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diff --git a/41485-0.txt b/41485-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9479489 --- /dev/null +++ b/41485-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14902 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41485 *** + +Makers and Romance of Alabama History + + +Embracing Sketches of the Men Who Have Been Largely Instrumental in +Shaping the Policies and in Molding the Conditions in the Rapid Growth of +Alabama--Together With the Thrilling and Romantic Scenes With Which Our +History is Resplendent + + +BY B. F. RILEY, D.D., LL.D. + +_Author of the History of Conecuh County; Alabama, As It Is; History of +the Baptists of Alabama; History of the Baptists of the Southern States +East of the Mississippi; History of the Baptists of Texas, and The White +Man's Burden; Ex-President of Howard College, and sometime Professor of +English Literature and Oratory in the University of Georgia._ + + +"History is neither more nor less than biography on a large +scale."--LAMARTINE. + +"All history is but a romance, unless it is studied as an +example."--CROLY. + +"Biography is the only true history."--CARLYLE. + + + + +DEDICATED + +TO THE WOMEN OF ALABAMA-- + +The Mothers, Wives, Daughters, and Sisters, without the fidelity, +kindness, and devotion of whom this proud commonwealth could not have +attained its present magnificent proportions, and on whose future loyalty +must largely depend the perpetuation of the grandeur of Alabama; who +though not conspicuous in the glare and tumult of the struggles which have +eventuated in the erection of Alabama into a giant state, have yet made +possible the successes of others by the quiet and wholesome force of our +home life; to these, our worthy women of the past and present, this volume +is most cordially dedicated by + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + +BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION + + +The present volume is intended to be a substantial contribution to the +history of Alabama, by giving expansion to the recorded lives of its +foremost citizens--men who alike on the field and in the forum, on the +bench and in the sphere of commerce, in the lecture room and in the +pulpit, on the farm and in the court, in the field of development as well +as in the ordinary walks of life, have shared conspicuously in the +erection of one of the proudest of the American commonwealths. + +The distinction achieved by these eminent citizens in various orbits are +worthy of perpetual record, and their respective deeds and accomplishments +deserve more than a bare reference in the current chronicles of the state. +Along the successive eras through which Alabama has passed, first as a +territory, then as a state, for a period exceeding a hundred years, each +of these worthies made a contribution to the construction of a mighty +commonwealth, and sheer justice requires that the specific task so +worthily wrought by each should be a matter of permanent record. The +effort is here made not to follow the beaten path of chronological +biography, so much, as to seize on the salient points in the life of each +eminent leader, show who and what he was, and that which he did. By means +of a method like this, these distinguished men become reflectors of the +period in which each lived and wrought. + +In addition, is a series of romantic sketches which lie outside the +channel of ordinary history, and yet they serve the function of imparting +to its pages a zest and flavor that relieve it largely of commonplace. +These scenes derived from the transactions of nearly four hundred years, +have been carefully gleaned from every possible source, and are here +embodied for the first time in convenient form. + +The conditions which have attended on the evolution of a great state from +the rawest of savage wildernesses, have yielded a store of material +intensely romantic. The original tribes with their rude settlements and +forts dotting the uncleared surface of Alabama over, skimming the waters +of the streams and bordering bays in their tiny canoes, and threading the +forests along narrow paths; the invasions of the Spanish and the French, +and their transactions and conflicts as they would encounter aboriginal +resistance, and the later and lasting occupation of the territory by the +Anglo-Saxon, who came with dominant determination to possess the land and +to transform it through the agencies of a conquering civilization into an +exalted government--these have yielded a harvest of romance exceptional in +its rareness and fascinating in its nature. While the record of scenes +like these afford diversion, at the same time, they serve as no inferior +contribution to our history. Like the lives of prominent makers of +history, these rare scenes are indexes of the times in which they took +place. + +It is proper to say that the material embodied in this volume appeared +first on the pages of The Age-Herald, of Birmingham, Alabama, with no +original design of the expansion which they gradually assumed, and with +no purpose, in the outset, of embodying them in permanent form. As first +appearing, the individual subjects were treated under the general head of +Men Who Have Made Alabama, while the other sketches appeared under the +subject of Romance of Alabama History. The only change which they have +undergone has been in the way of the correction of certain minor errors to +which the attention of the author was kindly called, and for which he now +acknowledges his gratefulness. + +The publication of this volume is due to numerous requests which have come +from both within and without the state, attended by a generous suggestion +of the historic value of the matter herein embodied. It is in compliance +with these requests that the volume is published. + + + + +INDEX + + + ABERNETHY, M. W. 289 + + BAKER, ALPHEUS 261 + + BAGBY, A. P. 18 + + BALDWIN, A. G. 62 + + BATTLE, C. A. 243 + + BESTOR, D. P. 105 + + BIBB, W. W. 1 + + BOWDON, F. W. 110 + + BOWIE, ALEXANDER 124 + + BREWER, WILLIS 361 + + BRYCE, PETER 181 + + CHILTON, W. P. 81 + + CLAY, CLEMENT COMER 14 + + CLAY, CLEMENT CLAIBORNE 48 + + CLAYTON, H. D. 275 + + CLEMENS, JEREMIAH 209 + + COBBS, N. H. 190 + + COLLIER, H. W. 58 + + CURRY, J. L. M. 219 + + DALE, SAM 5 + + DARGAN, E. S. 176 + + DEBARDELEBEN, H. F. 333 + + DOWDELL, J. F. 279 + + FITZPATRICK, BENJ. 33 + + FORNEY, W. H. 252 + + FORSYTH, JOHN 87 + + GOLDTHWAITE, GEORGE 92 + + GUILD, LAFAYETTE 284 + + HARALSON, JONATHAN 342 + + HARRISON, G. P. 265 + + HERBERT, H. A. 365 + + HILLIARD, H. W. 204 + + HOLCOMBE, HOSEA 53 + + HOOPER, J. J. 67 + + HOUSTON, G. S. 293 + + JOHNSTON, J. F. 365 + + KING, W. R. 23 + + LANGDON, C. C. 152 + + LEWIS, D. H. 28 + + MANLY, BASIL, SR. 120 + + MARTIN, J. L. 38 + + MATTHEWS, J. E. 171 + + MEEK, A. B. 115 + + MORGAN, J. T. 299 + + MURFEE, J. T. 317 + + MURPHY, W. M. 73 + + OATES, W. C. 338 + + ORMOND, J. J. 129 + + PELHAM, JOHN, 238 + + PETTUS, E. W. 256 + + PICKENS, ISRAEL 10 + + PICKETT, A. J. 133 + + POLLARD, C. T. 157 + + POWELL, J. R. 326 + + PRATT, DANIEL 142 + + PUGH, J. L. 305 + + RICE, F. S. 162 + + RODDY, P. D. 248 + + RODES, R. E. 224 + + RYAN, A. J. 321 + + SAMFORD, W. J. 346 + + SAUNDERS, J. E. 77 + + SCREWS, W. W. 351 + + SEMMES, RAPHAEL 233 + + SHELLEY, C. M. 270 + + SHORTER, J. G. 185 + + SMITH, E. A. 313 + + SMITH, ISAAC 43 + + STONE, G. W. 167 + + TOUMEY, MICHAEL 146 + + TRAVIS, ALEXANDER 96 + + TUTWILER, HENRY 137 + + WALKER, L. P. 194 + + WEST, ANSON 309 + + WHEELER, JOSEPH 229 + + WINSTON, J. A. 100 + + YANCEY, W. L. 199 + + + THE FIRST WHITE INVADER 373 + + INGRATITUDE AND CRUELTY 379 + + TUSKALOOSA, CHIEF OF THE MOBILIANS 385 + + TROUBLE BREWING 392 + + BATTLE OF MAUBILA 398 + + AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE 405 + + MURMURING AND MUTINY 410 + + THE CLOSING SCENE 415 + + ORIGINAL MOBILE 421 + + FORT TOMBECKBE 426 + + CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CHICKASAWS 431 + + BATTLE OF ACKIA 436 + + AFTER THE BATTLE, WHAT? 441 + + THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS 446 + + EARLIEST AMERICAN SETTLERS 451 + + INDIAN TROUBLES 456 + + ALEXANDER MCGILLIVRAY 461 + + THE INDIAN "EMPEROR" 466 + + MCGILLIVRAY'S CHICANERY 471 + + A NOVEL DEPUTATION 476 + + THE TENSION RELIEVED 481 + + THE CURTAIN FALLS 486 + + LORENZO DOW 490 + + WEATHERFORD, THE "RED EAGLE" 495 + + ENFORCED ACQUIESCENCE 499 + + FORT MIMS MASSACRE 503 + + INDIAN GRATITUDE 508 + + THE CANOE FIGHT 512 + + A LEAP FOR LIFE 517 + + WEATHERFORD'S OVERTHROW 522 + + WEATHERFORD SURRENDERS 527 + + WEATHERFORD'S LAST DAYS 531 + + AARON BURR IN ALABAMA 535 + + BURR'S ARREST 540 + + A DREAM OF EMPIRE 545 + + THE TRIP AND SETTLEMENT 550 + + LIFE IN THE FRENCH COLONY 554 + + PRIMITIVE HARDSHIPS 559 + + LAFAYETTE'S VISIT 564 + + LAFAYETTE'S RECEPTION 569 + + LAFAYETTE'S DEPARTURE 574 + + OLD SCHOOL DAYS 579 + + THE CROSS ROADS GROCERY 584 + + EARLY NAVIGATION 589 + + HARRY, THE MARTYR JANITOR 594 + + A MEMORABLE FREEZE 598 + + TWO SLAVE MISSIONARIES 602 + + THE CAMP MEETING 607 + + THE STOLEN SLAVE 611 + + HAL'S LAKE 615 + + + + +MEN WHO HAVE MADE ALABAMA + + + + +WILLIAM WYATT BIBB + + +On the extreme eastern boundary of Washington County, on a bluff +overlooking the Tombigbee River from the west, is the site of old St. +Stephens, the original, or territorial, capital of Alabama. At one time it +had a population of perhaps three thousand, composed largely of immigrants +from Virginia. At the time of its selection as the seat of territorial +government it was about the only place in the territory fitted to become a +capital, though Huntsville, on the extreme north, was also a town of +considerable pretension. + +As early as 1817 St. Stephens was a bustling little center of culture and +wealth. In their insulation the people were proud of their little capital. +Their touch with the outside world was by means of sluggish flat boats +which were operated to and from Mobile. The original site is now a scene +of desolation. A few ruins and relics remain to tell the story of the once +refined society existing there. Some of the foundation masonry of the +little capital building and of the tiny treasury, an occasional column of +stone or brick, beaten and battered, rows of trees still growing in +regular order as they were planted nearly a century ago and a cemetery +with its stained and blackened marble remain to indicate that this was +once a spot inhabited by a refined community. + +Here, as far back as 1814, Thomas Easton, the first public printer of the +Alabama territory, issued his little paper with its scant news of flat +boat tidings from Mobile, the improvements in the little town, the +exploits of hunters of turkeys, deer, wolves and bears, with a slight +sprinkling of personalities. St. Stephens had been a town of some +pretension for years before the first territorial governor, Honorable +William Wyatt Bibb, of Georgia, came across the country from the +Chattahoochee to assume the executive functions to which he had been +appointed by President Monroe. Bibb was amply equipped for his difficult +position alike naturally and by experience. + +A graduate from William and Mary College, he chose medicine as a +profession and was actively engaged in his profession when he was chosen +to represent Georgia in the legislature, where, though still quite a young +man, he won distinction. When scarcely twenty-five years old he was sent +to Congress from Georgia. Later he became one of the senators from the +state, and later still was appointed by President Monroe, the territorial +governor of Alabama. His was an arduous task. The territory was dotted +over with straggling settlements of colonists who came from Virginia, the +Carolinas and Georgia and settled here and there, but the two chief +settlements were in the opposite ends of the territory at St. Stephens and +Huntsville. Roads were yet uncut, and in passing from one settlement to +another the colonists would follow the trails of the Indians which +threaded the forests through. To weld the widely separated communities +into statehood and lay the foundation of a great commonwealth required +more than ordinary statesmanship. + +The boundaries of the territory had just been defined by the National +Congress, with the provision that the territorial legislature of the new +region should be those who were members of the Mississippi legislative +council and house of representatives who resided within the confines of +the newly created Alabama territory. Of that number, it so happened that +only one member of the legislative council, or senate, fell within the new +territory. James Titus, of Madison, was the only member of the upper +house, and during the first session of the legislative assembly he sat in +a chamber alone as the senate of Alabama. He was president, clerk and the +senate--all in one. He met, considered the measures of the lower house, +adjourned and convened with ludicrous formality. In the lower house there +were about a dozen members. + +The initial message of the first governor showed a ready grasp of the raw +conditions and an ability to grapple with formidable difficulties. A +wilderness had to be shaped and molded into a commonwealth by the creation +of the necessary adjuncts, all of which the young governor recommended in +his first message. The promotion of education, the establishment of +highways, the construction of bridges and ferries, the definition of the +boundaries of counties and the creation of new ones, in order to fuse the +dispersed population into oneness were among his recommendations. + +Perhaps the most notable service rendered by Governor Bibb was that of +thwarting the effort of the Mississippi constitutional convention, in +which convention was organized that state, in seeking so to change the +original boundary between the Alabama and Mississippi territories as to +include into the new state of Mississippi all that part of Alabama which +lies west of the Tombigbee River, or, in other words, to make the +Tombigbee the boundary line between the two proposed states. This imposed +on the young governor an important and arduous task, but with cool +aggressiveness, coupled with influential statesmanship, he succeeded in +preventing the proposed change. Had the change been made there would have +been lost to Alabama that valuable portion now embraced in the counties of +Sumter, Choctaw, Washington and Mobile Counties. To the active agency and +energy of this original commonwealth builder is Alabama indebted for the +retention of this valuable strip of territory. + +Commercial and educational systems were organized by the incorporation of +banks and schools, and the first location of the seat of government of the +new state provided for by the selection of a site at the junction of the +Cahaba and Alabama Rivers, which new town was called Cahaba. Governor Bibb +was charged with the work of laying out the plans of the town and for +providing for the erection of a capitol building. Meanwhile the seat of +government was removed to Huntsville in order to await the completion of +the capitol at Cahaba. + +His term having expired as territorial governor, and Alabama having now +become a state, Governor Bibb offered for election as the first governor +of the new state, and was opposed by Marmaduke Williams, of Tuscaloosa. +Bibb was elected, but died soon after. Two counties, one in Alabama and +the other in Georgia, were named in honor of Governor William Wyatt Bibb. + + + + +SAM DALE + + +No more romantic character figured in the early days of Alabama history +than General Sam Dale. Cool as an ocean breeze, and fearless as a lion, +his natural qualifications fitted him for the rough encounters of a +pioneer period. Like an ancient Norseman he sought danger rather than +shunned it, and hazard furnished to him a congenial atmosphere. He was +born for the perils of the frontier, and his undaunted spirit fitted him +for reveling in the stormy scenes of early Indian warfare. + +A native of Virginia, Dale was taken to Georgia in early childhood, and +there grew to early manhood. From his earliest recollections he was +familiar with the stories of the lurking savage and the perils of the +scalping knife and tomahawk. He was therefore an early graduate from the +border school of hunting and Indian warfare. + +When Dale removed to Alabama in the budding period of manhood he had +already won the reputation of being the most daring and formidable scout +and Indian fighter of the time. In numerous encounters he had been a +distinguished victor. Six feet two inches high, straight as a flagstaff, +square shouldered, rawboned and muscular, with unusually long and muscular +arms, he was a physical giant and the terror of an Indian antagonist. By +his courage and intrepidity, he excited the regard even of the Indians, +who called him "Sam Thlucco," or Big Sam. + +The qualities possessed by Dale may be illustrated by the revelation of +one or two of his daring feats. Appointed a scout at Fort Matthews on the +Oconee River, in Georgia, which fort was under the command of the famous +Indian fighter, Captain Jonas Fauche, Dale slid with stealthy movement +through the country, and spied out the whereabouts and plans of the +Indians. Once while at a great distance from the fort, he was bending over +a spring of water to drink, two Muscogee warriors sprang from behind a +log, and leaped on Dale with tomahawks upraised. With entire coolness of +mind he pitched one of them over his head, grasped the other with his left +hand, and with his right plunged his knife into his body. Quick as thought +the other recovered himself, and rushed with madness on Dale just in time +to meet another thrust from his blade, and both lay dead at his feet. +Bleeding from five wounds which he had received in the combat, Dale +retraced the trail of the Indians for nine miles through the woods, and +when he came to the edge of their encampment he found three brawny +warriors sprawled on the ground asleep, while in their midst there sat a +white woman, a prisoner, with her wrists tied. He deliberately killed all +three as they slept, and cut the thongs of the prisoner. Just then a +stalwart Indian sprang from behind a tree with a wild yell, and with a +glittering knife ready to bury it into Dale's body. Dale weakened by his +wounds and his exhausting march, was thrown to the ground by the Indian, +who had him in such a position that within a moment more he would have +made the fatal stab had not the woman quickly seized a tomahawk and buried +it in the brain of the Indian. The woman was quietly escorted back to the +fort and returned to her home. + +Peace having been made, Dale betook himself to trading with the Indians, +exchanging calicoes, gewgaws, ammunition, and liquor, for peltry and +ponies. His profits would have been enormous had Dale not been the +spendthrift that he was. But like many another, he never knew the value of +a dollar till he was in need. His trading led him across the Chattahoochee +into the Alabama territory in 1808, at which time we find him among the +earliest immigrants to this region. He was most valuable as a guide in +directing for years bodies of immigrants from Georgia to Alabama. He was +at Tookabatchee and heard the war speech of Tecumseh which precipitated +the war in Alabama, and straightway gave the alarm of approaching +hostilities to the inhabitants. A long and brilliant series of daring +exploits marked the years of the immediate future of Dale's eventful life. + +Perhaps the most noted of his feats was that of the famous "canoe fight," +on the waters of the Alabama River. This was a thrilling encounter, and is +inseparable from the great achievements which adorn the state's history. +It is too long to be related in detail, and only the outline facts can +here be given. With two men in a canoe, Austill and Smith, and the +faithful negro, Caesar, to propel the little boat, Dale sallied forth on +the bosom of the river to encounter eleven Indian warriors in a larger +boat. As the boat which bore the Indians glided down the river, the one +containing the three whites shot out from under a bluff, and was rowed +directly toward the Indians. Two of the Indians sprang from the boat, and +swam for the shore. Caesar, the negro, who paddled the canoe of the +whites, was bringing his boat so as to bear on the other, that they would +soon be alongside, which so soon as it was effected, the negro gripped the +two and held them together while the fearful work of slaughter went on. +The result of the hand to hand engagement was that the nine Indians were +killed, and pitched into the river, while the whites escaped with wounds +only. + +In the early territorial struggles General Dale was engaged partly as an +independent guerilla, and partly under the commands of Generals Jackson +and Claiborne. At the close of hostilities Dale took up his residence in +Monroe County from which he was sent as a representative to the +legislature for eight terms. In recognition of his services the +legislature granted him an appropriation amounting to the half pay of a +colonel in the regular army, and at the same time gave him the rank of +brigadier general, in which capacity he was to serve in case of war. +Later, however, the appropriation was discontinued because of a +constitutional quibble, when the legislature memorialized Congress to +grant an annuity to the old veteran, but no heed was given to the request. + +In order to procure some compensation for his services, General Dale was +induced by his friends to go to Washington, and during his stay at the +national capital, he was entertained by President Jackson. Together the +two old grizzled warriors sat in the apartments of the president, and +while they smoked their cob pipes, they recounted the experiences of the +troublous times of the past. + +General Dale served the state in a number of capacities additional to +those already named. He was a member of the convention which divided the +territories of Alabama and Mississippi, was on the commission to construct +a highway from Tuskaloosa to Pensacola, and assisted in transferring the +Choctaws to their new home in the Indian territory. + +His last years were spent in Mississippi, where he served the state in the +legislature. He died in Mississippi in 1841. His biographer, Honorable J. +F. H. Claiborne, says that a Choctaw chief, standing over the grave of +Dale the day after his burial, exclaimed: "You sleep here, Sam Thlucco, +but your spirit is a chieftain and a brave in the hunting grounds of the +sky." + + + + +ISRAEL PICKENS + + +One of the great commonwealth builders of the southwest was Governor +Israel Pickens, the third governor of the state. As a state builder he +came on the scene just at a time when his constructive genius was most +needed. His two predecessors, the brothers, Governors William W. and +Thomas Bibb, had together served the state little more than two years, the +former dying while in office and the latter, as president of the senate, +succeeding him and filling his unexpired term. Both these had wrought well +under raw and chaotic conditions, but the utmost that could be done within +so short a time was that of projecting plans for the future of the infant +state. While the foundation was well begun, the superstructure still stood +unbuilt. + +On Governor Israel Pickens was imposed the task of the real erection of +Alabama into a state. It was an organization which called alike for skill, +wisdom, and executive direction of the highest order. Serious problems lay +at the threshold of the young commonwealth, and these had to be met with a +sense of delicate adjustment, and yet with a firm and deliberate judgment. +The domestic policy of the state was yet to be molded, and such precedents +established as would thereafter affect the destiny of Alabama. At this +time Governor Pickens was just forty-one years old. There was a demand for +extraordinary prudence in calling into conjunction with himself, by the +governor, the sagest counsellors that the state then had. Executive +leadership at this time must encounter a critical juncture. Fortunately +for Alabama, Governor Pickens was amply qualified for the onerous task +imposed. He sprang from one of the most eminent of the early families of +the south. The name of Pickens lingers in Carolina history today with a +flavor of distinction. Himself the son of a revolutionary sire who had +rendered gallant service as a captain in the struggle for independence, +Governor Pickens bore to the state the prestige of his family when he +removed from North Carolina in 1817. His educational advantages had been +the best that could be afforded in his native state, and the adjoining +state of South Carolina, to which was added a course at Washington +College, Pennsylvania, where he completed his legal education. A +practitioner at the bar for a period in his native state, a legislative +service of a few years and a career of six years in Congress preceded +Pickens' settlement in Alabama in 1817. Locating as an attorney at St. +Stephens, he was appointed to the registership of the land office. + +It is insisted, and doubtless rightly, that no executive of the state has +in thoroughness of efficiency and in comprehensiveness of grasp of a +situation ever excelled Israel Pickens. + +He became governor in 1821, and was re-elected in 1823, serving till 1825 +to the utmost limit of incumbency under the constitution. Within the brief +period of four years he had constructed into compactness a state from the +crude and incoherent elements within reach. The qualities which he +demonstrated were firmness, deliberation, sedulous care, wisdom and +administrative force, to all of which was added a zest of labor. Never +hasty, but always at work, promptly recognizing any lack of deficiency in +the developing structure, and with equal readiness supplying it with a +sagacious eye to permanency, the interest of Governor Pickens was +undiminished to the close of his term of office. + +So distinguished were these traits of statemanship that they excited +general comment among his distinguished contemporaries who insisted that +in unsuspended fidelity, unselfish devotion, wise projection and skillful +execution he has never been surpassed, if indeed equaled. That he +succeeded to the fullest in the accomplishment of his difficult task is +the verdict of posterity. Other executives since may have possessed more +shining qualities, others still may have been more profound, while yet the +deeds of others may have been more spectacular, but all who have succeeded +Israel Pickens derived the benefit of that so ably done by him. + +When he entered the gubernatorial office conditions were necessarily in an +inchoate form. Rudeness and crudeness characterized the initial conditions +on every hand. Valuable as the service of his predecessors had been, his +lot was to raise into symmetrical proportions with every part perfectly +adjusted a mighty commonwealth, ready to enter on its career worthily, +alongside the older states. Existing conditions were incident to the +emergence of a wilderness territory into the dignity of statehood. But +when Governor Pickens retired from office as the state's chief executive +the structure was complete in all its parts. In the recent work of twelve +large volumes, "The South in the Building of the Nation," issued under the +auspices of the Southern Historical Publication Society of Richmond, Va., +Governor Pickens is alluded to as "one of the great state builders of the +southwest." + +Nor did his career end with the expiration of his term of office as +governor. The year following his retirement from the gubernatorial chair +he was appointed a United States Senator by Governor Murphy. Almost +simultaneously with this appointment came the offer of the federal +judgeship of Alabama from President John Quincy Adams, but the latter +offer was declined, and Governor Pickens entered the federal senate. + +But Mr. Pickens was destined to enjoy senatorial honors but a short while. +In the latter part of the same year of his appointment as a national +senator, his lungs became seriously involved, tuberculosis was speedily +developed, and he was forced to resign his exalted station and seek +another and softer climate. At that time the West Indies was the favorite +resort of those thus affected, and Mr. Pickens repaired to Cuba with the +hope of recuperation in its balmy climate. But he survived his retirement +from Washington only five months. + +Senator Pickens had not reached the zenith of manhood and usefulness +before he was stricken down, for at his death he was only forty-seven +years old. His body was brought back to Alabama for interment, and he was +buried within a few miles of Greensboro. In his death Alabama lost one of +her most popular and eminent citizens, and one of her foremost statesmen. +To him belongs the chief distinction of erecting Alabama into symmetrical +statehood. + + + + +CLEMENT COMER CLAY + + +Governor Clay was among the pioneers of Alabama. He was a native of +Virginia, the son of a revolutionary soldier, and was educated at +Knoxville, Tenn. Law was his choice as a profession, to the practice of +which he was admitted in 1809, and in 1811 he located at Huntsville, which +continued to be his home till his death in 1866. + +From the outset, he showed profound interest in the territory and in the +promotion of its affairs, and two years after making Huntsville his home +he enlisted against the Indians, and was chosen the adjutant of his +command. His name is prominent among the territorial legislators in the +two sessions held prior to the admission of Alabama into the Union. + +When the constitutional convention was held, Mr. Clay was not alone a +member, but was chosen the chairman of the committee charged with +submitting the original draft of the constitution. In one especial sense +he is, therefore, the father of the state of Alabama. + +It was evident to the state builders of Alabama that no one was more +profoundly concerned in its fundamental construction than Mr. Clay, and no +one among those who had chosen the territory as a future home, was abler +to serve the young state in its first totterings in seeking to get full +upon its feet. The breadth and clearness of his vision, and the +unusualness of his ability marked him as one who was in great need under +such initial conditions. The character of his strength had been shown, and +he was destined to become one of the early leaders of the new state. He +was therefore chosen as a member of the supreme court, and in recognition +of his legal ability, though younger than any other member of the new +court, his associates chose him as chief justice, and he thus became the +first to occupy that exalted station in Alabama. + +The rapid increase of population and the newness of conditions in a young +state were productive of increasing business, and called for men of legal +ability. In response to this demand, Judge Clay retired from the supreme +bench after a service of four years, and resumed his private practice. It +was shortly after this that he felt impelled in response to a mistaken +demand for vindicated honor, to brook a grievance against Dr. Waddy Tate, +of Limestone County, by engaging in a duel with that gentleman. The result +was the infliction of a painful wound to each, and the affair was over. +Happily for civilization it has outgrown this method of settling disputes +among men of sense. + +Continuing for a period of years in his private practice, Judge Clay was +chosen in 1827 as a representative to the legislature from Madison County. +Two years later he was elected to a seat in the National Congress where he +served with great efficiency for three terms of six years. + +Offering for the governorship in 1835 against General Enoch Parsons, of +Monroe County, the election resulted in his polling almost twice as many +votes as his opponent. It was during his term of office as governor that +troubles arose by an outbreak on the part of the Creek Indians. Governor +Clay at once ordered out the state forces, and as commander-in-chief, took +the field in person, co-operating with Generals Scott and Jesup of the +army of the United States in the suppression of the disturbance. For about +three months the troubles continued, but the unremitting activity of +Governor Clay finally eventuated in the suppression of the outbreak, and +peace was restored. + +While he was still governor, Mr. Clay was elected to succeed Honorable +John McKinley in the National Senate. In this new orbit he was brought +into contact with the giants of the nation, and the services rendered by +him are a part of the national history. It was through the efforts of +Senator Clay that the pre-emption laws, discriminating in favor of +settlers, were enacted. Multitudes have been the recipients of the benefit +of this beneficent legislation without knowing or even thinking of its +source. By means of this law, thousands have been able to procure homes on +the public domain without which law it would have been impossible. No man +in the National Congress was more active than he in the adjustment of the +conditions for the greatest happiness to the greatest number. + +Mr. Clay retained his seat in the National Senate only four years, when he +retired because of his financial condition, to improve which he returned +to the practice of law. However, his previous service on the supreme bench +induced Governor Fitzpatrick to appoint him to a position in the court in +1843. Here he remained only a few months, a fact which it seems was +contemplated in the appointment. + +An additional service rendered by Governor Clay, and it was the last +public service for the state, was that of the preparation of a new digest +of the laws of Alabama, to which work he was appointed by the legislature. +His manuscript, as he had prepared it, was accepted by the judiciary +committee, submitted in unchanged form to the legislature, and has been in +use as authority to this day. The closing days of Governor Clay were those +of gloom. The occupation of Nashville by the federals in February, 1862, +resulted in the capture of Huntsville, where numerous indignities were +offered to many of the best people of the city of the mountains. Among +those who shared in these indignities was the venerable Governor Clay. +Because of his well-known sentiments, his home was invaded by the federal +troops, claimed and regarded as national property, and Governor Clay was +himself placed under arrest. He chafed under conditions like these, and at +his advanced age he conceived that the doom of the country had come. Nor +did the conditions of the close of the hostilities lend to his prospect +any relief. Considerations like these he carried as a burden, until +sinking under the weight, he died at the advanced age of 77 years, at his +home in Huntsville on September 7, 1866. + + + + +ARTHUR P. BAGBY + + +While Alabama was yet in its territorial swaddling clothes, Honorable J. +L. Martin, who afterward became governor of Alabama, met a young Virginian +who had just removed to the territory, and who himself was destined to +wear gubernatorial honors. This young man was afoot across the country, +carrying his personal effects in a bundle very much as a peddler carries +his pack. This tall and handsome youth was Arthur P. Bagby. + +He was a young man of striking and even prepossessing appearance, tall, +graceful, erect, with classical mold of feature and black eyes that +twinkled with an unusual luster. He was among the many enterprising young +spirits who quit the older states of the south and moved westward with +empires in their brains. + +Settling at Claiborne, in Monroe County, at that time one of the looming +settlements in south Alabama, Bagby at once turned to practical advantage +the excellent educational equipment with which he had been provided in his +native state. Recognizing in the law an opportunity, not only to +accumulate wealth, but a medium to distinction, Mr. Bagby entered a law +office and began his preparation for the bar. The rapid inflow of +population to the dawning state, the occupation of lands in all +directions, and the inevitable growth of wealth would beget litigation and +afford a harvest field for the best equipped of the legal profession. +Young Bagby caught the spirit of the times and was not slow to improve +the opportunity. + +Highly gifted, Bagby was like many another young man with rare natural +powers, and came to rely on his natural endowments rather than on studious +application. His charming personality and fascinating manner made him +immensely popular, and his popularity was enhanced by a vivid imagination +and prolific and poetic utterance. From the time of his first appearance +before the public to the close of a long and eventful public career, he +was a most popular orator. His fame as an orator gradually widened, and +his services were in frequent demand, not only in the courts, but on +important public occasions. + +He was not long in finding his way into public life, for in 1821 he was +chosen to represent Monroe County in the legislature. His companionable +disposition and uniform courtesy won the hearts of his fellow legislators, +and when he succeeded himself in the lower house after his first term, he +was easily elected to the speakership--the youngest member in the history +of the state to occupy that position, being at the time but little beyond +twenty-five years old. For a period of fifteen years he was kept in the +legislature, sometimes in one branch and again in the other. He closed his +career as an active legislator in the house as speaker in 1836. + +His active interest in affairs had by this time made him one of the best +known public men in the state while his popularity was undiminished. +Perhaps Alabama never had a more popular public servant than Arthur P. +Bagby. To the equipments already named was that of the charm of a +perennial flow of natural, bright and animated conversation. Nature had +lavished her richest gifts on this unassuming young Virginian. + +In 1837 Mr. Bagby became a candidate for governor. Favorably known by the +leading men throughout the state, the election of Bagby was in the outset +conceded, though he was opposed by a very popular man, Honorable Samuel W. +Oliver, of Conecuh. The popularity of Mr. Oliver was based on his +conservatism, and he was universally esteemed a gentleman of great +fairness. They were formidable opponents, the qualities of each commanding +the highest esteem, but the popularity already attained by the younger +candidate and his persuasive and exhilarating oratory made for him friends +wherever he appeared, and he was elected. + +Up to this time the inauguration of a governor was regarded as so tame an +occasion that there was but a small attendance of the population on the +ceremonies, but when Bagby was inaugurated those who had heard him during +the campaign flocked to the capital to hear him on this august occasion. +From remote quarters the citizen high and humble sought his way to +Tuscaloosa, then the capital, to hear the inauguration speech of the new +governor. In full appreciation of this fact, Mr. Bagby was on this +occasion at his best. His appearance was hailed by the acclaiming +thousands, and his inaugural address delivered in a well modulated voice +and with splendid bearing, was wildly received by an idolizing +constituency. The men of plain garb and rustic manner rushed forward to +grasp the hand of the popular young governor, and his reciprocation of a +demonstration so generous and genuine was the most unaffected. Nor was his +popularity impaired during his administration. Two years later he was +swept into office by popular acclamation and without opposition. Though +the dual administration of Governor Bagby fell on stormy times, as the +issue of nullification was then dominant, he succeeded in so directing the +affairs of the state as to increase rather than lessen public esteem. + +Nothing was more logical than that he should be elected to the National +Senate to succeed Honorable Clement C. Clay on the occasion of the +resignation of the latter in 1841. But a remnant of Senator Clay's term +was left when he resigned, but Mr. Bagby was easily re-elected when the +fragment of time had expired. Before the term of six years for which he +had been elected had closed, President Polk appointed Senator Bagby envoy +extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Russian Court, at St. +Petersburg. For this position he was admirably fitted, but served in the +capacity of minister not more than a year, and for political reasons +resigned on the accession of General Taylor to the Presidency. + +Returning from Russia, Mr. Bagby settled again in Alabama, retiring to +private life from which he was summoned to public service by being +associated with Judge Ormond and Honorable C. C. Clay in the codification +of the laws of Alabama. This was the last public service rendered by Mr. +Bagby. + +In 1858 he died of yellow fever in Mobile at the age of sixty-two. +Naturally endowed with the highest gifts and most varied talents, he gave +to these substantial expression in the conspicuous ability which he +displayed in the exalted stations which he occupied uninterruptedly for +more than thirty-five years. Arthur Pendleton Bagby adorned with signal +ability every position to which he was called, and throughout maintained +with happy blend and even balance a most courtly dignity and a charming +companionableness which put the plainest citizen in his presence at +perfect ease. Those who knew him best found it difficult to determine +which more to admire, his superior native dignity or his unaffected +cordiality, so undefinable was the charm which invested this gifted +gentleman. No chafe or worry of stress in public strain impaired the +affableness of his intercourse with others, and while he was honored by +his fellow citizens they were amply repaid in the splendid service which +he rendered the state and the nation. + + + + +WILLIAM R. KING + + +A native of North Carolina, William Rufus King, removed to Alabama in +1818. Lured to a region destined soon to take its place in the galaxy of +states, Mr. King was no novice in public affairs when he reached Alabama. +Indeed, he came crowned with unusual distinction for one so young in years +when he migrated to a territory which was just budding into statehood. +Though at the time only thirty-two years old, he had served with honor to +himself and to his native state as a legislator, solicitor and +congressman. When only twenty-four years old he had been sent to Congress +from North Carolina. His entrance into Congress in 1810 was simultaneous +with the beginning of the congressional careers of Henry Clay, John C. +Calhoun and William Lowndes. + +Mr. King served with distinction in Congress for six years when he was +chosen secretary to the American Legation at St. Petersburg, under William +Pinkney, who was at that time minister to the court of Russia. After +spending two years in this honorable capacity, King returned to North +Carolina and subsequently removed to Alabama. + +Buying a plantation near Cahaba, in 1819, he had scarcely located when he +was chosen a representative to the first constitutional convention of the +state. Together with Honorables Henry Hitchcock of Washington County, and +John M. Taylor of Madison, Mr. King drafted the first constitution of this +state. His clearness of perception, soundness of judgment and ability in +adjustment of matters of great moment arrested the attention of the +leaders of the coming state, during the session of the first +constitutional convention, and he was marked as one of the men of the hour +in laying the foundation stones of a great commonwealth. In recognition of +his ability, Mr. King was chosen one of the first national senators from +Alabama when the first legislature met in 1819. Of this prospective +distinction he must have been unaware, for at the time of his election he +was on a visit to North Carolina. + +Mr. King lived in an atmosphere above that of ordinary men. He was a man +of solid rather than of shining qualities, and his life was redolent of +purity and of exalted conception of duty. There was a delicacy of +sentiment which characterized his conduct, an affableness and quietness of +demeanor, an utter absence of display or of harshness, a serenity and +gentleness, with no unbecoming speech to soil his lips, no action to repel +even the humblest civilian. On the floor of the Federal Senate the +Honorable R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, said on the occasion of Mr. King's +death: "He was a man whose whole soul would have sickened under a sense of +personal dishonor." He was far more forward in his assertion of the claims +of others than of those for himself. + +No man in the public life of America ever more won by dint of intrinsic +merit than William Rufus King. Such was his bearing on all occasions that +men instinctively honored him. To him as a public man principle was the +path of the highest expediency. He wore his honor on his sleeve, and +would not scramble on a low plane for place, and would never learn the art +of petty politics. He engaged in political contests, but they were in the +open field and in full view of the eyes of the world. + +Mr. King came to be the first citizen of the state, becoming Vice +President of the United States, but it was entirely due to his worth and +not to any of the arts of the struggling politician. Utterly without +assumption he was as spectacular on one occasion as another. His was a +quiet knightliness without dash, the stamp of a nobleman of nature, +without lordly port. + +So unquestioned was his ability, so unerring his judgment, so profoundly +substantial his qualities as an ideal public servant, that the people of +Alabama honored him with