SKETCHES Fr0m the Early History OF A 1801--1825. BY 00GT0R HENRY HDLIr: EDITED BY A. L. HULL. 1884. M irj-, ri/-Jff JOB FSs:rrc'a iXD Kook-BrxDJER. j* ^>'*>*>' A.hens. Georgia. PREFACE. In offering these sketches in their present shape, it would be pro per for the Editor to say that they weie for the most part first pub- blished in the Southern Watchman in 1870, but having been written " to while away an idle hour," no regard was had to arrangement of subjects or consecutiveness of details. It was therefore the task and pleasure of the Editor to arrange them more systematically in point of time and subject, including some sketches hitherto unpublished, and present them in a more permanent form than as newspaper contributions. To none who knew Doctor Hull need it be told, that for seventy- eight years he lived in Athens, a part of that .time sustaining to wards many in the community, the intimate relations of a family physician, and known and respected by all. The peopleof the city, he has known for generations back, and no one perhaps was so well fitted as he to write the annals of the place. Unfortunately, the sketches do not extend later- than 1825. There is no preteiu>e of completeness in this work as a History of Athens for the time; but it consists of personal observations of the writer, coupled with well authenticated traditions of the place. Many things of interest and value, were he yet alive, might the writer add from a memory green and mind well stored with fact and fancy. Perhaps some other hand tremulous with age will take up the thread and weave the story out. . A. L. H. Athens, Ga., January, ISSk. THE PLACE. In the year 1801 the Senatuf Academicws, composed of the Governor, the State Senate and the Board 6f Trustees of the University of Georgia, being stirred to action by public complaints of their neglect of that institution, which had hitherto existed only on paper, met at Louisville, the then Capital of the State and appointed a com mittee to select a site in Jackson County for its location. The Com mittee, Gov. Milledge, Abram Baldwin, George "Walton, John Twigga and Hugh Lawson, in the latter part of June, of that year, met at BillupsTavern on the Lexington road and thence made tours of inspection to various locations. The Augitzta Chronicle, of July 25th, 1801, tells us that "the Committee repaired to the eountj of Jackson and proceeded with attention and deliberation to ex amine a number of situations as well upon the tracts belonging to the University as upon others of private individuals. Having eom- pleted-tWir views, they proceeded by ballot to make the choice, when the vote was unanimous in favor of a place belonging to Mr. Daniel Easley, at the Cedar Shoals, upon the North Fork of the Oconee River, and the same was resolved to be selected and chosen for the seat of the University of Georgia. For this purpose the tract containing 633 aejres was purchased of Mr. Easley by Mr. Mil- ledge, one of the Committee, and made a donation of to the Trus tees, and it was called Athens. " The river at Athens is about 150 fe^t broad; its waters rapid in their descent and has no lowgrounds. The site of the University is on the South side and half a mile from the river. About 200 yards from the site, and 300 feet above the river, in the midst of an ex tensive bed of rock issues a copious spring of excellent water, and in its meanderings to the river several others are discovered. On the place is a new well built framed dwelling house, entirely equal to the accommodation of the President a^d his family. There is also another new house equal to a temporary schoolroom. The square of the University containing 36Ji acres is laid oft so as to comprehend the site, the houses and the spring. A street is laid off upon the northern line of the square adjoining a village of lots in that direction. Besides the spring in the square, which is con venient to the village, there is one in the street and another back of the lots. Near Athens, Mr. Easley has an excellent flour mill, a saw and common grist mill, with intention to add a cotton machine. To drive these, the rapids opposite Athens are slightly clammed so as the ordinary supply of the river neitherincreases nor diminishes the size of the pond. Besides the lesser fish of fresh waters, the shad in thfir season, ascend tho rival-ai? high as Athens in great perfection." <>. , i - -.- ; ,.-._ The area purchased by Gov. Milledge, extended from a point on the river a little below the Athens Factory, back of Mr. F. W. Lucasplace, through Mr. Bancrofts, nearly to the Bock Spring; thence including the 1/uey Cobb Institute, the line passed through Dr. Lintons plantation to the River. Mr. Daniel Easley reserved a portion of the tract, bounded by a line beginningat a point on the river a little below the upper bridge, runningthenee to a point not far from Mrs. Dorseys house, thence between Mr. E. R. Hodgsons and the Town Spring, *o a point across the spring branch, thence to the point on the river belowthe Factory. This reservation he sold in lots, of shapes.aud sizes to suit the tastes .and purposes of purchasers, securing to himself the right to keep up his mill-dam and a toll bridge. He owned most of the land about Athens, on both sides of the river. He built and lived in the Hodgson house till he sold it to my father, Rev. Hope Hull, in 1803, after which he moved across the river. My earliest recollections of Athens date from the year 1803. I well remember when my father, with his family, a few servants and household goods stopped at this house the only one of that day now standing how interested I was in a flock of goats which were browsing on the opposite hillside. The most thickly settled portion of the village then was between our house and the river. There were two so-called stores, one on the lot adjoining ours, kept by a.Mr. Black, and the other immediately opposite by Capt. Warham Easley, while cake shops, grog shops, a blacksmith and tailor shop, with cabins and shanties, occupied the space to t^e river. The Old College was just completed and was occupied by a few students. The Presidents house a story and a half the same mentioned in the extract quoted .above, stood where Dr. Mells house is, and the other new house which was "equal to a tempo rary schoolroom" a single room 20 feet square with a chimney at one end, an unglazed window in the other, and a door in each side stood about the site of the Phi-Kappa Hall. The Grammar School was near the Chancellors house, and these were all the buildings on the Campus at the time. The tract given by Gov. Milledge was laid off in lots and streets, beginning at Mrs. Dorseys lot, which was No. 1, and extending to Mrs. Blanton Hills. These lots were offered tor sale by the Trus tees, each square containing two acres, except those between Col lege Avenue and Jackson streets, which were one acre each. The first lots sold were those comprised in the parallelogram bounded by Foundry, Broad, Hull street and Hancock Avenue.*/ From 1803 to 1810 the town grew apace. On Mrs. Dorseys lot stood a *NoiE The reader jriil l>ear;iji? nAod^SalAJisae sketches were written fourteen years ago, since whieK ^jjaejmany c&%ng<$ o(,**llctenc have taken place. '. . .0 , , """ storehouse, with a small dwelling attached, belonging to Major Ferdinand Phiiiizy, of Augusta. On the adjoining lot, westward, was a story and a half hewn log house, the only hotel in the city. It comprised two rooms with a passage between and a shed with two or three bedrooms on the first floor, as many on the second, and a piazza in front. It was kept by Capt. John Gary. 2fext to that was the store of Mr. Ste* ens Thomas, near the present Georgia Railroad Agency.