JUDGE RICHARD H. CLARK. MEMOIRS JUDGE RICHARD H. CLARK EDITED BY LOLLIE BELLE WYLIE ATLANTA, GA. . W. Harrison, Mana MR. Z. D. HARRISON, THE LOYAL AND LIFELONG FRIEND OF THE DISTINGUISHED AND THOUGHTFUL WRITER, JUDGE RICHARD H. CLARK, THIS COMPILATION OF THE WORKS OF HIS PEN AND THE TRIBUTE PAID HIM BY HIS FRIENDS, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE EDITOR. preface. So many encomiums have been passed upon the life and. character of the lamented Judge Bichard H. Clark, that, did I not desire to emphasize all that has been said, I should let this volume go fortih to his friends and the world with out an additional word. That lie was a tocder-Uiearfred and sympathetic man, no one will dispute who enjoyed the honor of his acquaintance or who read the beautiful emanations from his graceful pen; but I think that nothing demonstrates these characteristics more clearly than a few linos, scribbled in. childish letters, in a journal kept by Alice, his youngest child. Like most developing lives, the child wrote innocently and regardless of outside opinion in her diary, -and looking over the pri vate papers kept sacred by Judge Clark during his lifetime, I found this leaf: "Poor Guiteau! He was hung yesterday. The papers are full of t#ie details of the hang-ing. Father got hold of the papers before breakfast, and he could not at. He could not eat his dinner. He says he is always glad whetu any one kills himself to escape the gallows." The sorrows of the dear old man had made him. sensitive to shame and suffering, and his kindly heart was always ready to respond to the moan of misery. If he ever erred in his decisions on the bench, it was on the side of mercy. If he ever saw an opportunity to pour the healing balm, the -wound was stra.ig-b.tway annointed. Judge Clarks domestic life was peculiarly sad. He VI PBEFACE. worked aloiic, the half of his life, bereft of that compan ionship which he most needed and yearned for. In Ma daughter Hallie he enjoyed an intellectual comradeship which was only lessened "by her physical disability. -With tenderest pride lie "wrot^ of lier: a M!any of her words and. writings will do to stand side by side with those of George Eliot. Her sentences are brilliant atid beautiful. My daughter has been an invalid since her fifteenth, year. This, superadded to a reserved and modest disposition, has kept Her from being widely knowu and appzeciated- In a letter she says: I am sure I do not .know where we could find happiness! Contentment is about all we can expect, and that depends mainly on ourselves. If the dew of happiness falls more generously upon one place than upon another, I have never felt its refreshing; sweetness. The mist of con tentment is all that ever moistened the desert. And it is true." This daughter, gifted with great delicacy of thought and expression, writes to her father of the death of Mrs. Clark, lier stepmother., and says: "I hope you are by degrees becoming inured to the silence made by death- Death, is awful and powei-ful. It is like entertaining a solemn guest whose watchword is God! He lays his hand upon us as well as upon the dead, and we are a part of the fearful liu&hl" As a father, he was the tender protector of his loved ones, shielding t^em from all the hardships, privations and annoyances of life with the folds of bis great love. His clesire was "To apeak the very truth, to perform a promise to the uttermost, to reverence all women, to he]j> the weak, to treat high and low with courtesy, to be con stant to one love, to be fair to bis bitterest foe. to despise luxury, and to preserve simplicity, modesty and gentle ness in heart and bearing," and I know that in a large measure his pure life was governed by these axioms. He was all that noble knighthood required, and in the placid cur rents of his life were depths unfathomable of tenderness and sweetness, which sliows how exquisitely fine was his appreciation of good deeds and exalted aims. iSpealdutg1 of the death of Dr. Taliaferro, which, touched him greatly, with ehar-acteristi-c sympathy for suffermEIjTjE \V YLIE. EDITORS NOTE. In compiling the manuscripts of Judge Clark, I found but few dated. This necessarily changes the color of some oi the letters- In many instances the actors pictured have diet], and some have mar ried and removed to other scenes. Owing to this much interesting in formation has been left unrecorded. Any reliable and authentic information that can be furnished for future use will be gratefully appreciated, and used in elaborating the second edition. Contents, MEMORIAL BY THE ATLANTA BAK. ................. . . ........ 1 IN HOSE HILT. CEMETERY ............ ......................... 19 IN ROSE HILL CEMETERY ....._,.......,...,,. ................ &7 FLORIDA THIRTY YEARS AGO .................. ............ . . 60 FLORIDA THIRTY YEARS AGO ............ ..................... (j8 FIFTY YEAKS AGO is SAVANNAH ......... ..................... 75 THE SCHOOLS FIFTY YEARS AGO ...-.-.... ................ ... 82 SOME OTT THE SCHOOLBOYS . ..,...,-., ...................... . , , 89 THE LAW FIFTY YEAUS AGO ....................... ........... 98 THE J^AvrYEns FIVTY YEAUS AGO ................. ............ 105 THE Orj> CWE-FEBY . ... ........................... .......... 113 THE STAGE "FORTY TJSA.RS AGO. .............. ................. 12S A VOYAGE iy 1834 ............. ....... ..... ................ ISO CULTURE OF COTTON . . ............................. .......... 352 WIT AT GKOJSGJAS SAJI ............................ .......... 15!? OLD ACTORS .......... ............ .-,,... ,.......,.,....,., 174 THE I-.ATK WAUP MCALLISTER ..... ......... .... ,...,.,...,. 181 A HORSE SWAP. ................ ....... ..,......,,.....,.. , 137 THE LANIEK HOUSE .,........-,.... ..,.............,.,...-..,.. 205 C-iEOBGIA AN!) ALABAMA. ................... ................. 217 WVLT.V BARROK .............................................. 224 PREACHERS FIFTY YEARS AGO ................................. 228 GEORGIA SCENES " AKU " TRXTMPET MAJOR " ................. 235 A FACT OF ^HERMANS "RA.II>. ...... ..... ...... .............. 243 ANTE B^LT.UM LAW VEES ....................................... 249 GEORGIAS MYSTEBIOLTS tiovEKXOE . ......,,,,,,,.,.......... 2-54 TUB COLDEST DAY ............................................ 239 A KIXG OF BRIXKEUS ....... .......... .-..-.,... ........... 262 ,7(JD<;E Joi-TK A. ClITHliEUT .......... ........... ............. 265 CHARLES F. JENKIXS ....................... ... ... ......... 272 H-BKdonKL V. Joiixso.v ..... .................................. 280 GEN. THOMA.S PINCKXEY SIHTH ................................ iJOS lioujsKT .RAYMONJJ R^UD ..................... ................. SOI TRAOYS WAR RKCOR.D ...... . .................................. B09 TTJE DotB/-^ MV&&B&. .................................. ..... 9X9 Ho:x. JOSEPH F. BRO^Y x ...... .......... ..................... 325 CONTENTS. THE GEORGIA CODE ..... ......... ........... ................ 393 ................ 402 memorial Judge Clark, oxir lamented brother, had the amplitude of a broad humanity, but with it a very distinctive and individual personality. He was a compound of marked traits and delicate shades of character, sonic of the former deriving their existence, apparently, from the latter, and being the result of their harmonious grouping and blonding-. For instanee? Ms simplicity was a permanent and prominent characteristic, yet it was a composite simplicity and not a single elementary quality. !N"ature multiplied the large wheels in his machinery by adding small ones and combining them in a peculiar man ner. "With, all his nice complexity he was well-balanced. His gentleness was a dominant trait, and yet it was in such equipoise with, his firmness that it often took no part in the performance except in. his demeanor and tone of feeling. At the core of his mental constitution there was a hard and solid individuality, but it was so cushioned with a sympathy and kindness that it seldom jarred, though always making itself sufficiently manifest to suggest the independent thinker and actor. His matured opinions were deeply rooted and he adhered to them, not with animal stubborn ness, but with a spiritual loyalty which no opposition and no force of attack could weaken. It is doubtful whether, in a single instance, he ever accepted a reversal of one of his judgments by the Supreme Court with anything ap proaching full mental acquiescence. When reversed he l 2 MEMORIAL. remained of the same opinion still -was not convinced against his will nor convinced at all. It some-times re quired all liis amiability and gentleness of disposition to keep him from breaking- out into open insubordination and treating the reviewing court "with official discourtesy. His political opinions were equally fixed, and immovable, and his allegiance to his party was constant. Yet in noth ing was he loud or violent. The born gentleman, refined and expanded by cultivation, ruled over his whole life and conduct. !N~or is it unlikely that he "was strongly In fluenced by religious feelings and motives. No man "was less pretentious in the externals of religion or more care ful to eschew religious parade or display, but if the es sentials of religion can be analyzed in the non-reverential, the devotional, the benevolent, the1 practically moral, and the spiritually beautiful, he was certainly not wanting in any of these; so far as it is possible for men to judge other men, we should say he has seldom been surpassed. Doubt less multitudes have been more habitually conscious of re ligion than he "was, but whether many have, been more swayed by its real spirit is open to question. He was a quiet and silent member of the Methodist Church, but hia field of labor, as he viewed it and occupied it, was in the "world and in the affairs of secular life. That he per formed his part heroically and nobly none "will deny who knew his career and the circumstances under which it was prosecuted, patiently and persistently, to the end. He bravely "withstood the combined discouragements of ill health, poverty, and other misfortunes of a distressing na ture. Few men, in the church or out of it, could have accomplished so much under like conditions. He was one whom men as "well as "women could "warmly love, for in. him the masculine virtues, without being en feebled, "were softened and exalted by feoninine delicacy. He "was gifted with that mixture of strength and sweetness MEMORIAL. 3 which, appeals always and everywhere + o the heart of hu manity itself. All wlio knew him realized that he was not an ordinary man. Something about him. impressed those who met him with the fact that they were in the presence of a man far above the average, not only intellectually, but in character, manners, and general appearance. A more courtly gentle man, never "walked the streets, and a kinder h-oart never beat in (a human breast. He had peculiarities, but they did not grate upon you; they only impressed you the more with his rare ability and his unfailing kindness. He was by natnre fearless, morally and physically, and cowardice of any kind found 110 place in his make-up. A thought of dis honesty never entered his mind, and we do not believe he ever had a mean motive during his life. . We are prepared for the character of the man when we learn of his ancestry. Every stream that flowed into his veins furnished good and pure blood to make a true man. His father was Josiah Hayden Clark, a native of Dorches ter, Massachusetts, who descended from Richard Clark, an English emigrant to Massachusetts in 1760. The Clarks were gentle people in England and improved on American soil. Judge Clarks great-great-grandfather established the first paper mills in the colonies, in Dorchester, Massachu setts, known as Clarks Mills, and its successor, we are in formed, exists there by that name to this diay. His son George, the grandfather of Judge Clark, married Lydia Surnner? a member of that noted family in MJassachusetts, and this marriage made Judge Clark a third cousin of the late Senator Charles Sumner. Judge Clark inherited from his father much of that poetic temperament which he exhibited throughout his life. His father composed the odes sung in Savannah at the lay ing of the corner-stone of the Green and Pulaski monument 4 MEMORIAL. in 1825, arid also In tlie same year the ode sung in com memoration of tlie death of Jefferson and Adams. His maternal great-grandfather was Henry G-iiidrat, who was a Frenchman, coming to the United States when ho was a child, and settling in South Carolina long before the revolution. J"udg;e Clarks courtly manner and extreme punctiliousness tare partly traceable to his French ancestors. Judge Clark was born in Springfield, Hfrmglumi county, near Savannah, on March 24, 1824, which made him nearly seventy-two years of age at the time of his death. When ten. years old he was so daring that his mother feared lie would "be drowned in the Savannah river, where he would venture on every opportunity, and for this reason she sent him to a school at Lynu, Massachusetts, but he was so homesick that she was advised, to recall him., and lie was educated in the Springfield. Academy, where many of Georgias prominent sons received their instruction. Upon graduating at the academy he entered the law office of Ward & MeAllIster in Savannah, and was there prepared for admission to the bar. He AVJIB ambitious, and after his admission was anxious to become self-sustaining at once, and as this -was impossible in an old city like Sa vannah where business had. move-el for generations in wellestablished channels, he determined to try Ins efforts in the flourishing town, of Albany in thi=> State, rnd mounting a horse he made the journey from Savannah on horseback. He lived in Albany twenty-four years, and he always felf; a peculiar affection for the citizens of that little cify and of Baker and Dougherty counties. He knew that they loved him, and in all his races before the legislature that section of Georgia always came solidly to his support. He was married twice. The first time to Miss Harriet Gr. Charlton, on August 7, 1855. She belonged to the Charlton family of this State, being the daughter of Major John Cliarltou of Springfield. Two children were bom to liini by his gist wife, Henrietta Louise and Harriet Charlton. The former died in 1886, and the latter, who lias been an invalid for years, a till lives in Macon. Hia second marriage was to Miss Anna Maria Lott. Slie was a native of Florida, but was living In Lee county when he wooed and won her. Sis children were the fruits of this marriage "Richard Henry, Charles Clifford, George Townes, Anna Beveridge, Jessie Bertram, and Alice G-indrat. All of these children are dead, except the Soon after the war Juderc Clark removed to Atlanta, which remained his home nntil his death. He died in his lodgings at the Markham House in Atlanta on the 14th day of February, 1806, and was buried in Rose Hill Cem etery at Macon on the day succeeding hie death. When not quite twenty yeara of age Judge Clark, on the nth day of February, 1844, was admitted to plead and practice law. This took place in Chatham superior court, the Hon. Charles S. Henry being the judge presiding. Three other applicants were admitted at the same time. The examination was in open court and lasted from 9 oclock a.m. to 2 oclock p.m., the; committee conducting it being composed of Matthew Hall McAllister, Robert IT. Chni-lton, William P. White, and Francis S. Bartow. Lo co ting in Albany, he engaged in practice there, and so con tinued until he went upon the bench as judge of the South western Circuit, in the last, month of 1802. During the same year of this time he was in partnership with Richard F. Lyon. afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court, Of this partnership Judge Clark was the junior member, and it was in existence in July, 1848, when he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. After resigning in I860 as judge of the Southwestern Circuit, he 6 MEMORIAL. removed to Atlanta, and in so far as the state of liis health permitted, prosecuted his profession in that city until hid appointment to the bench of the city court, in 1876, his health in the meantime undergoing slow but steady im provement. Upon retiring- from the city bench at the close of the year 1883, he resumed general practice,, but being again elevated to the bench as judge of the Stone Mountain Circuit two years afterwards, his career as a practitioner terminated and the residue of his life was devoted to judicial labor. During a part of the time he practiced in Atlanta ho had a limited partnership or busi ness association with ex-Chief Justice Lochraiie. He was often employed to aigue cases in the Supreme Court at the instance of and to assist other lawyers. Indeed, these brought to him much of his professional business, for in his later life at the bar they more fully understood and appreciated his merits as a lawyer than did the public at large. His mind was of a literary-legal order. To him the law was not dry bread, but a juicy and savory viand, and in dealing -with it he often made it so to others. In his prime his powers of advocacy were considerable, and he was no less effective with juries than with judges. He was indus trious and painstaking in preparing his cases for trial, and -was so conversant with the tricks and traps of litigant hu man nature, that he was rarely off his guard against wiles and wickedness. His suspicion, however, was only that which, is born of outward observation, for he was too pure and undefiled for it to have originated, otherwise. By capacity, learning, and diligence he was entitled to even a higher rank at the bar than that to which he attained, and the one obstacle to his onward career was the want of ro bust health. It was this wliich made a fixed income, though within the limits of a low judicial salary, so at- MEMORIAL. 7 tractive to him that he preferred to serve on the bench rather than struggle at^the "bar. Before any failure in his health his professional ability and reputation led to- his appointment by Governor Brown as one of the three com missioners to prepare the Code of Georgia. This was the crowning work of his life, and -will perpetuate his name and fame in our professional history. The labor of con structing out of slender and scattered materials found in a multitude of previous statutes, a connected, consistent, and complete scheme of "political and public organization of the State" foil to him as his special task, and Part First of the Code., substantially as we now have it under that desig nation, was the result. In -working up his materials, Judge Clark had either to stop when lie had assembled to gether and put in order a great mass of mere fragments, or else supply from liis own mind a large quantity of new matter for filling up chasms and connecting all these frag ments together. "Wisely, no doubt, he chose the latter course, although it involved a more extended and compre hensive performance than that indicated by the letter of the act under which, the commission to prepare the Code was .organized. In tins choice his colleagues, Messrs. Irwjri and Oobb, agreed with Lira, their concurrence, being* evidenced not only by not overruling him when it came to the work of revision, but by a similar practice by them selves, one or both, in executing their own special share of the general undertaking. The new matter originated by Judge Clark was very considerable in quantity, and the quality of it "was such that- after a trial of more than thirty years much the greatest part of it still stands, and is in daily and hourly use as effective law. Y\7 e thus have evi dence not oii]y of his fertility in legal production but of his skill in adapting the product to the wants and work of practical life. He was specially and pre-eminently a po- 8 MEMORIAL. litico-jurist, and to his ability as such the Code of Georgia is a magnificent and. enduring monument. The judicial career of Judge Clark "began with his ap pointment to the judgeship of the superior courts of the South-western Circuit in December, 1862. He filled that position "with eminent ability until October, 1866, when he resigned on account of ill health. He resided in Albany during this time. He became so "well and favorably known throughout the counties composing his circuit, and through that entire portion of the State, during his incumbency of this office, that in 1885, "when he became a candidate for the judgeship of the superior courts of the Stone Moun tain Circuit, before the General Assembly, the representa tives of that section rallied to him as one man, arid made him so strong before that body that he easily defeated his opponent and was chosen judge of that circuit at every suc ceeding election until the time of his death, without serious opposition. He was judge of the Southwestern Circuit for nearly four years, and of the Stone Mountain Circuit for a little over ten years. Besides this he was judge of tne city court of Atlanta for a period of eight years, beginning January 20, 1876; a total period of twenty-two years. During this long judicial career he was distinguished for uprightness and ability the two cardinal requisites of a judicial officer. He possessed one of the most acute legal minds that Georgia ever produced. He penetrated deeply into the cases brought beifore him, and soon perceived the weak or strong points. His mind was active and inquir ing, and until he bad mastered, the case he was keenly 011 the alert, and plied counsel -with many questions. But it did not take long to probe a case to the bottom. If he had a fault it "was in coming to a conclusion too soon; but such was the intensity of his attention .and the quickness of his perception, that this fault was.hard to shun. A cause be- MEMORIAL. 9 fore him interested him f^rom its very inception, and liis diligence in quest of the truth, and justice concerning it never flagged until it was finally disposed of. He had no patience "with the idea that a judge was a mere legal au tomaton, bnt his conception was that he should take ac tive control of a case, bring, it down to the real issues in volved, and force them, and them alone, upon the attention of counsel and of the jury. His inind would become so occupied in this way, that he would sometimes lose sight of the restraints thrown around the judge by our peculiar system of jurisprudence and appear to invade the province of the jury by expressing his opinion of the case before him. Host of the reversals of his judgments by the Supreme Court were based upon exceptions taken to such alleged ex pressions of opinion before the jury, but it will be found on examination of the esses tried by him, as reported in the Supreme Court Ileports, that they were in furtherance of what he conceived to be the right and justice of the cause. He thought that a trial judge should be permitted to brush away all minor and unimportant issiies, and leave to the determination of the jury only the1 important and con trolling oneSj and that eve.ii on these the judges influence should not be entirely unfelt by the jury. As already stated. Judge Clark was elected judge of the Stone Mountain Circuit when it was created in 1885, and held that office until his death. This circuit did not em brace ITulton county, but it was well known that the pur pose had in view in the creation of it was to furnish a judge to assist the judge of the superior court of the Atlanta Cir cuit. The criminal docket of this court was assigned to him in the division of the business, and the arduous task of trying nearly all the felonies that have been committed in this county for the last ten years has devolved upon him. He brought to that \vork the best efforts of his long and 10 MEMORIAL. useful life. He was always upright, able, and fearless, but he recognized, oftentimes, the provocation for the crime, too often overlooked by younger and less experienced judges, and tempered justice with that sweeter quality of mercy which made him see the man as "well as the crim inal, and caused his great heart to look with some leniency upon the human being who stood before him -when he pronounced the sentence of the law. Judge Clark commenced his public life at a very early age. "Was elected to the legislature of Georgia in the year 1849 as a senator from the1 thirteenth senatorial district. This legislature was that chosen for the second term of George "WY Towns and was the first democratic legislature of the State for a number of years. In this legislature -was the beginning of the great political excitement which grow out of the settlement of the questions involved in the dis position of the territory acquired by the United States at the end of the war with Mexico. "With his entrance in this legislature upon political life there was with him Thomas T. Long, Lucius J. Gartiell, Liiiton Stephens, and Joseph E. Brown, who afterwards became so distinguished in the public service and shed great luster upon the history of Georgia. In the Democratic convention of 1857 be and Linton Stephens were conspicuous leaders in the movement which resulted in the nomination of Joseph E. Brown for the office of governor. This nomination -was the settle ment of the long "wrangle and contest by the partizaxis of Honorables James Gardner, Henry G. Lamar and John H. I/urnpkin for this nomination. These three party leaders had been, long conspicuous in tho Democratic party and bad exercised great influence in the politics of the State and in determining the policies for the Democratic party. At that time Governor Brown was not generally known to the politicians of the State, and the knowledge Judge Clark had MEMORIAL. - 11 of him by Ids association in the legislature of 1849 -was most successfully used in securing for him the office of gov ernor, winch identified this remarkable man with the most eventful epoch in Georgia history. The public excitement originating in the legislature of 1849 culminated in the con vention of 1861 and the adopting of the ordinance of seces sion by the State of Georgia. Judge Clark was a mem ber of that convention, and with those celebrated statesmen and patriots, X A. !Nisbet; Thomas R.R. Oobb? and Robert Toombs, voted for that ordinance. During these twelve years of the greatest political excitement and of momentous events in Georgia history Judge Clark was one of the most consistent and devoted of that galaxy of Georgians who molded public opinion and carried out those policies born of the most ardent feeling of devotion to the peculiar rights of the Southern States. In the years following that of secession, during the war period and in the after times of disappointment, alien in terference, and reconstruction wrongs, the memories of the past were dear to the heart, of Judge Clark, and in counsel and effort he was in the front rank of that illustrious num ber of Georgians that gave their lives for safety of the State, and whose fame is a precious iiilieritarjce of its peo ple. His political life was consistent in party and was spent in the pursuit and vindication of truth as he saw it, and in making1 better and brighter the lives of the people for whom he thus earnestly labored, His legislative career was conspicuous as to the men with whom he was associated and the measures with which he was identified. It would take perhaps a dozen comfortable octavo vol umes to carry the contents of Judge Clarks scrap-books. Much that is cut. from newspapers, and pasted into these volumes, is the product of his own pen. The residue of it, also clipped from newspapers, consists of articles which 12 MEMORIAL. arrested his attention and appealed to his sympathies dur ing- a long lifetime. The footprint of a bird in a Paleozoic mud-flat is so char acteristic that a scientist can take it, as found preserved in the resulting stone-shale, and construct from it the figure and semblance of the bird itself. The bone of an animal, deposited in the deepest dark of prehistoric times is un earthed from the dry, embalming dust of a long-forgotten period, and from the slim indications of structure and na ture it presents the animal itself is made to stand before the startled eyes of nineteenth century spectators. J3y anal ogy it "would seem that a scrap-book, extended, as Judge Clarks is, through so many years, and registering -with care ful fidelity the things he thought and said as the spirit moved him, and the things that other people, both grave and gay, thought and said pointedly enough to catch, his de liberate attention, "would supply abundant material out of which a philosophic mind might reconstruct the mental and emotional part of Judge Clark himself. ITor instance, Judge Olark "was known to be possessed of a heart full of tenderness and sympathy for men. and women who had been jostled down in the rush of life and trampled under the feet of their fellow men. The criminals he sentenced loved, him even as he w:\s pronouncing their doom. The gentle-ness of liis disposition was so pronounced a trait of his character., that even, illiterate and brutal felons perceived it arid appreciated it. But a psychologist should be able to reason out this peculiar characteristic as beingone of the parts of Judge darks singularly compound be ing from the following scrap of poetry, which, with many o fliers of similar sentiment; or in like vein, is found among those scattered, as print of bird claw or mummied bone, throughout his remarkable scrap-books: .MEMORIAL, 13 "Give him a lift. Dont kneel in prayer, Nor moralize with his despair : The man is down, and his great need Is ready help, not prayer and creed. To him than tomes of saintly lore ; . Pray, if you must, within your heart, But give him a lift, give him a start. " The world is full of good advice, OI prayer and praise and preaching nice ; But generous souls who aid mankind Are like to diamonds hard to find. " Give like a Christian, speak in deeds ; A noble lifes the best o creeds ; And he shall wear a royal crown Who gives a lift when men are down." Again, the friends of Judge Clark were frequently sur prised, almost to the point of consternation, at the quantity a.nd accuracy of his information as to the antecedents o almost any one "whose name was mentioned, and his fa miliarity with family connections even down to a remote degree of kinship. He knew so much more about ones kind than one knew himself., that many stood in dread that h knew some otherwise unknown something that would cut the price or bring a blush of shame to the check. Groundless fear, however, since his innate goodness restrain ed him from ever inflicting the slightest pain. Judge Glarks memory was a sort of exhaustless "peer age," even of the poor, the humble and obscure a sort of personal "Bradstreet" of everybodys buried and -wouldbe forgotten relatives. But the habit of his mind, which made possible an attainment so difficult as the one now under consideration, is disclosed in these slowly and pa tiently formed and always growing scrap-books. Few people duly estimate how much newspapers contribute to the common fund of knowledge in the course of half a 14 MEMORIAL. century, and especially how much information they give about people, and their cousins and their aunts/ Judge Clark seems to have been an. omnivorous consumer of news papers. For fifty years he clipped personal paragraphs, autographs, biographs, and the like, himself often con tributing much of value in this direction, until he in part made, and in another part collected, a large encyclopedia of individuals, their connections, eccentricities, and exploits, so as to have them at tongues end when occasion arose call ing for disclosure. lie appears to have hung over, with loving respect, tombstones in cemeteries at Savannah, Macon, and elsewhere, fixing dates of births and deaths, grouping family names and connections, as if this were the chief business of his life. N~ot to be wondered at, there fore, that he could in a few minutes conversation so enlarge your circle of relatives that you felt smothered under a blanket of unexpected, and sometimes undesired, kinship. Pie devoted much time to the study of the local and personal history of the State of Florida, and much that he "wrote on this subject deserves to be preserved. The bench and bar of Georgia always appealed to him, as one of the chief "pleasures of memory" in his old age, and his knowledge of this subject far exceeds that of any of his contemporaries. How lovingly he lingered over the names, ability, and pe culiarities of his professional brethren, and with -what just estimate oft-tinged with subtle humor he has perpetuated their memories, let his brilliant series of letters addressed to the Savannah "jVlorning !N~ews," and entitled Fifty Years Ago," attest. Perhaps William H. Sparks alone com peted with him in this peculiar line of literary endeavor, and it is to be said in reference to ]\lr. Sparks himself, that Judge Clark has collected and preserved the only complete record of his writings extant. Bill Arp, Betsy Hamilton, and Montgomery M. Folsom, and many other well-known MEMORIAL. 15 knights and ladies o the quill, will also likely find, among 3 udge Clarks clippings and pastings, a fuller collection of their contributions to the newspaper press of the day than they themselves possess. We may -wonder, too, if any one of the many lawyers, who "were accustomed to view his venerable, grave face as it crowned the woolsack, imagined how much Judge Clark knew about actors and actresses, and famous mu sicians., and notable pi-each ere; and how fond he was of framing their printed images and preserving accurate criti cisms of their genius and methods. The great speeches, also, of Georgias great men, of every political or theologi cal creed, he read with care, and preserved with equal care, until it may be said nothing has been worthily proclaimed from fomni or pulpit for fifty years, and printed in the daily press of the State, that lie has not garnered for the convenience of the future historian. Scores of distin guished G&orgians will find many of their own utterances, winch they have themselves probably long forgotten, her metically sealed in the amber of Judge darks wonderful scrap-books. So far as we know Judge Clark never attempted a line of poetry of his own invention or manufacture, but his soul was brimful of it, and a true song always found a re sponsive chord in him. Very few short poems or verses of merit escaped the snipping of his tireless scissors. His admiration for womanhood, and especially motherhood, was deep and tinged with holy reverence, and his love for children was so simple and tender that it was little short of pathetic. A volume of miscellaneous productions particu larly unfolding the sad and sorrowful side of "the mother" and "the child" could be printed from his collections, so varied and beautiful as to be esteemed a gem of any library,- 16 MEMORIAL. for liis literary taste and discernment in this quarter were indeed exquisite. As is well known, Judge Clark was a profoundly afflicted man, both in his person and his circumstances. His cheer fulness, his patience, at times flickering up into gentle hu mor and playfulness, was thus the more remarkable. No doubt he had consciously trained himself to endure adverse ills, and schooled himself to display toward others that ten der consideration which too often he felt to be denied to himself. The frequent occurrence of lines like the follow ing, preserved by him, woiild seem to indicate this: "If we knew the cares and crosses Crowding round our neighbors way, If we knew the little losses Sorely grievous day by day, Would we then so often chide him Leaving on his heart a. shadow, "Let us reach into our bosoms For the key to other lives, And with love toward erring nature Cherish good that still survives ; So that when our disrobed spirits Soar to realms of light again, We may say, dear Father, judge us As we jiidge our fellowmen." It has been remarked how grateful Judge Clark always was for the slightest mark of consideration and sympathy. A gentle touch of his elbow to sustain him in his feebleness, a slight smoothing of his sick pillow, a little bunch of flow ers,, any sort of loving trifle, would call forth earnest, even pathetic profusion of thanks. Perhaps something more than accident led him to preserve the following lines so ap propriate to this occasion: MEMORIAL. 17 "When lam dead, Forgive Oh, this I pray far more than, all The ang-ulsh I have caused, the deed beyond recall, Think kindly on me as I lie so still, Of hearts bound up I found all sad and broken Think gently, when this" last long; rest is mine, And g;\ZG upon ray form with looks benign, When I am dead." L. E. BLBCKLITV , M. A. CA^IVLER, E. jST. BKOYLES, "VVM. K. HATVIMOND, MAKSHAijT., ?T. CT^AU KUFUS T, DOBSEY, HOWARD VAX EPPS JOHN T. GI^EXX, A. H. DAVIS. In TRose Ibill Cemetery. IMacon, in the State of Georgia, named in honor of the great and good Nathaniel jVTacon of !Nbrth Carolina, is a beautiful city. As it is located very nearly in the exact geographical center of the State, it is appropriately called "The Central City." Situated on the right, or west bank of the Ocmulgeo river, it occupies the lowlands, the plains, and the highlands of that river. Beginning at the lowest point on the river, it rises gradually by a succession of nat ural terraces, semicircular in shape, until it reaches and in cludes the high hills. Looking from some favorable point on those hills, the "whole city is in view, descending by reg ular gradations until it reaches the lowest lands capable of occupancy. Looking from some favorable point along the track of the Central road, in the lowest part, of the city, and the reverse of the other view is had. The city grad ually rises before the view amphitheater-like, until upon the highest encircling hills many of its largest and prettiest buildings cap their tops and delight the eye. It is diffi cult to decide "which is the more beautiful both are beau tiful and hard to be surpassed in views of cities. If a pho tographer should place his instrument at a point on Bonds Hill, -which, -would jusfc take in on the left a spire of Christ Church, and then would place it at some point near the track of the Central road in the lowest part of the city, the pictures thus made, taken together, would give a view of nearly all of Mac on all of its prettiest parts. The streets of Macon, running from the lowlands to the hills, are named 20 MEMORIAL. after trees, and of these I remember Walnut, ^Mulberry, Cherry, Plum, and Poplar. The principal residence ave nue of the city is ^Mulberry street. The pride of the peo ple of Macon is the park in the lower part of tho city on the river bank, and PV.OSC Hill Cemetery in the upper part on the liigh hills and likewise on the river bank. .Each of these beautiful spots are in unison -with the beautiful city, .imd all together complete a lovely picture "which nature and art both combine to make. It is not to describe Alacoii and her beauties these articles are written, for that "would re quire the pen of an artist, but as introductory to the im pressions received and rellectioiis made, OIL a visit during the last summer, respecting her old citizens, who are tak ing their final and eternal sleep in Rose Hill Cemetery. _N~or will space permit, if I had tlie ability, to describe this lovely city of the dead. ]\Xa:ny descriptions of it have been written and printed, but to realize its beauties it must be seen. It is nearly forty years since I first visited Macon, and for more than thirty I have known it well. ^larked changes take place in population in one decade, but when we can multiply that by four these are so many and so great, that the chronicler finds but few surviving who were contemporaneous with him in the business and struggle of life. The first change that impressed me -was, tluit there were but two men living "who resided on ilulberry street from Paines corner to College street twenty years ago. The two are William P>. Johnson, and Edwin Saulsbury. Among the dead I can call to mind are Dr. ICollock Green, Washington Poe, Thurston T31oom. ? Dr. Colling, James A. jNTisbet, Asa Holt, Eugenius j^isbet, William K. DcGraffenxeid, Cad"wallader llainea, Thaddeus Q-. Holt, Isaac Scott, Dr. Fra-nklin, Amos Benton, and Charley Campbell. To these can be added several who did not live on that MEMORIAL. 21 street that far back, who are also among the dead, like Dr, Strohccker and John B. Ross. Those names aro notTonly some of the best and most prominent citizens of LMacon, but o.f the State of G-eorgia j such as Judge T^isbet and his brother James., "Washington Poe, Judge Thaddeus Gr. Holt, Dr. Franklin and William K. DeOrafrenreid. The realization o so many deaths in that length of time among men I knew suggested a stroll through the cemetery, tosear ch for the graves of friends and to see what memories would be revived by the inscriptions on. their monuments. In the latter I was more successful than in the former., for from the "want of even some "rude stone to mark the spot," I could not tell the graves of several dear old friends from others in the same vicinity. For such success as I had I am indebted to Colonel "Madison rTones, who accompanied me arid who was familiar with all parts of the cemetery. He has grown to like its holy calm and purifving influence, forthere he buried bis greatest earthly treasure his darling boy who died at Emory College, Greorgia, a few years ago, before his father and mother could reach him; and now that Colonel Jones is well over on the sunset side of life, his heart is in. the grave -with liis sou, and he is looking for the time when he shall be placed beside him in his tastefully ornamented lot in the beautiful cemetery. I read inscrip tions on many monuments, winch either revived memories interesting to the public for their particular merit or for their historical character, and I propose to say something on some or all of them. The first monument that attracted my attention, and will that of any visitor, because of its prominent position, is that of the Rev. John JToward. En tering at the principal gate, and going down the main aveniic, we soon came to a point v.rhere another avenue diverges to the left oblique. Upon a lot right at the point made by the divergence, and on account of that the open character 22 MEMORIAL. of the immediate surroundings, and its size and shape the monument is conspicuous above all others, on this main avenue. It tells us that JOHN HOWARD was born in Orislow county, JSTorth Carolina, on the 5th of March, 1792, and died at Macon, Georgia, on the 22d of August, 1836, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for nineteen years. The name of the Rev. John Howard is among the recollections of my tender years. My mother "was one of his flock when he was sta tioned at Savannah. She had most pleasant memories of him, "which she would at times relate." His father was a man of wealth, but losing his fortune and dying, left his son at twelve years of age in the charge of his widowed mother. Having, because of these adverse changes, to labor, lie at that age left school to serve his uncle, Henry B. Howard, in mercantile business. He there acquired those methodical habits that afterwards became so useful to his church. Soon after his conversion he joined the itinerant Methodist ministry. His first station "was at Georgetown, South Carolina, in the year 1820. From thence until 1831 lie was stationed at Augusta, Savannah, Charleston and Greensboro, all then in the bounds of the South Carolina Conference. While residing at Greensboro he served as presiding elder. In 1831 he was stationed at Macon, was the agent for the school of his church at Oxford, Georgia, and was among the first and niost active promoters of the "Wesleyan Female College. In 1836, just after his return from bis service as a delegate to the gen eral conference, he "was taken ill of malarial fever, and died from the effects of a relapse, while surrounded by his weep ing brethren and friends. He received them down to tbe MEMORIAL. 23 last hour of his existence -with the most exquisite grace and tenderness, and had a word of cheer for every fresh arrival. The Rev. John Howard -was gifted with a grand intel lect, imposing person, and charming -eloquence. His repu tation as a pulpit orator exceeded that of any other min ister of that denomination in the State. He was devoted to his pastoral duties, and convincing and captivating by manner and matter in his sermons. On revival occasions, when the fervor of piety and speech was upon him, he was brilliant and powerful. Many are the members who were added to the church by the influence of his min istry. He left a reputation which is vividly known and an influence which is felt even to the present day, although nearly half a century lias passed. "What minister of hia time can be called to mind who, from mere tradition, has cast his beneficent shadow so far into futurity? In every city "where he preached, either the old people who survive, or the- young who have heard from their parents, have something pleasant and profitable to say of Mr. Howards ministry. Before the "world. in his inner family circle, in his closet, everywhere he -was thoroughly in earnest and consecrated every fiber of his being and every hour of his life to the religion and the work to which he had given himself. This is a feeble description of the man whose brilliant and useful career was arrested by death at fortyfour years of age, and "whose ashes and monument honor the original clay of Uose Hill Cemetery. But there is a fresh grave by the side of John Howards, as yet unmarked. Visitors must inquire whose can that be? It is that of the venerable widow, who remained such for more than forty years a rare instance of mingled fidelity and longevity. If she had lived less than two months more she would liave completed her eighty-sixth year. Her maiden name was Susan Poythress. She was 24 MEMORIAL. a native of jSTort-h Carolina and the niece of the late Dr. Ezekiel Hall of Orawford county, Georgia., who was the father of Samuel and Robert P. Hall of Macoii. It seems superfluous to say she was a devoted and consistent Chris tian, and yet the picture would be incomplete without. Her best encomium is devotion to her husband and his work in the ministry. It is not saying too much to assert that without her aid and sympathy he would not have had the success and even the glory he had. The world attaches too little consequence to the aid a man in public life re ceives from his wife, and yet, without knowing who the wife of such a man is, it will take neither the spirit of prophecy nor the endowment of wisdom to venture the as sertion that he owes his success to the help and encourage ment of his wife perhaps to his self-sacrificing., suffering wife. That so many women live a life of hard duty, selfdenial, and even pain, unattended with the slightest com pensation here, is of itself a good reason why there should be a heaven hereafter that Gods justice may be ecpjal to a just mans sense of the same virtue. Among the surviving children of Rev. John Howard are the Hon. Thos. C. How ard of DeKalb county, so well known to the people of Georgia; the wife of Judge HcKoy of !N~orth Carolina, and ilrs. Reagan of Savannah. Among his grandchildren are Thos. E. Walker of Atlanta, and the late Robert- A. Alston. In an opposite direction in the cemetery the visitors at tention will be attracted by a neat headstone erected to the memory of two persons a man and his "wife. Ho will be astonished to learn from the inscription that they are OLIVER HILLHOUSE PRINCE M A R V R., I-I IS WIFE. who perished in the wreck of the steamship "Home," Octo ber 0, 183Y. The Home" was the first passenger steamer MEMORIAL. 25 from Charleston to ISTow York. On tier second voyage site was wrecked in a storm near Ocracoke bar, !N"orth Caro lina. Of ninety passengers only twenty were saved, anot among the lost were Major Prince and his wife. He had just previously made a digest of all the laws of Georgia in general operation up to 1837. It had been accepted by the legislature, itajor Prince went to the JSTortU in the sum mer of that year to supervise his publication, and thus lost his life on his way home. Fortunately the publication of his digest was assured, and it served the legal profession, and people up to 1S51, when it was superseded by the di gest of Thos. K. R. Cobb. For some thirty years the name of Prince was more often called in all the courts of Georgia than any other name, for previously (in 1822) he had published a digest of the laws of Georgia up to 1820. After the digest of 1837 the lawyers, by way of discrimi nation between the two^ called the first (a smaller book) little Prince. I remember with distinctness the first time I heard the name, when a hoy of fourteen I happened in a court-room while a case was being argued, and the lawyers on both sides frequently read and quoted from Prince. I did not know who Prince was, but the impression then made on my boyish mind "was, that he must be the greatest man in the whole State. His digest of 1837 is now re ferred to frequently in the courts, but there is probably not one in ten of the lawyers who know the history and sad fate of its author. It is nearly forty-five years since his death. It is safe to say that three-fourths of the present lawyers .of tlic State were then either not born or of ten der years. Our congressional delegation, Turner, Clem ents, and Speer, were not born, "while Black, Elount, and Hammond had not yet passed out of their babyhood. Mr. Stephens is the only one who had entered on his manhood career, and General Cook and Judge "Buchanan were boys. 26 MEMORIAL. Both, of our United States senators, our governor, the pres ident of tlie Senate were also boys. The speaker of the House was not born. Major Prince "was a native of !N"ew Haven, Connecticut, and on his mothers side belonged to the Hillhouse family one of the oldest and best of the State. His uncle, James Ilillliouse? "was a United States senator of great distinction. A brother of the senator, David Hillhouse, made Georgia his home, and this brought Major Prince here in his youth. By the aid of an act of the legislature in 1806 he was admitter to the bar. Ho took a high stand in law and poli tics, and sustained his reputation in every respect for thirtyone years, when his career -was closed by death. On the resignation of Thomas "W. Cobb he was elected in 1S28 to the United States Senate for the 1111 expired term. His competitor was Hon. Edward Paine, of Olarke county, and the contest was so close that Major Prince was elected by a majority of one vote. He was distinguished for his wit and humor. As a specimen of it, we can zead at tins day his facetious tale of an old Georgia muster in the "Georgia Scenes." His wife, who perished -with, him, was Miss Xorman, a sister of Mrs. Washington Foe of Macon. Of his children but one survives Mrs. James Mercer Green of Macon. His only son bore his fathers own name, in herited his fathers intellect, "with his shining qualities of wit and humor; -wretched health afflicted him all his life, and a few years ago he died suddenly, leaving many sweet memories to those who understood him. It will bo a long time before the traditions of his humorous words and acts will pass into oblivion. He left several children now grown, or nearly so. Among the grandchildren of Major Prince are the children of James "W. King of Roswell, Georgia. The foregoing, relative to Major Prince, if viewed as a MEMORIAL. 