn=Aaron&ln=Franks&st=r&ssrc=&pid=13220154.)

•  1880 Census - This view of the census can be seen only with an Ancestry.com paid subscription. (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&indiv=try&h=6193468.)

•  Bobo & Johnson - First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama: The First 175 Years: 1809 - 1984, by Mildred Burden Bobo and Catherine Ryan Johnson, 1985, pages 33, 34, 41, 46, 48.

•  Eden - Eden of the South: A Chronology of Huntsville, Alabama, 1805-2005, by Raneé G. Pruitt, Editor, 2005, page 71.

•  Fisk - Built Upon the Fragments In 1880's Huntsville, Alabama, by Sarah Huff Fisk, 2001, page 148.

•  Record - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Volume II, by James Record, 1978, page 20


The Following Pages Link to this Page:
•  Eden
•  Record