The Caddell and Sims Families
Tillison Bend is on the same side of the Coosa River as Alford Bend. It extends from Hokes Bluff to East Gadsden. Spencer Tillison, born in 1791, married Margaret Owen in 1815. They moved to Calhoun (Benton) County, Alabama around 1835 from Tennessee. Spencer’s son William volunteered to fight with the army in an Indian uprising in south Alabama in 1836. After the uprising was over he settled briefly in Tuscaloosa where he met and married Martha McGehee. The couple moved to the area now known as Tillison Bend in 1859. There they owned a large plantation.
The east side of Tillison Bend is known as Caddell Bend. The bend is named for the Caddell family who settled the area around 1840. Andrew Caddell, who was born in Scotland, came to America as a stowaway around 1746. He served his bondage on a plantation in North Carolina. He married Jean Henderson, the plantation owner’s daughter, in 1754. The couple had eight children.
Around 1819, the family moved to St. Clair County, Alabama. After Cherokee County was opened for settlement, one of the couple’s sons, Andrew (Andy) Henderson Caddell moved to the area now known as Hokes Bluff. He married Susan Looper Green Tidmore. The two had eleven children. Several of these children lived in the Hokes Bluff area their entire lives.
When the first Caddells moved to the area, Indians were still living near the boundary of their estate. Descendants of the Caddells speak of their ancestors trading with these Indians. Some of the Indians lived on an Island in the Coosa River near the Caddells. This later became Caddell Island.
One of the children of Andrew and Susan Tidmore Caddell, Thomas Webster White Caddell married Mary Tidmore. Thomas and Mary raised their eleven children in Hokes Bluff. The home place of Thomas Webster White Caddell remained standing until 1959. It was over one hundred years old when it was torn down. One of the great-granddaughters of Thomas, Georgia Sims Bottoms and her husband Ralph, built a house in place of the Caddell home. Mariette Sims Smith, a sister to Georgia Bottoms and the wife of the late mayor of Hokes Bluff, W.A. Smith, provided much of the information on the Caddells. She has a mantle above her fireplace that was made from a log from the corncrib, which stood by the home. The corncrib still remains standing.
John Arthor Caddell, son of Thomas and Mary Tidmore Caddell, married Frances Alford, a daughter of Jefferson Alford. John owned C and C Transfer in Gadsden. William Caddell, a grandson, founded B and C Tire in Gadsden.
The eleventh and last child of Thomas and Mary Caddell, Lourena, married Robert B. Sims in Caddell Bend in 1879. Lourena and Robert had ten children. Many of the descendants of this couple still live on the original Caddell family land in Hokes Bluff. The fifth child of Lorena and Robert Sims, Edgar White Sims, married Annie Hicks in 1916.
Rear (L-R): Beatrice Sims Battles, Laura Hicks Sims, Vera Sims Miller Middle: Irene Battles, Ruth Sims Front: Louise Sims, Jeanette Battles, Geraldine Sims, Bill Abel, Robert Miller, Charlie Frank
When Annie Hicks married Edgar Sims she was teaching school. She taught at the Little Red Schoolhouse, which was located at the end of Caddell Bend where the Gregerson’s Grocery building is located. She told about a terrifying tornado that struck while she was teaching one day. In those days there were no tornado warnings. However, she was able to get all the students out of the building and to safety under a nearby bridge before the tornado hit. The tornado completely destroyed the school. One of the students, Sadie Mae Abel explained that Ms. Hicks had saved all of the children that day.
Another son of Andrew Henderson and Susan Green Caddell was Mahershalal Hashbaz Bazzie (M.B.) Caddell. His name is taken from the Bible (Isaiah 8:1). He married Amanda Tidmore on August 13, 1846. She was the daughter of Adam Tidmore. M.B. was a Civil War veteran. He and Amanda Tidmore had the following children: Elizabeth Susan (1847-1934), Mary Jane (1849-1926), Andrew Henderson (1851-1883), Adam Benson (1852-1932), Nancy (1855-1954), Frankin Mabaz (1857-1930), Amanda Victoria (1861-1915), Sarah Arminda (1863-1864), and William Riley (1865-1930).
M.B. Caddell passed away in 1869. His wife Amanda and all of their children except Amanda Victoria (married Francis Burns) moved to Aubrey, Texas around 1880. M.B.’s brother Lewis Caddell and wife Nancy Tidmore Caddell, James and Margaret Tidmore Griffith, and Coffey relatives, along with many other former citizens of the Hokes Bluff area, had already settled in Aubrey, Texas.
M.B. Caddell is buried at Hokes Bluff Cemetery. Amanda and many of the children and their families are buried in Belew Cemetery in Aubrey, Texas. Belew Cemetery is full of names like Tidmore, Griffith, Coffey, Smith and others who have Hokes Bluff roots.
Photos and information on the Caddell and Sims families provide by relatives Clarice Baggett and thelate Mariette Sims Smith
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