official station for a period of almost +thirty-five years. In 1837 Mr. King was offered the position of minister +to the court of Austria, but declined because of the fact that the ardent +advocacy by him of the election of Mr. Van Buren might be construed as a +motive looking to future emolument--the payment of a political debt. Men +of that type were not so rare at that time as they now are. + +When complications with certain foreign powers became imminent in +consequence of the proposed annexation of Texas as an American state, +there was the demand for the most scrupulous diplomacy and tact and for +the ripest statesmanship on the part of those who should be sent abroad to +represent the United States at the Courts of England and of France. A +single misstep at this juncture would mean limitless trouble. One +especially qualified by social prestige as well as sage statesmanship was +needed to be sent to the Court of France. It was just such an emergency +like this that called for the exercise of powers such as Mr. King +possessed, and he was accordingly appointed to this position and served in +this capacity for a period of two years, when he resigned and returned to +Alabama. The seat left vacant by Mr. King in the federal senate had +meanwhile been filled by Dixon H. Lewis, who was a popular idol, but of a +type entirely different from that of Mr. King. Both were models of honor, +each equally worthy of public esteem; but Lewis, ponderous as he was in +size, was a popular speaker and more of the bonhommie type than was King. +At this time, these were recognized as the two most distinguished men in +the state. + +On his return home King's friends wanted him to resume his place in the +United States Senate, while the friends of Lewis were equally determined +that he should remain in a position which he had adorned for full two +years. Political maneuvering between the friends of the two distinguished +statesmen began, but negotiations seemed of no avail. It was inevitable +that each must test his strength before the people. King and Lewis were +personal friends, they were from adjacent counties, and both were +democrats. So conspicuous had Mr. King become now as a national figure +that many predicted that Lewis would not dare oppose him, but he did. The +contest was joined. It was a battle of giants. King, lithe, elegant, +smooth, plain and simple of diction, but clear as the shining of the sun, +without the gifts of the orator, but a superb talker, went before the +masses. Lewis, weighing five hundred pounds, his large full face beaming +with sunshine, and though large, a most telling orator who could relate an +anecdote with marvelous effect, while he possessed unquestioned ability to +give frequent expression to passages of oratory, won his way rapidly to +the public heart. As is well known, Lewis won, but the two friends were +destined each to be gratified, for Governor Chapman was able soon to +appoint Mr. King United States Senator in the stead of Senator Bagby. +During the administration of President Fillmore Mr. King was chosen to act +as the presiding officer of the senate, and in the summer of 1852 he was +nominated for the vice presidency, elected on the national ticket with +Franklin Pierce, but died the next year at his home at Cahaba, Ala. + + + + +DIXON H. LEWIS + + +In a number of respects the Honorable Dixon Hall Lewis was a very +remarkable man. He was precocious, though, in his early years, not +studious. Still, he held his own in his classes in South Carolina College, +as the university of that state was then called, with decided merit. +Possessed from the beginning with a popular turn, he was a great favorite +in college circles, and was counted an all-round good fellow. + +Lewis was a student at the South Carolina College during the time that +nullification was a dominant issue, and readily imbibed the principles +advocated by Mr. Calhoun, who was then the ideal of most young South +Carolinians. The more mature and thoughtful among the students shared in +the political issues of the time, especially when they were as exciting as +nullification then was. In subsequent years the great South Carolina +statesman never had a more ardent admirer and supporter than Dixon H. +Lewis. + +One of the most remarkable facts connected with Mr. Lewis was his unusual +size. His remarkable corpulency and his enormous physique made him a +spectacle among men of ordinary size. His weight was excessive even in +boyhood, and it continued to increase so long as he lived. His death was +doubtless due to his excessive adiposity, and he was cut down at an age +when he should have been most useful. + +Graduating from South Carolina College he removed to Alabama in 1822. At +that time Lewis was just twenty years old. Admitted to the bar, he began +the practice of law in Montgomery. His ability in the court room was at +once recognized, and had he continued, would doubtless have achieved +distinction at the bar; but his pronounced fondness for politics led him +early into that arena in which he spent the remainder of his life. His +career as a public servant began in the Alabama legislature. During the +years 1825-26-27, he represented Montgomery County in the general assembly +of the state. At that time he weighed about three hundred and eighty +pounds. + +By dint of ability Mr. Lewis took a foremost position among the Alabama +legislators. When scarcely eligible by reason of age, he was chosen for +Congress from his district, and continued in the lower house of the +National Congress from 1829 to 1844, when he was transferred to the +Federal Senate. + +Mr. Lewis belongs to the states' rights school of politicians, and never +had a cause a more fervid advocate. In Congress his influence was +pronounced, and for years he was the acknowledged leader of the Alabama +delegation in the lower branch of that body. He was unalterably opposed to +a protective tariff, and never let an opportunity slip to oppose its +fallacy and injustice. His principles were embodied in the platform +resolutions adopted by the national democratic convention which met in +Baltimore in 1840. + +Ponderous as he was, Mr. Lewis was not impaired in his activity either as +a state legislator or as a congressman. His interest in all matters +public enabled him to overcome the hindrance encountered in his enormous +weight. It was one of his controlling principles never to be absent from +an important committee meeting, where he was always pronounced and firm in +the expression of his convictions. When in 1844 he resigned from the House +of Representatives to take his seat in the Senate, he was chairman of the +committee of ways and means, and the ability shown by him in the lower +branch led to his appointment to the chairmanship of the committee on +finance when he entered the upper chamber. + +His life was a perpetual struggle against the difficulty encountered by +his weight. He could walk but little, and he could enter but few vehicles. +His private carriage had to be specially constructed with respect to +strength, and its entrance was of unusual width. In his home a special +chair or chairs had to be manufactured adapted to his size, and his +bedstead was of far more than ordinary strength. He moved from place to +place with exceeding difficulty, but in the constant warfare of the spirit +against the flesh the former predominated, for impelled by a gigantic +will, he declined to hesitate because of his immense weight and size. + +In his trips to Washington and returning, in the days before railroads +became so great a convenience, Mr. Lewis had to travel in an old fashioned +stage coach, and always paid for two seats. A chair of unusual size was +made for him to occupy in the House of Representatives, and when he +entered the Senate it was transferred to that chamber. Yet, as has already +been said, Lewis was an orator of unusual power. His freedom of +utterance, pleasing manner, jovial disposition, and his ability to present +with clearness and power the issues discussed, with a reliance on well +arranged and thoroughly digested facts, made him formidable in debate, and +quite popular before a promiscuous audience. + +In this memorable contest against Mr. King for the National Senate in +1841, the labors of Lewis were herculean. Weighing at this time about five +hundred pounds, he had to be helped to the platform, and on one occasion +when the weather was excessively hot, two devoted country constituents, +one on each side of the sweltering orator, relieved the situation by the +swaying of two large palm fans, which they employed with vigor while he +spoke with ardor. The contrast between Mr. Lewis and Mr. King was most +striking--the one ponderous and bulky, while the other was tall, thin, +lithe and sinewy. + +Mr. Lewis declined to be jested about his size and was sensitive to the +faintest allusion to it. But his genuine chivalry forbade his taking the +slightest advantage of anyone, or of subjecting any to the least +inconvenience because of his condition. On one occasion while returning +from Washington, the steamer on which he was, was wrecked. The small boat +was ordered out for the relief of the excited and distressed passengers, +but he declined to enter it, for fear that his huge weight would imperil +the safety of the others. Remaining alone in extreme peril till the others +could be safely rescued, he was subsequently reached by the small boat and +saved. + +Elected to the Senate in 1844, Mr. Lewis died in 1848. In the interest of +his health he went to New York during the latter part of 1848, was treated +as was supposed successfully and, animated by the prospect of a speedy +resumption of his public duties at Washington, he spent some time in +visiting the objects of interest about and within the city of New York. +But his special trouble returned with suddenness and he soon died. At the +time of his death Mr. Lewis was forty-six years old. + +So nation-wide had become the reputation of this remarkable man that his +body lay in state for some time in the city hall of New York before its +interment in Greenwood cemetery. The funeral procession was one that did +honor to his career, for at its head, were the mayor of New York, the +governor of the state, and every congressman who was able to reach the +metropolis in time. He died just as he was emerging into the full exercise +of his splendid powers. + + + + +BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK + + +The galaxy of the names of Alabama's worthy sons would be incomplete with +the omission of that of Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick. An uneducated and +orphaned boy, he came to Alabama from Greene County, Georgia, in 1816, to +assist in the planting interests of his elder brothers, whose lands lay +along the eastern bank of the Alabama River, about six miles outside of +Montgomery. He never attended school more than six months of his life, and +in his early days was inured to the rough encounters of the world. Colonel +Brewer states in his history of Alabama that Mr. Fitzpatrick, in +subsequent years, was accustomed to point out a field near Montgomery +where he tended a herd of swine for his brothers as the hogs would feed on +the mast of the oak woods. + +Service as a deputy sheriff in Elmore County, which position brought him +into contact with the courts, aroused an ambition to become a lawyer, and +he prepared himself for that profession under the tutelage of the Hon. N. +E. Benson. Admitted to the practice of the law when he was barely 21, he +rapidly won popularity as a lawyer by his devotion to the interests of his +clients. After practicing for a period in Elmore County, he removed to +Montgomery, where he entered into co-partnership with Henry Goldthwaite. + +The legal development of Mr. Fitzpatrick was rapid, and he was elected to +the solicitorship of the Montgomery circuit, and after serving one term +was again elected to the same position. By his marriage to a daughter of +General John Elmore his political fortunes were greatly enhanced. The +Elmores were one of the most distinguished families of the state, a son of +the general being a national Senator from South Carolina, another a +distinguished lawyer in Montgomery, still another was the attorney general +of Louisiana, yet another was secretary of state of Alabama and later +collector of the port of Mobile, while another was a federal judge in +Kansas. By his marriage Mr. Fitzpatrick became a brother-in-law to the +Hon. Dixon H. Lewis. + +Driven by broken health from the seclusion of his law office, in 1827, he +repaired to his plantation near Montgomery, where he maintained a princely +country home in which was dispensed the hospitality for which the old-time +southerner was proverbial. At no period in the history of any land was +hospitality more sumptuous than in the princely homes of the South during +the régimé of slavery, and the home of the Fitzpatricks was a typical one +of the hospitality of those days now gone. For full twelve years he lived +contented and happy on his fertile plantation, unsolicitous of public +office, but in 1840 he was summoned from his retreat by the state +democratic convention to serve as a Van Buren elector, and succeeded in +swinging the state into the column of the democratic candidate from New +York. His ability was so distinguished during his campaign that he was +honored with the governorship of the state at the close of the same year. + +During his period of retirement Mr. Fitzpatrick had remained in vital +touch with the existing issues of the time, and his powers were solidified +in his rural retreat, so that on his return to public life he was far more +amply equipped. This was at once manifest in his first message to the +legislature, which message by the breadth of its statesmanship stamped him +one of the foremost publicists of the state, and he easily succeeded +himself in the governor's chair without opposition. So exceptional had +been his dual administration that a joint resolution of the general +assembly approved his course as governor throughout, as well as himself +personally. He retired from the office of governor crowned with the +laudations of his countrymen. + +Repairing to his plantation, he was summoned by Governor Chapman to the +assumption of the United States senatorship to fill the unexpired term of +Dixon H. Lewis. He was appointed again to fill the unexpired term of the +Hon. William R. King, and in 1855 was elected by the Alabama legislature +to the federal senate for a period of six years. It was during this period +of his career that the highest honor of the senate was conferred on Mr. +Fitzpatrick, as he was chosen by that body as president pro tempore. + +In 1860, the second place on the national ticket with Stephen A. Douglas, +was tendered Senator Fitzpatrick, but this he declined because of his +disagreement with Mr. Douglas on his "squatter sovereignty" doctrine. This +indicates that Senator Fitzpatrick was not a secessionist, for he shared +in the views of other eminent southern leaders that secession was not the +remedy to cure the grievances of which he insisted the South justly +complained. But, like those with whom he shared in sentiment respecting +secession, this did not deter him from sympathy with the cause of the +South. In every way he contributed to the cause of the South when once the +clash came. Yielding his convictions, he continued a southern patriot, and +when the others of the South withdrew from Congress, he sundered his +relation from the federal government as a senator, and ardently espoused +the cause of his section. + +The last public function of Senator Fitzpatrick was that of the presidency +of the constitutional convention of Alabama in 1865. While always +preserving a cheerful demeanor, there is little doubt that the results of +the war, in the complete wreckage of the industrial system of the South +greatly preyed on his spirit. He died when he was about seventy years old. + +Few public men in Alabama have left a purer record than Governor +Fitzpatrick. His dominant characteristic was his integrity. He would never +yield to compromise of principle, holding that principle is indivisible. +If sternness was required to demonstrate this, then he could be stern. To +him justice was a supreme principle. He would never waver the width of a +hair even for the most cherished friend or kinsman. He was most exacting +of the performance of public duty by public servants, and in order that he +might rigidly comply with the conditions and terms of his oath of office, +he familiarized himself with every detail of the duties of his +subordinates. He made no pledge which he did not fulfill and committed +himself to no cause which he did not execute to the letter. To him public +office was a public trust, and to this he rigidly conformed. The +aggregation of the qualities which entered into the character of Mr. +Fitzpatrick made him an ideal public servant, whose course in life is well +worthy of emulation. + + + + +JOSHUA L. MARTIN + + +The year 1845 was marked by a rent in the democratic party of Alabama. +Governor Fitzpatrick's term was soon to expire, and it was necessary to +choose a successor. A lapse of interest had come to political affairs in +the state, due largely to the defeat of the whig party the year before in +failing of the election of the President. The result was that of +demoralization to the whigs throughout the country, for they had been +animated by the belief that they would succeed in capturing the +presidency. They showed no disposition, at any rate, to enter the lists +for the governorship in Alabama. + +In May, 1845, a democratic convention was called to meet at Tuscaloosa, +then the capital of the state, and it was sparsely attended, a fact due to +the political indifference everywhere prevailing. However, the attendance +on the convention on the first day would have been much larger but for the +delay of the boat from Mobile, which was to bring all the delegates from +the southern counties. + +The friends of the Hon. Nathaniel Terry of Limestone were intent on his +nomination for gubernatorial honors, and as those present were mostly from +the counties north, they were anxious to proceed to the nomination of +their candidate. There were others present, however, to whom Mr. Terry was +not the choice, and they sought to have the convention adjourn till the +next day, in order to await the arrival of the delayed steamer from +Mobile. But Terry's friends, who were evidently in the majority, with the +slim attendance already present, insisted on the nomination being made +that day. This evoked a stern protest on the part of the others, which +protest was read before the body, and afterward printed and circulated to +the injury of the candidacy of Mr. Terry, but, notwithstanding this +vehement protest, the nomination was made. + +This was a signal for a storm. Many present were dissatisfied, and those +who arrived later swelled the roar of the tempest which sprang up at once. +Murmurings of dissatisfaction were heard on all hands, much to the +gratification of the whigs who had so often sustained sore defeat at the +hands of the much-boasted united democracy. The whigs not only chuckled at +the domestic quarrel of the democrats, but did what they could to widen +the breach between the two factions. The dissatisfaction at last found +vent in the naming of another democratic candidate for the governorship, +in the person of Chancellor Joshua Lanier Martin of Tuscaloosa. He was an +ardent democrat, was widely and favorably known, had served with great +acceptance in a number of positions, such as legislator, solicitor, +circuit judge and congressman, and as a voice had been denied many in the +convention, they proposed to resent it by seeking to elect another +democrat rather than the one nominated by the precipitate few. Judge +Martin did not seek the nomination, but when chosen under the conditions, +he accepted the popular nomination. + +The issue between the two formidable candidates was now squarely joined, +the friends of Mr. Terry urging the platitudinous plea of party +nomination, and party loyalty, but this only served to augment the +popular flame. This was met by the counter plea of advantage having been +taken, and therefore the plea of support on account of the improper +nomination was without force. Never before had a rupture come to the party +in the state, and this was used as a reinforcement of the plea already +named, but without much avail. + +Thus the battle raged and from its apathy the state was aroused from +confine to limit, and the land rang with the oratory of contending party +factions. Divisions and dissensions became rampant. Neighbor strove with +neighbor, and community struggled against community. Households were +divided, churches were sundered by divergent sentiment, and men wrangled +in anger as though the fate of the continent were seriously involved. +Reasons and counter reasons flew like bullets in battle, and the stock +arguments of the campaign became those of everyone, and he would use them +with all the fervor and friction of sudden originality. In view of the +unquestioned democracy of Judge Martin, his reputation, official and +private, his personal popularity, and the precipitate action taken in the +nomination of his opponent, it was clear that Mr. Terry was breasting odds +from the outset of the campaign. + +Besides all this, the whigs, anxious to give as great a stagger as +possible to "the regular nominee" of the democratic party, lent support to +Judge Martin. Thus the campaign became suddenly stormy. Excitement ran +high, passion superseded reason, and clamor filled the air. Up to the +closing of the polls on election day, the question was so complicated by +the interlacing vote of the state, that no one could venture a prediction +of the result. But Judge Martin led his opponent by at least five hundred +votes. This was the first defeat ever sustained by a nominated democrat in +the state, for a state office, and, as usual under similar conditions, +there were dire predictions of the utter demolition of the democratic +party in the state of Alabama! + +Be it said to the perpetual credit of Judge Martin that he bore himself +with singular equanimity throughout the prevalence of the strenuous +campaign. His was an atmosphere high above the clatter of the demagogue, +and it was understood that the place was undesired by him unless it should +come purely in recognition of his merit and fitness. In observing this +principle in politics, Governor Martin was never defeated for a public +office. + +Governor Martin was by birth a Tennessean. Denied an advanced education, +he turned to the best account that which he had in the common schools, +which limited training he solidified by teaching during his younger years. +He reached Alabama in 1819, the same year of its admission into the Union, +finished his law studies, which had been begun in Tennessee, and settled +at Athens to practice. The political stations held by Governor Martin have +already been indicated, and by reason of these he took with him into the +gubernatorial office a thorough knowledge of public affairs. It was during +his administration that the Mexican war occurred, the demands growing out +of which he met with official fidelity. His term of office having closed, +he resumed the practice of the law, and, save when elected to the +legislature in 1853, he never filled another official station. For thirty +years, almost, he was in the public service, and a more faithful officer +the state never had. He died at Tuscaloosa on November 2, 1866, being +sixty-seven years old. + + + + +ISAAC SMITH + + +No man in the early annals of the state had a more varied or romantic +career than the Rev. Isaac Smith, a courageous missionary of the Methodist +Church. His life and labors do not find recognition on the page of secular +history, but the contribution which he made to the state in its early +formation wins for him a meritorious place in the state's chronicles. It +is doubtful that his name and labors are familiar to the present +generation of the great body of Christians of which he was an early +ornament, but they are none the less worthy of becoming record. + +Mr. Smith enlisted from Virginia in the army of Washington while yet a +youth. Bright and alert, he was chosen an orderly by Washington, and +served in that capacity under both Washington and LaFayette. When the new +nation started on its independent career and when the region toward the +west began to be opened, Mr. Smith migrated toward the south, became a +minister of the Methodist Church, and offered his services as a missionary +to the Indian tribes. Hated because of their ferocity, the prevailing idea +in the initial years of the nineteenth century was that of the destruction +of the red man, but Mr. Smith felt impelled to take to him the gospel of +salvation. + +His labors were not confined to any particular region and he trudged the +country over, imperiling his life among the wild tribes, who came to love +him because he was one pale face who sought to do them good. He founded +an Indian school near the Chattahoochee and taught the Indians the +elements of the English language. When Bishop Asbury, the most indomitable +of all the Methodist bishops, came to the South, Mr. Smith was his close +friend and adviser, and most valuable were his services to the bishop in +planting Methodism in the lower South. + +All real teachers are greater learners than instructors, for in their zeal +to impart they must first come to acquire. Mr. Smith was an assiduous +student and with the growth of his years was an accumulated stock of both +wisdom and learning. As he passed the meridian of life he became a power +in his denomination and his counsel was freely sought in the high circles +of his church. When, in 1825, General LaFayette visited Alabama in his +tour of the South, he passed through the Creek Nation, in Georgia, and was +escorted by a body of Georgians to the Chattahoochee River and consigned +to the care of fifty painted Indian warriors, who vied with the pale faces +in doing honor to the distinguished visitor. Rowing LaFayette across the +river to the Alabama side, he was met by Rev. Isaac Smith. The great +Frenchman instantly recognized Mr. Smith as one of his boy orderlies +during the campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. There was a cordial +demonstration of mutual affection between the old French veteran and the +younger man, now a Methodist preacher. The painted Indian warriors looked +on the exchange of greeting with evident pleasure. It so happened that +LaFayette reached the Alabama side just at the point where stood the +humble school building of the intrepid missionary. + +The first demonstration of greeting being over, Mr. Smith eschewing all +conventionality, and, in keeping alike with his Methodist zeal and the joy +which he experienced in meeting his old commander, proposed that all bow +in prayer. When LaFayette and Smith dropped on their knees the Indian +warriors did the same, and there on the banks of the deep rolling +Chattahoochee, beneath ancient oaks, in fervid and loud demonstrations of +prayer, the voice of Mr. Smith rang out through the deep forests. The +picture thus presented was worthy the pencil of the master--the ardent but +devout preacher, the great French patriot and the half hundred warriors, +each with his hands over his face, praying in the wild woods of Alabama. +The prayer was an unrestrained outburst of joy at the meeting of the old +commander and a devout invocation for the preservation of the life of the +friend of American liberty. + +Yielding to the hospitable pressure of the boy soldier of other and +stormier days, LaFayette was taken to the humble cottage of the missionary +in the woods, and in order partly to entertain the distinguished guest and +partly to afford him an insight into aboriginal life, Mr. Smith arranged +for a game of ball to be played by the Indians. The day over and LaFayette +was taken into the cabin, served with the scanty fare of the pioneer +missionary, and beside the primitive fireplace the two, the missionary and +the great Frenchman, sat that night and fought over the battles in which +both were participants during the Revolution. They parted on the +following morning, LaFayette continuing his course toward Cahaba, the +state capital, and Mr. Smith resuming his treadmill round of duty as a +secluded missionary to the Indians. They parted with the same +demonstrations of affection with which they had met, and never again met +each other in the flesh. + +With cheerful alacrity Mr. Smith continued his work among the Indians, to +which work he gave expansion in later years as the white population +continued to multiply. He was of immense service to the government in +adjusting the claims of the Indians and in pacifying them in the +acceptance of the inevitable lot finally meted out to them. As a +mediatorial agent Mr. Smith prevented much butchery in those early days +when the extinction of the Indian was so seriously desired. + +With fame unsought and undesired, the Rev. Isaac Smith continued his +missionary and evangelistic labors in Alabama till forced by the weight of +years and the results of the privations of pioneer life to retire from the +scene of activity. He lived, however, to see the state of his adoption +pass from an infantile stage to one of great population and prosperity and +to witness the consummation of much of that of which he was one of the +original prospectors. Retiring in his last years to Monroe County, +Georgia, he died at the age of seventy-six. On the moral and spiritual +side he was one of the foundation builders of the state of Alabama. His +labor and sacrifice deserve recognition alongside that given of men whose +stations in life gave them great conspicuousness in the public eye. He +was of the class of men who labored in comparative obscurity, passed away, +and in due time are forgotten, but their works do follow them in their +everlasting results. + + + + +CLEMENT CLAIBORNE CLAY + + +Hon. Clement Claiborne Clay inherited all the strong traits of his +distinguished father. His birthplace was Huntsville, where he was born in +1817. In his boyhood years he would learn much of the struggles through +which the people of the state were passing in a transition from pioneer +conditions to those of real life, and thus manhood unfolded +contemporaneously with the development of his native state. His first +knowledge of Alabama was derived at a time when conditions were rude and +crude and during his career of more than three-score years he saw it +expand through successive periods, his sentiments keeping pace with its +development. + +In most respects highly favored by fortune and condition, Mr. Clay knew +how to prize these and use them as stepping-stones to success. His father +was his most intimate companion, and the stations held by him were as +largely shared in by the son as was possible. So soon as young Clay was +prepared to do so he was sent to the state university, from which he +graduated at the early age of seventeen. While his father was governor, +the youth served as his private secretary and while his father was serving +as senator at Washington, the son was at the same time pursuing his law +course at the University of Virginia, which course he completed in 1840. + +At the early age of twenty-five the junior Clay was elected to a seat in +the lower house of the legislature. He attracted attention at first by the +introduction of a resolution instructing the Alabama delegation in +Congress to support a bill favorable to refunding to General Andrew +Jackson the fine of one thousand dollars imposed on him by Judge Hall of +New Orleans in 1815 for declaring martial law in that city, under which +the judge was imprisoned by Jackson for discharging on habeas corpus a +member of the Louisiana legislature who had been caught in the act of +secretly communicating with the enemy and had been imprisoned by General +Jackson. The fine was for contempt and Jackson paid it, and now, after the +lapse of more than a quarter century, the sum was returned with interest, +the total being at the time of the refunding about $3,000. + +The speech made by the young man in advocacy of his resolution won him his +first spurs. It flashed with fervid eloquence and was pervaded throughout +with the choicest diction. Many were the predictions of his future +greatness because of that speech. + +His service in the legislature led to his retention in that body for three +successive terms, during the last of which he was elected by the +legislature to the judgeship of the county court of Madison. After serving +thus for two years, he resigned and resumed the practice of the law. Five +years later still, he offered for congressional representative, but was +defeated by the Hon. W. R. W. Cobb of Jackson County. The sting of defeat +was abundantly alleviated, however, when he was chosen by the legislature +a United States senator at the close of the same year. The distinction was +the greater because of the handsome majority given him over his +distinguished opponent, the Hon. R. W. Walker, Clay having received +eighty-five votes, while Walker received thirty-seven. + +The gifts, training, and acquirements of Mr. Clay eminently fitted him for +this exalted forum. It was at the time when state rights doctrine was well +at the front and into the thick of the fray he entered as an ardent +disciple of Mr. Calhoun. His speeches on the floor of the senate chamber +won for him wide attention, and gained for him national renown. Throughout +the country his speeches were a subject of comment, while in Alabama his +name was on every thoughtful lip. + +Having served for six years in the National Senate, Mr. Clay was again +chosen in 1859, and was in the senate when Alabama seceded in 1861, and +with all the other southern senators resigned, which furnished occasion in +harmony with the temper of that time to provoke a vote of expulsion of the +southern senators. On his return to Alabama, Mr. Clay was at once chosen a +senator from the state to the Confederate Congress. In Richmond he was in +vital touch with the Confederate government, the confidence of which he +enjoyed to an unusual degree. After a senatorial service of two years at +Richmond, Mr. Clay stood for re-election before the legislature of +Alabama, and was opposed by Colonel Seibels of Montgomery and the Hon. J. +L. M. Curry of Talladega. After a number of unsuccessful ballots Mr. Clay +withdrew in favor of R. W. Walker, whom he had previously defeated for the +United States senate, and Mr. Walker was elected. + +In 1864 Mr. Clay was sent on a confidential errand from the Confederate +states government to the provinces of Canada. His mission was one of +diplomatic secrecy, but under prevailing conditions resulted in nothing +practical. While the nature of his mission was not known, it was supposed +to be that of exciting Canadian interest in the affairs of the +Confederacy, and to arouse such interest as would eventuate in procuring +an army of invasion of sufficient force to raid with success the northern +frontier of the Union. The northern press charged at the time that Mr. +Clay was abetting the adventurers who attempted the destruction of New +York City by fire. + +During his stay in Canada, Mr. Clay was instrumental in inducing the +members of the peace party in the North to prevail on President Lincoln to +open negotiations with him looking to the settlement of hostilities +between the North and the South. An unofficial mission was entered on, but +without avail. When he learned of the capitulation of the Confederate +armies, Mr. Clay started from Canada on horseback for Texas, but, seeing +in the northern press that he was openly charged with complicity in the +assassination of President Lincoln, he changed his course and made his way +to Macon, Ga., where he might surrender with a view to a thorough +investigation. In reward for this expression of honor on the part of Mr. +Clay, he was seized, sent to Fortress Monroe, put in irons, where he lay a +fellow prisoner of Jefferson Davis for twelve months, without being +brought to trial on the false charges of treason and assassination. His +health was sadly broken under these cruel and disgraceful conditions, and +his release was finally procured by his devoted and gifted wife, whose +pleadings with the governmental authorities at last prevailed, and it was +believed, not without reason, that the government, as it then was, was +glad to appear to display magnanimity in view of the atrocious course +pursued concerning one who was thus being served purely on an unfounded +presumption, and one, too, who had gone beyond his way seeking a trial, in +face of the public charges. Mr. Clay died at Huntsville on January 3, +1882. + + + + +HOSEA HOLCOMBE + + +Altogether worthy of a place in the historic archives of Alabama are the +spiritual heroes who added so much to the moral life of the community, +converting disorder into order, and bringing calmness from confusion and +chaos. Among these may be named Rev. Hosea Holcombe, a native of North +Carolina, and for a period a pastor in upper South Carolina. Mr. Holcombe +came to Alabama in the early stages of its statehood and settled at +Jonesboro, in Jefferson County, from which point he pursued his early +missionary labors, undergoing all the privations and difficulties incident +to those days. + +Without scholastic advantages, Mr. Holcombe turned to practical advantage +the slim resources which came within his reach, and by studious +application became possessed of more than an ordinary education for one +living at that period. He was Alabama's first church historian, and +rendered a lasting service to the state by his preserved record of the +early churches of Alabama. + +While statesmen and publicists were laying the foundation stones of a +great political commonwealth, the pioneer missionary, especially of the +Baptist and Methodist denominations, was abroad with his wholesome +influence, checking vice, inculcating virtue, and seeking to bring the +lives of men into practical conformity to those principles which make +alike for the present, and the life which is to come. + +Those old heroes, often trudging weary and footsore over mountain paths or +threading their way along the Indian trails winding through the forests, +visiting the primitive settlements of Alabama, and dispensing the truths +which make men better, are too often neglected in recounting the elements +which entered into the formation of a great state. Limitedly known while +living, and soon forgotten when dead, the substantial and fundamental +service rendered is not embalmed in the public records, and yet without +such agents, in a rude and crude condition of society, a state could never +become great. Far more valuable than is commonly supposed was the service +rendered by those pioneer preachers. In the absence of courts in those +pioneer days, matters in dispute were often held in abeyance for +adjudication till "the preacher" should come, and his unbiased decision +was usually accepted as final. + +Mr. Holcombe was a leader among those humble but heroic men who braved the +terrors of the wilderness while Alabama was yet the hunting ground of the +savage, and though most of them were untaught in the schools, they +grappled with the gravest problems encountered on the frontier of +civilization, in bringing the chaotic elements of society into subjection +to the gospel, and in cool disregard of the dangers which threatened from +every side, by reason of the presence of the hostile Indian, they +evangelized the widely scattered settlements, preached, visited, cheered, +inspired, and built houses of worship for the future promotion of +Christianity. + +Living and laboring with a zeal unquenched by difficulty or danger, they +passed from the scene of action, but their influence abode still, and as +a silent force has been transmitted through succeeding generations. Most +of those old spiritual heroes lie in unmarked graves. Soon leveled to the +surface, these primitive mounds left unindicated the resting places of the +genuine heroes, and the tangled vine and riotous weed came to usurp the +sacred though narrow places where sleep their ashes, but they, being dead, +yet speak in the characters and lives of those who have come after. + +To this type of spiritual frontiersmen belonged the Rev. Hosea Holcombe. +His life was one of serious devotion to the cause of humanity and of God. +Without reward of purse, he labored unceasingly, eking out a bare +subsistence by the labor of his own hands, that he might have the +privilege of laboring for the welfare of his fellows. He founded all the +early Baptist churches in Jefferson County and frequent were his tours +into different parts of the state. His sage counsel was sought, and such +was the force of his character, that his decisions on all disputed +questions were taken as well-nigh oracular. + +In those early days, and for generations, disputatious contention, +especially between the Baptists and Methodists, was frequent. If this had +its unpleasing side, as it always does, it was not wholly without +compensation, for it stimulated sacred study and grounded the masses in +the truths and principles of the gospel. + +Like all others of the ministry of that remote period, Mr. Holcombe shared +in the prevailing controversial spirit of the times. In the maintenance +of his views he wrote a number of pamphlets, but his chief literary +production was a history of the Baptists of Alabama. While the work lacks +unity of arrangement, and is devoid of literary finish, it reflects the +spirit of the times, and is a monument to the privations and fortitude, as +well as the energy and struggles, of that period now grown dim. + +As the population of the state grew, and the necessity of schools became +more urgent, this unlettered man became one of the earliest exponents of +education, and of all institutions which were conducive to the promotion +of the good of society. + +The services rendered by men like Hosea Holcombe escape the pen of the +historian, because they lie apart from the spectacular and the din of +political and commercial struggle, remote from the universal flow; but +they are chief among the unseen forces the results of which assume shape +in the transmuted lives and characters of men and women and in the visible +institutions of which they were the chief founders. Their records are +usually assigned to the department of unwritten history, but their lives +and labors are the fundamental sources of the institutions, the beneficent +influences of which are ours of today. + +One who leaves his impress on a generation lives for all time, for in some +form his influence works its way, though silently, and contributes to the +symmetry of character in the generations that follow. Deeds of benefaction +are noble, but a good man, in virtue of his life, is a benefaction, and +his daily walk is a constant asset of the good of the future. This admits +of application to the life of this pioneer preacher, which life extended +to near the middle of the nineteenth century. + +The Rev. Hosea Holcombe died in 1841, and his humble grave is on his +original farm near Jonesboro, Jefferson County. A shaft now marks the last +resting place of the old hero. Till this was recently erected, a large +bowlder alone indicated where sleeps the pioneer preacher. Its native +roughness and solidity represented the times as well as the character of +the Rev. Hosea Holcombe. + + + + +H. W. COLLIER + + +There was not in the life and career of Governor Henry Watkins Collier +that which was apt to catch the popular eye and invite popular applause, +for he was not gifted with the flash of oratory, nor did he seek the +clamorous applause which passes with the day. Governor Collier was of the +practical mold of men who merely did things, who patiently wrought in +painstaking silence far away from the madding crowd and the host of empty +babble. He won distinction, but he did it by dint of granite merit, while +disdaining the acclaim which comes as the vapid breath of the hour. + +A Virginian by birth, Governor Collier had the prestige which comes of +distinguished lineage. In the genealogical line were the names of such men +as Sir Francis Wyatt, one of the original English governors of Virginia, +and Admiral Sir George Collier of the British navy. But distinction like +this he relied not on, and his career throughout showed that he regarded +the life of each one a distinct entity dependent entirely on individual +worth. + +Governor Collier came to Alabama in the flower of his youth well qualified +to respond to the demands arising from the colonial conditions of a new +state. He had been grounded in the solid soil of academic drill at a time +when the test of pupilage lay in the thought created by the student rather +than in the mere mastery of that already kneaded by others, and served to +the taste. For to be a student of those early times of even tolerable +tolerance one had to dig rather than to reap, as others had sown. By the +few really skillful preceptors of those primitive times, the student was +encouraged to create and originate his own material from the bare +principles furnished. This molded men of stalwart proportions, promoted +self-assertion, augmented confidence, stiffened reliance, and toughened +the fiber of character by effort. + +Instruction of this character was given in the famous pioneer school of +Moses Waddell at Willington, S. C., where were trained for the stern life +of grappling with grim, original conditions such men as George McDuffie, +James L. Pettigru and Augustus B. Longstreet, and many others whose fame, +and, no less, whose example, remain as a perennial inspiration