27 sketch of his life, is not merely incomplete but feeble. It is not so intended, but simply to revive -with the living the memories of the dead, and to trace the points of contrast between the two, that the dead may not, amid the exigen cies of busy lif e7 be entirely forgotten. There is .a monument in the cemetery which, with its inscription, suggests many reflections and revives many memories. He whose life it is to commemorate came, like Major Prince, to a tragical death, but in a very different manner. It is the monument of DR. AMOS E A B E R, At the time of his death Dr. Baber, altlioug-h. in bad health, was engaged in the active practice of his profession. It was not long after his return- from Sardinia, where he had been residing in the official capacity of United States minister to that kingdom. Among his patients was a man "with consumption, named Jarrell, in East jMacon. On Saturday the doctor had made for him a prescription which contained cyanurct of potassium. This drug con sists largely of the elements of prussic acid, and is a deadly poison, if rakeri in too large a dose. The prescription was put up by George Payne, then and now a prominent drug gist of Macon, .and a most excellent man. Mr. Payne, seeing- that there "was a mistake, filled the prescription, but tied it to the valve and "wrote the patient not to take it, that it was a killing dose; and to show the proscription, with his note, to Dr. Baber when he arrived. . The next morn ing early Dr. Baber made his nest visit, and was disap pointed and irritated that the patient had not taken the medicine the day before, as his condition required it. The 28 MEMORIAL. dose -was a tcaspoonful. "To satisfy yon/ said the doc tor, on the impulse of the moment, to the patient, "there is nc danger in it, I -will take a double dose." He swallowed two tea spoonfuls, staggered to a chair, and in seventeen minutes drew his last breath. The mistake was due to a misprint in Elliss formulary. All that edition was called in and destroyed, but that slight error of the publisher had already destroyed the life of one of the most -useful and distinguished men in the State. Thus, at the age of fiftythree, Dr. Baber, while enjoying- a high reputation as a cit izen, physician, and statesman, "was suddenly cut clown "by death. On that fatal Sabbath morning, before the people had assembled at their several places of worship, the ex citement in the city was intense. The death of but few men in the State could have created such a sensation. Be sides his personal, professional, and political standing, he was conspicuous as a .Mason, having been Grand ]\ Faster of the State, and was much beloved by that order. His friends of all shades -were devoted to him, and he had the respect of his foes. Just twenty years before, to the month, lie had the mis fortune to kill Colonel Thomas D. ^litchell in a duel. The latter and liobert Augustus iBealle had an affair of honor without bloodshed. Dr. Baber was present in the capacity of surgeon to Bealle. This was in December, 1825. Tlieduel between Babcr and Hitchell grew out of sonic com ments the doctor had made on the former due], to \vhicli ilitchell took exception. The latter, at the tune, was so licitor-general of the Southern Circuit, and resided at Hart ford, in Pulaski county. This duel is strongly illustrative of the tone of that time, whether viewer! from a. social or legal standpoint. Although Colonel ilitchell was the pros ecuting officer of the State against all lawbreakers, duel ing was above the law, and he was as free to engage in it, ac- MEMORIAL. 29 .cording to the general public sentiment, as any other per son. A peculiarity of the duel was that Colonel jMitche]Vs brother, Dr. Isaac "W". Mitchell, was his surgeon,. hut he was saved the embarrassing duty of ministering to his brother through the different stages of gradual death from a mortal wound, as lie was instant] y killed by a, shot throngh the lungs. Dr. mitchell died many years ago, after hav ing acquired a large fortune, which is now enjoyed by his eon, a worthy and highly esteemed citizen of Tliomasvillc, Georgia. It seems the fate of some men, even while blameless, to live a dramatic life, so completely do circum stances conspire to involve them in a network of difficulty from which some such tragic event seems the only honor able Tray of extrication. Dr. _~Baber had a taste and a talent for politics. Sis intellect and information, were sufficient to sustain, both. He was an engaging talker and a forcible speaker. Ilia convictions were deep and decided, and his character positive. Ho had an ample supply of courage to back all. Such a man would inevitably become more or less prominent in church or State. 3Te was the recognised leader of one party in Bibb county, while as able and up right a man as Charles J. jYIcDomOd was the leader of the other. He represented J3ibb county in 1820,1831,1835 and 1830. lie had been a soldier in tlic way of 1813 and was a surgeon in the army under General Jackson. In 1841 ho was appointed minister to Sardinia, and died, as I have stated, soon after his re burn home. It is strange that men of Dr. JJabera tastes and proclivities should choose the profession of medicine while that of law is equally open to them. I know other physicians of Georgia about whom the same may be said. A. good and able lawyer was lost when, the late Dr. Arnold, of Savannah, became a physi cian. Imminently may the same bo said of Dr. ililler of 30 MEMORIAL. Atlanta. Tlie same is true of Dr. Jieubin. !Nisbet of Eatonton. The avocation of these gentlemen appears to mo like yokes upon them, like unto noble birds with their -wings clipped. Their own profession does not give them the scope that the bent of their intellect and the yearning of their hearts require. Able and successful physicians of course they are, but so only because they have the intel lectual endowment for proficiency in any branch of learn ing they have the will to undertake. For a long time, now many years ago, Dr. Henry Branham of Eatontoii; Dr. J. G-. McWhorter of Augusta, and Dr. Tomlinson Fort of JVtilledgeville, were important factors in Georgia politics. The most imposing and expensive monument in the cem etery is the one that is erected to the memory of There is nothing in the brief description upon it which indicates the manner of his death. The uninformed, whether stranger or citizen, would infer he died a natural death, and yet it was deeply and sadly tragical. I knew him well, and the first information I had of his death -was a summons which came to mo in the country to go to Al bany, Georgia, and join Judge Lyon in the prosecution of his slayer. The overseer on a neighboring plantation had taken the liberty to beat one of his men servants. When it "was reported to Colonel Bond his -anger and indignation were so great that ho at once mounted his horse, rode rap idly to "where the overseer was in the field, knocked him off his horse with a stick and while beating him as he lay,, the overseer drew a single-barrel pistol and shot Bond, from the effects of -which he soon died. The court of inquiry of Dougherty county, composed of MEMORIAL. 31 the justice of the inferior court, refused to commit, and the grand jury refused to find a true bill, and so the slayer of Joseph Bond, having the law on his side, lias never been tried for the homicide. His case -was a strong illustration of both the power of the law and the equality of all men before it. The largest planter in the State, and one among her "wealthiest men, had been killed by one of her poorest and most humble citizens, and yet the law protected him. both in and out of the court-house, notwithstanding lie had brought the trouble on himself by a brutal -act which was a gross violation. But, on the other hand, it more strongly illustrated the relation of master and slave in the South. Here "was a lordly planter, with his hundreds of slaves and his thousands of rich acres, who sacnned his life in pro tecting and avenging a wrong done to his slave. It is true he placed himself legally in the wrong, but that does not detract from the noble sentiments which impelled him. To accomplish his purpose he imperiled his most valuable life, and lost it in the effort. His act was the full measure of self-sacrifice, to avenge a -wrong done his helpless slave. And such, a sacrifice! On that fatal day in March, 1850, he had just entered on his forty-fifth year. He was in the prime of mental and physical vigor. He had the love of thousands and the regard of all. He had a young and lovely wife, and three children yet in their tender years. He had numerous landed estates in the country, and a pal ace for a home in the city. All the comforts and luxuries of life that money could command were his. He had been the favorite of his father and was the pet and the idol of the family. His neighbors and the planters generally ad mired him, and accounted him as by spontaneous,, general consent the first among- them. His money obligations had as high credit as any government security, and he possessed everything a nobleman could desire except the title. He 32 MEMORIAL. had a fine form, a dignified carriage, and an elastic step. He -was a quiet, refined gentleman in his manners, but un der all there -was a reserve force -which, enabled him to excel in all trials of strength and sports of the field. The ambition of his life, to be the largest cotton-planter in the State, had been crowned with complete success. He had more acres in cultivation and made more bales of cotton than any other man. He looked f orward to the time when he_would take his planting to the "West, where, with more and richer and fresher acres, ho would own more land aucl mako more cotton than any man in the whole South. Out side his desire to be a good husband, father, friend, and neighbor, this was his ambition. Politics had 110 charms for him, and lie persistently declined to enter her arena for any object or for any consideration. Tlie future was bright to him one could scarce imagine that in his sky there was a speck, even a speck that might be seen with a telescope. JTe had had pecuniary difficulties, and had con quered them. He had had personal difficulties, and had come honorably out of them. He was young, fresh, lighthearted, hopeful, temperate, and luxuriated in healthful vigor. Though this is much, yet it is not all that could be said in depicting this specimen of earthly honor and happi ness, to whom this world, whatever it might have been to others, was ati Eden. Thus situated, thus circumstanced, one of the poorest of Gods human creatures, with one of the smallest and shabbiest of pistols, destroyed his life in an instantj and in place of the beautiful picture I have attempted to paint, put in its stead one of darkness and death one showing the most brilliant of hopes blasted, a young widow and children in grief; and xipon everything dear to him death had set his ineffaceable seal. His wife -was Miss Henrietta jMonghhon of Jones county, Georgia, now Mrs. Nelson of Kentucky. And MEMORIAL. 33 yet this man, who had such, sanguine expectation of a long and happy life, had written and left his last will and tes tament, which evinces that amid all his prosperity he had contemplated death. He had for a time to reside in mi asmatic regions, and he might die of malarial fever. He rode much on horseback his course led him over bad roads and weak bridges through, deep water, and to jump ditches and fences. He traveled much by rail, and from such and the like, he might have apprehended death by ac cident. 13Tit conltl it ever have occurred to him that lie might lose his life by a conflict with a man so far below him. in the social scale in vindication of the rights of one of his slaves? The cause of his death should have appeared 111 appropriate phrase upon his monument, that full justice should be done to his memory and the enemies of the old Southern slaveholders informed that here lies the remains of one of the wealthiest of them, who regarded his slaves as part of his household, and that a wrong done the mean est of them was a wrong done to him. As shocking as that death was, who can now, with a feel ing of certainty, say, in view of after events, that it was not better for the victim? But two years more and the slaveholding States were precipitated into a war which resulted in the freedom of the slaves arid the ruin of the masters. "Who can say how he would have passed through an ordeal r,it.at had destroyed all his property in slaves, and nearly all of it in land? If he had lived, within less than seven years from the date of his death, he would have realized this, al though he might have escaped all the dangers incident to life and property during the war. I eannot call to mind a man who, in my opinion, would have more deeply felt the change. He might have conquered the difficulties, but the greater probability is that, like so many other noble South erners, lie would have been broken in health and fortune. 34 MEMORIAL. Could he now see what remain of his slaves scattered through the country, enjoying their freedom, and some of his best land cultivated "by convict labor, he might say his death was timely and propitious., to be thus spared the knowledge of the suffering- of one and the desecration of the other. Joseph Bond was the youngest., or next to the youngest, son of Lewis Bond, a wealthy planter of "Wilkinson county. There were four or five sons, and about as many daughters. lie had property enough to make them all comfortable. Joseph was his favorite, because his father saw in him, more than in the other sons, the elements of success. It was his wish and expectation that Joe would be his succes sor as a. large planter that when he was gone lie would take his place. He selected him from among his sons as the one for this purpose. Tie had acquired large bodies of new and rich land in the then newly settled counties of Lee and Baker. By his will he bequeathed to Joseph all these lands to the exclusion of the other children. Such was the scheme of his will to execute the intention named, but alas, the will had only two subscribing witnesses, and was a legal will only as to the personalty. But Joe was determined to carry out his fathers wishes, and by purchases and ar rangements with his brothers and sisters, lie possessed him self of all the land bequeathed to him by the will. The wife of Dr. Harrison Jones of Lee county, and of Dr. Mar cus A. Franklin of I\iacon, were two of his sisters hus bands and wives all dead and of brothers and sisters there is not one living that I know of. For some years before hig death he possessed and managed sonic ten or a dozen large plantations, situated in Lee, Terrell and Doughcrty counties, and owned some five hundred, slaves. Lie was the only cotton-planter in Georgia who had made more than MEMORIAL. 35 two thousand bales per annum. He was a model planter and manager. He conducted all of his affairs with system., and a system that proved successful. He gave as nearly as possible his personal supervision to everything. His overseers were men of the most solid character and intelli gence to be obtained. His slaves were of the best and well fed and clothed. His stock of every kind was the finest and the fattest. His mules., of which there were many, were noted for their large size and good qualities. His wagons and harness were conspicuous for their beauty and strength and kept in the best order. His lands were the richest, his fences the highest and the strongest? and his houses the best for their respective purposes. Having- the power and means, it was with him economy to buy the very best of everything lie needed. It became so that every citizen knew Joe Bonds plantations without inquiring, by their neat, substantial, and complete appearance. If wag ons and teams were passed on the road, and they were such &?. to excite admiration of the traveler, an inquiry was su perfluous he knew by their appearance they were Joe Bonds. The same was shown of his "wearing apparel. If you should meet him in the field he would be wearing a suit, of clothes adapted to that service and fitting him prop erly. If you met him in the woods his suit would be adapted to that. His appearance would be that of a neat and refined country gentleman. Should you meet liini in the city, at which time he would be off duty, his appearance would be that of a neat and refined city gentleman. Thus the mans good taste was to be seen in everything. There was nothing like display or an attempt at it. lie was as much opposed to that as he was to slovenness. We had three kinds of first-rate planters in Georgia the rice-planters, the sea-island cotton-planters and the up land cotton-planters. Colonel Bond was among the best 36 MEMORIAL. specimens of the latter. He -was educated, whether col legiate or not, I do not know. Certainly, though, he was educated i-n the best sense of that term. He had acquired the knowledge necessary to successfully carry on. the avo cation in. life he was destined to. Beginning- with a prop erty valuation of perhaps two hundred thousand dollars., the valuation of his estate in the first of 1860 -was one million, three hundred thousand dollars. Such is in brief a sketch of the man over whose remains in Rose Hill cem etery there is the imposing monument with the too modest; inscription. lie was neither statesman, warrior, politician, nor noted in the arts and sciences. His fame has not heen proclaimed in book, magazine, or newspaper. He neither sought nor cared for such means of distinction. lie was simply a gen tleman cotton-planter of large possessions. But he won in his pursuit in life as much distinction as it -was capable of, and despite the- strong ties that bound him to earth and to ease, he sundered them all upon a righteous principle, and appeared in an instant before the judgment scat to give an account of his stewardship. .A.nd a noble stewardship it was and such as should give him a place among the dis tinguished dead. In IRose Ibill Cemetery. jVEy former comments upon the dead in Hose Hill Cem etery have concerned men wlio have monuments erected to their memory. I shall now write of one who has no mon-urnent, but who deserves one from the city of itaeon. His name occurred to me because his grave, almost in the shadow of Joseph Bonds beautiful monument, came thereby under my observation. _A.nd it seemed remarkable that the only man who, at the time, had the means and the enterprise to build the "Palace on the Hill," and the only man who had the wealth, and the liberality to purchase itshould be neighbors in death. At different times they had both occupied the same mansion as a home, and, after death, had come to lie clown, in eternal sleep together. But in this instance, as in so many others, "the last was the first and the first, was last!" He who built and sold survived him who bought nearly twenty years and was some fifteen years the older man. The name of him to whom I have referred is who was born in Sliaron, Connecticut, about the year 1808, and died in the city of ISTew York in the year 18Y5. His body was taken to ifacon for interment on his lot in Hose Hill Cemetery, where he had several of his children laid away, and among them two grown sons. Colonel Cowles belonged to that class of JSTorthern merchants "who came to the South during the first quarter of this century, and 38 MEMORIAL. not having imbibed any antipathy to Southerners, were of a very different style from those who came in the third quarter. He first settled as a merchant in Eat on ton, Geor gia, and discovering t\ ie more rapidly growing town of !iracon a better location for him, he moved there. His wife was one of the daughters of John Williams, of Milledg-evillc, for a long time the Treasurer of the State. He belonged to a fine family of Bertie county, Xorth Caro lina, from whence lie moved to Georgia. Colonel Cowles having- married in Georgia, which, became both the birthand burial-place of his children, he identified him self with whatever promoted Georgias prosperity. liis energy, enterprise and wealth were such, that in finan cial and kindred circles he became the most influen tial man in Alacon. He was among the originators of the scheme to construct a railroad from ilacon to "Savannah, and was the active and influential friend of that enter prise from, its inception -to its consummation. He was equally efficient and conspicuous in the construction of the South-western Railroad, from jVtacon to Eufaula, Al bany and Fort Gaines. But his greatest success was his saving from destruction the road from Alacon to Atlanta, and securing- its completion by a company of Northern capitalists. The corporation name of the first company that under took the construction of that road was the "Monroe Rail road and Banking Company." When the cars were run ning within twenty miles of Atlanta, over defective con struction., with imperfect equipments, the company, in 1S45, failed, after having spent two millions of dollars. The creditors placed the road and other property of the company in the court of equity of Bibb county for the liquidation of its affairs. Commissioners were appointed by the court to sell the MEMORIAL. 39 road and all its property, including the franchise. It was sold on the 16th day of August, 1S45, and Jere Cowles, solitary and alone," became the purchaser at, the low price yet large sum of $153,000. To properly explain and esti mate the importance and magnitude of this purchase, it is necessary to give, as briefly as possible, an idea of the sit uation at that time. There -were then no through and great connecting routes to 2*J"cw York or any other large commercial centers. Rail roads were then, in their infancy, and theif capacity for good not sufficiently appreciated. As yet they were ex periments, and derived their chief support and consequence from the covmtry through which they ran and their respec tive termini. Charleston and Savannah were competing seaports, and through the South Carolina railroad to Augusta, -and the Georgia railroad, to Atlanta, and the State road to Chatta nooga, Charleston and the intermediate important com mercial point of Augusta were assured of railroad com munications with the great West. Savannah, with the in termediate city of iCaeon, would be cut off from such con nection without the road from .Macon to Atlanta. The Central railroad had only a year before been completed to !Macon after a hard struggle could pay no dividends, and none were expected for many years. Savannah was scarce ly half as large as Charleston, and had exhausted her availble resources in the construction of the Central. !Macori was much less in population than Augusta and still less in property. In fact, the city could not pay her liabilities. This was the situation when the road tributary to jMacoii and Savannah, and upon which both were dependent for connection with jSTortli Georgia, Tennessee and the far West, was to be sold "under the auctioneers hammer. 5 The strength of purse was with their commercial enemy, 40 MEMORIAL. and if the enemy bought., the iron and equipments would be removed and the road destroyed. And so much, had the enemy the advantage that he determined to give a .nominal surn for the franchise, road-bed arid equipments. If something could not be done speedily, the road would be lost and all the incidental advantages of trade and the like from the expenditure of two millions of dollars. The rnan destined to solve the difficulty and relieve j\lacoii was Jere Cowles. The commissioners of sale would have until ^November (tlie next meeting of court) to account for the proceeds. They were the friends of jVlacon. To them Colonel Cowles communicated his scheme of purchase, which could not be carried out unless they would give him time in which to comply with his bid. if he failed to pay, the time was sufficient for a resale at his risk by the next court, and the commissioners were able from their private estate to make good the loss, if any. "When the property was put up it was started low, and finally knocked oft" to Colonel Cowles for $153,000. The adverse bidders permitted it to be knocked off at that price under the impression that Cowles could not comply that it would immediately be resold, when thev would be sure to get it at a very low figure. To their dismay it was not again pnt up and they found thev had made a bad calcula tion. Colonel Cowles at once went to ~Ne\v York, made rep resentation of the value of the property and the amount of Ids bid. They furnished the money, the commissioners were paid, and there was a reorganization under the new name of the Macon and Western Kailroad Company. Money enough was subscribed and paid to put the whole route to Atlanta in first-rate order, and it soon, became the best equipped road and the best paying stock in the State. Of late years it has become merged in the Central, and there is now but one line and one corporation from At lanta to Savannah. MEMORIAL. 41 .But for J~ere Cowleas purchase, this consolidation may 31 ever have taken place, for it -would have gone into hands inimical to the Central, and might to this day be running in the interest of another company. It had been supposed at the time of the purchase that Colonel Cowles was the agent of the JSTortherzi capitalists, but he was not. The ease was a desperate one and it required a desperate remedy, and while he had in view the probability of his organizing a new company on. the basis of his bid, yet when he bid he represented, no one but Jere Cowles with no backers but his own genius and pluck, He was possibly let in as a stockholder in the new company or in. some other way compensated, but that he ever reaped any substantial pe cuniary benefit, from tile transaction his friends do not be lieve. It was to him compensation enough to have orig inated and been successful in the scheme for securing the road for J\Iacoii and Savannah. To him glory was worth more than money. lie was a public-spirited, man, and the magnitude of an enterprise of public interest was his sole consideration. He loved to entertain schemes of a pub lic nature which involved hundreds of thousands and mil lions. He long ago foresaw the grand connecting through routes to ^STew York, and other important points, and it was a favorite phrase of his, -that there should be a railroad from the ice fields to the orange groves." At the time he conceived, this and similar ideas he did not have the. wealth to form the nucleus of a syndicate or it would have been done, unless it had been too early in the progress of railways and the growth of capitalists to enlist capitalists. It was perhaps his misfortune that his foresight was too much in advance of the proper time. Were he living and twenty yeazs younger, how he would glory in the consolida tion of large properties and the combination of the money kings, and with some of them he would be sure to be. Af- 42 MEMORIAL. ter lie lost his fortune, about 1840, be never recovered his former financial status. There wero seasons of prosperity to be followed by seasons of adversity, but nothing like the prosperous condition of his early manhood ever returned. In. the late war he cast his fortunes -with the South, and here remained during its continuance and for several years after. Sis public spirit did not flow alone in the current of internal improvements, but he was the friend of educa tion, and religion, and was liberal in his contributions to both. He took great pride in relating his efforts in hehalf of the establishment of the AYesleyan Female College at Macon. Sis early education was limited, but he had such a bright and solid mind, had seen so much of the world and had acquired so much information, he would have passed for a liberally educated man. His frame was large and compact, surmounted by a head with a high, broad forehead, that gave him a commanding appearance in any assembly. He had a strong, fluent and distinct enuncia tion, a largo and expressive month, full of beautiful teeth. He was full of mirth, and had a fund of amusing incidents and anecdotes he loved to tell, and in telling them would laugh at them as heartily as any listener. His laugh was loud, ringing and contagious. A man with any humor in hij soul and not overcome with grief or trouble, could not hear that laugh and. not laugh with him. Generally a man should, not laugh at his own jokes, but it was becom ing in Jere Gowles, and added to the humor of the ?tory ho was telling. M.any he had of primitive days in Eatonton. He was one of the few men who did not grow old in heart as he did in years. He preferred the company of yo\mg men, and in deportment was as young as the young est. He had no use for the sort of men called "old fogies.^ They were too old for him to associate with, even if many years his junior. He did not allow himself to be cast down MEMORIAL. 43 by his adverse fortune. In ^Facon, where he once reigned in prosperity, lie held his head high hi adversity. His family were secured by a competency which relieved, him of anxiety for them. His successful ventures were more profitable to others than to himself. He sowed and others reaped, and many arc now enjoying the fruits ears Hgo. After the digression in the latter part of my former ar ticle on the above named subject, I must go back to the cozy little Wclaka, which 1 left aground in the mouth of Jekyl creek. The tide did rise again, and ifc has ever since, and will until time shall be no more. T3y virtue of its floating and motive power we reached St. Marys at about 3 oclock p.m., -when we should have been there at about meridian. There was not then daylight enough to put us across the St. Johns !Bar before dark, and it was perilous to cross the bar in the night. The sky was clear, the air calm, and the sea smooth. The captain was sure his little craft could make the run of thirty miles from bar to bar in time to cross before the shades of night. The ran was a delightful one. To the right of us was the coast. Monot onous, it is true, but yet pleasant, for it kept us assured that although we were on the broad ocean, we were always in sight of the blessed and beautiful land. To the left a vast expanse of water to the shore on the other side, a distance we did not conceive of, or try to. Our passengers had been reduced to those bound for Jacksonville, or further up the St. Johns. "With few exceptions they were North erners, mostly in search of health, but few in search of pleasure. Bishop Verot, one or two Roman Catholic priests and myself were the exceptions. As we were fewer we came more in social contact. Por a long time I had been, a sufferer from chronic chills and fever, which caused the poor consumptives to regard me as one of them., and to a>k me what northern State I was from. I said not farther riovih than. Georgia, when, the reply was they did not ex pect to meet a passenger with lung disease from Georgia. 1 had to explain that my delicate1 appearance1 was owing to malarial chills and fever. There was a disappointment,and 1 suppose upon the principle "that miscry loves company." Soon the sun. was sinking- "belo.iv the horizon, and. we were more or less anxious as to the captains calculation to cross the St. Johns Bar before night. ISToiic of us appreciated the shortness of the time in that latitude from sunset until dark, and directly night was upon us. 13 y the time this was fully realized, I saw a dim light in the distance and dark ness that looked like it might have been a hundred miles away, if visible at that distance. Around and below us was the inky blackness of night upon the sea. There seemed no land, on either side, so wide was the entrance to the St. Johns. The little Welakas keel was all there was between us and a struggle for life with the wide sea in the blackness of a very dark night. And yet I felt very little fear; T put my trust in the captain; even though he had missed his calculation, I was sure he would not run the risk unless he knew in case night did overtake us he could safelvgo over the bar. "While in this mood, and with this confidence, suddenly the little boat received a blow that made her quiver in all. her timbers. Thanks to my lack of knowledge of the sea I yet felt no danger, but had a desire to know what that was. "From the aft part of the boat I made my way in the darkness to the forward, for there -was no light on the deck, and on going a few steps I was again shocked with another staggering blow to the boat. Proceeding, I came to where the captain was standing not merely steady but sturdy in the boat. My confidence yet remaining, T ventured to ask him what all that meant, but he kept his position, and answered me not a word. I had previously noticed that the captain had 70 MEMORIAL. considered it Ms duty to sail the boat, and not to talk to the passengers. Yet on an important occasion like this I thought he would feel his obligation to disseminate useful information, hut he did not. Just then we had a third shock, and almost immediately the captain changed his po sition and demeanor. I did not know till the danger waspassed that we were on the breakers. The next thing in order after being stricken by one of those waves, was for the boat to strike the bottom, go to pieces, and the passen gers to fall into the sea. I have since always thought highly of the pluck and seamanship of Captain King. I& the charming little boat yet preserved and is Captain King yet living, and willing to take her on a dark night full of passengers over the St. Johns bar? _A.bout eight or nine oclock we arrived at Jacksonville, and I domiciled myself at -what was the largest hotel in the city, but Jacksonville then had a population of about three1 thousand only. The hotel was an old-fashioned wooden one, such as at the same time we bad in our Georgia vil lages. The sidewalks were of plank, and the sand in the streets was general and deep. The next day was sunny, mild and beautiful. About 10 -oclock in the morning thesick of the hotel, wbo could, came out to sun themselves aurl breathe the fresh air. There were .all kinds of poor consumptives from those in its first stages down to those who could last but a short time. There had been a death in the hotel during the night, and two more invalidspast, rising or recovery- I looked around, and concluded that this was no place for one to recover from chills and fever? and resolved to return on the first boat. Things are far different there now. There are many splendid hotels patronized mainly by persons of health and wealth, and Jacksonville has grown to be a city sure enough with her 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. The landlord of the hotel MEMORIAL. 71 had a name familiar to me it was Buffington. He was a son. of the Buffington "who kept a hotel for so many years at the capital of Georgia. Ho and his house were famous all over Georgia. It was there that Cone of Bulloch, and Cone of Camden, were entertained while so long members of the legislature. There reposed Swain of Emanuel called Governor Swain governor because Emanuel was such a large county, with a population -willing to he gov erned by Swain. A large per cent, of them were his kin, and it is said there were enough to keep the governor in the legislature. Many are the jokes about Swain and Buf fington, which come down to the present time. Both are long since dead, and it may be doubted if there is one of Buffingtons old patrons now living. All named were use ful and prominent of the olden time. I was more than compensated by my trip to Florida in having met there, a guest of the same house, "William !L. Marion of Now York. He was there with a son a youtu of twenty summers. He had incipient consumption, and died of the disease within two years. The young man came into his fathers room, looking the picture of health. He had been hunting ducks, his feet were wet, and he changed his shoos and socks. I thought it strange to thus voluntarily wet his feet, and he threatened -with, consump tion. From this and his appearance, I doubted his dis ease, bxit it took but a little time to tell the same sad, sad old story of death for the "young and strong." Governor Marions career particularly as governor of the great State of JSTew York, and Secretary of War in President Folks cabinet during the Mexican war, made him a very interesting character. The fact, then well known, that he had been selected by the President-elect (Pierce) as his Secretary of State, and to thus aid him in the selection of cabinet officers, made him yet more inter- MEMORIAL. ing lie wore seemed of the prevailing fashion, but just selr-cl:-o;.l because tlicy united n plain sailing-, unpretending o^jl.d^ gentleman. iSTot knowing him, I should linve taken hirn for some wealthy Georgia or "Florida, planter of the inferior. In size and appearance he reminded mo of GS-eneral I3ailey of Jefferson county, Florida. There is an old joke on r Clarion, who, being on business for tlie State, had of ?uch strict" business habits as to -charge it, and then in tegrity enough to report the true amount. I could not realize that that largo, l":ony, brawny man before me was 1 he di-M inguished G O! vei"nor of. _\ ew Y ork, Secretary of "War in the past, and to be a Secretary of State in the very near f atiire. !N~o cabinet offieer in the history of the govorn1.11 ent since early years" wins so diril-ing-uislied in his high oilice. TTis correspondence with General Scott and his llulsoman. state paper are documents that will live in his tory. To myself, personally. 1 esteem it fortunate that I saw and conversed with this great American, and that ex perience in such cases was reversed., for I found liim greater than T imagined -greater, that one of his greatness could be so plain and natural, just like hundreds of other good and plain men ? without intellectual endowment or achieve ment. Among his first questions were who were the pas sengers from the USTorth. I named such as I could remem ber. "When. I named "Air. Teamed from I3etroit he mani fested much pleasure, and said promptly, "He is my kins man, The I, in .my name is Ijamccl." This Air. L. is a lawyer of fine ability, but he had a near kinsman, the Trlev. Sylvanus Lamed, a very gifted divine, who died at an early age, while pastor of a church in !Ne\v Orleans. As I said I world; T took the first boat- Lack. When fairly on the route I heard fiddling1 and dancing ori the lower forward deck. I went below to hear the music. To my horror 1 found on the same (leek two boxes of such size and shape to at once suggest their contents. They eonIamed the dead bodies of two who wont to ^Florida for their health, and there found their death. .Leaving home alive and full of hope, they -were returning d.cnd. The land of health and flowers broughI", no Lalm to them. The grim monster was there, as everywhere. The contrast between the dead and the hilarity of the sfeeragc passengers "was sad to the i?tle7-tnost. !Ft is useless to comment. Such is life, and a pity it is that its exigencies are sn.ch that often proper respect cannot be required for the dead. "We again touched at St. j\Larys on our return. I early entertained a great regard for that old town. In. mv youth I was pleased to he:ar of Captain llalcy a:>d his revenue cut ter, of the old lawyer patriarch., Archibald Clark, and of "Dr. Curtis. It was the scene of a deep tragedy when I was a boy -a tragedy that made a commotion from Savan nah to Palat.kn. Tt was the homicide of Thomas Hardee, a gentleman of middle age, leaving a wife and many chil dren. Tie was a brother of General and I\oble A. Hardee. A short time after his death I saw in Savannah two of his daughters, then young ladies, dressed in the deepest mourn ing. The sight of them, knowing how they had been be reft of their good father, made a permanent impression upon my youthful heart. At jBriiuswick there were many barrels of oysters on the wharf. They Irad accumulated because unsalable. Early in December, 1852, it was discovered that the oysters/both of the lower Atlantic and the Gulf, -were diseased. "Eating them made numbers sick and proved fatal to many. There were so many cases the disease was call the oyster 74 MEMORIAL. cholera. It resembled the Asiatic cholera. It was supposed to have been caused by the unusual amount of fresh water suddenly emptied into the sea by a tremendous freshet in the Georgia rivers. For instance, the Ogeeehee was so high as to submerge the Central railroad, at dif ferent points, for thirty miles above Milieu. Several se vere and a few very sad cases occurred at Newton, Eater county. A steamboat from Apalachicola touched there with oysters. The superior court "was iu session. Judge William Taylor? of Outhbert, the presiding judge, and his wifes cousin, Colonel Littlebon Brooking, a -wealthy plan ter, partook of them, went to the letters plantation that night and the next day both of these illustrious citizens were dead. Shocking was the catastrophe, and loud were the lamentations. And here the facts and comments of my trip to Florida thirty-two years ago must end. It will be perceived I have used it mostly as a thread upon which to string beads of in cidents. I hope the reader may find a pearl or two in the collection. l!?ears Hgo in Savannah. The progress of events, or the "gnawing booth of time," have finally disposed of all; there is not one hotel ex tant now which had. >a name a: roprietorship of Oapt. Peter "Wiltbergcr. He then had a monopoly in the hotel business at Savannah, which, he retained for many years. Later he bought the property from the northwest corner of Ball down to and including Mrs. Batteys boarding-house. He put one or two stories on the part from the latter named to the corner, and up Bull street to the lane, and called it all the "Pulaski House." There were two dining-rooms. The one on the wiest eaiJ he called the "ladies ordinary.," the one on the east end "gentlemens ordinary." Afterwards he relinquished the Mansion House, hut I think for some time he managed them all. He kept up the City Hotel for some time, but aristocratic headquarters became changed from the City Hotel to the Pulaski House. JSTevertheless, the foundation of Captain Wiltbergers fortune "was made at the- Oity Hotel, rand for hospitality, good cheer and conviviality, I doubt if the more pretentious Pulaski ever became quite equal to the jolly little City Hotel, under the management of Captain "Wiltberger. Savannah then had only a popnlaitiion of seven thousand. The extreme southern limit of the city was the north side of Liberty street, but the litttle city had a monopoly of the sea-island cotton, rice and lumber trade. The wealthy planters of the Savannah (on both sides), the Ogeecb.ee, the Altamaha, the St. Ilia, and the St. Marys rivers and the sea islands, to tihe Florida line, very liberally patronized the hotel. There were large numbers of wealthy young men from the city and from the counties of Bryan, Liberty, jyTclntosih, G-lynn, anl Gamdeii who passed a large portion of their time at the City Plot el. An important feature of the hotel, as heretofore of all hotels, was the bar, where were dispensed a great variety of delicious but intoxicating 78 MEMORIAL. drinks. These we may call the bane, but the antidote was near; in a dorr or two at the earner of Whdtakei was Ryersoiis drug store, and the transition from, one to the1 other as choice or necessity required, was easy. liyersoii was called bv his friends Tom, and it is to be supposed lie was a good social man, who- made a large profit out of Peter Wiltbergc-rs refined and accomplished guests. Besides the wellknown drugs useful in such cases, he had mineral -waters most abundantly Congress and soda. The soda-water brewed by Tom Hyerson. was very fine. It was the finest ir the city. It was the finest in the whole country. So tine was it, it had, like all other celebrities, animate or in.animate, a national reputation. Tire mere memory of Tom Ty ergons soda-water to a man "who has ever experienced the luxury of drinking it is better than, actually drinking some of the stuff that now goes by that name. The old anen drinkers of soda-water of Savannah will tell you there is no soda-water now as good as that Ryerson made. The art, he had must now add another to the list of lost ones- A few old citizens can now recall the many -wealthy, stylish .and accomplished young men who passed the most, or a largo part, of their time at the City Hotel. They largely helped to make Peter Wiltberger rich. With a little study I could name a dozen, pcrliaps twenty, the most of whom, died the early death that ends a fast life. Then there were older, steadier men business men -who went !fSTorth in summer, and passed the business season in Savannah. They were northern men, sometimes called Yankees. The large majority of the merchants then of Savannah were either Northerners or foreigners. Among the former there can be found no better style of men than Loami Baldwin, Elias Keed, Elias Bliss, George Hall, Joliai W. Long, Wilson .Puller, Moses Eastman, Jonathan Olmstead, Otis Johnson, MEMORIAL. 79 George I\"ewbali, Isasc "W. "Morrell., the brothers "Weed, Thomas Eyerson, D. U. JSTiohols, Samuel Philbrick, John Mallery, and many others whose names do not just now occur to me, but who, after living honest and useful lives, have gone to their reward. Those men -were born and reared before what is called progress had evolved the -ims which warp mens minds and mar their peace. There is nothing now left to show where the City Hotel stood, and it has not been, destroyed by fire or other agent of destruc tion. [This building is now occupied by Kayton & Her man., A. Haas & Bro., and Smith 13ros. Ed.} The little gem of f her houses. This wottld not have been so. surprising if her husband bad not been a good business man. But no -was, and yet the "wife took upon herself the management of their vast estate in SavarLirah. jSTow Sa van/wall has a new >and large hotel, and thus keeps progress with, her growth, from seven thousand to forty thousand of popxilation. "Down the corridor of time" " i*-, too will have its history, for then it "will be old, and the children of to-day, and those not yet bom, when on the sunset side of life, will relate their memories of it, begin ning1 with the fact that it was once the site of the United States Barracks. But it will not acquire the fame o-f the City Hotel and the Bulaski House in ante-bellum days, \intil this, our new civilization, shall equal the old in its men of honor and valor, and in its women of virtue and refinement, which will take a long time, and then I doubt. if it "will ever be. tEbe Schools tfittv l^ears Hgo. Fifty years ago the high schools of Georgia ./ere limited to the few academies of a few counties, and the colleges to the single one of Franklin, at Athens, now the State Uni versity. . The academies of the low, or seacoast country, were those of Ohatham, Effingham, Liberty anil Glynn counties. To obtain a collegiate education at that time in Georgia, boys had to> travel by stage or private convey ance more than two hundred miles to Athens. The preference of many over this way was to go by sailing ves sel to New York or Boston, and enter Princcton, Yale, Harvard or Brown, there being then neither railroads nor ocean, steamships. In a few instances they "would sail di rect from Charleston or Savannah for Liverpool and enter one of the English universities. It often took longer then to make the voyage to JSTew York or Boston than from either of these cities now to Liverpool. We were then not blessed with the Iiome institutions of learning, nor with the means of rapid transportation "which came much later. The consequence of these; disadvantages was, that few boys went to college, and those who received wliat wa.^ called an (academic education were considered fortunate. jMany of the brightest minds in the State oould not even reach that, and had to be Content witli private eo-untry schools, generally called "old field schools. 7 The improve ment in educational facilities wiftliin the last nfty years is only excelled by the many scientific anid other use-fill in ventions within the same period. It is worthy of remark 'It MEMORIAL. S3 that the inventions and improvements which render the present era so conspicuous above all others in the worlds history have occurred within the last fifty years. The last half century has been blessed as the harvest to the seed-time of all the preceding centuries. "When in the future there shall be a harvest of the present seed-time, the imagina tion of the most learned cannot conceive its glory. Judg ing the future by the past and present, it seems possible that men may yet work out the origin of matter, and in this unlock the grand secrets of nature. The low country academies named being within the Georgia of the Revolution were endowed by the proceeds of Confiscation, and amercementts of the estates of British loyalists. Our revolutionary ancestors thus showed their appreciation of education, From the g-eneral loyalty of Georgians to the colonies, the sparse population, and the non-accumulation, of wealth from the newness of the country, one -would suppose but a small sum of money could have been raised from that source, but when we consider thait the few JBritisih loyalists were generally men of "wealth, the amount -will increase in our estimation. The most notable of these loyalists were Governor "Wright and I/Leutenant-Governor Graliame, both of whom owned large and valuable property. Ohstfhiarn Aoademy, in 1831, when I was first a porpil, was, for the times, a grand institution. The building was a large and imposing one, and of a style of architecture that gives it to> this day an air of consequence and gen tility. The principal of the Academy was Itev. George White, a native of Charleston, S. 0., and there -were five or six assistant teaeheirs, each ihaving has own room, and -the number of pupils, both male and female, were about 250. Of the boys and girls in Savannah, -old encxugh to go to 84 MEMORIAL. school during the time of Dr. "White at the Academy, those who -were iiioit, his pupils make the exceptions. These were of nil ages, sizes :and sorts, from, the children, of the lowly up to those of the .aristocracy. Dr. "White was a rigid hut excellent disciplinarian and managed that largo institution of teachers and pupils with almost military precision. He was a-n industrious and faithful teacher. His first rule in tcaicln-ng was to give his pupil a good foundation for an education, and to this end he practiced them of ten "in the three Ks/ even -when they had progressed to advanced studies, so they would -riot forget. His next -was to hare all ids pupils excel iu reading and elocution, and to teach the boy s military taicties. If a hoy left Dr. \Y~hite, after study ing under him long enough, and was not a good speller, render and cLeelaimer, then the faculties were not in the boy to bo gotten out of him. He had a romn of his own, and then gave his personal supervision to every other room, and never permitted .a teacher to chastise a pupil. He knew personally every pupil, his order, name, advancement and disposition. His fault was in using the rod, or rather the strap, too often, but belcloui. severely. Dr. "White was a believer in Solomons maxim of "spare the rod and spoil the child." So were all the teachers of that day, and com pared with some, Dr. Will it e was moderate. It is a saying that that m]a,xim makes Solomon responsible for a great deal of cruelty. Tt can be s^ald m behalf of Solomon, it is not his maxim that, has done the anischief, btut the misapplica tion, of it. SoloimOn meiant it would not do to spare the rod, when nothing but the rod wioidd save the boy from spoiling. IBecanse the rod in cases of necessity must be used, he did not intend to use it in every case. Later in life Dr. "White took this or sonic similar view of Solomons maxim, because he changed his tactics, and expressed his MEMOLilLL. 85 regrets for 1 raving placed such a strict construction upon the maxim. It, must also be said in favor of the doctor that lie was too gallant to strap the girls. "Vrirli them he resorted to the "fools cap" and similar methods. AB Solomon. \vas not o.nly a gallant m&n, but a man. of gnllnntries, tlie doctor seemed to think his anaxlm -\vas not intended for the girls, but solely for the miserable boys. On one o-ccasro-n a girl was .srait by her teacher to Dr. Whites room for punish ment.. She v/as -a little beiaut-y thait all the boys loved arid the doctor too. Ho either felt she deserved extreme pun ishment or he desired her to escape any punishme.nt. So he inquired \vlrat boy \vould take a wliipping- for her. ]\;taiiy were, ready for the sacrifice, but jMilton .Lufburrow was. the quickest, and he "won (ihe hoaior. Tlie lititle beauty ^vas Miss Valexa, one of the daugiiters of Captain Mercliant, of the U. S. A. .1 remembei Ire Iratl three diiugltters and one son at sehjool. Wh.ere are eacli and all of "tliem now? On eartili or in heaven? "Dr. White is the a-uthor of the "Statistics of Georgia" and the. "Historical Collections" of Georgia. In these works he Iras done inost vahmble ^vork to tilie people of tlie State, He has placed tl>e proaninent parts of the States history in a shape to reach tlic masses, and every Q-eorg-iaii should be- grateful to> liim. T^ike most book-makers in Gcorg-iu, if -]re is not corrtpen^aited with, gratitude his pay lias been small, for I have no idea, lie has been sufficiently paid in either coin or currency. About, thirty years agx> the doctor gave up teaching -bo devote himself exclusively to the ministry. l^or the last twenty-five yea ITS he has been the rector of Calvary parish at Memphis, Teim., ^vhore ho yet is. He must be one of the best readers among minis ters of his denomination., and one of the most, eloquent 86 MEMORIAL. clergymen. The fact that he has had a large and wealthy parish so long is conclusive evidence of his qualifications in every respect. The life of man is three score years and ten, and by reason -of strength, four score. Dr. White must have reached and passed the latter poinit. How much I shall not speculate, lest I make the doctor too old, for the world is apt to lose its interest in an old man, and if it takes my say to make the doctor an old main, I shall not say, ex cept in his wise, that of the number he has taught, and he has taught enough to populize a good sized city, he has out lived nearly all, and there are some who, if living, would be the "three score and ten" and more. Such a constitution as his is rarely given to poor mortals, and what makes his longevity the more remarkable is he has passed nearly all his existence in malarial atmospheres. He has lived through two or three epidemics each of Asiatic cholera and yellow fever since he has been in Memphis. He has stood to his post like a Christian soldier, and comforted the sick and buried the dead when no one was able or to be found. The destroying angel visited his own household; bore off his own sons; and for them he had himself to perform the ceremony of Christian burial. A fact perhaps yet stranger than the doctors longevity in the midst of so much danger, is, that his wife, his first and only wife, has been spared along with him. Occasionally only is there a couple able to celebrate their golden wedding. There are but few persons who can of their own knowledge name a couple who have been mar ried sixty years. This couple must have been married at least sixty years. The wealth of memories they possess must be lost when they die. In after years some chroni cler of past events must refer to them and to their lives as worthy of much more than ordinary mention. I have said Dr. White as a teacher had only one fault. MEMORIAL. 