Wade & Webb Family History

Alban W. Willingham1791–1858

Fort Oglethorpe · Willingham Cemetery Hissop · Rockford

Alban Willingham was born in Georgia in 1791, served in the War of 1812 and married Bedia Herring in 1815, and their children were born in several Georgia counties before the family settled in Alabama in the late 1830s. Widowed in 1840, he married Susan Bennett in Chambers County in 1846, and he died at Rockford, in Coosa County, in 1858.

On this page
  1. Family Record
  2. Life
  3. Documents (1)
  4. Places
  5. Timeline
  6. Open questions
  7. Searches made
  8. Notes

Birth

  1. 8 Jun 1791 Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa, Georgia 1

Marriages

  1. 28 Mar 1815 Bedia Herring, at Oglethorpe, Macon, Georgia 3, 5
  2. 9 Apr 1846 Susan Elizabeth Bennett, at Chambers, Alabama 3, 12
  3. 9 Apr 1846 Susan Elizabeth Bennett, at Chambers, Alabama 3, 12
  4. Date unknown Susan Elizabeth Bennett, at Chambers, Alabama

Death and burial

  1. Oct 1858 Burial: Willingham Cemetery Hissop, Coosa County, Alabama
  2. 16 Oct 1858 Death: Rockford, Coosa, Alabama 18

Family

Parents
Not recorded
Marriage 1, 28 Mar 1815
Bedia Herring 1800–1840
Children
Nancy Ann Willingham 1838–1900
Robberson Willingham 1817–1896
Eda J Willingham 1825–1874
Edy Jane Willingham 1826–1838
Marriage 2, 9 Apr 1846
Susan Elizabeth Bennett 1818–1860

Line of descent Webb line

  1. Alban W. Willingham
  2. Martha Holland Willingham, daughter
  3. Emma Louise McKinney, daughter
  4. Lila Walden, daughter
  5. Hilda Webb, daughter
  6. William Albert Webb Wade, son

3rd great-grandfather of Webb Wade, from whom this history is traced. Why Webb Wade?

Life

Alban W. Willingham was born on 8 June 1791, according to the FamilySearch tree, which attaches no birth record.1 The tree places his birth at "Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa, Georgia", which cannot be right as written, because Catoosa County was not formed until 1853.1 Inference The place was probably entered from a record or family account that said only "Oglethorpe", the county in which his first wife and one of his daughters were born, and FamilySearch's place list then turned it into the later town.2 His name is written in the records as Alban, Albon, Albin, Albern and Albion.3

Georgia

The index to the War of 1812 service records includes an Alban Willingham, and the tree records his military service between 1812 and 1815.4 On 28 March 1815 he married Bedia Herring, a marriage recorded in the FamilySearch collection of Georgia marriages.5 The tree gives her birth as 26 April 1800, which would have made her not quite fifteen at the wedding.5 The tree gives the couple eleven children, born between 1815 and 1838: Sherman (1815), Robberson (1817), Frances Varches (1822), Martha Holland (1824), Eda J. (about 1825), Edy Jane (1826), Bedy Alvline (1828), Mary Elizabeth (1830), Alban William (1835) and Nancy Ann (1838), with a second Martha, "Martha Dollin", entered with the same birth date as Martha Holland.6 Inference Two daughters with the same name and the same day of birth are almost certainly one person entered twice, and Eda J. and Edy Jane, born a year apart, may also be one daughter.7 The children's birthplaces in the tree run from Columbia County, where Robberson was born in 1817, through Oglethorpe County in 1824 to Coweta County, where Alban William was born in 1835 and Sherman married Elizabeth Strong in 1837.8 Two of the daughters, Edy Jane and Bedy Alvline, are recorded as dying on the same day, 24 September 1838.9

