Isom Gwin (see footnote A below), Justice of the Peace of Dallas County, Alabama, lived in the Dallas Co. towns of Cahawba and Athens (yes, there were two towns called Athens in Alabama, the first one in Limestone County, which is still there, and the second in Dallas County, once located 1.5 miles due north of present-day Safford; its post office was called Liberty Hill to avoid confusion with the other Athens--see footnote B below). He was born in Shelby County (in or near what is now Wilsonville) and grew up in the then-capital city of Cahawba. His father, John Gwin, owned and operated a wheelwright shop located a couple of blocks from the Alabama state capitol building.
Isom was named for his grandfather, Isom/Isham Gwin, a native Virginian and adopted Indianan who raised his family for nearly 30 years in Sevier County, TN. While there, Grandpa Isham became a Christian and eventually a pastor. He preached on the evils of slavery while he himself still held slaves.
Finally Isham was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit; he released all his slaves and moved with most of his family and many friends to the area around Orange Co., Indiana before 1820, where he was called to become the first pastor of the Providence Baptist Church (see footnote F below) still located between the county seats of English and Paoli in southern Orange County. Isom the grandfather died in Dec 1830; his yet-to-be-discovered gravesite is probably located in Orange Co., IN, but possibly in adjacent Washington Co. to the east.
Meanwhile in Dallas Co., AL in 1837 Grandson Isom was married to Mary Burdine Wilson, also of Cahawba. They had two daughters, Mary Jane (who married William J. Smith) and Martha RoseAnn (who m1. Madison Holley and m2. Bryant Brown Lester). Isom's name can be found on many Dallas Co. marriage licenses he issued during his tenure as JP. Sadly, it can also be seen on his last will and testament, where he left to his wife and daughters several slaves he held (see footnote A below).
He owned several--perhaps many--pieces of real estate in and around the young and ill-fated town of Athens (again, see footnote B below). While visiting the area one year I met an elderly neighbor of the town site, a now-late Mr. Givhan, who told me that today's County Road 109 was then called the Cahawba-to-Lexington Road. The intersection of what was then Athens' Main Street and that Cahawba-to-Lexington Road, he said, was located fifty yards south of the junction of four sections of land: sections 33 and 34, T16, R7, and sections 3 and 4, T15, R7 (1.5 miles due north of Safford, Dallas Co., AL). He gave me a map of the area which can be seen on the page I built for that Town of Athens (see footnote B below).
Isom died at the young age of 36 and is buried some four miles east and a mile north of that Athens location in the old cemetery across the road (Alabama Highway 21) from the present-day Azion Baptist Church at Martin Station (see footnote D below). Isom, his wife Mary, and their two daughters attended the church that originally stood on that property.
I believe that this original church building at the Martin site must have burned. Meanwhile, in the Town of Cahawba, which had been flooded and which was being abandoned in the flooding's aftermath, stood a perfectly good church, and the congregation at the Martin location chose to move that Cahawba building to Martin to replace their original building. The move was made, and the old church stood there at Martin for years after the congregation had stopped meeting. Finally, under the leadership of today's Cahaba's director Linda Derry, the old church was dismantled and returned to its own original site at Cahaba where it has been rebuilt and restored to its former glory .
His widow later was married for several years to Rev. John Steadman, pastor of the Protestant Methodist church where she and Isom had attended and where his funeral may even have been preached by Rev. Steadman. Mary B. (Wilson) Gwin Steadman lived with her younger brother and helped care for their father, Col. Nathaniel Burdine Wilson, until the latter died in Dallas Co. ca. 1875. She then moved to Perry Co., AL, where she died and is buried (see footnote E below).
FOOTNOTES--see also:
A. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwinisommarybwilson.htm
B. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/athenstowndallascoAL.htm
C. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/Index2PhotoAlbum.htm
D. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwingravephotospage.htm
E. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/MarsHillCemMarionAL.htm
F. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/INDIANA/ProvidencePrimBapCh.htm
Isom was named for his grandfather, Isom/Isham Gwin, a native Virginian and adopted Indianan who raised his family for nearly 30 years in Sevier County, TN. While there, Grandpa Isham became a Christian and eventually a pastor. He preached on the evils of slavery while he himself still held slaves.
Finally Isham was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit; he released all his slaves and moved with most of his family and many friends to the area around Orange Co., Indiana before 1820, where he was called to become the first pastor of the Providence Baptist Church (see footnote F below) still located between the county seats of English and Paoli in southern Orange County. Isom the grandfather died in Dec 1830; his yet-to-be-discovered gravesite is probably located in Orange Co., IN, but possibly in adjacent Washington Co. to the east.
Meanwhile in Dallas Co., AL in 1837 Grandson Isom was married to Mary Burdine Wilson, also of Cahawba. They had two daughters, Mary Jane (who married William J. Smith) and Martha RoseAnn (who m1. Madison Holley and m2. Bryant Brown Lester). Isom's name can be found on many Dallas Co. marriage licenses he issued during his tenure as JP. Sadly, it can also be seen on his last will and testament, where he left to his wife and daughters several slaves he held (see footnote A below).