to aspiring +youth, for after all every man who is made is self-made. Be one's +advantages never so much or so meager, self and self-worth are at last the +determinative factor. + +Girt with equipments like these borne from the Waddell school, young +Collier reached Alabama just as it was emerging into statehood. His first +residence was at Huntsville, where as a youthful pleader he opened his +little office, but soon removed to Tuscaloosa as the partner of Hon. Simon +L. Perry. + +The demand for competent legislators and men for the occupancy of other +spheres, at a time when the population of the state was sparse, opened the +door of opportunity to aspiring young men to which class Collier belonged. +When only twenty-six he went as a representative from Tuscaloosa County, +and so profound was the impression made by this solid young man that the +legislature, at the next session, elected him to a place on the supreme +bench, a distinction the more pronounced because his competitor for the +place was Judge Eli Shortridge. + +Four years later, on the occasion of the reorganization of the state +courts, Judge Collier was displaced from the supreme bench, but was +retained as a circuit judge for four years, at which time Judge Saffold +retired from his seat on the supreme bench, and Governor Clay appointed +Judge Collier in his stead, till the legislature should meet and elect his +successor. On the convening of the general assembly, Judge Collier was met +by a contestant for the honor in the person of Hon. A. Crenshaw of Butler, +but the election resulted in favor of Judge Collier, who received more +than twice the number of votes given his opponent. + +For twelve years he continued to dispense justice in that high tribunal, +and the value of the service rendered the state by him is attested by the +luminous and voluminous decisions which run through thirty-five volumes of +the Alabama reports, a perpetual monument of valuable labor. + +By this time no man so completely filled the eyes of the people of the +state as Judge Henry Watkins Collier. His high sense of justice, his +impartial incision, and his solid and unvarying calmness made him, without +self-effort to attain it, the dominant public figure in Alabama. +Practically without effort, he was chosen, almost by a unanimous vote of +the people, to the office of governor. + +This was in 1849. Judge Samuel F. Rice, one of the brightest and ablest +of Alabamians, appeared against him, and the final vote stood 36,350 for +Collier and 364 for Rice, with a few scattering votes. At the close of his +first term for governor three competitors appeared in the field for the +same distinction--B. G. Shields, Nathaniel Terry and William L. Yancey, +and of a total popular vote of 43,679, Governor Collier was indorsed by +37,460 of these. + +Nor was this due to an active canvass on the part of Governor Collier. +While he was by no means indifferent to his retention of the gubernatorial +chair, he preferred to base his claim on genuine merit illustrated in +official function, rather than by clamor for recognition before the +assembled multitude. He had scrupulously sought to make his work worthy as +a judge and as a governor, and was entirely willing that it should shine +by its own light. He could not plausibly plead for support or indorsement, +had none of the arts and tricks of the vote-getter, and therefore relied +on actual service and worth to give exploit to his value as an official +servant. His ideal of the office was lofty, and he felt that he could not +climb down into the arena of personal scramble when the people were as +fully informed of his competency as they would have been had he made a +heated canvass. + +From the beginning to the close of his life, Governor Collier was under +strain. He did not fret nor chafe under the burdens imposed, but his +powers wore under the dogged strain of perpetual labor. Nothing could +deflect him from public duty. To him its claim was supreme. He died in the +ripeness of his manhood at Bailey Springs in 1865, being only fifty-four +years old, his early death being largely due, no doubt, to the overstrain +of his vigor. + + + + +JOSEPH G. BALDWIN + + +No more genuine compliment can be paid a book than to have the name of the +author so associated with it that at the mention of the work the name of +the writer is at once suggested. This is true of that once noted work, +"Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi." So widely was the book for years +read, and so popular was it because of its reflection of a period of +southwestern history that to mention the work is to call in immediate +connection with it the name of the author--J. G. Baldwin. + +On its appearance the work was greeted with popular applause and was +highly prized for its genuine merit. While the production of such a work +with its unique and sparkling wit, is worthy of the pen of anyone, the +fame of Judge Baldwin does not repose on it alone, for he was both a +statesman and jurist, and rendered valuable service to Alabama. + +Beginning life under disadvantages because of meager education, Judge +Baldwin fitted himself for life by individual effort and private study and +became one of the most eminent citizens of the state, and later a +distinguished justice on the supreme bench of California. His qualities of +character were sterling, his relations to others uniformly courteous, and +his disposition one of perpetual sunshine. + +In politics a whig, he was ever ready to champion the cause of that party. +He was a skillful tactician, and as one of the whig leaders in Alabama he +often occasioned concern in the ranks of his opponents. On the floor of +the legislative hall he was a formidable disputant, and while he often +dealt herculean blows, he held himself in courteous readiness to receive +them in return. Familiar with parliamentary principles, he held himself +scrupulously within limit, but stoutly demanded that this be returned by +his opponent. He was greatly admired for his manliness and uniform +courtesy, but was dreaded as an opponent. He could rise to heights of +greatness, but could never sink to levels of littleness. This reputation +Judge Baldwin established and maintained alike in legislative hall, the +court room, and in the social circle. + +His was a fertile brain and his command of a chaste and varied diction was +unusual. Possessing an acute discrimination and a relish for the +ludicrous, he was one of the most jovial of companions. Living at an +exceptional period, and amidst conditions which often occasioned merriment +to himself, he was induced to embody his impressions of the scenes about +him in his famous work--"Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi." It was a +time when credit was practically without limit and when speculation +proceeded on a slender financial basis, and not infrequently on no basis +at all. + +It was a time of wild financial experiment, and ventures of divers kinds +were numerous. To withhold credit for any amount was a mortal offense, and +to present a bill was an act of discourtesy, as such act carried with it +the question of the honesty of the debtor. Loans were freely made by the +state banks to debtors. Private banking institutions sprang up like +mushrooms and with about as much solidity, the stock of such institutions +consisting of real estate on mortgage, upon the faith of which notes were +issued for circulation, payable in gold or silver within twelve months. +The prospective realization of the latter seems not to have been thought +of, nor was it cared for by the masses, so long as money was plentiful. +The reaction from a condition like this, entailing endless litigation and +crash on crash, is easily seen. + +With a business and legal acumen, for Judge Baldwin had both, he watched +with sharp interest the trend of the period, and his work, "Flush Times in +Alabama and Mississippi," is a clever hit, describing the scenes attendant +on the time when money was flush. With an evident relish for fun he +presents the hubbub in the courts, in the places of business and elsewhere +when the notes fell due. The different characters portrayed with masterly +skill, the questions and answers, the indignation and consternation, the +rulings of country justices, the pleas of lawyers and many other elements +are vividly presented, and invariably with such a smack of real humor by +Judge Baldwin that the interest is unsuspended from the outset to the +close. + +While there is much of the creative in the work to lend freshness and +humor to the many scenes, still the book is a practical history of a most +remarkable period which extended from 1833 to 1840. The work is unique in +the originality of its grasp of conditions, the raciness of portraiture +and in the description of the various transactions. Though at bottom +veritable history, the work is throughout garbed in incomparable humor +that may be read at any period with merriment. + +In the same semi-serious vein in which Irving wrote his Knickerbocker +History of New York, but with a much richer tang of humor, Baldwin records +the doings of those rosy days which were anon merged into gloom, and it is +difficult to decide in which phase of the situation one finds more real +fun. He enters into no discussion, renders no opinion of his own, never +moralizes, but is content to hold himself steadfastly to a description of +scene and character in a manner most diverting to the reader. A work like +this was not devoid of a mission, and thousands laughed while they read +the record of their own stupidity and folly. + +A more dignified work from the pen of Judge Baldwin was his "Party +Leaders," which embraces the records, policies and conduct of such men as +Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Randolph, Clay and others. The stamp of +originality is as clear in this work as in the one already commented on, +while the latter reveals the possession of a vast fund of information +relative to the private lives of the distinguished characters named. More +than that, it displays a power of nice discrimination of character. +Sharpness of analysis and felicity of parallelism of character are wrought +with the finishing touch of the verbal artist, in clean, elegant English +and with a dignity free from stilt or stiffness. This, too, proved to be a +popular work and was eagerly sought and read throughout the country. It +bears the label of the self-made scholar, the finish of the author who +works first hand, and is an embodiment of finished diction and of wide +research. + +There was that in the presence, bearing, and intercourse of Judge Baldwin +that impressed one with his superiority, yet he was free, often even to +abandon, affable, and always companionable. He made ready friends of +strangers, and compelled by his bearing the highest respect of his +opponents. + +Living for many years in Sumter County, he yielded to the alluring reports +which spread over the country in 1849 concerning the newly discovered +Eldorado on the Pacific slope, and removed to California. Without trouble +he fell into the rough and tumble conditions prevailing at that time in +San Francisco, entered on a lucrative practice, and later was chosen by +popular vote to a judgeship on the supreme bench of that state. He died in +California in 1866. + + + + +JOHNSON J. HOOPER + + +The three most noted humorists produced by the South were Judge A. B. +Longstreet, Judge J. G. Baldwin and Johnson J. Hooper. "Georgia Scenes," +the chief product of Longstreet's humor, has been read for generations, +and will continue to be. "Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi," by +Baldwin, is not a work of so popular a cast as the preceding one, but has +humor of a rare flavor, and "Simon Suggs," the inimitable work of Johnson +J. Hooper--these represent the humorists named and their best work. Each +of these occupies a distinct orbit of humor, and the merit of each has +been long ago established. + +When Hooper saw that he was to be remembered chiefly by his "Simon Suggs," +he regretted the publication, for it had in it no index to any ambition +which he cherished, but was dashed off at odd moments as a mere pastime. +The author desired to be remembered by something more worthy than a +ridiculous little volume detailing incidents of a grotesque character and +the twaddle and gossip in the phraseology of the backwoods. But if the +product be one of rareness, standing apart in its uniqueness and +originality, it is great and worthy, and the author deserves to be raised +on a popular pedestal to be studied as a genius. + +Had Hooper not written "Simon Suggs" his name would have been obscure even +unto forgetfulness, and his genius unknown to the world. That which he did +was apart and above the ability of others to do. Its source is not the +matter to be thought of, but the production itself. At any rate, it is the +work by means of which the name of Hooper will live as Alabama's chief +humorist, and as one of the prominent merry-makers of the South. + +Johnson Jones Hooper was a grandnephew of William Hooper, one of the +signers of the Declaration of Independence. The subject of present +discussion came from North Carolina to Alabama, and his first achievement +in politics was that of his election to the solicitorship of the ninth +judicial circuit, after a stubborn struggle with such men as Bowie, +Latham, Spyker and Pressley. But neither the law nor politics was suited +to the mind and temperament of Hooper. His being bubbled with humor, and +the ridiculous was always first discerned by him, as it is by all +humorists. In the quiet retreat of his humble sanctum, unannoyed by the +bustle of the throng or the rasp of strident voices, was the native +atmosphere of such a genius as was Hooper. It was in "The Banner" at +Dadeville, then an obscure country village, that Hooper first attracted +attention as a humorist. The droll scenes of the experiences of a census +taker of that time, discharging his official function in the backwoods, +where he encountered numerous ups and downs, were detailed in the rural +paper already named, with inimitable skill. + +In the retreat of the rural regions, where the first lesson learned alike +by members of both sexes is that of independence and self reliance, and +where is straightway resisted anyone's interference with liberty, private +affairs, and "belongings," is the basis of a series of productions in his +little periodical, which themselves would have given Hooper fame. The +intrusion of a polite census taker into the cabin homes of the backwoods, +where statistical information was sought about poultry, pigs, soap, cows +and "garden truck," and where the rustic dames resented such intrusion +with broomsticks and pokers, afforded to this man of genius an opportunity +to hit off some rare humor, and in response to his nature he did so. The +scene, the actors, involving the polite efforts of the official to +explain, and the garrulous replies of the doughty dames, embracing +throughout the dialogue and the dialect, are depicted with the hand of the +master and the skill of the artist. + +With its columns weekly laden with merriment so rare, the once obscure +"Banner" became the most popular journal in the state, and far beyond, for +it was sought throughout the south and the comical stories were copied far +and wide. Encouraged by the popular reception given these effusions, +Hooper addressed himself to a more pretentious venture by the preparation +of his "Simon Suggs." He had the basis of the character to be delineated +in a certain rude rustic of waggish proclivities who hung about the +village of Dadeville, and was well known throughout Tallapoosa and the +adjoining counties. With him as a nucleus, Hooper in the exercise of his +genius, constructed his "Simon Suggs." + +That which gives to the production vitality is its unquestioned fidelity +to a phase of life prevailing in those early days, while it is underlaid +by principles which revealed actual conditions. The portraiture is that of +an illiterate, but cunning backwoodsman, bent on getting the most out of +life, no matter how, keen, foxy, double-faced and double-tongued who plied +his vocation in the perpetration of fraud by cant and hypocrisy, pretended +piety, and church membership. + +Dynamic humor, occasioned by ludicrous dilemma, unconjectured condition, +ridiculous episode and grotesque situation follow each other in rapid +succession, and the effect on the reader is explosions of laughter. +"Simon" appears under varied conditions, and is sometimes closely hemmed, +in his artful maneuvers, but he is always provided with a loophole of +escape, due to his long experience and practice. His various assumptions +of different characters under shifting conditions, but remaining the true +"Simon" still among them all, and using his obscure vernacular always, +gives a kaleidoscopic change to the divers situations, and rescues the +stories from monotony. The skilled manipulation with which the whole is +wrought is the work of a remarkable genius. Nor is there break or +suspension, neither lapse nor padding, but the scenes move and shift with +fresh exhibition throughout, and the convulsive effect is irresistible. +"Simon Suggs" was published by the Appletons of New York and for years +spread with wonderful effect throughout the country, resulting in the sale +of many thousands of copies. From the notoriety produced Mr. Hooper shrank +with girlish sensitiveness. + +In December, 1856, at a meeting of the Southern Commercial Convention, +held at Savannah, Hooper was present as a delegate from Alabama. The daily +press of the city announced his arrival with no little flourish as one of +the distinguished members of the body, and as the well known author of +"Simon Suggs." Doubtless this served to swell the crowd when the +convention met at night in the Atheneum. On the assembly of the delegates, +and after the usual formality of reception speeches and replies, and while +a committee was out arranging for permanent organization, Judge John A. +Jones, himself a humorous writer, the author of "Major Jones' Courtship," +arose and moved that "Simon Suggs" be called on to give an account of +himself for the last two years. The presiding officer, who had evidently +never heard before of "Simon Suggs," arose with great dignity and said, +"If Mr. Suggs is present we should be glad to have him comply with the +expressed wish of the convention by coming to the platform." This was +attended by a craning of necks and looks of curiosity in all directions, +but "Mr. Suggs" appeared not. Hooper was seated in the pit beside Gen. +Albert Pike of Arkansas, wearing a green overcoat, and was overwhelmed +with embarrassment by the unexpected demonstration. He had the good sense +to keep quiet, for his humor could more freely exude from the nib of his +pen than from the point of his tongue. While to most others this would +have been flattery, to Hooper it was an occasion of painfulness. He +deprecated a notoriety won at so cheap a price, and by what he regarded a +means so unworthy as that of a work like "Simon Suggs." He sincerely felt +that depreciation rather than exaltation was his, as the author of such a +work, but in this he underestimated the power of his undisputed genius. + +Hooper had a mastery of the English unexcelled by any southern writer. +Hon. Alexander Stephens pronounced his report of the Charleston convention +the finest illustration of the English language that had ever come under +his eye. Mr. Hooper was made the secretary of the Provisional Congress of +the Confederacy and for years was classed among the foremost of American +political writers. He died at Richmond, Virginia, soon after the beginning +of the Civil War. + + + + +WILLIAM M. MURPHY + + +For solidity and strength of character, forcefulness, and impressiveness +of presence especially before a jury or an audience, the Hon. William M. +Murphy was hard to excel. He was remarkable for antipodal elements of +character. That is to say, the active and passive virtues were so set over +against each other as to give him a unique combination of elements. While +morally and physically courageous, he was gentle as a tender woman, and +while he was a most formidable contestant in debate, he was just as +remarkable in his generosity, and spurned any suggestion or opportunity to +take undue advantage. While dreaded in disputatious combat, he was +respected for his uniform fairness. According this to others, he was not +slow in demanding the same in return. + +Mr. Murphy was a North Carolinian by birth, and was brought by his father +as a lad of fifteen to Alabama two years after the state had been admitted +into the union. His educational advantages were without stint, his father +being amply able to furnish him with the best equipment for life. First a +student at the Alabama university, he afterwards completed his course at +the university of Virginia, which was at that time the most famous of the +literary institutions of the continent. Adopting law as a profession, the +gifts and qualifications of Mr. Murphy brought him into speedy notice. + +He was for a number of years devoted to the practice of his profession +before he entered public life. At the age of thirty-four he represented +Greene county in the state legislature. He brought to the office of a +legislator an experience seasoned by years of study and court practice, +with a native courage and coolness, coupled with a force of boldness of +view that gave him one of the first places in the able body which +constituted the legislature of 1840. Three marked elements of strength +were his--great ability in debate, remarkable oratorical strength, and the +tact of leadership. These at once won the station of the headship of his +party. + +At that particular time, the whig party in the house stood in the need of +a strong champion. The Hon. James E. Saunders, of Lawrence county, was the +leader of the democratic forces, and it never had an abler. Himself a +remarkable man, he was regarded by no little degree of fear by his whig +opponents, but he found in William M. Murphy a knight worthy of his steel. +Mr. Murphy met the giant of the mountains in debate, was amply able to +parry his well-directed blows, and was entirely equal as an advocate. His +elements of oratory were noted, while he would deal his heaviest blows. It +was a battle royal between the champions, the one from the hill districts +and the other from the black belt. The sparring of these mighty men was a +matter of interest, and became memorable for many years. They were equally +matched, yet very dissimilar in a number of respects. Later, Mr. Murphy +was the choice of his party for congress, but was defeated, after a +remarkable campaign, by his kinsman, Hon. Samuel W. Inge. + +In 1849, Mr. Murphy represented his district in the senate of the state, +and three years afterwards removed to Texas, but his stay in the state of +the Lone Star was brief, for he returned to Alabama, and located as a +lawyer at Selma. While never recognized as a profound jurist, he was +without an equal as an advocate. His elements of oratory were singularly +unique. His initial approach to a cause in the court was usually attended +with a rugged and somewhat incoherent method, and it seemed that he had +some difficulty in getting under full way, but when he did finally reach +the point where his words would begin to warm by the friction of his own +thought, his was as overpowering oratory as was ever heard in an Alabama +court. Roused to a pitch where the cause came to possess the man, it was +like a tempest crashing through a forest. Absolutely transformed in +appearance, his manner, his voice, his logic would seem to catch on fire, +and all the elements of the great orator would respond to his bidding with +electrical facility. A series of thunderbolts could not have been more +terrible, and the cogency of logic more overwhelming than when this +remarkable man was at his best. It did not in the least savor of the rant, +but the combination of the terrible and overwhelming with the utmost +self-possession was that which made him inimitable. Invective, sarcasm, +irony, ridicule, persuasion--all lent their quota to the torrent which +swept like a Niagara. Nor could it be withstood. It was as irresistible as +the flow of a mighty river. Men listened to him entranced, sometimes +terror-stricken, at intervals pleased even unto delight, and always with +interest. His cast of oratory was peculiarly his own. He imitated no one, +nor was it possible to imitate him. + +Mr. Murphy was cut down by a stroke of apoplexy at a period of life when +he was just fruiting into great usefulness and power. He was only +forty-nine years of age when the fatal stroke came. He died at his home in +Selma in 1855. Few men who have lived in the state have left a profounder +impress, in some respects, than William M. Murphy. His towering courage +was equalled alone by his uniform generosity of spirit. There was not a +small quality that entered into his character. Open, frank, noble, brave, +bold, gentle, courteous, and tender, he was all of these. His sympathy +once enlisted made him one of the most loyal and devoted of friends and +supporters. On the other hand, his opposition when once stirred was the +invitation of a storm. But he never forgot to be generous even to the +sternest of foes. + +This galaxy of virtues with which his character was adorned awoke +universal confidence and won him popularity not infrequently among his +opponents. Set over against every stern or strong quality was a check or +balance that held his character well in poise. This gave him a ponderous +influence among those who knew him, as he was regarded as fair at any cost +of advantage to himself. + + + + +JAMES E. SAUNDERS + + +For quietness of force and reservation of power, Honorable James E. +Saunders was noteworthy. With a breadth of vision far above the ordinary, +a remarkable insightedness, and absolutely calm in his poise, never +disturbed by the clash or clamor of contest, he meted out his strength in +proportion to the demand of the occasion which elicited it, and invariably +left the impression that a fund of power was held in reserve for whatever +emergency might arise. He enjoyed the advantage of all self-collected men. +Never betrayed into warmth of feeling, he was oftener in position to +disarm the opposition than he would have been under the sway of passion. +There was an undertow of inherent force the seeming consciousness of the +possession of which made Mr. Saunders perennially serene. + +His qualities soon marked him for distinguished leadership in the +legislature to the attainment of which leadership he came, not by +self-seeking, but by dint of his recognized power. He had served as a +legislator before 1840, but at that time, he rose to the first place in +the ranks of his party. + +There was necessarily inseparable from his bearing the consciousness of +that which would have affected any man, with the sway of a strong +political organization of which he was the recognized leader. +Self-assertion becomes easy when there is little to be apprehended from +opposition. The dominant democracy in the lower house of the Alabama +legislature might have occasioned tranquility in the leader, even though +it had not been natural. Mr. Saunders not only held the whigs at bay, but +in awe. Nor was this the result of a hectoring spirit from which none was +freer, but because of his quiet ability to dispose of obstruction which +lay in his way. + +This condition continued till there appeared on the scene William M. +Murphy of Greene. A trained lawyer accustomed to the rough and tumble of +the court room, naturally endowed with many strong points needed in an +emergency like that which confronted his party in the legislature, as +fully conscious of power as the leader of the opposition, and more +disposed to yearn for a gladiatorial combat than to spurn it, Mr. Murphy +was full panoplied as a leader of the whig party. + +Unknown at first as to his qualifications, even to those of his own party +affiliation, he was hailed with delight after that the first issue was +joined. The two leaders were entirely dissimilar save in one +particular--in courtesy and fairness. In these they were at par. But when +met in combat Mr. Saunders was deliberate, plain, matter of fact, clear, +cool, divesting a proposition of every seeming objection, and investing it +with an atmosphere of transparency that seemed to place it quite beyond +the pale of doubt. + +Altogether different it was when Mr. Murphy arose to combat it. With a +rugged sort of oratory he would seem to struggle with himself for the gain +of a substantial footing, which when once obtained, an avalanche was +turned loose, and under the thunder of its descent, gathered momentum as +it proceeded, the old hall seemed fairly to quake. Meanwhile his opponent +sat as stolid as a Stoic. By interruptions blows were given in the +calmness of his power, but they were parried with the roar of a stentor. +Thus surged the battle along partisan lines, the democrats possessing +themselves in complacent consciousness of strength, while the whigs would +catch inspiration under the demonstration of a leadership so splendid. + +In all this never was Mr. Saunders in the least daunted nor was his masked +power the least exposed. His coolness was equalled only by the vigor of +his opponent. In nothing passive but always forceful and brave, he lent +mightiness of strength by a serenity that challenged the admiration of the +sturdiest opponent. In the gage and stress of conflict his thought flowed +without the least break in its coherency and without the slightest +disconcertedness. His equable temper never forsook him. To each contest he +would bring the same tranquil poise and it was maintained throughout. +Without hesitation he would face unblinking the severe ordeals to which he +was subjected in the stormy legislative days when he moved a giant among +the giants of Alabama. To be a legislator in those days meant much, for +the people filled the seats of legislation with their choicest spirits. + +Mr. Saunders was not of a bantering mien, but he relied on the strength of +his logic into which he quietly injected a personal conviction so +overpowering that it would seem that no position could be more +impregnable, and thus it would look till it came to fall under the +iconoclastic manipulation of his formidable opponent. To be able to have +those days of partisan tempest reproduced in type would be to thrill +thousands at this late time. + +As chairman of the judiciary committee in the house, the service rendered +by Mr. Saunders was fundamental to the interests of the state. Nor was any +one more profoundly interested in the educational affairs of the state as +was shown by his share in the establishment of the state university on a +solider basis, of the board of trustees of which institution he was a +prominent member. Mr. Saunders would have graced a higher station in the +affairs of statecraft than that which he held, and in a wider orbit would +have afforded an easier play of his strength. Dropping out of politics for +a short while, he became a commission merchant in Mobile, but in 1845 he +was appointed to the post of the port of Mobile, by President Polk, and +after an expiration of his term of office he was on the electoral ticket +in the campaign which resulted in the election of Pierce and King. Wealthy +and hospitable, his was a typical southern home of the long ago. + +A devout Christian philosopher and a sedate statesman to which were added +the qualities of a superior man of business, the usefulness of Honorable +James E. Saunders was incalculable. + + + + +W. P. CHILTON + + +For numerous reasons the name of Judge William P. Chilton is worthy of a +conspicuous place in the annals of the great men who have made Alabama. He +was a learned and incorruptible public servant, a patriot of the highest +mold, a patient and manly gentleman in all his relations, and a typical +Christian. He moved among his peers with universal esteem, and amidst the +temptations of public life preserved a reputation untarnished even by a +breath of suspicion. + +Of a pleasing temperament, he was jocular as a companion, always agreeable +in intercourse, mingling in true democratic style among all classes, and +yet he never depressed an exalted standard of manhood even an iota. In his +rigid fidelity to duty he represented the best type of the publicist, and +alike in private and in public, exemplified a genuine manhood. Even under +the laxest conditions and in the abandon of free intercourse with others, +he never soiled his lips with unseemly speech or with questionable joke. +There was nothing that escaped him which a lady might not hear--nothing +that he could not utter in a public speech. + +He was a man of vast and commanding influence which proceeded from the +loftiest summit--that of a pure and exalted life. He was active in the +stirring scenes which affected the period in which he lived; never shied a +duty imposed, and always met his obligations in such way as to win the +highest meed of public praise. Men came to know him so thoroughly that no +pressure of a questionable matter was ever made, because his integrity was +proverbial. From his well known standard of life, men knew where to place +him on all questions which involved the moral sides of right and wrong. +Such was the life, such the career of William Parish Chilton. + +The time may have produced men his equals in the qualities already named, +but it produced none superior to Judge Chilton. His was not an +ostentatious display of virtue in order to elicit attention, for none were +meeker, more placid and tranquil, but his was a silent influence which +impressed wherever it touched. His condemnation of wrong was not of the +demonstrative kind, but his disapproval was a silent expression which was +always powerful. As one of the ancient philosophers said of one of his +brother philosophers, "He always says the same thing about the same +thing," so it was in the uniform bearing and conduct of Judge Chilton. + +In such an orbit he moved, in such an orbit he died, leaving in the +memories of those who knew him and in the records of the state, a life of +distinguished purity. He was in no sense a recluse, nor in the least +offish; on the other hand, he was most cordial, and his piquant humor was +relished as a season to pleasant conversation; but he would never sanction +by even a smile an unseemly joke or expression. + +His was an active life. Indeed his increasing labor was a subject of +frequent comment. This necessarily brought him into connection with all +classes of men, but he moved amidst all scenes without the smell of taint +on his character. His habits of life were as regular as the movement of +the hand on the dial face. By this means he was gifted with a physical +manhood capable of severe strains of labor. + +Beginning life as a young attorney in Talladega County, in co-partnership +with George R. Brown, Mr. Chilton was subsequently associated in the +practice of the law with his brother-in-law, the late senator, John H. +Morgan, the strong firm including two other distinguished gentlemen, +George W. Stone and Frank W. Bowdon. Chosen once to represent Talladega +County in the legislature, Mr. Chilton was afterward elected to a seat on +the supreme bench of the state, succeeding Judge Ormond. Later still, in +1852, Judge Chilton became the chief justice of the supreme court of +Alabama, which position he held with great distinction for four years. +Retiring from this judicial position, he became associated, in 1860, with +William L. Yancey in the practice of the law in Montgomery. + +When the Confederacy was created Judge Chilton was elected a member of the +provisional congress of the young government and throughout its brief and +fateful history retained his seat in that body. Speaking of his interest +and activity, Honorable J. L. M. Curry, who was his congressional +colleague, said: "It was a common remark that he was the most laborious +member of the body." He loved labor equally from an instinctive energy and +from a sense of duty. On the floor of the Confederate Congress the opinion +of no member was esteemed of greater worth than that of Judge Chilton. + +In the rough and tumble of debate, which he enjoyed, whether on the +hustings or on the floor of congress, he displayed rare humor, reveling in +original epigram and in rollicking anecdote at the expense of his +opponent. Fluent and eloquent, he was at home before a promiscuous +gathering. His innocent, sparkling wit afforded him vast power in +discussion. Among the ludicrous sallies used in opposition to another in a +speech, and one long quoted in referring to the remarkable conservation of +his opponent, he accused him of "reaching an extreme medium." Before a +popular assemblage he was irresistible in his joviality and power to +produce merriment. Yet this was always done in such way as never to +occasion offense. Nor did he ever yield to buffoonery. His contagious +twinkle of eye, his sunlit face and his ready husbandry of dictum suited +to the occasion, were so remarkable that he would sweep an audience as a +breeze a field of grain. Yet his thrusts were so tempered by good nature +that they left no sting nor pang of regret to the speaker. + +Buttressed on a character such as he possessed, this variety of gifts gave +to Judge Chilton immense advantage. It was known to be impossible for him +knowingly to misrepresent or to take the slightest advantage and +consequently the spell of his influence was overwhelming. + +Among his numerous traits may be named that of his intense interest in +young men. His counsel was frequently sought by a struggling youth because +of his transparent frankness, readiness and responsiveness. He manifested +a keen interest in his young brother-in-law, John T. Morgan, who was +perhaps more indebted to Judge Chilton than to any other for the +substantial basis with which he began his brilliant and eventful career. +It was not uncommon for him to seek an interview with a young man in whom +he discovered gifts, and aid him to gain a solid footing. + +When sixty-one years old, Judge Chilton was still active and alert, his +natural force still unabated, and his spirit undimmed by years of +activity, and, when it seemed that many years of usefulness were still +his, he suffered from a serious fall, from which he never recovered. His +death in Montgomery in January, 1871, was an occasion of state-wide +sorrow. The legislature was in session at the time, and Governor Lindsay +announced the sad fact of his death in the following communication to the +general assembly: + + "State of Alabama, + "Executive Department, + "Montgomery, Jan. 21, 1871. + + "Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: + + "It is with feelings of sorrow and regret that I inform you of the + death of the Honorable W. P. Chilton of the city of Montgomery. This + event occurred last night about the hour of 11. Judge Chilton was one + of our best beloved citizens, eminent as a jurist, and the people of + Alabama had often honored him with their public esteem and confidence. + As a member of the legislature, as a member of congress, and as chief + justice of our supreme court, he discharged his duties with devotion + and zeal. In the halls of legislation he was a statesman, and he + adorned the bench by his integrity and learning. The loss of such a + man is a public calamity, and it is fit that the departments of the + government of a state he loved so well should pay a tribute to his + memory." + +The occasion of his funeral was a sad ovation of public esteem. The +legislature, the bar, the fraternity of Masons, of which he was an honored +member, together with multitudes of friends, sought on the occasion of his +funeral to accord to Judge Chilton the merits of his just deserts. + + + + +JOHN FORSYTH + + +For generations the name of Forsyth has been associated with distinction +in the records of southern history. The original member of the family, +Robert Forsyth, came from England to America before the revolution, and +was a member of the military family of Washington. His son, John Forsyth, +was at various times attorney general and governor of Georgia, a member of +congress for a period of fifteen years from that state, minister to Spain, +and was instrumental in procuring the cession of Florida. For six and a +half years he served as secretary of state, during the administrations of +Jackson and Van Buren. Robert Forsyth was the grandfather of John Forsyth, +late of Mobile, while John Forsyth, Sr., was his father. + +Enjoying unusual advantages, socially and scholastically, the subject of +the present sketch turned them to great practical benefit. Among the +advantages which he enjoyed was that of a residence of two years at the +Spanish court during the administration of his distinguished father as +minister to Spain. He was a graduate from Princeton University, from which +he bore away the first honors of his class and delivered the valedictory +address. + +Entering on the practice of law at Columbus, Ga., he continued there but +one year, when he located in Mobile, in the year 1835. He soon received +the appointment of United States attorney for the southern district of +Alabama, but the death of his father occurring in Georgia, necessitated +his return to that state, where he remained for twelve years, having taken +charge of his father's estate and devoting his time to planting, the +practice of law and the editorial management of the Columbus Times. It was +during that period that he enlisted to serve in the Mexican war as the +adjutant of the First Georgia Regiment. + +He returned to Mobile in 1853, entered the lumber business, was burnt out, +and entered again the field of journalism by purchasing the Mobile +Register. In 1856 he was appointed by President Pierce minister to Mexico, +in which capacity he served for two years. + +Colonel Forsyth's mission to Mexico was attended by much labor and +perplexity, as the duty was imposed on him of adjusting varied and +numerous claims against the Mexican government, which claims originated in +the nature of the war waged by the Mexicans. There were claims for +imprisonments, murders, confiscation, and others, and while Colonel +Forsyth labored without abatement, he had but timorous support from the +Buchanan administration. + +As a matter of fact, President Buchanan was gravely absorbed in the rush +of events which tended toward the approaching Civil War, which broke like +a storm over the country in 1861, and his foreign policy was one of +conciliation. The reason of this presidential policy concerning Mexico is +now obvious. In view of the pending conflict in the American states, the +hostility of Mexico, for any reason, would be serious. + +As an earnest advocate of the rights of the citizens of the American +states at the Mexican capital, Colonel Forsyth was gravely embarrassed by +the feeble support lent by his government, and this led to the severance +of his relations with the diplomatic service. Having resigned, he returned +to Mobile and resumed his editorial work. + +With qualifications so varied, he was frequently called into active +service by the people. While his pen was actively employed, he was +summoned to such important posts as that of mayor of Mobile, legislator, +alderman in his adopted city, and other stations of public interest. + +In March, 1861, Colonel Forsyth was sent, together with Messrs. Crawford +of Georgia, and Roman of Louisiana, on a peace commission to Washington. +There was but slight hope of accomplishing anything, and it is doubtful if +there was any more serious intention involved in the mission than that of +gaining time for a more efficient equipment of the South for the pending +struggle. It was a time for tactics, and a play for advantage. The mission +was a bootless one, and in due time the war burst on the country. + +During the Civil War, Colonel Forsyth served for a time on the staff of +General Braxton Bragg, meanwhile retaining his connection with his paper, +for, after all, the pen was the most potent instrument in the hand of +Colonel Forsyth. After the close of the war he proved to be one of the +most masterly spirits in steering the state through the storm of +reconstruction. The pen of no one in the South was more powerful during +that chaotic period. Statesman, jurist and journalist, he was equipped +for guidance in an emergency like this, and with the zeal of a patriot he +responded to every occasion that arose. His excessive labor made sad +inroads on his constitution, his health was broken, but despite this he +was persistent in labor. He was of that type of public servants who sought +not applause for its own sake, but was impelled by an unquestioned +patriotism which yielded to demands of whatever kind, high or low, in +order that he might serve the public. + +Much as Colonel Forsyth did in the exercise of his superior versatility, +all else was incidental to the wield of his prolific pen. He became the +South's most brilliant journalist. The compass of his vision was that of a +statesman, and during the troublous times which followed the Civil War, +the counsel of one like him was needed, and that counsel found most +profitable expression through the nib of his powerful pen. + +Day after day, for a long period of years, the columns of the Mobile +Register glittered with thought that moved on the highest level and that +found expression in polished and incisive diction. It was brightened by +the loftiest tone of rhetoric, sustained throughout by the best strain of +scholarship, never lapsing, either in tone or expression, into the +commonplace. There was a fastidious touch in his style, a classical mold +to his