* He was the principal merchant in the place, and for a long time the only one worthy the name. About the time of which I write, he married and built the house on the same lot C"5 recently taken down by Judge Deupree. It was then the most stylish house in the place, and theie his children were born, there he accumulated his large fortune and there died. Two or three little shanties siood on the lot where Capt. Barrys stores are, but I do not remember their uses. On the site of the National Bank there stood a little Doctors shop, about 10x12 feet, which with a small dwelling, opposite Dr. Smiths, were the only buildings on the square. The square and houses were owned by Dr. Wright, the first village doctor. Still going westward, we find no houses on Broad street, until we reach Mrs. Deloneys now greatly altered and enlarged. That was built by an Englishman, named Alien, whose daughter, Miss Harriet, taught in that house the first female school established in Athens. Old Mr. Alien was a quiet, retiring gentleman and considered the highest authority on all questions of taste and horticulture. We have now reached Lumpkin street, the extreme west-ru limits of Athens, as it was in 1810. On Thomas street stood only two houses. Where Dr. Hull lives was a log cabin, built by Rev. John Hodge; the other a more pretentious hewn log house near where Dr. Moores office stands, was occupied by Mrs. Lucy Gary. This continued to be habitable until Mr. William Dearing, the last occupant removed it to make way for Dr. Moores house. On Clay- ton street there were only two residences one Dr. Wright has al ready been mentioned; the other now owned by Dr. R. M. Smith the place to go to if you wished to meet company in general or see any one in particular. Mr. Graham was a fat amiable old bachelor weigh ing about 350 Ibs. He prospered in business and bought the house and lot now owned by Dr. B. M. Smith, but in a few years died of apoplexy. Mr. Peyton Moores house was built by Paul Coalson, a graduate of 1822. Mr. Wiley Sledge, still remarkable at the age of 86 for his strength and activity, made the first improvement on Gen. Friersons lot. Oa the same square, corner of Dougherty and Thomas streets, a small bouse was built by Oaborne Gatbright, a Virginian,-a jack at all trades and certainly good at none. He could make a wagon or a wheelbarrow, build a house and paint it. His main trade was cabinet making, and he boasted of bis capacity as a millwright. I have no doubt he would have undertaken to build a cotton factory if called upon, but unfortunately for his reputation his works generally fell to pieces beore much use could . be made of them. He was patient under any amount of abuse. Major Walker once said to him "Gathright, you are a worthless, lying puppy!" " Nevermind Major," said Gathright, "you will be sorry for that when I get to be the most popular man in town." He sued a citizen in a Magistrate0 court, who offered some notes of the plaintiff as an offset. "May it please your honor," said Gath, pleading his own case "let him offer these notes, and he cant get a man in Athens to give a red cent for them, and theres no justice in making me take notes in payment of a just debt which no other man would have." The house across Thomas streets was built by Capt. Wm. B. Taylor for a kitchen; the Captain came to Athens from Rich- *Jackson street between Hancock Avenue and Dougherty street. fNow Mrs. 8. C. Reesea. JNow Mrs. John Matthews. $John Z. Coopers. --af*a^-- *- 9 mond, Va., laboring under that hallucination, common to most Virgipians of that day, that simply coming to Georgia would make them rich, and the first thing they did was to make arrangements to spend the money they expected to come into their hands. Capt. Taylor, a good and amiable man, like many others, was disappoint ed in his coming funds and never built his projected palatial re sidence. He lived in his kitchen as long as his means enabled him, then sold his lot, and the kitchen remains to this day. The Female Academy lot was given by the Trustees of the Uni versity, and the title confirmed by Legislative grant, to the Trustees of the Academy. The house was built by private contribution. The house occupied by Sirs. Sparks* was built by Prof. Jno. K. Golding; Dr. Hoyts house by Mrs. Baldwin, Capt. Barrys, Mr. Scudders and the Coppee houses were all built by Dr. Tinsley. The late Mrs. Hodgsons house, below the carriage shops, was first the home of Sterling Lane, son of old Jonathan Lane, one of the first white men that lived west of the OconeeBiver. Sterling Lane was ayoung man of fine promise. He read law with Mr. Upsoii, of Lexington,and was admitted to the bar, but preferred commerce to the law and after building a home and a prosperous business died in 1820 of typhus fever, universally regretted. His father planted the large cedars in the yard when they were mere switches. Mr. Wil liam Lnmpkin afterwards bought the house and lived there for many years. Capt. Carys old hotel, on Broad street, was enlarged by Maj. MeKigney and rebuilt by Capt. Sam Brown. In this building Presi dent James Monroe held a reception upon the occasion of his visit to Athens, in 1819, at which Prof. Jno. R. Goldingas master of cere monies, introduced the citizens of the county by name, omitting never a one. The third story was added for a ball room and used for that puipose until Mr. Dearing built the Central Hotel, extending from Barrys to Pittards corner inclusive. This brings us within the pale of modem times whose record I leave for some future his torian. Fo~fa quarter of a century at least, the interests of Athens and of the University went hand in band they rose or fell together. In deed one was nothing without the other. The income of the Uni versity was derived from the rents of land deeded to it by the state and as land was very cheap none but the poorest as a rule (and they were poor because they were lazy) rented them; consequently the " income was small and very uncertain. From its organization in 1801 to 1811 the Faculty consisted of a President, Mr. Meigs, one Frofessor of French, Mons. Petit De Clairville, and one Tutor, Addiu Lewis, whose place in 1808 was filled by James Merriwether for Adjoining Dr. Lyndons. 10 THE UNIVERSITY. a year, after which Mons. Petit held on for two years and resigned in 1810, leaving President Meigs alone in his glory to instruct all the classes in every department of science. So the college came very near to the gates of death, and the town had but little more vitality. In 1811 the Faculty was re-organized by the election of Dr- John Brown, President, and Dr. Henry Jackson and Mr. John IB. Golding, Professors. This galvanized the College into spas modic breathing, and the town sympathized in the shock. A few houses before vacant, were occupied and some whitewashing, and may be a little painting done and the place looked for brighter days. I dont remember that any one was so sanguine as to build a new house or improve a vacant lot. But the hoped for improve ment did not come, and the college and town languished, notwithstand the election in 1813 of an additional Professor, Dr. Win. Green. But this strengthening of the Faculty did not have the ex-, pected effect of strengthening the institution. The rents did not come in, and the Professors salaries, ridiculously small though they were, were not paid, no apparatus could be bought, no library was within reach; so the college languished and the town sicken ed, and if the Legislature had not authorized the Board of Trustees to sell the lands and invest the proceeds, both would soon Viave died together. But that important measure was adopted, and in 1816 the lands were sold and notes and bonds taken in payment. The State took them to the amount of $120,000 and transferred to the University 1,000 shares of the stock of the Bank of the State of Georgia guaranteeing 8 per cent, dividend annually and this it has paid and only this to the present day. TbeHne between Georgia and South Carolina was the northern bank of the Savannah River at high water, from its mouth to its intersection with the 35th parallel of north latitude and where it forked, the larger of the two should be considered a continuation of the .Savannah. Now the Tugalo and Seneca foimed the first fork from its mouth, and it became a question which was the larger. It was generally conceded that the Seneca was the principal stream and was therefore considered the boundary between the States. The lnds between the rivers belonged then to Georgia, a part of which 5000 acres lying near the junction and very valuable were deeded by the State with other tracts to the University. This district was represented in the Georgia Legislature by a Mr. Lane. Subsequent surveys pretending to be more carefully made determined that the Tugalo was the larger river, and It became the boundary line, there by losing to the University of Georgia her 5,000 valuable acres. But our Board of Trustees resolved to make an effort to retain it, sup posing that such a tract, away in the backwoods, remote from any settlement, when public lands .were worth but little more than the -a 11 cost of surveying them, could be of small consideration to a State, appointed one of their own body, a lawyer of distinction, to wait on the Legislature of South Carolina then in session, and ask that the grant to the land should be confirmed to the University not doubting that so small a favor would be granted. Col. C- was a man of exquisite taste in wines and brandies, or ar least he thought so, and kept that gift in active exercise on all proper occasions and sometimes when the occasion was not proper. The South Carolinians knew exactly how to entertain such a man with becoming hos pitality. There were.some members of the Legislature who learn ing the object of the Colonels visit, and desiringto own themselves the land in question, determined to prevent the confirmation of the grant and succeeded in keeping our delegate in such a bissful state of tastineand testing certain old and costly liquors that he did not have an opportunity to present the claims of the University until the Legislature adjourned. Before its next meeting the lands were sold.. The writer has been present at every Commencement of the Col lege since 1804, though his memory only reaches back to that of 