Benjamin Franklin Appleby was a remarkable man.  He had many talents.  He could speak and

understand seven foreign languages.   We know nothing of the schools he attended.  Bernice 

Donaldson reports that her mother told her that Peter Ridley provided private tutors for his children.

He also taught the negros on the plantation. He could have received his education from tutors or

practical experience, we do not know. 

Susie Appleby Donaldson tells of the Romanian gypsies.  Near the turn of the century they would 

come to Phenix City in their covered wagons.  Each year the sheriff of  Lee County would get

Benjamin Franklin Appleby to act as interpreter to give them the law of the land.

   He further showed his engineering ability as he was able to bring fresh spring water to his home in

Phenix City by building an aquaduct from a spring on a hill that was about a mile from his home.

  He grafted peach, apricot and pecan trees.  He made annual trips each fall of about a month in length

to Panama City, Florida.  He went in a covered wagon with a two-mule team pulling it.  There he would

fish, salt the fish, pack them in barrels and carry them back home.

   Bernice Appleby Fentress, daughter of Benjamin Franklin, remembers their home had one square

room that resembled a reception room.  There was a round table that had books on it.  This is where

the family read.  They had a book case with a full set of Brittanica Encyclopedias.   Aunt Bernice

remembers the farm as having many, many fruit trees of all kinds.  She says her father would never

plant any white potatoes.  She tells of making syrup from sugar cane and drinking the juice from the

sugar cane mill.  Cotton was baled and put under a tree in the front yard until it was sold.  She

remembers they had a share cropper named Prince.

   Benjamin Franklin brought oyster shells back from Appalachicola, Florida.  These oyster shells

were crushed and put in chicken yards and the whole shells were spread in the farming area.  The

shells provided something the soil needed.  A few years ago, I was in Appalachicola and told a man in

a restaurant how my Grandfather used to haul oyster shells home.  He laughed and said, "let me

show you something."  He carried me to huge oyster shell mounds and said, "we still have them."

(F.S.)

   Benjamin Franklin Appleby died in 1907, age 73, as a result of a runaway horse and buggy.  He

was riding on South Rail Road Street in Phenix City, when his horse was scared by a train.   The

buggy turned over and Benjamin Franklin died from the injuries.  He is buried in Phenix City in a

lot owned by Cornelia Appleby Shavers.  His oldest son, Byron, is also buried in this lot.  The

cemetery is Pine Grove.  The lot is located on the east side about half way down below the crest of the

cemetery.  Grave markers have been embedded in the concrete.  This lot is not hard to find.  The

reason Grandfather was not buried at Little (Texas) Camp Grounds was because of a flood.  It had

been raining for several weeks and the roads were impassable.

   Ralph and Ann Appleby and Forrest Appleby Shavers and his wife, Jewel, have spent many days and

many miles getting this report together and it has been fun.  Ralph and Ann traveled from Tuskegee,

Alabama to Charleston, South Carolina to Danville, Virginia to Appleby, England, visiting and 

talking with man people.  Forrest and Jewel visited many places in Charleston, South Carolina,

Virginia,  Alabama and the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C.  We hope some day, someone

will find the link between James Preston Appleby and his ancestors.  Very likely they could be 

traced back to Appleby, England.

The End.

Appleby Heritage is delighted to present this writing of  Ralph Appleby and Forrest  Appleby Shavers.

However, Appleby Heritage assumes no responsibility for it's accuracy.  Where no documentation is 

given, the material should only  be considered as possible clues to assist in further research.

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page:  30 August 2004