87 In that I may be mistaken. Pernaps he had another. About this there can be a difference of opinion. If it shall be decided a fault, it was one that showed the kind side of his nature. The fault was that of partiality. It was more than partiality. There were two boys who were his pets. For these two boys Dr. White had the affection of a father, >a teacher and companion combined. So the other boys thought and said these boys suffered very little from Solomons maxim. Either they did not deserve it, or the boys were uncommonly good rather too good for boys this side of heaven. Their names were Dalton Sharpe and James Courvoisie. I have no doubt Dr. White of late years has often dropped a. tear to the memory of these boys. He took much pains in preparing them for college, and when the time came for them to leave he traveled all the way with them to Athens, and entered them in person. Such an interest and devotion is not often man ifested by teachers. Sharpe was a hard student, with a quiet, gentle manner. Courvoisie was bright, genial and humorous, and one of those boys who could get a lesson by looking at it. Alas, both of these boys are now in "the spirit land," while their old teacher and friend is yet in "this vale of tears. Sharpe, after graduating at one of the medical colleges of Philadelphia, went to Paris to com plete his medical education. In this vortex of fashion and folly he was taken ill, and, returning home, died in 1850 at Muir Hall plantation, and was buried at White Bluff church. This was some forty years ago. He was the only son, and, I believe, the only child, of a small, reserved and gentlemanly man, who was made somewhat conspic uous by his large gold-rimmed spectacles. He was the superintendent of one of the large rice estates on tthe Savannah river. Courvoisie, as so many know, lived up to 88 MEMORIAL. this side of the war. He was long -an officer of the Central Railroad Company, and was sent .by that corporation to coniinnnicatie with Mr. AVadlcy, then in Louisiana. On tlia!~ mission lie oontractted in the swamps of that State malig nant malarial fever., and died at-HSTew Orleans on his re turn. His remains were brought [home and deposited in Laurel Grove oemotery. I -went to school to Dr. White from my seventh to ray tenth year. About two-thirds of that time my walk to . the academy was from about Montgomery down South Broad street. Among tfhe boys I can remember whose habit it was to trudge along the same street to the school were Ben .and Tom Lloyd, Levi and Julian Myers, Robert and Palmer Griffin, Lewis and William Davies. Those named are all well-known to the present citizens of Savan nah, except, perhaps, the T>avies brothers., who left the city many years ago. Tliey were th-e grandsons of Judge Davies, of the old law firm of Davies & T3errien. The elder (Lewis) is now a most worthy and beloved member of tihe jSToirtih Georgia Methodist Conference. Of Wil liam I am not informed, amd know not if he is yet living. This brings me to treat of some of the boys of Chatham Academy, whose after lives were from some cause of more than ordinary interest.. Those named, except one, are either living or dead within tihe memory of most of your citizens, and therefore to discourse of them would be super fluous. That must be reserved for another article, that this one, already long, may not be bnrdensomely so. Some of the Schoolboys. One of the boys who walked the same streets I did to the Academy was Robert H. Griffin. "Wliile a juvenile schoolboy there "was nothing, as I remember, to distin guish hiru, except Ms isic beyond his years; but as he gi-cw older iiis mind and scholarship grew also, until he "was ranked among the smartest. As a boy and youth he did not look forward to one of the learned professions, and when quite young he left school and entered the countingroom of George W. Andenson & Birotlier to prepare himself for first-class mercantile life. While thus employed the intensely exciting presidential campaign of 1840 oarne on, which allured him inito politics on the Deanocratic side, and, as a result, to prepare himself for the law. At this time Mr. Griffin -was a. perfect specimen of tihe handsome physical man in form and feature. His oratoirical efforts wore of the first order, and he edified and delighted his audiences. His intellect was of the solid as -well as bril liant kind, whiclh, complemented by his handsome person and grace of manner, gave every promise of a most useful and distinguished career as lawyer and Statesman; but alas! to "use a common figure, before- the beautiful bud had bloomed, into the full blown rose, it withered and perished. Before Mr. Griffin could fulfill the promise of his youtthful mannood death cut off ull the hopes and pros pects of himself and friends, and ;he has lain in his grave for many years. His name is inseparably connected with that of his friend, patron and admirer, the late Hon. John ~W. Anderson, who was so much honored and beloved by all classes of citizens. 90 MEMORIAL. As there are so f&w men who for any oan.se are worthy of mention above the "seething masses," so it must be with, the boy who is the "father to the man." Looking back to the many wlio were Dr. Whites pupils during my time at his school, I can recall but few who come within the pur pose of these articles, although I can remember many who made most worthy, and some distinguished men.; and yet whose lives are without any romantic or dramatic incident to mark them. Yet there arc a few it should be interesting to note. During my time there came, to the school a. large: boy whoso education, had been neglected. As -SL result he oOiikl not be classified, unless he was put into the classes with little boys. Every boy knows with, what disdain the ]irttie fellows look upon a big boy no farther advanced than themselves, and how awkward the big boy looks, and how mortified lie feels to be among the little ones, especially where there is "head and foot" and a little boy turns a big one down. This big boy was permitted to recite alone. Dr. White seemed to lmve a tender regard for him. The mo tive for it I do not know., except that which might arise from what was apparent his modest demeanor, his low scholarship and his large size. His clothing w-as of the plainest kind, and his whole appearance suggested that he was neither rich nor of hig-h social station. tie associated little, if any, with, the other boys, and was intimate with none. He was shy and reserved to the point of isolation. There was that about Mm which miakes a misanthrope of many natures. He was badly lame in one leg, and the limp it necessitated was not of that sort that made the possessor more interesting. After awhile he came no more to school. AVliy I know not, nor did any one else seem to know. We just missed him, and, perhaps, supposing he had only come to school to improve his education that he might be better prepared for the common business of life, we MEMORf^L. 91 thought iiO more of him. It came to pass afterwards that I left tlie school and went to- the North, and returned to continue my academic course a:t Effing-ham Academy. This was located ;at Springfield, the eoutvty site, where, of course, the counts of the circuit -and county were held. Going into the court-room at ".May term, 1837, some five years after the large boy referred to had left Dr. Whites school, there was a ruddy-faced, well-dressed, refined look ing young man1 addressing the eo-ur-t in a very earnest, fluent arid attractive .style, having just enough of the. brogue to give zest to his enunciation. It did not take me long to discover that the young lawyer and the plain-looking lame boy I have been describing were one and the same person. In the meantime he had gone elsewhere to pursue his studies., including that of law, and had been admitted to practice. The case he was arguing is reported in R. ]VL Charlto-iis Reports, page 54-2. John Duggtar, Jr., had by liis will directed that certain slaves of his should be sent out of the Staitc to some place where they could be free. The court of ordinary refused to probate the will- because contrary to the laws of the State touching the manumis sion of slaves. The slaves found a friend in Mr. Henry Roser, of Savannah, who employed the young attorney t secure them their rights, and he succeeded in so doing. It had been the general opinion of the bar that such a will was void, but Judge R. J\. Oharlton, the then youngest judge in the State, at the instance of perhaps the youngest attorney at the bar, decided against that general opinion and in favor of the liberty of the slaves. The Georgia judges in convention rendered the same judgment in a similar case, and since our State Supreme Count has af firmed that ruling in many cases. That decision made reputation for boith the young judge and the young law yer. The latter immediately entered on a successful 92 MEMORIAL. career at the bar, but in about tlhree years from tfliat date lie was dead. At the time of Ms death be was the partner of Hon.. Joseph. W. Jackson., a gentleman universally esteemed as "the "very soul of honor." It is n!ow needless to mention -the name of the big boy ait Dr. "Whites school, but as the lawyers say, It had better be done "bo eompletB the record." His name "was ISTioholas ilarlow. ** ****-* -x- -* While Dr. White was the principal of Chatham Acade my he had a military company formed from the boys of the scHiool. When I wenrt. there Henry Tjong was tlie cap tain a fine, manly-looking boy of the blonde type. He was a younger brother of the late William H. Long. Tt came around that he left school to go into commercial busi ness, being1 then nearly or qnit-e g-ro^vu. That made it necessary to elect a new captain. G-eorge Tayior, another large boy, was the first lieutenant, and by custom and seniority be Was entitled, to the captaincy; but there was a private, a liamclsome, stylish,, generous boy, who "was very popular. His name -was James Jones TayloT, a son of Gen. Robert Taylor, one of the wealthiest men of the State. He became a planter in Early coiinty, Georgia, and there ditd some thirty years ago, leaving a "widow and three children, who yet survive. He w>as voted for and defeated George T aylor by one vote. Mortified at such tf Charley Lamar, at once his twin brother with the same vitality in size, in figure, in feature, in expression and in manner OCcurs to me. I mean John A. Jones, of Columbus, Gra, ? son of Seaborn, commonly called Little Jack Jones. They were devoted friends. The Damon and. Pythias of the drama "were not more so. The fate of the two friends w-as the same. Colonel -of the Twentieth Georgia, Little Jack was killed at Gettysburg. When he 90 MEMORIAL. died, as with. Charley Lamar, a dazzling, brilliant lighit ^vas extinguished, which should have continued to shine until the time had expired for which nature warrantor! it. Here I hope I will be pardoned for an episode of a per sonal -and delicate nature. When a boy of ten years my mother sent mo to I/ynn., Massachusetts, to school. In May, 1831, I sailed from Savannah to Boston 011 the ship Pfi-nguSy whereof Moody was master. We were fifteen days making the voyage. There were quite a number of first-class passengers from Savannah. gentleimen, ladies and children. Among- tlio later was the oldest child of the late O. B. Xanrar. Site was perhaps twelve years of age, and she was going to the institution of learning con nected -with the Komaji Catholic convent at OharlestOwn, jMass. "FroTii Boston to T/yiin was an open, plain. One night during tlie same aumm&T tlie household was aroused by the appearance of a large firo at or near Boston. The next day it proved, to !lmve been, the burning of the Catholic convent at Cbarlestown. by a body of rioters, which im periled, the lives of the inmates and created great, excite ment throughout the country. Where Miss Lamar went from there to continue her education I do not know, HOT have I any other knowledge of her until just four years after, when, with Others of her parents children she lost her life in that fatal "only one night at sea." Only one night at sea. It really was but a rug-lit that for so mam lasted forever. * * -x- ***** -x- -:<- * Declamation -was a prominent feature in Dr. White-* course of instruction. Among tihe tiny boys, after pass ing the period of "youd scarce expect one of my age/ he was fortunate who could claim "Casabianca" as his own property. With the boys of larger growth there was the MEMORIAL. 97 . same competition, for "Hoheiilinden," and a little further on came in "The burial of Sir John Moore." 3STo conquer ing; hero could have felt prouder of his conquests than a small boy -who received -a prize medal for excellence in declamation. There was a boy less than seven who re joiced, in "Hohenlinden." He was a pale-faced, lighthaired, delicate boy, but such a voice such a declama tion, and sucli manly ways as the little fellow had, it was a wonder to hear and see. I-Ie was a prodigy in the art oj: declamation. 1-Ie delighted the doctor in this respect .above all other boys. If the academy had a distinguished visitor, who had never hoard the little boy, he was sure to be called on. for (a performance. lie was from the South Carolina side of the river, and his name, as I remember it, Chisholrn. In this I may be mistaken perhaps it was Cheves pronounced Ghims. I have neither seen nor heard of the boy since that I am aware of, and it has been fiftythree years since. I have often wondered what became of -that boy. I should surmise lie died in youth, or very early manhood, or he certainly would have been heard from. A very little, delicate boy, with such a strong, deep, musi cal voice, and knowing; how to tune it, must have made a .great orator. I have lately been reminded of him in what Miss jMariari !Eva.ns (George Eliot) says of the linnet that "it has just body enough to hold its voice." 33ut per haps he was unlike the linnet, and did .not have enough body to hold his voice, and like the sword in the scabbard, it wore out the body, and that he has been for many years using his voice? not for oratory, but for the singing of praises to Grod and the lamb in the realms of eternal bliss. TT ho will tell us ? B.QO. The law courts, the court-houso and its appurtenances, the judges, lawyers and county officers of fifj-.y years ago are interesting. My first remembrance- of a court-house was a hig-h pile of bricks, in 1831, on the lot -where the present county court-house stands, which was said to have been the bricks of the old. court-house, torn down to build a new one. That new one is the present old one between President and York streets, having its front on "Wrigiit square and its rear on Drayton street. It was not ready for occupation until some time during the next year, but in fact my rememberance of such only dates from. January, 1833. The jail then stood and for many years later on the commons and would have been on or near Drayton street had it been built upon that far. The city proper then did not extend beyond the nortli side of Liberty street. This period antedated the present United States Barracks. All beyond Liberty street, from its interces sion by Drayton, was an open plain to the forest growth on the outskirts, except as it was broken by the grim old jail, surrounded by higli thick walls on. all sides, which, presented a lonely arid desolate appearance. To the right oblique, away from beyond the same point, to be soen through the small pines, was the old wooden bar racks of the United States, and about the same distance, to the left oblique, "Fair Tawn," the home of Major W. P. Bowen. Both of these structures relieved the view made by the monotony of the commons and the horror of the MEMORIAL. 99 jail, with the sMning whiteness o t)he building and fences, through the interstices of the evergreen trees. The site of the old. jail (as informed) is now occupied with the man sions erected- by Ootavius Colicn and Andrew Low. The present jail, and possibly a portion of .Forsyth Park, is loca ted where the old barracks stood. These barracks soon be came untenantable, winch was at least partly the cause for erecting the new one at the junction of liberty and Drayton. For a timci during the transition the troopti occupied the theater. jMajor Bowen resided for many years at Pair Lawn, and there reared an interesting family of sons and daughters. One of them was General P-owen, a West Point graduate, who, during the late war, General Pernbenton dispatched with six thousand men to Port Gibson, Miss., to dispute the landing of Grant. It proved dis astrous and caused the loss of Bo-wens life and that of General Tracy. Dray toil street was the Savannah "Bridge of Sighs" from tbe prison, to the place of trial, the court-house. AVhcn a little boy I often saw the disagreeable sight of a prisoner passing along there in. charge of the officer, and possibly witli d yvcs on his wrists." One I remember, and always shall, who was being carried to be tried for his life. The officer was mounted, and while they were en gaged in conversation the prisoner looked up into the offi cers face and smiled. To my childish mind it was aston ishing how one so situated could smile, but even I could dis cover there "was sadness in that smile, which I can now see as vividly as then, and it "haunts me still." There was a phase of prison life then that has long since ceased to exist, and very few now living have ever seen. It was ithat of a prisoner confined for debt. In my boyhood there was generally some one so imprisoned, if for only a short time, 100 MEMORIAL. but tliere vra,s one or two instances that lasted for one or more years, and there was tradition of prisoners -who had endured many years of imprisonment. Perhaps even some young people Irave seen -at in-fcervals on Savannahs streets stones that might have served for mile-stones with the letters .J. 13. -on them. J. B. meant "jail bounds/ and that \vas the limit of a debtor prisoners walk, who had given bond and surety not to go beyond the limits. If he did, his bond became forfeited to his creditor, and the debt was collected out of the surety. Abolishing impris onment for debt has rendered such as that now impossible, but before its abolition imprisonment for debt had praeticaJly ceased. During the building of the new court-house court was held in the Exchange Long Room. The first co-iii1 1 I ever attended was in that room. It was in the month of February, 1832. I had not reached my eighth year. Then there was proceeding there a. criminal trial of extraordinary interest. One of the most prominent- mer chants of the city had committed homicide, and he was on trial for it. After tea my father went and took me with liim. I "well remember the scene. The judge was presid ing and the prisoner was sitting in the dock, but otherwise there was nothing to indicate an exciting trial, and there wore but few persons in the court-room. The judge was seated, at the eastern, end of the room. Since, I infer, ai that time the jury must have been taken out for supper or other purpose, because I learned the case was submitted to the jury ait a late hour that night, and resulted in an acquittal. The leading counsel for the prisoner was Matthew Hall ilcAllister, who distinguished himself by a great effort, and when the verdict was readied the friends of the pris oner took JilJcAlIister on their shoulders and bore Mm MEMORIAL. 101 down to where they could celebrate the victory. This case established jUcAllisters reputation as the first criminal lawyer of the city, -which he held up to the time he changed his residence., but it must not be inferred that his reputa tion as a lawyer was limited to this branch of the practice. The judge who presided in this ease was a man whose useful, virtuous and pleasant life was spared up to a mod ern date, and, therefore, it is superfluous to say more- He was the Hon. William X/aw. Judge Laws first .commis sion was in May, 1829. His immediate predecessor was Judge "William Davies. As I never saw Judge Davies it is to be presumed that just before this he either died or moved from the city. I think he resided at some time of has life at J\f ill edge ville, or vicinity. Judge Law remained judge of rtie eastern circuit until ISTovember, 1834, but ifc so chanced I was seldom in his coairt. He was succeeded by Hon. John O. "Nl-choll. During Judge jSTicholls short tenure on the bench of the State Court, though yet a small boy, I was quite often in his court, both in Chatham and Emngham counties. Ho was a. serious, stern-looking man, with a strong voice, and I was afraid of him. "When I got to be a marliid a lawyer this awe of him to some extent still remained. During his official career as judge of the United States District Court, I had occasion to appear in his court as sole counsel for the plaintiff in a case of some importance. The defendants counsel were sure of gaining the case, and two or three friends of ability and experience at the bar had given me their opinion that that must be the result. I found a case to sustain me in the Eleventh Johnsons !N"ew York Reports, and felt very confident I ought to win, but felt uncertain as to the impression 1 would make upon the judge: The parties in the case I cited were Erastus Root, gentleman, v. Elijah Beardsley, 102 MEMORIAL. gentleman. It was decided as far back as 1811, and in these democratic times such -a statement of the parties -would, be entirely out of order. It gTave me an opportu nity for getting -off -a. little humor, but hoW would so rigid a man as Judge j^icholl take it? Should I be fined or reprimanded, or both? But I Could not resist the temp tation., and so I svaid: "Your honor will perceive this case sustains my suit, and it is no common ease, but was -a con test between gentlemen-. In such a. case the judges must have given the legal questions involved mudh more than the ordinary consideration. It was due the parties as gen tlemen." I was awaiting my fate, whetn, to my agreeable surprise, Judge JSTieholl said: "Yes, Mr. Clark, I knew Erastus Root well, and know he -was a gentleman. I did not know Elijah Bearclsley, but I know the Bcardsley fam ily, and they were all reputed gentlemen." This made me feel quite comfortable, and gave me some assurance of at least a fair chance. When the time came for the judge to charge the jury, he charged the law as laid down in Johnsons Reports, and, as a legal and logical sequence, the jury found a verdict in my favor, to the great disappoint ment and disgust of opposing counsel. The verdict was signed John H. Johnson, foreman. Through subsequent years I became better acquainted with. Judge jSFicholl and found him as affable and considerate as I had supposed him the contrary. It is, perhaps, superfluous to say he was an able jurist and noted for the extent and accuracy of ihia legal learning. If I mistake not he succeeded Judge Jere miah Ouyler on the bench of the Federal court, the father of R. R. Cuyler, and of many other sons and daughters. I often saw him in his old age when I was a boy, but never in the court-house. In December, 1835, Robert M. Charlton succeeded MEMORIAL. 103 Judge Nichon, and con tinned the circuit judge "until August, 1837. He was one of the youngest (If not the youngest) men on the circuit bench in the history of the State, he being only twenty-seven years of age. He remained on tli-e ibeiiclj. a short time only, for the same reason thatmany now remain for so short a time oil the bench, or will accept a judgeship at all, viz., the meagerness of the salary. During Ms judgesiiip John E. "Ward was the solicitor-gen eral. In a few months afterr Judge Charlton. retired Mr. Ward^%l like-wise, and the two formed a partnership which continued for twelve or fourteen years. Judge Charlton "was an exceptional! man from any point o view that em braced the good and true. He was a lawyer and judge of the first ability, but great as that was, he exceeded it in the perfection of his private arid personal aharacter. He added to the virtues and graces of the perfect gentleman the un obtrusive piety of the true Christian. He was one of the very few :m>en- to whom the adjectives of sweet and lovely, so often used by one lady of another, would apply. The gift of poesy was his, to make yet more lovable his other gifts and accomplishments. This gift was consistent "with all his other attributes, and was no surprise to any one, as it may be of men who have it evert greater than he, but in contrast with many vices. He was also gifted with a re fined and generous humor, which was never used to wound, but always to heal or confer a pleasure. During the period of which I write the solicitors-general of the circuit "were Joseph W. Jackson, from November, 1831, to May, 1833, then William H. Stiles until January, 1836, fetien John E. Ward until March, 1838. Each and all of these gentlemen were personally, as well a? by reputation, well known to me. It so happened that each of them had to discharge for the State weighty, 104 MEMORIAL. difficult duties in serious and embarrassing criminal cases of the grade of felony. Joseph "W. Jackson, after having represented the State in Congress from tihc Savannah dis trict, occupied the circuit bench for a brief period, and died of the prevailing epidemic some itihivty years ago1. He -was one of the several sons of Georgias very distinguished Governor, James Jackson. He was of a style and type of honorable and- chivalrous manhood that cannot now be found. "William H. Stiles also represented his native State in the national Congress, and there won renown. He be came the minister of the United States government to the Austrian Empire. As an orator, he was noted for his faultless rhetoric and elocution, and as a gentleman for a grace and polish -of manner not to be excelled. Death, too, has long silenced foretver that tongue of eloquence and that voice of music. John. E. Ward was for many years a conspicuous figure in Georgia politics, and has beeoi theUnited States Minister to the Empire of China. Strange to say, that these two solicitors-general, citizens from the same city, should have been foreign ministers from their national government. Yet stranger, that another from the same city, and who was in later years a judge of the same court, should have been likewise a foreig-n minister Gen eral Henry H. Jackson. Mr. Ward is yet living, but in the city of ISTew York. He alone survives of the older and contemporaneous lawyers of the Savannah bar at the date of his admission. Judge Fleming, "who is an older lawyer, and much older man, was afterwards a member of the Savannah bar. li?,ears BQO, Those wfrose names -will follow I can recall as tJie mem bers of the bar fifty years ago, but, of course, of varying age, from tlie old and experienced barrister down to the youngest attorney. They -were Jeremiah Cnyler, Coun sellor J,eakc, William B. Bulloch, ilordecai .Sheftall, Sr., John M. Berrien, George W. Owens, Richard W. Ilabersharn, James TV. Wayne, Joseph S. Pelot, Levi S. TJelyoii,. Joseph TY. Jackson, William Law, W. H. McAllisfc&r, Charles S. Henry, Mordecai flyers, Georg-e Glenn, Jothtt C. Nichall, John II. Clark, lloberf, W. Pooler, William TV. Gordon, Richard P. Cuyler, Robert M. Charlton, John j\Iilleii, William H. Bulloeh, A-lexacnder J. Dry&dale, "Wil liam H. Killer, J. Be LaMotta, Jr., William H. Stiles, George J. Ivollock, Edward J. Hardin and John E. Ward. Depending almost entirely upon memory, it is quite probable I have failed to recall .a few of the lawyers of that period; it is also probable that among; those mentioned there may be one or two "who were not admitted to practice as early as the year 1834, Vat come in the next year. But, nevertheless, the names of those given are substantially the lawyers of fifty years ago, without respect to age, al though I have had some regard to that in the order they are stated. When I was a student of law from 1842 to1844, Judge Beri-ien and M. Sheftall, Sr., were reputed the oldest among the lawyers in practice, with a small dif ference in favor of jYfr. Sheftall. Some of those named were not in the practice nor other- 106 MEMORIAL. -wise employed in the line of their profession. Wm. B. Bulloch was a bank officer. jMordecai ilyers "was an officer of the city government, J. De LaJMotta was an editor of the Savannah Rcp'U'blican, Wm. H. Bulloch of the G-eorgi-cun, and Robert W. Pooler was clerk of the superior court. Several of those named attained some distinction in politics, and a few much distinction. John ]\I. Berrien was a member of the Rational Cabinet, and served twio or three terms as United States senator. James W. Wayne -was through several terms a representative in Congress., and -was promoted to a judgeship of the United States Su preme Court, in which office he died. George "W. Owens, Richard W. Ilabersham, Joseph W. Jackson and William PI. Stiles represented Georgia in Congress. Robert M. Charlton was a United States senator. Ed-ward J. Haden was judge of the city court-, and afterwards the Confeder ate judge of Georgia. John E. Ward was speaker of the Georgia House, of Representatives, and minister to China. !N"early all of those named not occupying high positions were more or less honored by their fellow citizens with political positions of honor and profit. There are three old lawyers I can recall who are omitted from the list of law yers fifty years ago. They are William B. Fleming, Solo mon Co-hen and JVIulford Marsh. The reason for this is they were not natives of Savannah, and became citizens thereof after that time. The histories of most of those named are well known to the intelligent reader, and it is only necessary to refer to them because within the scope -of these letters. There are a few- it may be interesting -to speak of, be.cause they have been so long dead. Levi S. Del/yon was directly descended from the immigration of Israelites "who -soon followed Oglethorpe to the colony of Georgia, as was MEMORIAL. 107 also that oldest lawyer, Mordecai Sheftall, Sr. His per sonal magnetism, his fidelity to his clients, his fluency of speech, and his ability soon drew to him, both in the city and on the circuit, numerous clients. By his professional labors he made, a cp-m.forfcable fortune. He eschewed poli ties, except in the line of his profession., and was a long time judsjjfof the city court of Savannah. He had four sons and a daughter, but of these only two survive, and they are citizens of Texas Mrs. Dr. Hand all, formerly Mrs. Harby, and Loon or eon DeT/yon. Richard "W. Habersham soon moved from Savannah to I-labersham county, Ga. "While a citizen of that county, in 1838, he was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1840. He -was a member of Congress during the exciting Harrlson presidential campaign, which produced a reorganization of parties in Georgia, and he, "with five others of the nine elect ed in 1838, unitedwith the "White party, being called by their supporters "the faithful six." A daughter of his, the widow of the late John Milledge, of Augusta, Ga., re sides at Forsyth, Ga., and his grandson, Gapt. John Milledge, in Atlanta, Ga. I never saw Mr. Habersham that I can recall. Mordecai Myers retired from the profession and all active life, and removed to his country home in Cobb county, Ga., where he died many years ago. He was the father of the several Myers brothers of your city. He was a kind., genial, courteous and dignified gentleman. John. M. Clark lost Iris health, which compelled him to re tire from practice and go to the country for several years. Prom there, a few years before the late war, he moved to Covington, Ga., and from there fro Atlanta. He resided at Atlanta in the aotive practice of his profession until dis abled by the infirmities of age, -which occurred only some two years previous to his death. He died in June, 1883, at 108 MEMORIAL. about eighty-two years of ago. He several times represen ted Chatham county in the legislature. In early life and in middle age he was a successful practitionm- and a fascinating speaker. Those lessons of 'high, principles he learned in his rearing he practiced to the Ia gentle and winning manner. He was a lawyer, but had no taste for the -wrangles of the court-house. The Kev. jVCr. Drysdale, the Episcopalian clergyman, rector of Christ Church, _N~ew Orleans, who has a reputation foJ impressive pulpit reading and preaching, is his son. Robert "W. Pooler, although a lawyer, was, when a young man, elected to the clexkabip of the superior court of Chatham county. It was a lucrative office. Its income, added to his other means, enabled him to live in a luxurious manner. He had his house in the city and his country-seat at Springfield. He held the office for twenty-five or thirty years. A predecessor, Job T. Bolles, held it for a long period. The people then held on to a good office for a long time. There were but few attempts to defeat Captain Pooler, Which all failed, until John IF. Gruilmartin, a young lawyer, under some favorable circumstances, accomplished it. Captain Pooler was of Irish lineage. He was a noble, generous, high-toned man. He was one of the democratic nominees on the general ticket for Congress in the disas- MEMORIAL. Ill trous political campaign of 1840. The whole, democratic ticket was defeated iby some 4,000 majority. He was at his country (home "when the election returns were beingreceived. "When about forty counties we-ro heard from I was at his house, where several of his friends were assem bled. The captain made a calculation and gave up his election. His fgiends tried to encourage him, but lie- said it could not b|fpoth:erwise. I was astonished to see how coolly and cheerfully he took his defeat. He got his mili tary title from having once been the commander of the "Re publican Blues." He was their captain when I first saw them iii the year 1831. He took into his office, in the year 1835., Edward G-. "Wilson, who was then a youth, of some sixteen summers. He made an excellent clerk, and in a few years carried on the office without the presence of Captain Pooler, and was with him up to his defeat. Cap tain Poolers wife "was JVIary Wuyne, a niece of Judge Wayne. They had but one child a. son. He married, and dying left a child a daughter. So the name of Fooler has become extinct. It is curious to notice how many names in course of time become extinguished. To realize this, one only has to look over the names of the first set tlers of Georgia and see how many of them have entirely disappeared. In the very early years of this century there was a lawyer of Savannah named Flyming. In the old cemetery there is a tomb to a lady of that name, who lived to be nearly a hundred. Is the name now extinct? The only names connected with the sheriffs office fifty years ago I can recall -are th ose of John J. Dews and George Millen. Dews moved to Southwest Georgia about 1840, and from there to Forsyfch, Ga., where he died since the war. His "widow yot survives, together "with several sons and daughters, among them ilr. John Dews of Savannah. 112 MEMORIAL. Dr. George Millen was the father of ifcPherson j\Iillen. He was not related to Col. John jMillen, but his wife, who was a Miss Dennis, ww, Frances S. Bar tow, Hichard AY. Owens, William !F. Law and Henry Preston. Then, .-a few years later, comes Henry "Williams, Tom Lloyd, .J-ohn W. Owens, Kobert H. Griffin, John H. Goodrich, William J. Bulloch, William T. Goodwill and John Bilbo. Of the lawyers named fifty years ago, George J. Kollock .and John E. AYiard are the only survivors. Mr. Ward may have been admitted as late as January or February, 1S35; but at the time he was yet a youth not out of his teens. Of the next set William 1?. I>aw is the only survi vor, and of the nest John Bilbo. Thus it may be said of the lawyers admitted in or prior to 1842, there are only five living. Possibly there may be one or two more not recalled, for the human memory is not accurate, however much it may retain. Soon there will be none left of the sets named, nor even of a later date, including "myself .among the rest." ttbe Ib Cemetery. It was on a bright beautiful day in jSTovember, 1872,. that 1 found, myself in tlie Forest City, with part of the afternoon. to bejprjoyed. I chose to visit the old cemetery, whither I had||ot been but once, for a few moments, for thirty years. Among nay very earliest recollections is this sacred spot. From a child, too young to realize, until thecares of manhood dawned, I was a frequent visitor to it,, and was familiar with its e.very feature. Since1 then time and distance have made it but a memory. ~K.iiowing that since 1854 it has been abandoned as a buryiiig-place, .and not keeping informed as to its condition, I had supposed it -was surrendered to weeds and briers. Imagine, then, my agreeable surprise at the smooth and spacious pavement on the south side of the street, along the cemetery to its main gateway. This gratification was greatly increased by the grass nicely cropped, and the graveled Walts which greeted my eyes on entering the cemetery. Expecting the time would soon arrive when it would become a prey to the grasping spirit of a so-called progress/ I was elmrnied to see that the city fathers had held out" against it, and had added another to their many beautiful parks. It was the Jfirgut cemetery I had ever seen, and although I have visited some of the loveliest in the United States, there are none more beautiful to my eyes. Such is the effect of beautiful sights upon the mind of a child, and prominent among tho reasons why man. loves his native land, whether it is a garden or a desert. 114 MEMORIAL. Equally associated in my mind, with tlic cemetery is its first and only sexton, whom 1 ever knew. As I saw him then I see him now a slender, genteel old man, attired in black; whose head -was bowed with age, and shaken with, infirmity. He was one of the "old-school" gentlemen, now so rapidly passing1 away, for, to the honor of the city I be lieve* it may be said, no one but a gentleman has ever filled that station. He was eminently fitted for it. Kind to the living, he "was tender and veiicrative to the dead. The most abject pauper had in. him a mourner. He never re peated "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust/ with, unnaoistened eyes. This was Mr. LabaTi Wrigut, and the year 1831. He died in the year 1844, aged eighty years, and had been a Protestant Christian for fifty years. As I have seen no other graveyard to please me like the "old cemetery," so I have seen no other sexton so good as Mr. "Wright. On entering at the South Broad street gate, I turned to the right and strolled to the wall on Abercorn street. About midway of this walk are the oldest graves, and in consequence the oldest part of the cemetery. This I will show before I conclude my correspondence by reference to the record. jMany of the oldest slabs and vaults were as familiar to me as any other scenes of childhood. I do not propose to name or describe them, for this has been done before, and they are not only well known to all your citi zens, but to many of your readers. But I shall mention a few, either on account of their connection with, historical facts, or some other -cause. On the route, strangers eyes would soon be attracted by a row of marble slabs, in mem ory of as many of the family of the late Senator Berrien. The first and oldest is that of Major John Berrien, who died November 6, 1815, aged fifty-six years. He was MEMORIAL. 115 Judge Berriens father, and a soldier and officer of the Revo lution of seventy-sis:. He wintered with Washington at Valley Forge fought gallantly at Monrnouth and else where served till the.close of the "war and attained the ra.nk of major, aJ&hough a mere boy when he entea-ed the service and scarJ^ly a man in. age when he left it. His first wife was Margaret McPherson, a sister of John and Wil liam. John was aide-de-camp to General Montgomery, and fell at Quebec. William "was a British officer, hut surrender ed his commission, escaped to the American lines and ren dered efficient service. Judge 33errien was the only child of this marriage, : and he was born on the 23d of August, 1781, in the State of jSTew Jersey, and "in the house, occupied by General "Washington, for his headquarters when he issued his farewell address to the army. "For the benefit of your readers in distant parts of the State, who arc interested in .anything -which concerns their renowned fellow citizen, Judge Berrien, I will mention the other names and dates there inscribed: Richard M. Berrien, ]VLD., died SOtih of September, 1820, aged twenty-five years, a half brother of the judge, and, I believe, the father of Mrs. Wm. I3uncan of your city; Eliza, wife of Judge Berrien, died 27th of August, 1.828, aged forty-two years; William Berrien, a .son an officer of the United States army, who died while on duty in Florida, 2d December, 1840, aged twenty-seven; ."Nicholas Ancieux Berrien., infant son, died June 17th, 1817. Knowing that Judge Berrien himself is numbered .among the dead, the stranger -would "wonder why his re.mains are not also here, and would require the information that since the closing of the old cemetery, the distin guished statesman and jurist reposes, along with his other dead, in !Laurel Grove. In the many allusions to the his tory of Judge B., I have never read anything as to the 116 MEMORIAL. time or place of his mothers death, except that she died when he was of tender years. A friend informs me that she died at Baisden Bluff, Mclntosh county., about the year1790, then a summer resort, and was buried in a private cemetery on the old Bailey plantation, since the property of Dr. Troup, twelve miles from Darien, on the old Oglethorpe road. The grave, inclosed by a brick wall, was pointed out to him by one of the old citizens of Mclntosh. The next group of slabs, in close proximity, and as I re member in contact, "which would attract attention, are those of three Episcopal clergymen, two of whom lived, and died in colonial times, and the other very soon there after. The inscriptions make the impression that each suc ceeded the other, as the parish clergyman. They areBartholomew Zoubcrbuhlcr, died 2d September, 1776, rector to the parish twenty-one years; Samuel IT rink of the parish, died October 4th, 1771; Edward Ellingtori, died. 1795. If any one is curious to examine the statutes of the State, he will find that the Rev. M. Zoubcrbuhler was the subject of the States solicitude, or rather the estate which he left "was. This gentleman, left &. will devising his lands "to be nevolent purposes," but up to 1788, twenty-two years after iris death, it remained unexecuted. On February 1st, of that vear, it was enacted by the General Assembly that the sher iff should take the property, sell, pay debts and expenses., and pay the proceeds to the trustees of Chatham Academy. On the 3d of February, of the next year, as Jacob and Bar tholomew Walburger -were in possession of said lands, claim ing- as heirs of the clergyman, it was enacted that the trus tees should bring ejcctment for them. Two years there after, on the 18th of Deccmbcr, 1701, the legislature, find ing that the Walburgers were "hard to handle," enacted MEMORIAL, 117 that the.y and their sister Henrietta, the wife of Zaelvanah Hoskins, should have said, lands, on the payment of one hundred pounds aiiTnually, for four years, to the trustee* of Chatham -A-ca.c^piiy. "Wlie tlier this ann uifcy was ever paid by the.ancient Walburgers, or the modern Walbnrgers, the laws say not, and so doth this deponent. The legal mind Is here open to inquiry on two points. One is, upon "what principle did the legislature assume to execute a mans will, and in that assumption to take the property from his heirs? _A_nd the other is, what "was there about Mr. Zouborbuhlers will that made such legislation neces sary? If ever probated or recorded in Chatham county, this latter may be answered. There is a small, tasteful monument within an iron rail ing, that is sacked to the memorv of -Toseph Clay and other members of his family. This gentleman, of revolution ary fame, is well known to all intelligent Georgians. "We arc here told that he was born. 16th October, 1741, died aged sixty-two years. His name is suggestive of his numerous and gifted posterity. ^Many of them are prominent in this generation, and many were likewise prominent in the pre ceding one. The most conspicuous named, are the Cuthberts, the Stiles, and the Ouminings. The tombs alluded to are not all thus deserving, upon the narrow line I have adopted, but to mention them will, perhaps, make this communication tedious. In my next I will trace the history of the "old cemetery" as obtained from legislation, and in that connection snow its relation to Christ Church, whose "Gods Acre" it originally wag. The present "old cemetery" at Savannah, was originally the cemetery of Christ Church. On the 15th March, 113 MEMORIAL. 1758, the Colonial Council passed, an act for laying of "theseveral districts and divisions of this province into par ishes, "and for other purposes. They constituted several parishes by names and boundaries. The parish in which Savannah was included was named Christ Church Parish. By the second section of said act, it was further enacted, "that from and after the said 17th day of March, 1758, thechurch already erected in the town of Savannah, and the ground as now used for a cemetery or a burial-place there to, shall be the parish church and cemetery of Christ Church." Both from the language of the section, and the known custom of the time, I infer that the first building of Christ Church was on the cemetery grounds. Tf not, where was it? And if so, when was the1 church removed elsewhere? The first legislation upon the statute book is an act of April 7th, 1763, announcing, thalt "repairing the parish church in the town of Savannah, or rebuilding the same on the present foundation, is found to> be imprac ticable," and appointing commissioners "to cause the build ings and stalls now erected and used for a market in f he center of a square of said town of Savannah, called ^Wights square, to be removed from thence, and in thesame place to lay out a sufficient space of ground for the erecting of a parish church, which said portion of ground so to be laid out shall be and is from henceforth., allotted and appropriated to and for the use of purpose aforesaid." By the next section, the market was removed to another square, called "Ellis square." "Weights square, I believe, is the square on which the county court-house is erected, and I suppose the name of the present Market square is Ellis. It was there the market "was at the great fire in 1820, as ascertained from late legislation, and if rebuilt on the same spot, it has been the market place for more than MEMORIAL. 119 a century. In m) odern |ijfpines these squares have been re spectively known as the "Court-bouse/ and the "Market square." Thus there must be many citizens who do not know that the true name of the one is \V right and of the other Ellis. Christ Church is not now, nor has it been for many years, in "WVights square. In what yeai" was it moved from thence, and in the meantime has it occupied any other than its present location? This may seem digressive, but it is pertinent to ascertaining the period of time at which the church and its cemetery were separated. The next legislation on the subject of the cemeterv is on the 7th of &.pril, 1763, when the act of 1758 was amended, -and ainon^ other things it was enacted, "That the cemetery be enlarged and extended to the line of Abercorn street to the westward, and one hundred feet to the southward, the "whole to con tain two hivndred and ten feet square." By the same act, a parcel of ground of two hundred feet square was ordered to be laid out and inclosed in the line with the said coine-tery, towards the live-acre lots, for the convenience of a burial ground for negroes. "WliM the size of the ceme tery was before this extension we can only infer, but cer tain it is, that as enlarged, it was only one acre. As it was extended one hundred feet to the southward, we may infer that it was about the same distance westward to Abercorn street,, and that before 1703 it was about half an acre. Savannah had been settled thirtyjone years before it required as much as an acre in which to bury its dead. Had yellow fever made its appearance as an epidemic up to this time? It seems that now the necessity for more burial ground rapidly increased, for on the llth of April, 1768, there is another act, providing for another exten sion of the 170 feet adjoining to the westward, and "from 120 MEMORIAL. the ROTn 111011 of the town of Savannah." In both, these acts the power arid the duty of extending arid inclosing are given to the "Church Wardens and Vestry of the said Parish for the time being.," and in this latter act it. was thenceforth forever to be and remain a public burial ground." This is the first reference to it as a public burial ground, but in that reference it is nevertheless treated as corraected. wit>h and under the cliarge of Olwist CliAireh. lu those days there was a g-overnment religion. There was nothing inconsistent in this. So we see thait the true name of the "old cemetery 7 is "the cemetery o>f Christ Church," and if it ever has beeTi formally changed we do not know it. After the Revolution, the government religion having been abolished, this ground, and all like it, became sub ject to> legislative action. The action generally was to place them under the control of the municipal corpora^ tiOns where situated. But was not the title to the ground on. such condition in Christ Oburch, and if so, how could it he dives-ted without consent, so long as it remained a bury ing-ground? It was not subject to confiscation, for Christ Church, through, its members, joined the rebellion. These ques tions can, I presume, be readily answered from the action of the church and the city council of Savannah "in the early days of the republic." I desired to add my comments on the monument to Joseph Clay, who died ^STovember, 1803, aged sixty-two years, that a son of the same name survived him. He was a rarely intellectual man, and made himself famous as a lawyer, stateman and clergyman. During the later years of the last century he was the most eminent lawyer* of Sa- MEMORIAL. 