He owned several--perhaps many--pieces of real estate in and around the young and ill-fated town of Athens (again, see footnote B below). While visiting the area one year I met an elderly neighbor of the town site, a now-late Mr. Givhan, who told me that today's County Road 109 was then called the Cahawba-to-Lexington Road. The intersection of what was then Athens' Main Street and that Cahawba-to-Lexington Road, he said, was located fifty yards south of the junction of four sections of land: sections 33 and 34, T16, R7, and sections 3 and 4, T15, R7 (1.5 miles due north of Safford, Dallas Co., AL). He gave me a map of the area which can be seen on the page I built for that Town of Athens (see footnote B below).
Isom died at the young age of 36 and is buried some four miles east and a mile north of that Athens location in the old cemetery across the road (Alabama Highway 21) from the present-day Azion Baptist Church at Martin Station (see footnote D below). Isom, his wife Mary, and their two daughters attended the church that originally stood on that property.
I believe that this original church building at the Martin site must have burned. Meanwhile, in the Town of Cahawba, which had been flooded and which was being abandoned in the flooding's aftermath, stood a perfectly good church, and the congregation at the Martin location chose to move that Cahawba building to Martin to replace their original building. The move was made, and the old church stood there at Martin for years after the congregation had stopped meeting. Finally, under the leadership of today's Cahaba's director Linda Derry, the old church was dismantled and returned to its own original site at Cahaba where it has been rebuilt and restored to its former glory .
His widow later was married for several years to Rev. John Steadman, pastor of the Protestant Methodist church where she and Isom had attended and where his funeral may even have been preached by Rev. Steadman. Mary B. (Wilson) Gwin Steadman lived with her younger brother and helped care for their father, Col. Nathaniel Burdine Wilson, until the latter died in Dallas Co. ca. 1875. She then moved to Perry Co., AL, where she died and is buried (see footnote E below).
FOOTNOTES--see also:
A. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwinisommarybwilson.htm
B. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/athenstowndallascoAL.htm
C. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/Index2PhotoAlbum.htm
D. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwingravephotospage.htm
E. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/MarsHillCemMarionAL.htm
F. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/INDIANA/ProvidencePrimBapCh.htm
Isom Gwin (see footnote A below), Justice of the Peace of Dallas County, Alabama, lived in the Dallas Co. towns of Cahawba and Athens (yes, there were two towns called Athens in Alabama, the first one in Limestone County, which is still there, and the second in Dallas County, once located 1.5 miles due north of present-day Safford; its post office was called Liberty Hill to avoid confusion with the other Athens--see footnote B below). He was born in Shelby County (in or near what is now Wilsonville) and grew up in the then-capital city of Cahawba. His father, John Gwin, owned and operated a wheelwright shop located a couple of blocks from the Alabama state capitol building.
Isom was named for his grandfather, Isom/Isham Gwin, a native Virginian and adopted Indianan who raised his family for nearly 30 years in Sevier County, TN. While there, Grandpa Isham became a Christian and eventually a pastor. He preached on the evils of slavery while he himself still held slaves.
Finally Isham was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit; he released all his slaves and moved with most of his family and many friends to the area around Orange Co., Indiana before 1820, where he was called to become the first pastor of the Providence Baptist Church (see footnote F below) still located between the county seats of English and Paoli in southern Orange County. Isom the grandfather died in Dec 1830; his yet-to-be-discovered gravesite is probably located in Orange Co., IN, but possibly in adjacent Washington Co. to the east.
Meanwhile in Dallas Co., AL in 1837 Grandson Isom was married to Mary Burdine Wilson, also of Cahawba. They had two daughters, Mary Jane (who married William J. Smith) and Martha RoseAnn (who m1. Madison Holley and m2. Bryant Brown Lester). Isom's name can be found on many Dallas Co. marriage licenses he issued during his tenure as JP. Sadly, it can also be seen on his last will and testament, where he left to his wife and daughters several slaves he held (see footnote A below).
He owned several--perhaps many--pieces of real estate in and around the young and ill-fated town of Athens (again, see footnote B below). While visiting the area one year I met an elderly neighbor of the town site, a now-late Mr. Givhan, who told me that today's County Road 109 was then called the Cahawba-to-Lexington Road. The intersection of what was then Athens' Main Street and that Cahawba-to-Lexington Road, he said, was located fifty yards south of the junction of four sections of land: sections 33 and 34, T16, R7, and sections 3 and 4, T15, R7 (1.5 miles due north of Safford, Dallas Co., AL). He gave me a map of the area which can be seen on the page I built for that Town of Athens (see footnote B below).
Isom died at the young age of 36 and is buried some four miles east and a mile north of that Athens location in the old cemetery across the road (Alabama Highway 21) from the present-day Azion Baptist Church at Martin Station (see footnote D below). Isom, his wife Mary, and their two daughters attended the church that originally stood on that property.
I believe that this original church building at the Martin site must have burned. Meanwhile, in the Town of Cahawba, which had been flooded and which was being abandoned in the flooding's aftermath, stood a perfectly good church, and the congregation at the Martin location chose to move that Cahawba building to Martin to replace their original building. The move was made, and the old church stood there at Martin for years after the congregation had stopped meeting. Finally, under the leadership of today's Cahaba's director Linda Derry, the old church was dismantled and returned to its own original site at Cahaba where it has been rebuilt and restored to its former glory .