thought, which, while they pleased the most scholarly of readers, +equally charmed the common people. + +Under the sway of his forceful and trenchant pen the Mobile Register +became one of the most dominant factors in southern thought. That journal +found readers in all the states, and more than any other in the South at +that time, it won the attention of the metropolitan press. In no editorial +sanctum has he been surpassed in rareness of diction, nor in power of +expression. + + + + +GEORGE GOLDTHWAITE + + +There was a possibility at one time of Judge George Goldthwaite becoming a +military man. After spending his younger years in Boston, where he had as +school fellows such men as Charles Sumner and R. C. Winthrop, Goldthwaite +became a cadet at the military academy at West Point. Among his classmates +at the academy was General (Bishop) Polk, while in more advanced classes +were R. E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston and Jefferson Davis. Goldthwaite was +within one year of the completion of his course when he became involved in +a hazing fracas and quietly left the institution, as he knew what the +consequences would be. At that time, 1826, Alabama was in the infancy of +statehood, and he a youth of seventeen. His brother was at that time a +rising young lawyer at Montgomery and the younger brother entered on the +study of law under his elder brother. + +The thoroughness of mental drill to which he had been subjected in the +Boston schools, as well as at the military academy, made his headway in +law comparatively easy, and at the end of the year, when he was but +eighteen, he was admitted to practice and opened an independent office at +Monticello, Pike County. The youthful lawyer did not lack for clients and +he remained in this rural village for a period of several years, after +which he returned to Montgomery, where his ability became widely +recognized. + +In 1843 he offered for the judgeship of the circuit court against the +incumbent of the bench, Judge Abraham Martin, and was elected. In 1850 he +was opposed by Jefferson Jackson, a gentleman of prominence at the bar, +and was again elected. In 1852 Judge Goldthwaite was chosen a justice on +the supreme bench, and four years later, when Judge Chilton resigned, +Judge Goldthwaite became chief justice, but after serving in this capacity +just thirteen days he suddenly resigned and resumed the practice of the +law. + +For three years after the beginning of the Civil War Judge Goldthwaite +served as adjutant general of the state under the appointment of Governor +Moore. Just after the close of the war he was elected again to the +position of circuit judge, but in 1866, under the reconstruction acts of +congress, he was removed. + +In 1870 he was elected to the United States senate from Alabama. This +brief and cursory survey of an eventful life affords but a bare hint of +the marvelous activity and usefulness with which the career of Judge +Goldthwaite was crowned. + +Like most men of deeply studious habits, there was wanting in the bearing +of Judge Goldthwaite a spirit of cordiality. His peculiar sphere was the +court room or the law office. He had a fondness for the discussion of the +profound principles of law and reveled in its study. An indefatigable +student of the law, he was one of the ablest attorneys and jurists the +state ever had. The statement of a proposition by him was as clear as a +Syrian atmosphere and in its elucidation before a jury his diction was +terse, crisp and simple, so that the veriest rustic could understand it. +Quiet in manner and with unadorned English he would unravel a knotty +proposition so that every thread was straightened, and everyone who knew +the meaning of the simplest diction could readily grasp his meaning. He +was a master of simple diction. + +On the bench, Judge Goldthwaite was profound, but always clear and simple. +Every word seemed to fall into its appropriate place, and not a flaw was +left in the statement of a fact or principle. In the social circle his +conversation partook of the same lucid diction, revealing a fund of +information and a versatility of learning quite exceptional. + +Of a stocky build, he was not prepossessing in personal appearance, but +when he began to speak his diction glowed with the heat of a quiet +earnestness, and all else was forgotten but the charm of his incomparable +speech. + +Judge Goldthwaite achieved but slight distinction as a national senator, +because it was a time when the voice of a senator from the South booted +but little. The wounds of the Civil War were still fresh and smarting, and +the calmness of his temperament and the aversion to hostile excitement +forbade his flaring in empty speech, as would have been true of many +another. As a matter of fact, his sphere was not the forum, and he had no +taste for the dull routine of congressional proceeding. + +Judge Goldthwaite's mind was distinctively judicial. He served in the +senate as a matter of patriotic duty, and not as a matter of choice. There +was a peculiar condition which required his continued presence there, and +to this demand he responded. It was a time that called for calmness and +conservatism, and no one was better prepared to illustrate these virtues +than Judge Goldthwaite. + +His deportment in the National Senate challenged the admiration of all. A +former classmate of Charles Sumner, as has already been said, he was the +poles asunder from the New England statesman in the views entertained by +Mr. Sumner, and often hotly expressed by him on the floor of the senate. + +Judge Goldthwaite preserved a long and honorable career in Alabama, and +left behind him a record of fame. He was far above the petty affairs of +life, and lived and thought on an elevated plane high above most men. He +was a student, a statesman, a jurist and a philosopher--all. He was an +ornament to the state and easily one of its foremost citizens in all that +pertained to its weal. He was without foil either in conduct or in +character. His example was stimulating, and his influence elevating and +inspiring. Any state would have been honored by the possession of a +citizen so eminent. + + + + +ALEXANDER TRAVIS + + +The name of Travis is immortally linked with the tragedy of the Alamo, +where the gallant Colonel William Travis was massacred with his devoted +band in that historic fortress at San Antonio. The Rev. Alexander Travis +was an uncle of the hero of the Alamo. Colonel William Travis was a +resident of Alabama before he removed to Texas, and practiced law in +Clarke County. Thence he removed to Texas, where he became one of the most +prominent sharers in the struggle for independence. + +One of the dominant traits of the Travis stock was that of cool courage. +This was illustrated as much in the life of the heroic missionary in the +woods of southern Alabama as it was shown by his nephew in the ill-fated +fortress of the Alamo. Alexander Travis removed to Conecuh County in 1817, +and was one of the pioneer settlers of that region. He was a man of peace, +but this did not obscure the heroic impulses of his nature, for in +grappling with the stern conditions of pioneer life, in seeking to bring +them into due subordination to organized social conditions, unusual pluck +was needed, not alone, but wisdom and prudence, as well. + +While sharing fully in the hardships of the early colonizers of south +Alabama, Mr. Travis, as a minister of the gospel, led in all movements in +the emergence of that region from chaotic conditions to the higher plane +of advanced society. Himself denied the advantages of an education, he was +the foremost in all movements to provide for general instruction. He was +the founder of the town of Evergreen, now a bustling little center on the +Louisville and Nashville Railway, between Montgomery and Mobile. He +founded the academy at that point, which school has given place in later +years to one of the state agricultural schools. + +There was a pathetic touch in the life of a man who would labor on his +little farm, cleared by his own hands, in the wilds of south Alabama, and +who, at night, when the labor of the day was over, would sprawl himself in +his little yard before his blazing pine-knot fire, and study his plain +English Bible--the only book in his library. Leaving his hut in the woods, +each week, in time to reach distant settlements to preach on Sunday, he +would throw his little wallet of cotton cloth across his shoulders, and +set out on foot to trudge the distance, sometimes of forty miles, for the +privilege of preaching to some distant community. He came to know every +foot of the wide Indian trails that wound through the forests over a vast +area, and knew every log on which he could cross the large streams in +those bridgeless days of the long ago. Nothing foiled him in the +excursions of good, for when the rains would swell the streams, he would +strip himself, cram his apparel within his wallet, and, being an expert +swimmer, he would hold his bag above his head with one hand, while with +the other he would swim to the opposite side, redress, and onward plod his +way. + +Among the elements of abounding romance in our history, nothing exceeds in +interest the intrepidity of this pioneer hero in contributing to the +moral and spiritual side of the early days of our history. His +punctuality in meeting his appointments, and his devotion to the gospel +and to the people, won for him a confidence supreme. In those days when +courts were not, and yet where conflicting litigants were, cases for final +adjudication would be held in abeyance "till the preacher comes." Causes +were submitted, but he would never consent to a consideration of them till +the contending parties would agree to abide amicably his decision. Such +was the clearness and saneness of his judgment, the fairness of his +spirit, and his profound sense of right, that every litigant would +promptly accept this condition. He was jury, advocate, and judge, all in +one, and for many years, in that interior pioneer region, he acted in this +threefold capacity, while he rendered unrequited service as a missionary. +His was a strange, strong, romantic life, spent for the good of others to +the neglect of his own personal comfort. That class has dwindled to a list +so small and rare that today, when similar devotion is shown, the world +knows no higher designation for such a man than that of "crank," yet it is +the crank that turns things. + +In later years and under better conditions, Mr. Travis came to ride the +wide regions through on horseback, with his leathern saddle-bags beneath +him. Under the tall pines which then grew in those southern parts, he +would frequently stretch himself at night, on the green grass, tired and +sleepy, with his head pillowed on his saddle-bags, and beneath the stars, +he would be wooed to sleep by the moaning pines above him. His faithful +horse was tethered close by to browse the wire grass and the native +peavines, while the missionary would sleep and await the coming of the +dawn. Without a cent of compensation, Alexander Travis labored through +many eventful years, creating the means with his own hands with which to +sustain his work, and uncheered by aught else than the consciousness of +duty to humanity and to God. + +With the expansion of population, and with the growth of prosperity, Mr. +Travis came in the second half of his life to possess a measurable degree +of wealth, but from a steady purpose of doing good, he never wavered. He +was a man of commanding appearance, of natural dignity of port, and +possessed of the natural assertion which these give; yet he was modest, +and commanded esteem by his unquestioned qualities of leadership. There +was no element of flabbiness in his character, no cant and drivel in his +utterances, but in all that pertained to him he was a nobleman by nature. +His judgment was incisive and discriminative, his poise collected, and +while without the least exhibition of violence, he was courageous in his +entertainment of views, and pronounced in their expression. In nothing did +his courage so manifest itself as in his stoutness of spirit in the face +of difficulty. Nothing that he regarded as possible baffled him, and while +never stern, he was immovable from that which he conceived to be right, +whether reinforced by others or not. He was a benediction to the state +while living, and, being dead, he yet speaks. + + + + +JOHN A. WINSTON + + +John A. Winston enjoyed the distinction of being the first native born +governor of the state. He was a native of Madison County, where he was +born in 1812, and received his collegiate training at LaGrange College and +the University of Nashville. His grandfather was an officer in the army of +the Revolution from Virginia. The family name of Anthony was preserved in +that given the governor. + +Governor John Anthony Winston first devoted his attention to planting. He +removed from the mountain region to west Alabama in 1834, and bought a +fine plantation in Sumter County, one of the counties of the famous black +belt. Six years after his settlement in Sumter County he was chosen its +representative to the legislature. To this office he was re-elected and +then chosen for the state senate, which position he continued to hold for +ten consecutive years, becoming the presiding officer of that body in +1847. + +The ability of Governor Winston became more generally recognized in 1848, +when he went to Baltimore as a delegate to the national convention which +nominated General Cass for the presidency. Mr. Winston made a speech +before that body in the vindication of the national Democracy, which +attracted widespread attention and brought him into prominence before the +entire country. + +During his senatorial career he entered into the cotton commission +business in Mobile, which commercial relation he continued till the close +of his life. While not engaged in official duty his attention was divided +between his planting interest and his business in Mobile, where he spent +much of his time. The sterling worth of Mr. Winston, his clearness of +judgment, range of comprehension, force of character and exact +practicalness, together with his undoubted leadership of men and +statesmanship, served to win for him an augmented public confidence, and +in 1853 he became the candidate for governor of the state, and was elected +without opposition. Two years later, at the expiration of his first +gubernatorial term, he was opposed by Honorable George D. Shortridge. The +campaign was one of unusual energy and even of bitterness. The state was +agitated throughout, both candidates appearing before large and excited +audiences in every part. Governor Winston was the democratic candidate, +while Mr. Shortridge espoused the cause of the Know-Nothing or American +party. Mr. Winston defeated his opponent by a majority of about twelve +thousand. + +Conditions had now conspired to make the farmer-governor the great leader +of the Democratic hosts in the state. No man who has lived in Alabama ever +had a completer grasp on a party organization than that had by Governor +Winston at this time. Happily for the state, it was a power wisely used +with disinterested patriotism. The direction of affairs was as devoid of +the alloy of personal aggrandizement as was possible, and this was duly +recognized by the public. Governor Winston went as a delegate-at-large to +the Charleston convention in 1860, and after the nomination of Mr. Douglas +he led the electoral ticket in the state. On the outbreak of the war he +became the colonel of the Eighth Alabama Regiment, and as such served for +twelve months, when he was forced to retire from the service by an attack +of rheumatism which physically disabled him. His career as a soldier in +the army of Virginia was in harmony with his general reputation as a +civilian. His regiment was fiercely engaged at Seven Pines, because, being +at the front, it was brought into sharp contact with the enemy. The fight +was hand to hand, with odds in numbers against the gallant Eighth Alabama. +Colonel Winston was at the head of his regiment, and, placing his bridle +reins in his teeth, he led his force with a large pistol in each hand. +When commanded to surrender his reply was that he had not joined the army +to surrender and that was not his business. On his return home he devoted +his attention to planting, and with unabated patriotism aided in every way +possible the fortunes of the Confederacy. + +In 1865 Governor Winston was sent as a delegate from Sumter County to the +constitutional convention of Alabama, and was afterward chosen for a seat +in the National Senate, but his seat was denied him, and he was afterward +disfranchised by the radical forces then in control of the government. +This closed his career of public service. He never recovered from the +rheumatism contracted while in the service in Virginia, and died in Mobile +on December 21, 1871, at the age of fifty-nine. + +The combination of qualities entering into the character of Governor +Winston was more than ordinary, all of which characteristics were based on +a clear, solid foundation of remarkably good sense in all that he did and +said, privately and officially. He was altogether devoid of pretense or of +assumption. He moved on a straight line of impartiality and of unbiased +thought. He did his own thinking and reached his own conclusions. When a +conclusion was reached it was evident that he had gone over all the +ground, had weighed and measured every possible consideration, after which +was done it was futile to seek to dislodge him. His scrupulous firmness +sometimes bore the aspect of sternness, and in the absence of a diplomacy +to soften it a decision would sometimes offend the sensitive; but in view +of duty, none of these things moved him. He was not without the element of +gentleness and of profound sympathy, but above these rose his conscience, +the dictates of which he would not disregard. + +While governor he was not in accord with much of the legislation enacted, +especially with respect to appropriations of the public funds, and there +was now and then friction between the executive and legislative branches +of government, but he did not hesitate to invoke the power of the veto +when he deemed it necessary. Because of this he won the sobriquet of "the +veto governor," but to him principle overtopped popularity, and the +protection of the common interest was a matter of graver concern than the +good will of the general assembly. While not possessed of oratorical power +on the stump or on the legislative floor, having a strident, rasping voice +and the mannerism of a man of business rather than that of a trained +speaker, he nevertheless won the populace by his directness and +sincerity. He retired from public life without the slightest tarnish on +his conduct or reflection on his career. An indication of his solid +popularity is found in the fact that the name of the county of Hancock was +changed in honor of Governor Winston to that of his own. + + + + +DANIEL P. BESTOR + + +In its phases Dr. Bestor's character was many-sided. He was at once a +planter, statesman, philosopher, educator and minister of the gospel. +Richly favored by nature, his gifts had the polish of the classical +lapidary and the expansion which comes of research, thought and +experience. He towered immensely above the ordinary man and the babble of +the multitude. Like Goldsmith's ideal preacher, Dr. Bestor rose-- + + "As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, + Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, + Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, + Eternal sunshine settles on its head." + +There was nothing of the maudlin or mediocre type in his character. Every +movement and utterance, his face and bearing, all bespoke the man that he +was. Dr. Bestor was a native of Connecticut, where he was born in 1797. +Removing to Alabama by way of Kentucky when he was twenty-four, he began +at once a career of usefulness which extended practically through a half +century, a period which embraced all the great revolutions through which +the state has passed. In none of these was he an idle spectator nor +uninterested agent. + +His educational advantages were the best the period could afford, and +these afforded him the buttress of an ever widening sphere of knowledge. +Possessing an intellect at once readily receptive and retentive, he was a +diligent student in a number of fields of research. From surface facts he +probed toward the bottom of principles and reached conclusions at first +hand. If occasion arose for a modification of opinion on any matter, he +yielded to new evidence, though it bore him to a position diametrically +opposite to that originally held. It is the small man who never changes a +viewpoint. The two classes represent respectively obstinacy and +consistency. Obstinacy is the inflexibility of pride; consistency, the +inflexibility of principle. + +On reaching Alabama Dr. Bestor was impressed more by the lack of +educational facilities than by anything else. In the valley of the +Tennessee there were multitudes of young folk growing rapidly toward +manhood and womanhood with scarcely any facilities of instruction. He at +once became the pioneer champion of general and public education in the +state, and was the first to agitate the question in a comprehensive way. +He sought to supply the deficiency in the northern part of the state by +founding the once famous school in those parts known as the LaFayette +Female Academy. The school was patronized by the wealthy planters of that +region, and became the initial means of contributing to the womanly +culture of which the section was remarkable. Dr. Bestor was the principal +of the school and devoted the culture of his young manhood to its +promotion. Founded about the time of the last visit of General LaFayette +to America, Dr. Bestor derived its name from that of the famous Frenchman, +while to the cultured village which sprang up on the plateau on which the +school was located the name of LaGrange was given, in honor of +LaFayette's chateau in France. + +This was the first school incorporated in Alabama. To the school the +legislature of Alabama in 1824 deeded a half section of land. Though +called an academy, the grade of the school was high and did advanced work. +At that time Dr. Bestor was everywhere alluded to as the great educator, +and his fame was spread throughout the state. Later, in 1830, the +Methodist Conference of North Alabama, Middle Tennessee, and North +Mississippi founded a school for young men in the village of LaGrange, +which also became a famous institution. Three years later Dr. Bestor +removed to Greensboro, taking with him as far as practicable all that +pertained to LaFayette Academy, and in that chief town of the canebrake +established another school and remained at its head for a number of years. +Still later he removed to Sumter County, where for ten years he divided +his time between preaching and planting. + +It was while serving as a legislator from Greene County in 1837 that Dr. +Bestor revealed the first vision of a comprehensive public school system +for the state. His study and investigation of the subject led him to see +that with prevailing conditions unchanged, Alabama could never emerge from +its gloom of illiteracy. The scant facilities afforded by local or +denominational interests were altogether inadequate to existing demands. +Schools dotted the state over at favored points, but the ignorance in +large areas of the state was little short of the dismal. + +Stirred by conditions like these, Dr. Bestor sought to go to the +legislature that he might acquaint the representatives of the people with +the results of his disinterested investigation. His plan was that which +actually came to prevail many years later, but after he had passed away. + +In the legislature he threw his cultured being into the single cause of +education, procuring for it a special committee, of which he was made the +chairman. He prepared with great pains and labor an elaborate report and a +bill to be offered, and in due time it was submitted. The measure met with +stout opposition, especially at the hands of B. G. Shields, of Marengo, +the chairman of the general committee on education, who resented the +policy of a special committee as a reflection on himself and his +committee. In the opposition Mr. Shields was supported by Judge Smith, of +Madison. But general committees had never done anything, and for that +reason Dr. Bestor asked for a special committee. + +The occasion was made a memorable one on the floor of the house by the +contest which it provoked. Dr. Bestor husbanded all his resources and +skill in the conduct of the contest and proved himself a giant in debate, +and, though met by much passion, he preserved his coolness and dignity +throughout the debate. He failed in his effort at that time, though his +labor was not in vain, for the array of facts presented respecting the +illiteracy of the state awoke wide interest which gave an impulse to the +educational spirit of the state which has not ceased to this time. + +Coupled with all his immense work was that of an active pulpit ministry. +He was a great leader in the Baptist denomination and rendered signal +service in the thorough organization of the Baptist forces. With the +exception of a few years spent in Mississippi, Dr. Bestor's career was +confined to Alabama. He died at Mobile in 1869. + + + + +F. W. BOWDON + + +There is much more in unwritten history that affects the destiny of the +race than there is in that which is recorded. Gray's "gem" in his Elegy, +and his "flower" "born to blush unseen," illustrate the fundamentals of +the history of the race, wherein the bulk of worth is frequently +unmentioned, and, if so, often scarcely. While Franklin Welsh Bowdon was +by no means unknown, and while his worth was not altogether unrecognized, +who that knows him in retrospect today as one of the most matchless +orators of southern history? Who knows of his clearness of demonstration +in presenting the most tangled and abstruse of problems? Who today knows +not alone of the power already alluded to, but who that knows that his +ability before a jury has never been surpassed in the state, or that he +was peerless as a popular speaker before a promiscuous audience? Who that +has learned of his subtle force of illumination of difficult problems or +of knotty questions, in speech that glittered in its own chaste delicacy +and beauty of phraseology after having passed through the crucible of his +brain? + +The history of others is perhaps more iridescent, because the drift of the +currents into which they auspiciously fell bore them into fuller and more +applausive view before the public eye, in which event it is the condition, +and not the man who happens to be its representative, that deserves +consideration. The force inherent in Frank Bowdon, and his superior +ability to wield the elements already named, really make him a prodigy +among the men who have made famous the history of the state. He was not +ambitious to be showy, nor sought he special occasion to flash his +powerful gifts, but when occasion did logically and legitimately come, he +was prodigious. + +Many men fall just short of accorded greatness because of the needed +stride across the boundary over which others bound and catch the loud +plaudit of the crowd and are borne to the crest of eminence. Many another +receives undue applause because he boldly thrusts himself on public +attention and forces recognition, while others, far superior perhaps, +stand in manly disdain of bald tawdriness and the impudence of ignorance +of which certain competitors are the innocent victims. Gifted men are +usually, though not always, men of delicate taste, which is itself an +element of real greatness. It is the ripest and heaviest ear of corn that +hangs lowest. Mr. Bowdon, with the consciousness of his own power, which +every strong man has, eschewed the cheap clatter of the flatterer, and +always appeared in public to advantage because he was summoned thither. +This, at least in part, affords an explanation of the absence of the fame +which was justly his because of the possession of the vast powers already +named. + +Frank W. Bowdon was a native of Chester district, South Carolina, and was +brought by his father to Shelby County, Alabama, while his gifted son was +still a child of only three years. On the farm of a thrifty planter and in +a home of piety and of hospitality the youth was reared. It was one of +those old-time southern homes where ease and elegance, culture and +refinement were, and where children were reared free from over-exaction +and with just sufficient freedom to develop real manliness. + +Mr. Bowdon was educationally prepared for entrance on the State +University, which he in due time entered and from which he was graduated, +and entered at once on the profession of the law. He was admitted to +practice and settled at Talledega. His ability as a speaker was equally +suited to the court room and the forum. During the years of 1844-5 he +served as a representative in the legislature from Talledega County. His +ability in debate and his power of oratory brought him promptly to the +front. Nor was he ungifted in the manipulation of conditions by skillful +management in the execution of his chosen purposes. He was easily the peer +of the foremost of a legislative body graced by such choice spirits as +Thomas H. Watts, John Gill Shorter, Thomas A. Walker, James A. Stallworth, +W. O. Winston, Joseph W. Taylor, William S. Mudd, Thomas J. Judge, and +others. His reigning trait was decisiveness of conviction, which when once +possessed did not lack the underpropping courage of expression, and in +turn this expression was not wanting in the most radiant demonstration and +persuasion. No haughty spirit nor arrogant port entered into his +forensics, but, on the other hand, there was a refreshing repose that lit +up the whole with a confidence that was serene and assuring. + +Two legislative sessions terminated his career in the general assembly of +Alabama, and on the occasion of the untimely death of General McConnell, +as the representative in congress from the seventh district, a special +election was ordered, with Thomas A. Walker and Franklin W. Bowdon as the +candidates for the vacancy. The result was the election of Mr. Bowdon. +This was followed by his re-election over Honorable Samuel F. Rice for the +term next succeeding, and over General Bradford for the next following +term. + +For five years he held his seat in congress, a giant among giants. In a +wider sphere there was ampler scope for the play of his power, and it was +duly exercised. Brewer states that an English peer was present on one of +the occasions when Bowdon spoke, and the Englishman pronounced the effort +the ablest to which he had ever listened, and he had heard the greatest of +both English and American orators. + +Nor was Mr. Bowdon's power confined to his oratory. It was abundantly +illustrated in his law practice, and in the preparation of his briefs. +Here were met, as elsewhere, the same logical incisiveness and clearness +that distinguished his utterances while on his feet. + +In his person he was most commanding. He was fully six feet high, of +symmetrical build, and his handsome features, especially in the sweep of +oratorical passion and fervor, were a study for the artist. Zealous in +temperament, and confident of his footing in advance of any deliverance, +he shrank not to meet in mental combat anyone who might desire to brook +his views. He retired from congress voluntarily in 1851, and after a few +years removed to Tyler, Texas, where he soon after died. Bowdon College, +in Georgia, derived its name from this distinguished Alabamian. + + + + +ALEXANDER B. MEEK + + +For versatility, brilliancy, and general usefulness, few Alabamians have +surpassed Judge Alexander B. Meek. His was an unusual combination of +powers. He was a poet, author, orator, editor and jurist, and was +inconspicuous in none. One of the earliest graduates from the University +of Alabama, where he received the master's degree, he found full exercise +for his varied gifts during a career which extended through thirty-two +years. + +Choosing the bar as a profession, Judge Meek entered on the practice of +the law in 1835. During the following year, 1836, he enlisted along with +others to serve against the Creek Indians in Florida, Mr. Meek going in +the capacity of a non-commissioned officer. + +On his return from the Florida campaign, Mr. Meek was appointed by +Governor Clay attorney general for the state. At the expiration of his +term of office as attorney general, Mr. Meek sought gratification of his +literary tastes by creating a new local journal at Tuscaloosa, which he +called "The Flag of the Union." Later he edited in the same town a +literary journal called "The Southron." + +The limited resources at his command compelled him to deflect his course +into channels other than those purely literary, and in 1842 he was +appointed county judge of Tuscaloosa, and during the same year published a +supplement to the Digest of Alabama. + +Being appointed law clerk to the solicitor of the treasury at Washington, +he gained an insight into the life of the national capital, and perhaps +his residence there had some connection with his being made United States +attorney for the southern district of Alabama, which position he held for +four years, living meanwhile in Mobile. From this position he went to the +associate editorship of the Mobile Daily Register. + +In 1853 we find Judge Meek representing Mobile County in the legislature, +where, as chairman of the committee on education, he reported the bill to +"establish and maintain a system of free public schools in the state of +Alabama." The bill providing for the scheme, together with a voluminous +and exhaustive report on education, excited profound interest in the +legislature, and the documents were so appreciated that five thousand +copies of the bill and ten thousand copies of the report were ordered to +be printed. + +This was the dawn of a new era in education in this state. Various +attempts had before been made to gain the attention of the legislature and +the people of the state on this transcendant matter, but they had proved +of but slight avail till the work undertaken by Judge Meek. The astounding +prevalence of illiteracy in the state as exhibited by his report did more +than to arouse interest; it created astonishment, with not a slight degree +of apprehension. The work done by Judge Meek in this connection gave a +strong propulsion to educational work in the state and the interest +deepened and grew in intensity till checked by the Civil War. + +Being elected judge of the city court of Mobile, Judge Meek found +sufficient time, amidst the exactions of his official duty on the bench, +to gratify, to some degree, his taste for literary pursuits. It was during +this period that he found time to write the three rare works which +established his literary fame. These are "The Red Eagle," "Romantic +Passages in Southwestern History," and "Songs and Poems of the South." +Some of these were a collection of fugitive contributions which he had +previously made to magazines and newspapers, and some of them were +prepared at the time specially for embodied publication. + +Of the literary merit of his productions there is no doubt. They are +intensely southern in their flavor and represent the spirit which animated +what has come to be called "The Old South." An agricultural people, we of +the South gave but little attention, prior to the Civil War, to literary +pursuits. There were those like Judge Meek who wrote and wrote well, and +thousands of others could have done so, but there was but slight +encouragement, so that the literary culture of the South was largely +unknown and unrecognized by others. The genuine spirit of the people and +of the times is embalmed in the rare literary products such as we have +from the pen of this Alabamian. + +That which has already been said affords a slight view of the stirring +scenes through which Judge Meek passed the major part of his life. +Possessing varied gifts, he sought to give vent in some measure to each, +but it is in his literary productions that his real fame abides. That +literature was his passion is shown by the fact that, whatever else he +did, he could not abandon the pen. But the market for his literary wares +was so limited that without ample means he was unable to prosecute that +alone. The two indispensable requisites of literary success--time and +leisure--were not his to command, and he was compelled to scuffle for the +expression of his charming thought as best he could. + +The literary productions of Judge A. B. Meek have been more eagerly sought +by the later generations than by his contemporaries. The edition of each +was limited, his books have therefore become rare, highly prized by all +lovers of literature, but difficult to find. Certainly as much as any +other southern writer Judge Meek has immortalized the spirit and genius of +the South of a former period, which is now only a pleasing recollection. +More than any other, perhaps, he has embodied in enduring form the +peculiar elements which entered into our southern life. The mocking bird, +the magnolia, the long trailing moss of our southern swamps, the +honeysuckle, the traits and remnants of the vanished tribes of the Red +Men, and other elements peculiarly southern are embodied and embalmed in +the prose and poetry of A. B. Meek. + +Without the weirdness of Poe, Meek surpassed him in deftness of touch and +daintiness of expression. There is an indefinable delicacy and a +subtleness of force and suggestiveness in many of Meek's passages which +have never been surpassed. Nothing can excel the beauty and color of some +of his verse. In one instance, while describing an Indian maiden, he +says: + + "And her eyes flashing wildly when with gladness they shine, + Have the dark liquid flow of the ripe muscadine." + +His responsive spirit absorbed the soft, bland atmosphere of his own sunny +region. + + + + +BASIL MANLY, SR. + + +Dr. Basil Manly was equally a patriot, an educator, and a preacher. He had +the prescience and sagacity of a statesman, and devoted much thought to +all matters that affected the state or nation, and as occasion would +require he would not hesitate to express his views. With him the question +was one of principle and not one of reserved silence because of his +position as an educator and minister. Though exceedingly reserved and +modest, there were reserved powers of aggressiveness in his nature which +were withheld, subject to the demand of principle. He was not of the +maudlin type who sought refuge in his ministry as a means of escape from +duty as a citizen and patriot. His views were always stated with such +calmness, wisdom and moderation as to carry force. + +There were the balance and poise of elements in his constitution that made +him the successful college president that he was. His judgment was never +obscured by the mist of sudden passion, nor was he betrayed into warmth of +feeling that occasioned subsequent regret. A man of like passions with +others, his sterner expressions were held in restraint under the mastery +of a granite will, and were brought into action only as occasion required. +Firm as a mountain on its base, he was unmoved by suddenness of impulse or +storm of passion. His equable temper made him accessible to all, but in +his conduct he was swayed alone by principle. This left clear his sense of +discrimination and unobscured his judgment, which was never hastily +expended, and not till he was convinced of a cause. + +Those superior traits gave to Dr. Manly a power with men, young and old, +and his influence was as wide as he was known. A knowledge of these facts +led to his being called, in 1837, to the presidency of the University of +Alabama. At the time of his election he was the pastor of an important +church in Charleston, S. C. + +Dr. Manly was one of a distinguished family in North Carolina. Two +brothers of his were men of eminence, one of whom was Judge Mathias E. +Manly, of the old North state, while the other, Governor Charles Manly, +was the chief executive of North Carolina. The family has been +distinguished in the annals of the South for a number of generations. + +Without demonstration, Dr. Manly took charge of the University of Alabama, +and with the beginning of his official incumbency began a new era of +prosperity in the history of the institution. For eighteen years he +presided over the institution, which never had eighteen brighter years in +its history. He was quietly identified with all the interests of the +state, and soon came to be known and prized as one of its foremost +citizens. + +When Dr. Manly assumed control, the institution was still young, and was +in great need of increased equipment, but under his wise management the +needed facilities came, and within a few years he brought it to a pitch of +prominence that gave it wide reputation throughout the country. Indeed no +state institution in the South had a wider reputation, from 1837 till the +outbreak of the Civil War, than the University of Alabama. Young men from +other states, attracted by its standard of scholarship, sought its +classical halls for superior instruction. During the presidency of Dr. +Manly thousands of young men throughout the state were fitted for life's +rough encounters. + +Dr. Manly not only possessed the high qualities already named, but he had +the power of impressing them on the rising youth that came under his +direction and discipline. His undoubted sincerity, as transparent as it +appeared, his genuine manliness, the quiet balance of genuine qualities of +worth, all of which were sobered and tempered by a piety which no one +questioned, and all admired, gave him an opportunity for the wield of an +influence which was used to the greatest advantage. + +While the superiority of his intellectuality excited admiration, the +gentleness of his religious spirit begot the most respectful reverence. A +superior preacher, he was in constant demand in this and in other states, +to occupy pulpits on extraordinary occasions, all of which served to +reflect the distinguished institution of which he was the head. + +One remarkable fact about Dr. Manly was that of his extensiveness and +variety of scholarship. His learning was varied, rather than profound. Not +that he was a mere smatterer, for no one despised more the pedantic and +superficial than he, but his research in different and distant fields of +thought was remarkable. He had devoted unusual attention on all subjects +then taught in the most advanced schools of learning, and was thereby +enabled to assist students in the various departments by timely advice, +not only, but was able to assist intelligently the direction of the +several departments in the great institution over which he presided. His +fame as a college president widened to the utmost limits of the states of +the South, and even beyond. + +Wherever young men touched Dr. Manly, no matter how, whether in the +classroom, by social contact, by discipline, or by hearing him preach or +lecture, there was resultant benefit. His vast range of information +imparted in simplicity and yet always with dignity; his unusual method of +reaching young men, not by any fixed standard, but by means suggested at +the particular time, and his ability without effort to impart the +influence needed to guide and direct, never failed of impressing those +under his care. + +The uniformity of his bearing was among the first impressions made on the +youth under his guidance. His manner was always the same. This was true +even of his manner of address. He was chaste without being gaudy; clear +without the slightest effort; earnest and zealous without exuberance, and +pathetic and sympathetic without cant. These gave him a grip on young men. + +No one caught him off his guard. There was always the possession of a self +collection that produced ease in his presence and that left an impression +for good. + +The influence of a spirit like that at the head of an institution of +learning in a great state is incalculable. The permanent good wrought by a +man like this through successive generations is beyond calculation. + + + + +ALEXANDER BOWIE + + +The Bowie family is of Scotch origin. In a large volume devoted to the +family history, the genealogists of the name have traced the lineage +backward even to the days of the old Vikings. Certain traits of worth and +of distinction have characterized the stock through the centuries. +Solidity of character, firmness, robust conviction, courage, and fidelity +of purpose are among the traits most conspicuous. + +A notable instance of these traits is given here because of the +familiarity of the public with the subject named. The heroism of Col. +James Bowie on the occasion of the fall of the Alamo is familiar to every +boy and girl who is conversant of American history. Prostrated by typhoid +fever in the ill-starred fortress at San Antonio, he was one of the +devoted 185 who withstood the siege of Santa Anna at the head of an army +variously estimated to have numbered from 2,000 to 4,000. When the +commander, Colonel Travis, saw the inevitable fate of the brave little +garrison he called his men about him, plainly presented the coming doom, +and, after saying he was determined to die at his post, he drew a line +across the floor and asked that all who would remain with him should come +within the boundary thus marked. If others desired to cut their way +through or otherwise seek to escape, they were at liberty to do so. + +With emaciated frame, Colonel Bowie, now rapidly approaching death, which +came a