He was born on February 25, 1839, at Jernigan, Barbour, now Russell County, Alabama to Benjamin Screws and Mourning Jones Drake.

[2] He opposed the secession but enlisted as a volunteer into Hilliard's Alabama Legion at the outbreak of the American Civil War.

[4] After the war Montgomery Advertiser publisher Samuel Graham Reid, Sr., hired Screws as an associate editor in July 1865 and then in November of the same year sold him a half interest in the newspaper.

His convictions always marked out his pathway, whether it was followed by few or many, and he never hesitated to differ with and argue against the opinions of the majority, if he felt them wrong or believed that their success would not redound to the good of society.

He felt that his position as the head of a great newspaper was a sacred trust, and not a mere personal possession.