Long-lost brothers met by chance on downtown square in Andalusia

First National Bank building in Andalusia.

My wife and I drove to Andalusia on Saturday morning to look at prom dresses with our daughter, Harper. Once all prom attire matters were put to bed, we got a bite to eat and then spent a few minutes driving around downtown Andalusia. As in Monroeville, there’s a lot of history to be seen around Andalusia’s downtown square.

As we drove around the square, my eye was drawn to the former First National Bank building. This six-story building is the tallest building in Andalusia and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Designed by Montgomery architect Frank Lockwood, it was built in 1920.

Sources say that the building was occupied by various banks over the years, and that the building was also used for civic meetings. An insurance company bought the building in the 1950s and space in the building was also rented out to other small businesses in town. The building was abandoned in the 1970s, but it was converted into a restaurant in the 1980s.

While there, I was reminded that Andalusia’s downtown square has a somewhat unique place in Peacock family lore. My fifth-great-grandfather was a Methodist minister from Georgia named Joseph Tarpley Peacock, who settled in Covington County near the end of his life. Joseph and his wife had at least seven children, including three sons who served in the War Between the States.

The circumstances of the war tore Joseph’s family apart, and his children became scattered far and wide in the aftermath. One of his sons died during the war in Virginia, and his other two sons, Noah and Lewis, lost touch with each other. Joseph, who was at one time the constable at Red Level, died in the 1880s and the exact location of his grave is unknown.

After the war, Lewis (my fourth-great-grandfather) moved from his boyhood home in Dale County to Burnt Corn, where he married 20-year-old Safronia Caroline Martin. They eventually moved to Flat Rock, near Evergreen, and had at least 10 children. Unbeknownst to Lewis, his brother Noah was living near Baker, Fla. with his wife and family.

Fast-forward to around 1900, when the two brothers – both of whom fought on different parts of the field at Chickamauga – happened upon each other by chance in downtown Andalusia. Lewis would have been around 56 years old at the time, and Noah would have been around 62. How they recognized each other, I do not know.

Family lore says that Noah had a freight business in which he moved freight by mule and wagon to and from Andalusia. After the war, Lewis sharecropped pretty much all of his adult life, but in his older days he sold produce off an old mule-drawn wagon. Maybe their wagon-related businesses brought these long-lost brothers into contact after so many years had gone by.

In the end, if you’re ever in Andalusia, take a few minutes to visit the city’s downtown square. There’s lots to see there if you’re interested in regional history, and it’s not a bad way to spend a few minutes on a sunny Saturday morning.