121 vannah. He was also the legal preceptor of the most emi nent lawyer of the next generation at the same bar, and in his time, of the whore State Ax> wit, Judge Bcrrien. The firm -of Clay & "Woodruff, in its day, held about the same position in Savannah .as the firms of Berrien & T^aw., McAllistcr & Cohen, and Charlton & Ward held at a more modern, date. During the legal career -of Mr. Clay he was Judge of the United. States District Court of Georgia, and was a member of the State convention, that adopted the Constitution, of 1798, under which her citizens lived until 1861. Tt is tradition that he made the original draft of that instrument, and it was the opinion of the wisest that the amendments made did not improve it. When only thirty-eight years of age, in 1802, and in the full tide of worldly fame and prosperity, he surrendered all his earthly honors to enter upon an entirely new- career that of a Baptist clergyman. Tie became as eminent a divine as he had been a lawyer, judge, and statesman. His brilliant life "was cut short by death, at the eaily age of forty-seven, while sci-ving as a pastor in the city of Boston. That -was a time when a spirit of Christian fraternity ex isted between the !North and South when abolitionism was not more sacred than the Bible and the Constitution; and when there was no thought of invading the South by em issaries to destroy her peace and prosperity. A son of Judge Clay, Mr. Thomas Savage Clay, an ele gant gentleman., -well and most favorably known in Savan nah, died in Bryan county., on the family estate, some twenty-five years ago. jSTot far from the Clay monument is a marble slab to iden tify the spot where rests the remains of G-corge Cuthbert, who died 14th April, 1.768. Cuthbert is an ancient Geor gia name. Tlie family came here from lower South Caro- 122 MEMORIAL. lina, where the name is yet extant, and one of them "was a brigade commander in the year of 1812. Conspicuous on the rebel side during the revolution at Savannah were John and a Seth John Cuthbert. It is probable that this George, who died seven years before, -was lineally or collaterally nearly related to them, and that John and Alfred Cuthbert, distinguished Georgians at a modern period, were of the same stock. The latter named are the sons of Mary Cuth bert, !a-daughter of the elder Joseph Clay, -whose name is in scribed on the Clay monument, with the date of her birth as 1803. As John, and Alfred Cuthbert have long passed out of the public life and passed out of the public mind, a brief reference to a few points in their history may interest the coast-county Georgians of the present day. They were, as perceived, the grandsons of the elder Joseph Clay, and were either natives of, or reared in, Liberty county. Alfred Cuthbert moved from Savannah, to Jasper county, in this State. He and his brother John were politicians on the Clark side, and on a reconstruction, of parties adhered to the then so-called Union party. This organisation simply sus tained "Old Hickory against Air. Calhoun and his theory of nullification. He was appointed by Governor Ijumpldn in November. 1834, to the United States Senate, to serve out the im-expired term of John Forsyth. He was elected to the same position by the legislature for the ensuing full term, beginning March, 1857, and ending March, 1843. He is represented as a man :of a high order of talents, and ex tremely gifted in conversation. His learning and informa tion were extensive, which made his society delightful to the appreciative. At the expiration of his senatorial ser vice he lived in retirement at his country home, with his books for his companions. That home was on. his planta tion in Jasper county. It consisted of two thousand six MEMORIAL. , '- if 123 hundred acres of as good upland (as the limits of Georgia contained. IMore than half of it was the1 natural forest, and in the midst of this was his mansion. He was scrupulous to preserve and to "beautify the native growth, and had a park that would have gratified the taste of an. English nobleman. Here, about the year 1855, he died, leaving but one- child, a son, surviving. He had a large number of slaves, ap proximating two hundred, about half of whom lie emanci pated. The homestead has passed into stranger hands, and it is now the property of Ool. Pugli, of Madison, G-a. "While Mr. Guthbert resided at Savannah, he for a. while- commanded the Republican Blues, and during the time that Edward F. Tatnall commanded the Guards. It was under their respective commands that the rivalries between these companies began., and continued up to the war. John A. Ciithbert was likewise a man of talents, took a high rank in the State as a lawyer, and was a brilliant po litical writer. He moved from the low country to Eatonton, tlien to Eorsyth, then to Milledgeville, where he edited the Federal Union -with great ability. About the year 1835 he moved to Alabama and resided at Mobile or vicinity for many years. He was elected to the United States House- of Representatives from Georgia during the times of Clark and Troup, arid became a member of that body. Ijike his brother Alfred he brought to Middle G-eorgia a large property, but unlike him did not succeed in im proving it. He is represented as more social and affable than Alfred, and had a strong as well as political popularity. His old surviving legal and political competitors remember him with pleasure, and speak most kindly of him, which displays his kindly nature and brotherly -affection. At ITpson court some lawyers were disputing as to Mr. Oal- liotins powers of conversation. To settle it one made the MEMORIAL. ho was the "best con "ay, 1766, aged sixty-four. From the names Mary and Joseph, I supposed this ancient lady to have been of the well-known family of Jonathan JJryan, but while from the locality it is believed to be so, yet it is uncertain. .At the iirst settlement of Sa- MEMOKAL. - 125 ,JP vannah there was a J\lr. Joseph Bryari of South Carolina. who, with others, rendered great assistance to Oglethorpe. It is in honor of tliis gentleman that Bryan street has its. name. The old people who might know are all dead, and there is no information to be obtained, but is it not prob able that she is the widow of that man? She was thirty- one years of age when Savanna11 was settled was born in 1702, during the reign of Queen Anne, and might Lave heard from an eye-witness an account of the xccutaoii of Charles I., and even of older events. From the possi bility of such, we can realize how tradition, for even cen turies, may become reliable history. I know a lady more than eighty years old, "who in her youth conversed with a. lady, then in the possession of all of her faculties, aged 102. Irom these two persons we can go back nearly two centu ries, and by the proper links, could, in this way, connect with remote antiquity. It is thus we can appreciate the data derived from the patriarchal age. There is a tomb in. the old cemetery that from, the name on the marble slab many memories are awTakencd with both young and old. It is that of Guerdon Isaac Seymour, a native of Hartford, Conn., who died at Savannah on the 12th September, 1814, aged forty-one. The name is nearly identical, and brings vividly to mind Col. Isaac G-. Sey mour, a distinguished Georgian. A friend informs me it ia the grave of his father. At least, certain it is, that Col. Seymour was a native of Savannah, and that Ids father lived and died there. He was engaged in printing1 and pub lishing. Thus, the Georgia Djgcst of IVTarbury and Craw- ford was published in 1802 a.t Savannah by Seymour, Woodhopter & Co. It seems that at that period and for some time before and after we were not so dependent upon the jSTorth for publishing our books as we subsequently be- - :126 MEMORIAL. came. Tlie Seymours of Connecticut are an old and hon orable family. To them belong Governor Horatio Sey.mour of JSTew York, and the United States senator, Thomas Seymour of Connecticut. Jjike the AValworths and the Tracys oi ^New York, who likewise came from Connecti cut and are of tlie same blood, they remain true to the an cient faith and integrity of their patriotic ancestors. Col. Isaac G-. Seymour w-as educated at Princetou, and there married. In early life he became a citizen of Macon, G-a. ; and for many years edited the Messenger. He served -during the Mexican war as Heiitenarit-colonel of an infan try battalion raised by ^eorgia upon requisition. After the war he moved to New Orleans, and edited the Bulle tin. There "the war between the States" found him. As the colonel of .a Louisiana regiment lie. "went to the field, .and -was killed in the battles around Kiohmond. He was on the old mans list, being about sixty, but sucli was his patriotic zeal and military ardor he went from his retire ment voluntarily to battle for the South, and died the death the true soldier covets. In the y&ar 1840 there was .a grand military display in Savannah of the military corps of the State. Among them was the Macon "Volunteers, commanded by Captain Seymour. It rivaled and, in the judgment of many, excelled the best Savannah companies. I know, as a youth, I then realized that there were fine com panies in the world besides the Guards and the Blues. I felt that Captain Seymour was taking away their laurels. It would have completelly reconciled me had I known he was himself from Savannah, and had there im bibed that military spirit which he had imparted to his company, and had made it so excellent. like all native Savannah men, he is said to have had "the big-head" about his native city. He had never seen any city which could MEMORIAL. 127 compare -with it, nor any building which, could approach the Exchange in dimensions or architectural beauty. And from this comparisonj I do not exclude the capitol at Wash ington, or any of the magnificent structures of the old world. The Exchange is the largest building a Savannah boy sees, and it always so remains. I hope I have not exhausted the patience of the reader with this mingling of the past with the present. We should keep fresh and cherish the memory of our old illus trious dead. In this^we do them the honor they have won, and simultaneously purify our hearts for the struggles and temptations of this now bitter life. Our colonial and revolutionary ancestors, with their immediate descend ants, were infinitely better than the present generation gives promise of being. By them while in life we were taught, by example as well as by precept, all ahe virtues. and now that they are dead, they speak to us from their graves. . If we listen we can both hear and profit. These precious memories and the beautiful lessons they teach are about all the Yankees have left of the best blood of our land, and these were left because beyond the reach of conquest or pillage. Note.--Subsequent investigation has disclosed that the law to- move Christ Church to "Wrights square was repealed the next year, and that the church stands now where it was first erected. Stage J^ort^ l^ears Bgo. I was much entertained by an article taken from the !N~ew York Star recently, entitled "'Lights of the old Bowery.," and giving interesting items of "The jSTew York stage fifty years ago." Prom sonic of the names and incidents therein stated, I am reminded of theatricals in Savannah for the same length of time in the past not for quite that long- in my own. expeiience, but for as much as forty years. For the other ten I will have to draw a little on tradition. Aty interest was first awakened in this direction by hear ing my mother, -when I was not out of my "tender years," relate to others the wonderful performances 011 the Sa vannah stage of Tom Cooper and "Old Booth,- the trage dians; of the brothers Placide, comedians, and of Gilbert and his wife and others. jSTeither of these ever played upon the Savannah boards since I was old enough to be enter tained by the drama, but they were fresh in the recollec tions of all the playgoers and "their names were on every tongue." ily mother then laid aside theater and jewelry for the church, and never afterwards through a long life re turned to either, but lier experience at the former filled her with, pleasant memories, -which at intervals she would nar rate. "While I am sure sh e gave nip the theater wit! i regrets" perhaps "with a sigh" -I never heard or saw anything which made upon me the same impression with, respect to the jewelry. The first, observation I have to make about the theater then and recent.lv is, that then the Savannah stage had MEMORIAL, I28> the advantage of the best talents of the country, domesticor foreign, -whether we have reference to the "stars" or the "stock." New York had not then, nor fo-r a long time afterwards, grown to such pro-portions that the best actors could do "well enough there without recourse to the provin cial cities. As a result the said cities had the same oppor tunities Gotham had. Later it became different, and there1 was a marked and felt decline in the traveling companies.. While we have had the opportunity of gazing at the stars that shine on the metropolitan boards, we see very little of the stock. That which travels has declined, until it is sim ply miserable. Every season -we witness the superb per formance of first-class actors and actresses, sustained by a1 company that would not do credit to the Thespians of a country village. It was not igo fifty years ago, nor forty,, nor even twenty, but "since the war" the decline is pal pable. How is this, and what has the war to do with it? 1 Xhe large northern cities lna do honor to the sun in its meridian splendor "who admired at the rising. In verification of my assertion, that in those days the -best dramatic talent visited Savannah, I can cite the engagement of ilacready in the early spring of 1843 or 1844. In about ^our months to come, and that "will have been, thirty-five or thirty-six years ago. The length of that time can bo ap preciated by the realization that the girl child, not then, boom, may be now a grandmother. MJacready honored the "Southern Atlantic cities to an extent that Forrest then had not. To St. Louis, Louisville and jSTew Orleans he had been, but not, I think, to Savannah or Charleston. And Edwin liooth, on "whose shoulders the mantle of Forreet has fallen" in this country, was like him, slow to leave for a brief season the populous cities of the TJnited States. In the great contest and rivalry between Macready and Forrest, those who. had not had the opportunity of seeing 3?orrest in some distant city, could not judge of the difference between the great actors. Macready performed four nights :.at his first appearance in Savannah. The plays -were "Werner," Kichclieu," "Macbeth," and, I think, "Ham let." I saw him only in the two first named. It is more than superfluous to praise his acting that -would be like the .compliment of beauty paid to a reigning belle. It is more subtraction than addition, by treating that as open to dis cussion on which judgment has already been taken. Of course the acting exceeded any that the young of the audi ence had seen; some of the old Could draw comparison be- 134 MEMORIAL. tween him and. Keen, and Cooper and the oldest Booth.Those who have traveled may have seen Forrest, and could1 judge how the tw*o rivals compared, and whether it was truethat j\Iacready, Toeing all that Forrest was excepting1 his ra;ncould men with .genius and learning live through so many centuries, even years by the thousand, without thinking of the simple principal which practically applied produces ignition. They used flint and steel in connection "with tinder boxes or the flash of powdecr in the pan. -of the gun, to make fire, and .every co-ok was careful to cover up (the coals in the kitchen before retiring at night, that fire might be there the next morning. Sometimes the live coals became dead ones by morning, and tlien the resort was to the tinder box or the shotgun, or musket, or by going to a neighbor, arid if this was in the country, it involved traveling1 one or moro miles to go for and bring fire. I remember when there were no percussion caps, nor metal pens, nor ruled pa-per, nor blotting paper. A much younger man than I am can re member whon there were no envelopes, no postage stamps and no cooking-stoves. Kecurring again to steam navigation on the ocean, the first attempt was in. 1837, ;by (a steamship called The Home, .and which -was to ply between Charleston and ISTew York, On her second voyage, in October of that year, on her way to Charleston, she was -wrecked off the coast of ^STorth -Carolina, and of ninety passengers only twenty were saved. Among the lost were Oliver H. P:rince, of Georgia, and his .wife. They had gone north (by the slow and weary process MEMORIAL. 141- of the stage. Mr. Prince went to supervise the publica tion of his digest of 1837. He was a distinguished citizen of Georgia for thirty-one years, but a native of Connecti cut. He had compiled the digest of 1820 and served theremainder of the term of Thomas W. Oobb, upon his resig- nation, in fche United States Senate. He was the author of the "Militia Drill" in the "G-eorgia Scenes/ 7 which Hardy transferred almost literally to his novel called "The Trumpet Major/ published in 1850. His wife was Miss !Norman, of Wilkes county, G-eorgia, and the sister of Mrs. "Washington Foe, who yet survives. He left a son of the same name, but now deceased, who was a very bright man, with literary taste., and the close friend of John B. I^amar and Howell Cobb. There are yet many -who remember him. One of Colonel Princes daughters married Dr. James Mercer Greeiro of Macon, and she yet survives. His other daughter married James Roswell King, now of At lanta, but has joined her father, mother and brother in the "spirit land." Although the remains of Colonel Prince and wife "were not rescued from their "watery grave," there is a monument to them in Rose Hill Ceme tery, >at Macon. One who does not know might suppose their bodies reposed beneath the monument, but the monu ment is a cenotaph "a tomb -without a body." It is a sad ; witness to the disaster attending our first attempt at ocean steam navigation. The inscription is "Oliver Jrlillliouse Prince and Mary R. Prince, who perished in the wreck of the steamship Home/ Monday, October 9, 1837. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death not divided. This tablet is erected to perpetuate the be loved memory of our parents by their bereaved and sor rowing children." 142 MEMORIAL. Another attempt at steamship navigation was made the very next year,, 1838. The name of the steamer was "The Pulaski." She was to ply between Savannah and Balti more, touching at Charleston, and had the voyage so ar ranged there was to be only one night at sea. The adver tisements were headed "Only One Xight at Sea." On her return trip north, as I remember, having many passen gers, about the middle of June, she was "wrecked by the explosion of her boiler. The ship, of course, sank, and the passengers had to get in boats or improvised rafts. Those who survived heat and hunger for many days and reached the shore were saved. Some were drowned in landing. Conspicuous among those "who were saved and helped to save others "were James Hamilton Cooper of G-lynn county, and Gr. 33. Lamar of Savannah. Mr. I^amar had with him his entire family, consisting of his "wife and five or six chil dren and two single sisters. Of his immediate family, ho and. his eldest son Charles were saved. His sister;?, thought to be lost, after many days of suffering, reached the shore and survived. Mr. IJa.mlar and his son were taken care of by a Mr. De Ttosset near Wilmington, IN. C. This contact was the foundation of -a lifelong friendship be tween these gentlemen, and each named a son in honor of the other. Derric I^amar, lately of Augusta, was one, and the father of tho "wife of J. W. Harris, Jr., of Cartersville, is the other. Among Mr. L/amars -children on the Pulaski and lost was his oldest child and da.ughter Martha, a beautiful young lady of sixteen. On my voyage to Boston I referred to, and as made three years before, she was one of the passen gers on her way to school at Oharlestown, Mass. I will" -again refer to that in the progress of this article. Apropos of my voyage we left Savannah at 5 oclock on MEMORIAL. 143 .a beautiful afternoon in May. Before the setting of the sun. the tea-table "was prepared and was provided, with all the usual cold dishes. There were preserves, jellies, cakes .and cheese and the like, all beautifully distributed over the table. I got 11 sight and at once felt I had a good appe tite. I anxiously awaited the time when I should be alJowed to partake . Tbe time did arrive and I made the best of mv opportunity, as only a hungry boy can. Tea was over before .we crossed the bar. The ship soon began. to rock from the swell in the sea and I began to feel curious ly about the head >and stomach. I bad not anticipated sea sickness, but soon, the feeling developed into nausea, and I ran to the captain, stating my distress. lie took me to the side of the ship, holding my head over, and right there I lost all the nice and fine things I had had for supper. If I had been, taken with seasickness at some other time- it would not have gone BO hard with me. I had to take my berth and keep it for three days. I was not seasick any more. I\Iy appetite increased and. I soon, made up for the loss of my supper. _A_ similar occurrence prevented me from learning to smoke cigars, and which prevented me from learning to smoke cigarettes "when they made their appearance. Three or four gentlemen from Savannah were the guests of my mother, at Springfield, Gra. After .a supper which I had. enjoyed, a gentleman pulled out his cigars .and passed them around. I took one. I had often tried to smoke, but invariably it "would make me sick. How ever, as I "was in such good company, who were smoking such good cigars, I determined to make another trial. TVhen about half through I had feelings similar to that on shipboard, which so developed that my good supper was lost in the same "way. I was then about fifteen, and I deter.xniried that should be my last attempt, and I have "been able 144 MEMORIAL. to keep to my resolve. I am glad of it, if only for onething-, it has saved me from annoying ladies and gentle men by smoking mean, cigars even "two for a nick." "When I ceased to 'be seasick, I passed the most of my timewith, the sailors in the fore part of the ship. There was no other boy to play with. The sailors made a pet of me, and I was surprised to find what good-hearted men roughlooking sailors could be. As I said, we had hard winds and rough weather.. These made heavy seas. I will try a.nd describe a sailing ship under such circum stances, for I do not suppose tihoee "who have only made a voyage in large and splendid steamships can have a proper idea of it, unless they have happened to encounter a very severe storm. The ship would frequently stand almost straight up, and it seemed there were only a few feet fromher bow to the sky. It seemed that she would fall back as horses have done in rearing. The very next moment" tho stern, would be "where the bow was, and it seemed as if the ship wooild plunge head foremost into the ocean. Then. rising from that upon another wave, the ship would cereen first to one side then, to the other, with the edge so near the water you "wonder she didnt capsize. "While in this-position a sea would break across the deck. "We also en countered a thunderstorm. It was about midnight. The lightning flashed and the thunder rolled almost constantly. In the panic the captains Commands could be heard, which increased the feeling of fear. There is scarcely anything more terrible to hear iand see than a thunderstorm at sea and in the nigjht. This experience of my early youth gave me an aversion to the sea and all ttfie praises of it I havesince read, whether in prose or verse, is only poetry to me. There are some fine nautical songs which, taking in. the- MEMORIAL. 145 music, I like, but "none of the reality in mine." There is on by Allan Cunningharn. called "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea," in which he says: " Oh, for a soft and gentle wind, I heard a fair one cry ; But give to me the snoring breeze And white waves heaving high, my boys." And again: " Theres tempest in yon horned moon, And lightning in yon cloud; Hark, the music, mariners, The wind is piping loud." Then .Barry Cornwall has tried himself on "The Sea,"" and begins thus: " I love, oh how I love to ride On the fierce, foaming, bursting tide, "Where every mad wave drowns the moon, Or whistles aloft its tempest tune ; And tells how goeth the world below, And why the souwest blasts do blow." I prefer one of this style: " Some love to roam "Where the dark seas foam, And the shrill winds whistle free ; But a mountain land With a chosen band And a life in the woods for me." It would be natural for any one to inquire, why was a boy of only ten years of age sent on such a. long and peril ous Voyage. It was thought to be necessary to save me from destruction. My mother, through, what she knew herself and "was informed, was alarmed for my safety, and the only sure remedy was to get me away from Savannah. She had a niece but near her own age, who had married a INorthern gentleman, Mr. Otis Johnson, and after ainass- 10 146 MEMORIAL. ing a fortune in merchandise, -he retired to his native town of Lynn, Mass., to pass the remainder of his life. That was my destination. My home was to be with them while I "went to school. Lynn was then nine miles from Boston, and I suppose it is the same distance yet. A Savannah "boy at that time was nothing if not a good swimmer. In the canal he learned to swim, which might be called his primary. In the river he received a higher education, because of its greater depth and scope, and it might be called his academy or high school. That pre pared him to ride the waves of the ocean, where he was graduated, and which might be called his college or uni versity. "When, a boy had learned enough to be promoted to the river he had three aspirations in the line of swim ming. On^e was to dive from a spring-board, and if he could, in plunging, to turn a somersault; another, -when a river steamer came along to make for it, and as it passed to swim upon the waves made in the rear as far as possible; another was to be distinguished by swimming across the wide river. I was an expert swimmer for my age, but not near as much so as I "was reported to my mother. The boys, finding out she was alarmed about me, would (boy like) tell her all sorts of stories about the risks of my life I took. Her lady friends, hearing of my reputation, -would go to her and say, "Sister Clark, if you do not get Richard away he -will certainly be drowned." Mr. ]SToyes was my uncle by marriage. He Soon book me in a gig (no buggies then) to show me something of Boston before I shonld leave by stage for I/vnn. Of course, he showed me the Btatejhouse, ITaneml Hall, Boston commons, the frog ptond, etc. As We rode along he pointed me to a large dwellinghouse, saying that was the home of Mr. "Webster. "Oh, yes," said I, the man th^t made the spelling-book." I MEMORIAL. 147 remember that I was surprised that my uncle made no re ply. I suppose he thought an explanation "useless to a boy so ignorant as not to know the difference between Noah and Daniel Webster, especially as it -was some time after the great debate in the United States Senate between Ifayne and Webster. Within a day or two I reached Lynn, and the next week became a pupil of the L,ynn academy. Mr. Johnson had two sons who went to the same sdhool, one about my age and one some years younger. Th latter yet survives, and is one of the prominent, citizens and business men of that city, "whose name is Enoch S. Johnson. Th principal of the academy was a very kind and thoughtful gentleman named Adams. There were about sixty boys, all from Lynn or vicinity, except myself and two others. These were John Gibbes Barnwell, now of Floyd county, Georgia, and William Henry Habersham, both from Beaufort, S. G. Both of these were nearly young men and they made a pet of me. Habersham is dead. After a very short while I got homesick and could not throw it off. Because of that I could not learn my les sons. One afflicted with a very bad ease of homesickness is to be pitied. The technical name the doctors give it is nostalgia. In the war between the States many died of it, and of nothing else. It was almost entirely confined to those soldiers who had resided all their lives in the country. The city men generally escaped. 3>esplairing of getting any better, I applied to ray uncle at Boston to send me home. I told him if he did not I would run away and secret myself in the hold of some vessel. I told Mr. Johneon >and wife of my feelings and purpose, and there was a general consent that I should return. 148 MEMORIAL. Fortunately at that time there was a Savannah lady in Boston accompanied by as I had not b-een drowned in the Savannah river, "it developed that to let me return to Georgia was the best. I inquired after the academy boys of that time. There "Was but one remaining in the town. They had gone to 150 MEMORIAL, the South, to the far West, as far -as the Pacific, to South America, and even to Europe. The importance of Lynn is increased because of its -ad jacency tio the Island -of iTaihaut. At low "water there is a beach connecting the two. 3STahant has been the summer resort for the wealthy of Boston from time immemorial, and notwithstanding the multiplication of such resorts, it is yet so. Senator Lodge is now one of JSfahants summer citizens. X)r. Holmes once said that iNaliant was "the cold roast of Boston." WJhile in. Boston I passed a week >at the "Revere house." I liked the accommodations and the courtesies better than I did those of the ISTew York {hotels at that time, 1851. About ten years ago I was talking in Atlanta with a South erner, who after the war lived for many years in. !N"ew York city, -and expressed to him my agreeable surprise -at the hotel comforts and hospitalities of Boston. "Yes/ he said, "in. that, as in everything else, there is nothing so good this side of Boston." Boston hias been the hotbed of the anti-slavery agitation. Boston has done the South great injustice, but we must not forget to give lier the credit she deserves, for there were many then then and now ^who took no part in the tirade against the South, and condemned it. In a conversation with General Toomibs on a visit he once made to Boston, and where tie made one of iiis ablest speeches, he said he was surprised to find gen tlemen there who -would not socially recognize Charles Sumner, and he had met many who never saw Anson Burlingame. He also1 said there -were quite a numiber of Bostonians who "were so disgusted -with the politics of the city and State that tihey irad ta&de their domicile in different parts of Europe. I "will conclude this -article by relating an incident or two appertaining to my schooldays at lyymn. A year, or two, or perhaps more, before the war, a gentle- MEMORIAL. 151 man sat opposite me at the table of the Milledgeville hotel. I was sure I once knew him, but /could not place him; time had made such a change in his hair and features. On in quiry I was more than surprised to hear he was Mr. Adams, Who was the principal of the Lynn academy when I was there, and I -was yet more than surprised to hear he "was the brother of the-second wife of Richard 5. Orme, the veteran editor of the Southern Recorder. He (Mr. Adams) was a brother of some near relation to Rev. Dr. IN~ehemiah Adams, who so endeared himself to th Southern people by his able defense of them at Boston, surrounded as he was by their numerous and aggressive enemies. -While at Lynn I -was -aroused one night by a commo tion in the house. It was caused by a largo fire at Bos ton or vicinity. Then, from Lynn to Boston, was a plain bereft of forest. The fire was seen distinctly. "We ascertained the next day it was the conflagration of the Catholic convent at Oharlestown, burned by as I remember, a. very ancient plant, and ihas been a product of th.e earth, for years, which can be num bered by the thousands, and "was grown in ancient Egypt. It was only valuable for domestic use, and honce raised in email quantities until the invention of the cotton-gin by AVhitney. I say by "Wliitney, and will never say other wise., although fads have arisen "all along the line," giv ing the credit to others. Lately is the idea that General Greenes widow was1 the inventor, and WMtney stole it. Mrs. Greene allowed Whitney the exclusive use of a room in her home to work at his invention, and would some times make suggestions. She also boarded and lodged him free of charge, because she sa.w his idea -was a good one and knew how much the Country needed the gin. This was not at Cumberland, but at Mulberry Grove plantation, on the Savannah, river twelve miles above Savannah. I have talked about it "with P. M. ISTightengale, her grandeon, and what he $aid he got from her, and he did not claim it for Tier, nor did he say a -word against the com mon understanding that Whitney was the inventor. Ivike BO many inventions, fche inventor could not utilize it, and it was many years before the gin became a practical piece of machinery. At this time Georgia and South Caro lina were practically the only States of the Union, who had a climate suitable for the growth of cotton. Then it was more profitable in these States to raise indigo, aa .gentleman who prized the plain title of mister more. His home plantation was in Lee county? within ten miles of Albany, but he had three plantations in that county, and MEMORIAL. 157 as many more in Dougherty. His plantations in both counties adjoined those of Colonel Benjamin Jordan, that ^afterwards descended to his son, Leonidas, commonly called X-ee, who "bought one or more of the Bond plantations. The Jordans were near relatives of Bonds wife, who was a Miss HVToughon, the daughter of anotfher rich cotton-plan ter residing in Baldwin county. Joe was one of the several sons of Lewis Bond, ot be many years when wit and humor from the bench will be classed among the "lost arts/ if art it >can be called. Some of our judges have adjudged "law an art," and if so, the manner of its enforcement should be part of the art. Nevertheless we sometimes read in the papers or magazines -of some judge who ventures into the field of humor. I will quote two instances, as they serve to illustrate the kind of humor which might be called judicial. A, juror asked a judge to excuse him from duty on the ground that he was diseased. The judge said, "You look remarkably well for a diseased man." "I know I do1, judge, but it is for tfhe sake of the other jurors, not for myself, I desire to be excused." ""What sort of disease is that," said the judge, "that affects others?" "It is the itch, judge." The judge caught on at once, and promptly and emphatically said: "Mr. Clerk, scratch off that man." In another instance ja man in the court-room in a state of intoxication became noisy, and, of course, disorderly. The judge began an investigation by asking the man his name. "My name, judge, is Old Horse." Then tihe judge ordered the sheriff "to put that old horse in the stable." Prom the standpoint of the declinie of Irumor upon the bench, I think it might be entertaining to mention some of our Georgia judges, who, in the discharge of duty, acquired a reputation for wit or humor, or both. I sliall take them up chronologically as nearly as I can. The first I recall is Thomas Peter Games, wiho was a superior court judge in the very first years of tihis century. He was the judge who MEMORIAL. 161 asked a young lawyer friend -who was a candidate for the legislature in Tlabersham ooiunty what his chances for elec tion were. He said he "would be elected if he could get over the objection tike people had to him because of his being a lawyer. I will fix flhat, said the judge, an.d he at once gave him a formal certincaite as judge of the circuit, "that he was- no lawyer." The next is John M. Dooly, who was a wit as well as a humorist on or off the bench, and concerning wihom raianysamples of humor have oome down to the present time bytradition. I select as an illustration of his quality of humor the following: He had held court at Washington, G-a., all" the week, and while he was taking his dinner rh.!e called to him the keeper of the hotel, and said: "Mr. Landlord, I am through -with the court except one judicial act whidh I will now perform, and that is to discharge this pig until the1 next term of court, upon his own recognizance." The point of it was the pig had made his appearance at every meal during the whole week, and for some cause1 a good part of the pig was yet present. Akin to this is what Judg- William H. Underwood (the father of Judge John W. H.) said to the tavern-keeper at Spring Place, Murray county. The fare; was wretched, and cooked, sobadly it was difficult for his guests to appease their hunger. The judge, on completing his dinner, or rather after he had finished the attetm.pt, veiry solemnly asked tlhe landlord to come to his room, as he wished to talk to him confidentially. When he came, the judge said to him: "Have you ever served as bailiff to a petit jury?" "Yes, judge, often. Wiry do you ask the question?" "I thought you had, and I fear you are under a hallucination that your guests are jurors you are guarding!" "Why so, Judge?" And then tflie judge answered: "Because you are keeping them as nearly 11 3 62 MEMORIAL. as you. can without meat or drink/ candle light, fire and water only excepted." The landlord assured the judge that if he -was under such hallucinations he would at once -dispel it, and give him substantial evidence of it. My con clusion is from, such evidence as I have had, that Dooly was the greatest wit and humorist combined of all the Geor gia judges, and that Underwood -was equal to him, if not superior, in the separate quality of wit. Whether you can call it wit or humor, or both, in Dooly, h was genial, even at times congenial, but Underwood was solely a wit, for there ~was in all his bright sayings a sarcasm that was stinging, sometimes crushing. The nest judge I shall name "was _A_ugustin Smith Clayton. I have mo samples of his judicial humor only that in private and disconnected with his judgeship. He had the reputation of being a man of "infinite humor" which came to the surface all the tirno, whether in or out of court, and "whom to know was to love." My next judge noted for his wit or humor "was Edward 1). Tracy, the father of Phile mon, the major of the Sixth Georgia, who was killed at Sharpsburg, and of General Edward D., who was killed in battle near "Vicksbiirg. The most of Judge Tracys wit ticisms 011 the beimh -were gotten off in colloquies with his solicitor-general, Augustus Wing-field, Galled for short "Gus." He was also a bright, humorous and appreciative man, and was generally equal to the requisitions the judge made upon him. It is said that tlhe courthouse humorous talk between tfhese twio was entertaining to t?he last degree. Onoe the judge "caught ooit" Mr. ~W~. It was at Monroe Court. (Eorsyth). The judge was making his genetral charge to the grand jury. There was no supreme court, and parties wetre allowed one appeal from the verdict of a traverse jury to a special jury stricken from MEMORIAL. Jg3 the grand jury. The judge stated to the grand jury that the appeal docket was immense that thei-fe were 300 cases on it, and he had no doubt nearly all of them were frivolous , appeals; that the dockets hald to hiave a cleaning out like the Augean stable had. Just at this time he turned to Solicitor "Wingfield and asked him the name of the river Hercules turned through the Augean stable. G-us answered very promptly, "The Styx, your honor." "The Styx, you Say I I thought you were a scholar, ilr. "Wingfield. I will tell you now, so you will know it hereafter. It was the_river Peneus Hercules so well utilized." Judg-e Tracy was the judge of the Flint circuit, a part of "which Bibb county tlien was, but there was a new circuit formed, in which Bibb was embraced, called as now the ^Vlaeon circuit. In the course of two terms after leaving the bench Judge Tracy had a successor in the quality of wit and humor, who was Abner P. Powers. He could get, and get with pro priety, more fun out of the dockets of Ms courts than any judge I ever knew. His humor was like Tom JVToores poetry it w>as all so goiod there was but little that (to use a common phrase) "stuck out." He was kind, genial and gentle. It was owing to one of his rulings that the law was passed against what was termed "wife-beating. A man was prosecuted in Dooly county for an assault and battery upon his wife. The judge determined that the law of as sault and battery did not apply to fusses between man and wife. It was thoughit at the time erroneous, but upon re flection it was concluded the judge was right, hence the law against "wife-beating." The argument of iftiis case was about the most amusing scene. I ever witnessed in a court-house. It was in vain the lawyers read from the books that the husband had a right to chastise his wife if he did 164 MEMORIAL. not use an instrument larger tlian his thumb, had been done away with in the more polite reign of Charles II. Judge Powerss criticism upon Charles II. was rich beyond de scription, and as true as it was botlh just and amusing. Thatvicious fellow, Charles II. should make no precedent wor thy of observance. The most modern humorist among our Georgia judges was John "W. H. Underwood, and in his day, perfhiaps, the only one on the benoh who could !be so called. He must have inherited this quality, for, as I said, his father in that respect, was superb, and it was much of the same sort as his fathers. The lawyers who practiced in this court relate many of his humorous sayings and many humorous scenes occurring in his Courts. In a paper read before the last State Bar Association, by Hon. Charles H. Smith, Commonly known as "Bill Arp," he narrated several of his humorous sayings and scenes, which paper I do not have before me, or I would select a. sample. I know- of a few, but there is too much of the ad hominem in them to be published, lest the objects of his jests might be offended. We now- have in office and in the active discharge of his duties as >a solici tor-general a lawyer of great -wit and humor. Those who know him. and :of him will at once say I mean Charles IX Hill, of the Atlanta circuit. For nine years I have pre sided where he performed the duties of prosecuting offi cer. It would seem that in that time his resources would be exhausted, but not so. They seem inexhaustible. It is very rare that he tells the same anecdote, incident, or makes the same quotation a second time. His (anecdotes are "rich, rare and racy." He is very happy in those appertaining to our Colored fellow-citizens, although he often says, when he meets a genuine "befo de -war darky," he feels like taking off his hat to him." In illustrating the thickness MEMORIAL. 165 arid hardness -of the skulls of the descendants :of Africa he said a negro man was sitting1 in. front of his house under a tree asleep; that he was doing some heavy nodding to the right, to the left and in front. A goat came sauntering along, -and, looking -ait the nodding negro, he supposed lie was challenging him for a fight. So he rose on his hind feet and gave the negro a butt in the head. The effect simply was that the goat lay dead and the negro kept on sleeping and nlodding. Another of his colored anecdotes is that a negro and a white man got into a dispute over the sacred scriptures. The white man got out of patience witih. the negro and angrily said, ""Well, 220 matter how that is, no negro will ever get to heaven." "Why so," said the negro. "Why, simply because tOie negro is nowhere men tioned in the Bible or Testament." "He isnt, eh?" re torted the negro. "Id like to know what you gwine to dc wid Nagger Demus?" Sometimes I asked Mr. Hill questions to> draw him out, a la Tracy and Wingfield, and lie was always equal to the emergency, except once, with which exception I "will con clude this article. To illustrate, when, our long criminal term was drawing to a close, John MJonagan, the solicitors bailiff, assured me he would get through in two or three days. I congratulated myself that my long and difficult labor of nine weeks would soon be over. On going to the court-room the next morning, the first thing Mr. Hill did was to order the sheriff to bring out tilie remaining prison ers, "when, to my horror, there were just fifteen of all shades, from nearly "snowy white to sooty." Among them were the rough burglars and the delicate demi-mondes of tihe colored "four hundred." After they were seated I asked JVTr. Hill why was our court like Tennysons brook. He promptly answered, "because it runs on forever." At tone 166 MEMORIAL. recent session of Our court we tried a negro charged with burglary, whose name wias Ivy Green. I could not resist reminding J\Ir. Hill that he was prosecuting a man who bore the same name as a poem by his friend Dickens. I Baid his friend Dickens, because he oftener quotes from Dickens than .any other author, and has an enthusiastic admiration for him. But now, for the exception: On the first day of every session the prisoners are all brought into the .court-room to see who is the lawyer of each, and if a prisoner has none to appoint one. The basement where we hold court is fitted up church-fa&hion. The Central Presbyterian moved the pews of their old church there and held their services there while the new church was being constructed. When they moved into their new church the county bought their old pews. The prisoners are seated on the two pews in front, and as the name of each one is called ho tells who his lawyer is, or if he wants one appointed. When the last one in the row stood up his clothing was all in shreds, and it seemed that he aoid it would at once part company. He had no lawyer and I had" to appoint one. Taking the idea from his tattered condi tion, said I, "Mr. Hill, is there any lawyer at this bar named Sans Culottes?" "I know of no lawyer of that -name, he replied, but why do you ask the question?" "Because," I said, "if there is a lawyer at this bar named Sans Culottes, he is the very one who should defend thisman." With perfect seriousness Mr. Hill replied, "I assure your honor I know of no lawyer of that name." For the first time I discovered that Mr. Hill had not "caught on." I simply said three times in a distinct and solemn tone: "Lost! Lost!! Lost!!!" MEMORIAL. 167 Perhaps I had better 'explain, for the benefit of some reader -who might be in Mr. Hills fix, that the rabble, the ragged republicans during the French revolution, were called the "Sans Culottes," the literal meaning of which, is "without breeches." Under a cruel Bull, Strakosdh himself, and his wife, known to the stage as Amelia Patti, and the prodigy, Adelina, called then the "Little Patti," to distinguish her from her two grown sisters. She was said then to be nine years of age, ;but according to the date now given of her birth, she had accomplished her tenth year. She did not look older than nine, and was perfectly childlike -in her appearance and behavior. Her sister had an infant, "a child in arms," and it was evi dent th-at it -was a part of "Little PattiV duty to "nurse the baby." She would roll it in the baby carriage up and down the sidewalk, in front of the Huson hotel, where the troupo were guests. The house .and servants were the property of Mrs. Huson, an aged lady, and she was also the landlady. Her attire was of the fashion of an ancient date, and as a part of it, she wore regularly the Martha Washington cap. It would make a picture for -a painter, or photographer, 170 MEMORIAL. to take the old lady as she sat on the veranda, and -watched1 little Patti roll the baby backwards and forwards along theside walk. There was much of substantial comfort in theOld ladys hotel. So was there -at McCombs (her son-in law), and at Beecher aoid Browns the three principal hotels of the town. Mr. Toombs remarked, after his first visit to Europe, that the Milledgeville hotels furnished fare at a dollar and a quarter a day that would cost ten in London or Paris. Then, the servants were superb. They were trained totheir duty from small children by their masters and mis tresses. They were an essential part of the population of the old capital, and are now well and kindly remembered, Most of them are lamented, for now there are few remain ing wlio "were on duty from thirty bo forty years ago. The concerts were held at night in the senate -chamber, and Tittle Patti had to be placed upon Great Britain Bays of him in Ms ll&tih. Tattler: "Kicoolini seta off the character he beiars in. an opera by his action as much as he does the "words of it by his voice; every limb and finger contributes to the part he acts, inasmuch (that a deaf man might go along with him. in the sense of it. There is scarce a beautiful posture in an old stiatue which he does 210* plant himself in, 'as he cir cumstances of the story give reason for it. He performs the most ordinary action, in a manner suitable to the great ness of his ciiiaracter, and shows the prince even in tfhe giv ing of a letter or dispatching of a message." JSTicoolini flourished in the early years of the eighteenth1 century, say 1720, and -can it !be -tihat Pialttls ^Naccolini de scended from him, or is it only a coincidence? If merely a coincidence, it is interesting to mention, The beautiful lilttle gfcrl child itbat I first saw in 1854still retains her place and her fame in opera, but her pres ent engagement in the United iStiaites may be her last tri umph, for in less than two years more she will have reached the half-century mile-post in the journey "from the cradle to the grave." How sad it is for a singer to lose voice, and how much sadder for a woman to lose her voice and her beauty. When both of these is the fate of a lady, it is a calamity, and one that all must deplore. Nevertheless, the humiliation may be averted by bearing it resignedly and gracefully, for it is according to Gods laws. Hctors. During tihe midsummer of 1851 there weire only two theaters open in the -city -of New YOTk ISTiblos and the Bowery, "William E. Burton was the star of !NibIos; even his oan actor and brother of E. L., the father of Fannie, In a few years there came the usual divoa*ce. Just :a!t this time, alsO, came Charles Matthews to New York, an eminent English actor. Miss Lizzie was his support. He loved and married her. Soon the pair went to England and never returned to the United States. Several years since the husband died, and now the widow is en-joying in England a serene old age, "While sur rounded by all the comforts of life. An amusing incident occurred shortly after Matthews returned to England. He and his wife were playing "London Assurance" at a Lon don theater; Sie as iSir Hair-court Courtley, and sihe as Lady Gay Spanker. The Lady Gays husband in the MEMORIAL. 176 play was named Dolly Spanker. There is a point in the play where the Lady Gay rushes on the stage exclaiming, "Whercs my Dolly? wheres my Dolly?" She received .an answer from a cockney gallery god, who answered, the inquiry and said: "Your Dolly is hover in. Hamerica.* The effect -can better be imagined than described. As will be remembered, her Dolly "hover in Hamerica" "was Dolly Davenport. Burton gained yet greater reputation in his character of Toodle, and played it as long as he lived, but .alas, after his deafth no actor succeeded in ithe part. It was found that Burton was the only Mr. Toodle. It took a man of his style and genius to please the public in that role, and so when. Burton diied the play of "Tlie Toadies" died. He was a man of culture and fond of literature. He ~was a writer himself, and has left an interesting book .a compilation, of humorous stories. Several are drawn from, our Southland, and among them "Polly Pea Blos soms "Wedding," by John B. IJaniar, and some short stories by Judge K. ]M. Charlton, of Savannah. How few of our young people now know anything of "Billy Burton." And yet he was the Joe Jefferson of his day. He and Ijogan, the actor, were1 devoted friends the gamje who "was tihe father of Eliza and Olive >and other sisters. They made, when young men, a compact that their children were to bear the same names. Alas, all of the Burtons died, and all of the Dogans lived., and have made their mark in the world. Thirty years ago Eliza Logan and Julia Dean were the two great lady actresses of the United States. Both married, and alas! both soon died, and .each before reaching the age of forty. Eliza had the most superb elo cution of any woman whom I have ever heard. 3S"ot Macready yrd, of Philadelphia, wrote for dim "The Gladiator." How lie captured audiences with it and added to the fame of both auijhor and actor! Forrest has been dead for more than twenty years, and .so has "The Gladiator." There is a play of that name now up011 the sfrage, but a different one, by some Frenchman. It. is not Eorrests Gladiator no one can play that but him, and he is dead. There is yet another play that died with Forrest. It is "Metamora," written especially to suit him by >a youth from !N"ew Hampshire, who came to Phila delphia and was captivated by Forrest. His name was John. A. Stone. It is sad to have to say he committed suicide by drowning himself in tlhe Schuylkill, and sadder yet to say, at the early age of twenty-nine. Forrest res cued his body from its watery grave and gave him a funeral and a monument. ISTo one can play "Metaanora" now, be cause Forrest is dead. These are not the only instances of plays being written to suit the style of particular actors. We have glimpses that it may have happened as far back as Shakespeare. The most beautiful of the modern dramas in English -were writ ten by Sir Edward Bulwer-I-ytton, tJhen Edward T/ytton Bulwer, and he is no>w mostly known as "Bulwer." The most beautiful of these are "Kichelieu" and the "Lady of MEMORIAL. 