His widow later was married for several years to Rev. John Steadman, pastor of the Protestant Methodist church where she and Isom had attended and where his funeral may even have been preached by Rev. Steadman. Mary B. (Wilson) Gwin Steadman lived with her younger brother and helped care for their father, Col. Nathaniel Burdine Wilson, until the latter died in Dallas Co. ca. 1875. She then moved to Perry Co., AL, where she died and is buried (see footnote E below).
FOOTNOTES--see also:
A. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwinisommarybwilson.htm
B. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/athenstowndallascoAL.htm
C. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/Index2PhotoAlbum.htm
D. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwingravephotospage.htm
E. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/MarsHillCemMarionAL.htm
F. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/INDIANA/ProvidencePrimBapCh.htm
Isom was named for his grandfather, Isom/Isham Gwin, a native Virginian and adopted Indianan who raised his family for nearly 30 years in Sevier County, TN. While there, Grandpa Isham became a Christian and eventually a pastor. He preached on the evils of slavery while he himself still held slaves.
Finally Isham was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit; he released all his slaves and moved with most of his family and many friends to the area around Orange Co., Indiana before 1820, where he was called to become the first pastor of the Providence Baptist Church (see footnote F below) still located between the county seats of English and Paoli in southern Orange County. Isom the grandfather died in Dec 1830; his yet-to-be-discovered gravesite is probably located in Orange Co., IN, but possibly in adjacent Washington Co. to the east.
Meanwhile in Dallas Co., AL in 1837 Grandson Isom was married to Mary Burdine Wilson, also of Cahawba. They had two daughters, Mary Jane (who married William J. Smith) and Martha RoseAnn (who m1. Madison Holley and m2. Bryant Brown Lester). Isom's name can be found on many Dallas Co. marriage licenses he issued during his tenure as JP. Sadly, it can also be seen on his last will and testament, where he left to his wife and daughters several slaves he held (see footnote A below).
He owned several--perhaps many--pieces of real estate in and around the young and ill-fated town of Athens (again, see footnote B below). While visiting the area one year I met an elderly neighbor of the town site, a now-late Mr. Givhan, who told me that today's County Road 109 was then called the Cahawba-to-Lexington Road. The intersection of what was then Athens' Main Street and that Cahawba-to-Lexington Road, he said, was located fifty yards south of the junction of four sections of land: sections 33 and 34, T16, R7, and sections 3 and 4, T15, R7 (1.5 miles due north of Safford, Dallas Co., AL). He gave me a map of the area which can be seen on the page I built for that Town of Athens (see footnote B below).
Isom died at the young age of 36 and is buried some four miles east and a mile north of that Athens location in the old cemetery across the road (Alabama Highway 21) from the present-day Azion Baptist Church at Martin Station (see footnote D below). Isom, his wife Mary, and their two daughters attended the church that originally stood on that property.
I believe that this original church building at the Martin site must have burned. Meanwhile, in the Town of Cahawba, which had been flooded and which was being abandoned in the flooding's aftermath, stood a perfectly good church, and the congregation at the Martin location chose to move that Cahawba building to Martin to replace their original building. The move was made, and the old church stood there at Martin for years after the congregation had stopped meeting. Finally, under the leadership of today's Cahaba's director Linda Derry, the old church was dismantled and returned to its own original site at Cahaba where it has been rebuilt and restored to its former glory .
His widow later was married for several years to Rev. John Steadman, pastor of the Protestant Methodist church where she and Isom had attended and where his funeral may even have been preached by Rev. Steadman. Mary B. (Wilson) Gwin Steadman lived with her younger brother and helped care for their father, Col. Nathaniel Burdine Wilson, until the latter died in Dallas Co. ca. 1875. She then moved to Perry Co., AL, where she died and is buried (see footnote E below).
FOOTNOTES--see also:
A. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwinisommarybwilson.htm
B. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/athenstowndallascoAL.htm
C. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/Index2PhotoAlbum.htm
D. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/SURNAMES/Gwin/gwingravephotospage.htm
E. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/ALABAMA/MarsHillCemMarionAL.htm
F. http://www.gwingenealogy.net/GENEALOGY/INDIANA/ProvidencePrimBapCh.htm
Inscription
Sacred to the memory of ISOM GWIN, born March 17th 1817, and died December 17th 1853, in hopes of a glorious immortality. The deceased was a native of this state and was raised from an infant in this county. In 1837 he married Miss Mary B. Wilson; he became religious in 1840, and united with the Protestant Methodist Church of which he lived a member till his death. In his death his bereaved wife mourns the death of a kind and affectionate husband, his two children the loss of a tender and loving father, his parents a dutiful and beloved son, his brothers and sisters a loving and beloved brother.
Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: Rev.
Gravesite Details
Only the stub of the gravestone remains in place. Unknown vandals probably broke the stone off in earlier years. Guessing that was probably the case, I located the stone using a metal probe and dug it up, leaving it on the grave above ground.
Family Members
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