1806. On this occasion a large crowd of people, of all sorts, from the country and from towns, male and female, old and young, in every variets- of costume, were assembled under a large bush arbor in front of the Old College, supplied vith seats made of plank and slabs bonowed for the occasion from Easleys saw mill, resting on blocks or billets of wood which raised them from the ground. The stage for the Faculty, Trustees and speakers was erected at the side ofthe College building, and the speakers when called came out of the door at the east end. The whole was built mainly by the students. The peles and brush for the arbor were growing in less than two hundred yards from the place where they were needed, the cutting an.d dragging them was a mere frolic, and as "many hands make light work" the aftair once begun was soon completed. Like all small boys, the writer was more interested in looking at the people than in listening to the speakers, and as the seats provided did but little more than accommodate the ladies, the men and boys stood around on the outside. One of the audience was particularly con spicuous. He was a full head and shoulders above all others near him and seemed to be standing on a chair or bench. He attracted the larger notice of all the small boys who wer<- amazed to find him standing on his own proper feet. He was Beniamin Harrison, a very amiable young man, standing seven feet three inches in his shoes. Of course the intelligent portion of the audience were in terested in the orations, but the greater part looked on in stupid wonder as if on a pageant, understanding abont as much of the English as they did of the Greek and Latin speeches which were delivered, all however wrapt in profound attention. The hearty, 12 rosy cheeked country girls, in their homespun and calico dresses, looked without a shade of envy on the pale and languid faces of the ladies from the miasmatic districts, dressed in their fashionably, made silks and satins, and regarded them rather with commisera tion, as people who could not milk a cow or cook a dinner to save them from starvation. As to the men with kid gloves and silk stockings, they created the same emotions as a show of wax figures they were "mighty fancy but no use. 1 An old programme of the commencement of 1814 contains the order of exercises, beginning with the Commencement Sermon by the President, on Tuesday July 26. At 7 oclock the same evening was presented the tragedy of Cato by the students. On Wednes day Orations were delivered by W. W. Baldwin, J. M. Erwin, A. Matthews, and an Essay on Tobacco by Henry Hull; the exercises closing by a farce, "No song, no supper," with Jabez Marshall, Miles Nisbet, Henry Hull, Elizur Newton, W. H. and Bobt. Flournoy, Thaddeus Holt and others in the east of characters. On Thurs day an address to volunteers was delivered by Elizur L. Newton with orations by Duncan G. Campbell, Asbury and Henry Hull and Thaddeus Holt, after which degrees were conferred. These exercises were held suft arboribus. The prospect of the College grew darker, until for three years, 1817 18-19 there was a virtual suspension of work. In 1819 the Board elected to the Presidency the most popular educator in the South, Dr. Moses Waddel, who had numbered among his pupils John C. Calhoun, George MeDuffie and Jag. I/. Pittman, of South Carolina, Wm. H. Crawford, George B. Gilmer and A. B. Longstreet, of Georgia. Dr. Henry Jackson, Mr. John B. Golding and Dr. Alonzo Church were elected Professors and Mr. Ebenezer New ton, Tutor. These constituted the best Faculty the College had ever had, which together with the new end >wment gave new life to the institution, and the town partaking of the inspiration began to grow and to assume a life and activity that surprised the oldest inhabi tants. Many lots that had been sold and remained unimproved from the beginning, changed hands, new lots were brought into market, and men with families flocked to the seat of the University to educate their children. The Philosophical Hall was built and equipped with new apparatus, and the University entered upon a career of usefulness which is unabated to tbe present day. The pleasure which is derived from reading descriptions of the people of former times, their names and customs, their dress, their physical, moral and political conditions, their religious faith and practice, arises from the difference which the reader, observes to exist in the former and present condition of these things. To note these changes, and the causes which led to them that we may avoid the things which experience teaches to be evil, and cleave to that which IB good, is the chief value of History. But the -writer has 13 THE PEOPLE. no object so grave and ambitious as this. He writes these reminis cences to occupy an idle hour and in the hope that he may give pleasure to some old people who may remember many of the per sons and incidents which may be recalled to mind, and that the young may learn the changes which have taken place in our town since the days of their grandfathers. The first Doctor who settled in Athens was a Dr. Wright, who came from Connecticut with President Meigs. He was an educated man and a gentleman, but so wanting in tact and common sense that he did not secure the esteem of the people. Returning from a professional visit he ,was stopped by an old woman living by the roadside to proscribe for her son who was suffering from a violent attack of colic. "Can you give him an enema?" asked the Doctor. "O yes I can give him anything." "Well, mix the medicine Ill send you in three half pints ot warm water and give it." The next day passing by the Doctor inquired after the lad. "Oh said his mother, hesaheap better, butleouldnt make him swallow moren half that ar dost, but it worked him powerful, up and down." Ah well" said the Doctor "he- swallowed enough." This incident illustrates the difficulties of the practice in a frontier settlement. The people venerated the Doctor but could never see the necessity of more than one visit, nor the propriety of charging for an atten tion which any neighbor would be glad to render for nothing. Dr. Wright sold his possessions and good will to Dr. Hugh Nois ier ; for one doctor, one lawyer, one blacksmith and one preacher were sufficient for the wants of the community at that time. Dr. Neisler was of German extraction, though a native of North Caro lina. He married the sister of Major Thomas Mitchell, so long the popular representative of Clarke County in the Legislature. Dr. Neisler was a man of marked character, honest, credulous, confid ing and truthful. He looked upon his neighbors as his personal friends and treated them as such. He had not the education of his predecessor. He was afflicted with a strange malady, Somnolence, under which he suffered from the writers first recollection of him till his death, feeling a patients pulse invariably put him to sleep, yet a sleep, so light that a word or movement would arouse him, and it would appear from his reply to a question that he did not lose consciousness. He was among the best Latin scholars of the day. The Trustees of the University engaged him to fill tem porarily the place of the Rector of the Grammar School, it being perfectly practicable for him to teach the boys and attend to his patients during play hours and at night. The writer was a member of the school and has a vivid recollection of a small pocket edition of Virgil (his favorite author) which he always carried with him. While hearing a class he would usually fall into apparent sleep, but 14 a suspension of the voice or a mistranslation of a sentence would arouse him immediately. This kind hearted gentleman did not whip a single boy during his administration of the school. He had himself great respect for his profession and exacted the same from others. A gentleman from Savannah came for a few days to Athens. One night his wife was taken ill and he went to the Doctor for some medicine, and the next day called for his bill. " Five dollars for a vial of laudanum!" exclaimed the man. " I charge you nothing for the laudanum," said the Doctor contemptuously, " you are welcome to it; but sir, when you knock up a scientific man at midnight you must expect to pay for it." Best in peace beloved teacher and friend. Mrs. Lucy Cary, the widow of Dudley Gary, of Gloucester, Va., was among the earliest settlers of Atheas. She was such a lady as we may suppose Mary Washington to have been. She knew General Washington ard his wife as well as most other distinguished Vir ginians in her young days. Her manners were formed from the best models of Virginia society gentle, courteous, dignified, cheer ful as kind to one of her slaves as to a white person of the same age; and the result was that her slaves jiot only loved and respected her but prided themselves in belonging to an old Virginia family Many a student of Dr. Waddells day will remember old Dick Cary, the bell ringer and college servant. He was a tall, fine looking old negro, wearing