Spurlins of Coffee County, Alabama

Settlement

WikiTree traces the family to William Spurlin (13 August 1806 – February 1888), who was born in Warren County, Georgia, married Elizabeth Kelly in Houston County on 10 January 1828, and died in Crenshaw County, Alabama.^[1] It names him as the father of William Spurlin (1829–1901) and Riley Spurlin (1833–1890). His other children listed there include Jeremiah J. Spurlin (1825–1865), who married Mary Ann Lindsey in Coffee County in 1844 and died in Texas, and Jacob Spurlin (1843–1932).^[1][2]

WikiTree gives Houston County, Georgia, as the birthplace of William Spurlin (10 January 1829 – 1 August 1901) and Riley Spurlin, both of whom died in Coffee County; Riley died at New Brockton.^[3][4] A Find a Grave memorial for William J. Spurlin with the same dates records his burial in Evergreen Cemetery at Elba. It names his wife as Celie E. Matthews Spurlin (1829–1903) and links eight children.^[5] A memorial for Riley A. Spurlin (25 October 1833 – 5 May 1890) gives New Brockton, rather than Georgia, as the place of both his birth and his death, and records his burial in Richburg Cemetery with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Harper.^[6] Jacob Randolph Spurlin (1843–1932), whom WikiTree gives as born and died in Coffee County, is listed as a son of William and Elizabeth Spurlin.^[7] His Find a Grave memorial places his grave in New Ebenezer Cemetery at Curtis.^[8]

Land patents and the Elba lodge

Federal land records list six patents for Coffee County land issued to Spurlins. They went to William Spurlin (1849 and 1858), Jeremiah Spurlin (1849), Jeremiah G. Spurlin (1852) and William J. Spurlin (September 1, 1858, accession STA-AL2380__.293, and December 20, 1882, STA-AL4480__.449).^[9] An Alabama Historical Association marker erected in 2021 at Elba says a William J. Spurlin was elected tiler at the first meeting of Elba Lodge No. 170, held on February 13, 1852.^[10] See Federal land patents to Spurlins and Spurlin historical markers.

Civil War service

The National Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors index lists a William J. Spurlin and a Riley Spurlin as privates in Company K of the 25th Alabama Infantry, and a Jacob R. Spurlin as a private in Company A of the 33rd Alabama Infantry.^[11][12][13] The index gives no birthplaces, so linking these soldiers to the Coffee County men rests on the names. A Sons of Confederate Veterans tribute on William J. Spurlin's Find a Grave memorial also places him in Company K of the 25th Alabama.^[5] The headstone inscription transcribed on Jacob R. Spurlin's memorial reads "Company A 36 Alabama Infantry CSA", a different regiment number from the NPS index.^[8] See Spurlins in the Civil War.

Twentieth century

Tommy Spurlin's family

Find a Grave memorials tie the rockabilly singer Tommy Spurlin to an Elba family buried in Evergreen Cemetery. The memorial for his father, Henry J. Spurlin (14 July 1899 – 23 May 1928), notes a son, Thomas Monroe "Tommy" Spurlin, born in Elba on 12 January 1928, who died in Gulfport, Mississippi, on 27 July 2005.^[14] The German Wikipedia and Praguefrank's country discography give the same birth date and place.^[15][16] Henry's memorial also links to those of his parents, Thomas M. Spurlin (1875–1966) and Margaret T. Spurlin (1881–1960), and his brother James Alton Spurlin (1901–1915).^[14] Thomas M. Spurlin is buried in the same cemetery.^[17] Tommy Spurlin himself is buried at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Jackson, Clarke County, Alabama, according to his own memorial.^[18]

A wartime road case (1943)

Coffee County v. Spurlin, 245 Ala. 99 (1943), came out of a road project on the land of a Coffee County owner, J. R. Spurlin. In December 1941 the county began condemnation proceedings in the probate court to take between half and three-quarters of an acre fronting the road, land the evidence valued at $25 to $50 an acre.^[19] The road was graded and widened, but work stopped for lack of machinery and materials during the Second World War, before any base or paving was laid. On appeal to the circuit court, a jury awarded Spurlin nothing, and the judge granted him a new trial.^[19] The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed on December 16, 1943. Because the compensation statute assumed a finished highway, it ordered that the case be continued until peace or some other change allowed the parties to present it properly. Lawyers from Elba represented both sides.^[19] See Spurlin in American case law.

In the local press

The Elba Clipper has been digitized on the Internet Archive and mentions Spurlins in many issues. On 29 June 1944 it reported that Levy Spurlin, "well known resident of Reeves school house community, northeast of Elba," had died on 23 June at Edge hospital in Troy after two weeks of Brill's fever. It named him as a son of Mrs. Mattie Spurlin and the late R. A. Spurlin.^[20] The 7 September 1944 issue printed a tribute, "In Memory of William Levy Spurlin," which gave his birth date as 7 August 1915 and said he "lived only 29 years."^[21] On 17 September 1964 the paper reported that Mrs. Maggie Zellar Curby Spurlin, 74, had died at her home in Elba on 13 September and had been buried in the New Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery at Curtis.^[22]

The paper also shows that the family held reunions. On 7 August 1980 it printed a "Letter from Mr. Spurlin" that began: "We failed to have the Spurlin reunion this time; it was rained out, but suppose we will have it next year."^[23] Its 11 September 1980 social column described a Spurlin reunion held at Fairhope, attended by several couples "from Elba way."^[24]

Place names

In neighbouring Covington County, OpenStreetMap shows a Spurlin Street and a North Spurlin Street at Opp. Both come from street data imported from the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER files.^[25][26] See Places named Spurlin.