Alabama

By the late 1830s the family was in Alabama.10 Frances married John Jack Calhoun Barker in Chambers County in 1838 or 1839, the tree giving several dates; Eda J. married William G. Herrin there on 8 December 1843; and on 11 September 1844 Martha Holland married Harris McKinney, in a Chambers County marriage record that also names Alban Willingham.10 His wife Bedia died on 20 August 1840, a date the tree gives without a source; the tree's place for it, "Coosa, Talladega, Alabama", runs two county names together.11

On 9 April 1846 Alban Willingham married Susan Bennett in Chambers County, a marriage indexed many times under several spellings of his name.12 The tree, without a source, makes her born in Georgia in 1818.13 His son Robberson married Sarah Elizabeth Veasey in Chambers County in December 1848.14

Coosa County

The federal census of 1850 found Alban and Susan Willingham in Coosa County, Alabama, in a household that the index enters under Susan's name, spelled "Wellingham".15 The census also had a separate schedule, the slave schedule, which listed enslaved people under the names of those who held them, without their own names; Alban Willingham is entered on the slave schedule of 1850.16 Inference The number of people he held is not shown in the index entry attached to the tree, and the schedule itself should be read.16 His daughter Nancy Ann married Asbury Morgan Kimbrough at Rockford, Coosa County, on 30 June 1853.17

He died at Rockford on 16 October 1858, and was buried in October 1858 in the Willingham Cemetery at Hissop, Coosa County, according to the tree and the Find a Grave index.18 Robberson, who died in 1896, was buried in the same cemetery.19 His widow Susan was living in 1860 with her sister and brother-in-law, Aletha and William Adkins, in Coosa County.20

Documents

  1. 14 April 2009 Find a Grave memorial: Alban Willingham Find a Grave · memorial

Places

  1. 1791Fort Oglethorpe
  2. 1815Oglethorpe
  3. 1846Chambers
  4. 1850Coosa
  5. 1858Willingham Cemetery Hissop
  6. 1858Rockford

Timeline

  1. 8 Jun 1791BirthFort Oglethorpe, Catoosa, Georgia
  2. between 1812 and 1815Military serviceUnited States
  3. 28 Mar 1815Marriage, Bedia HerringOglethorpe, Macon, Georgia
  4. 9 Apr 1846Marriage, Susan Elizabeth BennettChambers, Alabama
  5. 9 Apr 1846Marriage, Susan Elizabeth BennettChambers, Alabama
  6. 1850ResidenceCoosa county, Coosa, Alabama
  7. Oct 1858BurialWillingham Cemetery Hissop, Coosa County, Alabama
  8. 16 Oct 1858DeathRockford, Coosa, Alabama
  9. 24 Aug 2002Record Change

Open questions

None recorded yet.