his white hair very long, that is to say very bushy. He was always well dressed and deported himself as if he considered his office in the college second only to Dr. Waddells, and from no Other would he take orders. Mrs. Cary had the best trained housemaids comely, full blooded negro girls, always neat with heads covered with colored headkerchiefs very artistically arranged. How distinct after the lapse of so many years is the recollection of Mrs. Cary. The writer never saw her in any other than a black silk dress; her tall cap and neckerchief were of the finest quality, white as snow and looked as if they had just come from the hands of. the laundress. Her parlor, although the walls were of hewn logs, was as white and spotless as her cap, and the uncarpeted floor as clean and bright as if the planks had just left the plane. Then her tea table and service and snowy napkins; such tea and bread and .sandwiches and cakes I We shall never look upon the like again. . Mrs. Cary was the mother of two daughters and two sons. One of the daughters was married to Mr. Stevens Thomas; she died young, leaving two children, yet living; Mr. Stevens Thomas and Mrs. Paulina Harris. The other was married to Mr. Alsa Moore and lived more than four score years. The younger son, Peyton Cary was a young man of rare promise. He had extraordinary mechanical genius and without any instruction in metallurgy or 15 engraving he cast of solid silver and engraved the seal of "he Uni versity, presenting it to his Alma Mater. The Trustees adopted it and it is used upon their documents to this day. Xo young man ever lived in Athens more esteemed or died more deeply lamented. Mrs. Garys descendants to the third and fourth generations are living in Athens, and her great grand daughters, lovely and accom plished as they are, would be proud to claim her if they had known her as the writer did. Many years before her death her children had all left her, hut she enjoyed the society of young people and generally had some of her grand daughters and their friends to stay with her. It was a delightful plae to spend the evening which had a slightly different meaning from what the phrase does now. An evening party of that day would now be called a matinee. Young gentlemen calling upon ladies would present themselves soon after sunset and it was as certainly expected that they would take tea as that they would take a chair, and just as certainly expected that they would leave by nine oclock. At all entertainments too, seats were provided for all tlie guests and everything for their comfort; the viands were abundant and substantial and no one was asked to take any thing standing except a glass ot wine or of brandy and water at the sideboard. Captain John Cary was a brother of Dudley Cary. He was a gentleman reduced from affluence to very limited means for the maintenance and education of his family, but kept up the manners and customs of old Virginia entertaining young and old at his house with a dance and good cheer, varied with marvelous stories of his hunting exploits in Virginia. He was ap pointed Steward of the College, and in 1813 Paymaster of the Georgia ^ Militia. Ti,e quality of board required by the Trustees was adver tised as follows: " For breakfast, a sufficiency of wholesome cold meat with wheaten flour biscuit or loaf bread, butter, tea or coffee. For dinner, a course of bacon or salted beef with a suitable propor tion of corn bread and at least two kinds of vegetables, and on Wed nesday to have an after course of pies, puddings or pancakes. For each supper, a plentiful supply of tea or milk with a sufficiency of wheaten flour biscuit and butter. At his boarding house were two Indian student*. The Appalachee was then a part of the eastern boundary of the1 Cherokee Nation, and the Indians selling their moccasins, dressed deer skins and cane baskets were as common in Athens as the traders from Habersham and Rabun are now. Pre sident Meigs was very desirous to have the Indians send their boys to college and induced two or three Cherokees to make the experi ment. These two boys, Joe and Ben Marshall, held out longer than the others. They were much petted by the President and were popular with the students on account of their superiority in all athletic sports. They made very unsatisfactory progress in their Studies. The writer saw them both in 1835 spent the night at Joe 16 Marshalls house in the Creek Nation, but did not see him until at breakfast next morning. He had grown very fat and stupid, re membering nobody he had ever known in Athens except Mr. Meigs and Mr. Thomas, ard could not recall any of the students. This however might have been owing partly to the fact of his being very drunk the night before He was a pure Indian in.dress and habits and seemed not to have profited at all by his intercourse with the whites. His brother Ben on the contrary, whom the writer met a few days afterwards in Columbus, was well dressed and had shrewdness enough to select for his reservation the barren sand hills opposite Columbus, on which i ow stands the town of Girard. Mrs. Puryear, whose husband was murdered by his negroes on the plantation about five miles below Athens, now belonging to the Graham estate, was a lady of the old Virginia school, full of energy and resolve, and managed her lamilyaffairs with great wisdom. Her daughters were beautiful women, carefully educated in all the arts of housewifery and taught by the example of their mother to be industrious and economical. They were consequently much ad mired and all married young. Mrs. Puryear was married the second time to Major Charles Dougherty and became the mother of the three distinguished Georgians,. Charles, Robert and William Dougberty. Their father died when they were too young to re member him, .so they were lett to the care of the mother a second time a widow. Though men of remarkable natural endowments, their, rapid advancement in popular favor and success at the bar were attributable as much to her firm and judicious training as to -tbeir own talents. She was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, belies ed its doctrine and practiced its precepts, and -was regarded by all as a " mother in Israel." After Major Doughertys death she moved from the plantation to a house on the lot now oc cupied by her grand daughter Mrs. STat Barnard. . Mrs. Puryears eldest daughter married Major MeKigney who bought Captain Garys old hotel, and who found in his young wife > an industrious energetic helper in providing for the comfort of his boarders. He was an amiable and prosperous man and much es teemed., but died three or four years after his marriage, leaving his wife with two children. One of these, Rebecca, was married to Judge James Merriwether, long a member of the Legislature and of Congress. Mrs. McKiguey aftei wards married Captain Samuel Brown. If love goes by contrasts it may* account for Mrs. McKigney marrying Captain.Brown. He was a man of good habits but utter ly wanting in enterprise", took life easily and was the most taciturn of men. He was the Magistrate of the Athens District for many years and gave general satisfaction. It was of course impossible to please everybody, and occasionally exceptions were taken to hi decisions. "I never expected justice in this court" said a 17 litigant once. " You didnt!" said the Captain, "then sir, I] I send you where you can get justice," and so bound him over requiring him to give bond or go to jail. He was said to be rather partial to that process arising perhaps from a modest estimate of his knowledge of the law. Some surprise was expressed at Mrs. McKigney marrying Captain Brown, to which she replied that she had found it very inconven ient to live without a man about the house and she thought she could manage a husband better than anybody else. Captain Brown be sides enlarging his hotel built a small store on the corner where Center king as if living under a self willed government. His face was aa exceedingly fine one a well de veloped forehead, a small keen blue eye, with a heavy brow, indi cative of intense thought. His shoulders were unusually broad and square, his chest wide, affording ample room for his lungs; his body was long and large in proportion to his lower limbs; his voice full, flexible and capable of every variety of intonation, from the softest sounds of sympathy and persuasion to the thunder tonea of wrath. Many ignorant sinners charged him with having learned their secrets and of using the pnlpit to gratify himself in their ex posure, and when convinced of their mistake have doubted whether he were not a prophet. His oratory was natural, his action ths un affected expression of his mind. ?3ot only was there an entire freedom from everything like mannerism, but there was great har mony between bis gesticulation and the expression of his counten ance. He seemed in some of his finest moods of thought to look his word? into you. He was one of Natures orators, fn many of his masterly efforts his words