179 Xyons." In Bulwers time JM-acready was in his glory and he wrote a play especially to suit his style, and he called it "Uichelieu," no less or greater personage than the "old car dinal." Having so "written it, Macready was the original Uichelieu that is, he was the first to play the part: the first to present it on the stage to the public. But the play of Richelieu did not die with Macready. It was within the power of other .actors to play it, and to play it well. P/ooth arid Barrett were good in Richelieu. Bulwers plays, nor Sheridans, Knowless or others of the modern British drama, that once -were so popular, are put upon, the stage now. "Why? Because the pufo lie/taste Has Changed. The trashy and the flashy the sensational and the spectacular have taken their places. To say this is to say the public taste has changed for the worse; has become in short vitiated. How can this be when education is higher and more general? It does not prove that higher and general education accomplishes all that is claimed for it. A.S witih the plays, so it is with tho dances. For the chaste, quad rille and the beautiful lancers, the dance called, "the german" has been siibstituted. The german affords the op portunity to waltz nearly all the time, without seeming to design it, and yet that is the purpose "all the same." The older and -wiser heads do not think it is good for the young gentlemen and ladies to waltz too much, only occa sionally, and then decorously. Eight here some smart fel low will rise up and cry out pessimist! and who can stand before such a charge? It puts the bravest to flight. so I retire in as good order as I can. A single piece of acting, that cannot be reached by an actor in any other play, is akin to ifhe one piece of literarturer that so elevaites the author that neither he nor another can reach, it. That is well illustrated in Grays "Elegy," and 180 MEMORIAL. yet Gray has writitoen la bowk of poems. !No one cares ainything about the book because they know no other poem can approach the "Elegy." If one wishes to read from Gray, he or she reads the "Elegy" again, and every time he reads it sees new beauties. Another illustration is the "De serted Village," by Goldsmith. If one wishes to read a poem from Goldsmlith he reads "The Deserted Village" over again, and, as in Grays "Elegy," he finds new beau ties eivery time he reads. Our own Richard Henry "Wilde is the author of -a long poem, making a good^sized book itself, and containing throughout many gems, but "JVty Life is Like the Summer Hose" is enough for the most fas tidious. They care for nothing more from Wilde. Whittiers tribute to Burns came very neiar placing him along with Gray and Goldsmith, but there is "Maude jVIullcr" and others nearly or quite as good, "which saved him from that distinction. Longfellow came yot nearer it in his "Psalm of Life," and might have reached it had he not writ ten "The Day is Done" and "The Footsteps of Angels." It seems there is no danger in doing better than others, but there is in doing better than ones self. %ate Warb flftcHllister. Some short time ainee I sent to your paper a contribu tion by Ward McAllister to tth:e N>etw York World, request ing its reproduction, and you kindly granted the request. I also prepared it with a few introductory and explanatory remarks, which you published. The subject of the piece1 substantially was the present Condition of the Democratic party, and its prospects in the future, in which "Ward took a more hopeful view than is entertained by many of our party leaders. The perusal was a guarantee that Ward understood the political situation, and that although a leader of the aris tocracy, he was politically a genuine Democrat a combi nation I suppose many would doubt. Ward has been con tributing at intervals, perhaps weekly, to the !N~ew York World articles ion various subjects, and, of course, society, its customs and usages "were not neglected. The best of them I have read, and comparatively of recent date, and since the one alluded to, is head-lined, "Can a Trades man be a Gentleman?" I have intended for some time to send.that to you, with a request similar to the other, but my court duties for the last four weeks have been so heavy that I could not find suitable opportunity. I determined the day before I would attend to it last Friday, but reading your paper early thlait morning I was amazed and horrified to find therein a telegram announcing his death. That was a coincidence psromoltive with many of superstition. His dealfli necessarily changed iJhe manner and mlatter of my 182 MEMORIAL. proposed contribution, and I delayed it a few days for fur=ther developimenfcs. A paragraph from tilie New York ~W-orld of Sunday lastr after "Wards death, said: "llr. McAllister was a social, not ian intellectual influ ence. He had a profound belief -that really good society in the social sense must be founded, even in -a republic, on something1 better than mere wealth; that it must havecharacter, distinction, conservative cohesion, and must be in a .sense exclusive. He has said over and over .again that "what is known to us as the best society does not get itswarrant from birth, or from money, but, from the ability to separate (himself from every tilling -that is vulgar and igno ble, and to exercise with absolute independence the privi lege of refusing to associate "with .anything -that did not come up to its own standard, no matter how arbitrary that standard might be." The same piece says: "McAllister rode into recogni tion upon a phrase" the stereotyped four hundred, but from time to time it has been claimed that this is not origi nal -with MeAllister, .as it appeared in a small book in verse "written twenty-five years ago, by Edmund of tihe elite -were to be called, in -defer ence to history, "the four hundred." As while T write Ward is dead, it may be appropriate to state his genealogy and his surroundings, at different pe riods of his life. The original McAllister, that is the American ancestor, was a native of Scotland. His son was Pvichard jVIeAlliater of Pennsylvania. This son Mat thew came to Georgia., perhaps in colonial times. He mar ried ;a Miss Gibbons, land tihoy are the parents of Maifctihew Hall McAllister, a distinguished Georgian, who was ap pointed by President Pierce the first supreme, count judge for the States and Territories on. the Pacific. His wife was Louisa Cutler of Boston, Mass., a daughter of Benjamin Clarke Cutler. While -a ]Sfew Englander on her fathers side, she was Southern on her mothers. Her mother was the daughter of a sister of G-erieral Francis Marion of South Carolina. The children of the marriage of Matthew Hall McAllister with Louisa Cutler were Julian, who graduated at West Point, in 1846, in the class with McClellan and died, while -coimmandJant iat Governors Island, some ten years ago. Since the -war -he had the rank of colonel but he should have been a general. The reason of this is he was not in the field during the whole war, because he was kept detailed for tlio ordnance department. The next was Hall. The Matthew was omitted at his christening. He "went to San Prancisco with, his father, and becoming one of the first, if not the very first lawyers of the city and State, he re mained there until his death, which occurred about seven years ago. Hall was the most intellectual of all the sons. 184 MEMORIAL. Indeed tihere "were very few of any family his equal. He was one of Irwiniville in Irwin. COuntty. The longer and upper route was via Hawkiiisvi-Ilo. llhe ~m&t{hof use as a business and an every-day coiat. Since there was no room for the swallow-tail, it was held on to by making it the dress coat for balls, parties and -weddings. ISTow a man would no more be seen on the streets with a swallow-tail than he would be seen at a swell entertain ment without one. But tlhis is modern, while I am writing ancient history. On the 24th of March, my birthday, after dinner I started from. Springfield, in. Effingham. county, for the home of Major Clem Powers, which was directly on my route, MEMORIAL. 191 "but only fifteen miles distant. If there was any man in Effingham who could be called the very first citizen of the comity he was Major Powers. He was a leader in politics and all county -and State affairs. He was one of -the largest planters of the county, and resided in a fine dwell ing for the times, with all the comforts of life around. He was the father of tlie "Virgil I^owers who is now one of Georgias railroad commissioners. I got a late start the next morning and traveled only twenty-five miles, and juat on lie hill over the Caoiooch.ee I was graciously permitted to pass the night at the home of ]VIrs. Ball, an -old lady then, and the mother of James M. Ball, .so -well known in Atlanta. I took an early start the next morning, but I fliad .not goue more than ten miles when a very hard rain began. It was so severe that I found I could not ride in it "without being- saturated, but what was I to do? There was no house or other shelter in sight. I rode on in a walk, taking the drenching rain as philosophi cally as I could, when, to my profound relief, I discovered thi-iough the pines a house about a quarter of a mile from the To:ad. Of course I inacte direct for it, and the gentleman gave me a welcome I have never forgotten. In a few min utes I was drying myself by a fire made for the purpose. The gentleman of the house was named Tippins. I never saw him before, and I have not seen nor heard of him since. From the lapse of time, I suppose he "has passed over the river and is resting under the shade of the trees." But the rain. Oh, how it did rain, and continued to rain until the middle of the next afternoon. We often say we have never seen so heavy a rain, and y-et we have. We are simply full of the present and forget the past. But I can safely say that never have I witnessed such a ram, and it was general all through South Georgia. The branches 192 MEMORIAL. and creeks vrare higher than ever known not the rivers,, because the rainfall was not far enough north. Had it been there "would have been a freshet that would have exceeded; that -of the "Harrison freshets" of March and May (I think), 1841. To give one some idea of the heaviness of tihis rain, I rode from AJlbatny to !Newton the first week in June thereafter, !aud in the low -places ioif the road -the water was -tlhen asmuch as saddle skirts deep and nearly up to that time wasswimming, and roads had to be opened -around them. I dwell on this rain becauge it "ciits the greatest figure" in my journey, and was the factor t-hat caused me to change my route and to ride forty miles more. I left Mr. Pippins the next afternoon, wlien the rain had ceased .and t(he sun was shining just as innocently as if it had never heard of the rain. There was a little branch near Mr. Tippins that never got deep enough to be an ob stacle, but he said he was afraid it would swim me in the main road, but there "was a place to cross where it was shal lower. I took his advice and when I came in sight of thewater I feared it would swim my horse, Tt was with diffi culty I could disting-uisih the track of the road, and I pro ceeded with fear iand almost trembling, lest my horse would step into a hole and submerge us both. But I got through with not quite half saddle skirts deiep. Tihat night I stopped at K-eidSville, but I ciannJot -recall tlie name of the person. !My impression is she "was a lady. The next morning was Sim day, and a beautiful, bright day it was. The spring had been early and the trees, shrub bery and flowers looked beautiful from the cleansing of therain. After a while I came to Perrys mill, -where there ia a large creek. The bridge had been carried away and there was a man engaged in putting people over in a bateau andt making t!he horses swim while the bridle was held in the- MEMORIAL. 193 boat. In this way I got across. Either before or just after crossing I "fell in" witih a gentleman, -wih-o lived just in the edge of Montgomery, and my route lay with his as far as he went. To got to HJawkinsville T had bo cross the Oconee river at Belles ferry., which is not far from its junction with tjho OCrnuilgee, making- tili-e Altamiaha. This was not only good luck in finding a (traveling companion in my lone liness, hut. I was much entertained by a most pleasant con versation during our ride of about fifteen miles. This was ilr. Joseph Ryals, tilue faither of the. late professor at Mercer, and the grandfather of the young lawyer of that name at Maeon. I crossed Belles ferry without difficulty. The next waiter-course Was the Little Oconulgee at wthatt was called Lumber City. Some northern owners of large bodies of pine land had erected a large sawmill, but the enterprise had proved, a failure and there was nothing remaining of the mill but portions of the large frame. I arrived at the river a lititle before sundown, and I soon saw that the little river, really only a big creek, was swollen into the propor tions of ia considerable river. I saw incither bridge nor ferry-boat. While I was wondering; .how I could get across, iaind fearing I might [have bo pass 1ihie night in a small shelter I sa-w, I a horse was to be found who either would not or eould not swim. Then I felt apprehen sive that although !she might swim, she might pull loose or be injured in some way in crossing, but the little mare, as she always did, behaved beautifully. When she was led to the bank she seemed to understand what she had to do and raised herself on her hind legs, made the plunge and swam over -well land safely. The present. Lumber City on the East Tennessee, "Virginia and Georgia road is a. miledistant from the Lumber City I write of. As soon as possible I left IMr. Steeles for old Jackson ville. On my route I was confronted with another diffi culty and really more serious than. any. I came to a bridge over a creek, and from the foot there had been washed -away by the rain several of the planks.. The water underneath was deep, land the gap was too "wide to be stepped over by man or beast, but I had to get across somehow. There was no house .nor person near, and the chasm had to bo passed. As I had not known the mare as a swimmer, I also did not know her fas a jumper; having bought her only a little while before I started. As she came. to the chasm, nc my urging, she arose as before, and safely leaped upon the bridge. While I was gratified at this, yet it caused me to dread other and perhaps worse difficulties [kba!t might confront mo :as I journeyed along. 1" arrived at old Jacksonville before or by noon. Some court was in session either the inferior or the ordinary and there I first met William \V. 3?aync, who became well known in G-corgia and finally moved to and died at Savan- MEMORIAL. 195 mail. I have passed many pleasant hours with him and ob tained from him much, interesting information. There I also made the acquaintance of Mr. John Jjokey, a promi nent citizen of Telfair, and of General Mark "Wileox, whose home was on the direct road to Hawkinsville, eighteen miles from Jacksonville. We rode that .together, and on his in vitation. I passed the night and the next day, -upon his ad vice that in a day more the creeks between, there arid Hawkinsville could not be forded. He took me the next day to see his father, John Wiloox. He had the reputation of being one of Georgias old Indian fighters, and ho was the father of many stalwart sons, then all grown. Those sons became representative men wherever they resided, and all, or nearly all, have at different times, before and since then, been members of the Georgia legislature. It was my in formation and my opinion that "Wlleox county was named for John "Wilcox, but at the last session of the legislature I was .surprised to hear from Senator "Wilcox that it was named for Mark, and lie is either a. son or nephew of Mark. The wife of Mark Wilcox -was a Miss Coffee, the daugh ter of General John Coffee. Ho "was also one of our old Indian nghteirs, and an influential citizen of Southern Georgia. As proof of his worth and celebrity he was elected to Congress by the general ticket system in the year 1834. He "was renomiuated in 1836, but died the Satur day night before the election, which was the next Monday. There "were no telegraphs in those days and mails mostly only once a week. So the death -was niot known outside of Telfair county, and John Coffee, although dead, "was elected to Congress. It is, perhaps, the only instance in the his tory of the United States where a dead man "was elected to Congress. William C. TOawson was the highest man on the defeated 196 MEMORIAL. ticket. At tlie final election to fill the vacancy made by Coffees death he was elected, and that was tlie beginning of his congressional -career. At the next general election, in 1838, T>awson wias reelccted, together with eight others of his side of politics. Among these were Oolquitt, Cooper and Black, who, on the reorganization of politics in 1840, dissented from tfheir colleagues in joining the Whig party avid their support of G-eneral Harrisoii for the presidency. To return to the narrative of my journey. Although I was defeated in going to Albany by way of Manns ferry, the smith side of the Ocnmlgee and IrwinviUc, yet in July afterwards I returned on ia visit to Southeast Georgia "by that route. The most attractive part of the journey was in that part of Telfair eoainty south of the Ocmulgec. It is now Coffoe county, in honor of G-eneral John Coffee, whom I (have written of. Along there on adjoining plantations were the Ashlcys. The first one comes to going west, is ".Matt Aslileys, the next is Cornelius Ashleys, the next is the widow Mannings, who was a sister to the Ashleys named; the next is tftre widow A&hloy, the widow of a deceased brotilier. Tlueso were alii good old-time fasmily mansions. On that journey I stopped at Mrs. Man nings,, -and did so on two or three other- journeys over Southern Georgia from Savannah to the Flint. There was comfort there, I assure yon.. I found damask table-cloths napkins and china, all presided over by a grand dame with, gold-rimmed glasses thiat reminded me of Virginia and South Carolina dames in colonial times. There I slept on tho biggest and tlie heaviest bedstead I ever saw, and it was all mahogany, and heavy mahogany. The husband -of Mrs. Manning was the brother of the older Governor Man ning of South Carolina. No one resided with her but her son William, then, a man at his majority. Later, and I MEMORIAL. 197 suppose after the death, of liis mother, lie married and became a citizen of Lowndes county. From there h went to the war, and was colonel of a regiment. H~e is dead, and for any man to be a better man. he, would have to be a saint. The Asbleys -wore a, good, old-time South GeOo-gia family, scattered from. T elfair to Oamden. Mrs. Dunwoody Jones, of Atlanta, is a descendant of one of them. I started from General "Wile-oxs for HawkiriSville with two brothers named. McLeod (pronounced McTjoud), who were going to Texas, or some other State in the far West. They were familiar with the road and creeks to Hawkiiisville, and I felt safe. We waded two or three formidablelooking streams, both wide and deep, but there was 011-0, and the last one, we could not wade, the name of which I forget-. It was the creek on which, was Lancasters mi]"I, five miles southeast of I-Iawkinsville. "We had to go up the creek to the mill to cross, and they knowing Mr. Lancaster, we passed the iiight there. The Lancasters., who were in the trouble in the Dodge county complications, "which re sulted in several being sent to the Ohio penitentiary, "were of the same family perhaps his nephews. The next moming pretty early we went through where old Hartford had once been, the original Hawkinsvillc, >aiicl after crossing the ferry, entered the main street of the town. The McLeods were going to pass the night afc ^Norman McDnffics, a kinsman residing south o ilawkinsville, a well-known and prominent citizen, and then resume their journey to the far West. I have neither seen nor heard of these brothers since. They were very young, like myself, and can either or both be living, now that half a century has intervened. The j\TcLeods having left me, I was again alone, and did not know the road from PTawkmsville to Albanv. I saw 198 MEMORIAL. a gentleman standing in the door of a store. I rode up and asked liim. He answered: "You see that man. un hitching his horse near the court-house? That- is Squire Farnell, and he is going nine miles on the same road and he can tell you." ""Well, well," said I to myself; "is it possibile that I am to ride with Squire Farnell?" Just before leaving; home I had read an amusing account of how Squire Farnell conducted his court in the third dis trict of Dooly county. The third lay adjoining Pulaski, and "was the most populous district of the county. It -was so populous and so prominent that it was called the "third kingdom of JDooly." /Squire Farnell had ia way of doing as he pleased, -without regard to law, if the people of his dis trict sustained him. Principal among his eccentricities was that if times were hard he would not give judgment in the spring., but would wait for the next crop, and times were hard all along there. In ^MJarch, 1837, cotton fell from 17 to 6 cents per pound, and the lowest quality brought but four. This state of things lasted until 1849, when cotton suddenly went np to 9 cents, land ruled from then until within the last few years from 8 to 12 cents per pound. One Saturday of court the Hawkinsville lawyers went out in force to have Squire IVimell reverse himself, but he could not be moved. He said: "If T give judg ment against my friends and neighbors yon can levy at once, force their property to sale, and they will be ruined; whereas, if you just wait till fall you will be no worse off, for you will get, the interest, and then you will get your money and they will be Saved. Upon principles of patriot ism I cannot give judgment. The court is friendly to all you Hawkinsville lawyers, and the court will be glad to see you at any time. .As for you. Squire Branltley" he was MEMORIAL. 199 the principal speaker "the court likes you very much. The court hopes you 'will OOTO.O out every court and you may speak as much as you please, for you speak "well, and the court likes to hear you, bint I cannot give judgment until fall." Although it was only a. justices court, and the jurisdic tion only thirty dollars, yet creditors got into a habit of -splitting their denmnlds into thirty dollar notes,, and judg ments in many cases meant judgments for large amounts. The squire stood by his friends and. fellow citizens until fall, and no one proceeded against him for malpractice in oifioe. ^N"o one would suppose from appearances that the squire "was so positive and firm a man. In fact, he had a look of meekness, and -when I saw him, as I did several times after at DOOly superior court, going labout 'with, his saddle-bags in his arms, he looked like any other sorit of man than the potentiate of the "third kingdom of Dooly." In t,lie conversation that we bad during our nine miles ride, I made no allusion to bis method of administering justice, nor did he. If I talked I might offend him, and then he might turn me over to the tender mercies of his bailiffs. The gentleman "who pointed out Squire Faruell afterwards resided, for many years at A-lbanv. I came to know him well and counted him among my friends. His name was JSTeiedham "W". Collier ain uncle -of the Virginia Colliers. A son of the squire has of late years been a member of the legislature from the county of Decatur. I bade the squire adieu, and proceeded according to his directions, on to Vienna. Just as the sun had declined behind 13je phr. Sellers my tale of woe; how I ihad ridden forty-seven miles that day and -couldnt get over the river; how myself and horse llrad had nothing to cat since daylight, and (how (hungry, tired and scared we were. He granted my request witfli ,a -welcome. Ever since JVIr. Sellers Iras been very dear to me. He -was long a citizen of Baker and Dougherty., and. I got to know ihim wall. He moved to a farm, seven, miles distant, and it so happened that ten years after I bougilit liis farm and he moved to Mitchell ooumty, Adhere lie was living when last I (heard of him, and at every stage of life was a. good citizen. ISTexrt morning I was up by tlie break of day and hurried to the ferry. By the tame the ferryman arrived the sim was rising. The ferry was right at the foot, of the main street of the town, oalled B;road stroet. I rode the ^7holei length of the street to get -to Mr. Lindsays residence, -which was jnst outside of tlie city limits. A_t that time there was no store open nor was any one Tipon the street. Xhis "was the beginning of my life at -A-lbany, which lasted twenty-four years. Albany was then, and up to the war and during the war, tho biggest little town in Georgia. All of my young manhood life is identified with the little city, and to her citizens and those of Baker and IDougherty I am indebted for whatever success I may have had in life. I have not regarded the events I have related while a young- man as o any importance, but, looking back at them through the mists of -fifty years, they seem at least interesting-. That verifies what X>r. Xapscomb so beauti fully says, that to be interesting "events must recede into> the distance., so as to take on the softened halo of remote ness." But before closing, I should tell about my horse. I 204 MEMORIAL. kept him until Juno without molestation, when I sold him to Dr. Fowler Holt, the grandfather of j\lr. Charlie T^aniar, for $125 cash, by which sale I made $50. The little mare cost me $70, to which should be added $5 paid to 13ush in the1 swap. This was the first, last and only horse-swap I evor made. I now wish some other swaps had been forced upon me, since it seems it is the only way by which I can make a profit. tlbe %anfer ffoouse. A .short time since, while on a business visit to Macon, Ga., I found myself for the first time in many years a guest of the Lanier House. Prom time to time, and for shorter or logger periods, before and during the war, beginning; with its construction, I have been, familiar -with, this house, its landlords, arid many of its patrons. It was completed in the year 1848 or 49, and began, business Tinder the late Sterling Lainier, -who was its first landlord, -and in liomor oi whom it was named. I*rior to this, !Mr. Tanier kept the old Floyd House, and made of it a first-class hotel, with a reputation as such from New York to iSTew Orleans. That hotel and the "Washington Hall were the two of the city, but neither -was of sufficient capacity or of a style to supply the public demand. That being the case, several -capi talists of tlie city formed a joint stock company to build a hotel of modern style -and suitable capacity, to be kept by Mr. Lanier., and which would advance the citys pros perity. At this time there were no railroad connecitions at 3facon, nor through the schedule of travel from the south and southwest to the north and west, and as a consequence, travelers had to remain at jVfacott. for several hours, perhaps for >a night or a day. This situation, gave the Jjanier House almost a monopoly of the patronage from travelers, besides :a liberal local support, which re mained undisturbed by formidable Competition until the erection of the passenger depot and the Brown House just across the street the latter built by Judge E. E. Brown, MEMORIAL. who became its landlord as -well as proprietor. In after years lie succeeded to the place and reputation of Mr. Lanier as tine most popular landlord of tike city and of the State. My recent sojourn -at the Lanier House brought to my mind these and many other and more interesting memo ries. The central figure of memory, on a short furlough. Immediately he pulled off the heavy flannels and -woolens the rigors of that climate required, took a bath, and puft on his usual citizens cloth ing. The change gave him a violent pneumonia, and in less than a week he who so luxuriated in a redundancy of life and spirits was a tenant of Rose Hill Oemetery. He was a younger brother of Thurston Bloom, the very first cotton-buyer of Macon, and a -prince of a man. He, too, alas! has been numbered with the dead for many yeaxs. A very pleasant memory of the Lamer House is a private dinner party given in honor of the Irish patriot, John ititehell. On that visit he delivered a lecture in Miacon. I remember how very unlike he was to any of his sountrymen whom I had ever seen. He was slender, pale and deli- 14 210 MEMORIAL. cate, with, not a bit of the brogne. He was gentle and auiet, without -any evidence of the aggressiveness that be longed to his nature. He was an interesting talker, exhibiting no effort at display, whether yon tested, him by his lecture or his conversaition. He amused us -with his expe rience in East Tennessee. He then resided there had gone there almost incog., and lived so secluded thait th-e curiosity of his neighbors "was excited to the -highest pitch. He said 001 one occasion numbers of them gathered at the post-office "were discussing him, wondering who he could be. One man said he had been told thalt the mysterious stranger was a British subject. Another made reply he knew that could not be,, for that government bad been wiped Out of existence ait the battle of Kings mountain. The point of this is that the man or his ancestors came from Western Worth Carolina, and all lie knew of the history of the ^Revolution was the battle of Kings mountain. J\Iost of thosei at this dinner aire also dead. Among them were Phil and Ed Tracy. Both were military officers of the Confederate service and were killed in battle. All the living I can recall are Judge Loenrane, Maj. Josepli Ganiahl and myself. One of the moat pleasaait memories of my whole exist ence is connected with the Tjanier House. It w^as in the late summer or early fall of 1850. It was during the ex citement created by the effort to a,pply .the Wilmot proviso to the territory acquired from 3-Iexico (by the -war against her. The result was the compromise measure of 1850, wliicih. the ultna Soutihern HigOits men foc 1/he Sofuitfli re sisted. As a part of thie potoganam of resistance a conven tion was called aa son wht> has been a judge, and is now a congressman. The rival -of Eliza, but of course of a friendly kind, -was Julia Dean a very different style of woman in every respect. She had beauty of form and features, and the grace of manner to make both, conspicu ous. She never played at IVfacon that I remember. She was a. great favorite in 3^-ew York and "Washington City, and w*as >a superb actress. She too married (a Dr. Hayne,, of South Carolina, and she too, like her contemporary Eliza Logan? soon died. A few years later, but before the war, !M>. Crisp was suc ceeded in the management of the Georgia theaters by Mr. "W. JVT. Fleming. He too made his home -while in Macon at the Lanier House. He was one of those actors who just missed being; a star, because he sustained himself in what ever role he took, and Sometimes exceeded himself. His name will be found in the cast of Bulwers plays when first performed in 2STew York, and Macready played the princi pal parts. "When "London Assurance" was first performed at Savannah it had a run of many nights, and the chief attraction was Flemings Dazzle. Later, he took the part of Sir Haroourt Oourtley, iand performed it well. He was particularly neat in -his person, and gentlemanly in his manners. He was prospering in the South when secession became an accomplished fact. The beginning of the war found him here, and broke up his business. He made his "way back to the ISTorth, avid married the cousin of Martin Van Buren. To show how far party spirit can, go, and have thaJt spirit founded on an error, Governor Giloner, of Georgia, long- alter, in lam address made before the col lege at Athens, said substantially, Van Alien was put for ward by the enemies of Crawfard, to kill him and get him out of polities, and this was acting so nmch like his consin, "The Political Magician of Kinderhook." The truth further was tfhat Crawford and Van Buren were good friends. They were mutually interested in " downing" Mr. Calhoun, who at one time was considered certain for the presidency. JJe was vice-president undor John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and had been in the cabinet of Mr. Monroe. Jjt was divulging the secrets of the cabinet by some body that caused the breach between the general and Mr. Calhoun, and destroyed the latters prospects for the presi- 220 MEMORIAL. deney. When Crawford was disabled from disease, Lis friend Van .Bureti traveled all the way from Washington City to Ms plantation home of Wood-lawn to visit him. ****#***** The feud between Clark and Crawford continued, and at last tihere Was an opportunity to bring tfheon in #o a per sonal collision. They all resided in the western judicial cir cuit. The presiding judge (Games) resigned, and the then governor appointed a brother-in-law of Clark (Judge Grif fin), to the office Iftiat is, ne had married axDotlier sister of Clarks wife. This w*as in the earlier part of the y0ar, and as was the law in Georgia, there had to be an election to fill the vacancy at the next session of the legislature, that fall. Crawford backed his friend Tait in opposition to Judge Griffin, and at last it became a question of Clark or Crawford suprcrnacy in that election. Clark heard that Crawford said he (Olark) had used questionable means to get recommendations of Judge Griffins election from the various grand juries of the circuit. It broitght about the usual correspondence, and the correspondence the usual challenge. Clark was the challenging party. They met near the high shoals of the Apalachee, opposite the county of Clarice, then in tlie Indian Territory, now tOne county of Walton. Dr. Gilbert Hay was Clarks second, and. Cap tain George Powell was Crawfords. Crawford. was shot in the right wrist, which, disabled him. This was in De cember, 1806. "When Crawford got well Clark challenged him again. This was in about six months, but Crawford having killed Van Alien, and having given Clark one chance to kill him, declined to give him another. The per sonal animosity between these men is an illustration of now two high-toned men, from misunderstanding1 the con duct and character of each, can charge each with acts either MEMORIAL. 221 would scorn to commit- From history it appears the Crawford faction ultimately predominated. Somehow it embraced more of r. Bibb Was in Congress, I think, in the senate, from Georgia, "when the salary bill Was passed that gave tt> each member of Congress $1,500 per anorum instead of $8 per day. They now get $5,000. He voted for the law, and as a consequence, like so -many others, lost his seat in Congress. It came very near defeating Henry Clay in Kentucky. His competitor (Pope) had but one (arm, .and a voter told Mr. Clay lie thbngand space will not admit o a proper reference to his life-work, for it would take1 spa^e enough for a long neiwspaper article. At the time there appeared upon the scene one of -tine bishops priests, who, in the course of his longer life, also became a bishop, and he delivered the address of the occa sion. He TrVtas Father Lynch. Imagine the surprise of a Protest-ant boy, when, he saw in the orator a. slender young man of refined form and features, made to appear yet more refined and clerical by a pair of glittering gold-rimmect spectacles. I had never seen nor known of but one Catholic priest, who, at first, was old enough to1 be1 called, old, and then became in reality, -and in my time, (a sure1 enough old man. .He was the priest of the little wooden ehurch and of the larger brick church. He was known actually, or by sight, by nearly every man, woman and child of the city. He did not confine ihis good offices nor his intimacies or friendships to tlhbse of his own cihurdh. The rieh. and the poor, the old and the young, of all classes and races loved him. The boy of seven years could scarcely be found who did not know him. Either walking or riding, he was to be seen in all parts of the city. "Wherever one "went he might safely count on seeing him. This man was nay boyish ideal indeed, my ideal of (a Gaitholic priest, who was en titled to be called father. He was Father OjSTeill. He was fatihor of everybody the father of the city there he lived his whole priesthood life, and there "was gathered to his fathers." Hence, my surprise may be imagined when the youngster before me, delivering the discourse of the occasion, wha looked not exceeding twenty-five years of age, was called father too. Of course I malde inquiry 230 MEMORIAL. and "was enlightened. The young father, in the opinion of the youth, acquitted himself -well. It was from him I first heard or knew cx Ignatius Itoyola, and of St. Vincent de Paul. I have said the young Father 1/yncfh. became Bishop Lynch, or I might say old Bishop Lynch, for such he "was when I next saw him, after an interval of forty years. As bishop he officiated in the services of his church here in Atlanta, and I made it ia point to be present. But what a contrast! The slender, refined young man had changed to a fleshy .and heavy old mian. He yet wore gold-rimmed glasses, but they appeared nt!bers of faith and opinion, and "have agreed to disagree." It was, and per haps is, a popiilar idea with our northern fellow citizens, that the existence of slavery tended to dwarf the minds and the bodies of Southerners; but taking Dr. Fullers 234 MEMORIAL. physical proportions land title way he sustained himself on that subject, with one of their first minds ? and "with Bishop England born, reared and edoioaited in Ireland, on a broader and ftirthe/r-reiadhing subject, should be a complete refutation. He -was bam and reared in the very midst of slavery in its most intense form, "where men owned as many ias 1,000 slaves, and in point of population the free man was in ia very small minority, Prom this same locality, sur rounded by the same supposed-to-be baleful influences, came the good and grand Blishop Elliott. He too "was large in body as "well as strong in mind. Those named are not the only aible and eloquent preachers of the same period, say fifty and more years ago. There nourished in those days IBisihops Amdrewls and Capers, Dsr, Pierce and his son George, the bishop and others, -each of whom I heard in my boyliood days and since. Verily, "there were giants dn those days." Can the preachers I have named in this communication be matched iat this day by those iioiw in their prime, man for man, or, if you choose, one against all? Perhaps so and perhaps not. It will do to think of. "(SeorQia Scenes" anb "trumpet Thomas Hardy is an English, novelist, who has come to the surface of late yeaa"s, and has taken a. Mgh pla.ce in the estimation of the literary public. One of his more (recent novels is called "Trumpet-Major." The scene is in England, during the reign of the Emperor Napoleon, when the peo ple were apprehensive of :an invasion by him, and were consequently much excited. The novelist takes advantage of this crisis, and the state of the public feeling, #0 intro duce into his book a description of a militia drill which took place at a church, and on. the Sabbath day. It will be found in. chapter 23, at page 195. As soon, as the novel had obtained circulation, some curious person, with a taste for res^arcth, sustained ;by a good memory, charged the author with (having made -a palpable plagia rism in .his description of the militia drill, and whatt is more interesting, proved his assertion. The book from which, it w!as taken, was the modest little volume called "Georgia Scenes," by Augustus B. Longstreet. Mr. Hardy must have thought, as "-Georgia Scenes" had been, published so long ago, and had Come a way from, the wilds of America, that no one who would read his book could be familiar with the rustic stories therein related. But Mr. Hardy underrated the circulation of his own book, as well as that of "Georgia Scenes," and he may from that receive some compensation, or rather consolation, for his detection. The discussion of the plagiarism has produced a curios- 236 MEMORIAL. ity to pursue "Georgia Scenes," and in some of the book stores it can be found alongside of "Trumpet-Major." This new notoriety given to "Georgia -Scenes" has caused many paragraphs to be published in the various papers of the United States and of England concerning Judge Ivongstreot, its author. It would, be superfluous to say any thing to Georgians, or e^ven to -the people of the Southern States, of this distinguished lawyer, judge and divine. "When the judge became pious, it is said he regretted having written and published, the stories of "Georgia Scenes," and would ha,ve had, if lie could, the precious little book suppressed. But his friends, .even among the clergy, did not share with him this regret. If he wrote no more he had set a precedent which was followed by younger Geor gians, and notaibly we call off, and dont swallow so much, of the powder as to make ye hawk and spit instead of attending to your drill." "Ask your pardon, Sergeant; but what must we infantry of the awkward squad do if Boney comes afore we get our fawloeks? "Tention! To the right left -wheel, I mean no, uo right wheel. Mair-r-r-Tcih!" Some wheeled to the right, and some to tihe left, and some obliging men, including Cripplestraw, tried to wheel both, ways. "S top, stop j try again. Grentlemen, unfortunatetly when Im in a hurry, I can never remember my right hand from my left, ian!d never Could as a boy. Practice rriakes perfect, as the saying is; and, much, as Ive learned since I listed, -we always find something new. 3STow then, right wheel! mareh! halt! *' MILITIA DRILL." "All Captain Clodpoles company parade here! Gome, gentlemen, parade luere!" says he. "All you thlat ihasnt got guns fall into the lower end. Look to tilie right and dress!" As every mian was anxious to see how the rest stood, those on the wings pressed forward for that purpose, till tflie whole line assumed nearly fche form of a crescent. "Why, look at em," says the captain; "why, gentlemen, you are crooking in at both ends, so that you will get on to me bye and bye! Come, gentlemein, dress, dress!" MEMORIAL. 241 This was accordingly done, but impelled by the same mo tives as before, tihey soon, resumed their former figure, and were so> permitted to remain, -"Now, gentlemen/ says the -captain, "I am going to carry you through the revolutions of the manual exercise., and I want you gentlemen, if you please., to pay particular atten tion to the "word -of command, just exactly .as I give it out to you. I hope you -will have a little patience, gentlemen, if you please, if you please; and if I should be a goingwrong, I -will be mucfh oblijed to any of you gentlemen to put me right again, for -I mean all for the best, and I hope you will excuse me if you please." "Poise foolk!" "Cock foolk! Veiry handsomely done." " Tetition the whole! Pleaso to observe, gentlemen, that at the word fire you must fire; fchat is, if any of your gun^ are loaded you must mot sthoot in year-nest, but only make pretense like; and you gentlemen, felloW soldiers, whos armed with nothing but sticks, riding-swibelies and corn-stalks, need not go through the firings," "Handle cartridge! Pretty well, considering you done it wrong and foremost, as if you took the tobacco out of your mouth and bit o'S the twist with the eiartridge-box." "Order foolk! Handsomely done, gentlemen, very hand somely done I And all together, too, except that one-half of you were a leetle too soon, >an*d the other half a leetle too late." "Charge bayonet!" "That cant, be, captain. Pray look again; for how can we charge bayonet without Our guns?" " Tention the whole! To the left left, no, right -that is, tone left. I mean, tihe rigtht loft wheel, march!" In this he was strictly obeyed some wheeling to the 16 242 MEMORIAL. right, some to the left, and some to the right, -left, or ways. "Stop halt! Let us try that again; I could not just then tell my right hand from my left. You must excuse me, if you please. Experience makes perfect, as the say ing is. Long as I have served I find something new to learn every day. But alls one for that." H, 3Fact of Sbetman's IRaib. About three-fourths of a century ago one of the prom inent citizens of the Blackswamp neighborhood, near the village of Kobertville, then in Beaufort district, now Hamp ton county, South. Carolina, was Dr, Thomas Harris, a native of !Nortih Carolina. He was one of the two or three practicing physicians of that locality. There was also there and at Robert-villa .another prominent citizen, He was a merchant, and perhaps the only merchant, for in those esarly -days wlien t.ransposrtation was &o difficult, the people needed hut few goods. This merchant brought his goods from Savannah, and carried his country produce there by pole-boats oks died, and iMjary was, BO far .as blood relative went, left alone in that county, then so far distant from flier native lamd. 3Sfo dhiH Was born unto her, and except her husband she had no tie of 244 MEMORIAL. relationship to bind lier to her adopted home. The -hus band and -wife lived (harmoniously together for years, but some time before* the late "war betweeoi the States" Dr. Harris died. His wife, having- no family of her own, asslated '-the doctor in his pii-aetJiee, and when occasion, required would nurse his patients. At the death of the doctor sheinherited all (he had, whidh. ctmsiated -of the farm they re sided upon, -a few slaves, .and the- live stock required to carry on -the farm. Here she resided for quite a number of years, contented with her ihome. Her trusty slaves pro tected and supported her, atnd she continued to- serve her JieigJhjbors and friends whenever possible, for having been so long the "wife of a doctor she knew of miany remedies aind was skilled in nursing. The home of JMrs. Harris was in t(he >cen!ter of one oif the richest plantation sections in the State of South Carolina. A large area of land was suitable to the production of cot ton. The invention of the cOititiOn-gin, of steam navigation on tlhe river, (the chieapness of labor and ^vork-animaisStjai*tcd these enterpidsing* and energetic planters on a career of prosperity that soon made tibjem nearly all wealthy. So rich "weo-e they in lands and negroes that the planterwho did not own more than a -hundred negroes considered himself pdoo*. Education, inltelligfence, refinement and luxury followed m ibhe fOOtstteps of "wealth, until for many miles in every direction ttueire were palace-like mansions, furnishjed in the latest and costliest style. In these a g-eneroiis and Inxurions hospitality was so constant as to become tJhe daily routine. Tthese people (having wealth necessa rily had leisure. This leisure they employed in making each, other h-asppy and in beautifying their homes and grounds. They and thieir lancestors had lived so long in one neighborhjood, that, from, ^marriage and intermarriage,,. MEMORIAL,. 245 they "Were nearly all related bo each otlier by blood or affin ity. The community presented a picture of contentment seldom fonnd in any civilization outside of ftbJatt which rested on a foundation of fertile lands and domestic slavery. They were ardcmftly (attached to their neighbors, their homes, and their State. To tliein there was no State so good as South. Carolina, no city eo. good as Charleston, no papers so good as the Courier and tihe Mercury. Tthis was the home of the Martins, the Koberts, the X/awtons, the Staf fords, the jBosticks, the Tisons, and of others, the degcend.ants of whom, in tiheir respective abodes, and many in dis tant -States, iare now conspicuous in .church, State or Society. This was th -charming situation appertaining to. JVCrs. Harris, or to the community in wthicih she lived, when: .Shermfan began -his march from Sav-annah through Soiitih. Carolina. It suited his plans to cross the river at the old and historic Sisters Ferry, and from thence his march, led him directly and at once ltihrougih tShe earthly Eden I have referred to bait niot described. As I have n!oi described that, I will not attempt tihe more difficult task of describ ing th-e wholesale land indiscriminate destruction by fire .and pillage of all tbat was good, beautiful or valuable in tih at community. The mansions of the ridh, tlie cottages oi" the poor, and the cabins of tihe slaves were alike1 de stroyed, -with- their conteaits. What coiuld not be destroyed \vas approprialted, and tjhe rich, and the poor were alike left witbJout food, sOielter, or tihe work .animals with -which to .acquire the one or recionstruot the other. The destruc tive march of Suerman through Sontlh Carolina has been so ^vell iand so often described., it would be worse than superfluous to comment upon it.. It is, however, Worthy of mention, perhaps, in veirificaitfion of the old adage of 246 MEMORIAL. repeating itself," tlhat South Carolina was once before treated .as she was by Sberanan. She was as Conspicuous in the Kevolutioniary war as she was in the war of Secession, and for that Oornwallis reeorved to make her people feel the effects of war in all its savage cruelty. I\>r tihe smaller opportunities offering1 on lhis march, and Dhe softer tone which time has given to the history of it, he was only ia little less cruel, if any, ithan Sherman. Sherman, following tho example of Oornwallis, resolved to punish South Carolina because she was con spicuous in secession, but without appreciating- that seces-. sion was simply, according- fto han -assertion of the same principles of liberty -dominant in the revolution, as against those who had seized the reigns of this Grovernment to violate tihat and the principles upon which it was founded. !From the preceding narrative it -will already foe underStood thiat Mrs. Harris in her old age was loft by Shcrman homeless and destitute, with no blood-relation any nearer than tho distant and antagonistic State of Connecticut. 3STo friend in the neighborhood Was aible to relieve her, and she made her wiay to the .nearest ptart of Georgia tlnat Sliermain. -had spared, w:hero slxe found a man by the name of Brooks, and the other married aw- the Revolution, -are all un known. And stranger yet, although he was among the earliest and most conspicuous of the Georgia revolutionists, and was the first governor of the State, his subsequent his tory has been lost. There has been no. one to record the date, place and manner of his death, and his grave like almost everything eooinected with his history is unknown. In consequence of this mteager information the name and fame of Governor Treutlen has been neglected. Georgia itas given his name to no county or town within lier lira- MEMORIAL. 255 its, nor done anything else to perpetuate her first governor. This neglect could not have grown, ont of -any personal disqualification or the rendering of inconsiderable service. lie Was a member o-f the Provincial Congress from the Par ish of St. Matthew, which assembled July 4th., 1776. Among the co-delegaites is to be found the very distinguish ed mame of Georg-e "Wart on. In that Congress were such men as the Habersihanis, Bryants, Telfairs, Houstons, Clays, Cuthberts and IMdntoshes. Afterwards, in 1777, he was selected from among such men to be the governor of the State, and from tlhe niecessities son or, other descendant in the State in public life, he was for gotten. If not forgotten, certainly neglected, for Georgia to this day owes him the debt of some appropriate recog nition. It is never too late to do right, and tae State should on the first opportunity take some action which, will perpetuate the name of her first governor. It was no lititledistinction to have been such, for to our governors on the original organization of Itttie State during itihe Revolution all our governors since owe their official position and repu tation. In view of Governor Treutlens celebrity his whole per sonal histo-ry becomes interesting, and tfhis, sad to say, isinvolved in more doubt than his career immediately fol lowing the expiration of has term of office. While tiie name has a German sound, yet it is also tradition -among his cle- scendants that he was a native of England, and had been MEMORIAL. 