few hours before the fall, unable to stand, ordered his men to +bear his sick couch within the mark drawn by the commander. This is +indicative of the sturdy Scotch pluck and the firmness of character of +those bearing the name. + +It will be seen from the present sketch that Chancellor Alexander Bowie +possessed to an eminent degree these conspicuous traits. He was a +distinguished citizen of Alabama for a period of thirty-one years. His +native place was Abbeville, S. C., where he was born December 14, 1789. +His father was a major in Washington's army, and his mother, a Miss Reid, +from which family, on the maternal side, came Honorable Whitelaw Reid, of +New York. + +Choosing the bar as a profession, Mr. Bowie was a successful barrister at +Abbeville, S. C., for a period of years. His relations with John C. +Calhoun were the most intimate, and letters received by Mr. Bowie from Mr. +Calhoun are still preserved among the heirlooms of the family. They +illustrate the cordiality and freedom of the relations between these two +eminent men. + +During the war of 1812 Mr. Bowie was the colonel of the eighth regiment of +South Carolina militia, and was later commander of the Abbeville +nullifiers. For a number of terms he served as a legislator in his native +state, and removed to Talladega, Ala., in 1835. Four years later, he was +elected by the Alabama legislature to the chancellorship of the northern +division, which position he held with great distinction for a period of +six years. + +In response to the interest shown by him in the general affairs of the +state of his adoption, and in recognition of his ability, he was summoned +to a number of important stations, among which may be mentioned that of +the choice of himself as the first president of the state historical +society. In further recognition of his scholarship and profound interest +in education, he was chosen one of the trustees of the state university, +and was one of the foremost friends of that institution in the days when +it was among the leading colleges of the South. + +Politically, Chancellor Bowie was a Democrat of the democrats, a firm +adherent to the Calhoun school, and therefore a stanch believer in the +principle of states' rights. His voice, pen, and influence were lent to +that cause in all the struggles through which Alabama passed from the time +of his removal to the state till his death. Never vehement or passionate +of utterance, he always wrote and spoke with a calmness and deliberation +that bore conviction. He took to his public functions the same solidity of +influential force and the self-mastery which won him quiet distinction in +the ordinary walks of life. The impression made by him was invariable, +whether as a neighbor, a private Christian, a political advocate, or a +representative of the judiciary, that of stable conviction, calm +determination, and withal a gentleness of spirit that instinctively shrank +from producing the slightest pain to any one. His silent life reinforced +his public acts and declarations, and gave to him an unusual power with +men of every grade and degree. That which he did and said was of a +character that took hold on the deeper conviction of men, rather than on +surface sentiment. A strong and vigorous speaker, he was frequently +before the public, and his utterances gained additional weight from the +fact that men knew that every word that fell from his lips sprang from a +source of profound sincerity and from a conviction as deep as his soul. +His scrupulosity of conscience was proverbial, and men listened to +Chancellor Bowie not merely for entertainment, for he was an attractive +speaker, but they listened believing. Back of his utterances lay a life of +unvarying integrity derived from a spirit of piety, which none dared +gainsay, and the lineaments of his classic face bore a conviction which +was itself convincing. When the life of a man is so pitched that the most +obstinate opponent is made to respect his views, such a man is an engine +of power in public life. This fairly represents Chancellor Bowie in his +multitudinous relations, private and public, and such a model of manhood +was he to the young men of his time. This reputation he steadfastly +maintained through more than three decades in Alabama, for a good that +transcends the pale of estimation not only to his contemporaries, but +which projects itself into the years of the future. + +One principle alone dominated him in all his conduct and that was the +settlement of each question or cause on the basis of right. This was so +clearly demonstrated throughout his life and career that any decision or +opinion from the bench was unquestioned, and so profoundly did he impress +the public with this fact that he came to be called "the great +chancellor." All his wealth of learning, his garnered wisdom, and his rich +experience were laid on the altar of Right. Thus lived Chancellor Bowie +and thus he died, leaving a heritage of illustrious integrity to those who +were to come after him. The career of an eminent citizen like this is an +abiding benediction to any state. Chancellor Bowie passed to his reward on +December 30, 1866, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. + + + + +JOHN J. ORMOND + + +The name of Judge John J. Ormond is inseparable from the judicial history +of Alabama. He was recognized on all hands as a jurist of superior +ability. The mold of his mind was singularly judicial, and his career as a +public servant shines through his jurisprudential service. + +A native of England, Judge Ormond was brought by his father to America +while yet an infant, his parents making their home first at +Charlottesville, Va. Left an orphan in early youth, Judge Ormond's future +course was dependent on the kindness of others, but he was liberally +provided for, and means were found for enabling the youth to obtain more +than an ordinary education. + +After his removal to Alabama, we find him first as a state senator, to +which position he was chosen in the early part of his professional career. +In 1837 he was chosen as one of the justices of the supreme bench. Here he +found a most congenial orbit, for his tastes were aversive to the rough +and tumble of political strife. In the seclusion of a law library among +the musty tomes of legal lore, or a seat on the bench of the court, met +the gratification of this giant jurist. + +His studious habits served to impart a reservation of disposition, though +he was free from coldness and was not wanting in the elements of +companionship. His was the thoughtfulness of the student and the quietness +of the scholar. A voracious reader, he reveled in the masterpieces of +literature, the results of his close study of which showing themselves in +the beauty and charm of his style, both of which found expression in his +decision and opinions. Without apparent effort, his sentences have a +limpid flow in well-balanced form, while the purity and elegance of his +diction fascinates. The dignity of his diction is an inspiration, while +his thought, like the sun, shines, by its own light. + +For twelve years Judge Ormond occupied a seat on the supreme bench, an +honor and an ornament. His decisions were the profoundest, though they +were garbed in the striking simplicity of our tongue. His long retention +on the bench is an evidence of the general confidence in his integrity of +character. This fact becomes more pronounced when it is recalled that +Judge Ormond was a whig in politics, yet such was the appreciation of his +worth both as a man and as a jurist, that he failed not to command the +esteem and votes of the dominant democratic party. By dint of merit alone +he compelled not only its recognition but its appreciation. No one ever +suspected Judge Ormond of taking an unfair advantage as a judicial officer +or as a man. The sincerity of his political convictions were conceded, and +all who knew him never thought of him as a partisan. With him political +creed was one thing, and judicial scrupulosity another. + +Writing of Judge Ormond's death, a contemporary says: "He occupies a page +in the Alabama law reports that will pass down to future times, and be +cited as authority in the adjudication of human rights as long as the +common law maintains a footing among civilized nations." Though small and +thin with a visage somewhat drawn, his bearing was characterized by a +perpetual dignity which elicited the esteem of all. + +There was a democratic simplicity in his intercourse with others which was +perennially refreshing. An utter absence of self-consciousness marked his +bearing, though he was universally recognized as one unsurpassed in his +judgment of the law, as well as a ripe and finished scholar. So far from +being ostentatious, Judge Ormond was disposed to shyness and taciturnity. +His conversation was marked by the finished diction of which he was a +complete master. Besides all this, he was self-contained and collected, +never allowing himself to be betrayed into undue warmth of expression, no +matter what the provocation was. He equalled the conception of the +proverb, a soft answer turneth away wrath. The combination of qualities so +rare, was the occasion of much comment among the lawyers of the time. His +opinions did not escape challenge, nor did his position always go without +criticism. + +The character of the man as well as the clearness of his judicial judgment +may be seen from a single extract from a decision written by himself in a +celebrated case which came before the court during his incumbency of the +supreme bench. In that learned decision he says: "We have been admonished +by the plaintiff in error, that, notwithstanding the state is the party +interested as defendant, on this record, the true interest of the people +will be promoted by declaring the contract void. It required no admonition +to impress us with the conviction that the high trust reposed in us by the +people imperiously demanded of us to preserve pure the fountains of +justice. Nor will we profess an insensibility which we do not feel to the +approbation of the enlightened and virtuous; although all experience shows +that such is not always the meed of upright conduct. Our station imposes +on us the necessity of deciding the cases brought before us according to +our opinion of the law; it is a duty which we cannot avoid. If left to our +choice, it is not probable we would have selected this question for +adjudication; and as, in our judgment, the law is for the state, such must +be our decision, be the consequences to us what they may, and although the +judgment may subject us to the imputation of the bias which the argument +of the counsel supposes." + +This extract affords a fair index to the character of the man, while it +equally furnishes a specimen of the lucidity of his expression. There was +never the absence of dignity from his expression, no matter what the +occasion. He was not without sensitiveness, but it was not the +sensitiveness of inflammation. When necessary, he could wither with an +overmastering diction, but it was always with the preservation of a +dignity which could not fail of success. The last service rendered by +Judge Ormond was that of his association with Messrs. Clay and Bagby in +the codification of the statutes of the state of Alabama. + + + + +ALBERT J. PICKETT + + +Alabama's historian, Albert J. Pickett, was a native of North Carolina, +and removed to Alabama about one year before it was made a state. In his +early years he mingled much with the Indians, learned their character and +disposition, and became profoundly interested in their destiny. + +The first purpose in life of Mr. Pickett was to fit himself for the bar, +and he entered the office of an elder brother, William D. Pickett, to fit +himself for that profession, but on discovering that he had no aptitude +for the law he gave it up and entered on planting, to which he devoted his +life. + +His interest in the Indians led him into an investigation of their +history, and this, in turn, to the events which had occurred in connection +with the invasion of their primitive domains by the whites. The +investigation proved a fascination and led to his preparation of the +"History of Alabama and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi from the +earliest period." + +Considering the paucity of material and the difficulty of obtaining it, +the undertaking was a colossal one, but Mr. Pickett gave himself to it +with a zeal worthy the enterprise, traveled much, wrote many letters, and +spent a large sum of money in the interest of the preparation of the +history. For years together, he was patiently and assiduously engaged in +the accumulation of data, the sifting of facts, and the preparation of the +two volumes. The most painstaking care was exercised with respect to +accuracy of statement, and this made the undertaking a most plodding one. +But in 1851 the author was enabled to issue the two volumes in neat and +attractive form. + +So comprehensive was the work, so minute in detail, and so careful were +the citations that on its appearance it was greeted with great favor not +alone in Alabama, but elsewhere. Had the conditions of authorship been as +favorable as they now are, the work would doubtless have been more happily +arranged, but as it is, it is a monument of labor, skill, industry and +fidelity. It was an unusual occurrence that the history should have been +favorably mentioned in a message to the legislature by Governor Collier +and with such favor. + +The style of the book is simple and easy, the statement of fact clear and +devoid of ornament or speculation, and throughout it is entirely free of +bias. The obvious intention of the author was to state fact as he saw it, +nor was a statement made by him that was not supported by undisputed fact. +No book was ever more scrupulously written as is shown by the care with +which each statement is made. + +While in the light of subsequent events the unity of the work is somewhat +impaired and disjointed, still taken altogether, and the conditions +attending its preparation, it is a marvelous accomplishment. Pickett +provided a mine of fact into which all future historians of Alabama can +dig, certainly with respect to the history antedating the occupation of +Alabama by the whites. + +The history extends no further than to the period of the attainment of +statehood of Alabama, and yet the author was able to bring it up to the +close of the middle of the nineteenth century. It is unfortunate that this +was not done, but he was averse to deal with the political aspects +presented by the different periods of the state's history. But in doing +that which he accomplished he has furnished a basis for all future +historians. That Mr. Pickett should have done so much, and done it so +well, makes him worthy of the perpetual gratitude of the people of +Alabama. + +A gentleman of wide and varied information, his mind was a compendium of +valuable stores of knowledge. He was an animated converser, fluent and +entertaining, and a most exemplary citizen. His popularity, greatly +enhanced by his valuable history, his universally recognized integrity of +character, and his unquestioned ability, led to the mention of his name in +1853 for the governorship of Alabama. + +But when the matter was brought with some degree of seriousness to his +attention, he frankly declined to be considered for this exalted station, +saying that he was engaged in the preparation of another work of greater +comprehensiveness than that of the History of Alabama, which he indicated +as the History of the Southwest. Unfortunately he died before the +completion of the proposed work and it was never published. Alabama +sustained a great loss when Colonel Pickett died at the early age of +forty-eight. Besides his history, he wrote much for the press and always +with entertainment and profit. + +In 1859 General C. M. Jackson wrote a biographical sketch of Colonel +Albert J. Pickett, which sketch was embodied in pamphlet form. In one +place General Jackson says of him: "He outlived his entire family--father, +mother, brother and sister--and his offspring now constitutes a new +generation, without a single living link to connect it with a former one. +He left a devoted wife, several affectionate children, and many friends to +deplore his untimely death; besides the proper appreciation by the public +of what may be deemed a great calamity--that of the loss of one who had so +largely contributed to the general welfare. His remains were followed by a +large concourse of relatives and friends and interred in the burial ground +at the old family residence in Autauga County, which Colonel Pickett had +inherited--where are also the graves of father, mother and other members +of this family." + +Unselfishly he lived and labored, and peacefully he died--one of the most +useful and distinguished citizens of the state. + + + + +HENRY TUTWILER + + +Of an entirely different mold from any of those already noted in these +sketches was Henry Tutwiler, LL.D., Alabama's first great and +distinguished educator. Reared in Virginia, Dr. Tutwiler was among the +first great graduates of the famous university of that state, bearing away +the highest degree which could be conferred by that eminent institution, +that of Master of Arts. Possessing a readily receptive and capacious mind, +Dr. Tutwiler was the peer in point of scholarship of any man in the South +when he issued from the university of Virginia. He was the first to +receive the degree of Master of Arts from that eminent school. + +His equipment of scholarship would have fitted him for any chair in any +American school of learning, but he conceived the idea of founding a model +school of his own where he might put into execution his ideas of +education. This was not done at once on graduation, but toward this he was +moving in the consummation of his plans. + +Dr. Tutwiler became to Alabama that which Dr. Arnold of the famous Rugby +school was to England. He was not only a typical gentleman of the old +school of the South, but a ripe scholar, a teacher of rare ability, and a +model of manhood to youth. Simple and unpretentious in manner and in life, +he was a pattern in character to the young men who came under his +instruction. His culture was unsurpassed, his scholarship profound and +comprehensive, and his character throughout life vastly above reproach. +Few men have left a profounder impression on his students than Dr. Henry +Tutwiler. There was in his bearing the utter absence of the consciousness +of his greatness, while there was always the demonstration of the +gentleman of a pure democracy. Simple and easy of manner, affable, gentle +and readily communicative, he was easily adjustable to all circles without +the slightest hint of constraint, and by a contagious touch, indefinable +but effectual, he made all others at ease in his presence. + +After his graduation from the University of Virginia he remained for two +years at the institution in the pursuit of special studies, after which he +established a high school in the neighborhood of Charlottesville, where he +taught for a time. He was induced to remove to Alabama by being offered +the chair of ancient languages in the university of the state on the +establishment of that institution in 1831. This position he occupied for +six years. He was induced from this position to accept the chair of +mathematics and philosophy in Marion college in Perry County, and two +years later went to the chair of mathematics and chemistry in LaGrange +college, where he taught for eight years more. + +But a subordinate position was ill suited to one of capabilities so +varied, and in 1847 he left LaGrange and founded a private school at Green +Springs in this state, where he could put into execution a long cherished +desire to fit young men for the rough encounters of the world, not only by +training the mind, but by molding and directing the character. + +No one was better fitted for a position like this than Dr. Tutwiler. +Himself a ripe scholar and a gentleman of superior culture, backed by a +natural impressiveness, his sway of influence was both salutary and +elevating. In a quiet retreat, far from the madding crowd and the din and +tumult of a busy world, with nothing to detract and all to concentrate and +stimulate, he was a character-builder as well as a developer of the brain. + +The experience of former years as a teacher brought to his work on this +independent scale served Dr. Tutwiler admirably. He had learned the +defectiveness of a system in which the raw youth with total unpreparedness +would often stride over much that was fundamental and leave behind him +breaches never to be filled, possibly, in his eager outreach for a diploma +which when gotten could not be read by the possessor. Every observant +educator is impressed by the divers irregularities with which most young +men enter college. Symmetry and uniformity are lacking, and often the +defects in fundamental work are too far passed to be overcome and +corrected in the higher departments for which the youth has been unwisely +persuaded that he is prepared. Happily for these later times, this has +been corrected by an admirable public school system with its trained +instructors, but this was not true in the early days when Dr. Tutwiler +opened his school at Green Springs. + +To establish a school of logical graduation with every department under +his direct supervision, in which school the student would be thoroughly +grounded from the elementary upward, so as to have a more solid basis for +building, and an idea of correctness and symmetry in all affairs, was the +aim of this skilled educator. Schools of this particular character had +dotted the South ever since the years of recuperation following the +Revolution, and fortunately for the country that this was so. + +In 1850 there were in eleven of the southern states at least 2,000 +academies of varying grades, with more than 3,200 instructors, and more +than 70,000 pupils. On the highest level of these valuable schools of +learning were the Concord academy and the Hanover academy in Virginia; +Caldwell's and Bingham's schools in North Carolina; Mount Zion and +Waddell's school in South Carolina; the academy of Richmond County and +Sunbury academy in Georgia; Green Springs school in Alabama, and Elizabeth +academy in Mississippi. All these had become noted in the educational +system of the South by the middle of the nineteenth century. Among them +none was more famous than the one presided over by Dr. Tutwiler. + +A certificate from a school like this and from so skilled an expert, meant +much to a youth as he entered a school of more advanced learning to +prosecute his final studies. The assurance of a firm footing and +familiarity with subjects which led logically to more advanced studies, +gave to a student the thoroughness of equipment which would save him from +the haphazard to which he would be otherwise exposed. + +From the walls of the Green Springs school went forth young men by the +hundreds with initial equipment which not only made the mastery of a +college course more easy and pleasant, but which served to lift them into +future prominence. Passing from under the tutelage of Dr. Tutwiler and +bearing a certificate with his name on it, was a guarantee worth the +having by any young man. From this rural retreat this skilled man of +letters sent into the swelling ranks of usefulness in this and adjoining +states, hundreds of young men who have helped to make their commonwealths +resplendent. It was not a demonstrative work, in the sense of showiness, +but it was demonstrative as it found expression in richness of result and +in exalted citizenship. Thus labored for many years this sage teacher and +mellow scholar, and far more than can be computed is Alabama indebted to +Henry Tutwiler. + + + + +DANIEL PRATT + + +Genuine worth is frequently overlooked because it does not appear in the +glare and rush of demonstration, and because it may modestly shrink from +the spectacular. The solid distinction reached by many is due to +conditions which lie out of sight and without which many who reach +positions of prominence would not have been heard of beyond their native +horizons. + +Impelled by ambition, many see and seize the opportune moment presented, +fall into the current created by others, and are borne to eminence. Lying +back of that which the world esteems greatness are causes created of which +many avail themselves to ride to popular spectacularity, and yet these may +be only the superficial and surface effects. + +In what are usually esteemed the humbler walks of life are oftentimes +giants who set in motion the tides of influence which make great +communities and even states, and yet whose worthy claims are never +heralded to the world as are the deeds of those who reach the popular +heights toward which the eyes of the public are accustomed to turn. + +To this worthy class in the quieter walks of life belong numbers of the +best men of every generation whose vocations are such as to hide them from +the popular view, and yet without whom the greatness and the prosperity of +a commonwealth could not be. + +Belonging to this class was Daniel Pratt, a native of New Hampshire, a +carpenter by trade, and a man in whose capacious brain were great +enterprises. Utterly without pretention, he was at first a common +laborer, working at his trade in different cities in Georgia for a period +of about fifteen years, in the early part of the century. + +At that time the question of cotton as a staple had assumed new +proportions in view of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney +about fifty years previously, and in view of the capabilities of the soils +of the South to produce the staple. The struggles of Whitney to maintain +his rights as the inventor of the gin had been prolonged through a +protracted period of years, leaving him barren honor alone, but his +suggestion had found its way to the inventive genius and mechanical +aptitude of others, among whom was Daniel Pratt. He removed to Montgomery +in 1833, for the purpose of establishing a gin factory in that town. At +that time the manufacture of cotton gins was quite limited, but the +sagacious carpenter saw in the future the possibility of a means of vast +commerce in the manufacture of machines that would reduce the +indispensable staple to marketable conditions, and while conditions in +Alabama were at that time still new, Pratt discerned an opportunity both +for the gin and the production of cotton. + +Lands were of fabulous fertility; population was pouring southward; the +advocacy of slavery had been hushed by the prospective productiveness of +southern lands, and Alabama was destined to become the center of an +expansive region for the production of cotton. + +At that time capital was not so abundant, cotton was not so pregnant a +factor in commerce, and the manufacture of gins was rather a novelty +among the industries. But this sturdy, quiet man of business was +controlled by the conditions then prevailing as he was by the +possibilities of the future. Being a pioneer in an important branch of +industry meant much, and he had the pluck and faith to venture. Pratt +believed in himself and no man succeeds who does not; he believed in the +future of the country, and was resolved to begin the manufacture of gins. +He was not encouraged to locate at Montgomery, as he would have been glad +to do, and most fortunate for that city would it have been, could he have +done so. Mr. Pratt went to Autauga County, and on the plantation of +General Elmore manufactured a few gins. This was only a tentative venture +and one preparatory for greater things toward which he was gradually +moving. + +On Autauga Creek, near McNeil's mill, there was abundant water power with +which to operate his primitive machinery, and leasing the use of this +power for a nominal sum, he was enabled finally to begin the manufacture +of gins. Both faith and grit were needed to meet the demand of the +occasion, but these Mr. Pratt had. Guided by the same sagacity which had +led him thus far, he was finally in condition to purchase land farther up +on Autauga Creek, where he built his first factory and founded a town +which he named Prattville. + +The manufacture of gins in the South and the production of cotton acted +and reacted on each other with wonderful effect. Mr. Pratt was compelled +to enlarge his facilities for the manufacture of gins, so that by 1860 he +was building not less than 1,500 each year. The Pratt gin became famous +throughout the South, and to the beginning of the Civil War the sales +continued to grow. From that little industrial center in the woods of +Autauga were going forth the means of energy and stimulation which were +gradually transforming the agricultural conditions of the entire South. + +Through the years this quiet but enterprising genius was prosecuting his +work unseen and largely unknown for a long time, save by means of his gin, +and yet his quiet retreat was a center from which there was emanating +motive power for the promotion of prosperity. + +Mr. Pratt was Alabama's first great captain of industry. He was not a +dreamer, but a seer. He projected his plans into the future, wisely +measured their scope, and carefully moved to their execution. He had a +mission and wisely fulfilled it. He probed the future with the eye of an +industrial prophet, and his interests expanding with the growth of demand, +he himself was being made while he was making. Action always reacts. While +the man makes the fortune, the fortune makes the man. While through more +than a generation others through the flare of publicity enjoyed the +plaudits of the multitude and of the press, Daniel Pratt pursued the even +tenor of his way, building substantially, lastingly. While others were in +the current he was on the outer edge creating a current of his own. + +On Autauga Creek he has built his own monument in a mighty industry and in +a little city which is now sought by the world's current of commerce. + + + + +MICHAEL TUOMEY + + +Alabama's original state geologist was Professor Michael Tuomey, whose +service was invaluable, and therefore deserves permanent recognition. +Professor Tuomey was a native of Cork, Ireland, where he was born on St. +Michael's day, 1805. + +His scholastic training in youth seems to have been largely private, +though it is certain that he did attend one school outside his home. To +his grandmother was this distinguished man indebted for the first +scientific taste inculcated, for this remarkable woman led the promising +grandson to study with diligence and with accuracy the science of botany, +with which study it seems there was ever afterward associated, on the part +of Mr. Tuomey, a cherished memory by a grateful grandson for timely +inspiration given in his boyhood days on the Emerald Isle. Along with this +was borne the sacred recollection of a fond mother for the careful +cultivation of the beautiful as displayed in the dreamy regions of his +native isle, and in the magnificent landscapes which there abound. +Throughout his life Professor Tuomey bore the impress of the culture +imbibed in those early days, and the earnestness of the instruction given +by loved ones was a perpetual propelling force in all his subsequent +studies and investigations. + +His precocity was evidently taken advantage of by these affectionate +instructors, for at the early age of seventeen we find him associated with +a friend in teaching at Yorkshire, England. The young genius, for such he +was, girded by the panoply of a sacred association and thorough drill of +mind, marked out for himself a course of scientific study into which his +natural bent bore him, and his early training, as well. + +We are left largely to conjecture as to the time of his emigration to +America, but it must have been in the early twenties. A youthful +immigrant, he appears in Philadelphia, a stranger among strangers, +scarcely knowing whither to turn, till he buys a piece of ground to till, +then ventures in connection with a partner on the purchase of an estate, +finds agriculture ill-suited to his taste and ill-productive of results, +disposes of his interest, and wends his way southward, often trudging +weary and footsore for days together. He reaches the eastern shore of +Virginia, and with a knack of friend-making and possessing a charming +cultured manner, he procures a rural school, rallies about him a host of +friends, later becomes a private tutor in the home of John H. Dennis, of +Maryland, studying while he taught, but always winning the hearts of +others, and supremely that of Miss Sarah E. Handy, a kinswoman of his +private patron, which gifted young woman became Mrs. Tuomey. + +His innate craving for scientific knowledge and his love of nature found +slight chance for cultivation at a time when institutions of science in +America were scarce, but he sought the best within reach by a course in +the Rennselaer Institute at Troy, N. Y., whence he was graduated and +became a civil engineer in the construction of one of the early railroads +in North Carolina. The financial crash of '37 imposed a cessation on the +railroad project, and with ready resourcefulness Mr. Tuomey betook himself +again to teaching, by occupying a chair of mathematics and the natural +sciences in a school presided over by Miss Mercer, in Loudoun County, +Virginia. + +Responding to an opportunity afforded at Petersburg, Va., to establish a +seminary of his own, he and his gifted wife entered on an enterprise +there. This opened a wide vista to the pent-up zeal of Professor Tuomey +for the cultivation and enlargement of his scientific gifts. In Petersburg +was abundantly vindicated the principle in the person of this indomitable +young Hibernian, that success finally rewards the patient, plucky, and +resourceful. It became his honor at Petersburg to entertain that eminent +English geologist, Sir Charles Lyell, on the occasion of both his visits +to America, and by correspondence and otherwise he came into touch of more +or less intimacy with the learned scientists of the American continent, as +well as with those abroad. Among those with whom he was brought by reason +of scientific congeniality into touch were Agassiz, James Hall, state +geologist of New York, Professor Bache, Professor Dana, Dr. Gibbs, Edmund +Ruffin, and Professor Holmes. It was a glorious company of savants in +those early days of scientific militancy when men of eminence had to +confront an inertia of stout popular opposition. + +Impelled by a consuming zeal for scientific research and guided by his own +keen judgment, while availing himself of all possible authoritative +sources of information, Professor Tuomey was meanwhile assiduous in study +and diligent in the collection of rare specimens of geology, mineralogy +and paleontology. His labors anon took permanent and valuable shape in +scientific publications, and after years of labor in other states which +cannot be mentioned here in detail, he was called in the heyday of his +career, in 1847, to the professorship of geology, mineralogy, and +agricultural chemistry in the Alabama university. Lest in a comprehensive +sphere like this, large enough for several men, his leisure time might run +to waste, he had imposed additionally the onerous task of state geologist +of Alabama, in 1848, and lest his extravagance in the use of a narrow +stipend might betray him into undue lengths he was given no compensation +for this additional labor. For six years he labored for the state under +conditions like these, when the legislature came to his rescue and +appropriated $10,000 for a geological survey. This led him to relinquish +his chair temporarily in the university in order to devote his energies to +the field of survey, which he continued till the exhaustion of the fund, +when he returned to his chair in the university. + +It was Professor Tuomey who first awoke interest in geological science in +Alabama, and he it was who first disclosed the mineral wealth of the +state. In his pioneer work he fixed the boundaries of the different +formations in Alabama, embodying his charts, maps and reports in permanent +shape, so that after the lapse of more than half a century and in the +blaze of the scientific investigations of later years, his work remains as +a standard of authority. + +It would be an occasion of much delight to speak at length of Professor +Tuomey, the man, but the censorship of brevity must in this connection be +respected. His dignity, his modesty, as an adjunct to his superior +culture, his width of information, his charming power of conversation, his +gift of instruction, illumined by the brilliancy of his native wit, his +courtesy toward the humblest--all these and more he had to a degree the +most fascinating. The life and labor of a giant like this would be worthy +of the worthiest pen, and in a sketch such as this is, one gleans but an +inkling of the man that Professor Michael Tuomey was. It was an honor to +Alabama to have his name numbered in the chronicles of her worthiest sons. +The contribution made by him to the state is inestimable. Professor Tuomey +died on March 30, 1857. + +In the ripeness of full-orbed manhood and at a time when men usually reach +the point of greatest usefulness, at the age of fifty-two, Professor +Tuomey was struck down by the hand of death. + + "No man is lord of anything, + Though in and of him there is much consisting, + Till he communicate his part to others; + Nor doth he of himself know them for aught, + Till he behold them formed in the applause + Where they're extended, which like an arch, reverberates + The voice again; or, like a gate of steel, + Fronting the sun, receives and renders back + His figure and his heat." + +To have rescued from comparative forgetfulness the career of one so +great--a career obscured by the smoke of war which interposed to check +the results of labors so valuably and eminently rendered, is a task for +the privilege of which any might feel profoundly grateful. + + + + +CHARLES C. LANGDON + + +Coming from New England to Alabama in the bud of manhood, Mr. Langdon +gradually rose from a clerkship in a country store to a rank of +distinction in his adopted state. The conditions of his early life forbade +the acquisition of a thorough education, as on his father's Connecticut +farm he had to perform the duties of a common laborer, and avail himself +of what advantages were afforded in a winter school in his native New +England. These conditions did not prevent, however, an early ambition to +attain to something in life worth while, and though twice defeated for the +legislature in Alabama, he was undaunted, but the rather encouraged, +because in each instance he was defeated by a scratch. In his first defeat +he lost the object of his aspiration by just eleven votes, and in the +second race he was defeated by fourteen. + +Mr. Langdon's early life was characterized by a series of misfortunes, but +the grit with which he would each time face afresh the future, indicated +the texture of his character. By means of rigid economy he succeeded in +the accumulation of some capital, with which he entered into the cotton +commission business in Mobile, in connection with the Honorable Martin A. +Lee, of Perry County, but his business was engulfed in the financial +disaster of 1836-7. + +In the first whig convention ever held in Alabama he became the nominee of +that party for the legislature, and while again sustaining defeat he had +conducted the campaign with ability so signal that his party purchased The +Mobile Advertiser as its organ, and placed in control of it Mr. Langdon. +His facile pen won him fresh distinction, and in two successive terms he +was chosen for the legislature from Mobile County, first in 1839 and again +in 1846. + +For a period of eight years he devoted himself to editorial work, and in +1848 was elected mayor of Mobile, to which position he was annually +elected for a period of seven years, save one. Meanwhile he continued the +chief exponent of the whig party for the state, and for the success +attained by that party indebtedness was due Mr. Langdon. + +He was the pioneer of scientific horticulture and agriculture in the +state. Defeated for Congress in 1851, Mr. Langdon soon afterward sold his +journal and retired to a farm in the western part of Mobile County to +demonstrate his method of scientific farming, which, at that time, was a +subject of ridicule. He was called from his seclusion by the stirring +political scenes of 1860, and appeared on the hustings as an ardent +advocate of Bell and Everett. Though a stout opponent of secession, when +it came and brought with it its consequences he was just as ardent in his +espousal of the cause of the South as was any. Both by pen and by word of +mouth he supported the cause throughout, and came to be one of the most +popular citizens of Mobile and one of the most conspicuous public men in +the state. + +He was chosen to represent the county of Mobile in the legislature in +1861, and in a trying period rendered most valuable service. In 1865 he +was chosen to represent the Mobile district in Congress, but he was +denied his seat by the party in power, and was shortly afterward +disfranchised. Under these conditions he retired to his country seat near +Citronelle, where he continued to demonstrate in a scientific way the +results of horticulture and agriculture. In a period of rehabilitation in +the South Mr. Langdon made frequent exhibition of the results of his +efforts, and with patriotic zeal inspired the public with confidence in +the capabilities and productiveness of the soils in a climate so bland, +and insisted that if properly tilled, the fields of the South would make +her more independent than she had ever been. In 1877 Colonel Langdon +became a candidate for the governorship against Honorable Rufus W. Cobb, +the latter of whom was chosen. It was remarkable the difference between +the appearances of the two candidates before the state convention of +nomination. Mr. Cobb wore a cheap colored suit of clothes, in illustration +of his ardent democracy, while Colonel Langdon was arrayed in a beautiful +suit of black cloth, with a Prince Albert coat, all fresh and costly from +the tailor's hands. The one immediately following the other in speeches +before the body, presented a contrast of appearance at once striking and +remarkable. The scene thus presented became a subject of general comment +among the members of the convention. + +The frequent contributions of Colonel Langdon to the press relative to +horticultural and agricultural processes and results had much to do, after +the close of the war, with the reawakening of the spirit which has +eventuated in the abandonment of old and worn methods of cultivation, and +in the adoption of new ones, which have brought untold wealth to the +state. + +The wreck of our industrial system and the necessity of economy by +contracting the old time plantation into a modern farm under intensive +processes, led Colonel Langdon among the first to recognize the situation +toward which we were tending, and he advocated a shift of accommodation to +meet the inevitable. Though laughed at at first as a mere dreamer, the +states of the South have gradually come to the methods advocated by him, +and have emphasized them by the establishment of schools of agriculture to +do just that which was once a matter of ridicule. + +During a period of agricultural transition from the old methods to those +of the new, Colonel Langdon was a popular contributor to the columns of +the Mobile Register, and in a period when men were groping for a more +substantial footing in things agricultural, Colonel Langdon was among the +foremost to inspire confidence and hopefulness for the future. With the +incisive penetration of a seer he forecast the return of a great +prosperity, when there should come a readjustment to prevailing +conditions. His was the vision of the genuine optimist, and the service +then rendered, though not on the whole demonstrative, was conducive to the +welfare of the state. + +The quiet courage of Colonel Langdon in facing difficulties was never +impaired by temporary defeat, nor was his ardor diminished by momentary +failure. He supported his convictions with manly pluck, and invariably +preserved a calmness of demeanor and an unchanged attitude of respect for +his opponents. His career throughout was one of sobriety and usefulness. +Men might differ with Colonel Langdon, but he compelled respect by his +sincerity of purpose and uprightness of life, private and public, even on +the part of his most vehement opponents. He was a practical patriot, a +fact which was demonstrated by a long life of usefulness. + + + + +CHARLES T. POLLARD + + +One of the first to be touched by the new industrial energy of railroads +in Alabama was Colonel Charles T. Pollard. He came to Alabama about 1840, +and located at Montgomery, where he exhibited high qualities as a +commercial genius and by his uniform courtesy came to impress the people +of the capital city not only, but leading men elsewhere in the great world +of business. He established a wide compass of business relations and the +integrity of his character was such that he commanded financial confidence +in the highest circles. Railroading was a new feature and the management +of enterprises necessarily colossal, both with respect to executive +ability and financial provision, and it therefore required the highest +qualities of skill and sagacity. Few men of that type were to be found in +those early days, and enterprises so vast, had by their very nature, to +develop them. Men frequently expand under demanding conditions, and when +qualified with latent endowments rise with the constant pressure of demand +to the utmost limit of capability. + +There