rushed upon his audience like an avalanche, and multitudes seemed to be carried before him like the yielding captives of a stormed castle. I was very intimate with him for>bout ten years, staying in his house, and talked and prayed and praised with him. At that time he was a local, I an itinerant preacher; but often did he leave home and business to travel with me for days. All my intimacy with him only served to multiply evidences of his exalted worth. Grave and guarded as he was, there were moments when he entertained his friends with the recital of 20 thrilling incidents in his history connected with the more rustic forms of society with which he had been conversant. There was in many of his impromptu remarks the appearance of almost pro phetic appositeness. He survived till 1818, when he died, saying, "God has laid me under marching orders, lam ready to obey." The transition is natural from the subject of the extract quoted to the religious denominations of the vicinity of Athens a half cen tury ago. It was prior to this that the first great camp meeting was held, two miles this side of Lexingtou, at a place afterwards known as Jourdans. Mr. William Lumpkin, a brother of the Governor, pointed out the place to the writer and described the meeting. The most marvelous effects of religious truth, heard for the first time, upon a rude backwoods pioneer people, were exhibited in the highest degree. Men, physically strong as athletes, accustomed to all the perils of Indian warfare and dangers of frontier life, would start from the midst of avast concourse of people, as if the preacher were leveling a rifle at them, run as if for life and before a hundred yards were passed, fall apparently as dead as if pierced with a ball. Mr. Lumpkin knew many of them who from being the worst, be came the best men in the community. Our immediate vicinity was settled by emigrants, principally from Virginia and North Carolina, coming in families and belonging to the same religious faith. The settlers of Sandy Creek district were Presbyterians and organized " Sandy Creek Church," first located on the stream from which, it took its name, but afterwards moved several miles west to its present location. Among the founders of this Church were James and John Espey, two Revolutionary soldiers, who fought at Guilford Courthouse and Kings Mountain, excellent men and citizens of blameless, useful lives and irreproachable character. The settlers of the district east of the Oconee down to Barnetts Shoals were Baptists. They were the Hales, Pittards, Bakers and Malones. This community built two.meeting houses, the "Trail Creek Church," near Dr. MeCleskeys present residence, and " Big Creek Church," at Barnetts Shoals. , Between the torks of the Oeonee River as far up as Hall county, which was then Cberokee Nation, all. the people who belonged to any church were Methodists. Again, the Barbours Creek settle ment was Baptist while below Watkinsville all were Methodists. There was at that time a manifest disinclination on the part of all denominations, to interfere with the religious faith of a neighbor hood lest they should " build on another mans foundation." Mr. John Hodge was the . only Presbyterian preacher until Dr. Waddells time, the latter organizing the Athens Church and securing the erection of the old church on the Campus, where the Library building now btands. The first Methodist meeting Louse on this side the Oconee was 21 built of small logs with tlje bark on. It was about 22x24 covered with pine boards and presented externally the appearance of a negro cabin without a chimney. There wasadooron oneside,and opposite to it, a box made of the kind of boards that were used to cover the house, served for a pulpit. The floor was made of split logs smoothed somewhat on one side by a broad ax and laid on the ground; the seats were of the same material set on four legs. This meeting house was on the land ofJosiah Freeman, near a spring about 500 yards east of Mr. Barwicks house. In this miserable cabin two of the most eloquent men of the time used to preach sometimes to a dozen, never to more thaua hundred hearers. This house was abandoned, and in 1S10 a more commodious building was erected a little south of the Fair Grounds. This was " Hulls Meeting House," and served until 1824 when the first Methodist Cliurch the predecessor of the Brick Church was built. The lot . was given by Mr. Thomas Hancock of whom and his excellent wife, the writer can only say that they were the most loveable and purest hearted old Methodist people he ever knew, and there are few such left. They lived in the house now occupied by Mrs. Vincent, where reduced from affluence by commercial losses, tney opened a -house of publc entertainment, where all were welcome, both those who paid and those who did not; and most welcome of all were those who could not. The new church was a frame building about forty feet square with a gallery on three sides, and a man six feet high could have stood erect under the floor of the pulpit. Il was first in charge ot Rev. Thomas Stanley and afterwards of Bev. Loyiek Pierce. After a few years, proving to be insufficient to accommodate the congrega tion the building was enlarged by an addition of twenty feetat the west end, and so stood until 1852. The Baptists were numerically, as they are now, the largest denomination. Eev. Isaiah Hale was the first pastor of Trail Creek Chuireh." He was a man of spot less character and "had in reputation by all the people." The writer was not capable of judging ot the charaete.r of his sermons as to the soundness of their theology, but his manner of delivering them he will never forget. It was a peculiar intoning, a sort of sing song, absolutely indescribable, that had to be heard to be con ceived of. Yet it was not unpleasant after becoming accustomed to it. It was a custom with Mr. Hale and, with his successor, Mr. Goss, occasionally during the sermon to address personally and by name, some of the older members of bis congregation, male and female, calling upon him to approve some sentiment or enquiring if his experience did not agree with that of the preacher. The effect of this was to secure the attention of his audience and add life to the services. On the other hand if the preacher misquoted a pas sage of scripture, any member was at -liberty to correct him. 22 "Wherefore," said the preacher, " let him that standeth take heed lest he fall." " Let him that thinkeih he standeth, Brother Goss," said a voice from the congregation. Tliank you, Brother Malone," said the preacher, and then quoted the passage correctly. The settlers of Trail Creek were all Baptists, all iudustrious, honest farmers, paid their debts and lived peaceably, and if one of them on rare occasions took a little too much corn, none thought any the worse of him whilst he behaved himself. The relations which existed between pastor and people in the denominations was very different. The Meth idist Itinerant sawthe members of his Church not oftener than once in several weeks, and only for a short time at that. His shad-bellied coat, broadbrimmed hat and solemn visage, impressed the people more or less with awe. The Baptist pastor on the other hand was usually a farmer of the neighborhood, living like his parishioners, meeting them in the social circle, trading horses with them, buying and selling in the week and preaching on Sunday without money and without price. This engendered a familiarity which if it did not "breed contempt" frequently led to scenes very unbecoming a Church. There was a mm about Watkinsville named Philip Brown, commonly called Phil. He had from disease Jost his hair when quite a young man, and his head was as smooth as a billiard ball. He wore a white cotton cap under his hat. .He was a great wag and made much fun of his baldness, and while not a wicked man was >urely irreligious. The Baptist Preachers of Mars Hill were in their doctrine decidedly Hardshell. One of them, as the story goes, was holding forth to a large congregation on the decrees and the sovereignty of God and the worthlessness of works, etc., and in the torrent of argument with rapid vehemence exclaimed: " I tell you my brethren, if you ever get to heaven you will be taken there by the hair of your heads." Phil Brown rose to his feet, thus attract ing the notice of the whole congregation, snatched the cap from his head and cried out, " Lord have mercy upon me; what shall I do?" Among the householders who were residents of Athens sixty years ago, was Mrs. Sarah King,, who lived in the house to which reference has been frequently made, Mr. Edward Hodgsons. Her maiden name was Bacon. She was one of & numerous family connection of that name that lived about Augusta. " Ned Brace," of the " Georgia Scene*," was one of them. Mrs. King was first mar ried to a;8eotchman, Mr. Weed, of Savannah, an old bachelor whose sun of life was considerably on the, west side of the. meri dian. He had accumulated a large property, consisting of rice plan tations