Reuben Lafayette Little, the
man and the C.S.A. soldier
 
Reuben's wife, Lucinda Parsons
In "We,
The Little People," Juanelle (Sandy) Sewell credits
Drusilla (Dru) Sheldon of Grapevine, Texas and Archie Little
of Waco as having shared their records and letters on this family.
Dru has a list of the birthdates of all of Reuben's children,
written in his own hand. Reuben and Lucinda reared their family
in Village Springs, Alabama. There are conflicting dates on the
marriage of Reuben and Lucinda. The date 20 Sep 1849 is cited
by his son, Milton Koger Little, in a 'Family Record' that was
recorded in Reuben's family Bible sometime after 1883. However,
the date 12 Feb 1850 is found on a list in Reuben's handwriting.
Reuben's son, Rev. Milton
Koger Little, told of an interesting experience in his father's
religious life following Koger's conversion to Christianity at
a camp meeting:
"I then felt that
my first duty was to endeavor to erect an altar in my father's
house. This was a task, but my heart was fixed; my father was
religious but did not pray with me. I approached him with the
old family Bible and said, 'father will you have prayers tonight?'
He said, 'No, child, I don't feel like it, if you do, go ahead.'
Koger read a Psalm with a few friends gathered in the home and
the 'Holy Ghost' came upon him. The next evening his father joined
in the prayer meeting and they rejoiced together. From that day
the domestic altar was a marked feature in the Little home."
All of Reuben's children became members of the Methodist Church.
Two letters sent from Reuben to his son, M. K. Little, in 1892
have been preserved.
Photos of Reuben show
him to be of rather slight build with a beard, curly hair, and
a twinkle in his eyes. A grandson, George Washington Little,
described him as about 5'8" with black hair and beard. He
was a farmer and a cabinet maker, who often said he would build
his own coffin of black walnut wood stored under his bed. His
son Koger described Reuben in these words:
"He was far above
the average of his day. A man of charming personality - clean
in life and lip. A close observer of the Sabbath and a church
goer. Wish we had more of his kind."
A number of artifacts
of the family have been passed to later generations. Among them
is a horn fashioned from a sheep's horn, which was used to communicate
across the mountains by a certain number of blasts to signal
fire, death, birth, etc. It is unclear if the horn originated
in Alabama or came with the family when they migrated from the
mountains of Kentucky. Also Reuben's caplock, long barrel "Kentucky'
rifle - measuring about five feet in length - has been preserved.
The barrel was forged in England and a new stock was carved in
1902. A few of his wife Lucinda's household possessions have
also been passed down to present-day descendants.
Lucinda applied for a
widow's pension for Reuben's service during the 'War Between
the States.' [Alabama
Confederate Archives: Ch.6; File No.298; Pg.182; No.2510] He was a corporal in the 4th
Regiment of Alabama Calvary and was in the C.S.A. hospital in
Jackson, Mississippi from August 13 to 28, 1964 with an intermittent
fever. He was a member of George Morrow Masonic Lodge in Village
Springs, AL.
Reuben and his wife are
buried in the Remlap Methodist Church Cemetery with a Masonic
Emblem carved on his marker with the epitaph:
"Is
a husband devoted; Is a father affectionate; Is a friend ever
kind and true."
It
has long been a tradition in the Little family in Alabama that
Reuben and a brother, Thomas, were born in Lexington, KY. This
is unlikely since both of his parents were from Pike County in
Eastern Kentucky and owned property there. In 1821, when the
1820 census was taken and Reuben was born, James and Betsey were
recorded as living in Pike County. Other Little families, probably
not related, are known to have lived in Central Kentucky during
the period.
Return to top  Little
Family Album
© 2000 Fred T. May
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