257 a soldier or officer connected with, -the British army. If tfhis is true lie may have come directly to Georgia, as other English emigrants. But whether he is English or German, the greater probability is he came first to the province of South Carolina. He, or his ancestor, may have been among the German settlers of that State. Erom the earliest knowledge of him ho had near relatives in Orangeburg, where some of his descendants yet reside. In. the neigh borhood of Sisters Kerry, where Governor Treutlen re sided, were many settlers from South Carolina who "were attracted there by the albundance of wood and timber on that side of the Savannah river, with a market at Savannah. This wag before the days of cotlton. The Carolina side had been longer settled, and there -were few or no high bluffs, while there were many on the Georgia side. Either theory is more probable than that he was a Salzburgher. There is no appearance of the Salzburghor in any of his descend ants I have seen, and I have seen many. The Sal^bnrghers have well-defined features, accent and charadtoristicg not to be mistaken by those familiar with them even to this day. Substantially, there is mothing- in Stephenss History of Georgia or "Whites Historical Collections except what I have stated. Whiait makes the paucity of has history yet stranger is that there is no old Georgian whose descendants are better defined, arid more than that, tJhey are quite numerous. I shall mention several who bear the relation of great-grandchild (or yet farther removed) to John Adam Treutlen. There are Col. John E. Treutlen, who was re cently of Columbia, S, O.; Dr. Walter S. Dudley, lately President of the Agricultural and Military College -at IVlilledgeville; Mrs. Maris E.Provost, arid Dr. Harvey Cleckley and wife, of Alabama; Mrs. E. C. Corbet, of Macon, Ga.; Mrs. Judge Mallette, of Effingham county, Ga.; the 17 258 MEMORIAL. "Wilkina brothers, of Burke and Jefferson counties, Ga.; the sons and daughters of Albert O. Porter, of Effingham, wto was during the late war taken prisoner by Sherman and sent to Point Lookout, Maryland, where the poor fel low died from the effeets of prison life. \VIhe4iheT or no^ his grave, since the -war, has been by Ms family identified X do not know. An interesting fact to me is tfhat when I was only ten years of age, the colonel (William J. Dudley) and the major (Christian Treutlen), of an Effingham mili tia regiment, were botih. the gran-dsons of G4oive.rnor Treuitlen. "Phis suggests that the governor may have been past meridian of life in 1775. Captain ^Frederic Tebeau, of S-avannah, long since deceased, was in eome fway related to Gov ernor Treoitlen, and, of course, his descendants are like wise. There are others I cannot recall,, and I have no doubt there are many I have never heard of. Colbest The winter of 1855-56 was distinguished for its con tinued and extreme cold. . In the nionth of January, 1856, .all the water on. the eartihs surface remained frozen for a long time; how long I shall not say, lest I overstate it, bm I will state a. fact and its incidents, from which you may judge. Yom" oldest inhabitant and many younger, will remeniber a pond in Ithe rear of a livery stable and in front of Mr. Arch Greers residenice, then on Broad street, Albany, Gta. It covered, "when full, perhaps two acres of _ground, and in the middle was quite deep. At one partic ular place, where the water passed off by an underground passage to the river, it was very deep, perhaps fifteen feet. This was the ptond yonr city authorities for many years were anxious to drain. Finally, it being- known there was a subterranean passage to the rivea", it was suggested, and I think by the late James M. M!ercer, Dbat if la well -was dug on the edge -of the pond down to the passage then tEhe pond could be ditched Into it, and thug drained. The "well was accordingly dug, but ^aifter digging quite deep withtout reaching 'the passage it was abiandoned, and the dry well remained for some time. At last there came a wet spell, in which, the rain fell heavily and for a long time, and to su-ch an extent tihat the pond cohered more ground than was ever kn^wn. Its waters were thus spread to the dry well and "pifched in." The force and weight of the water caused tfhc well to "fall out" iatio tlie underground ssfcreaxa, BO anxiously sought for. Thus by accident was the pond 260 MEMORIAL. drained.. Tliis interesting- circumstance is stated to identify the pond. -"Well, -the weather "being freezing cold for a good while, there, camo an unusually cold snap in addition, to the existing cold. The pond described became so hard and so thickly frozen that it -Would bear up the weight of a man anywhere. There were no skates, but for amusement; one man would sit in a Country-made, splitbottomed chair, while two others., one on each side of it, would send the sitter as far as tiheir strength would permit, so that^with the forced used and the slickness of the ice, he would go out :fco where the wafeer might have been five or six feet deep. The thermometer was down to six degrees above zero. I eamnoit call to mind that I saw it myself, but I well remember that tfhat was the figure it Was then generally understood fco be at. This was on the 19th day of January, 1856. Precisely four years before (in 1852) there was another of the coldest spells within my experience. I started from. Albany to Elakaly on. Sunday morning to attend an ad journed iterm of Early superior court. The day was an. unusually warm one for flhe season. I stopped that night just across Spring .creek, and wiithin. eleven, miles of Blakely. There "was a rain, and a cib.ange of temperature dur ing- the night. I shall always remeoxiber the driv^e to Blakely tihe next morning, -with a hard and freezing north west wind in my fa!ce, and therefore suffering more from tihe cold than -at any time before- or sinice. The weather continued cold. On the following1 Thursday I began my journey from Blakely to Columbus, G-a., by way of Guthbert and I>umpkini, to- attend a session of the Supreme Couo^t. The shallow water in the road in Early was frozen solid t!o the ground, and the buggy wheels in going over would only make a rut in h ice, without breaking through. MEMORIAL. 261 "When I reached the Hll country in the upper part of Ran dolph and Stewart counties, where the public road was worm and cxit down through the halls, so that there were banks on each side of tho road many feet high, say in places from eight to twenty feet, these banks bristled and glistened wri/h icicles, from top to bottom, of huge dimensions, hang ing dowin .and arranged side by side like the barrels of ian organ, only innch larger at the base, and tapering off to a point. Such long journeys on the dirt road must sound strangely to the young lawyers of the present day, who can now go comfortably by railroad to -every place court is held, or -within a short ride. ^Nevertheless, tibe journeys were performed, amd from them tfhe young lawyers may learn something of what "we old fellows" had to endure when we were their age. And I have said nothing of the deep "waters we had to wade or swim, the dangerous bridges we had jto cross, or oif the (hard rains and. storms we had to encounter, because this letter is about the severe cold. And in reference to this, I should say iihat in making a days journey in very cold Weather we would sometimes stop in the woods and make up a fire to "warm by, lest a longer endurance might be attended with serioiis conse quences. I do not know who your "oldest inhabitant" is, but- it seems to me at tihis distance that (he ought to be either JsTeleon Tift, John Jackson., Alex Vason, MJarick Barnes or Hamlin Cook, for they are all I dam think of among the " oldest" male "inhabitants" of Albany -wiho yet survive. In tho years einde I have ceased my citizenship of your city many of the oldest inhabitants have been laid away in, their graves, and it is^ only recently ;th:at three, of the oldest and most promierat and useful, James Hercer, Judge Strozier aoid !Dr. Jenningis, all my friends, have been added to the numbers who have preceded thiem. H Iking of The name of IMaj. J. H. Steele calls to mind an interest ing incident, of which he was the principal personage. But before I relate it I moist premise a little. He was a man of much dignity. G-etiting along in years, his hair" was quite gray. This gave him a venerable ias well as a dignified appearance. "Whatever lie did, from the greatest (t;o the smallest, he did it with an air of elegant leisure, so in keeping with his imposing presenJce. He could smoke a cigar or take a drink, from the first wine down to the eommoinest "whisky, with a grace of manner beyond any oth-er nian. In doing the latter, it ^was his habit to hold (his glass until he related some pleasing anecdote or incident, and then drink "with a deliberation that was elaborate as well as dignified. By this time each of his companions had swal lowed their potation with more or less of haste, and could look serenely on tihe major while he was enjoying his. It -was at the session of 1859-60, the place the room of the Muscogee members, at the old McCornb hotel. There woro present some eight or -ten friends -who had gathered to pass an evening with poor Emmett Dix:on and his col leagues. It was about ten oclock at night, when all had simultaneously risen "to disperse to their respective abodes," and thus separate until morning. There "was, ;as was theCustom then, the usual glass at parting. As "was also usual with thait company, the major had the floor discoursing to his young companions, for Hate was old enough to- be tihe father -of every man pr^ffib, unless Uncle John ilaund o MEMORIAL. 263 Talbot slhould have been, there. There was nothing to break tlie silence tut tfliSe maJOTS mjeloklious voice while 0*001cluding1 liis discourse. Wheoi She ceased (tihere was profound silence. There was ueditiher speech, nor ^action to breiak it "until just when ^he glass touched his lips, arid -all eyee were upon, him, Albert Lamiai- foroke forth to the surprise of every one and repealed in a low deep tone, these lines from Hamlet": "Let the kettle to the trumpet speak, Tlie trumpet to the cannoneer without, The cannons to the heavens, heavens to earth, The King drinks " It was so sudderLj so unexpected, so appropriate, that it "brought do^vn liftie -house," ^and the major drank the con tents of his glass lamid deafening ap^laus-e. I have never known a private incident of so trivial a nature to have such a drainatiic effect. It will be appreciated the more when I say the major was really, from his aig>e, his dignity, -and the respect shown him by his young companions, "the King among us a." On ordinary occasions he would tower above us like an Indian chief in the midst of his tribe, and thus impressed, Albert Lamar would sometimes, on convivial occasions, call him "Tuste ISTuggee." The title of major suitdd Shim, and ho the title. He began with that rank, retained it for many years, and repeatedly refused! promotion. Albert Lamar and Phil Tracy were his pride, his pete, his idols. They were brilliant and he was proud of them kind and considerate to him and he loved them. When they called him major it was a term of endearment, and he called them Albert and Phil with the same tenderness. He loved the company of young men and as a rule asso ciated with no others. 264 MEMORIAL. But at last the old majors happy career had to close. When the principal editor of the Atlanta, IntelUgewoer, in November, 1870, he was taken with a lingering- illness from Vhich he never recovered. He died in the early part of January, 1871, in .the sixty-fifth year of his age. I saw him on his death-bed, and attended his funeral, Rev. Dr. Brantley officiating. The last time I saw him was a few days .before his -death. He was calm, patient and resigned. He would not speak unless spoken to. The sit uation, the subject, was to him too deep for speech. If you spoke to him he Would answer intelligibly aind with his man ner in health. "While I was there his sister Mrs. Brewer left to return to her home near toy, and in bidding him good-bye, said: "Brother John, look to the great Physi cian/ He replied, "I am looking." These -were the last words I heard him speak, and I am told he maintained the same silence, although alble to speak, until death de prived him of that and of every other faculty. H. Cutbbert. It is now very generally known this aged and distin guished gentleman departed this life on the 22d of Septem ber, 1882, at his home on Moil Louis island, near the city of Mobile, in the nfinetyJfburth year of his age, having been born on lthe 3d of June, IT88, in this city. In considera tion of his nativity, lineage, public services, pure charac ter, great ability and extreme age, -we feel strongly inclined to write an extended sketch of his life, which should serve bo tin as truthful history and deserved eulogy. But "within the last two years &o much from time to time has been pub lished of him, until he occupies the1 exceptional attitude -of one whose obituary has been, written and wliose eulogy has been pronounced before his death. As the oldest sur viving member of the National House of Representatives in all the land, and as the sole surviving member of the Prdnceton graduating class of 1805, the eyes of all reading people have ibe>en turned to him. for at least the last five years. He has thus been conspicuous in a manner that has fallen to the lot of few men since the dawn of Christian -civilization. A late instance -otf this kind is Thomas Oarlyle, but he was a decade his junior. And there was a greater difference foe-tweem. them than age makes. "While -one, with all his ponderous intellect, his vast attainments and his world-wide reputation, has loft unpleasant memo ries of his deep prejudices and his rudeness of speech and .action, of the other there .are naught but pleasant mem ories of the refined, olden-time gentleman. Just why 266 MEMORIAL. Judge Cuthbert thus became the abject of sucih special in terest cam. be better illustrated by a short extract from a. notice oif his connection in Congress with the Missouri com promise, "written by Hon. W. T. Walthall, of Biloxi, Miss., for the !New Orleans Times-Democrat: "He (Judge Cuthtbert) -was foorn before the Constitution. of the United States went into operation. The old articles of Confederation were tlhen in foroe. All the settled partsof the country now constdtutmig the States of Florida, Ala bama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas were then Spanish territory. It was before the outbreak of the French revo lution. iNkpoleon Bonaparte -was an dbseure lieutenant of artillery, and Walter Scott an apprentice in his fathersoffice. Edmund Burke and Benjamin Franklin "were still living. George Canning and Henry Broughman -were -col lege students. -Caltuaun -and Webster were little children, and Henry Clay was riding astride of his meal bag in theHanover slashes. He was horn in the same year with Byron and Peel. He was nearly twenty years in advance of Bulwer and 33ea.conefield and Robert F. Lee. Just twenty senior to Jefferson Diavis, and still more to. Lincoln and Gladstone. Ho was a. member of Congress in his second session wtbeoi John O. Breckinridge -was born, and .a man of middle age at the birth of Garfiold. He was in Congressduring; the -agitatiion of the Missouri compromise, and was the associate of Clay, Macon, Lowndes, Randolph, and the PineSneys of South ^Carolina and Maryland." The pertinency and brilliancy of the foregoing array of historical ic*haraotera may be the better realized if we select from them Byron, and say that al though he died nearly sixty years ago, yet it is among the possibilities that he could be living now, for lie and Judge Cuthbert were> born in tihe same year. Thus, how is the character of a man MEMORIAL. 267" fixed, and how I& the public weal or woe ^affected by that arbiter deatih, who at once pronounces and executes his judgments without the utterance of a word, and from whom there is no appeal? Byron should have lived long enough to be ashamed of "Don Juan," and to reap the giory of "Childe Harold." It is becoming that this papershould, next to those of Mobile, commemorate the de ceased, for our city is his birthplace, and here, or in our vicinity, he passed his youthful manhood. Here and viciiii ty yet reside many of his blood rel ations, but of many a generation this side of the one to which he belomged. On. Ms mothers side he is the grand son >of Ool. Joseph. Olay of the Revolution, called .attention to the Cultihbert brothers in an article -written for the News, which, after allusions to Alfred, said of John A.: "He was likewise a man of talents, took a high rank in the State as a lawyer, and was a brilliant political writer. MEMORIAL. 269 H moved from the low country to Eaton ton, then to Torsyth, then to Milled geville, where he edited the Federal Union- with, great ability. About, the year 1835 lie moved to Alabama and resided at Mobile or Vicinity for many years. He was elected to t(he United States House of Rep resentatives from Georgia during the times of Clark and Troup, and became a member of that body. Like1 his brother Alfred lie brought to middle1 Georgia a large prop erty, but unlike turn, did not succeed in improving it. He is represented -as more sociable and affable -tfhan Alfred, and had a strong personal as well as political popularity. His old surviving legal and political competitors remem ber him with pleasure, and speak most kindly of him. An incident is related of him which displays his kindly nature and brotherly affection. At Upson court some lawyers were disputing as to Mr. Oalhouois -power of Conversation. To settle it, one mad the proposition to ask John A. Ou.thbert who was the "best conversationalist he had ever beard, feeling .assured he would say Mr. Calhoun, whom he had lately parted with at Washington City. It was accepted as the solution, and Mr. Cuthbert was called from his room and the question, propounded. He had known nothing of the conversation or of iftie purpose of the question. He manifested embarrassment and with hesitation he replied, "My .brother Alfred." With equal delicacy on the part of the propounders he Was never informed of their object. This is very like th -warrior whose toast on a convivial occasion has been immortalized in. verse because, it was the simple but touching words, "My mother." Im the year 1808, before: he -had completed his twentieth year, he embraced religion and was baptized by his uncle, the Eev. Joseph Clay, in the city of Boston. From then 270 MEMORIAL. until deatli lie was a prominent, consistent and zealous mem ber of the Baptist Cliurch. In 1810 he was elected from Liberty county to the legis lature of the State, >and for many years he represented the .same -county both in the Senate and in the House. In the war of 1812 he1 commanded -a volunteer compatny to protect the coast of JLiberty county. In. 1814 he married Miss Louisa E. Ch-oft, a most lovable .and estimable lady. This was his second marriage, but his first "wife lived but a short time and died without issue, In. 1819 hie "was first elected to Congress. After his ser vice in the House of Representatives he was put forward by his party as the competitor of John. ITorsyth for the United States Senate. The vote was a tie, and it was oiot uriitil iihe next day fctet high am honor -with, such a Celebrity as John Porsyth afterwards became. But for the dominancy of the Troup party in Georgia from 1823 to 1833, John A. iGufchlbert -would have received the highest honor it was possible for Georgia to bestow on any of her eons. The reformation, of parties into the1 Union and State Rights parties in. 1833 plaoed his brother Alfred in the United States Senate the following year. In 1837 he moved to jVlobile, and in 1840 he was elected to the legislature otf that State. The last office he held was ith-at of judge otf the circuit court. Then, grooving old and weary of the very active political life lie had lived, Ke confined himself to the practice of has profession. His last appearance in politics was his participation in the uKno>w ISTothing" campaign of 1855. The nature of that MEMORIAL. 271 issue aroused iine slumbering fire -of his patriotism, and foe made speeches replete -with eloquent denimciation against that secret "political order.*1 He continued the practice of law until witlhm a few months of his death., whan, ihe had to yield to bodily infirmity. A strange part in con nection with -his practice is that in the last ten years, off his life there ihad been a revival <> it. Instead of declin ing more and more toiwards the last, like most old persons, he experienced an increase of mental strength and energy. Like unto1 th.e "sebond sight" -which comes to a few of the aged, there was "with liim a second, physical and mental man hood. Within t!he last year his (name will be found in the Alabama reports.. "When that :ageid and venerafble lawyer -would rise to address the court the presiding judges must have felt like yielding to him while Ire spofee their own places in token, of ^tfoeir profound respect. Thus has this great old gentileonan live^d and died. His life was so long spared, that at his death, of a famliy of .seventeen, tihere snirvived only two sons and one daughter. Charles 5. Jenfcins. In the eulogy upon Clias. J. Jenkins lately delivered before the General Assembly of Georgia by Col. Ohas. J. Jones,, ho makes reference to that incident in Col. Jenkinss life "when he alone of all his party refused to "withdraw from the House of Representatives and leave it without a quorum for the purpose of defeating an adverse political measure. Thetre is no1 act. in Governor Jenkinss "whole1 polit- ieal career "which so "well illustrates his high sense of honor and his invincible moral courage. At least itihere is no act -which can better illustrate both. Those who now read or hear of it, however they may appreciate, can form no idea of the heroism of the act and the sublimity of the scene like those -who were present and --witnessed it. I happened to be among that fortunate number, and, although just a lit tle over a third of a century ago, there are not many who yet survive and "who can describe it as an eye-^witoess. It should be> described by such an. one, and in the absence of one better qualified to do so, I shall undertake it, that greater justice may in this way flo some extent be done the rnoble character to "whom -Georgia owes so much for what hie has done in illustratrmg their State, and in leaving- so grand an example for their admiration and emulation. For proper understanding1 of Governor Jeoikinss conduct on the occasion referred to i!t "will be necessary to relate som historical facts of u political nature which, preceded and surrounded it. ; The Cons-titulion of the United States says: "The times, places and -manner of holding elections for senators and rep- MEMORIAL. 27 3 resentatives shall be prescribed in. each State by the legis lature thereof, but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or .alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing1 senators." Tip k> and including- 1840 representa tives w&re chosen, by the regulations of each State, and as a result some wore chosen from the State at large and some by districts. Georgia was one of tftie States which chose her representatives by the first named method, and had done so for many years. The Congress of the United States determined there should be -uniformity in choosing representatives throughout the United States, and, as the direct system was one which gave all the people represen tation and secured that right to the minority of a State, adopted tihalt system. This cOmnge was repulsive to flhe people of Georgia, -who had become accustomed to tihe other system. The first opportunity by Georgia to comply with the new law df Congress was at the session of 1842. At that session the Democrats had their governor, a good working majority in both branches of the legislature, and could have districted the State as might suit them, but they took exception to the law of Congress and refused to com ply. At the next election (1843) there was a complete change in the politics of tfhe State, >and the "Whigs had their governor, and a good Working majority in both branches of the legislature. Like sensible men they complied with the law of Congress and districted the State. The Demo crats were indignant ait the political complexion of the dis tricts thus made, as tested by the election of 1843. They said the Whigs had laid off five certain districts for them selves, two for the Democrats (which they could not avoid), one doubtful. Coiipled with their indignation frh;e age of thirty-one, and M>. Toombs at thirty-four. Thie Democrats, seeing they had promoted Toombs and Stephens and lost Black by their own folly, were furious, and .as Absalom Ohappell used to express it, were "full of resentment." A maix of less propriety than Col. Chappell would have MEMORIAL. 275 said they were full of revenge or viudictiveness. Although Georgia "was a doubtful State one year Democrat and the next Wlhig, having generally sa margin of votes to "play for" of some fifteen hundred the Democrats never got control of the Gtalte again until >tlie Session of 1849-50. Then they had only three majority in the Senate and only four in the House. ISTotwitfhstaniding this meager majority, it was their first opportunity sinca the -great wrong had been done, and might be their last for as many years to come. So they took steps early in the session to redistrict the State. The law so doing had passed the Senate and only lacked the concurrence of the House to become effectual, for Grovernor Towns kept his pen and ink always in a eondition to promptly give his assent to that lajw whenever presented to him. After running tfoe gauntlet of various committees and parliamentary motions as obstructions, until the previous question was sustained and the House had to vote on. the question, shall this bill now pass, the1 "Whig members stampeded, and the only one who remained to vote was Charles J. Jenkims. Upon a call of the House the only Whig member who aoiswered to his name was Charles J. .Jenkins. This was the 13th of February. The session was nearly to its close, and as a result from leaves of ab sence and other causes, the Democrats found themselves without a. quorum. Tttie House met daily at the usual hour, both morning and afternoon, with yet no quorum, until the 18th, when the speaker, John. W. Andersen, of Chatham, deeming the situation, of sufficient gravity to give the governor official information thereof, addressed to him, having his official signature, the following commu:nication: ^'His Excellency, Geo. W. T-owns: "Sir: I have delayed communicating to you officially 276 MEMORIAL. the disorganized state of the House of Representatives,.. hoping- from day to d:ay tfliat the hig-h duty and obligation due the State would induce at least a portion -of those who have deserted -their trust to return and proceed to busi ness. Sudh, however, has not been the case. On Wednes day morning the whole Whig party, -with the exception of Charles J. Jenkins, "withdrew from the House, and have continued since to absent themselves, thus leaving the House without a quorum to transaof the people. The Hon. B. II. Hill, who is so justly distinguished for intellect and oratory, and fills such a large spaice in the public mind, never began his political career until 1855, and is more than a decade the junior of the eminent four. But while I have felt constrained to pass rapidly in review all thlat I have named, it is of Hcrschel Johnson I am specially to speak. His native County is Burke a county that attained a population and great wealth. His natal day is the eight eenth of September, 1812. It is an honor to G-overnor Johnson to have the old and historic county of Burke for his birthplace, and a greater honor to Burke to have so dis tinguished a son. His father was Mosies Johnson, a Burke county planter of most sterling worth, and Burke was honored by many siucih, citizens. Governor Johnson grad- MEMORIAL. 283" uated at .Franklin college in August, 1834, >and in a montli thereafter was. admitted to the bar at Columbia superior court. II& at onice begatn practice in Augusta, Georgia, and there remained until 1839. On the nineteenth of De cember, 1833, he was married to Mrs. "Walker, the daughterof Hon. William Polk, of Maryland. In the fall of 1839 he removed to Jefferson county, Georgia, land there re mained uritil the early part of the year 1844, "when he re moved his family residence to IVHdway, near Milledgeville, for the purpose of educatling his children, still retaining his plantation .and planting interest in the county of Jeffer son. That was the year of a presidential campaign. Party spirit ran high, a.nid Governor Johnson "was drawn fully infco politics, having; been plaoed on the Polk and Dallas electoral ticket. Immediately he was spoken of in donnection "with the office of governor. His friends desired to present his name for nomination at the State Democratic convention of 1845, but he declined to gratify them. Then Hall McAllister was the Democratic nominee, but was de feated by the then incumbent, George ~W". Cra"wford. At the nest gubernatorial convenifcion, in 1847, Governor Johnson allowed his friends to use his name1, bnt after a. hard Contest and a close ballot,, Geoirge "W. Towns received the nomination. Governor Johnson "would have been nom inated but for the fact thait Southwestern Georgia a grow ing and populous section of the State, casting a large Dem ocratic majority, claimed the nominee, and presenting one of the most gifted and popular men of the State, he re ceived the nomination. P*ut this happened well. Townswas .a noble, generous man, and soon, in his administration, ho had the opportunity of recognizing Governor Johnsons eminent talents and services. Hon. Walter T. Colquitt in 1848 resigned (his seat .as United States Senator front 284 MEMORIAL. Georgia, and Governor Towns at once the people of the State in tihe shape of Howell Gobb for governor, on the plat form, of the convention, sand Charles J. McDonald against it. The contest j-esulteid in the election of the former. Grov. Johnson belonged and did able service in the ranks, oif the party that opposed tthe convention and supported Gov. JVCcDonald, but on the prinjciple often proclaimed by him by speech and "writing, "for the preservation, not the de struction of the "Union." The next year, 1852, was a pres- MEMORIAL. 285 idential election, and Governor Johnsons wing of the party, acting unJder his advice, gave up their temporary organization, united with the National Democracy by sending delegates to the convention, and by putting out an electoral ticket in support of the nominees, Pierce and Kang. This ticket, despite the Strong and "bitter opposi tion to it, through a regular Whig ticket and an irregular Democratic ticket, was elected, and at the head, as one of the electors for the State iat large, -was Herschel V. Johmson. In June, 1853, Governor Johnson received the Dem ocratic nomination, for governor. His opponent w^as Clhajrles J. JenMns. They stumped the State together, and after a hard and close contest, during which their old friendly re lations were preserved, Governor Johnfeon 'was elected by 510 majority. Perhaps in no gubernatorial contest G-eorgia n;ad ever had were the opposing eanidiildiates so equal in all the elements of true mianhodd. Socially, morally and intellectually, either "was the peer of the other, and of any man in the State Or out of it. It was the greatest triuanpii of Governor Johnsons life1 to defeat so> good a man as Chiarles J. Jenkins, but a triumph, nevertheless saddened, by tlie deep regret on Governor Johnsons part that the issues of life should bring nim in conflict with Clhiarles J. Jenkins. In 1855 Governior Johnson was again the Democratic nominee. OBy thfe tiine the old "WTiig party, from various causes, had become disintegrated, and instead tnereof Inhere was set up the native Aimerican partly, commonly called "Know NotHng." This p^arty liias swept everything before it in almost the entire I^orifli :and West. It seemed that it would carry its triumphs into every State, until, the hopes of itis opponents :were revived by the check it re ceived by the election of Governor Wise in. the State of :286 MEMORIAL. Virginia. It remained to be seen if it should capture Georgia, 'the next most important Southern State. This placed a great responsibility on Governor Johnson. If the battle was lost in 1855, the probability was it -wooild be lost in the presidential campaign of the next year, and that was a stake tlie South., in her then condition, could not afford to lose. Governor Johnson met this responsibility .ably, faithfully and energetically, as was his habit, and it resulted in the defeat of his strongest opponent, Judge Andrews. There was also a third candidate in the person of Hon. T>. H. Overby, as tfhe candidate of the temporary party. "With the aid of prejudices again&t foreigners and the bias for temperance., the enemies of Democracy hoped .and -worked hard for its overthrow. For the first time in their political Career, Toomfbs, Stephens, Cofob land John son battled side by side under the Democratic standard. I cannot with m!ore brevity and perspicuity give the reason for this than by quoting the words of Judge. ISTesbit, another old "Whig, -written the next year, when he said, "The Democratic party was the o.nly refuge that the perils of the times had left for honest men," a sentiment now almost unanimous in the South, and .must largely prevail in tJhe North during tlhe next presidential campaign- The most distinguished features of Governor Johnsons administration were the maintenance and elevation of the States credit; to perfect our new railway system already begun, and to reiacih new and hidden sources >of weialtli; to make the Western and Atlantic Railroad a source1 of rev enue to the State; to foster pnblic education; to sustain .and perfeict the institutions for the insane, deaf and d^umfe, and blind; to reform the imperfections >of oiir militia sys tem and imbue the people with a military spirit; to hold v$he banks to a strict adcoTintaibility, withooit .emJbarrassing MEMORIAL. 287 them, on the idea that a sound currency "was necessary to a sound credit; to our}} special, private and local legisla tion., as dangerous in policy and wrong in principle; to discontinue rings formed to control legislation and to ac complish jobs by lobbying and bribing; to place the par doning power on its tame basis, and to maintain the rights, dignity and -equality of the State. His was a successful administration of our State government, and was the cul minating point of stability and brilliancy in. our States history, counting from our first orgianization until we were called to contend with the war. In November, 1857, Governor Johnson retired from the executive office and to private life. "While governor in 1856 he received a nattering vote in tJhe Democratic ISTotional convention for vice-president, but John C. Breckintridge received the nominatioii. During the interval from 1857 to 1860 Governor John son lived in. retirement at his plantation home in Jefferson county. In 1860 the disturbing elements that had been at work resulted in the division and disorganization of the ^National Democratic party. It resulted in the nomina tion of two Democratic tickets. The one supported iby the m-ain body of Southern Democrats was John C. Brecki-nridge for president, and James A. Lane for vice-presi dent; the other was Stephen A. Douglass for president, and Herschel V. Johnson for vice-president. I shall recur to this hereafter. The result was the election of Abrahiam Lincoln, a sectional president from tihe nortihem division of the Union, and as a. consequence, the secession of eleven Southern States, the organization of the Southern Oonfederalcy, and a war between the sections of gigantic, pro portions. When the convention of Georgia was assembled to decide 288 MEMORIAL. "what action tier people should take, Governor Johnson was returned as one of lihe delegates from the county of Jeffer son. I snail also hereafter allude to Governor Johnsons participation in this convention. In 1862 Dr. John W. Lewis, "who w>as. One off title Confederate Senators from Georgia, acting under the appointment of Governor Brown, realigned, and Governor Johnson was elected unsolicited to fill the vacancy. In December, 1863, Governor John son was again elected by the legislature to the Confederate Sen>art>e7 -and remained a member of tihJat foody until the surrendier of General Lee. Governor Johnson was elected to the State conventlon of 1865, called into existence by the proclamation of Andrew Johnson, then the president of the United -States, mid was chosen as the president Of that body. After the reorganization of the (State upion the plan of President Andy Johnson, Governor Johnson was elected in 1866 to the United States Senate, until the fourth of March, 1867, and again at the legislative ses sion of 1867 was elected for the succeeding full term of six years. Because of the action of the United States Congress in repudiating President Johnsons organization of the seceded States, Governor Johnson never took his seat under these elections. During all these -times, and until the ses sion of the legislature in 1872-73, Governor Johnson held no official position, remaining a citizen of Jefferson county. At that session he was -appointed and confimied judge of tihe superior courts of the middle circuit for eight years, which position he now holds and adorns. I believe I henre referred to all the positions, official and semi-official, which Governor Johnson has held. As the reader will perceive, they are many and varied. His life lias been an eventful one, aoid to make proper record of it would require a book instead of a few col-amns in a news- MEMORIAL. 289 paper. I can call, to mind other distinguished, citizens who have been longer in office or official positions, bait none who have held so many different places of public trust, and yet have been nearly iall the time in the public service. The prescribed limits for this sketch will not admit of elabora tion, and yet the right idea of Governor Johnsons official life cannot be given, without it, 13,rief reference and con trasted simimary must suffice. There are points in G-overnor Johnsons earecr that must receive special notice, or justice will not >be done him. The first is the difference with a large majority of his personal and. political friends in 1 860, and accepting a nom ination for vice-president on the ticket with Stephen A. Donglass. Whatever niay have been thought of Governor Johnson at this time, and for years subsequently, it is now patent that lie was right, and that his course was owing to his superior political sa.gaoity, prompted from the stand point of true patriotism. He was a dear lover of his coun try, and of the Union as the only true means of preserving it. The- process of dissolution had for many years been going on rapidly. All the protestant churches save, one had been sectionally divided, and the National "Whig* organ ization had been entirely destroyed. All -was the result of the an ti-slavery agitation. I1rani the ashes of the Whig party had sprung a sectional party, organized to wrong and oppress the South, that, ;but for the vote of a single State1 and that State was saved by less than, a thousand votes would have elected their president in 185G. The proba bility is that if the Democratic nominee had not been a >citizeii of Pennsylvania that State would not have been se cured, and the sectional candidate would have then been elected. Against all these potent elements of destruction there remained but one brake it was the Unions last nope; 19 290 MEMORIAL. thatwas the JSTational Democratic party. Mr. Calhonn in his speech in the Senate of the United States on the slaverv question, delivered March. 4th, 1850, had defined and pre dicted this very state of things. In substance, he said that the ecclesiastical and political organizations of the Union were the "cords" that held it together; that these had beer/ snapped one by one, and if the process continued until tffae two great political organizations then existing were divided, the dissolution of the Union would follow. In only two years more the National Whig party -went to pieces, a wreck o;n the anti-slavery rack. In 1856 the Democratic party had so suffered in numbers from the anti-slavery excitement, that it "was saved from defeat by less thian a thousand votes in the second State in the Union. In this condition the presidential campaign of 1860 presented itself, -with. Stephen A. Douglass as the only man who stood any !chan!ce of eonteenitiratdng on himself the Northern Democrats. Q-overnor Johnson saw and realized the situ ation. He ignored emoCratic majority in the United States Senate. As a matter of pure judgment, such policy, pronotmcing from the standpoint -of a historian, was unwise1 ; but hope was gone, the issue of forced emancipation by a violation of or a fraud upon the Constitution was imminent, and prior and subsequent events esteblisli that the only remedy wa.s forci ble resistance. The other point in G-overnor Johnsons career, of which special notice should be taken, was his vote and action in the convention of January, 1861, against secession. G-overnor Johnsons lionieist, strong conviction was tfhat for exist ing causes secession was unwise,uTinecesisary arid destructive. Plero, as on .all occasions, he responded to this conviction by alble and earnest efforts to defeat secession. He pre pared an able and elaborate report and resolutions against separate State action for present grievances. It -was the only regular counter proposition presented, and made the 292 MEMORIAL. issue clear and complete. He supported his policy with Lis usual candor, force and .ability. But a majority had resolved, a.nd it "vvas voted down. Finding the destiny o " his State fixed for secession, lie yielded acquiescence as a cit izen thereof in conformity with his long-established and cherished, opinion of the rights of the States under the Federal -compact. As I witnessed Governor Johnsons action in the convention, I likewise -witnessed his conduct in the privacy of his room.. His heart was heavy and his face was sad. He then foresaw, as well as human, vision could, that which was to transpire all the calamities that have befallen us as a people. In the future, whether in private or public station, he directed all his efforts to miti gate the horrors of that horrible war. Judged by the re sult, and having regard, to the conscientiousness of his mo tives, (Governor Jolinson again gave exliiibitiou of his supe rior political sagacity in opposing secession. The first political campaign that brought forth Governor Johnsons powers as a thinker and speaker was that of 1840. It "was the most exciting* one this nation has ever expe rienced. Those who have only knowledge of our presi dential campaigns since 1848 can have no adequate idea of that. There is no space to describe it. Suffice it to say that party rancor was at its highest pitch, and the people, including women and Children, were wild with excite ment. Governor Johnson was then, but twenty-eight years of age. His form was large and bulky, his face was smooth and beardless, and his entire make-up gave you the impression that he was only an overgrown boy. Expect ing not much when he arose, and from his evident trepida tion having this expectation yet more modified, you were soon to enjoy the surprise of listening to OTIC of the most powerful orators in the State or the Union. His bulky MEMORIAL. 293 form gave tyefc more force to his sledge-hammer blows. His oratory, although powerful, -was -without seeming de sign or knowledge of it on the part of the speaker. His words escaped without :the labor of utterance. His style was animated, but the animation of the speaker, like the effect of his telling oratory., was -unconscious. He simply discharg-ed his duty to the best of bis ability, and left the effect to take >care of itself. Tills campaign gave him. a State reputation. In the next presidential campaign, four years later, Gov ernor Johnson, found himself located at iMilledgeville, his name on the electoral ticket., :and in Alexander Stephcnss district. It was a AVhig district by an overwhelming and im reducible majority. "Little Aleck" was master of the situation and the pet of the district. It was Governor Johnsons duty and fate, from his locality and position., to confront Mr. Stephens on the atump. He (M!r. Stephens) had hitherto had comparatively an easy time of it, but no>w that he had to meet Johnson, all the powers of his mind were brought into requisition. He knew Johnson well. Classmates in college and close friends., he had met him in the society debates and other elocutionary exercises. He knew his native powers and the sprrng from which he had imbibed his learning. He knew that he had "to meet a. foenran worthy of his steel." Stephenss friends were con cerned as to tfhe conflict, and Johnsons were elated that "Little Aleick" was at last to "find his match." ITroHi Johnsons success in 1840 his political friends had named him the "Ooon Killer," that is, "Whig killer, -and they pro posed to make "Little Aleck 7 one of Johnsons victims. The debates began. It was soon, discovered that if Ste phens used ;a Damascus blade, Johnson ^vielded a batfcle-ax witfli the strength of -a giant. If he -chose to charge it was 294 MEMORIAL. with, tlie force of a battering-ram; if to defend, "the rocks would fly from, their firm base as soon as he." Just thirtytwo summers each had seen; both were born in the same year; both had graduated .at the same college; they -were friends in boyhood land members of tlhe same church. They were under Cireimisrfcances tlhe State champions in that con flict for their respective parties. All eyes in the State were turned to this .battle-ground. The J3emocrats, de spairing Of defeating "Little Aleck at the polls, hoped for a compensation, in his overthrow by Johnson in debate. The "Wings, knowing their champions election was certain, were only Concerned tbat he slhould sustain himself as heretofore in debate, and had every confidence he would. "WTien Stephens would get the advantage at one meeting. Johnson would set it off at the next. At various, times the fight was pronounced "as well -as a judge as in any other sphere die has filled. His mind is eminently judicial, and his administrative capacity is fully up to his mental standard. He there-fore prefers the quiet of the bench to the wrangles of the bar. He is just as strong a writer as he is an orator. He was specially employed by the party to edit the Federal Union during the guberna torial contest of 1845, and his editorials were admired by 296 MEMORIAL. friend and foe as models of thalfc kind of writing. Ills stylo is taken from the English classics of the days of Addison, andhence is distmgaiished for its combination of force and elegance. What is unusual with most men of his pro fession, he writes a. beautiful baivd, -and all his manuscripts arc wit/hout interlmeaitions or erasures. He is social in his nature and "given to hospitality." "Wliile governor he and his excellent lady entertained with u liberality and an elegance unsurpassed at the governors mansion. His lead ing Iraits of dharacter are integrity, firmness, Candor., a strong religious sentiment, and a courage that -will dare do T\Jhatever conscience dictates. In illustration of (fftic latter quality, in ea\rly life he selt his face against dueling, and no provocation or temptation could Shake him in his pur pose. Ho is, in short, one of those grand men wlio illus trates the past civilization of tho South. His is a type of manhood peculiar to the Sonith, and tfhc apprehension is that when he and. kindred spirits shall have passed away tthere will be none as good to take their places. .A sketch of -Governor Jolmson., however long or short, would lack completeness if there was not reference to tho elegant lady who Iras been ft lie sharer of his joys and his sorrows. Of the former they have had their full share, and of the laitter en-ougli in tihe dcatili of talented sons and lovely daughters. Governor Johnson has experienced the felicity of having his wife devoted to the gratification of liis laudable amibition. to make for himself >a uame and to live a. life of public usefulness. She is possessed of a supe rior mind, a,nd it lias received ithe highest culture. She graced the executive mansiJon and the plantation home -with the same simple -eleigance each rcc|uires. She is at onoe an ornament to refined society and tihe useful head of her domestic household. She has been to her husband an MEMORIAL. 2Q% indispensable friend arid counsellor, never failing to cheer and encourage him out of his naitura.1 p-roneness "to look at the clark side." She is one of the, Celebrated and numerous Southern family of Polk, which embraces among its mem bers a president of the United Spates and a bishop who drew his sword land fell in fihe cause of the South. Her father was a most distinguished citizen of Maryland, hav ing been for twenty years a justice of the supremo court of that State. Great -talents and sterling integrity are the family dharacreri sties. It is happy for the coimtry that Governor Johnson is enabled to continue his usefulness in the office of judge of the suprieme court. It is an office not, beneath tfbe dignity of tihe most exalted, and it is to be hoped that his health .and strength will enable him to discharge his duties as long as he desires, unless called by his fellow citizens, as he deserves to be, to some higher sphere of distinction and use fulness. This may be so, for Governor Johnsons popu larity Was always an unsought on!e. The people appre ciated and called for him. <5en. Thomas HMncfene\> Smith. I do not know if Gen. Thomas Pinckney Smith claimed the title of general, but he certainly was lawfully entitled toit. Away back in !tlhe forties wihen yet >a young man, he was. elected brigadier-general of the Second Brigade, thirteenth division Georgia Militia. The brigade consisted of all the arm-bearing citizens of the then counties of Baker, Thomas, and, "i think, Decatur. Tie succcded General Thomas. !E. Blaekshear, who resigned and moved to the far west. The real generals of the late war have superseded the militia generals of the ante-bellum peace establishment,, but there are yet lingering among us a few who trace mililtia title to that era. The general was elected when lieyet had aspirations to distinguish himself among his fellow citizens by success In law and politics, but alas, affliction soon laid its weighty hand upon him, and life had to aban don his profession, and every other pursuit for which he was fitted. The condition of his eyesight became such that lie conld not read or "write sufficiently to pursue any vo cation which required much of either. As mig-ht be in ferred, the cause which produced this affected his whole system and rendered him in fadt an invalid. An incident of his affection was peculiar so peculiar that I never knew or beard of any one similarly afflicted. He could not bear any illuminaltion. The brilliant electric, tlhe g-as, the lamp or the "tallow dip" were alike to him, and he had to retire to cornplelte darkness. But the brightest sunligvht he could stand by shading his eyes -with colored Spectacles., which he never used however until the latter Years of his MEMORIAL. 299 life. I first knew iilin in tlie spring -of 1844r, when lie re sided ait Albany., Ga., then in the grand -old county of Baker. That was his home when he Was elected general. I>uring -Ms residence there lie was prominent as a lawyer, but "was not adapted much to politics. He was too inde pendent in his demeanor, land too candid and caustic in his speech for a politician. He moved from Albany to Macon. Soon his physical infirmity alluded to became so great -as to force Ins retirement from practice. He was a native of the county of Laurens and Scared there when Laurens was one of the finest counties in the State. He studied law at Milledgeville, and I think under "William H. Torrence. This put the general in contact with the then very able local bar, and gave him knowledge of distinguished men in the various parts of the State. He personally knew Sanruel Rockwell, William H. Torrence, William Y. I-Iansell, Judge L. Q. C. Lamar, Judge John G. Polhill, Joel Crarwford, Seaborn Jones, John H. Howard, and many other distinguished larwyers who^e names I caniiot just noW recall. His memory of men and events datled as far back as the beginning of the political contest between Clark and Troup7 and being .a bright and appreciative youth, there grew up a friendship between him and GoveniOt Troup w^liicfh continued unitil tihc death of the governor. Valdosba, bhe governors plantation home in Laurels, was the political Meeca to Which many Georgians made tlrcir annual or semi-annual pilgrimages to have their faitih rene-\ved and strengthened by that eminent Georgian, and among the most faithful was General Smith. And such would come from distant Stlates to visit him. Tlie first time the writer saw the governor was in. the summer of 1849, when he was in the company of Mirabeau B. T^amar, of Texas, who had come from that State to visit his political father. 