and slaves, a large trace of land, including a considerable part of the city of Brunswick and real estate in Savannah. He carried his buxom young wife to his Savannah home where she etf- 23 tered upon a life of gaiety with all the zest and enjoyment which wealth could bestow. After the death of Mr. Weed, whinh occurred in a year or two, she was married to Mr. John King a handsome stylish young man from the Iforth who had nothing to do but enjoy the wealth which the shrewd old Scotchman had accumulated by years of toil and sell denial. At his death an examination of the estate showed that there was barely enough left to rear and edu cate the family of six children with whom Mrs. King moved to Athens. Here she bought the house mentioned above and the farm at the head of Carrs Pond now owned by Miss Margeret Xisbet. With habits of economy, the family might have prospered, but they never learned to change their Savannah style of living until compelled by dire necessity. Then the boase in town was sold and the family removed to the farm, upon which a small grist mill was their .main dependence for a living. Two of her daughters married and moved out of the State one was Mrs. Lawton, of South Caro lina. Her oldest son John, a very worthy gentleman, died while on a visit to Augusta. The youngest daughter Evalina, a great beauty, died just when budding into womanhood, and the stricken mother was left with one son, George, and a daughter, Miss Agnes, to strug gle with poverty and increasing infirmities. After a few years her farm and mill were taken from her when she returned to town and li*. ed in the house now owned by Mr. Jonathan Hampton, where after a short time she laid down her life and her troubles. While in the enjoyment of wealth and prosperity, in full health and entering with zest into all the gaieties of fashionable life, by ac cident or from curiosity she went to a Methodist camp meeting, and from that hour the whole current of her life was turned into a dif ferent channel. Mrs. King was a woman of bold, promment char acteristics, both physical and moral. She was very large, weighing not less than 250 Ibs. and a very hearty eater. It was saidshe would eat a good sized shad for breakfast, and when peaches were in season she would consume fifty at a sitting. In the days of her prosperity she entertained a great deal and in later days nothing gave her greater pleasure than to have a friend take dinner with her. Her guests never saw her until they were invited into the dining room, and found her sitting at the head of a table loaded with the best viands the country afforded, the preparation of every article having passed under her own supervision. Her education had been defective and she was very superstitious. The writer has more than once heard her relate her religious experience in which she said she was walking in her garden " and evidently saw with her natural eyes, the Lord Jesus standing and appearing to her as he had-done to Mary on the resurrection morning; that she threw herself at his feet, when he vanished Irom her sight leaving her filled with joy and peace." She never doubted the genuineness of the 24 vision to .the day of her death, forty years thereafter. She believed in witches; fasted every Friday for twenty four hours, spoke at camp meetings and lovefeasts and generally woui d up the meet ings. Hospitality was as natural to her as breathing. The place for baptizing for the Trail Creek Church was near her house, and the subjects for the ordinance were all taken to her house where their comfort was made her personal care. She would attend their meetings, partaking of their sacraments, joining in their footwashing and occasionally give them a rousing exhortation. She never feared the face of man nor the approach of death. The writer has seen many die but non-e wh6 met death more calmly and serenely. Perhaps the most prominent citizen of the town in his day was Judge Augustin S. Clayton. If what the writer may say of him should incur the charge of extravagance, let it be remembered that Judge Clayton was the faithful reprover of bis youth, the constant adviser of his later years and always his unwavering friend. His name is inseparably associated with the earliest history of Athens and the University. Graduating in the first class 1804, he studied law with Judge Carnes, was admitted to the bar, married Miss Julia Games and came to Athens with his young wife and first born son in less than four years after his graduation, poor but hopeful, and es tablished himself as attorney at law. Immediately afterwards, he was elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees, which office he held until elected a member of the Board and one of the Prudential Com mittee upon whom devolved the immediate superintendence of the interests of the College. He was the confidential friend and coun sellor of every President and Faculty; the mediator in every diffi culty of a general nature between Faculty and Students; and by his good temper and sagacity always succeeded in re-establishing good order and obedience to law. He was the only lawyer in Athens for fifteen years and arrested many cases of litigation by by reconciling the parties. Alive to every interest of the town, he was one of the company that first introduced machinery for the manufacture of cotton goods in the South; he was among the first to secure a charter and inaugurate the build ing of the Georgia Eailroad, and was a member of its first Direc tory; he was one of the committee to raise funds and super intend the erection of the first church (the Methodist) which was built in Athens. Of his political life and character as judge of the Superior Court, member of the Legislature and of Congress, it is iiot appropriate to speak in .this connection; but whatever tended to promote religion, good morals, good order and the prosperity of the University and the town, found in Judge Clayton an ardent and efficient friend and advocate. Dr. Moses Waddell was a North Car6linian. He and Dr. James Nisbet were from Iredell county, and old schoolmates- When the 25 College was at its lowest ebb, mustering seven students at a full roll call, he was elected President, and the invitation was followed by such urgent appeals from distinguished Georgians, Governor Gil- mei among them, that Dr. Waddell waived all objections, gave np his celebrated school at Willington, S. C., and came to Athens in 1819. It was shortly after his arrival that President Monroe, on a tour of the Southern States, came to visit the seat of the University. Dr. Waddell was deputed to address him in behalf of the citizens at Browns Hotel. His administration of the University was singu larly successful. From the handful of students he found, he at tendance increased to one hundred or more, and for ten years with wise counsel and inflexible discipline he kept the institution ever advancing. He thought the students of a University not too good for correction and used to whip them without compunction when he deemed the punishment needed. An entry in his diary still ex tant, says: "caught chewing tobacco. Whipped him for it." At the time of his removal to Athens there was no place of public worship in the town Div! ue services were held in the Chapel and afterwards in the Apparatus Hall. He organized the Presbyterian Church March, 1821, with fourteen members and that congregation afterwards built a church where the College Library now stands. He ministered to them as their pastor until Dr. Hoyta time. After his resignation at Commencement 1829, he returned to his home in Carolina and as his carriage stood in readiness to.convey him away, the students marched in a body to his house, one of whom delivered a farewell address. After three years he returned to Athens, the victim of a lingering disease, and died in the house of his son Prof. James P. Waddell, July 21,1840. Dr. James Tinsley, a native of Columbia county, was a contem porary of Judge Longstreet at Dr. Waddells school in Willington, 8. C., where he learned a little Latin and Greek and little else. He studied medicine with Dr. Abbott, in Washington, Ga., and attend ed lectures in Philadelphia, where his extraordinary talents began to be developed. He was a distinguished member of a large class and in their debating clubs, composed of professors and students, at tracted the notice and admiration of the professors of that celebrat ed school. He returned to Washington after his graduation and commenced the practice with Dr. Abbot, who held him in the highest estimation and made unusual efforts to introduce him into his own extensive practice. But Tinsley was erratic and defied the conventional rules of practice of medicine and of society, and in a year or two, in 1820, Dr. Abbott, who was an influential member of the Board of Trustees, procured for him the Professorship of Chem istry and Natural Philosophy in Franklin College. He was totally unqualified for the chair, but his friends thought that the wonder- 26 ful power of his intellect would overcome his want of training and enable him to sustain himself. Dr. Tinsley however could not en dure the quiet routine of College life and after two years of irksome restraint, resigned. He was a man of wonderful physical strength. His weight was never more than 160 Jbs., his head lavge, his eyes very black and piercing; beard black and curling; shoulders broad and chest wide and deep. la spite of this, however, he was subject to violent and alarming hemmorhages from the lungs. On account of this solitary weakness he exposed himself to-the most inclement weather without overcoat, umbrella 01 any protection.from a wintry blast, rain, or summers sun, with his shirt collar arid bosom open and often without a hat He said he did this be cause he had observed thatmen afflicted as he was by nuising them selves, always grew worse and eventually died of consumption, which he did not mean to do if he could help it. He married a lady of culture and wealth, but without extravagant livinggradually became poorer, uutil all his estate was gone. He made the brick and built the Demosthenian,HaIl, and afterwards Mr. Seudders house, which was burned before it was occupied, but immediately rebuilt by his great energy.