can be little doubt that the decline in the statesmanship of the +South is largely due to the drain which has been made on men of great +capability to occupy positions in the expanding world of commerce. +Broad-brained, wide-visioned and many-sided men used to find their way +into politics and command the heights of statesmanship, but in demand to +existing conditions they are now found in the offices of presidents and +managers of immense interests. As the industrial world has widened, +inventive genius has found fuller play and stupendous enterprises have +come to demand extraordinary headship. These men had to be developed by +conditions, as enterprises grew and vast plans ripened. + +For reasons already partly assigned, railroads were in their initial +stages bunglingly managed as compared with the gigantic grasp with which +they are now manipulated. Only occasionally was one found in those early +days who was capable of responding to the demands of stupendous +enterprises. Colonel Pollard was one of the few. A manager of large +interests and a successful conductor of enterprises through financial +storms, while others went down under a terrible strain, he was logically +called into requisition in the infant days of railroad enterprise. He had +faced financial hurricanes when merchants and business men generally, +bankers and managers of great interests, as they were then accounted, had +been drawn into the maelstrom of ruin, and Colonel Pollard had safely +piloted his affairs through. + +Naturally enough, when the West Point and Montgomery railway was +threatened with disaster, he was summoned from his private affairs to the +rescue. It was he who revived this important public utility, infused into +it new life, and placed it first on a basis safe, sound and solid. The +excellent skill here displayed resulting in his being called into +connection with Alabama's chief artery of commerce, the Louisville and +Nashville railroad, and by means of his ability to command American and +European capital, he was enabled to plant it on a permanent basis. + +To know this giant king of finance was to confide in him. His judgment was +as clear as amber, his power of adjustment in the management of vast +concerns phenomenal, his skill in execution rare, his bearing that of one +conscious of power; his courtesy toward his peers and subordinates always +respectful, and his integrity unquestioned. + +Facing a great undertaking he measured up to it. Thus rarely equipped he +was a public benefactor at a time when such men were scarcely to be found. +With a penetrative sagacity he could see clearly at once the merits and +demerits of a given proposal or undertaking, and to its utmost limit he +could measure it and speak with accuracy of the possibility of its success +or failure. Laden with weighty responsibility which grew commensurately +with the expansion of the railway interests with which he was connected, +it is extraordinary that he was able to preserve so remarkable a poise. A +man of less ability would have chafed and worn under conditions like +these, but with his head raised above the clouds of fret and commotion, he +was invariably serene. It is with pleasure that his former subordinates +today refer to his kindly courtesy and ever polite bearing, even to the +humblest man. Under the heaviest depression no cloud was on his brow, no +tang of tartness in his speech. Of untiring energy and an activity which +would have overwhelmed most men, Colonel Pollard moved along the even +tenor of his way, commanding the respect of all alike from the highest to +the humblest. + +Without precedents to guide, for railroads were new, Colonel Pollard had +to rely on his own inherent qualifications in the manipulation of mighty +interests. The most substantial qualities were needed to master conditions +of vastness, and a creative genius was necessary to find methods of +accomplishment. In Colonel Pollard these were inherent and needed only the +occasion for their evolution. + +Few are able to appreciate the pressure of the burden borne by one under +conditions like these. With agencies moving in divers and remote +directions, and yet moving toward a common end and purpose, one in Colonel +Pollard's position had to dispatch business with electrical facility. A +sudden juncture reached had to be promptly met. The busy brain of one in +such circumstances had to be ubiquitous, directing, managing, suggesting, +dictating, hour after hour, over a vast area of diversified interests. To +lose one's poise under such conditions meant jar and jostle to the +enterprises fostered, but to be able to grapple with problems which came +trooping in every day, meant generalship of the highest order. These +forces were happily combined in Colonel Pollard. He could turn from one +interest to another with ease and facility, and his constructive genius +would readily grapple with a grave situation, attended by a flash of +suggestiveness that was phenomenal. To him official labors came easy, for +he was built for a station like this. + +For many years Colonel Pollard lived in Montgomery an honored citizen, and +most fortunate for the young employes who came within the circle of his +influence, he proved how one laden with grave matters could still be +polite and courteous, and thus preserve universal respect, however +unfavorable the environment. + + + + +SAMUEL F. RICE + + +Worthily in the muster roll of the prominent men who have contributed to +the greatness of Alabama, must appear the name of Judge Samuel Farrow +Rice. For many years he was conspicuous in the public affairs of the state +and was in some respects a remarkable man. A native of South Carolina, Mr. +Rice was trained for the bar in the law office of the distinguished +William C. Preston. He came to Alabama in 1838, and from that time till +his death, was identified with the history of the state. His first service +was that of an editor of a paper in Talladega, from which county he was +twice sent to the lower house of the legislature. After this, for a +period, he abandoned politics and was devoted to the practice of law, +being at one time a partner to John T. Morgan. + +Mr. Rice was not without congressional aspiration, which he sought to +gratify several times, but was always defeated. Four different times did +he sustain defeat in congressional races. General McConnell defeated him +in 1845, Mr. Bowdon in '47, Alexander White in '51 and Hilary A. Herbert +in '78. But he was never soured by defeat, and always accepted it in a +jocular way. No one enjoyed a joke more at his own expense than Judge +Rice. This was illustrated by the good nature with which he learned that +an old rustic in the cow country of southeast Alabama declined to support +him at one time because, as he said, "Rice ain't got no stubbility." + +Removing to Montgomery in 1852, Mr. Rice became a partner in the law firm +of Belser & Rice, but two years later he was elected one of the justices +of the supreme court of the state. He was on the bench in that exalted +tribunal for four years, during the last three of which he was chief +justice. In the early part of 1859 he resigned from the supreme bench and +was chosen to represent Montgomery County in the legislature. During the +following four years he served as senator from Montgomery and Autauga +counties. After the close of the war Judge Rice never held office, though, +as has been said, he ran against Mr. Herbert for Congress. + +Possessed of an unusually brilliant intellect and of a wit as keen as a +rapier, as well as a diction of remarkable smoothness, and a port of +serene dignity, he was a formidable contestant on the stump and in the +rough and tumble of the court room. Tall, and as straight as a flag staff, +with a face of classic mold, over which there was ever an expression of +playful humor, he was always listened to with delight, especially since +there were frequent flashes of merriment from his gifted tongue. A +Democrat till the last years of his life, he became a Republican. + +It is related of him that during the days of the reconstruction regime, he +was at one time arguing with great earnestness some proposition before one +of the incompetent judges of that period, for which judge he shared in the +contempt experienced by the able members of the bar, when he was suddenly +interrupted by the court and was told that the court had ruled on that +point only the day before. Pretending not to hear the court, he continued +until again interrupted in the same way by the court. Disdaining to notice +him, Rice continued. He was then ordered by the court to take his seat, +but still he proceeded as though he did not hear him. Addressing the +proper official, the court ordered a fine of fifty dollars to be affixed, +whereupon Judge Rice quietly sat down. The next day a case came before the +court the nature of which was such that the presiding judge was ineligible +to serve. Because of the prominence of Judge Rice, the court called on him +to preside during the trial of the case. With characteristic dignity Judge +Rice took the bench, looked quietly over the docket, and, straightening +up, called to the official who had complied with the order of the judge +the day before, and asked: + +"Was there not a fine of fifty dollars affixed against one S. F. Rice here +on yesterday?" Being told there was, he simply remarked: + +"Well, the court will remit that fine today." + +This was done in the most imperturbable manner and then he proceeded with +the case in hand. The incident produced a sudden burst of laughter, which +was hardly suppressed when, with stern dignity, he commanded: "The sheriff +will preserve order in court!" + +After he became a Republican he was frequently joked by those who had +known him in the days of his most ardent Democracy, but he was never +without a jolly parry to every thrust made, and always in the most +felicitous way. Talking to one who had long known him, he was asked at one +time what his political principles then were. With playful banter he +said: "I am a Republican with Democratic variations." His reason for +becoming a Republican was assigned by himself as a belief that a state +should have two parties, and he was willing to show his magnanimity by +joining the Republicans. However, he had but little to do with politics +till he was nominated in opposition to Colonel Herbert. They canvassed the +district together, and in strict truth Colonel Herbert was favored by +larger crowds because he was accompanied by Judge Rice. Staid and serious, +Colonel Herbert possessed none of the striking elements of a popular +speaker. On the other hand, Rice had them all and he found delight in +giving to them full expression, often at the expense of his practical +opponent. + +Intellectually, Judge Rice was a prince among men. He was justly ranked +among the ablest lawyers of the state, and as a converser he was rarely +excelled. In his lighter moods his conversation was almost boyish in its +vivacity. Nor did anything seem to quench its freshness and piquancy. He +seemed to know something about everything and everything about some +things. However men differed from him, he was so luminous and cheery that +he became the center of a group of ready listeners in any circle in which +he appeared. + +In debate he was one of the greatest of strategists. With quick and +incisive discrimination he could detect the weak points of his opponent +and would marshal his forces on these so as to lead one to forget other +points of strength. If interrupted, his repartee was usually so crushing +that he stayed in dumbness any disposition to interfere, no matter how +unfair his opponent might have at the time thought him to be. This +repartee was rarely ever offensive, but, on the other hand, was so couched +in ironical politeness and assumed suavity as to make it tenfold stronger. +While his career was not devoid of much of the zigzag, yet his life was +one of long usefulness to the commonwealth. + + + + +GEORGE W. STONE + + +For many years Judge George W. Stone was a familiar figure in the public +circles of Alabama. He was among the distinguished self-made men of the +state. His early scholastic advantages were limited, extending not beyond +the confines of a village school, yet he came to take high rank as a +jurist, being regarded in the height of his power as one of the really +great lawyers of the state. He was favored in being able to prosecute his +studies privately, and the judgment exercised by him in his self-selected +course of reading, gave evidence of that solidity of character and +acuteness of discrimination which distinguished him throughout his +professional and public career. + +Before removing from his native state, Tennessee, to Alabama, he was +admitted to the bar. He settled first in Coosa County, and later removed +to Syllacauga, and later still to the town of Talladega, where he entered +into co-partnership with the Honorable W. P. Chilton. It was in the office +of this firm that Senator John T. Morgan was fitted for the bar. The +picture of this eminent jurist riding a scrawny pony, with his huge +saddle-bags of leather well filled with books of law, along rough roads to +attend rural courts, in the early stages of his practice, is still the +occasion of laudable pride of allusion among the older citizens of central +and eastern Alabama counties. The first official position held by Mr. +Stone was that of circuit judge, to which position he was appointed by +Governor Fitzpatrick in the place of Judge Shortridge on the occasion of +the death of the latter. The service of Judge Stone on the bench was so +satisfactory that he was subsequently elected over formidable candidates +for the same position for a period of six years. He declined to offer for +re-election after the expiration of his term, and removed to Hayneville, +Lowndes County, where he engaged in the practice of the law for a period +of years. In 1849 his name was prominently mentioned in connection with +the governorship of the state. In 1856 Judge Stone was again summoned from +his private practice by being elected to the supreme bench of the state, +which position he continued to hold throughout the period of the Civil +War. In 1865 the legislature engaged his services jointly with those of +John W. Sheppard, Esq., to prepare a revised penal code of Alabama, one +adapted to the conditions occasioned by the war. + +The habits of study acquired by Judge Stone in his boyhood days in meeting +the demands occasioned by the deficiency of his education were never +abandoned. He was doggedly persistent in mastering every detail of a +subject, and seems to have acquired a passion for routine fractional work. +He took nothing for granted, never assuming that it was true, till he had +satisfied himself from the authorities. This gave a critical cast to his +mind which, in turn, resolved itself into the utmost exactness with +respect to each minute particular on any subject which would absorb his +attention. With painstaking exactness he would con over a minute point for +hours, in order to bring it into exact adjustment. His arguments were +perfectly mortised, no matter how much time was necessary to effect this +end. His labors in his office were assiduous, and a case entrusted to his +care never suffered the slightest negligence or inattention. Others might +find time for the chase or on the stream, but Judge Stone was usually +found in his office, at his desk, hammering out his cases. His studies +were varied, as he would now and then unbend from his law books to delve +into choice literature, of which he was quite fond. His literary taste was +the highest, and occasionally he would give rein to his Pegasus and dash +off a bit of fugitive poetry. This was done by way of diversion, as he +never sought publication for such productions. His concentration was +remarkable, and he could husband his resources with great readiness, ease, +and skill. + +The devotion of Judge Stone to his library prevented his attention to +social intercourse, and, like most students, he was somewhat austere in +his bearing. The glitter and clatter of the social circle had no charms +for the man whose thoughts moved on serious and solid lines. His +companionship was largely his books, of which he had a choice selection. + +In life, he was prized as an attorney for his rigid attention to cases +entrusted to his care; as a judge, for the accuracy and minuteness of his +opinions, as well as for his unquestioned fairness, and as a private +citizen, for his solid and substantial worth. No condition could swerve +him from a course of conscientious judgment, and no temptation was +sufficient to betray him into a course the least doubtful. Behind all this +was a manly courage and conviction to sustain the serenity of his +judgment. + +Thus lived and died this distinguished Alabamian, as much admired for his +private virtues as for his official service. In most respects a model man +and citizen, he was a typical official of the other days when men loved +honor more than gain, and prized integrity above the price of rubies. + +To all this was added Judge Stone's devotion to the cause of religion. He +was a devout Presbyterian of the old school, and never suffered his +religious convictions to be trenched on by the plausible pretexts of +worldly maxim. In this he was as firm and stern as he was in all other +relations in life. No juggling of politics for temporary advantage, no +suggestion from the high plane of right could deflect him from a course of +rigid scruple. His standard was honor, not applause; integrity, not gain; +uprightness in all things, not momentary success. + +This was the life lived by this eminent jurist, and this the bequest given +as an example to those who should come after him. The passing of a man +like this was the occasion of profound sorrow throughout the state that he +had so long served with distinction. + + + + +JOEL EARLY MATTHEWS + + +To present the merited claims of a typical southern planter of the olden +days is the purpose of this sketch. Than these princely planters of the +old South in the golden age of cotton, no more honorable, cultured, +dignified, or hospitable class ever existed. None is more worthy to +represent the great planting class of the South, and especially of +Alabama, than Joel Early Matthews, who died at Selma, May 11, 1874. + +Mr. Matthews sprang from Revolutionary sires. His grandfather, General +George Matthews, was a distinguished soldier in Washington's army. After +the close of the Revolution, General Matthews removed from Virginia to +Georgia, and became one of the three representatives sent by the state of +Georgia to congress. In addition to this honor, he was made governor of +Georgia for two terms. The father of the subject of the present sketch was +Colonel C. L. Matthews, who found great pride in the education of his son +in the leading colleges of the South, he having taken a course at the +University of Georgia, supplemented by another at the University of +Virginia. His first ambition was the bar, but he eventually abandoned that +and adopted planting. In those early days planting and the bar were +regarded the two most eminent vocations in the South. + +Purchasing a plantation in the heart of the black belt, near Cahaba, on +the Alabama River, Mr. Matthews spent his life there. His broad acres of +fabulous fertility were his constant pride and care, and his palatial +home was one of the most splendid in the South. Nothing like the sumptuous +hospitality of the old-time southern planter was ever before equaled, and +the conditions which entered into these superb abodes of elegance, ease +and courtliness will never be again. Immensely wealthy, the elegant +mansion of Mr. Matthews rivaled in all its appointments the palace of an +English lord. There was nothing lacking to contribute to ease, comfort, +pleasure, and culture. + +Like others of his great class in the South, Mr. Matthews did not content +himself with the mere enjoyment of that afforded by the wealth of his vast +estate. + +He was an exceedingly busy man, not only in the successful direction of +his own interests and in dispensing rare hospitality, but he directed his +energies as well to the promotion of the well-being of society, and the +enhancement and development of the resources of the state. To him the +advancement of education and religion were matters of as serious concern +as were his own private affairs. His plethoric purse was always available +to the demands of needs, and nothing was of light esteem to this generous +patriot and planter. + +The leisure afforded by his wealth was devoted to reading and study. His +library was stocked with the choicest standard works of ancient and modern +learning, and his library table was always laden with the leading +periodicals of the time. In these rural mansions of the old South were +often met some of the most profound and thoughtful of men, of whom Mr. +Matthews was a type. He had a passion for the study of the science of +government, but his studies were not confined to that particular branch of +thought. His fund of information was comprehensive, and his learning +versatile. He found peculiar delight in the study of Shakespeare, the +histories of Gibbon and Hume, the works of Bacon, Addison, Macaulay, and +others. With the study of these came a passion for the study of the +Scriptures, and the science of government as expounded by Jefferson and +Calhoun, the interpretations of the limitations and powers of the federal +constitution of whom he accepted. + +Mr. Matthews had crossed the boundary of a half century of his life when +hostilities between the North and the South began. Though deeply +interested in the principle of secession and thrilled by the patriotism +which swayed the country during the exciting days of the early sixties, he +felt that he was too old to share in the actual fray, but pledged his +fealty and fortune to Alabama in the pending crisis. In token of this he +sent his check for fifteen thousand dollars in gold to Governor Moore, to +be used by him at his discretion for the defense of the state, which was +acknowledged in the following letter: + + "Executive Department, + "Montgomery, Ala., + "January 28, 1861. + + "Mr. Joel E. Matthews, Cahaba, Ala. + + "Dear Sir:--Your munificence for the protection of the state is + accepted and the evidence of it placed upon record in this office. The + praise of one man, although he speaks as one having authority, is but + a small part of the reward which your patriotism deserves and will + receive. When the present time shall have become historic, this + donation will be an heirloom to your posterity and the example which + you have set will be a source of power to your state compared to both + of which the liberal sum of money which you have given will be as + nothing. As chief executive of the state, and acting under a deep + sense of responsibility, I have been compelled to do all in my power + to strengthen the sense of resistance in the southern mind and to + deepen the current flowing toward the independence of the state in + defense of her constitutional rights. What I have been compelled to do + by conviction of duty, you have done voluntarily, and to that extent + deserve more freely of the gratitude of your fellow citizens. Trusting + that an approving conscience and the gratitude of your state may be + your ample reward, and commending you and the state to the protecting + goodness of Providence, I remain, very respectfully your obedient + servant, + + "A. B. MOORE, + "Governor of Alabama." + +The patriotic sentiments of Mr. Matthews did not cease with this donation, +for he uniformed and equipped several military companies at his own +expense and was generous in the relief of the widows and orphans of those +killed in battle. Sharing in the gloom occasioned by the result of the +war, he was tempted to remove to Brazil in order to produce cotton in that +empire. On visiting the country he was cordially greeted by the emperor +and urged to become a subject, but he gave up the idea. When Emperor Dom +Pedro visited America in 1876 he made diligent inquiry of Mr. Matthews, +with whom he was greatly impressed. + +The life and career of Joel Early Matthews was a distinct contribution to +the weal of Alabama. Though wealthy, he was modest and devoid of +arrogance; though unusually well informed, he had respect unto the +lowliest. He was an ornament to the citizenship of the state, and when he +passed away his loss was universally mourned. + + + + +E. S. DARGAN + + +No one of more marked individuality ever appeared among the public men of +Alabama than Judge Edmund S. Dargan. He had peculiar characteristics +which, so far from concealing, he seemed to cherish them. These +peculiarities were quite out of the ordinary, and not infrequently excited +much merriment. Still Judge Dargan was a man of distinguished ability. + +Springing from an Irish ancestry in North Carolina, where Judge Dargan was +born in 1805, he was gifted with those sinewy physical qualities which had +been borne by his forbears across the seas from the bogs and fens of the +Emerald Isle. Left an orphan boy by the death of his father, who was a +Baptist minister, when the son was but a boy, he showed genuine pluck by +joining in the rough encounters of the world in an effort to procure an +education. In his younger years no ambition above that of a plodding +country farmer seems to have possessed him, for he was a common laborer +till he was twenty-three years old, though his mental activity led him to +a diligent study of the classics, to which he devoted every spare hour. + +He seemed suddenly to have been inspired by a rare vision of life, for he +abruptly left his farm work and entered on the study of the law in the +neighboring village of Wadesboro, N. C. A year later, he removed to the +young state of Alabama, which was in 1829, just ten years after the state +had been admitted into the Union. Locating in Autauga County, he taught a +private school for a period of three months. + +On making application for admission to practice law it was found that Mr. +Dargan was duly qualified by past study, and he entered at once on the +practice in the courts, after settling at Washington, in Autauga County. +His settlement in this rural village was a brief one, for he soon removed +to Montgomery. His quiet and studious habits and his habituation to hard +work served him well in his new environments, for naturally such a young +man would excite attention and win confidence. His practice steadily grew +and his reputation for close and rigid attention to business and ability +to transact it, rapidly raised him above the man of plodding mediocrity +and won for him a place of public esteem. Yielding to the solicitations of +friends, he offered for the legislature from Montgomery County, but was +defeated. A year later, however, when he was thirty-six years old, he was +elected by the legislature to the circuit of the Montgomery district. He +retained the office but one year, when he resigned and removed to Mobile +and entered on the practice of the law. + +In 1844 Judge Dargan was elected to the state senate from Mobile, which +position he held just a year, when he resigned to enter into a +congressional race against Honorable William D. Dunn, one of the most +popular and polished men of the district. In their combats on the stump +the difference between the two candidates was most novel. Dunn was neat +and tidy of dress, polished in manner, and elegant of diction, while +Dargan was indifferent alike to all these, and rather prided himself on +their absence from his being. The advantage lay on the side of Dargan from +the fact that in spite of his rough and uncouth exterior he was a forceful +speaker, and commanded the attention and confidence of the most +thoughtful, while his disregard for dress and apparent contempt for polish +won the plaudits of the rustic population. In debate he was Dunn's equal, +if not his superior, while the difference between them otherwise made him +the successful competitor. + +One session in the National Congress seemed to gratify his ambition, for +at its expiration he declined a renomination. Soon after his retirement +from congress he was elected by the legislature to the supreme bench of +the state, and two years later, on the retirement of Judge Collier from +the chief justiceship, Judge Dargan was elected to succeed him. After +serving three years in this function he resigned and resumed private +practice of the law in Mobile. + +Here Judge Dargan was profitably engaged in the practice of the law when +the war began, and in 1861 he was chosen to represent Mobile in the +constitutional convention. No sphere could have been better suited to his +taste and qualifications, and he was ranked one of the foremost members of +that body. + +Judge Dargan's career in the public service closed with his membership in +the Confederate Congress, where he served for two years only, and declined +further service in that capacity. It was while he was a member of the +Congress of the Confederacy that Governor Foote of Tennessee, a member of +the same body, took occasion to reflect seriously on Judge Dargan in the +course of some remarks on the floor, when Dargan promptly sprang to his +feet, seized Foote in the collar, with his right hand upraised, as though +he would strike him. But before violence was demonstrated, the matter was +adjusted and the incident closed. This led to an animadversion on the part +of E. A. Pollard, in one of his works on the Civil War, on Judge Dargan, +whom Pollard accused of raising a bowie knife with the view of stabbing +Governor Foote. This reckless writer was descanting at length on the +inferior type of manhood in the Confederate Congress, and made the +statement just given in substantiation of his charge. The truth is that +Judge Dargan was at his desk writing when Governor Foote assailed him in +the speech, and when he arose he still held the pen in his fingers. + +Numerous anecdotes are still related of Judge Dargan, especially with +respect to his garb. His shoes were sometimes of the cheapest styles, and +he preferred leather strings to any others. Members of the bar used to +relate how careful he was sometimes to mar his appearance before appearing +before a jury in an important case, how careful he was to untie his shoes +before leaving his office, so that they might gape the wider, and how +often his hair was unbrushed and his shirt collar was thrown open. + +When unengaged, the position of Judge Dargan was that of drowsiness. Under +this condition he wore an expression of indifference and unconcern. But +when he would arise to speak he was suddenly transformed. His eyes would +dilate and glitter, his nostrils grow thin under the intensity of +animation, and the dullness of his face would give way to a radiance that +would inspire. In the sweep and current of discussion he was a giant, and +in the clearness and forcefulness of presentation he had but few +superiors. + + + + +PETER BRYCE + + +In 1849 a woman philanthropist, Miss D. L. Dix, of New York, a sister of +General John A. Dix of that city, visited Alabama with the end in view of +establishing a hospital for the insane of this state. She was actuated to +undertake the task of visiting all the states in which there were not such +institutions, by a singular experience which had come into her life. A +cherished friend of hers had become insane, and it had fallen to her lot +to nurse that friend till death. It was no ordinary task which she +assumed, particularly at that time, when the country was ringing with the +heated politics growing out of the discussion of abolitionism, and when +there was a special antipathy for northern people in the states of the +South. But she so impressed everyone with the intensity of her spirit and +her loyalty to the distressed, that nothing was thought of but the angel +of mercy that she was, moving quietly over the land and pleading for the +sufferers from idiocy, epilepsy and insanity, defraying her own expenses, +for she was amply able to do this, and quietly giving her life for others, +and they who were afflicted with the malady of insanity. Nor were her +labors confined exclusively to this class, but she inspected the prisons +of the country, the jails and penitentiaries, and sought to mitigate the +sufferings of the prisoners. Before taking formal action with the +authorities of the state, Miss Dix traveled over the state and acquainted +herself with the conditions especially of the insane. She found at least +seven hundred sufferers from idiocy, epilepsy, and insanity. Equipped with +these facts, she was prepared to make her appeal. + +For thirty years Alabama had been a state, but her people were so +engrossed with the affairs personal and public, wrestling with the giant +difficulties incidental to a new state, that institutions of mercy had +been largely if not altogether neglected. For the unfortunate lunatics no +provision had ever been made. Miss Dix found them confined as criminals in +prison, with environments to distract and make incurable rather than +otherwise, or else they were confined in friendly homes and closely +guarded, while a fraction of the number was sent to insane hospitals in +other states. + +Arriving finally at Montgomery, this gifted woman presented the claims of +her mission to the governor and most influential members of the +legislature, and by means of a memorial addressed to the legislature, she +aroused action which culminated in the appropriation of two hundred and +fifty thousand dollars for the erection and equipment of a hospital for +the insane of the state. The law was not enacted, however, till 1852, and +the institution was not built and ready for inmates till July, 1861. It +was of supreme importance in the inception of an enterprise of this +character that a thoroughly equipped physician, qualified for this special +work, be procured. Ample time was taken to find this man, and when found +he proved to be Dr. Peter Bryce, of South Carolina. + +At the time of his election to this important post Dr. Bryce was only +twenty-six years old, but his previous training and experience had given +him the amplest equipment for a position so responsible, and time proved +that a more fortunate selection could not have been made. Trained in the +medical department of New York, after quitting which he had become +assistant physician in the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane, none +could have been better qualified for the superintendency of the new insane +hospital of Alabama. + +Dr. Bryce at once impressed everyone with his fitness on his arrival and +on his assumption of his important station. Quiet and unassuming in +manner, gentle and persuasive, and withal sympathetic and tender, his +natural gifts were supplemented by a thorough knowledge of the most +advanced scientific treatment of the insane. He entered on his important +mission and held it to the close of his life. + +His task was herculean from the outset. Besides superior qualifications +for the station to which he had been called, he must have administrative +force. Thorough organization was necessary before the work proper could +even be begun. The adjustment of means to an end in all the minute +ramifications of the hospital must be secured. The institution must not +only be set agoing, but when once begun, must be without relaxation or +cessation. More than all that, there must be prospective provision made +for an increased and increasing dependency of the unfortunate, for the +population of the state was rapidly growing, and of course there would be +an increasing demand for occupants yet to come. The responsibility was +onerous, the duty exacting, the supervision minute, and skillful +treatment in each case absolutely necessary. + +His service gave universal satisfaction. The praises of the young +superintendent resounded throughout the state, and even beyond. Hundreds +who came and were restored whole, left with blessings on the head of the +young and lovable superintendent. In his retreat of benevolence he labored +on year by year, was rarely before the public, and his tremendous work was +known only to a limited few. Confidence in him grew to be supreme, and his +fame went abroad to other states, and the hospital for the insane in +Alabama was noted among similar institutions throughout the country. + +Dr. Bryce took a position in the most advanced of the medical fraternity +of Alabama. The learned papers presented by him before the medical +convention of Alabama, from time to time, with special reference to the +disorders of the mind, were regarded as being those of the highest value. +He was a devotee to his profession, and his fame grew with the expansion +of the institution committed to his care. + +In addition to all this, Dr. Bryce was a great favorite in the social +circles of cultured Tuskaloosa. His quite dignity, pleasing demeanor, and +his learning and culture, won for him a place in the most elevated circle, +while his perennial sunshine of heart made him an idol to the unfortunate +inmates of the hospital. He became one of the first citizens of the state, +and by dint of sheer merit, he held this position to the close of his +useful life. + + + + +JOHN GILL SHORTER + + +No man of more exalted personal character ever entered public life in +Alabama than Governor John Gill Shorter. He had all the virtues of a +Christian statesman. Gentle, refined, highly cultured, modest, he was yet +a firm and faithful official. His presence produced an atmosphere of +purity and awoke the profoundest respect. + +A graduate from the University of Georgia in the class of '37, for Georgia +was his native state, he removed with his father, General Reuben C. +Shorter, to Eufaula, then called Irwinton, and after a course of study +entered on the practice of the law. Six years afterward he was appointed +by Governor Fitzpatrick solicitor of the judicial district in which he +resided. In 1845 Mr. Shorter was elected senator from Barbour County, the +first from that county after it was formed from Russell County. His +bearing and service at once attracted attention, his ability was promptly +recognized, and when Honorable George Goldthwaite was promoted to the +supreme bench, Mr. Shorter succeeded him as the judge of the judicial +circuit, in which capacity he served for nine years, being elected from +time to time without opposition. + +When the question of withdrawal from the Union was before the secession +convention of Georgia, Judge Shorter was sent as one of the commissioners +from Alabama. He later became a member of the provisional congress of the +Confederacy, and soon became a candidate for governor of the state in +response to a popular demand. In 1861 he was elected governor. + +The storm of war breaking over the country, there was imposed on the +governor an unprecedented burden, attended with unique embarrassment of an +appalling nature. Questions of a complicated nature arose in consequence +of the haste necessary to meet the tide of hostilities bearing southward, +and in the excitement of the hour and the extremity of the period, the +people were divided on numerous important issues, and from the outset, the +administration of Governor Shorter was beset behind and before with most +perplexing entanglements. The strenuousness of the times imposed burdens +on him never before borne by a governor. The difficulty was enhanced by +the fact that on the governor reposed the settlement of all questions on +which public sentiment was divided. The most conflicting demands arose +from the turbulence of the times and the passion of the period, but the +serene man at the capitol sought tranquilly to do his duty, unswayed by +aught else than a supreme sense of public responsibility. His patriotic +and philanthropic disposition led him to seek to provide for the families +of soldiers on the field, but this produced adverse sentiment on the part +of many. With zeal and interest, he sought to protect by every possible +means the exposed borders of the state against a hostile army, and gave +special attention to the fortification of Mobile by garrisoning the +outposts of that city as strongly as possible. + +As the war progressed and the demand for additional troops grew, it became +necessary to conscribe many who had failed to volunteer, and this became +the occasion of fresh difficulty, as it always does. In the execution of +the law enacted by the Confederate Congress relative to the tax in kind +for the support of the army, Governor Shorter had to stem a current of +popular opposition, and was held responsible by the masses for that which +he did in compliance with the laws of congress. Added to all this was the +necessity of the imposition of increased taxation for the support of the +state government, and for the redemption of its bonds. In the prosecution +of necessary tasks like these he became the victim of much popular wrath +and unjust abuse. But duty was clear, and without wavering the breadth of +a hair, or without chafing under the conditions, Governor Shorter met his +obligations with steadiness and firmness. To have done less than he did +would have made him recreant to his obligation, and everyone who did his +duty at that time, and under conditions so stressful, fell under the same +unreasonable public condemnation. A man of less nerve and less granite in +his soul would have been swept off his feet in a public ordeal like this. + +On the expiration of his term, in 1863, he was a candidate for +re-election, opposed by Thomas H. Watts, then attorney general of the +Confederacy, and an opponent of Governor Shorter at the previous election. + +Public sentiment had grown so morbid during the tempestuous times of the +former administration, that Governor Shorter failed of re-election. There +was a burst of ungrateful expression of popular feeling, but the result +was not unexpected. Governor Shorter had borne immense burdens in the face +of popular clamor, and naturally and logically he preferred the +indorsement of a people for whom he had done so much, while, on the other +hand, it was a relief to be unburdened at the end of two years. + +After facing the odds, formidable and imposing, during the first two years +of the struggle, and after resisting the inertia of popular discontent at +every step, he retired from office with a stainless reputation, and, +viewed at this distance, his course during the trying period of his +administration is thoroughly vindicated, and in the galaxy of Alabama +governors none has ever been more patriotic, none more firm in the +prosecution of public duty, none calmer in a storm than John Gill Shorter. +With the same serene temper with which he had deported himself in office, +he retired to private life and resumed the practice of the law in the city +of Eufaula. + +With this distinguished statesman the claims of religious obligation rose +supreme. His life was a living sermon. His honor was never questioned, nor +was his religious character impeached, nor his personal piety ever +challenged. In his character was the happiest blend of childlike +gentleness and robust manhood. In a period of doubt and storm he publicly +insisted that "there is a truth in religion; it is all true; and there is +a power in the atonement of Christ. It is a glorious reality. The +atonement of Christ will stand firm as the everlasting hills." + +Governor Shorter died in the prime of manhood, being only fifty-four when +he passed away. At the time of his death there was no more popular man in +the state. An account of his triumphant death was broadly published +throughout the country and created a profound impression. + +With faith unnerved by the presence of death, he closed his earthly career +with words quoted from an old and familiar hymn: + + "To Canaan's fair and happy land, + Where my possessions lie." + +Having quoted this couplet, he said, "I want to be off"--and died. + + + + +N. H. COBBS + + +Of a meek and unpretentious mold, Bishop N. H. Cobbs never failed to +impress the public with his deep piety and exalted character. Rising from +an humble station in life, and ascending by dint of merit to the highest +place within the gift of his church, there was nothing in his bearing to +indicate his consciousness of the honor attaching to his position. There +was a total absence from his manner of that self-assertion and sense of +self-importance so often attaching to those as highly honored as was +Bishop Cobbs. + +Conjoined to this was a cordiality of spirit which loosened all restraint +and made everyone whom he met, feel that he had met a friend. A placid +smile as natural as sunshine mantled his face and lent an additional charm +to his personality. + +The individual merit of Bishop Cobbs was shown by the fact that, with the +scantiest educational advantages in early life, he turned his stock of +information to the greatest use by teaching school in the rural districts +of Virginia. With him, to teach was to learn, for in order to give +effective instruction he had to prepare the way in advance by assiduous +nightly study. After all, this is the most effective way of procuring a +solid education, provided one knows how and what to study. Mr. Cobbs +always brought to his rustic classes the enthusiasm derived from knowledge +newly found, and the enthusiasm was contagious, as it always is under +conditions like these. + +By such methods as these the young man came to widen and deepen his +capacity, and thus became qualified to grapple with the profounder studies +which still lay ahead. He was neither superficial nor artificial, but +always solidly practical, because he had already learned to be sure of his +footing by reason of the conditions attendant on his early struggles. +Naturally modest, he won self-confidence by closeness of application, and +from this happy blend came that rotundity of character which made him the +man he was. + +His heart was already fixed on the ministry, and up to the age of +twenty-eight, during his career as a country school teacher, he was +prosecuting his theological studies. At the time already indicated, when +he had arrived at the age of twenty-eight, he was ordained deacon in +Trinity Church, Staunton, Va., and a year later, was made priest in +Richmond. He became pastor in Bedford County, Virginia, and in conjunction +with his pastoral work he officiated as chaplain in the University of +Virginia, being the first minister to serve within the walls of that +famous institution. From 1826 to 1841 he served in the general convention +of his church as one of the clerical deputies from the diocese of +Virginia. + +In 1841 Rev. Cobbs was nominated bishop of Texas by the house of bishops, +but the clerical and lay deputies declined, from motives of policy, to +sanction the action. The honorary title of doctor of divinity was given +him by Hobart College in 1843 and during the same year he became the +rector of St. Paul's Church, in Cincinnati. Another step was taken to +raise him to the bishopric by the clergy of Indiana, but the laity, +assuming, for some reason, that if elected he would not accept, did not +ratify the action. However, in 1844 the clergy and laity of Alabama +invited him to the episcopate and late during that year he entered on his +new sphere and for seventeen years, the ripest period of his life, he +served in Alabama. + +On the assumption of the charge of his diocese he found but few +Episcopalians in Alabama, the number scarcely reaching as many as five +hundred. He set himself at work without delay to effect a thorough +organization of the scattered few, and before the close of his life had +multiplied the numbers many times over. In grappling with the difficulties +of a new field, the resourcefulness acquired in his early life stood him +well in hand. He brought to his difficult task not only an administrative +equipment gained by hard experience, but an economical ability which he +had acquired in his earlier years. He was just the man temperamentally and +otherwise fitted for a pioneer work such as he undertook in Alabama. + +One possessing the gifts which Bishop Cobbs had, might have shone more +resplendently, but he was shrinkingly modest, and by this was much kept +from public recognition. He was an indefatigable worker and was as quiet +as he was effective in the execution of his plans. Without effort he won +popularity, and to his quiet demeanor and humility is his church in +Alabama most indebted. Under his auspices a diocesan school was founded, +an orphanage established, and a system of missions maintained, and through +these agencies vast good was effected. + +Bishop Cobbs had none of the striking elements of the popular pulpit +orator. He was terse and condensed in statement, and yet projectile in +force. Behind his utterances lay a dynamic conviction which was imparted +and impressed. His preaching was more to the heart than to the mind. He +believed, therefore he spoke. + +He shared deeply in the sentiment awakened by the issues that shook the +country in the early sixties, and predicted a bloody fratricidal war, but +he was spared a participation in its horrors. On January 11, 1861, while +the secession convention was assembled in Montgomery, and while the pulse +of excitement beat strong, and just prior to the adoption of the ordinance +of secession, Bishop Nicholas Hamner Cobbs passed to his reward. + + + + +LEROY P. WALKER + + +Of one of the earliest families to remove to the state, and one of the +most distinguished, Honorable Leroy P. Walker was among the most eminent +of her citizens. His father, Honorable John Williams Walker, was a +distinguished citizen, having been one of Alabama's primitive statesman, +in recognition of which one of the counties of Alabama was named for him. +But the son, Honorable Leroy P. Walker, attained to national eminence. A +profound scholar, a great lawyer, a distinguished statesman, he is justly +ranked among the first of Alabamians. + +In early manhood he was made a brigadier general of militia, but his first +appearance as a public servant was in 1843, when he represented Lawrence +County in the state legislature. He was modest and retiring during his +first term, being of a calm and studious disposition, but in 1844 he was +drawn into more active life and took a deep interest in legislative +matters. + +Subsequently removing from Lawrence to Lauderdale County, he appeared, in +1847, as a representative from that county. In 1849 he was honored with +the speakership of the house, and in the approaching session was again +given that distinction. This repeated election carried with it great +significance, as the legislature at that particular period was adorned by +a number of the most distinguished citizens of the state. He won much +esteem from the membership of the house by his dignity, impartiality and +ability. + +The distinction thus won, coupled with his recognized ability as a jurist, +led to his election to the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit in +1850. Three years later he resigned his position on the bench and was +induced to return to the legislature. Ripened by years of experience in +public life, he at once became recognized as one of the leading men of the +body, and was conspicuous in the absorbing question then before the +country, that of internal development. In the light of the present, the +sagacity of Judge Walker may be seen in the following resolution submitted +by himself to the legislature of Alabama: + +"Resolved, That the committee on internal improvement be instructed to +inquire into the expediency of affording state aid to a railroad company +connecting the navigable waters of the Mobile Bay and the Tennessee River, +and report, should it be deemed expedient, some plan, by bill or +otherwise, having this object in view; but in no event is the community to +designate the termini of the road." + +This initial measure, at that early day, coupled with the notable speech +which he delivered in support of the resolution, indicates a sagacity +which makes Judge Walker a pioneer of the development of the marvelous +resources of the state. Among the participants in the discussion of that +initial question were such men as Percy Walker, Thomas J. Judge, John +Cochran, J. L. M. Curry, Joshua L. Martin, and A. B. Meek. + +After this notable session of the legislature, Judge Walker retired to +private life, resuming the practice of the law, and did not reappear till +called out by the stirring scenes of 1860. An intense adherent of what +was called the southern movement, Judge Walker supported Breckinridge and +Lane. He was an ardent secessionist, and was one of the commissioners to +Tennessee to confer with the state authorities concerning the best policy +to be adopted by the slave-holding states. + +On the occasion of the creation of the Confederate government, Judge +Walker was named for the secretaryship of war in the Davis cabinet. While +Fort Sumter was being bombarded Judge Walker and General Beauregard were +in constant communication by wire concerning the progress of the attack. +When the news was flashed to Montgomery that Fort Sumter had fallen, +Montgomery, the new capital of the Confederacy, became a scene of +intoxicated joy. The city was filled with excited crowds, torch-light +processions, and speaking was galore. Among others, Judge Walker was +called on to speak, and, sharing in the exuberance of joy, declared that +the Confederate flag would float over the dome of the capitol at +Washington, over Independence Hall, and even over Faneuil Hall, Boston, +before our armies would retire from the field. + +This enthusiastic outburst was regarded as ill-timed and unwise, as its +logical effect would be to weld northern sentiment against the new-fledged +Confederacy, whereas up to this time this sentiment in the North was +divided. Emanating from so high a source, it was construed as representing +the sentiment of the people of the South, and then began the solid South +against the solid North. Edward Everett and Stephen A. Douglas, both of +whom had held in check the popular passions of the North with the hope of +some amicable adjustment, now advised the people to take up arms in +self-preservation since their homes were threatened by a determined +invasion. For an utterance which was pronounced untimely, Judge Walker was +blamed by Union men, both North and South, and was charged with the +responsibility of precipitating the war and of making more compact the +sections one against the other. + +But it was idle to conjure thus with words. Judge Walker bespoke the +regnant sentiment of the South. The war was inevitable and honest as were +the sentiments and efforts on the part of some to avert it, the people +thirsted for blood, and nothing short of war would satisfy. The sentiment +cherished by the South was reciprocated by the North and the expression of +Judge Walker, while it might not have been fastidiously diplomatic, was +sheer honesty. To have used a single expression of a man as an occasion +for concentration of northern sentiment, was the convenience of a pretext. +In due time the result would have been that which came, whether Judge +Walker had ever used the expression or not. Men often toy with words and +use them, as Talleyrand suggests, to conceal ideas. + +For more than a year Judge Walker remained in the Confederate cabinet, +when he retired and was commissioned as a brigadier general in the active +service. He had organized and equipped the armies of the Confederacy, and +had supervised the original movements on the field. Assigned to an +inactive command at Mobile, he requested more active service on the +field, and for some reason this was denied him, when he resigned from the +army, was appointed a military judge, and held that position throughout +the war. + +During the dark period of reconstruction Judge Walker was as conspicuous +as any in assisting in guiding the state through this perilous time, and +closed his life as one of the most distinguished of Alabama citizens. + + + + +WILLIAM L. YANCEY + + +The name of William L. Yancey is generally associated with two chief +facts, namely, that of secession and that of his brilliant oratory. The +beginning of Mr. Yancey's life was clouded by an unfortunate circumstance, +that of killing Dr. Earle, of Greenville, S. C., for which he was +sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine, but was pardoned by +Governor Noble, after about three months. In the light of subsequent +events and after all passion had subsided, this unfortunate occurrence was +popularly adjudged a deed of self-defense. + +There was something remarkable in the career of Mr. Yancey in that his +friends neither in the opening period of his life, nor for some years +afterwards, ever suspected him of the qualities either of leadership or of +oratory which he developed, and until conditions prevailed by means of +which these elements were called into exercise, did Mr. Yancey himself +come to discover himself. + +First, he was a planter near Greenville, S. C., and later in Dallas +County, Ala. This was followed by the editorship of the Cahaba Democrat, +and later of the Argus, a democratic paper published at Wetumpka. He had +previously studied law at Sparta, Ga., and Greenville, S. C., but had +never applied for license to practice. + +His advent into public life was when he represented Coosa County in the +legislature, which was during the early stages of his professional career. +Later he became a state senator from the district composed of the two +counties of Coosa and Autauga. + +Mr. Yancey's entrance into national politics was in 1844 when he was +elected to Congress to succeed Dickson H. Lewis, who had been promoted to +a seat in the National Senate. In his maiden speech on the floor of +Congress, Mr. Yancey became the recipient of a great distinction. Though +the youngest member of the party, he was chosen to defend the Southern +democrats against a furious assault made on them by Mr. Clingman, a whig +member from North Carolina. John C. Calhoun, then secretary of state, sent +for Mr. Yancey the evening before he was to speak, and advised him not to +do his best in his first encounter. + +This first effort in Congress gave Yancey national fame. It awoke comment +throughout the country. The Baltimore Sun, speaking of the effort, said, +among other things: "He is comparable to no predecessor, because no one +ever united so many qualities of the orator." Mr. Clingham's speech was +too well answered at every point for the reply of Mr. Yancey to be +satisfactory to him. While himself severe, he was offended at the severity +of Mr. Yancey's arraignment, and according to the custom of that time, +challenged the Alabamian to a duel. Both Clingman and Yancey repaired to +Baltimore to settle the difficulty on what was then esteemed "the field of +honor," Clingham being the aggressor throughout, but they were interrupted +by a civil process, and both returned to Washington, satisfied with the +result. + +In 1846 Mr. Yancey, having served two years in Congress, resigned his +seat from the necessity of repairing his fortune, and entered successfully +on the practice of law in Montgomery. Without losing interest in public +affairs, he continued rigidly devoted to his profession for about ten +years. + +In 1848 Mr. Yancey's relations to the democratic party became impaired +because of his withdrawal from the national convention at Baltimore, which +convention nominated General Cass for the presidency. His action was based +on the refusal of the Baltimore convention to incorporate into the +national platform certain resolutions adopted by the Alabama convention, +in the event of the rejection by the national convention of which, the +Alabama delegation was instructed to withdraw. Only one other and himself +withdrew from the convention at Baltimore, and during the succeeding +campaign he remained quiet. For all this he was subjected to much censure. + +With a period of ebbs and flows which come now and then to a political +party, the elements had calmed by 1858, when, at the head of the electoral +ticket of Alabama, Mr. Yancey carried the state for Buchanan. Being of +decided and pronounced views, and one who did not believe that principle +was divisible, Mr. Yancey won the unenviable distinction of being a "fire +eater," but he followed duty as he saw it, and encountered the penalty +always accorded to one of stern and fixed adherence to principle. + +Meanwhile the drift of the country was toward conflict. A states' rights +democrat, Mr. Yancey insisted on the maintenance of this principle as the +only hope of safeguarding the constitution. Accordingly in the Alabama +convention held in 1859, to select delegates to the national convention to +be held at Charleston, Mr. Yancey procured the adoption of a platform +suited to his views. At the head of the Alabama delegation he attended the +Charleston convention which declined to adopt the views presented in the +platform of the Alabama convention, and as is well known, a disruption of +the party followed. The subsequent results of that event are too well +known to be repeated here. + +The election of Mr. Lincoln in the quadrangular presidential contest, +precipitated the crisis. Secession followed with William L. Yancey as its +chief apostle. His vast powers now at their zenith, were brought into full +exercise, and the country rang throughout with his fearless declaration of +states' rights. In the creation of the new Confederacy, Mr. Yancey bore a +conspicuous part, and President Davis left to his choice any position +which he might accept, and he chose the mission to Great Britain. + +In England he employed every honorable means to induce the recognition of +the Southern Confederacy, as an independent power, but his efforts were +unavailing. At the end of a year he returned to America and announced that +if the South should win her independence it would be the result of her own +effort. During his absence abroad Mr. Yancey was chosen as senator to the +Confederate congress, but his leadership in that body was obscured by the +diversion of public thought to the armies on the field. + +Mr. Yancey died near Montgomery in July, 1863. Had the Southern +Confederacy succeeded, and had Yancey lived, his popularity would have +been boundless, but with the "lost cause" was linked in the minds of many, +the diminution of the fame of the splendid and brilliant leader of the +cause of secession in the states of the South. + + + + +HENRY W. HILLIARD + + +Among others who have contributed to the greatness of the commonwealth of +Alabama should be named Gen. Henry W. Hilliard, whose career was both +eventful and remarkable. His early life was distinguished by a precocity +which showed itself in his graduation with distinction from South Carolina +College, in its palmiest period, at the early age of eighteen. + +At twenty-three Mr. Hilliard was chosen a professor in the University of +Alabama, in which position he not only sustained his earlier reputation as +a scholar, but was quite a favorite in the best circles of Tuscaloosa +society because of his rare social qualities. At twenty-four he was +selected by the legislature of Alabama to deliver an address on the +occasion of the death of Charles Carroll, the last of the signers of the +Declaration of Independence. Though notified of his choice for this +function but a few days before the oration was to be delivered, Hilliard +acquitted himself with merit, and at once established his fame for +scholarship and oratory in Alabama. The address was published by the +legislature of the state and popularly read. + +Having been admitted to the bar at Athens, Ga., where he practiced two +years before removing to Alabama, he resigned his professorship after +three years, removed to Montgomery, and resumed his law practice. Being a +licensed minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he would now and +then preach. He soon entered on a good practice in Montgomery, and became +a favorite in the most intelligent social circles of the capital city, +where his graces were much admired. + +In 1838 Mr. Hilliard entered on public life as a representative in the +legislature from Montgomery County, was a delegate to the Whig convention +in 1840, for he belonged to the state's rights wing of that party, and +assisted in the nomination of Harrison and Tyler, he being responsible for +the nomination of Mr. Tyler for the Vice Presidency. Placed on the +electoral ticket in Alabama, he canvassed the state in the interest of +Harrison and Tyler. In 1841 he was elected to Congress, declining a +foreign mission that year, but later accepting the mission to Belgium, +which was tendered him by Mr. Tyler, who after becoming President +recognized the service rendered by Mr. Hilliard in his behalf in procuring +for him the Vice Presidency. + +Resigning after two years of service at Brussels, Hilliard returned to +Alabama, and was successively elected to congress for a period of years, +defeating, at different times, such men as John Cochran and James L. Pugh, +both of Barbour. So creditable was the first speech made by Mr. Hilliard +on the floor of congress, that ex-President John Quincy Adams, then a +member of the House, went across the hall to congratulate him. + +In congress, as ever elsewhere, Mr. Hilliard impressed all, not only by +his ability as an orator, but as a scholar, and a resourceful one. The +recognition of this latter fact led to his appointment as one of the +original regents of the Smithsonian Institution. His varied ability +resulted in unusual demands being made on him, for he was diligent, +active, and resourceful, and measured up to every obligation imposed. + +Mr. Hilliard was on the electoral tickets of Fillmore in 1856, and of Bell +and Everett in 1860. In the formation of the Southern Confederacy he was +one of the commissioners appointed by President Davis to assist in the +adjustment of Tennessee matters preparatory to the admittance of that +state into the new confederation. During the Civil War he raised a body of +troops which was known as Hillard's Legion, and was given a commission as +brigadier general. After the close of hostilities General Hilliard located +at Augusta, Ga., where for a while he engaged in the practice of the law, +and later removed to Atlanta. + +He was appointed by President Hayes minister to Brazil, which position he +filled during the years 1877-81, and the mission to Germany was tendered +him when that of the Brazilian should close. Among the brilliant events +which entered into his life was that of a participation in the +emancipation of the slaves in Brazil during his incumbency of the +diplomatic ministry to that country. It was during that time that the +question became a paramount one in that country, and his views were sought +concerning the results in the North American states, in reply to which +solicitations he wrote a long letter, which was a turning point in the +colossal movement, and assured the success of the proposed reform. In +appreciation of this service a great banquet was given in his honor in Rio +Janeiro, on the occasion of which he delivered an address which was as +remarkable as the letter which he had previously written. Both the letter +and the address were embodied by Lord Granville, secretary of state for +foreign affairs, in the Gladstone ministry, in the official blue book of +Great Britain. + +In a brief sketch like this, so imperfectly drawn, one gains but an +imperfect idea of the manysidedness of the character and usefulness of +General Hilliard. As orator, statesman, diplomat, author and soldier, +General Hilliard led a long public career of unusual distinction, marked +by utility and crowned with intellectual luster. + +He had not the consummate skill and gifts of oratory possessed by his +gigantic rival, Yancey, whom he encountered at different times in debate. +Hilliard was an elocutionist rather than an orator, and brought to the +stump and forum all the culture and niceties of that art. He was to Yancey +that which Edward Everett was to Webster. Webster and Yancey were like +mountain torrents, bearing all before them with resistless force. Everett +and Hilliard were like the summer brook, winding with graceful curve +amidst green meadows, flashing in splendor, but fructifying in their +onward course. The ability to speak effectively was derived by Hilliard +more from culture; that of Yancey more from nature. Hilliard could speak +on almost any occasion with effectiveness; Yancey needed the afflatus of +the hour derived from a sea of upturned faces, an expectant multitude, a +subject of consuming interest. Gifted with a voice of music, the diction +of Hilliard was classic, facile and fervid. + +Like a few others of our public men, Hilliard found diversion in the +employment of his fertile pen, from which came such productions as "Roman +Nights" and "De Vane." Throughout his life he illustrated the character of +the Christian statesman. + + + + +JEREMIAH CLEMENS + + +Jeremiah Clemens was a favored son of fortune. His career fell on the +palmiest period of southern history. Possessed of varied talents, his life +was correspondingly varied. He had power, and when exercised, the result +was tremendous. His intellectual strength was of a high order, his +literary taste delicate, his ability to command unquestioned, and his +oratory brilliant and potent. His varied gifts led him into the four +departments of law, politics, war, and literature. In none of these was he +deficient, for he was an able advocate, a statesman of undeniable ability, +a commander of no mean qualities, and a writer whose skill and deftness of +touch made him popular. + +The scholastic advantages of Colonel Clemens were superior. First a +student at LaGrange College, at that time a school of high class, he +completed his course at the University of Alabama. He afterwards took a +law course at Transylvania University, Kentucky, and entered on the +practice of law in 1834. His first public service was as United States +District Attorney, and for a period of years he was a member of the +legislature of Alabama. + +The spirit of the warrior and patriot was stirred within him by the +struggle of the Texans for independence, and he raised a voluntary force +to join in that contest. Of this regiment thus voluntarily raised, he +became the lieutenant-colonel. The command marched westward, shared in the +battles of that land of plains, and returned when the struggle was ended. +Again entering politics, he represented his county in the legislature of +Alabama, where he won distinction as a debater and statesman, and later he +became a Democratic elector in a presidential contest. In all these +stations Colonel Clemens showed more than ordinary ability and won a +degree of distinction. + +Having gotten a taste of war in the struggle in Texas, he was again +induced to employ his sword in the Mexican War. Becoming +lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Infantry, his command participated in a +number of battles in Mexico. In 1849 he was appointed governor of the +civil and military department of purchase in Mexico. In this connection he +served till the close of the war with Mexico, after which time the army +was reduced and Colonel Clemens returned to Alabama and resumed the +practice of law. + +Vast opportunity had thus been afforded this gifted man for the +enlargement of his vision of affairs, and it had not been slighted. His +military career had served to bring him into increased conspicuousness and +to enhance his popularity. When Hon. Dixon H. Lewis died in New York, +Colonel Clemens was elected to fill his unexpired term. + +All this had been achieved by Colonel Clemens by the time he was +thirty-five years old, a period when most men begin the accomplishments of +life. In a wide and commanding orbit such as was afforded in the United +States Senate, Colonel Clemens came to be one of its most popular members. +He was an orator of the Ciceronian type, and his utterances flashed with +the radiance occasioned by the friction of intense thought. His combined +qualities and varied experience in different spheres of life served him +admirably when on his feet in the Senate chamber. He could husband his +resources with skill and with remarkable readiness, and his sentences fell +from his lips like minted coin fresh from the stamp--bright, beautiful, +and warm. Independence and self-assertion he had in abundance, nor was he +lacking in genuine courage, but his temperamental disposition lent to +these qualities a degree of dash which sometimes betrayed him into +rashness which often induced men to hesitate to follow his leading. The +spirit of the warrior in battle was often his in the rough and tumble of +debate, but he found that the dash of the field in the leadership of man +would not prevail in the cool, staid thoughtfulness of the forum. He was +the dash of the mountain stream rather than the buoying and staying power +of the deep lake. A rapid thinker and a man of brilliant action, he was +more the subject of impulse than of calm and judicial poise. This +neutralizing element alone prevented Colonel Clemens from becoming a great +leader. That he had the qualities of leadership none denied, but he lacked +the poise that made his position a stable one. Still this did not prevent +his attainment to national distinction as a United States senator. + +In the indulgence of his literary tastes Colonel Clemens published, in +1856, his first book, "Bernard Lile," a romance fascinating alike for its +rosy diction, its rapid movement, and its shifting episode. At the time of +its appearance, the work created a considerable sensation. This was +followed two years later by his second work, "Mustang Gray," which was +born of his observations and experiences in the Mexican War. The first +work prepared the way for a wider circulation of the second, the +popularity of which was derived in part from its proximity, in point of +appearance, to the scenes and events of the recent war with Mexico. For a +season "Mustang Gray" was the reigning novel. Within little more than a +year from the time of the appearance of "Mustang Gray" there came from the +prolific pen of Colonel Clemens "The Rivals," based on the stirring scenes +grouped about the period of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The cast of +the novel as a work of art has changed since the time of the appearance of +these stories, but they aptly represent the romance of that period, and +are not wanting in genuine merit. + +Politically Colonel Clemens was a Unionist. He belonged to the school of +politics of which Benjamin H. Hill was a conspicuous representative. From +his antecedents and his cavalier dash, the inference would logically be +that Jeremiah Clemens would be an ardent secessionist, but he was opposed +to immediate secession, and preferred the adoption of a co-operative +policy, after a thorough consultation of the states, which was aggrieved +by the election of Mr. Lincoln. While opposed to the ordinance of +secession, Colonel Clemens voted for it by a surrender of his conviction, +because, such was the condition of the time, that not to support it would +have placed him in opposition to his native state. In an emergency like +this Colonel Clemens yielded his convictions and went with the state. He +was appointed a major general, commanding the state troops of Alabama, a +precautionary step taken by the state, provided it should be thrown back +on itself as a result of its voluntary withdrawal from the Union. The +union proclivities of Colonel Clemens never forsook him, and during the +latter part of the Civil War he went to Philadelphia, where he wrote an +unfortunate pamphlet, ill-timed and unwise, which gave great offense. He +died near the close of the war. + + + + +THOMAS H. WATTS + + +The name of Thomas Hill Watts in the records of the state is inseparable +from a high standard of professional, public, and moral greatness. +Gigantic in person, he was equally so in all things else. He was long in +the public eye, and bore himself with so signal greatness that he is +remembered as one of the most conspicuous public figures that ever graced +the annals of Alabama. Distinguished by unusual parts even in his boyhood +days, his father, who resided near Butler Springs, in Butler County, gave +to the promising son the best advantages then afforded in scholastic +training by sending him to the University of Virginia. At that time that +institution was pre-eminently the greatest in the Union. Following the +popular trend of those days, pursued by almost every young man of promise, +Mr. Watts chose law as a profession, and began practicing at Greenville. +He soon distinguished himself at the bar, and while still a young man was +chosen to represent Butler County in the legislature. For three successive +sessions he was the choice of his county for this position, and maintained +himself with meritorious merit, as is shown by the repetition of his +election so long as he would serve. + +Locating in Montgomery, he entered on a successful practice of his +profession, and for a long period of years preserved the reputation of +being one of the leading members of the Montgomery bar. In 1855 he was +again summoned from private life to represent his party, the Whig, in a +contest for congress against Col. James F. Dowdell. Mr. Watts was +defeated after an exciting canvass, but the campaign resulted in his +acknowledged leadership of his party in the state. In the memorable +presidential campaign of 1860, Mr. Watts was the leader of the electoral +ticket in Alabama for Bell and Everett. Being a union man and opposed to +secession, his patriotism rose superior to his party fealty, and after the +election of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Watts was as pronounced a secessionist as +any. Under existing conditions he recognized the fact that not to go with +his state was treachery, his position and sentiments being precisely those +of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Men of this school of thought deplored the +necessity of war and would gladly have averted it if possible, but when it +became inevitable there was but one course left open. Consequently in the +constitutional convention of 1861 Mr. Watts was as ardent in the +expression of southern rights as was Mr. Yancey himself. The country was +in the ferment of agitation and hostility. The south was threatened with +invasion, and every patriot was stirred. Thomas H. Watts was among the +first to raise a regiment and offer his services to the Confederacy. +Becoming the colonel of the Seventeenth Alabama regiment, his command saw +its first service at Pensacola, which at that time seemed to be destined +one of the strategic positions of the approaching conflict, but the +regiment was soon ordered to join the army of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson, +in Tennessee. In the battle of Shiloh Colonel Watts displayed the +qualities of a soldier equal to those shown by him in other spheres which +he had occupied. He was cool, courageous, and daring under fire, to so +marked a degree that he won the attention of his superior officers, and +his conduct in that battle became a subject of popular comment throughout +the country. + +Much to his surprise, while in camp at Corinth, Miss., he was summoned to +Richmond by President Davis, who offered him the portfolio of the attorney +general in his cabinet, a place made vacant by the appointment of Hon. +Judah P. Benjamin as secretary of war. Responding to the call, Colonel +Watts resigned the command of his regiment and went immediately to the +seat of the Confederate government. Here he remained in the cabinet of Mr. +Davis till October, 1863, when he resigned to offer for the governorship +of Alabama. + +The struggling Confederacy had now reached its crisis. The position to +which Colonel Watts was elected, as governor of Alabama, was one of the +most trying possible. The administration of his predecessor had been +attended by storm and tumult. A dire extremity confronted the new and +struggling republic, as in its efforts it was seeking to gain a solid +footing. Disaster had followed disaster, relieved only by the brilliant +achievements of the southern soldiery against formidable odds. Thenceforth +it was a fight for life. + +From the outset, his position as war governor of Alabama was beset by +gigantic perplexities, but bringing to the task his resources and skill, +he was enabled to effect as much as any one could under prevailing +conditions. He turned to practical advantage the limited means within +reach, and won distinction by his mastery of a difficult situation. The +geographical situation of Alabama, as the center of the Confederacy, with +one of the stormiest seats of war in the adjoining state on the north, and +with a seaboard exposed on the south, it was inevitable that the state +would share in the invasions to which were subjected the states adjoining. + +In April, 1865, Montgomery fell into the hands of the enemy. Besides much +patriotic sacrifice as a public official, Governor Watts suffered +immensely in his private fortune, as one of the consequences of the +invasion. The enemy seemed to find special pleasure in wreaking his +vengeance on a man who had been so conspicuous since the beginning of the +struggle. The federal troops burned two hundred and fifty bales of cotton +on his plantation, besides three thousand bushels of corn, much of which +was sacked ready for distribution among the suffering people of his native +county, Butler. His meat supplies were also destroyed, and his plantation +depleted of stock, among which were forty valuable mules. In a single day +he was reduced from wealth to poverty, in consequence of his loyalty to +his native state and section. + +But sustained by an unusually happy temperament and an optimism which was +inspired by hope, he at once opened his law office, after the cessation of +hostilities, and devoted himself again to the practice of the law in the +city of Montgomery, to which he devoted the remainder of his life. His +last years were characterized by an ability which comes of a pre-eminent +native intellect, reinforced by long experience and years of garnered +wisdom. To have heard him in the courts would sometimes remind one of a +Titan sweeping a continent of thought. Besides, he was a good man. It is +to his credit, as a public servant, that amidst the most stirring periods +through which the state passed, he was not only abstemious of all +intoxicants, but enjoyed the distinction of never having offered to +another a drink. A devoted Christian gentleman, he lived and died. + + + + +J. L. M. CURRY + + +Jabez L. M. Curry was one of the most noted and brilliant sons of Alabama. +His was a long, stirring and useful life. Filling divers stations of +trust, he proved to be the equal of any. Statesman, soldier, minister of +the gospel, educator, publicist, reformer, diplomat--all these spheres +were held by him with distinction. His versatility of gifts was wonderful, +his accomplishments striking. Polished, scholarly, wise, eloquent, genial, +he was easy of adjustment to all stations and relations, and bore himself +throughout life without the slightest whisper of disparagement to his +character or career. + +A native of Georgia and a graduate from the university of that state, he +took a law course at Harvard in 1845. He became a resident of Alabama in +1837, and after the completion of his scholastic and professional courses +he entered on the practice of law. His talents veered more in the +direction of public affairs than toward the law office or the court room, +and in 1847 he was in the legislature, a representative from Talladega +County. In this capacity he served till 1856, when he became a Buchanan +elector. + +The popularity thus obtained by Mr. Curry enabled him to go to congress +for two consecutive terms, and in 1861 he entered the Confederate +congress, where he served for two terms. Entering the army he was +lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Alabama Cavalry regiment, in which he +served till the close of the war. He became an active participant in the +struggles which attended on the period of reconstruction, and in the +seventies entered the Baptist ministry, preaching with the same acceptance +with which he had served in other stations. He was never a pastor, and +eventually gave up preaching, but preserved a blamelessness of life that +has made his memory one to be revered by all who knew him. + +From 1866 to 1868, he was the president of Howard College, then at Marion. + +For a period of years Dr. Curry was a member of the faculty of Richmond +College, Virginia, where he found opportunity for the indulgence of his +literary tastes which were superior to those of most public men. While in +the early part of his career he was reserved and silent, for the most +part, in the deliberative and legislative bodies of which he was so often +a member, he became in the meridian of his splendid powers one of the most +attractive speakers in the country. His elements of strength as an orator +were forcefulness, impressiveness and projectility of power which carried +earnestness and elegance of diction. Welling from intensity of conviction +and profound conscientiousness, men saw and felt that he was absolutely +sincere, believed that which he advocated, and this gave him immense force +before a public assemblage. + +Becoming the general agent of the Peabody Educational Fund, in 1881, and +later of the Peabody and Slater Funds, he did much for the promotion of +the education of both races in the south. In this capacity Dr. Curry was +frequently brought before the legislatures of the different states of the +south in the urgency of appropriations for educational purposes, and was +a vigorous contributor to the cause of general education for a long period +of years. + +In 1885 he was sent as United States minister to the court of Spain, and +was a warm personal friend of King Alfonso XII, who died before the birth +of his son, the present monarch of that country. On the occasion of the +coronation of Alfonso XIII, the present king of Spain, Dr. Curry was sent +as special ambassador of the United States to Madrid, where he was greeted +with the same cordiality as was accorded to him in former years, during +his service as minister to that country. + +Highly favored with fortune throughout his life, Dr. Curry found time and +leisure to gratify his taste for literary pursuits, which enabled him to +enter the field of authorship and to produce a number of valuable works. +Besides many small works, usually of a religious character, Dr. Curry +wrote "Constitutional Government in Spain," a "Life of Gladstone," "The +Southern States of the American Union," and "The Civil History of the +Confederate Government." + +On the occasion of his death a few years ago at Richmond, Va., the recall +of his long and varied life and services was a subject of much favorable +comment in the press throughout the nation. For almost sixty years he had +been uninterruptedly before the public, in a variety of capacities, rarely +equalled in number by any one. The ability with which he was able to +adjust himself to the demands of these varied stations occasioned much +astonishment and favor of comment. + +In the quieter walks of life, Dr. Curry acquitted himself as he did while +in the public gaze. A polished and accomplished gentleman, with a +striking personality, he was equally accessible to the learned and the +humble. Absolutely free from austerity or the semblance of arrogance, +preserving throughout a gentle dignity, his demeanor was alike to all. It +is not a matter of wonder therefore that he was universally popular. + +Typically southern in thought and sentiment, and representing that which +was highest in the life of the social South, no one of either section ever +excelled Dr. Curry in the interest which he entertained for the negro +race. Some of the most striking and eloquent passages in his addresses +before the legislatures of the states of the South were earnest pleas in +behalf of the education of the negro. Both North and South he fairly +represented the black race, and regarded the whites of the South +providentially entrusted with a trusteeship of these people, which +obligation they should not deny nor avoid. He was in thorough accord with +Bishops Haygood and Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in +his advocacy of the claims of the negro to justice and protection, and for +equipment for the greatest possible usefulness. + +There was a rotundity and symmetry of character and of career in Dr. J. L. +M. Curry that made him a very remarkable man. His relations of friendship +extended from men in the loftiest stations of American life to that in the +lower social rounds. + +With a long life of distinguished ability in so many directions spanning a +period of three score years, it is not to be wondered at that when the +most typical American was sought to be represented in Statuary Hall, at +Washington, the popular eye was directed at once to Dr. Jabez LaFayette +Monroe Curry. + + + + +ROBERT E. RODES + + +Of the many chieftains developed from the Alabama soldiery during the +Civil War, none eclipsed in dash, efficiency, and brilliance of +leadership, Gen. Robert Emmet Rodes. A native of Virginia, and the son of +Gen. David Rodes, the subject of this sketch was trained for war by a +thorough military course at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, +from which institution he was graduated on July 4, 1848. So distinguished +had been his career as a student, that he was retained for two years as +assistant professor, and when a commandant was to be chosen, the name of +Rodes was mentioned in close connection with that of Thomas J. Jackson, +afterward "Stonewall," for that position. + +Entering on the career of a civil engineer, Rodes was first employed in +that capacity in his native state, in the construction of a railroad, but +he was later induced to go to Texas as an engineer. In 1855 he became +assistant engineer of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, where after +two years' service he was made chief engineer, during which time he was +located at Tuscaloosa, where he was married. + +He was a resident of Tuscaloosa when the war began. Even in advance of a +declaration of hostilities he raised a company of cadets and went to Fort +Morgan. In the spring of 1861 he became the colonel of the Fifth Alabama +regiment, which command saw its first service at Pensacola. It was here +that he gave evidence first of his superior soldiery qualities on the +drill ground and the camp. Superb and exacting as a drill officer, and a +martinet in discipline, he did not at first impress a citizen soldiery, +and to the proud southern youth, unused to control, the young colonel was +not at first popular. In disregard of all this, he pitched his code of +discipline on a high plane, and enforced with rigid hand the strictest +army regulations. + +While the raw volunteer troops were lying inactive at Pensacola, the +authorities watching the drift of the initial events of the war, Colonel +Rodes was daily drilling his troops, and gave them a pretty thorough taste +of war, even in the camps. When later in the spring of 1861 his command +was ordered to Virginia, it was believed by many competent officers that +Colonel Rodes had the best drilled regiment in the army. So distinguished +did the regiment become in army circles, that officers of other commands +would attend on the drill of the Fifth Alabama regiment to witness the +accuracy