300 MEMORIAL. As long as General Smiths eyesight lasted him he was both a student and a reader. His information, derived from books as well as men, was extensive and interesting. He had a distiiictiveness of enuii elation, .a fluency of speech .aiid a fund of information that rendered him one of the most entertaining of talkers. He -was not more widely and better known because of his -affliction. His knowledge of old Georgians., of family history, of in feres1 ting topics that, it may do to talk of but not to publish, was greater than that of any one in my knowledge. Pie knew incidents in the lives of British and American celebrities that could be found nowhere except in the rare old books of the Astor library, or had been related to him by some old antiqua rian long since sleeping the eternal sleep under the daisies. JVfaTiy young men. and yOUiig women, noticing this quaint old gentleman upon some street of our Georgia cities, and not kilo-wing who he was, would be surprised beyond description to learn that lie knew more of their ancestors than they did. He could perhaps tell each arid all the maiden names of their grandmotheirs, and perhaps of their great-grandmothers what they did not know themselves, nor could -knjOW in any other way. The death of General Smith makes the third in the course of a few years of itihe best informed upon modern Georgia history and Georgia people. The others are "William H. Sparks and Cinciniiatus Peoples. I had the pleasure of having several conversations with the latter during his last illness. fie was more mtcr^ltimg than lie over had been, and I could not help reflecting upon the precious mconories that mufet with him soon perish, never to be revived. IRobett TRa^monb IRcib. Very few of the "living have ever beard of Judge Reid, for he has beexi in his grave for more than forty years. While lie ridhly deserves to live in the memory of men, like many other Celebrities of preceding generations., he has been, except to a few, either forgotten, or never known. The appreciative reader -who has never heard of him will be struck with a name so alliterative and melodious. It furnishes one of those few instances in life where the real name is as bcau!tifnl as any the prolific brain -of Idie novel ist -can produce. The coincidence does not stop here, for this euphonious name was linked with high gifts of person and mind, and a roiiuantic as well as -a useful life. The career of Jiidge Reid is another illustration of tihe old. adage "that truth is Stranger t-han fiction." He died at the age of fif ty-Oii;e, and yet there was crowded into a eornparatively short space of inamhood life more events than pertain to any other civilian ^vithin my kno^wledg-e. These events, whether of a private or puJblic nature, are important enough to record; and when taken altogether, read like romance. 1 shall only briefly refer to them, for the extracts from his private journal herewith published will give a better idea of his life and character than the best I coTiM write. He -\vill be best known and nrvdorstood when lie speaks for himself. He was a ivative of Prince Williams parish, Soutih Carolina, and his birthday was the eighth day of September, 1789. He went to School at Beaufort, Savan nah and Augusta, and was graduated at the University of South Carolina. Before lie had atrtainec! his twenty-finst 302 MEMORIAL. year .lie was admitted to the bar and beg-an at one itime f OUT years, and at another six years, reducing (his Whole married life to twenty years. There were five cLildren of the first man-ill ere, none of the sedoincl, -and one (Surviving -of the la;3t a son. mamed RaymOnd Jen-ekes. Tlie oldesit dan-gtlitermarried her Cousin, Charles -Blaek, who removed to Florida and soon died. His widow married Oapt. James Graharn, of fhe TJniited States anmy, ibut died before her father. Jnrlg-e lleids son, James W. 1-.., became inidshipmaii in tlie Ignited States navy, aind *\v:as i-oist in a gale off Oape Horn, witJh every Sloul on board. The diaugliter Rosalie died at the age of Seveiilteen, and liis daiiglnter JTloPida FOTsyth married Lieulteniaiit _F. L. Dancy. !Both yefc survive, and are residing on the St. Johns river. The son Kobert Raymond is, X think, yet living, and at Falatka, Tla. I do not know if theother son, KiaymOrid Jenckes, is living or not. The Charles Black named Was the brotfheir of Edward J.. MEMORIAL. 305 Black. They were orphan iiephews >of Judge Reid, and were reared by Mm. Edward J. was much like his uncle in tfhe brilliancy of his intellect,-tfhe polish of Ms manners, iirid his chivalrie bearing. Judge Iteid lived to $&e Ms paternal care >and lalbor rewarded in tlhe high stand EdWard J. took at tihe faar, arid in Ms election I bo Congress in 1838. He was gerrymandered out of Congress in 1844, and died in 1849. His life, though, shiest, Was full -of interesting <>vents. For expei-ta ess in debate, and readiness and bril liancy of repartee, lie had no superior, if indoed an equal, in Georgia. I cannot trust myself to write of him. When I was a boy of twelve he Won my admiration, which in after life reached enthusiasm. Some day I may sketch him, but cannot hope to do him justice, so exalted is my opinion of him. George R. .Black is his son. After tiiis episode, and as appropriate to Judge Reids marriages, and likewise illustrating his poetical tempera ment and nobility of soul, I will introduce a few lines from some verses lie wrote at his last marriage, which he styled THE OLI> MAIN'S WEDDJKQ. Alas ithat deatCh sltould ever set His seal on such, precious clay, Alas tfhf fond regret Should elDiid my weddling day. There are tT\no graves in a. distant Land, And tears have watered them we/11; Even wMle I clasp this lovely hand "Wlh!at ita-Tes does memory tell. Oh, I love the dead, the old man said, The more wiaen, I look on thee, For tne blighted blossoms that long- have fled Cofme back and blo'om for me. These were not this only verses, for the poetic sentiment and idea are inseparable from one of his culture and emo- 20 306 MEMORIAL. tions. Occasionally lie yielded to the impulse and -wroteshort; poems of merit. One called the "Sick Mans Dream" is peculiarly so. The most touching incident in the life of Judge Iieid? as deduced from his journal, is the pride that he showed in the promotion o> his son James to command in the n;a.vy, and the anxiety manifested for ihis safety while in danger, and. his grief e worth re peating-, nps of the United States Exploring Expedition. On the fourth side Lieut. Underwood and Midshipman Henry fell by the MEMORIAL. g07 jhand of savages while promoting Hie Cause of science and philanthropy at Mololo, one of the -Fiji group of islands^ July 24, 1840. "Past Midshipmen Read and liaeoii werelost at sea oft Cape Horn., 1839. " For most of tlio facts given I am indebted to tihc beauti ful and intores ting sketch of Judge Keid by Stephen. i\ Miller, in his ".Beiicllv and Bar of Georgia." I will let tliat noble and kindjhea.rted gentleman tell the story of Judge lieids death, and of two other members of his house hold. 3Eillcr says: "The reader will at oiice cOnlclude that toa heart so affedtio-nafe as t-hat of G-overnor Keid, to a nature of siioli. exquisil;e sensibility, this bea-eiR. vein cut (the loss of his son. at sea.) \vas iiiirleod over\v*l)_el ruing. JSTo attero.pt will be made to describe tire aiig-uish of a father oai such an oeeasiom. He continued bo discharge his official duties, and those of a oiitizen, huslbaiid and fatiher, in. liis iiswal bland and faithful manner. But the ladt. scene is at, hand, and the earthly Career of Ilobert Kaymoiid Keid is soom to close.. On. the 28Uli day of Time, 184-1, be \Vas seized \vitli fever at -Bilackwood, his residence, seven miles from Tall-ahassee. PTis .daughter .Rosalie was likewise ill under the same roof. ^iiodical aid was cabled in witliout effect, and on bhfe tlhircl day G overnor Keid wilth a tranqu il spiri t yielded ihis soiil to his maker. Without knowing her orphanage, tlio gentle "Rosalie, in her seventeenth year, fol lowed her father to u better "world the next day. On the 10th of July his graniddaughter, Rebecca Black, a lovely girl in her twelfth yea.r, also passed away a.nd rested in the third fresh, grave at Blackwotod ! Tt was indeed a horvge of mourning;. Tdie death of Governor Reid credited a deep sensation in the public mind. Ho was a mlan of exalted qualities." If 308 MEMORIAL. history is of any value if at is pleasant, enitertaining or profitaible ito read, of persfcms and events of preceding- generat-ionis, having a loOaT e Phil Tracy I knew, for he was killed at Slrarpsburg and buried on the battlefield. If his remains had ^ever been taken away tiney wOuld nave been carried to the lovely Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Q-eorgia,iand would be beside .those of his brother Ed, embioso^med in ifJhcir native soil." The Georgian, -would tKen surmise that the slab must marfk the g-rave of amotlier man of the sanio name. But then, there is tliat aoincidence of date of death that 17th of September, 1862 Sharpsburgs bloody day; the sigiiificance of that cannoit be reasioned away. "liut if tbe sleeper was slain at Sharpsburg, as we Have it, or at Antietam, as the Federals have it, why not eay so? Truly, death in batitle is the noblest of all deaths; 310 MEMORIAL. and if -this is not put txn he soldier's tomb the dead is rdbbed by the living of his laurels. The solution !tftien becomes easy. Tracy is a northern name; the battle-date is only n Coincidence. Here lies a man of the same name who died on tilie game day, but is a different, man, and died the death of nature. Uirt, stranger 01* Georgian, whoever you may be, your conclusion, is svrong. Ik is the grave of Phil Tnacy. of jMacon, Georgia, -who was killed ait the battle of Sharpsburg; .ami, reader, I will make tihe necessary explanation. After the successful repulse of ilcCLellan, General Lee, with bis wasted and wearied array, had to cross tlie Pofo-iiiac with all possible celerity. This left tlie enemy in pos session of the field and our dead, and tilie on;ly access fneret j for a long time was from 'the Federal side. Phil Tracy had a kind miolc residing at !I3artavia, X0w York, -w>io, liear ing- of his sad fate, dispatched a trusty messenger in search of his remaiirs. That messenger was successful in finding them, where they had been iirterred with oitiTier officerc.miradeg. He knew Phil well, and the identification. wa,s free from, any doubt from a iriark winch v/ill be made to appear in the sequel. The whole country from there to Washington and Baltimore swarmed irith Federal troops. Tlie aitiiiiOsity engendered by Avar -was then in full frui tion, iand it was not only certain that the body of a rebel would not be permitted by tlie soldiers to -be taken 3STorth, hut the life of the messenger would be endangered. Every thing for tran&porfcaltiori was prearranged with as much cau tion and secrecy as possible, and when the preparations were all made the body was passed through the lines as thait of a Federal officer who had fallen in the late bloody battle. In this guise it was escorted to Batavia and so buried; not, however (uotwithstanding the delicacy and difficulty MEMORIAL. H1 1 of the task), without "-Christian burial/ for the service of the English Church was performed over the remains. The monument, in the style described, was soon placed over the grave, and the inscription was th/iis meager because in the then, state of the public mind there was imminent dan ger that the stone would be rased or defaced. It 13 not so now. The time has at last arrived \vhou these interesting facts may be made public. ]STo one will now desecrate the grave of the dear and gallant dead; and Phil will there rest unmolested until "the arch an gels trumpet shall sound," uii1]ess his friends or relations should oho-ose to bring his precious dust to mingle with his native soil. This state me nt would fail of completeness unless some reference is made to Phil Traeys career as a soldier, in cluding the circumstances of his death. At the election of the officers of the Sixth (Col. A. H. Colquitts) .Regiment, Mr. Tracv was elected major. Tilthor to he had paid no attention to military matters; physical infirmities had prevented.. ITe was tOO lame to march, and his vision too defective to sufficiently see. jSTevertheIcss, when the strife came he claimed no exemption by reason of either or both, and came promptly to the fronlt to undertake the duties of an. able-bodied man. He applied himself diligently, and soon made himself a proficient offi cer. At the battle of "Seven Pines" or "Fair Oaks" he was twice wounded. The first was in the fa.cc, stunning him; and before ho recovered from this he was shot through the log, between the knee arid the hip, and fell. This was in May or June, 1862. Pfc was furlougibed and. came home to have his wounds healed. Before he got well the second battle of Manassas was fought and our army had marched into Maryland. Major Tracy chafed to return to his command, and such was his zeal and anxiety that he 312 MEMORIAL. left While the wound in (his log "was yeit unhealed >to return. to his command. He went by way of Richmond, and tarried there for days perhaps. His friends, seeing his condition, and knowing that with his wounds he was physically dis qualified, for a soldier, tried to pcrsiiade him to apply foT and obtain a discharge, about which there was not a doubt. But the same pride, courage and patriotism that caused him to enter the -service "would not accept an honor able discharge, altihough. bearing upon his person the scars of two "wounds received in one battle. Forward tfo the front was his word, and laiotion. At iiighJtfaill, or a little (thereafter, on the night just before the battle, he, with several other officers and men, arrived at Harpers Ferry. It was miles : to -the line of battle. It -was night, and the rivers to cross; yet some time between midnight and day this wounded, lame, and almost blind Southerner reported himself for the terrible duty of next day at General Golquitits headquarters. He, -with the gonei-al and other officers of the Sixth G-eorgia, took before it was yet light his rough. Confederate camp meal, and then -went to his death. The fight began ait early dawn jMJdClellans seventy thousand fresh, and rested and well-fed troops against General Lees thirty-five thousand wearied and hungry. The battle ^don became general iand sanguinary. The regiment and brigade to- which jMJajor Trac-y belonged suffered with exitr&rn)o severity. All the field officers in command of tJhe regiment were killed. These were Ueuteniant-Colonel ISTewton, Major Tracy, and the senior .captain acting aa maj-or, Captain Plane, I believe; true it is, anyway, that Captain Plane was among the slain. There Levi Smith and Mar-eelhis Douglass, "both colonels,, received their death-wounds, and died upon the field. There were other distinguished Georgians killed not now MEMORIAL. 313 remembered; and in fact, in that battle -the Georgia blood shed was plentiful and e>onspicoious in 'the nobble men from whose veins the life-streams poured like water. It was there that General Lawton received his very painful, dis abling and permanently^affecting wound; (and General Gordon his five, so deep and so dangerous that his recovery may stand comparison with miracles. All things con sidered, it was the hardest battle of the m-any hard ones of that fearful struggle. There the Confederates showed not only their usual courage and daring- in an unusual man ner, but a spirit of subordination and a power of endurance unequaled before or since. Conifrouted by more than double their number of well-appointed and well-equipped troops, they, worn and hungry, with the broad Potomac between them and their territory, saved the fortunes of. the Confederacy, bu)t saved, alas, only to be lost at Gettysburg and "Vicksburg! The best account we have of JVTa jor Tracys death is that about nine oclock -a. m. he was shot through the: thig^i, sever ing the artery. Falling-, u less wounded comrade hobbled to him and offered his assistance, but the major told him to save himself, it was all over with him. Purer or brighter spirit never "winged its flight from the carnage of a battle field than when Phil Tracy drew his last breath. A;t that moment, my friend, you might have been in the midst of comfort and enjoyment at M-aeon. -or RicJiinond, and no one would have reproached you in deed, word or thought! If you only had not been so swift to arrive at Harpers Perry, or had tarried there (as others did) till the coming dawn, your sweet life, your genial temper anld your sur passing mental endowments would have been saved to fam ily, friends and country! But no! you chose to follow the lead of conscience and duty, to sacrifice your life with all 314 MEMORIAL. its present charms and yet brighter future, that your prin ciples might prevail and your Country be saved from the heed of "tlio conqueror. Looking to what is now sad his tory, and you chose the better and happier part. The un fortunate Southerner now is lie who is cursed with life the fortunate, he who is "blessed with death. It is meet tlhat a few of the more prominent facts in the history of such .a heroic soul should accompany this plain but heartfelt tribute. He was the oldest son of Judge Ed ward T_). Tracy, of HVTaoOii, Georgia, and was there born about the year 1830. His brother, and only brother of that marriage, was ~R. T3. Tracy, Jr., a brigadier-general in our servic^ who was killed at Port G-ibson, Mississippi, whither Member ton had dispatched G-cneral Bowcii with six thou sand, men. l!o dispute Grants passage of the river "\virh sixty thousand. 13o1 wen was there also killed another gallant natrve Georgian (of Savannah). General Tracys remains being within our lines liErve been borrie to Rose Hill Cemetery. Phil, after taking his academic course at home, was sent to Yale. Returning from thenee he was admitted to the bar, but bediorc entering on tlio practice edited the Macon Telc.gra.ph^ first under the wing of that nestor of the Georgia press, Samuel J. Hay, and then by himself. ^Retiring from the paper, be began the practice and became eorineicted with TToii. Barnard Hill and Hon. iliomas P. Stubby under the lirni name of Stubbs, Hill & Tracy. "While in this connection, and rapidly rising in liis profession, in th e year 1859 he was elec ted to the State Senate. He had married the beautiful and wealthy Miss Gariic Ea^vls, then Mrs. Walker, but before the tocsin of war she and their babe had seen the last of earth. Major Tracy 011 his fathers side was descended from the Traeys of LitcHfield; Connecticut, who were among the MEMORIAL. 315 original settlers of that place. A few years "beforethe war, .at a centennial celevation of tftie settlement, Donald G. jSlitchell, more generally koiown as Ike Maryel, delivered the oration and referred to Jndge Tracy of Georgia, and liis "broijhers of !N"eiw York, as desceoided from the Original Tracys. The brothers of [TSTew York were Albert- and l*hmeas, -botih of "whom have represented tlieir State in Congress. Both were men of magnificent minds, and tho form/er made great fame as a lawyer. There is no G-eorgia lawyer of m-udh experience but lias found in liis researches the finished and scholarly judgments ol the ISTew York Senate ;as pronouneed by Senator Tracy. Judge Tracy (Phils father) -was a man of the first order >of ability, and excelled as a wit and humorist. Many are the anecdotes of him tradition brings to the present generation of lawyers, ifajor Tracy on his mothers side was a Oanipbcll. His mocher -was a sister of Duncan G-. Campbell, an able law yer and politician of Georgia, belonging- to the generation preceding this. H~e was ^the right arm" of old Jack Clark in his terrific contests witih Crawford and Tronp, and his memory is beloved by foe as -well as friend. Pfe -was the father of our John A. Campbell,, n:ow an oppressed sub ject of !Louisia.na, but a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States when it was the tribunal of a constitutional republic. Philemon. Tracy exhibited a large share of the talent which legitimately -was his birthright on the pater nal and maternal side. As an orator, ho approached the best; as a conversationalist he was brilliant; but as a writer he excelled, including1 himself in his departments of ora tory and coTiversiaitroii. To give anything like an accurate idea of his excellence as a writer in thus surpassing1 (him self in CoalversatiOii, it can be stated that he was one of the very few we meet in as judge of the Southwestern circuit of the State of Georgia, in which was embraced nearly all the counties now marking the Albany Circuit, he had the largest experience with murder cases in the county of Mitchell. Amorig the trials in fliat county at -\vhicli he presided was -one whe^e the prisoner, &. farrruer, sihot another farmer, a prominent citizen of the county, in the broad light of day at his own door, with, -a double-barreled shotgun. Another, in which a highly respected citizen had shdt in cold blood a young physician for a suspected interference: with his do mestic rights. Another in "which a son had killed his father in a fight that the old man of sixty-five had been prexnoditatedly proVolced into by a conspiracy of tho son with his sister, who added -arid abetted, to prevent his con templated marriage. In the cases first and last mentioned the prisoners were found not guilty, and in the second there -was a mistrial. But it is not about either of these 320 MEMORIAL. cases I propose to- write, but yet of another of a darker hue, in which, two murders had been. ooiiMn.itted iat different times, the second as a, means o" -concealing the first. There resided at the then small village of Camilla, $ie county seat of Mitdhell county, Ga., not very long" ago, that since children hiave been bora arid married, and have had children born unto thorn, -an elderly -widow named "Wooley. Her humble abode was in the northern edge of the vil lage. 13ut huanble as it was, it was her own, and there she lived in all the -comfort she desired, surrounded by her cows, her pigs .and her poultry. Another citizen of Camilla "was the "village blacksmith/ an honest and hardy sort of the Emerald Isle, named Timotihy OBryan. Timothy, somehow and somiewhere,, liad the misfortune to los! one of his legs, for which he had sub stituted -&. rude wtooden. one, and thus the "even tenor of his way" was always roughened by the limp and the noise of his wooden, leg. There had grown up between Timothy and the widow, arising 110 doubt from their mutual sympatSiy in their loneliness, an attachment of a plationic or friendly nature. At least, from the kind -of feelings the villagers had for both, it "was seen Only in that light, except when some evildisposed person w^onld venture ian insinuia^tion, for wihadh he was sure to be reproved in such manner that he quickly became ashamed -of himself and never repeated the offense. Tinrothy hoarded with the widow. The home of -one was the home of the other. They interfered witth no one; did all the good they could, and nobody disturbed them. They were getting along quietly, peacefully and happily. While during hours of labor Timothy would be pointing the plows of tftie planters or welding tihjeir broken axles, the widow would be working in her garden or attending to her Varians MEMORIAL. 321 domestic matters. It was suspected by some that sTre, by a life of thrift and economy, had feomtewhere secreted in lier house the traditional stocking filled "with coin. Such was the condition K>f these two humble Citizens when Salban entered their rustic paradise, and entered it nat bo tempt, but to destroy. Suddenly., witboult news of his coming, or explanation after his coming, there appeared among the hlonesfc and happy villagers a man. wlio called himself John J. Taylor. ITo was a large, rough man, without an attractive quality of any sort that could be seen. But, nevertheless, from the foundation of Ithe World evil spirits have exercised a control ling- influence over good ones, and -the ervil spirit of Xaylorcharmed the good one of OBryan, and won his friendship and -confidence. As a consequence, -he was given shelter -and food at the home of the widow, and there for :a short period the three lived in apparent harmony. The month of October or ^November, 1863, came in the round of time, and found this to ibe tihe situation, but a separation soon too-k place by the departure of OBryan on a mullet fishing expeditiOn, as Wias ihis yearly halbit, tio tihe gulf coast of Florida, which preceded the tragic events I am to relate. OBryan and the widow by tihis time had every doaifideaiee in the st^a.nger, -aji!d OBryan left him in charge of his business until his return :ait tihe end of the month. N'O't long after OBryans departure Che neighbors missed j\Irs. "Wooley. rJjhiis coniti-imed from, day to day, "until they, filled witlh aipprethonsion, sought -an explamation from Xayltor. He said rat Mrs. "Wooleys request he had taken her to tihe village of ^Newton, ten miles distanit, where sihe had taken the stage for her former home in South Carolina, and bad le*ft him to sell he*r effects anid forward proceeds. T^aylor was selling all tihe property he could find purdhasers for. 21 322 MEMORIAL. At this juncture OBryan. -was -written of the startlingchange in affairs since liis departure. He -came back as fast as lie could and Taylor made him the same explana tion. OBryan satisfied himself that this was false, and then. Taylor told him other stories, but finally said he had. taken her to a certain house in the upper portion of Lee couuty, Ga.j and stuck to :tfhat. OBryan, yc-t unsatisfied, demanded he should go With him to Lee county to find jYFrs. "Wooley, and they started on the journey. Albany, in Dougherty county, "was on the route, arid the tiwo passed through that town on their way to Lee. Ou the next day in the afternoon they came again to Albany on. their re turn, and while there, OLVyan having, as some brother Irishman, kenned it, "the failing so common. rto his country men," "went with Taylor to a, barroom to drink. While there OBryau got "in his cupis," and could talk of notliing else but the disappearance of Mrs. "Wooley, and gvot up a so mi-quarrel with Tavlor. Irinally the tiino came ivhen they must leave for Caonilla. On crossing the bridge over Flint river the road to- Camilla in ia very short dis tance turnis directly to the right, -while the road to Isa bella, in AVorth county, is the straightforward road. After several clays, when tHie circumstances of their leaving Albany had ceased to be talked of, a citizen com" ag to Albany by the Isabella rdad discovered about six miles from the former a nocik Of bux^ards perdhed on a log a few hundred yards from the road, and on going there found a dead body, which proved to be that of OLSryan. It was evident he bad been murdered by being knocked in the head with ;a bludgeon. Taylor drove down, to Camilla and there explained tlie aibsence of OBryan by anOther lie. The finding of O.Bryans body led to his immediate arrest and imprisonment. The people of Oamilla were then MEMORIAL. 323 satisfied, lie liact murdered Mrs. Wooley, and they set about searching for her remains. They looked everywhere they TOiild think of, but "without avail. At last, on a Sabbath, afternoon, while a few citizens were taking a Walk through a small field on the south side of the village, Where small grain had been planted the preceding season, a small area of ground without stubble, and that had the appearance of having been turned up, (claimed their attention. They grabbled in the ground, found the dirt loose, went a little further, and in. some two feet -of the top f oumi the head of a corpse, which proved to be that of Mrs. "Wooley, buried in an upright position, a.nd pressed down as far as possi ble. This field was in an exactly opposite direction from Mrs. Wooleys house, with the village intervening, and a mile therefrom. The supposition was that he had mur dered her and at night had carried her body around tlie village, a distance of a mile arid a half. As Mrs. WooleyJ s body had not been found, arid there was no positive evi dence against him, and as neither had any relations in the county, lie argued that if he could kill OBryan and suc cessfully hide his body, he would have all they both had and would escape detection. Besides, knowing he had mur dered Mrs. Wooley, if he took OBryan back he would persist in the investigation as to her whereabouts until her body might be found, and the murder thus discovered. The murder of OBryan was in. the county of Dough, erty, but the superior court of Mitchell coming on. first, T aylor was there put upon his trial for the murder of jMrs. Wooley, and -was easily Convicted. There was ..no incident of his trial worth relating, except when asked why sentence should not be pronounced upon Lim, he charged the murder upon a respectable citizen of the county as the perpetrator, aided by one or two others. 324 MEMORIAL. Horrified at (the mans brutal crimes, he intensified the in dignation of every one by accusing innocent men -of it. Tliis was the climax of his brutality, and I recall him as tile only being I had ierver seen in trouble for whom I did not have some pity, however criminal he may have been. "When the law gets sucli Creatures down they stand helpless in the presence of its vengeance. Taylor wias executed as soon ias it could leg-ally be done on "the spot where lie buried his victim, poor Urs. Wooley. On the scaffold he denied that murder, but in a general ^v-ay Confessed to many otheirs. He, however, gave no account of himself, or -clue to tjhe ascertainment, and to this day it is not kno-wn -inhere he came from, -what had been his business, or any lof his antecedents. It is not even known that his name -was Tiaylor. The supposition is t>hat be was some man steeped in crime, who was hiding from justice, perhaps .an escaped convict. And it is tfbese facts wbich give to his horrid crimes the tinge of romance. Them* Joseph 16. UBrown. EDITOR'S NOTE. It may truly "be said that the real beginning of ex-Senator Joseph E. Browns political life was when, unsolicited and unsought, he found himself in 1857 the democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia. His name was not before the convention, which had met for the pur pose of nominating a gubernatorial candidate, and it was through a series of unlocked for circumstances that the mantle of nomination found its way to the late lamented ex-Senator. It was to him as great a surprise as it could have been to any one. The balloting occupied two days. When it began the first ballot was cast with the following named gentlemen in nomination : J. H. Lumpkin, 112; H. G. Lamar, 97; James Gardner, 100; HWarner, 53; William H. Stiles, 3-5. The balloting continued until the twentieth ballot was cast. It was plainly a deadlock and something was necessary to be done in order to secure harmonious action. Mr. Hope Hull, of Clarke county, moved that a committee composed of three from, each congressional districl be selected by the representatives of the various districts. This motion was carried, and the following named delegates composed the committee. First District R. Spalding, of Mclntosh ; G. A. Gordon, of Chatham; William Wiohola, of Clinch. Second District C. J. "Williams, of Museogee; N. MoBain, of Sumter; J. A. Tucker, of Stewart. Third District R,, H. Clark, of Bibb; J. Ramsay and B. F. "Ward, of Butts. Fourth Disttiot--H. B. Cannon, of Coweta; W. T. Thurmond, of Fayette; W. Phillips, of Cobb. Fitth District J. W. H. Underwood, of FLoyd; E. W. Uhastain, of Fannin ; W. Shropshire, of Chattooga. Sixth District S. J. Smith, of Towns; J". B. Roberts, of Hall; H. Hull, of Clarke. Seventh District L, Stephens, of Hancock; William McKinley, of Baldwin ; J. M. Lamar, of Newton. Eighth District I. T. Irwin, of Wilkes; A. C. Walker, of Rich mond ; E. II. Pottle, of Warren. Of all this committee there are now just three alive Judge lli.cb.ard H. 326 MEMORIAL. Clark, Weslcy Shropshire, who is ninety-four years old, and W. Phil lips. It is Judge Clark who is "best ahle to tell the story of the nomina tion of Joseph E. Brown, and he does it over his own signature: Govern/or Brown tand Z met for title first time in. the Georgia Senate of 1849, He was twenty-eight years of iage and I was twenty-five. His service in -tihat body at that session was the foundation of his future reputation. He showed himself to Tie a man of great firmness of character, of great wisdom and a fine logician. He could not be called an orator in t(he usual acceptance of that term, but he spoke upon nothing1 >of importance -without exhausting the argument. Subsequent to that he became the judge of what is now the Blue Ridge circuit, and in that position added to his already acquired rep-uteri on. He occupied that position in 1857, when the State Democratic conven tion, met for the purposie of nominating a candidate for governor. Tlie then most prominent candidates were Jolin H. Lumpkin, outside -of ;Oh.erokee, Georgia, make tihat proposition to the committeemen from that section. MEMORIAL. 329 "Widen we met in committee tftiie proposition -was made that we select a eamdidate on the white basis., -winch, was but .another method, of arriving at the nomination of Jolin lamipkin. I -opposed that, by saying, fas I had to ]VTr. Stephens, tlhat the only method of pacification was to name a man, and tihat tire delegates from Cheroke should have that right. George A. Gordon, a delegate from tihe county of Ghat ham, proposed that a private, and there is no-thing to show in the roster nor otherwise any difference between him and the other privates. He, like nearly all, perh apS every one of that organisation, now makes one ii\ the roster -of lli-c nations dead. A few years before the death of Gaptaln McMahon there were only five sur vivors, and lie the only officer. The organization yet flourishes, but we presume contains not a man who went to Mexico wMi it, which Shows hoW, while all tjhe men must die, the company may live. Morel has beesi dead nearly forty years. He left ITO record of himself, and there are but. few living who remember him, and yet he makes one of the thousands of heroes who die "unhonorcd and unsung-," and for whom no tears are shed except by the very near of his own blood. He was a native of Effingham comity, and one of the many ehildreTi of Benjamin Morel and Susan jVLorcl. His father was of the stock of the Os- abaw Ivlorels, and his mother a daughter of Henry Giriflrat a iraime once well known, but now nearly ex tinct. Morels full name "was Homer "Virgil, and he went by the mime of Honncr. Parents of the olden times were prone to name their children for great prophets or great poets. Tf it was not Moses, or Daniel, or Jeremiah, or Elijah, it would be Homer, Horace, "Virgil, or Milton, and 332 MEMORIAL. occasionally all eombined. These were more popular even than WashingfcoTi and !N~apoleon. He was only a country boy. His duties were to appropriately serve on tire planta tion., where there were -a moderate number Oae counts only for this s ort of droams. I have in my dream looked down a long dining-table at which wore seated -elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen never seen in real life and the countenances of every one 1 would take in. In a dream I have been, in a gallery of paintings great in number and variety took them all in and remembered some. My imagination is incapable awake to create eitfher the countenances or the pictures. Where is the foundation in nature or reason for /such dreams? Hay not some ancestor near or remote have seen such, and tliey are inherited im- 336 MEMORIAL. pressions which cam only "be manifested by the involuntary powers of the mind? And yet there are otiher kinlds of dreams that cannot be accounted for thus, as per illustration those dreams wMdh come to piass and. the real events come after instead of be-fore jtihe dreams. After all, dreams are among the great unsolved mysteries of nature. The lesson taught by experience -aaad history, however, is wo ought not with certainty to set down as false miraculous dreams because we cannot understand them. MJay iihey not be the temporary evidence- of the spiritual part of the Im-man the coming event that casts its shadows before? "WiPh an apology for this crude episode, we will resume the narrative of our adventurous country boy. After get ting homo from the Gasltle of Perote he had not more tihan time far recuperation, from his long imprisonment and hardships when, -war was declared bdtween the United States and Mexico. This was most joyous news to Homer. ]STothing1 claTinte-d or dlishearfcened by his long and bititer experience, he quickly put himself in condition to again invntle JVIexico. {Perhaps his adventurous spirit was some what quickened by the desire "to get even" -with "the greasers," and, to a certain degree, he did, as the sequel will show. He went to Savannah and joined the Irish Jasper Greens that old oonnpaiiy had gallantly volunteered for the service. That accounts for his -name on their roster, lie served with, theim during their term of enlistment, but ac the end of one year file regiment to whidh that company belonged "was mustered ;oufc of -service, dust at tihat time General Scott "was organizing an :army of invasion for the City of Mexico -via Vera Cruz. Morel, with some other mustered out troops, re-enlisted in the regular army. He rras in the march from Vera Cruz to the Gity of Mex ico, but only as Private Morel. It was glory enougSi for MEMORIAL. 337 his nature to Carry a musket and fight in the ranks. One of the battles, that of Ghuirubusco, -was near the monument reared to the glory of Mexico and the shame of the Texans. A eoonpany of soldiers, under Captain McKInstry, leveled it to the ground and scattered the fragments so that as a monumenlt it no longer existed. In that company was Morel, (and others of the ilier prisoners. It -was strange it "was like retribution on this earth. that in a short time the men Who had suffered as prisoners, and as such were liberated, should return and participate in fthe demolition of that monument intended to perpetuate, their disgrace. At tiho close of the "War he again returned to the home of his nativity to rest and -recuperate. He again engaged in the work and sports of his boyhood, and so continued until the event I shall soon state. It was not long, perhaps not a year, when after a. hunt in tlhe Savannah river swamp, he was returning home carrying a double-barrel gun. To get home he had tto go up a steep and marrow paith, worn, deep into the ground until >a mans head would be hid, used at <3rindra>tis Landing1, one mile below" Sisters Ferry, to go on foot down to the river, when he stumbled and fell. The fall caused the discharge of the gun. The load went into his body and killed him instanitly. Here we have the in stance of a man who had returned unscathed from six years of active military service, divided into two terms, . killed by Hamlet, that a man "miglit his quietus make with a bare, bodkin"; or of the ill luck described in the hook of Amos, "As if ;a man did flee from a lion and .a bear met him, or went into a house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him." 338 MEMORIAL. This casualty Oceurred in 1849, when tfhe deceased lacked aiboiit a year of .being thirty years of age. Nearly forty years h:a.vo passed since his deatfh, and but few arc living "wilio remember him. Soon there "will be none, and the dramatic story of his life would never be fold. Of four rhroit!lvcrs and four sisters comprising the family of his parents, but one brtotlher amd one sist.er survive. He was as I said a plain country boy, but he was the typo of many, of that day who went out into the world and by their own exertions made tihemselves fatine or foT-tu-ne, or botli. If lit had had ambition added to his other virtues he might have been distinguished. His education -was limited ob tained at the country schoolhouse and the county academy, but nevertheless sunreient as a foundation for a useful life. He was fall, slender, erect and manly in his bearing. "While amiable in his temper, loving in his heiart auid soft in. his manners, he had the courage of the bravest. He hjas, as I said, left no record of his achievements and held no office, but nevertheless ho was as genuine a hero as the most distinguished. He performed his part, with valor and fidel ity and tillat is as much as tihe best and bravest can do. There aro -tfhose who love [his memory las mUCh as if he had acquired disltinetkm. And this is tlic story of Private 3Vf orol of Qacnw lie engaged in the military expedition from Texas against the Mexieams, a., and they -wore the parents of the first Mrs. Joseph Thomp son and of Mi^s. IBroiwji Morgan. AValter T. Col quit t was a lawyer, -a circuit judge, a ropresentaltiv and senator in -the United States Congress, and a local MetHiodist minister. His motiher -vvas.a Holt, on:e of a numerous old Greorgla family, to wfhioh belonged Judg-e "William W. Holt, of Augusta; Judge Thaddeus G. Holt, General "William S. Holt, both of Maeon- Ho>n, Hin-e& Holt, of Oolnmbus, and the mother of Judge Hutch ins, the present judge of ttlhe"Western circuit,and otf Mrs. "Bill- Anp," besides numerous Others, and perhaps some as distinguished as those named. The original George Holt was the father iof eight or ten. sons, and just one daughter. It is curious that several old Georgia, patriarchs, many.of whom I can recall the Harrises, the Thomases and the Hills had from eight to a dozen sons, and only one or -no daughter. Such a daughter was the mother of Judge Colquitt, and having been left (a widow, sihe married a Tiaxveir, the father of a very weialthv and widely kaioTvn planteo* named HaTt\vell H. Tarver. That marriage made Walter Colquitt. and Hart well Tiarver step-biT^tihers. The significance of this T.vil1 hereafter appear. To. more fully appreciate Alfred Oolquitt it will he necessary to know the manner of man 340 MEMORIAL. his father was. After a most useful and distinguished pub lic career he died nearly forty years ago. Consequently there tare but few living- who- knew him, or who have art adequate idea of (him. Therefore, I will attempt as quite natural that Alfred should visit the home of his fathers step- * brother. His family consisted of one daughtei" and four sons of his first marriage. The daughter \vas named Doro thy, but called Dollie. She was a lovely arid excellent younglady. The tissoc-Kvtvo-n between. Alfred and the iaTnily erf. General Tarver resulted in ihis ^n-arriage to Dollie in -May, 184S. Of tiliis marriag^e tire-re was Olily oive fhild a1 daughter. She is now the wife of Captain Thomas F. ^Tcwell, and the mother of Alfred Colqnitt JSTewell, who isone of the C-onfttifM-tioii corps of writers. Gesn-cral Tarver, called so because he was a major-general of milivia under our mite-bellum military svstem, was, as I said, a very wealthy man. "Wheii he died his seven children each in herited -a plantation and tan average of one hundred slaves. This plantation, property AVEIS in. T\viggs and .Bakercounties. lie gave Alfreds wife one of his Baker co-unty plantations, near _N"ewtn ? tho eonnty scat. Alfred fheii moved to the plantation, wlhich was near enough to the COUirt-hOusie to pursue tlhe practice1 of law in that county. He became a. Democratic orator iu the political campaigns- MEMORIAL. 343 in 1850 and 1852, whi^h brought him. prominently before ttbe people. As on:o of tlie results, lie received the Democratio nomination for Congress for the second diatrict in 1858. Ho made aii active and vigorous campaign, throughout tho district, and was .elected -over H!on. James Johnson, ex-provisional governor of Georgia during; recon struction times, who Was tlien a member of Congress from that district. Alfred was ably assisted iu tiliat campaign, by liis spiecial friend, Colonel Tom "Howard, then, residing in Crawford .county, Georgia. Tliey reinained the closest and most eoTttidential friends as long .as filiey lived. TThey i\vere close neiglibois as well as friends prdor to tlic deaith of Colonel Ho^vard, The result of that election in the scioond district saved .Uerschol V. Jolinsoii froiii. defeat in his coiitost tbat y^ar for governor -witilv. Gbarles J. Jorvkin. JOlui&on.s majority in frbe whole State was only 510. If the district had gone us it had at the previous election, tho majority wonlrl have been more tlhan a match for tben, and lie is tall and slender now; and when I last, eaw him bis original features were well preserved. Also William Tatem "Wofford was then a member of the house, and was only twenty-two. He was almost a frequent visitor at tihe mansion. After making a good lawyer, a good citizen and a good soldier, ho now sleeps "under the daisies." Soon, after returning from the executive mansion, Grovernior Towns and family moved, from Talbottoii to iCa-cou, but in less than four years lie finished his earthly career, and his grave is m beautiful lio&e Hill Ceanetery. This was the beginning- of the breaking up of the (home in -Macon, and. the removal of iifrs. Towns to Enoxville, Temi., where s(he died -sevCral years after the war. Their ma.nsion and grounds in iTacon were at that time (taken altog-ether) the finest and most spacious in the city. These were on. an eminence that overlooked the city, and are wOiat is now tihe site of "Mont 'die Sales Academy. The Governor was an. opulent plain tor, having- a large plantation and a large number of sltwes in. originally Talbot, now Taylor county, Which, of course, went the way of all such after tlic war, I luavc purposely refrained from commenting upon the career and character of Alfred Oolquitt, because it has already and very recently been fully and effectually done. I will, lio\ve.ver, take enough space to -say that the promi nent, and most esaential characteristic of him was his per sonal integrity, his sincerity of .purpose., his fidelity 'to- duty, and his aversion to ostentation. The glare of the footlights or a play to the g-allcnry were his detestation. His heart \vas always in toudli with. oommOn burnanity, and lience h-e felt no better tban the most humble, and equal to the most ex- MEMORIAL. 347 alted. Whatever slhoiild bo the issue, tlie unofficial people could i"ely upoai him t!o represent wnat he regarded as DbeiT" best interest, to the best of Iris ability. Added, to this ciharaeter as a man, a soldier ave been in a tempioral sense a good man if he had not been a Chris tian, and hence it was natural for him to let the good man pass into the better man7 becoming a sincere and hnmble (Christian. TTe has now finished his career on oarth, and h.Q8 remains repose^ by the side of the wife of his youth an-d a deceased, eliild. As was staged., his famous father was not iiitCTred on "liiis lot, bu;t was taken to Columbus, altilroug-h h :o died in -MJacoai aftor >a loiig and snffornig illness. By a seeming-ly straiige -coineidence tlierc are in Rose Hill Cemetery five burial lots anil only five1 in tJluat ro>w. In going toward the1 rJTer froan the main entrance the first OTie of these lots we eome to,is tliat of Samnel Hunter, a worthy man, and -a promising young la"\vyer of Ma^on that 1 knew well. Tlie next, is that of Goi v:ernoa- Towns, the next Al fred Colquitts, tiho next Richiard II. darks, and the next and last Judge Orfeshaiins. Theso nvo men knew each othcr, -\vcro friends in life, and in death will be: neighbors, liose Hill Cemetery is one of the most beiautiful in tihe World. It is situated on a high bank of the Ocmulgee, in the midst of a forest of fine trees. There is very gently a decline from litre main entraiiee :to. the river until -we get 348 UEMOltlA r*. near tihe river, when tiliere is a. sudden and more abTnpt de clivity. .Standing upon the point where tibe decline be comes s keeper, and looking over the grass -and tfhrOugh the trees, the river below flowing gently presents -a beautiful scene. Jusit at this poinit there is a large and magnificent irioivu.metLt erected to John B. Lamar, the -brother of Mrs. Howell Cobb, who was killed in bat-tie at Hampton Gap, Md., the day before. .Slharpsburg, while acting as the aide1 of General Ho well iQoibb. The life of Alfred Golquitt has passed into history and ;his funerail is -OVGT. I -will oonclude tihis tribute pertain ing to him by quoting from a letter written me by my daughter ITallie at Maroon, as better tlhan a good educa tion, for tihe times, and was a marx of good presence and good manners. He ^vas popular with ihis sort, and had many friends outside of them. In his early manhood the resided in. Augusta, Ga., had a respectable Standing in business and other circles, but his love for cards and aill other games of chance led him from one step to another, until he reached tiho level of tihe pax)- MEMORIAL. 351 fessional gambler, and so Continued until his death. HeSipce table relations survive him, some of whom reside in Montgomery, Ala., some in Greenville, S. C., some in "Galveston, Tex. ? and. also in otfhor States. Wilson -was inspired to write the song- from finding- owe morning am old fiddler whom lie [had of ten met and be friended dead and laid out 011 the counter of one of the saloons he frequented. He read and sang the verses to his friends, aind they persuaded him to publish them. Those "verses, as they appear in the music book, >are as follows : I live for the good of my nation. And my suns are all growing low, But I hope that my next generation Will resemble old Rosin the Beau. Ive traveled this country all over, And now to the next I will go, For I know that good quarters await me, To welcome old Rosin the Beau. In the gay round of pleasure I traveled, Nor will I behind leave a foe, And when my companions are jovial They will drink to old Rosin the Beau. But my life is now drawn to a closing, And all will at last be so, So well take a full bumper at parting To the name of old Rosin the Beau. When Im dead and laid out on the counter, The people all making a show, Just sprinkle plain whiskey and water On the corpse of old Rosin the Beau. Ill have to be buried, I reckon, And the ladies will all want to know, And theyll lift up the lid of my coffin Saying, " Here lies old Rosin the Beau." Oh ! when to my grave I am going, The children will all want to know, Tbeyll_run to the doors and the windows Saying, " Here goes old Rosin the Beau." 352 MEMORIAL. Then pick me out six trusty fellows And let them all stand in a row, And dig a big hole for a circle, And in it toss Hosin the Beau. Then shape out two little dornieks, Place one at my head and my toe, And do not forget to scratch on It The name of old Kosin the Beau. Then pick me out six trusty fellows, Oh ! let them all stand in a row, And take down the big-bellied bottle And drink to old Rosin the Beau. "While it is true that Wilson is the author of this sang, it is also true that there was an older song, wOaich Wilson must (have seen, and from Vhicih he got tbe idea of compos ing it when he saw his fiddler friend dead. This is evi dent from the similarity, yet slight -difference in name, and tthat his two last verses are substantially ea.u." The others mame was Cox, who was a rollicking good fellow, and t?he best vocalist I ever knew. Pie was in song what Prentiss was in oratory, and they weo-e boon oomipanions. B-otili died young1. Oox ivas frequently at my office, and upon one occasion While he was there, Rossuin walked by the door, amd ihis age was apparent in. !his wialk. Cox Idoked at him? >and, after a pause, tiirned to me and remarked in quite a feeling tome, which hair by asmany persons, and almost as many have claimed the au thorship of the lines, but this is of no moment. I claim nomerit for my lines, -but everything for Coxs singing of -them. I, "have seen \him (ckfaw tears from the eyes of old. and young "with the feeling he: threw into the song." Now, soon on some soft, sunny morning, The first thing my neighbors shall know Their ears shall be met with the warning, Come, bury old Kossum tlio Bean. My friends then so neatly shall dress me, In linen as white as the snow, And in my new coilin shall press me. And whisper, poor Kossum the Benu. Arid when Im to be buried, I reckon The ladies will all Like to go. Let them form at the foot of my coffin, And follow old Kossum the Beau, Tlien take you a doxen good fellows, And let them all staggering go. And dig a deep hole in the meadow. And toss in it old .Kossum the Beau. Then shape out a couple of dornioks Place one at the bead and the toe ; And do not forget to scratch on it Here lies old Rossum the .Beau. Then take you these dozen good felloivs,. And stand them all round in a row, And drink out of a big-bellied boitle, Farewell to old Bossuin the Beau.. MEMORIAL. 