Searches made

  1. 2026-11-09Find a Grave search: Alban Willingham, b. 1791 ±3, d. 1858 ±3: 1 resultsbest: [Alban Willingham (8 Jun 1791 – 16 Oct 1858), Willingham Cemetery, Hissop, Coosa County, Alabama](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35884918/alban-willingham); score 17 (high, before review)
  2. 2026-11-09Find a Grave memorial recorded[memorial 35884918](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35884918), high confidence: [record](../documents/findagrave/35884918-alban-willingham.md); 2 headstone photo(s)
  3. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Alban Willingham", Alabama2 pages; first: [The Economist 1856-05-10: Vol 14 Iss 663, 1856, p. ](https://archive.org/details/sim_economist_1856-05-10_14_663?q=%22Alban%20Willingham%22); [History of the Sewell families in America; narrative and statistics compiled after many years of careful research, 1955, p. ](https://archive.org/details/historyofsewellf00sewe_0?q=%22Alban%20Willingham%22)
  4. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Willingham", inside histcoosacobrew2 pages; first: [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 183](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n183/mode/1up?q=Willingham); [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 187](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n187/mode/1up?q=Willingham); 0 with the given name (Alban)
  5. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Willingham", inside memorialrecordof00tayl1 page; first: [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 107](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n107/mode/1up?q=Willingham); 0 with the given name (Alban)
  6. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Willingham", inside northernalabamah00birm1 page; first: [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 144](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n144/mode/1up?q=Willingham); 0 with the given name (Alban)
  7. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Willingham", inside historyofalabama01owen5 pages; first: [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 56](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n56/mode/1up?q=Willingham); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 547](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n547/mode/1up?q=Willingham); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 547](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n547/mode/1up?q=Willingham); 0 with the given name (Alban)
  8. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Willingham", inside surveyofcemeteri0002milf_h9x0not searchable: surveyofcemeteri0002milf_h9x0 (A survey of cemeteries in Chambers County, Alabama ) is a lending-library book: borrow it on archive.org and search it in a browser
  9. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Alban Willingham", Alabama (2 pages)Not him: a novel reviewed in *The Economist* (1856) with a character "Sir Alban Willingham".
  10. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Willingham" inside *History of Coosa County*Possible: p. 89 (scan n183) lists "H. Massingale, Jeremiah Busbee, Robert Willingham and his father, Mr. Dorsey and his sons" among settlers in the upper part of the county. His son Robberson Willingham (1817–1896) could be "Robert," making Alban "his father," but the father is unnamed and the neighbourhood (near Goodwater) is not where the tree places Alban's death (Rockford). Not proved. Isaac Willingham (p. 91), murdered during the war, is not placed.
  11. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Willingham" inside *Memorial Record*, *Northern Alabama*, Owen vol. 1; Oglethorpe County housing survey and Chambers cemetery surveyNot him (Col. James J. Willingham, H. J. Willingham, a post office). The Oglethorpe and Chambers books are lending-library books (to-do).
  12. 2026-11-09Internet Archive hits assessed: 6 searchesNo match; one possible (Coosa history p. 89).
  13. 2026-11-09DPLA: "Alban Willingham"no matches
  14. 2026-11-09DPLA hits assessed: 1 searchNo hits; nothing to assess.