- He then built the Coppee house and Captain Barrys. He edited one of the town papers and failed at it, and at one time kept tavern. All this time ne practiced medicine after his fashion, although he never kept any medicine, depending upon what be found in the families he visited, and never bad a surgical instrument. The writer was invited by Lim to wirness the operation of lithotomy, which he performed successfully with the scalpel and forceps of a pocket case of instruments which be bor rowed for the occasion. At another vime the writer saw him remove a large tumor from a woman with her husbands razor. Though affecting great contempt for the conventional rules of society he could act the courteous gentleman with charming grace. No man could be more agreeable or more captious as the humor found him. Though possessing great physical strength his temper was such that he had few personal rencounters. Of his strength, he was very proud and sought occasions to exhibit it. A bally of Sandy Creek district named Bailey hearing of Tinsleys wonderful strength, re marked that he would be glad to " feel of him." This w as told the Doctor, who happening to meet Bailey near his bouse, accosted him in a very friendly manner and told him what he had heard. Bailey admitted the truth, but had not intended any offence to the Doctor. Tinsley assured him that he did not consider the remark offensive but inferred that Bailey considered it a question which was the " better man " of the two, and proposed that they should settle it then and there. Bailey said he never had fought a man without being mad with him, but he could not let it be said that he" backed out." So without other provocation and without witnesses they 27 went at it and Bailey was so severely beaten that Tinsley carried him up to his house and nursed him carefully and kindly until he was able to go home. Thus he " frittered quite away " the richest endowment of intellectual wealth which if properly directed would have made him eminently useful in his day. He moved from Georgia to Alabama, where he shortly afterwards died. Mr. Thomas Hancock, to whom reference has been made, and Colonel John A. Cobb were long old friends and neighbors in Jeffer son county, whence about the same time they moved to Athens. They belonged to different political parties and the Hancocks were Methodists, while Mr. Cobb was a Baptist; yet these differences which so often biought bitterness and hatred among neighbors and even brothers, occasioned no such effect in these men they had too much honesty, probity and charity. They continued fast friends so long as life lasted. Colonel Cobb lived for several years where Dr. R. M. Smith lives, and afterwards in a house on Mr. Xevitts lot which was removed by Mr. W. "W. Lumpkin. He owned the land lying between Barber street, on the east, and Hill street on the south, including Mrs. Larnars, Dr. C. "W. Longs and Mr. S. C. Reeses place, an-1 when he laid off the tract into lots that part of Athens was called Cobbham. Colonel Cobb was a large man, over six feet in height, weighing not less than three hundred pounds, this portliness, which men do not usually attain until somewhat advan -ed in life, gave him the appearance of being older than he was, and he was called the old Colonel by his el lers, which used to vex him no little. On one occasion when he was very anxious to buy s.jrtie carriage horses, & stranger brought a pair for him to try. He was timid about horse* and asked the writer to ride aiter them and see if they were gentle. I did so, and after becoming satisfied that they were well trained returned and reported favorably upon tliem. The owner of the horses then spoke up in a lively tone, " Come, old gentleman, get in and see them move." The Colonel turned his back to the man and walked off, saying indignantly, " Ill have nothing to do with you or your horses." Xor would he be appeased, though the man was ready to make any number of apologies when he learned the nature of the offence. He was very wretched when any of his children were sick and was a most libtral patron of his family physician. "Whenever any member of his family, vhite or black, in town or on plantation, complained of a finger-ache, he would say, " Well, why dont you send for the Doctor?" He would no more think of making a prescription or of administering a dose of medicine than of performing a surgical operation; all this was done by Mrs. Cobb. He could not coerce a child to take physic, and when one had to have a tooth pulled it occasioned him awful distress. As soon as the Doctor made his appearance he would retreat into the garden 28 and establish a line of telegraph by posting servants, to whom from one to another the question would be sent, "Is it out?" and the answer sent back, " Not yet," and in rapid succession the question and answer would be transmitted until the joyful reply "yes" should reach him, when he would come in and congratulate the whole concern. He could not bear to witness suffering in any form. His theory, adverse to that of Solomon in the matter of family government, he carried into rigid practice. " That a father should never whip his son. His mother might whip him or his schoolmaster might whip him, but his father never! never! it would break his spirit and make him cowardly. Keep him at home and never let him leave the house after dark. Boys acquire all their bad habits by being allowed to roam the streets at .night. I*t him see all that is to be seen by day, but keep him at home at night." Such was his theory and his practice, and in his case it was attended with re markable results, though it is a question if these were not attribut able as much to the tender care aud watchfulness, the sweet in fluence of a mothers love and unceasing prayer, as to the Colonels theory. In t:uth it would have been unnatural for such a woman as Mrs: Cobb to have had wicked or worthless sons. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and not only her church dogmas but her own "meekness and humbleness of mind" would have been inexpressibly shocked if any one bad told her she ~was & perfect Christian; yet, if love to God and to every creature which He made, manifested by every act of her daily life constitutes perfection, she was a perfect Christian. Singularly alike in their Christian ehraeter were Mrs. Cobb and Mrs. Hancock. Few such are left. Colonel Cobb had a singular dread of sickness and death with all their concomitants. He never looked upon a dead body if he could avoid it, and would go any distance rather than meet a funeral pro cession. This was when he enjoyed perfect health; but it all passed away. He suffered a long and tedious term of affliction from partial paralysis, and after his restoration to health was received into the Baptist Church, and remained in her communion till his death. If any apology is needed-for this feeble tribute to this ex cellent couple it may be found in the fact that from the time of their coming to Athens to the day of their passing away, the writer was made to feel more like a near relative to the family than a stranger to their blood. Among the speakers at the bush arbor Commencement, in 1804, was Thomas Hamilton, whose personal appearance and proud and gentlemanly bearing attracted the notice of strangers aa well as of acquaintances wherever he went. He was the son of Captain James Hamilton of Revolutionary fame who received as a reward for his services three thousand acres of the finest lands of Ohio. After graduating, young Hamilton studied law and practiced feuc- 29 eessfully for several years, but abandoned it to become & model Georgia planter, and by skillful attention to his business and clear headed finaneeering accumulated a very large fortune. Colonel Hamilton was called by his county (Columbia) to the Legislature and State Conventions and no man enjoyed more securely the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. It may be said of him what can be said of few men who grow very rich, that he was never charged with oppression or of trenching upon the rights of rich or poor. With all men, his transactions were scrupulously honorable and always as became an upright highminded gentleman. His deportmentwas dignified and some thought him proud, but he was only too proud to do a mean thing or behave in a manner unbe coming a high toned gentleman. Another of those speakers was James Merriwether, a son of Gen eral David Merriwether, also a Revolutionary soldier. James, after graduation, served as Tutor in the College for a year, then studied law in Elberton and was admitted to the bar with fine prospects of success. With flue person, popular manners, uncommon talents and strong family influence his success was not doubtful. But he was singularly wanting in ambition, and marrying a wonderfully beautiful country girl he abandoned the law, settled on a plantation on Barbers Creek and became the helpless victim of rural felicity. The war of 1812 aroused him from his dreams and he formed a volunteer rifle company which he commanded in the war with the Creek Indians, serving under General Floyd. After the close of the war he was elected to Congress; serving there two sessions, he again sank into retirement. Major-Merriwether was active and strong as an athlete, delighted in field sports, kept horses and hounds, read much and kept apace with the progress of politics, religion and science. He was the general referee in all troubles and disputes in his neighborhood. The poor and distressed always applied to him and never in vain for relief, and his hospitality was boundless. In this way he not only spent his income but made serious inroads upon his capital. He determined, therefore, to move to the rich lands of West Tennessee and whilst making his arrangements for that step settled his family in Athens where they resided for two years in the house now occupied by Mrs. Bradford. In the times of which I write, the military spirit engendered by the Revolution was kept alive by the recitals of old soldiers. " Wherein they spoke of most disastrous chances; Of moving incidents by flood and field: Of hmir breadth scapes; the imminent and deadly breach." And the proximity of the two powerful Indian tribes, Creek and Cherokee, kept in check only through fear of the white mans rifle, seemed to render it indispensable to keep the militia so organized as to make it effective when the country should demand its services. 30 In every house there were as many guns as men, and boys old enough to handle them, which were always kept in good order and in frequent if not constant use upon the bears, wolves and deer in fwhieh the forest abounded. The militia laws were enforced and a Captain of a company was a dignitary of no small consideration, particularly on muster day. Well do I remember the respect aud admiration, notunmixed with fear, which Captain Warham Easly excited among the boys when he appeared dressed in the showy uniform of the day cocked hat with waving black plumes, tipped with red, red sash and Epanlettes with Continental dregs. I thought him the most magnificent man in the world, and was unutterably shocked to see him after parade return to his store and sell a pound of copperas to a country woman, and that too beore he had taken offhis uniform! . Every body in the district came to town on muster day, but a company muster was nothing compared to a battalion muster. Six.or eight bn S, I Edgeworth B- Richatd B. m Kate Rucker.-< ^ecrfa. IBichard. (.Thomas W. JOHN BILLUPS. Married ANN ABBOT. Joel Abbotm. Susan Harris. (Lnla m. Thos. B.^Gresham. Henry C. m. Emma Conley. Jjulia m. Dr. E. Branhasa. Jane m. B- D. B. Taylor. (Susan m. F. B. Lucas. Anna m. W. Hudgin. f Annie. ! ITescom. ) janie. LJohnB. Thomas d. C.WilUamd. John. JAMES CAMAK, 1817. Married James m. Mary Welborn. Uames. (Louis. HELEN FINLEY. Margaret Ann. ( Thomas U. m. Miss Ragl&nd (Annie T. The numbers indicate the date of removal to Athens. 40 JAMES R GARLTON, 1824. Married. ELIZABETH A. ESPY. ("Sarah m. W. H. Johnson, ! Chatics m. .......................... Julia E, m. Charles B. Lyle.-f Julia. I Clara. I William. f Jnlia E. I William A. m. Annie Price. Joseph S: m, Emma Jloore.^ Joseph H. I Leila m Charles Bartlett L James SI. d. William E. d, James A. m. Martha Jaues. (Mary E. m. Macon Johnson. 4 Mrs. Tallulah Tayior. Mary Ann <. W. H. Felton. (Anna A. m, J. K. Gibbons. * (Belle. George A. m. A. McConnell. /Benjamin. Elizabeth America. f John N. Francis Emilv d. Henry H. m. He en Jf ewton. J \ He-nry Olivia H. and Helen. I Marion. Benjamin H. d. Virginia T. Georgia C, (J. AUGUSTIN S. CLAYTON, 1807. Married JULIA CABNEB. fWilliam Jeptha. d. I Julia m John Chandler, j Almira, Oeorge K. m. Ann Hairis. j Francis. I Cary m. B. F. Larabee. I. Norina m. M. Wells. .., Augustta S. d. fJulia m. V. F Hofte. Mrv m William C. H. W. m, Henderson. Sarah Morris. Sarah m. Benj. C. Crane. Caroline m. W. J. Irwin. William W. m. Augnsta^d. Caroline Semmes. AugustinB. Thoma* S. Kate. (.Almira m. W. C. Sayre. Philip W. m. Leonora Harper. f Philip, d. I Thomas. | William m. E. Brown. I Martha. ! Ixjonora m. D. C. Townend. IKkte. Bobert. lAvarllla. (.George. fDora m. L. Kedwood. J Thomas m. ................... Almira nt Joseph B, Cobb. ) Gorfce. [Zachery. 41 (dugustin S. Clayton Continued.) - "Married . JULIA CABNES. Edward P. m. Elizabeth Bradfoid. Julia S. m. Francis Baldvin. fEdward <1 j Mary m. Roswell King. I Isabella d. { Loring A_ I Anna m. B. S. Burweil. Clifford. (.I fClayton d. Mary d. j Francis. I James. I Clandia m. John Howze, Jr. (.Julia. rAngusUnC.m. Valeria Long 1Julia d. John m. Clandia Baldwin. George. Clandia m. Jones. Leonora. Jlmira. (Julia C. m. H. W. Grady. AngnataCn. William Kins. {Augusta in. W. M. Howard. (William. JOHN A. COBB, 1819. Harried SABAH BOOTS. Howell m. Mary Ann Lamar. f John A. m. L Lucy Barrow. S. Martha Bvlins. I Lamar m- Olivia Newton, j Howell m. Mary McKinley. ] Mary Ann m. A. S. Erwin. j Sarah m, T. W. Backer. I Elizabeth d. 1. Andrew J. m. S. Campbell. Laura m, Wffliams Entherford. {John C. m. Elizabeth King. Eliza d Mary A, m. F. X Lipscomb. Mildred. Bessie. Laura m. J. C. HotchiDs. fJobn T. m. Helen Garrard. j Saliie m. S. U McBride. Mildred m. Luther J. Glcnn.) Howell C. lJudson m. Lessie Few. John B. m. 1. Mrs. Mary Lamar. (Mildivd. (James J. 8. Alice Cobb. (Mary. (Eugenia. Mary m. 1. Frank Erwin. (Mary E. d. tt-ncy C. . A. W. HilltHowell C. . O. Tharpe M. 2. John M. Jobnston. (Sallie C. (James. Thomas B. B. . Marion Lnmpkin. f Lney d. I Sallie m. Henry Jackson. JCaUie.A. LHull. I Joseph L. d. I Thomas B. B. Shaler G. m, L. Hollowav. (Francis L. {Joseph L. m. E. Thornbury. CallieJt.nl. Porter King {Porter m. Carrie Renuen. CThomwC. Wm. Wflberforee m. Louisa King. (Edwin K. m. JCarj Thomas. -(J. Henry. (Callied. Lncy m. William Oerdlne. John m. Susan Golding. Joseph H. L. m. 1 Madeline Lumpkin. 2 h> ebeccn Murran. Marion d. CaUied. William. Lncy. Mary. Albania 8. m. Miss West. .Lizzie m. Dr. Bikes. Edward P. d. James K. Charlei M. d. MUler G. Bobert C.d. Frank m. Kate WUcoz. (Julia. {Prank. WILSON LUMPKIN. Hurled 1 ELIZABETH i WALKEB. Lucy m. KtddletoB Pope, j Sarab K , D. C. Barro ( Wilson LwmpTcin, Continued.^ Married 1 ELIZABETH WALKER. (Ann E. I Marcellus. I Lney P. ra. 1 B. Huson. I. 2 Geo. Chlsolm. I Marie L. m, T. C. Dempsey. Ann S. m. Augustas Alden-i Joseph L. | AHeln Victoria. Augustas O. I Martha A. LMarceUaF. m. Dr. Bartlett Pleiades Orion m, Margaret Winkinsoru (William. I Wilson. | Flora m. McClaln. < George W. 1 John W. I Daniel P. L Pleiades O. Wilson R. GERDINE. THOMAS STANLEY, 1820. William A. d. Elizabeth d. Adelaide d. Marcellns m. Julia Pope. Thomas O. m. Fredonia Blackburn. (Sallie. (Thomas P. fEmmettEllen D. ^ Martha. | Henry y. I Emma. Married Emma L. m- ELLEJT BAMSEY. Dr. H. S. Wimbisn. Eloise d. Octavus H. m. Augustin O. m. Lilly DowdelL Julius A. nu .............. John J. I Ellen. -{ Emma. | Fannie. I Adelaide. I William A. ( James D. I Augustin. -j Caroline. I Ellen. (.Elizabeth. (Paul. (Mildred. PLEASTANT STOVALL. Man led 1 LOUISA LUCAS. Mareellus A. m. 1 Sarah McKinney. 2 Anna G. Peck. Elizabeth m. William E. Bearing1, q. r. Cicelia L. m. (Charles T. Shelman. fH?nry Lucas d. \ Annk m. Mr. Hardwiek. 1 Louisa d. (.John bert m. Tallnlah Harris. ) Hngh N. m. Katie Hall. . (Roberts. 59 STEVENS THOMAS, 1803. Married 1LUCY CARY. aulin* m. Sampson W. Harris g. v. Frances m. George Dent. Dudley m. Sarah Billups. 1 Pauline m, W. H. Adm. Lucy m. Carlton Hillyer William W. m. P. Brown. Minerva m. H. Van Epps. Alice. George D. m, Katie Morton. (.Stevens. fEHza m. 1 Lucius Dawson. I 2W. Bee. I Alexander T. ] Stevens T. m. I John T. m. I Malcolm d. bertT. MOSES WADDELL, 1819. Married 1 CATHERINE CALHOUST. 2 ELIZA W. PLEASAKTS. fames P. m. Frances W Hull. fWOliam Henry d. \ Ann Pleasants