355 It necessarily follows from the evidence that Colonel Sparkss "Ilossum the Beau" must have "been -written at least as far back as 183O. Wilsons must have been written between that time and 1840. I cannVot exactly remember When. I first hoard Wilsons version, but I know it wasbefore April, 1834, for then I first saw the venerable beam at Albany, Ga.. present at a great horse-race, and who was pointed out to me as the author of the song, then so gener ally sung. It is true tihat Wilsons song1 struck itihe popular chord, and superseded Sparkss. Why was this, and indeed why should eitfhe?r take with tifre populace and have "such a^ ran"? There is no genuine poetry in either, and there islanguage in both that should not be repeated in the pres ence of ladies, and is even indelicate in the presence of geoitlemen, I take it that, first, it was on a subject even. the ni^St ignorant and coarsest of m-ankind could appre ciate ; and, secondly and mostly, the tune wias its charm,, as in the coarse song of " John Browns body lies buried in. the ground," which was so much sung during- the war and; soon after by the Federals, and was paraphrased and much sung to the same tune by tihe Confederates. Colonel Sparks says it was an "old Methodist hymn tune." If so, I cannot recall it, but if it was, I am sure it was excomxiiumeated as soOn. as it "was thus profaned by rowdies and; "worldlings. So if Colonel Sparks is right, his friend Cox robbed the church of a good old tunfe when he appropri ated it to "Old Hossum. the Beau." I am not sure Dhat Colonel Sparks is rig-lit, but I am sure there must be now living a few good old brethren and sisters who do know. Whatever Credit there is in tthe verses belongs to Gheorgi-a, for both Sparks and Wilson were rrartive Georgians and born within six months of each o!tfher Colon-el Sparks in. 356 MEMORIAL. Putaam oouiity in 1800, and "Beau. Wilson" in Elbert in 1801. Both, are dead, and I hope are singing the Bame tune to very different -words, if indeed it was " an old iletinodist hymn tune," . IRatbaniel (Sreene. The centennial of our national existence suggests a TGcurrenee to important or interesting facts in OUST national history. Among iflie latter, a little reflection reminds a Georgian that Savanmah, the principal seaport of the State, and lif wihtom -are in un known graves. This gives to liistory sometihing- of the spice -of romance. In regard to Pulaski, ^ve feel assured nie remains, -after initerment, weire not disturbed by human hands ; but it comes nearer the truth, and when originally put forth perhaps took tlhe true ^hape, yet error lias so crept in, prdbably from lapse of time and defective memOry, tfhat it la-dks miicli -of the true version. Before giving that, it will aid in the understanding of it to state that General Greenes body, after (having been brought to Savannah, "lay in state" iat tftie residence of his friend Judge IST.ath.anicl Pondleton. It is BO stated, I believe, by Professor Gieene. I suppose the professor appl ied. to I^afchaniel Pendletan the title of judge that he after wards acquired. He was then the attorney-general of the State of Georgia, having been appointed thereto by Gov ernor Telfair the March previous. Judge Pendleton was on General Greeces staff during the "\var, or, at least, dur ing G-reenes services im the Carolinlas, with the ranik of oaptain. It is to be inferred that the making of Georgia his home by the general was the cause of Captain. Pendletons citizensihip. Having sei"ved tilaree yefars in the office > f attorney-general, he Tvas, in 1789, appointed chief jus- 360 MEMORIAL. tioe of tihie Stia.te. He, .perhaps, iheld ;fch-is office up to1 1792, for he is put down as the last of tftie Georgia chief" justices. He was succeeded by John Houston, in .that year, under a different judicial system, nifirrQ.altibn of any sort was1 needed. In prosperity or adversity he proved worthy of" his lineage by oomtinuinig steadfast to .tihe principles in which he was reared. "General G-reene died at j\fulberry Grove, a plautaJtion "art, 362 MEMORIAL. "the banks o;f the Savannah river, in Chatham county., of what was supposed at the time to be a stroke of tlhe sun, but niOre recent experience lias led to the eonclusiotn. that tlhe . attack "which, laid, him low in >th very prime and vigor of manhood "was -one of congestive- fever, brought on by ex cessive -exposure to the sun., whiie attending to the laying out and cultivation of the gardens and grounds about Jus residence. "His body was laid in the vault belonging to the Mul berry Grove estate, which had originally been ifche property of J^ientenant-Governor Graham, and was, after its confiscatzoiij presented to General Greene by the State of Georgia. It was the impression of the family at the time -of General Greenes death that this vault beTomged to the estate, and passed into General Greenes possession with the rest of" "the Mulberry Grove property, at the time of its presenta tion to him by the State autlhoirities. Upon the return, ii owever, of Governor Grahams daughter to Savannah, after the termination of the revolution, a claim was laid by her to the vault as property not included in tfhe act of confiscation. Her right to it was, upon examination, es tablished, but no .formal possession being given or taken, the bodies of General Greene and his son, George "Wash ington Greene, the oldest son of General Greene, were not. immediately removed. George W. Greene was drowned in th-e Savannah river very soon after his return from .France, where he had completed his education., under the supervision of General JJafayette. It is known certainly that ;at tlie time of his interment his coffin was placed by the side of his fathers in this vault, and it is supposed that both thus fell inifco the possessioii of Governor Grahams daughter "when she established her claim to this portion of ;the property ; at least, suoli is the family belief, from the MEMORIAL, 363 fact that when tlie vault was examined some years after for the purpose of removing the body of General Greene, his coffin, which was certain of identifieaition by means of a silver plate upon the lid, with his name, age, and the date of his death engraved upon it, and also that of his so-n, were found, to he missing, withoUt a trace of tihe clause or tame of their removal, or of the place to which they had been taken. A_t the time of this discovery tihere was no male descendant of General Greene residing at fhe South, and ain investigation had to be postponed nntil some years after this fact came to the knowledge of ihe family. Most thor ough search has been made -without throwing any light whatever upon, the place of (his burial. All the facts and circumstances developed by the investigation lead to the belief that the coffins of General Greene and his son were secretly removed and purposely interred in some unknown spot, as an act of personal hostility, by the daughter of Governor Graihlam, of the French revolution, his -education in France KaviTvg been oommitted to G-ener-al 1/afayette, and. hen>ce his arriv.ajl in :tibis -eoim-trv must have1 been in 1792 or 1793. 7. That for six or seven years after ttihe Generals deatfo 3iis remains w>ere undisturbed. Conjecture must now oome in only to determine who re moved the- remains, and. why they wore removed. The tradition in the immediate family of General Greene, that the removal was ordered by the daughter of Governor Graiham, either before or after she recovered the vault, is strong-ly sugg-estive of truth. It is not known Ghat any other being had a motive for such an act. It is known MEMORIAL. 365 that she had a motive, and not merely a motive, but "tfhe opportunity. It -will .be perceived that in -cionsideration of the wrongg she doubtless felt, and. from (her standpoint these wrongs were of the deepest cruelty, Mr. ^Nightingale almost pleads for her pardon. SQie did not pause to reflect tlraifc tire holding of the Graham confiscated esbalte by General Greene did not alter her .condition, for it "was first confiscated, and then conferred upon (him by the State. If it lhad not been given to General Greene, and, like osiers, had gone into the " general oofPers," it would likewise have been lost to her and hers. The repose of tihe inanimate body in. tihe vault could not hurt any one. "Where, then, iw^ere the fbodies renuoved? That has been,, and is, and, -we fear, always -will, remain an unsolved myatery. It may be that they were placed as the Savannah tradition has it, and oomd.n:g down to us .at this length of time, tihat much truth has been preserved. "We see there is -a close resemlblanCe between -the g-emefral fact that the body was placed in a To.ry vault, and the special one. tihat it -was placed in the vault of thfe loyal lieutenant-govecmio-r, Who had owned ilulberry G-r-ove. llhe questions recnmining to be solved may be a family secret ii;ow kniOWn among the descendants of Governior Graham in England. If so, at this date there is no reason why iall the facts sQiould niot be^ disclosed. In this way -the plaoe. to whicih G-eneral Greenes LTemairis \vetre removed may yet ibe discioveired. If the appearances ajg-ainst the G-rahams are deceitful, and the Grov&rmor's da.iigh.ter did nofc have an agency in removiri'g the remains, where are we to Idok for a cause or a mo tive? Human ingenuity at tfhis day can discover nothingelse, and human, knowledge at that day ascertained that, or something close akin to it. 366 MEMORIAL. From the foregoing there -will arise a curiosity to know more iof Lieutenant-Govet*n.or Graham and his plantation of " Mulberry Grove." The plantation is on the Savannah river, above Savannah, in the up-per part of -the county of" Chatham., within tide-waiter, and to "get there by land, one rides -twelve miles on the old Augusta road, and then. takes the plantation, avenue to- tihe right for another mile. The oonimuni cation then .and since with Savannaih was mostly by -water. It was there that General Greone lived, and received Ms deatdnatrfoke ; there ihis widcnv resided for a long1 time; there it was tOmt "Wnitney invented the cottongin ; there it was tihait IMirs. Greeme entertained General "Washington on liis visit to Georgia, and there the old man sion remained until destroyed by Sherrnans mem in 1864-. At the "beginnioag of tire lievoluition the plantation and appurtenaxtces must hlave constistuted a large and very valu able estate, .as the following mernorial by tihe lieutenaintg-o-ver-nor -ft^ill sliow. It like^visie sihiows that he had long beeoi a citizen of the colony of Georgia, and for thirteen years a member of Plis Majesitys Council ; that he "was a man of large family., consisting od: tw^elve members (exclusive of servarits),, and tih^at he an;d his famdly lived in. iaffluence. ."But the memorial %vill speal^ for itself : itJSMORIAI^ OF LIBUTKNAjSTT-GOVK-RNOR GRAHAM, REAi3 JANUARY, 1777. To tlie Right Honorable L>ord G-eorge Grermain, His Maj esty's Principal Secretary of State for America: The humble memorial of Jolm Granam, Esq., LieutenantG over.iiOr of the ^Province of Georgia, sho^w^eth that your iiif morialist has had the honor of being one of Tlis ^Majestys council iii. Georgia siue the year 1763, and with, zeal for the Jvings service ever faithfully discharged his duty in that MEMORIAL. 367. station, and humbly hopes his services were acceptable toHis Majesty, having been lately honored -with his commis sion of Lieutenant-Governor of the said province. That your meniOrialist, having from his steady and uni form opposition, to the measures pursued for involving ;tihe- province of Georgia, in itlhe presenlt unnatural rebellion, rendered himself particularly obnoxious (to the- leaders of that party, he was pointed out by them as fan object for tibe resentmeut of the people, and on the 19th of January last was made a prisoner by the rebels, witlh Sir J;ames "Wrighlt, His Majestys General-in-Chief, and though he was withhim released, yet in a few days afterwards he received private information tih:a>t it was again determined to> confine him, upon -which he was obliged to conceal himself night and day in swamps for a Considerable time1, exposed to all the inclemencies of the weaklier, nntil he fortunately made his escape on board the Kings ships, wherdsJhips memorialist Waving, from principle and attach ment to His Majestys person aind government, ever asp- proved himself a loyal subject iand faithful servant a late period of tjlie -war, and entered the service !of " His Majesty " against the rebels. In, the disposition of the British troops at the- siege of iSavanmiah., in October, 1779, it appears in the. plaii of attack tfhat- "the Georgia (lojial) militia and detachment of the 4tih tebtaliori of the 60till " was com manded "by LieuteTiian.t-G^OVerfnlor Graham. At the same siege t3iea*e was also a Major GrraWarn, of the- regular army, who oommandod the " ligjlnt infantry." It is to be pre sumed that after :t;he siege lie retoolc -possessicwx of his e&tates and maintained it so far as -was then praotioaible, bnt fche rebellion being suoceissful, (he Qmd to abandon tJhe coaifntry and seek refuge in England. Of hie .after life, anid when and ^vliere he died, I know nothing. His govcirnftnemt., witihout doubt, made- i-eparatioai to1 him for tlhe ^oss of his estates, as she contributed iand distributed large sums to lier loyal snbjeots -of America. His estates, eStiniafced by him -at fifty thousand pounds, then iait least to\vo hxindi-ed and fifty tihiousand do-liars in coin of our present money, "was pr-dbaibly the heavieist co-nfiaeiaition miade ;by Oeorgia. jB ing a civil and military of ficer of the .British, crown, he received ma mercy. The tenor of his mromorial, tog>eithier "\vitih his bearing-, suggest that he was a most wortihy gentleman, and at this late d-ay, after *tihe asperfties of fche Revolittion liaVe all passed away, the generous CT^erj^Where must sympathize with him and his 24 370 MEMORIAL. in their misfortnrnes of person, and estate. He had a val uable home in Savannah. "Where was it located ? Can his vault in tho old cemetery, where- General Greenes re mains were first deposited and then stolen away, be iden tified? AVhto succeeded the Grahams in >tihe proprietorship, for it is plain ifhe Greentes -were ousted and never afterwards asserted ownership? It was standing- as fete as 1815, and perhaps as late >as 1825, oii Lafayettes visit, ra,nd was then well kntown as the vault "where General Greenes remains had been placdd. In -what court was tihje title to the vault tried? Is the record of tfhe suit yet remaining? But perih-aps the controversy may have foeen settled by asrbitration, or by a board of honor, or, after investigation, ithe propiexrty surrendered. It m-ay also here be asked, can the house or ground from Whiidh Gemeral Greemes funeral pro-ces- sion moved be now identified ? This is all I have to say -upon, tlie subject of Geoieral Oreenes lost remains, "but -will take occasion to recur to a fact or two in his history transpiring after he became a citizen of Georgia. In March, 1786, he was tendered by the Governor and Council the position of -asaiociate jus tice for Chatham comity, which he declined. He received in 1785 a challenge from Major Ounu to fight a duel, which he also declined, and referred -tflie niafcteir to his dear friend, General Washington, who approved his course. General, afterwards Governor, James Jackson "was Gunns second, but after learning the grounds of the .challenge declined to act further. While a niarrative of General Greenes life or any commentary thereoin is :bot1i -unni&eessary and outside of >the limits of this subject, yet, to revive the public recollection of the estimate in which he wtas and slioiild "be held, an extract from the eulogy pronloUincetd MEMORIAL. 371 on turn by Alexander Hamilton before the Cincinnati So ciety in 1786, appears appropriate: "LA.S long1 as tlie measures wKidh. conducted ITS siafc-ly through the first amd miost critical stages of (the -war shall bo remembered Fwitn, approbation; as long as the enterprises of Trenton, land Prmceton shall be regarded as the dawning of that bright day whicOi afifcerwards broke forth "witli suclh resplendeoit luster; as long as rtftie almost magic 0perationB of the remainder of tli(at remairfeaibile winter, distingnished not more by thlese ev-exriB -tibaii by the extraordinary spectacle of a powerful army straitened -witfliiai oiarrOW limits by the plianitom of military force, and iiever permitted to trans gress these limits with, impunity, in which skill supplied the place of inea-ns, a.nd dispositiooi wais an .arm from the laifcoitcmfic .starciggle, and. niot rrvany who had Tipoii their per sons wars honorable scars. Taken altogether, tl^ey were a highly TeSpecJttible body -oif raen in lappes^aTiee, ancL wo^tld favorably compare witih. any of our former legislatures. "\Vhile there was a lack of experience, there was, no doiibt, plenty of honest purpose aind. good sense, which gtavo an assurance of wnse legislation. Tt is true many of tfhe de feated candidates do not agree, with me-; but they must re mombor7 entire strangers oannoit, in so ^liort ia time, ascer tain the merits of every aspirant. On :the contrary, I am informed Judges Harris and "Walker, tire- successful can didates, whoso judgments in this matter camnot be re viewed and reversed, believe the present legislature to he the very best "Georgia .has had since fthe days of "Troup and the Treaty"! The question of the inost iiiiteresit yet "before tihe G-eneral Assembly ivas the proposition, in the Sanate, to abolish the^ ponitentjary. It was thoroughly and ably discussed in thait body, and was lost by a majority of only four votes. I MEMORIAL. remember Messrs. ,J. A. ~\V. Johnson, Grcsham, Stnozier, .and Redding as speaking- againsf the abolition, and .Messrs. Turner, SinmioiiS, and O. ~L. Siuiv.li in favor. Tlie effort of llr. Sfrozier was the ablest and most elaborate argument T heard on. any question, at trhe capital; and to him, and that unpretending, plain and lia rd-seiise -old geiitloman ]\I>. Redding1, of Harris we are indebted for preserving the old institutiion, which has :hid away from society so many malefactors. T say indebted, for I believe its abo lition wonhl be -a calamity. The leading arguments were the heavy expense to the State, and the failure to produce reformation to .any grc!a;t degree. "W^uut -nii-f/J^t be a con sequence of the penitentiary system is mistaken for the original design. That 'icc/s the proper pnnishinent of cijim:e, and if it should be an entire expense, and never reform ott'C man, the OOiiim unity, in self-d efenso, must keep it, up. It is true that, with our penitentiary buildings de stroyed, and the, dOiirts in a state of semJ-dLsoirganizatlon, eriiue does noit receive its just, pnnisfhirtomfc; but it is unwise to legislate permanency on. a tempor.airy evil, ^and to the wisdotn of -ages -which, has rejecited branding, cropping, pillorizmg and whijiping as cruel anid. barba.rous pnnishments, a>nd not preventi^e of crime. In the largest, class of cases, we would have to iietnm. to hanging1, perhaps do so in. lar ceny if ifihe thing stolen was the Tr|alue of the hangmans T*ope, as was once the law of England. Jjjom what I Wave said, tonchijig th !e legislatinrej I do noit wa.n!t it inferred that tliere is -R. positive ladk of talent, business capacity, or e^peTieiiee. OTI tihe eontrary, the president. !o!f the geai-ate? Oolouiel A^m. Gibson, and tihe speaker of the ho-use, Colonel TliOntas Haideman, altho^ugh young men, iarc "old st.ager3? in legisla.tioji. Eaeli one miakes an able and excel- 374 MEMORIAL. lent presiding officer, atad brings to bear a swa/viter in mod whicOi. makes every member feel at ease. Colonel Weems, the secretary iof the senate, is an effi cient and experienced officer, and Colonel "WaddteZZ, the clerk of the house, gives complete satisfaction. Prom the pronunciation of tth)e name, one would not suspect him -to be a lineal descendant of the renowned Professor Waddell. I confess I prefer the old pronunciation. It is suggestive of "the men .aind times when fche great scholar made his repuitatioii. It is humiain natUTte to like a main better in (the g*arb Hie liad -wthen you first fell in love with him, ieveii thougli it may bo country jeians, lalfihough. he may after\vards appear fixed up by a Broadway tailor and be done up regardlessof expense. The senate is fortumaite iu. having as a member Hon.. Benning B. JVtoore of Thomas. He is a sound law yer, has strong- Anglo-iSaxon sense, rand is perfectly familiar walih tiho rouitime of Georgia legislation. jVmiong the1 rising men, tliere is J. W, A. Jdhii^OD of Whifcfiekl. He is emphalt-ioally a man of p^ointe. His perception is quick nothing escapes his vigilance. In fact, he has eyes all around his head. One -will search in vain for his blind side. 3STear him, are regiular and nicely chiseled. His heigtht is ratiher below the medium. A:d a/vis !an hone^t and popular oornmiseary. One of the most experienced and dignified members of t^i-e house is G-eii!eral Oeorge P. Hainiigon of Ohastihaaii. AVhen Shermans army "wenlfc through the 00urn try, he had. General Harrison arrested, although a private citizen, and had him incarcerated in a ISIortiher.n. prison for four months, the pretext being that he bad burned the bridges and felled g?6 MEMORIAL. the trees in tike road in his front. itTe is tibe father of GBorge P. Hkprison, Jr., -wlio so disftiiig-nished himself as coltoaifil of tho gallant Thirty-stecond Georgia. One !of the clearest Tic ads, and most practical -of tibe lionse meraibeTS, is _i\Ir. Ivh/by of OhaitboOga, I judge him to have fine tal ents, and I" aim certain lie is an. excellent tactician, lie looks ahead, land prepares for it, and if an unexpected emer gency /arises, lie -will be found equal to it. Tie. impressed me as the master spirit of JSTortTi Ge^>rgia. Anofrlier p^oninient. inoxnber fre/m t!h;e same section i,s Oolonel Gleim of Wliitfi.eld. He is a mem of decided talents. All lie requires is sturlv and pirndeni.ce to mak-e lirai a.ble and formi dable, and perfbJaps a disting-nisJred .man. "By prudciTce, I mean for liun to d>o Ins best o/nly wlien be (lias a subject yooitliy iof liis powers, and. not- to n-se all pOWers of Jlis mind to allow a quack doctor to killpeople Kr.'otnwJ.ti'-m .rfcm,, aiid to hel-p a iibii-ecimbaitaiit =to steal a soldiers wife. A fine specimen. iof a. g.entlemian, and a rapidly rising maai in !Kis jn-ofessioii and. in tlie log-islat-nrc, is tliO new member from liiclimiond, the PloTi, Claiboviic -fc"1 . S-iiead. iSTcar liim sits a lo\v-scit, stroiig-minded, useful member from Afuseog-ee, lion. .James .if. "Russell. Jiis-t before leaving I kojjt. out of his way, ioi* fear ho would tiake me for a. member who bad voted against. Gerreral Beriining. Another Cxpeijieneed -and able member is Adams, ctic teixiperameiiT., and reminds you of (Jlre refined features of Tenny son. The senate and house have each its ackno^vledged wit. I\Tr. Paris, of T^arle, roigna in the senate, and J\lr. Swoarin- j MEMORIAL. 377 gen, of Decatur, in tJhc house. Paris (has been several times .a member, and persists in tying; his cravat on one side, under lus left ear, thus reminding one -of tlic hamgmans vocation. jYfr. Swteiringeii lha:s been somewhart eniburrassed this session npoii the point whether it is better to be g-ovoTmed by principle or policy., and in his -dilemma took counsel of an experienced Georgia statesman. I do not kiiOW the counsel, but it is suggest.! ve ;tbat since Swearingen lias been lecturing flic members on tflie necessiry of boing g-overned !by ]>olicy. He says he finds no tronlble in indoOtrioa-tdng yonng- men and old members, but old in on who -are her-o for fhe firsif, tliine., like ilr. Stro^ier, are the dullest scholars he ever tried to teach. Mr. SweJariiigcii finds g;reat, sympaitiliy yrilli the members, because of Ills losses, consequent upon an investment at am auction in Snvamiah. iTTe has a tiastie for literaitm-e, bnt sbig-ularly Jiis favorite book is "Pollolcs "Oonrse of Time/ "\vhich is his traveling compiamioiii. IVFr. S\\"oanngen, nevieitheless, ia >a gxroid 1 eg-islator, and a.n efficient member. "Both houses have als^o their !handsoine men. T"!icrc a i^c (Colonel Sim. JMann iof Ora\vfo-rd, Coloncls Madclox of Elbert and IVFaddox of "Fnltori, and Mr. Frost, of Tronp, who are fine speci mens of manly beauty. Tlhese gentlemen are nevertlielass useful as well as ornamental. Among the distinguished outsiders, T note Generals .Benning, Cobb, Jloilm 1C -Jackson., and Oolonel 131a.ndfo.rd. Th latter went out as a eapitafin in tlie T^vclfHh Georgia, lost -his arm at !iIcI>OAVidl, a,nd Was afterward a iriembcr of the Con.fede.rato Congress. TTe is tine pririoe of good fello^vs, lias a taste for literature., and very .prtoiperly prefers gjoiod books. There is another clisitiiigulshed gteiitleman -\\^ioso acquaint ance I made -in Milledgeville a PrencihinJan, jusJt arrived, 3-Fonsieur Charles Farre. lie is handsome, bright and 378 MEMORIAL. sparkling, but, like >alll ^Fi^encihmezi^ lias a way of suddenly disappearing. His visit to this country is entirely a socml one. He wishes to -establis^i "with American society that "entente ooo-diale" which niations talk so much -aboitt. His mission, so far, ;h-as been, very successful. Shoiild he visit ]\I_acon7 I have no doubt he would be welcomed by the larger portion of the population. I would, however, ad vise soirLe to be on ttihieir gniard against lnis fascimartion. Too much of his society is corrupting to youmg men. Gutbbert's Career. The newspapers of the country have "been very "brief and meager in their notices of the death, of the Hon. John ACuthbert, which occurred at his home on ]Vfon I^ouis Island, near Mobile, on the night of the 22d of September. Yet it was one of the moslt notable evenits in bhe necrology even of this present year, which has !h"een marked by the deaitih of o many -emment and remarkable men- It was libe enid of ;a life distinguished, not Only for its great length, but for its association with some of tlie most remarkable passagesill. American histoiy. Judge Cuthbert was nimety-threie years old. Tie was born m Savannah, the yetar before tihe oonstiltution of fthe United States "\venit into aperatiton. The old articles of co-nfederation -were then in f Oi*ce. All tibe settled parts of the conntry, now Constituting the Stiatds of Florida., Alabama, Mis sissippi, Doiiisiiaria and Te^as, werfe tihen SpanisTri territory. It was before the outbreak -of the first French revolution. ISTapoleon Bonaparte was an obscure lietrteriianit of artillery, and Walter Scott an laippronitice in his faHliers office. Ed mund Burke and Benjamin Franklin "were still living. Geiorge Canning and Henry Broiigiham were college sifudecote, Oalhoun. iand AVeteter were little children, and liienry Clay was riding astride his meal-ba-g" in the Hanover slashes, fie was born in tlie same year with Byron and Peel. He was nearly twenty years in advance of Bulwer, and ISeacoinsfield, and liobont E. Lee, just twenty yearssenior *o Jefferson I)avis, and still moi-o to Lincoln, and Glaldstonie. He was a member of Congress (in his second 380 MEMORIAL. srsaiom) when John. O. Breckiriridge was born, and -was a middle-ag-ed man at it!h>e l>inbli of G-a.rflold. Ofher mien may be living as old or older none are left of like age, who have been so conspicuous as actors in great historica,! events. -Judge Cutihibea-t sa>t in tJlio ho\ise of rep resentatives, ras to ^lohilo \Vlieii nearly uity years of age, served two terms as judge, hrsT. of tJhe coirnty, and then of the circuit court, and afterwards continued fco pi-actice lav? mitil the entl of his life, a raie exainplo for this country of tile prolongation of intellectual vigor and acitivity. J-ess titan six aiiOUths ago a Ponsacola paper meiitiomed his arri val at trluit jjlace to attend to an ijtiportant suit before the United States district court, a.nd his name appears more MEMORIAL. 381 than once in file reports of the supreme court of Alabama during1 flie- last few years, us of counsel in cases submitted to that tribunal. The writer of this a.Ttiele li!ad an opportunity of hearing him once, and once only, in bile during the iagiita.tiioii of the 3?:noiw-!Norhing ques tion, abou)fc twenty-five years ago. It was a sipaedh of great vigor and chasraeterristic firmness and fearlessness. The Know-jSToUiing party was tiheii preidomiriant in Mobile. The mystery enshroudmg it, and tlie secrecy of its meth ods and. opier^atiiloTis? ?h>ad rendered it >an object of some dread, and its opponents were in gcncial very cautious in express ing themselves on the subject. Judge Cuthbert., ho^veve^r. was Olitspoken and uncompromising1 in liis denun-ciatiom of the Wllole moveimeiit .as a"relic of barbarism." lie -^vas then nearly sevenity ycai"e olcl? a>nd it w:as probably fclie last public speech, that he ever made on a polit.ica,l question. These reminisejenjces a.re given mainly as introductory to a more interesting and precious souvenir of tne venera ble jurist and staitefemlain, Which Uhe writer is fortunate enougih to possesis. This is an "autograph letter written aboUt a year before (his doatli, in an^ver to .a request, for his recollections on some questions relative to the ^Missouri compromise. The first of these questions, briefly stated, was, wihetfher tine oompriomise was at tftie time of its adoption considered to be-j in the main, la Nortihern. or a. Southern measure. The second may be best uuderstood by an extract from the letter of inquiry, ITI wthiob it was stated as follows: "Again: I find, from I3entons Abridgment of IDebatcs (Vol. VI., pp. 570, 571), that on the 2d of March, 1820, IMr. Randolph, of Virginia, in the house Voted againsit the restriction on Missouri, which, was defeated by only three 382 MEMORIAL, votes 90 ito 87, land abstained from "voting- on the eooiipromise proper. Tlie next day (March. 3d) Mr. Ilanidiolph moved to reconsider the vote on the Restriction (or rather on the admission of Miseonri), but before tflie speaker (Mr. Clay) would enter-talm the motion it "was declared that the .action of the hoii-sie ha;d -been oommunicaited to the senate by title clerk, and thlat therefore the bill was 010 longer in the possession of the 4ias a .State, and. this constitution Tnatle no provision, touching the nuaitter of slavery. This application was rejected by a majority in Congress. "I ihave no personail remembrance of this .application or its rejection. I believe they occurred ait the session next before I went initO1 Congress j but it was uiniverSally under stood in Ooiigresis that this .application of Missouri Was re jected because of u general opposition in the ASTcM-them States to the admission of another slave.}]olding State in the Union,. "The Southern people -were dissatisfied with, the (rejec tion, of Missouri, because it seemed. !to indicate a design in the ISTorthern States to exclude tlie people of the Southern States from. an. equal partticipation in benefits from *t!h.e territories. A committee of the house was appointed early irt the session to attend to matters relative to the admis sion of JMissOUri into the Union. I was on ithat commit tee, and aittenlded its meetings. I retmemiber that I met seveiral miembers of tibJo liouse &t its meetings, but do nlot recollect that I ever saw a Northern, man. tliere. "Some one suggested the scheme of extending- Mason and ZJisons line (the iilorthern boundary of Virginia) west ward through Missouri, niaking ia gieog^raphictal division of tihatt territory, arid, that tlhe people -of tihat territory should form a constitution whiclh Would exclude slavery from the poition of the territory lying iniortik -of this line, leaving i^ho people of the teiTitory freo to aet for tfheinseilvos in the maitter !of slavery in -the part of the territory soutln of this line. This schemio Was quic-ldy aidopfceid by the South ern men, >an!d -was zealously advocated by tibefm. It was accepted by the people of the territory, and was carried into operation as far as depended, on them. This was t/he basis 384 MEMORIAL. of fche Missouri Compromise. It 'was, approved, by ZVfr. Ivowndes, a Democrat who had the reputation. o;f being- the wisest and beslt statesman in. Congress. T bore a part in a prolonged discussion to which it gave rise in Congress. ".Before the time- of voting I knew, by name >ancl person ally, every Northern member who was expected by the T)em!o(cratie members to vote for tho compromise. Among these were Meigs, a representative from New York, broth er-in-law -to the elder John. FoTsyt/h, and Sfcorrs, also a representiaitivo frtoan. iNc-Av York, a Tespectable man and a Democrat of high, italent. T!hor*e was -.a. young naeanber from Illinoiiis whom I knew wiell, wlio :told Tn>e repeatedly tjliat lie would vote for tibe cOmpromise, and of jSToT-tlbeim. msmbers voted against the oompiromise. "I knrow nothing of tdie record to -Which, you refer. To conitradidfc a record by unwritten recollections is contrary to tftve esta.blisaed rules of evidence. False cnitries .may be made in records. I know tihiat my reeollections, as herein stated, aie correct and certain declanaltionis of truth. "SO-uitibem. lue-rabeTs., in voting for this settlement, knew thaifc they were making1 ;a eoncessiioii. !But !Nora majority of the votes; and he is elected president of the United States. If the voh& of Missouri be not counited, Mr. Monree has 228 votes, which is a majority of -flhe Votee, and he is elected president of tihe United States/ "The senate had been received -into the hall tvf represent atives, and the president begian to make the proclamation agreed upon, "when he "was interrupted by Mr. Randolph,, who .made a motion to amend, the prociamation, aird began an .argumeoit in support of his motion. A crv of ^Order! Order! -was made from all parts of the (hall. Mr. Riamdolph -ceased speaking, but retained his place upon tihe floor. As soon &s isilen!ee was restored, Mr. Randolph ag*ain atitemptefd to address the presiding officer, wihen the1 cry of Order! wias again raised by a greiater -number of voices anki 25 386 MEMORIAL. in a more imperative tone. IVIr. Randolph yielded and withdrew, uttering abusive language in a passionate tone. The president o!f tflie eemate then made the proclamation that (toad been agreed on. With high regard, "JOHN A. ClJTHBEKT." Thlis letter gives no evidence of tttie great age of its author, either in handwriting or style unless it be in some superfluous verbal repetitions. Whether from this cause., lioiweveaj or some other, it is certain that his recol lections "were :ait fault on tihe mJain subject ito Which they refer. He makes the common error of -confounding -the two di-gtinelt -and sepairaste questions which. Constituted the ^^comproniisie." One -of itfhese ^ivas tihalt of Uhe admission of ^Missouri witfh '& OoniStitultlion contlaining no prohibition of slavery. On ifliis the South was .afcsoliit&ly "UinasnimioTis, no Southern member voting against it in either house, while the !NV>rthern members were nearly as unanimous in opposition to it. Tlhe other measure, which "Wtaa really and properly -the "-compromise/consisted of the adoption of an arbitrary line 'o. denaiaa^oatian for all future -States to be formed out of What was then fohe lUDissouri tierritory ^tihose north of fihat line (to be required to prohibit slavery, while those south of it might exercise their own judgment. On this question the I^ortihern vdte wias nearly nnanimous in its favor in both houses; the Southern vote was divided, but a majority in each, (house in the negative. Judge CutfbJbert also seems to confound the proposed ex tension of Mason and Dixons line witth the line nltimajtely adopted, more than tihree -degrees fartiher south. South ern members might very naturally favor the one but op pose the other. His rettmarks with regard to the -discrep ancy between his recollections and the recoirds (tihlat is, in the journals of Congress wfhich had ibeen referred to) are MEMORIAL. 387 characteristic of the tenacity of purpose and opinion for which 'he was somewhat noted. Writing sixty yeais after "the events refearned to, and having himself, although of the Soutfhem school in politics, been a warm advocate of the coonpTomise; these mistakes "were not unnatural. - Witih regiard to itttie adtiion o-f Mr. Randolph (of Koanake), Judge -Cuthberts explanation is as satisfactory iamd his recollections no doubt as correct as they are interesting. Indeed, lt!he "whole letter is highly interesting, (not only on .account !of its writer ^and its stibjeCt, but because it is Tmdonbtedly the latest lacconnt of the events that has been or ever will be given by any of the actors in thlat great and .memorable contest. IReforms. It has been established beyond question that the present law code of Georgia., completed in 1860, arid whidh -wont into effect on tiite 1st of January, 1862, was the first in stance, where the common and equity law of England pre vailed, of reducing the common law and principles of equity to statutory enactments. This .suggests another assertion, which, though strange, is true that Georgia, the youngest and greatest of theoriginal United States, has taken tihe lead in judicial re form am:d kept it. The Georgia judiciary raa pteriod of neiarly sixlty years (fromi 1797 to 1852)., and we find, fur-ther Teform ^>n Uhe same line and subject. The act of 1797 required the pleader to plainly, fully and distinctly set forth his cause of action; but the act of 1852 said you need not do this, provided youcomply with certain forums it established ioor diffeirent lands of actions. These forms have Come into general usie, and have Sitood the test of more than -a third of ia century. The precendents not long after were followed iu England. I heard Chief Justice I/umpkin announce this from the su preme court bench, and say it was sufficient to make their author immorisal. And yet, foow many of the present gen eration of lawyers can (tell you. of their author ? They may ii/ave heard them called ^the Jack Jones forms," but what do they know of Jaek Jones? Jack Jones "Was the Hon.. John A. Jones, of Faulding county the father of Oaptain Jack Jones, of Atlamlta, wtOom w^e hear so frequently called "Treasurer Jack/ and "tflie brother of Sieabom Jones, of Columbus, whOse hig^liest station ws not official (aliihOugili he had held several), but was the foremost lawyer of all Georgia in his palmy days. Judge Jaok Jones lived to be- MEMORIAL. 391 about ninety years of age, and died not many years ago, after a long and adtive life, during which, (he was well known, tlhrougihout all of amie-bellum Georgia. The next period in our judicial reform came ia few years after, in. tSb_e xn&king a memlber of the legislature in 1858. He waa the oldest son of Wm. ~W. Gordon, f lDhe State, the decision's -of the supr.&m<6 oouri^ \ar itihe statutes of England of force in this .Sbate, >and shall Tie -modeled, if practiocvble, upon tlie present code of A.la-bc&mO'." T^he italics in -tfhie .a/bove qu0*aitiioai from, .the law are my own, for tih-e purpose of -sailing atttexrtion tflataJt itihe law pro vided in expipess tesrms for the codification of the eoaiimoai laW th1 diecisions of our supreme court, and io be upon tiite plan of the Alaibaim-a code. All !tih.e pr!oTvisions of the law were, in itilie origimal billf introdTieed by JMr. Grordon, except the ja^ovision "for including "tli;e statutes of England of force in this State," "which was addeld by amendment in the siemate, an^d offered by John A. Tucker of Stewfart county. The journals .and itbe la,w thus firmly esltalblished the claim, of the lorigin, plan, land scope of the present ooof the legislature. The1 reason given fey Messjrs. Harris iand Johnson fofrdedining w^as a grave one^ rand very generallv sustaimed by the profession in 4Jhe State. It tfhen be^oame difficult to find >a la^vyer -who (h>ad -the neoessary quallincationis and ;h:ad confidence in Ihis ability to codify tlhe oom:mon law and the decisions of lihe supi"emeconrt. !From "a survey of the field/ Governor Brown thOugOat Tom Ciofcb !tihie only m-an in the State who pos sessed these requisites. He was among .tihe first of eoholiars, !he w*as tih-orougthly read as n lawyer, and had been iand tiberi \vas a profestsor in tfbe l!aw scihool of ;#he State TTniversity. He "was freenly familiar witli fehe elementtary principles of law iaiid equity to be fomnd in the texrt-books, and had per haps leotured. to thte das&es \i.p!on -every feiandh of -tihe law.. Thus he was, by reiason of these advantages, the .only law yer in Hhie State already prepared and equipped for the work. This being the Case, he fwas fa.9sigfned the second" part, called the "civil code," and lthe fonrtlx partt of the pemal l!a)ws. The pemal la^ws had been codified since the year 1833, ,and needed only slight skill and labor thereon. I "foelieve it is niow gene-rally admitted by the profession,. 396 MEMORIAL. after the work of Mr. Cobb and an experience under it of more than twenity years, that his Godifioation -of lihe com mon law, and the genof stat&ment thaJt eacfh cddifier confined Ihamiseilf to -iflie part aesignied Qriicm., for eadh part passed under itihe review of all, and "was C/hlamged or amaended as lagireted upon. As to1 tihe mere matter of labor, there was more work done -on iihe first than on any other parfc, as will be apparent from the number of its sections, and many of the ec^tioxis firsit pre pared for it were tramsfered to tftie other parts. The firet part, preparekl by tihte "writer, is tttie "Politioal amd Public Organization -of itflie tiaite," and much, that is there even whole chapters or larticle twas m^de without any or very little legislation ras -a basis. Tnese were necessary to give a (better sysifcem of laws, and to narononize with existinglaws. S-ueih, diave very generally sH)Ood the test of time and "practice. It is not nteeessairy to >th& reputation of Oeneral Oobb *to give Uiim the entire cr(edit of tihe code, and it is an injustiOe to his .eolalborers. I am sure, if he were living, he would b!e prompt to dieclaim it. It is Oonoeded by ^e commissioners andby all infonned nipoii the sufojedt lihait Ma task required more learning than that of any other; that he isiiceeeded in it when other learned men tihtought it impossi ble; tihat for this late is entitled to th-e first place among tihe MEMORIAL. 397 co m Tnissioners and the fame which "belongs to it, but not so that that firstt place shall entirely ignore thte oitiherB. "Wftren the law was passed for itfbe preparation of the Georgia code, there were, as I recollect, some five or six codes in Operation in otflier States, and for several yeiars I can recall the codes of Virginia, Alabama, and Tennessee. I think California also hias a code. These "were not "codes of procedure," but the whole body of the statute law of the respective States. Virginia tnen had the second edition of her code. In adopting tihe first edition, the legislature sat for six months, exclusively for that purpose, and went through the code, (adopting it a section at a time. The code of Georgia was the first to put g-enteral principles of law and equity, in the shape of statutory enactments, in the embod iment of the laws, arid so far as tJhaft goes it is, I believe, the first yet, but it is nevertheless only a code of laws, and therefore not tihe first code of :tlhe United States ;tih!at wias not a "code of procedure only." The purpose with wttiildh rtftie foregoing is written is, in. the first place, Lan .attempt to promulgate the facts connected with tihe origin iand progress of the Georgia code; and, in the Second place, but on the same line of trutlh, to maintain that David Irwin and myself were trwo out of Hhe tihree commissioners, and that we did our duty faithfully and cred itably. This society world -we all have to live in is a strangeone. One lof ;iflie- mamy strangle Ways it has is to award tosome men credit for evetrytihing tlhey do, and to others credit for notlhing they do. It is my misfortune to fall in tEbe,. latter Oategiory. I will "bear it (as -dheerfully as I can, and will only openly protest, that error may not prevail. There is an old maxim of "Friends de^ar, but truth detarer." It is in this spirit tihis communication is made, and not to com plain of or to rai^e issues witih any one wlio may have sim ply adopted sonie popular emor without koiOwing it. tribute of Hove. The sense of grief which I feel in tOie deatih of Judge TRicQmrd H. Clark partakes too much of the -nature off a per sonal bereavement to lend itself treiadily to> words, !Nevertheless, I gratefully appreciate this opportunity of laying my simple tribute upon his grave. To say (tihiat I eoiterteiiied for Judge dark deeper and stronger feelings of attachment than are commonly implied in the meaning of the word friendship is to speak the truth without ex/tr-avag&.nce ior iaffeetation. To m!& lie -Was one of the niablest and tmiost geoiieroTis ot friends; and nauoh of "th^e inspinatdon "wihidh Ihlas tih-e fair sex, nor restrained him in the least from, paying to woman that measure of deference -Vhieh. Tie felt tio be (her due. With ihim coucrtesy ^wias noit ia borrow^ed gni&e, but a fcnigirtly Tadiartion fi*om tn>e mian ^himself. In refiiecting upon the mingled q-raalities -Which, dmpaaited such a ohiarm to the chara<^tjeir of Judge Clark, it seems to me th&t, more thkn any diiher nian I ever knew, lie efmbodied the graces of the old school of Southern manners, and illustrafjed the conception MEMORIAL. 399 which the poet must have had in mlind when he "wrote of one who " bore without abuse The grand old name of gentleman." In one of his quaint esays, Emerson, -wisely observes tihat the surest -way to make friends is (to be one. This bit of philosophy is strikingly exemplified in the life of Judge Clark; for if -any man ever possessed a warm, generous heart, overflowing wMi love and sympathy for -his fellow men, surely that man -was he. Though rigorous upon, the bench, and ofttimes harsh in rebuking evil-doers for the -wrongs wthich brougiht them too tfhe bar of justice, this sever ity was not congenial to one of his forgiving nature, and sprang only from the stern compulsion of a Romans sense of duty. TJinh/appily, it was not niy privilege to know Judge Clark in What may be called the judicial phase of his charac ter; but in knowing him as he appeared to those who came "within tihe melloW influence of his sio-cial dharms, I feel tfhat I knew him at his beet. Mid I not feel that in some higher sphere thine eyes had opened to the light again, I might sootihe my -aeliing heart "with, tins persuasion: iShiat sweefcj indeed, would be thy rest in dear old Georgias lap if the love which thou hiaeft kindled m the hieafts of others could return to lig-ht thy dreams, and that fairer tfluan. any wreath of spring would be the turf above thee if the virtues Which adom.0d thy life could blossom inibo flowers upon thy breast! L. !_/. KNIGHT. Interesting %etter. NEW OULEANS, LA., 22d September, 1897. My De'ar MTS. Wylie: It gives me pleasure to learn that a volume of the writings of the late Judge TticTrard H, Clark, edited by yourself, is soon to be published. I had been liappy if curcumStanccs had. permitted me to share with you the labor io love in which you have been, engaged in the preparation of this volume, not that any interest or value could (have been imparted to -it thereby, but that I might in that way have testified my affectionato remem brance of him whose name its pages will commemorate.. Absence from Georgia liaving put it out of my power to enjoy that privilege, I gratefully avail myself of the op portunity afforded by your kirnd >aii(d highly appreciated re quest, though conscious that I >oan say nothing of the distiiiguished and lamented subject of your memoir tkaft Iras not already beeai better said by yourself and by others w"lio Uave doubtless cojLtnibuted to the pages of the forthcom ing volume. In .thinking of Judge Clark memory goes back; -to the time when I first sa.w him when. I was quite a little school boy, in the town of Morgan, Oalhoun county, Georgia. He Was then. a. practicing lawyer and ehind them forever. "Where are they now1 "where bo their flashes of nierrimeTit that -were woriut to set the table on a roar?" F-roiii some higher and sereiier sphere, with wider knowledge and mwe abounding wisdom, do> they vic^v the fret and fury of this, lifes fitful fever in. the world they left a world whose paltry prizes, when -all is won that all desire to win, are hardly worth the cost, land where right and wrong are accidents ? Par beyond -and above its vanities and liolloW mockories, its unsubstantial pageants, its wretched inter change of wrong- for wrong, its fleeting- and uneCirtiain pleas ures. its sure atnd lasting sOrrow*s, do tliey smile or do tihey weep at the fantastic tricks of those wh(o still stiiit and fret their hour upon its stage? j\_ftcr those days in ilorgan I did not again see Judge dark till I nie-t him in. Atlanta -after T was grown, and after he had been on the bench of the Southwestern circuit, and had therefore ceased to be "Colonel" Clark. I supposed that lie had either forgotten me altogether, or that be would 404 MEMORIAL. not recognize me after the lapse of so many years, with their attendant changes, but I was not aware then of that wonderful memory of his. To my surprise, lie approached ine, calling me by name, and referring to that schoolboy ti.me in the little Southwest Georgia town; the time when, to use his own expression, I was "a russet-headed lad." The years Irad already lain their whitening touch on his h&ad, and they have since been h Jsily leaving their impress on my own stealing ruthlessly from it as woll !as fast chang ing the hue that called forth the judges descriptive appella tion. JTow swiftly they pass! .Plow everv letter we trace tell*-- us with, what rapidity life follows the pen ! The days and hours of it are frying over our beads like light clouds of a windy day? !aud golden and raven locks grow gray even while the jeweled fingers twist thorn. J3ut the years that changed Judge darks hair from jet to silver wrought no change in his heart. That was golden ever, aoid when its pulses ceased and the spirit of life departed from it, I folfc that a part of the light of my own life had gone out too, because for many years the relations between ITS had been like unto those between father and yon, and it saddened me inexpressibly to know that tliat warm heart, with all its generous emotions, was now com passed in a clod of the valley, and that I should not again see the good gray head and gentle presence I Ivad known arid loved so long. The news of his death came to me here "when the revelries of the -carnival season in this pageantloving (but, alas! now stride on) city were at their height, but I could take 11-0 part nor pleasure in tliem, for my thoughts were all of him "whose lifeless clay then lay in Georgias (list-ant capital, awaiting the last sad rites that the living can pay to the honored dead. It had been but a little while since, in the very room where death had be-en MEMORIAL. 405 beleaguering Mm for weeks, and where at. last he yielded to it, I bad bidden him adieu, -with little thought that our parting1 vheii was the final prelude to the eternal separation tliat was so shortly to come, -and when I realized that it was so T. conrprehended the full significance of his words when lie wrote that to him the saddest word in the world was "Iarewell to the dying and to one we love, whom we never expect to see again, in this life." What I am writing is but an endeavor far, far short of its object to express my love for one whom I can never see again in tihis life; the friend "of soul sincere, in action faithful and in honor clear," to whom I was bound by ties so strong that the recollecticm, of them (h.as liot been de stroyed nor dimmed by time and death. There is n;o occa sion for me to dwell here in eulogy on bis virtues or merits. His services to the State are hnperisbably recorded in its annals; and in the volume which you have lovingly prepared, besides what your own appreciative and graceful pen has written, thcre will be, I doubt riot, a becoming tribute from tflie members of the bar of Atlanta to the distinguished and venerable jurist who presided so long in the tribunals of justice there and elsewhere in Greorgia. I have not seen a report of their proceedings in honor of his memory, but they knew him as lawyer,