Notes

  1. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: birth 8 Jun 1791, Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa, Georgia, United States; no source attached; Catoosa County formed 1853 (research/places/georgia/catoosa.md) back to the text
  2. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YF1 (their page): Bedia Herring, born Oglethorpe, Georgia FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LZG4-LQW (their page): Martha Holland, born Oglethorpe, Georgia FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: birth place Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa back to the text
  3. "Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham, 28 March 1815. Record: Alban Willingham, 28 March 1815 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albon Willingham in entry for Harris Mc Kinney and Martha H Willingham, 11 Sep 1844. Record: Albon Willingham, 1844 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albin Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albin Willingham, 1846 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albern Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albern Willingham, 1846 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albion Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albion Willingham, 1846 back to the text
  4. "United States, War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham, 1812-1815. Record: Alban Willingham, United States, War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: military service between 1812 and 1815, United States back to the text
  5. "Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham, 28 March 1815. Record: Alban Willingham, Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967, 28 March 1815 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YF1 (their page): Bedia Herring, born 26 Apr 1800, Oglethorpe, Georgia back to the text
  6. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: children with Bedia Herring FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LZG4-LQW (their page): Martha Holland Willingham, born 15 Jun 1824 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2Y9-YDM (their page): Martha Dollin Willingham, born 15 Jun 1824 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LDYF-W82 (their page): Eda J, born about 1825 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2YS-M2V (their page): Edy Jane, born 28 Jun 1826 back to the text
  7. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LZG4-LQW (their page): born 15 Jun 1824 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2Y9-YDM (their page): born 15 Jun 1824 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LDYF-W82 (their page): born about 1825, died before 1874 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2YS-M2V (their page): born 28 Jun 1826, died 24 Sep 1838 back to the text
  8. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile M4F9-WPF (their page): Robberson, born 6 Nov 1817, Columbia, Georgia FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LZG4-LQW (their page): born Oglethorpe, Georgia FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KNCR-Q7F (their page): Alban William, born 1 Mar 1835, Coweta, Georgia FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LVS6-QQK (their page): Sherman, married Elizabeth Strong 3 Jan 1837, Coweta, Georgia back to the text
  9. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2YS-M2V (their page): died 24 Sep 1838 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L2YS-SYC (their page): Bedy Alvline, died 24 Sep 1838 back to the text
  10. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KPQR-21J (their page): Frances Varches, married John Jack Calhoun Barker, Chambers, Alabama, dates 8 Jan 1838, 29 Dec 1838, 8 Jan 1839 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LDYF-W82 (their page): married William G Herrin, 8 Dec 1843, Chambers, Alabama "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albon Willingham in entry for Harris Mc Kinney and Martha H Willingham, 11 Sep 1844. Record: Albon Willingham in the entry for Harris Mc Kinney and Martha H Willingham, 11 Sep 1844 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albon Willingham in entry for Harris McKinney and Martha H Wellingham, 11 Sep 1844. Record: Albon Willingham in the entry for Harris McKinney and Martha H Wellingham, 11 Sep 1844 back to the text
  11. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YF1 (their page): death 20 Aug 1840, Coosa, Talladega, Alabama, United States; no source back to the text
  12. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albern Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albern Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albin Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albin Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, Albion Or Albern Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846. Record: Albion Or Albern Willingham and Susan Bennett, 09 Apr 1846 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", FamilySearch, Albin Willingham, 9 Apr 1846. Record: Albin Willingham, 9 Apr 1846, Alabama Marriages FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: marriage 9 Apr 1846, Chambers, Alabama, entered three times back to the text
  13. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 98BK-LDZ (their page): birth 1818, Georgia; no source back to the text
  14. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile M4F9-WPF (their page): married Sarah Elizabeth Veasey, Chambers, Alabama, 20, 25 or 26 Dec 1848 back to the text
  15. "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham in entry for Susan Wellingham, 1850. Record: Alban Willingham in the entry for Susan Wellingham, 1850 "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Susan Wellingham, 1850. Record: Susan Wellingham, 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: residence 1850, Coosa county, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  16. "United States, Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham in entry for <Unknown>, 1850. Record: Alban Willingham, United States, Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 back to the text
  17. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LW62-MFZ (their page): Nancy Ann, married Asbury Morgan Kimbrough 30 Jun 1853, Rockford, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  18. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KV2X-YX7: death 16 Oct 1858, Rockford, Coosa, Alabama; burial Oct 1858, Willingham Cemetery Hissop, Coosa County, Alabama "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch, Alban Willingham. Record: Alban Willingham, Find a Grave Index back to the text
  19. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile M4F9-WPF (their page): death 28 Oct 1896; burial 1896, Willingham Cemetery, Hissop, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  20. "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, Susan Willingham in entry for Wm Adkins, 1860. Record: Susan Willingham in the entry for Wm Adkins, 1860 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 98BK-LDZ (their page): notes: widow living with William and Aletha Bennett Adkins; Aletha was her sister back to the text
Every FamilySearch record attached to Alban W. Willingham (19)
  1. 1812-1815Alban Willingham, "United States, War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815"
  2. 28 March 1815Alban Willingham, "Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967"
  3. 11 Sep 1844Albon Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  4. 11 Sep 1844Albon Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  5. 09 Apr 1846Albern Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  6. 09 Apr 1846Albern Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  7. 09 Apr 1846Albern Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  8. 09 Apr 1846Albin Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  9. 9 Apr 1846Albin Willingham, "Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957"
  10. 1846Albin Willingham, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  11. 09 Apr 1846Albion Or Albern Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  12. 09 Apr 1846Albion Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  13. 09 Apr 1846Albion Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  14. 09 Apr 1846Albion Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  15. 1850Alban Willingham, "United States, Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 "
  16. 1850Alban Willingham, "United States, Census, 1850"
  17. Alban Willingham, "Find a Grave Index"
  18. Albion Willingham, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  19. Susan Bennett, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"