of its evolutions and to note the perfection of the condition of +the accoutrements of each soldier. When the young troops had become inured +to actual army life, and the habits of the soldier had become fixed by +reason of time, the rigid and exacting commander was transformed into an +object of admiration, and that which at first excited opposition was +transmuted into popularity. + +The regiment of which he was the colonel barely missed becoming engaged in +the first battle of Manassas. The regiment, belonging to the command of +Gen. Joseph E. Johnson, came upon the scene just after McDowell's lines +broke, and the flight to Washington began. + +In October, 1861, Rodes was made a brigadier general. He was under fire at +Williamsburg, but the battle of Seven Pines was the first in which the +command was actually engaged. Here the estimation of the troops of their +brilliant young commander was greatly heightened, as they were led by him +in this series of bloody contests. In this battle, Rodes received a wound +in his arm, but was able to lead his troops into the battles of Boonsboro +and Sharpsburg. At Chancellorsville, one of the bloodiest of the war, +Rodes was entrusted for the first time, with the command of a division, +one of the three of Jackson's corps. + +The division of which he had command led the army in the assault on the +enemy, and thrilling his troops with the cry, "Forward, men, over friend +and foe!" they fought with unwonted valor. With an impetuosity rarely +witnessed, the division commanded by Rodes swept like a wave on a stormy +sea to the utter dismay of the enemy. + +As is well known, both Generals Jackson and A. P. Hill were wounded during +the night, and on the young commander was imposed the movement so +auspiciously begun, which movement was checked only by the darkness of the +night. General Rodes was preparing to renew the daring movement with the +break of day, and would have done so, had not Gen. J. E. B. Stuart arrived +to take command, in response to a message from Colonel Pendleton of the +artillery. + +On the arrival of Stuart, Rodes quietly yielded the command, under the +impression that the superior officer could inspire more confidence in the +troops. That General Rodes would have more successfully executed the +original plans had he retained command, was the belief of not a few army +officers. In view of his brilliant movements on the preceding day, +confidence in him was well nigh supreme. As a result of his skill and +courage on the field at Chancellorsville, Rodes was made a major general. +Appearing before his old regiment, he made the fact known, and said: "The +Fifth Alabama did it." It proved as easy for him to command a division as +it had previously been that of a regiment, as was shown in the battles of +Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and the second battle of Cold +Harbor. + +By this time, Rodes had become the idol of his troops, and his skill and +fighting qualities were subjects of general comment throughout the army. +So impressed was General Lee by his splendid charge at Gettysburg that he +sent an officer to General Rodes to thank him and his gallant command for +their conduct in that bloodiest battle of the Civil War. + +On the retirement of Early's corps from Maryland, Rodes was in position to +inflict severe blows on the enemy at Castleman's Ferry and Kernstown. At +Winchester, he fought his last battle. His death was a calamity to the +army. As General Early testifies in his history, "In the very moment of +triumph and while conducting the attack with great gallantry and skill," +General Rodes was killed by the fragment of a shell striking near his ear. +He survived the wound but a few hours. + +On the night following the day in which he fell, many of the wounded of +his command were huddled in a large warehouse near the scene of conflict. +The groans of the suffering men filled the air, none of whom had heard of +the fate of their loved commander. The wareroom was densely dark, to which +was imparted additional horror by the piercing moans of the suffering. +During the reign of terror, another ambulance train brought in a fresh +supply of wounded from the field. Some one overheard the remark that +General Rodes had been shot through the head on the battlefield and was +dead. For an instant every voice was silent, and in another, men began to +weep like babes, over the fall of their great and gallant general. + +Rigid as General Rodes was, even sometimes to sternness, his troops almost +worshipped him, and a sight of him invariably evoked cheers which were +rarely given to any excepting to Lee and Jackson. In his work on the war, +General Early says of Rodes, "He was a most accomplished, skillful and +gallant officer upon whom I placed great reliance." + +As a soldier, he acted in thorough response to duty, and as a commander he +demanded the same respect for duty which he himself exemplified. + + + + +JOSEPH WHEELER + + +If ever one honorably won a sobriquet it was "Fighting Joe Wheeler." He +was a born fighter, a bold and brave commander, and an efficient officer. +The beginning of the Civil War found him in the regular army as a +lieutenant of cavalry, located in New Mexico, having graduated from West +Point just two years before. When he resigned his commission in the army +of the United States and offered his sword and service to the Confederate +states, he was just twenty-five years old. + +His ascent in promotion in the army of the Confederacy was rapid. First +becoming a lieutenant of artillery, he was promoted to a colonelcy of +infantry, then he became a brigadier general, later a major general, and +the close of the war found him a lieutenant general of cavalry. + +So early as 1862, little more than a year after the war began, he +commanded the cavalry corps of the western army, and was made senior +cavalry general of the Confederate armies on May 11, 1864. He had been in +the army scarcely a year before he received the thanks of the Confederate +Congress for his magnificent service, and of the legislature of South +Carolina for his defense of Aiken. + +Always active, his course through the turbulent years of the Civil War was +marked by a series of splendid achievements, scarcely equaled in number by +that of any other officer in the army. Without the dash and daring of +Forrest, Wheeler was just as effective a fighter. Forrest's method was +that of Indian warfare, keeping an eye always on the slightest advantage +afforded, and at great risk oftentimes going to a reckless extent in order +to win. He would often win all by risking all. In his case this proved +effectual, and so signal became his success, and so often, that the enemy +came to regard him as a sort of wizard of battle. + +As a West Pointer, Wheeler was far more scientific in his methods and +movements, and more cautious, but dashing as any when occasion required. +His were the tactics of the schools; the tactics of Forrest found apt +expression from him on one occasion when he said that his plan was "to get +thar first with the biggest crowd." + +It was Wheeler who captured General Prentiss' division in the battle of +Shiloh, and later with his division of cavalry covered the retreats from +Shiloh, Corinth and Perryville, and accomplishing this with such skill as +to win the commendations of the Confederate generals. + +At Murfreesboro he was again conspicuous, turning Rosecrans' flank, +capturing many prisoners and wagons, and destroying gunboats and supplies. +He distinguished himself at Chickamauga, and after the battle had been +fought made his famous raid around Rosecrans' rear, destroying one +thousand two hundred loaded wagons. Wheeler's feats of valor in east +Tennessee and in the retreat from Missionary Ridge and during the eventful +struggle from Chattanooga to Atlanta were marvelous. In his active +strategic movements he captured many wagon trains, thousands of beef +cattle and thwarted Cook's great raid. + +Wheeler saved Macon and Augusta during Sherman's march to the sea, and by +hanging on the flanks and rear of Sherman, harassed and embarrassed him +during his invasion of the Carolinas. For the services rendered in Georgia +in the protection of two of its chief cities, he received the personal +commendation of President Davis. + +Wheeler's personal presence in the lead of his command was always an +inspiration to his troops. None was braver, and oftentimes he was exposed. +In consequence, he was three times wounded, had sixteen horses shot under +him during the war, seven of his staff officers were killed, and +thirty-two wounded. This brief and rapid summary of his achievements +affords but a bare idea of the strenuousness of his career during the +stormy days of the Civil War. Becoming a planter after the war closed, in +the northern part of this state, he was chosen for many successive years +to represent the eighth district in congress. His activity in +congressional life was as distinguished as it had been on the field. An +indefatigable student of affairs, he rested not till he had probed to the +bottom of all important questions. His statistical information was +wonderful, and when accuracy on all great issues was needed, it became a +proverbial suggestion about the capitol at Washington to "ask Wheeler." +Frequently he could give offhand a long series of statistics, and was +resorted to as an encyclopedia. + +When the Spanish-American War began, President McKinley made Wheeler a +major general and sent him to Cuba, where he was placed in command of the +cavalry. His fighting qualities had not become diminished, nor was his +force abated. In the two chief battles, Santiago and El Caney, he was the +most conspicuous figure. Smitten by the Cuban fever, he quit his sick bed +and went on horseback to the front of the line all day at San Juan, and, +though burning with fever, after twelve hours of fierce battle and +exposure, interposed before discouraged officers who were suggesting +retirement from positions already won, and that could be held only by +unflinching bravery, and in the face of every officer indignantly declined +to hear of retreating one foot. General Shafter was in command, and +Wheeler warned him against the proposal to retreat, and by his splendid +and fearless courage of heart and determination, turned the disheartened +ones the other way by infusing into them his own tenacity of purpose. The +victim of a raging fever, he appeared before his troops at one stage +during the hardest fighting at San Juan, and, forgetting, for the moment, +his whereabouts, he said in a brief address to his men: "Now, at them, +boys, and wipe those Yankees off the face of the earth." This was the +occasion of much merriment, but indicated the spirit of the little man of +one hundred and ten pounds who stood ready to lead the charge. Wheeler was +the occasion of the success of the two great battles. + +At his own request, he was sent to the Philippines, but there he was +hampered by the authorities in his operations, while opportunities were +given to others. He returned to the United States, was retained with his +commission in the service and assigned to duty near New York, where, after +a few years, he died. + + + + +RAPHAEL SEMMES + + +No more picturesque figure was there during the war between the states +than Admiral Raphael Semmes. As far as one could, he supplied the sad +deficiency of the navy to a young and struggling government such as the +southern Confederacy was. Daring in the extreme, Semmes was just the man +to turn to practical advantage the slim facilities at the command of the +infant government of the Confederate States. His was a sort of guerrilla +warfare on the high seas. + +For a long period of years, Semmes had been a rover of the deep, but, +after seeing much service, he had retired to private life. As early as +1826 he was appointed a midshipman by President John Quincy Adams. Later +he studied law under his brother at Cumberland, Md., and received his +license to practice in 1834. The first duty assigned him in the navy after +he had undergone an examination, was that of second master of a frigate, +but he was soon promoted to a lieutenancy in the national navy. For +several years he cruised the seas of the globe, and in 1842 removed to a +home on the Perdido River, and seven years later took up his residence in +the city of Mobile. + +When the Mexican War began Semmes served under Commodore Conner at Vera +Cruz, where he was in command of a battery of breaching guns. Throughout +the war with Mexico, he served in the American fleet. After the +declaration of peace, he was made inspector of lighthouses on the Gulf of +Mexico, and in 1858 he rose to the position of a commander in the fleet, +and was made secretary of the lighthouse board, with headquarters at +Washington. + +Resigning his position when Alabama seceded from the Union, he repaired to +Montgomery, the first capital of the Confederacy, where he was made +commander of the Confederate navy. With the "Sumter," which Secretary +Mallory had named in honor of the first victory of the war, Semmes began +his "services afloat." The "Sumter" was a slender vessel and one of small +capacity, but it was all that could be practically called the Confederate +navy. But with this light cruiser, Semmes scoured the seas, and within a +few months captured seventeen merchant vessels, after which the small +vessel was disposed of, and Semmes having the "Alabama," a real gunboat +for that time, built in England, and secretly sent to the Azores Islands, +he assumed command of it and began in real earnest an offensive warfare on +the high seas. He wrought rapid havoc with his little gunboat, burning +fifty-seven of the enemy's ships and releasing many others on ransom bond. +There being no ports open for condemning, Semmes burned his captures as +permitted by international law. + +Dashing here and there over the deep, the operations of the "Alabama" were +a series of brilliant exploits which attracted the attention of the world. +Now at the Azores, again within two hundred miles of New York, then +appearing unheralded in the regions of the West Indies, he suddenly +appears in the waters of the Gulf off Galveston, Texas, sinks the federal +steamer "Hatteras," capturing and paroling the crew, then dashing away to +the coast of South America, he crosses the Cape of Good Hope, sweeps over +the Indian Ocean, and in his work goes half way round the globe. That +which was being done by the most daring and dashing commanders on land, +was being done by Semmes on the high seas. Swift and tactical, he would +appear at the most unsuspected time and in the most unconjectured quarter, +and spread terror and destruction. + +For three years, Semmes roamed the seas of the world uninspired by the +press and people of the South, for his deeds of daring were unknown, by +reason of the blockaded ports of the Confederacy, and yet single-handed +the little gunboat accomplished results that were wonderful. The story of +a phantom ship ploughing the seas and accomplishing amazing feats, could +scarcely be more romantic than was that which was actually done by Semmes +and his little gunboat. + +The enemy, discovering what havoc the gunboat under Semmes might +eventually work, had built a better and stronger vessel of more improved +pattern to pit against her. The "Kearsarge" was ready for action early in +1864, and sought the "Alabama" in French waters. Semmes was blockaded at +Cherbourg, where he remained as long as he could in a neutral port, and on +June 19, 1864, he steamed out of that port, aware of the fact that he was +going against a vessel every way his superior. It was known that an +encounter would take place, and the people of Cherbourg sought every +elevated place to witness the naval duel. After some slight maneuvering +the battle began. A hundred-pound shell was fired from the "Alabama" and +was buried in the rudderpost of the "Kearsarge," which rudderpost was +unarmored, and the shell failed to explode. It was well directed, and it +is believed that had it exploded the "Kearsarge" would have been sunk. +Unharmed by the guns of Semmes, the new vessel did speedy and effective +work, and the "Alabama" began to sink. Together with Semmes stood Kell, +his second in command, on the deck of the ill-fated vessel, till it was +ready to sink, when they cast their swords into the sea and leaped +overboard. They, together with the rest of the crew, were taken from the +water by the "Deerhound," an English vessel, and taken to England. + +Returning to the South, where he was made rear admiral, Semmes was placed +in command of the James River fleet, which suffered destruction on the +fall of Richmond. Escaping with his command to North Carolina, Semmes +joined the army of General Johnston and his men were formed into a brigade +of artillery. The war was now practically over, and Semmes was paroled at +the capitulation along with all others, but was afterward imprisoned for +several months, and finally pardoned. + +After serving as a professor in the Louisiana Military Institute, Admiral +Semmes returned to Mobile and began the practice of law, giving his +attention, for the most part, to constitutional and international law. He +died in Mobile, which city honors his memory, as is attested by a monument +which adorns the most conspicuous spot in the city. + +The deeds and valor of Semmes have not yet been recognized. Had the +independence of the South been achieved, he would have been one of her +most honored heroes, but he belonged to a lost cause, and that fact will +serve to dim for a period of years his history, but one day it will be +known in its fullness, and then will it shine among the most resplendent +of the daring heroes of the deep. His career was as brilliant as it was +daring. + + + + +JOHN PELHAM + + +The heroism of Alabama manhood was never more essentially embodied than it +was in the career and character of the gallant young soldier, John Pelham. +His name was repeatedly mentioned on the lips of the Confederate +chieftains as "the gallant Pelham." By no other name was he so generally +known in the great galaxy of heroes in the Army of Northern Virginia. +Pelham was especially admired by Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson +and J. E. B. Stuart. A prodigy of valor, he enjoyed the admiration of the +entire army. + +The Civil War found Pelham a cadet at West Point. He was then about +twenty-two years old. He was not specially gifted in his textbooks, but +his work as a student was solid and substantial. Just before he would have +received his diploma he quit the military academy, early in 1861, and +started southward. The country throughout was feverish with excitement, +and everyone going toward the South was eyed with suspicion, which made it +difficult to get through the lines. By the employment of stratagem, Pelham +was enabled to slip through the lines at Louisville, professing to be a +secret scout of General Scott. + +Making his way to Montgomery in April, 1861, that city then being the +capital of the new Confederacy, Pelham tendered his services to Honorable +Leroy Pope Walker, secretary of war, and was at once given a commission as +first lieutenant of artillery in the regular army, and promptly assigned +to duty at Lynchburg, Va. His efficiency was at once recognized, and he +was transferred to Imboden's battery, at Winchester, where he was assigned +to duty as drillmaster. + +Pelham's first taste of war was at the first battle of Manassas, where his +skill was so conspicuous and his courage was so daring as to attract the +attention and admiration of the commanders of the army. This was followed +by a commission to raise a battery of six pieces of horse artillery, which +he proceeded to do during the months immediately following the July in +which the first great battle of the war was fought. His battery was +rapidly gotten into admirable shape, and he was soon ready for effective +service. + +The battle of Williamsburg afforded him the first opportunity of engaging +the men of his new command. Pelham was so cool and skillful in the +fiercest parts of the battle that he excited the wonder of his superiors. +With a steadiness unshaken by the thunders of battle, he directed his guns +with unerring skill, and no insignificant share of the glory was his as he +steadfastly held the enemy at bay. Again at Cold Harbor he displayed so +much tactical force combined with accuracy and effectiveness that General +Stonewall Jackson grasped the youthful commander by the hand and told him +of his high appreciation of the service rendered. At Cold Harbor he +engaged three batteries of the enemy with a single Napoleon, and +throughout the entire day stubbornly held his position, dealing +destruction and death to the enemy. Shortly after the battle of Cold +Harbor Pelham's battery engaged a gunboat at the "White House" and +compelled it to withdraw. + +By this time, Pelham had gained the reputation of a famous boy fighter, +and his steadiness in battle would have done credit to a seasoned veteran. +His battery became famous, was the subject of general comment in army +circles, and the commanders came to lean on the young officer as one of +the indispensable adjuncts to the entire command. In a crisis, or at a +difficult juncture, young Pelham was thought of as one to meet it. + +When the second battle of Manassas opened, Pelham appeared on the field +with his guns, rode to the front as though no danger was imminent, coolly +placed his battery astonishingly near the lines of the enemy, and while +the enemy rained destruction in that quarter, he took time to get well +into position, and at once began with fatal effect on the lines of the +foe. Here he won new laurels, and in the accounts of the battle his name +was mentioned among those of the general commanders. A second time, Pelham +was congratulated by General Stonewall Jackson, who in person thanked him +for his skill and bravery. + +At the battle of Sharpsburg Pelham was stationed on the left of the +Confederate forces, where most of the artillery fell under his immediate +command, and the havoc wrought by his guns was fearful. Again at +Shepherdstown there was a repetition of the same spirit which he had +exhibited on all other occasions. Accompanying Stuart on this memorable +march from Aldie to Markham's, Pelham was compelled to fight against +formidable odds along the line of march, and at one point he kept up his +firing till the enemy was within a few paces of his piece, when he +doggedly withdrew only a short distance, secured a better position for his +guns, and resumed his firing in a cool, businesslike way. + +It was at Fredricksburg that Pelham was more conspicuous than in any other +battle. With a single gun he went to the base of the heights and opened +the fight with the same indifference with which he would have gone on the +drill ground for a parade. His astonishing intrepidity won the attention +of both armies, and Pelham at once became a common target to the batteries +of the enemy. He was fearfully exposed, and every moment was filled with +extreme hazard, but with an indifference which was sublime he kept up his +firing and made fearful inroads on the enemy. It was here that there was +evoked from General Lee the expression which has become historic. +Observing the brave youth from an eminence, as he kept steadily at his +destructive work while shells were bursting about him, General Lee said: +"It is glorious to see such courage in one so young." Without wavering, +Pelham held his position at the base of the ridge till his ammunition was +gone and he was forced to retire by a peremptory order. Assigned to the +command of the artillery on the right, he was throughout the day in the +thickest of the fray, and won from General Lee the designation: "The +gallant Pelham." For his gallantry on this occasion Pelham was promoted +from a majorship to a lieutenant colonelcy, but was killed before his +commission was confirmed by the Confederate Senate. + +On March 17, 1863, he was visiting some friends at night, in Culpeper +County, when the booming of guns at Kelly's Ford fell on his ear. Excusing +himself, he mounted his horse and rode rapidly to the scene of action. His +own command had not yet arrived, but he found a regiment wavering in +confusion. Spurring his horse quickly to the front of the confused mass, +his cool ringing voice restored order, and, placing himself at their head +to lead them to battle, a fragment of shell struck the brave youth in the +head, and he was instantly killed. The news of the death of Pelham +occasioned as much mourning in the army and throughout the Confederacy as +there would have been had one of the great general chieftains fallen. Boy +as he was, his fame had become proverbial. His body was sent home for +burial, and his ashes repose today at Jacksonville, in his native county, +Calhoun. + + + + +CULLEN A. BATTLE + + +While known chiefly as a soldier because of his brilliant record in the +late war, General Cullen A. Battle was distinguished as a lawyer, orator, +and statesman, as well. The Battles were among the leading families of the +state, and were conspicuous in medicine, in law, in education, in +theology, in authorship, and in war. The family record is a brilliant one, +but our attention is now directed to a single member. + +Graduating from the University of Alabama in the bud of manhood, General +Battle entered on the practice of law at the age of twenty-two, after +having read law in the office of the Honorable John Gill Shorter. Soon +after the completion of his studies preparatory to his profession, he +removed to Tuskegee and was diligently devoted to his profession for +almost ten years. His first appearance in public life was when he +canvassed the state in 1856 for Buchanan, being at the time a presidential +elector. + +An ardent Democrat, he was on the electoral ticket of Breckinridge and +Lane in 1860, at which time he spoke throughout the state in company with +Honorable William L. Yancey. As an orator, he was gifted with a freedom of +utterance and a poetic imagination, while his delivery was one of +gracefulness and magnetism. No one more admired the witchery of his +oratory than Mr. Yancey himself, whom General Battle accompanied on his +tour to the North, and spoke with the South's peerless orator from the +same platform in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and +Cincinnati. + +At the outbreak of hostilities, in 1861, General Battle raised a company +of volunteers at Tuskegee, which company became a part of the Third +Alabama Regiment, of which Tennent Lomax became the colonel and Cullen A. +Battle the lieutenant colonel. This regiment represented in part the pick +and flower of the young chivalry of the South. + +The Third Alabama Regiment was under fire at Drewry's Bluff, but engaged +first fiercely in battle at Seven Pines, where the brave Lomax fell, and +Battle led the regiment through the fight. In the series of battles below +Richmond he was at the head of the gallant Third Alabama, having been +promoted meanwhile to the colonelcy of the regiment. He received a slight +wound at Boonsboro, and at Fredricksburg was seriously injured by his +horse falling on him. Later we find him serving on the staff of General +Rodes in the battle of Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg the whole brigade +was quickly repulsed with great loss, all giving way but the Third Alabama +Regiment, but rallying later and fighting with renewed power. Under +conditions like these Colonel Battle attached his regiment to General +Ramseur's command and rendered conspicuous service in checking the tide of +temporary defeat. + +So pleased was General Ewell with the timely gallantry of Colonel Battle +that he promoted him to a brigadiership on the field, which act was soon +after confirmed. To him were assigned, as the component parts of a +brigade, the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Twelfth, and Sixty-first Alabama +regiments. This brigade was the first to encounter General Grant in the +Wilderness, and in his report on the battle of Spottsylvania General Ewell +says: "Battle's brigade was thrown across Hancock's front and there +occurred the hottest fighting of the war." The contest was hand-to-hand +fighting, the opposing forces using the bayonet. At Winchester, Battle's +brigade entered the action just in time to allow Evans' brigade to rally, +while driving the enemy before him. By this time "Battle's brigade" had +become so conspicuous a factor in the Army of Northern Virginia as to be +signally named for its gallantry. At the battle of Cedar Creek, General +Battle led his brigade with singular coolness and courage against the +formidable front of the Eighth Army Corps of the federal forces, which +corps was commanded by General Crook. In this action, General Battle was +struck in the knee, which permanently disabled him so that he could not +resume active duty on the field, but he was rewarded with a commission of +major general, the commission bearing date of his wound, October 19, 1864. + +It was in January, 1864, while Lee's army was in winter quarters south of +the Rapidan, that one of those momentous incidents occurred which +sometimes profoundly affect large bodies of men. Three Alabamians of the +Monroe Guards went at night to the headquarters of Captain T. M. Riley, +who was in command of the Fifth Alabama Regiment, and proposed to enlist +for the war. These were Sergeant William A. Dudley, a native of Lowndes +County, and Privates Daniel C. Rankin and his brother, Duncan A. Rankin, +who now resides at Bynum, Texas. This fact was communicated by Captain +Riley on the following day to General Battle, who commanded the brigade, +who promptly appeared in person before each regiment of his brigade and +appealed for the proposed step to be taken. This was the first brigade or +command to re-enlist unconditionally for the war. This act made General +Battle historically conspicuous in the annals of the Civil War, and +elicited from General Robert E. Rodes the following communication: + +"Conduct like this in the midst of the hardships we are enduring, and on +the part of men who have fought so many bloody battles, is in the highest +degree creditable to the men and officers of your command. I was always +proud, and now still more so, that I once belonged to your brigade. As +their division commander, and as a citizen of Alabama, I wish to express +my joy and pride, and as a citizen of the Confederacy my gratitude at +their conduct. To have been the leader of this movement in this glorious +army throws a halo of glory around your brigade which your associates in +arms will recognize to envy and which time will never dim." + +This communication from Major General Rodes was reinforced by a joint +resolution of thanks by the Confederate Congress, in which resolution the +name of General Battle is conspicuous as the moving and ruling spirit of +this conduct on the part of his brigade. + +Resuming the practice of law, at Tuskegee, after the close of +hostilities, General Battle was elected to congress from his district, but +the Republicans denied to him and to others their seats, and he, and +others like him, were disfranchised. He never again appeared in any +official capacity, but lived a life of retirement to the close. + +His death occurred at the age of seventy-six at Greensboro, N. C., and he +was buried at Petersburg, Va. The closing utterance of this hero of many +battles was: "All is bright, there's not a cloud in the sky." + + + + +PHILIP D. RODDY + + +There is the flavor of the romantic in the life and career of General +Philip Dale Roddy. That he should have become the conspicuous figure that +he was in the Confederate struggle, was due solely to inherent merit. Born +in the town of Moulton, Lawrence County, in conditions humble if not +obscure, he was an ordinary tailor in that country town, growing to +manhood without an education, and enjoying none, save as he was able to +pick up the scraps of advantage afforded in a community noted for its +intelligence and educational facilities. There was that about him, +however, which won him friends, and when he was twenty-six years old he +was elected the sheriff of Lawrence County. Later he was engaged in +steamboating on the neighboring Tennessee, in which employment the +conflict of 1861 found him. + +Raising a company of cavalry for the Confederate service, Roddy became its +captain, and was assigned to duty in connection with the western army. He +rapidly developed into an excellent scout in Tennessee, was daring, shrewd +and tactical, and in the battle of Shiloh, his company was made the escort +of General Bragg. His soldierly qualities and genuine military leadership +and gallantry were so displayed at the battle of Shiloh, that he received +special mention for his bravery. With honors still fresh on him, he +returned to north Alabama and easily raised a regiment of horse, in +prospect of the threatened invasion of that quarter. + +He had a theater of operation all his own in the valley of the Tennessee, +and with dexterity he would fall on the enemy here and there, harassing +him at every point and checking and foiling his movements. In the latter +part of the second year of the war Colonel Roddy succeeded in swelling his +small command into a brigade of horse, with which he met an invasion from +Corinth under General Sweeney. He met the enemy at Little Bear Creek, +outwitted Sweeney, and forced him back to Corinth. + +Alert to the movements of the federals, who were intent on gaining a solid +footing in north Alabama, Roddy encountered still another raid at +Barton's, and a second time saved that quarter of the state from invasion. +The enemy was forced back, Roddy capturing a part of his artillery and +inflicting on him severe loss in killed and wounded. + +He was now master of the Tennessee valley, and as opportunity would +afford, he would cross the river in a rapid raid, make valuable captures, +and replenish his stores. At one time he dashed into the federal camp at +Athens, taking the enemy completely by surprise, burned a quantity of +stores and was off again, the enemy knew not where. Still later, Roddy +fell suddenly on Corinth and secured as a trophy of victory six hundred +horses and mules, and when pursued by Colonel Cornyn to Iuka, he turned on +the enemy and forced him back. + +General Roddy became "the swamp fox" of the Tennessee Valley and from +unconjectured quarters would pounce on the enemy, inflict severe blows and +reap trophies. When Colonel Streight entered on his daring raid through +north Alabama, with a force picked for that perilous undertaking and +splendidly equipped, and while he was being pursued by General Forrest +with a force much inferior, the federal General Dodge entered the valley +to cover the movements of General Streight. Acting in conjunction with +Forrest, who was in hot pursuit of Streight, and whose command he +eventually captured, Roddy, with an inferior force, checked Dodge and +contested every inch of advance through Colbert County, thus enabling +Forrest to overtake and bag Streight. By this indirect agency General +Roddy was a sharer in the brilliant victory of Forrest. + +The splendid qualities of General Roddy now attracted the attention of the +Confederate government, and, though the theater of his exploits was +contracted, he was thought of in connection with John H. Morgan and Mosby. +General Forrest had great confidence in his ability as a commander, as was +shown on more than one occasion. + +For two years Roddy had so stubbornly resisted the movements of the enemy +in the effort to broaden the basis of his occupancy in North Alabama, that +the skillful commander had restricted him to the two points of Huntsville +on the north and Corinth on the south. But Roddy was needed at Dalton for +a season, in connection with the general movements of the army, and thence +with his command he was ordered. This left the Tennessee Valley open to +the enemy, and he entered it and strongly fortified himself at Decatur. +When, later, General Roddy returned to the former scene of his operations +he was unable to dislodge the federals from Decatur, but the rest of the +territory he steadfastly held. When General Hood succeeded General +Johnston in command of the western army, one of his chief reliances was +Roddy, to keep open his communications. + +Later in the war, Roddy came into more intimate and vital touch with +Forrest, who was very fond of him, and co-operated with the great +commander in many of his movements, and shared with him in some of his +most brilliant victories. A brief sketch like this affords but an inkling +of the power of generalship developed by General Roddy. He was a military +genius. He was born to command. He was ever alert and active, and had a +fondness for the dash of the field. He loved hard service, and rarely +failed in an enterprise, for, with all his dash and daring, he was +invariably cautious. + +No commander in the Confederate army enjoyed more completely the +confidence and devotion of his men. After the close of the war he removed +to New York, embarked in the commission business, and there died. + + + + +W. H. FORNEY + + +The heroic services and patriotic devotion of General William Henry Forney +entitle him to recognition on the roster of Alabama worthies. The +contribution of service made by General Forney to the erection of the +greatness of the commonwealth of Alabama is deserving of perpetual +recognition. + +General Forney descended from a family eminent in North Carolina, his +grandfather being General Peter Forney of that state, and a granduncle +being a distinguished member of congress from the same state. Himself a +native of North Carolina, General William H. Forney came to Alabama with +his father's family in 1835, when he was a mere boy of twelve years. +Reared in Calhoun County, he was educated at the state university, from +which he was graduated in 1844, after which he entered on the study of the +law. + +When the Mexican War broke out, young Forney enlisted in the First +Regiment of Alabama Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Coffey, in which +command he became a lieutenant, serving as such at the siege of Vera Cruz. +Returning home after the expiration of the term for which he enlisted, +which was one year, he entered again on the study of his law books. +Licensed to practice in 1848, he was the next year chosen a representative +from Calhoun County to the legislature. With this single interruption he +was devoted to his profession till the declaration of hostilities between +the northern and southern states. He entered the army as a captain in the +Tenth Alabama Regiment which was destined to suffer from unusual +casualties from the first conflict in which it was engaged to the close of +the war. The regiment of which he was a member was doing some detached +duty at Drainville, Va., when it became engaged with the enemy, and among +the seriously wounded was Captain Forney, who was shot in the leg, but +within sixty days he was again in command of his company at the front. +Meanwhile he had become the major of his regiment, with which he was +engaged in the battle of Yorktown. At Williamsburg he was again shot, +receiving a very serious wound in the shoulder which disabled his right +arm. Removed to the buildings of William and Mary College, which were +temporarily improvised as a hospital, Major Forney fell into the hands of +the enemy and was detained as a prisoner for four months. + +On his return to his command after his imprisonment, he found himself at +the head of his regiment by reason of logical promotion. He had the +misfortune to receive another wound at the battle of Salem Church, though +the injury was not of a serious nature. While leading his regiment at +Gettysburg, he was again most seriously wounded, the arm wounded at +Williamsburg, and even disabled, being now shattered. He fell on the field +from the terrible shock, and while prostrate, he received another wound by +a ball carrying away part of his heel bone. In this precarious condition, +he fell into the hands of the enemy, and was retained a prisoner of war +more than a year. While confined as a prisoner at Fort Delaware, he was +among the fifty officers chosen to be exposed to the Confederate guns on +Morris Island, and was taken near the scene ready for such exposure as a +matter of retaliation, but humane and timely intervention checked the +atrocious design, and in due time Colonel Forney was exchanged. Still a +cripple and hobbling on crutches, he returned to his command in 1864, and +was commissioned a brigadier general. Though seriously hampered by his +maimed condition, he stolidly and heroically bore his misfortune, and led +his brigade in the battles of Hatcher's Run, High Bridge, and Farmville. +He steadfastly and doggedly clung to his command, rendering valiant and +efficient service throughout the entire struggle, and was with his +tattered veterans at Appomattox when General Lee surrendered. + +Broken in health and disfigured as the result of the casualties of the +war, he turned his face homeward, and in his permanently disabled +condition reopened his law office for such business as could be found +under the widespread demoralization incident to the close of the Civil +War. The people honored him with a seat in the state senate, but under the +military rule of the period it was denied him. He closed his career at +Jacksonville, Ala. + +The state has never had a more loyal citizen, as was illustrated by his +unselfish devotion to its interest, and the army of the Confederacy no +braver soldier. To General Forney patriotism was a passion, as was +abundantly shown by the philosophic fortitude with which he bore his +misfortunes and sufferings. Others may have been more brilliant and +dashing than he, but he was an illustration of the hero who did what he +could, and by dint of actual merit, he rose to prominence in the army and +to equal prominence as a civilian. + + + + +EDMUND W. PETTUS + + +Long and notable was the career of Edmund Winston Pettus. Born two years +after the admission of Alabama into the Union, he was practically +identified with all the great periods which came into the history of the +state. Entering life early, he shared in all the epochs from the early +stages of statehood till his death at an advanced age. + +In many respects, the career of General Pettus was a remarkable one. Left +an orphan by the death of his father while yet an infant, General Pettus +was reared by a careful and devoted mother. The best possible scholastic +advantages then extant were given him, and he was able to lay the basis of +a long and eventful career. His scholastic course was taken at Clinton +College, Tennessee. + +General Pettus was a man of solid qualities, both mentally and physically. +He was six feet high, well proportioned, with broad, massive shoulders, a +large head and a commanding presence. He began the practice of the law at +twenty-eight, and, excepting the interregnum of his career as a soldier of +the Confederacy, continued in the profession until he was elected to the +National Senate from Alabama. In that capacity he was serving when he +died, at the advanced age of eighty-four. + +His career as a lawyer began at Gainesville, Sumter County, where he was +first associated with Honorable Turner Reavis. His ability was promptly +recognized, and soon after beginning to practice, he was elected district +solicitor, and re-elected after the expiration of his term, but resigned +in 1851, and removed to Carrollton, Pickens County, where he resumed +private practice. + +In 1853 Mr. Pettus was appointed by Governor Collier to fill a vacancy in +the district solicitorship. Characteristically fair and just, he won great +favor and popularity throughout west Alabama, so that when he offered for +the judgeship of the circuit, in 1855, he was easily elected. This +position he surrendered in 1858, in order to remove to Cahaba, then a +thriving center of wealth and intelligence, where he practiced law till +the opening of the war. During the early part of the year 1861, troops +were rapidly raised and organized into regiments, and as rapidly as +possible, sent to the front. In co-operation with Colonel Garratt of Perry +County, Pettus raised a regiment of infantry, which became the Twentieth +Alabama, of which regiment he became the major, and somewhat later was +made the lieutenant colonel of the command. + +Assigned to duty in the western army, the regiment did not long remain +inactive. Colonel Pettus won laurels by leading the army of General E. +Kirby Smith in driving the enemy into Covington and Cincinnati. His +regiment was afterward ordered to Mississippi and Colonel Pettus was +engaged in the battles of Port Gibson and Baker's Creek. He was captured +at Port Gibson, but succeeded in effecting his escape and in rejoining his +command. On the occasion of the promotion of Colonel Garratt at Vicksburg +Pettus became the colonel of the regiment. + +A notable incident in connection with the siege of Vicksburg gave to +Colonel Pettus fame for leadership, and for unquestioned courage +throughout the army. At an important point in the works the enemy had +captured a valuable redoubt, and General Stephen D. Lee was anxious to +have it retaken. The undertaking was full of peril, and the success of the +undertaking was doubtful. To perform the perilous undertaking, Colonel +Pettus volunteered to the commanding officer his services. Neither his own +regiment nor any of the others were willing to be led into so perilous an +undertaking, but Waul's Texas Legion volunteered in a body to make the +hazardous attack. So formidable was the redoubt that the enemy supposed +himself secure from attack. Taking advantage of this condition, Colonel +Pettus, at the head of the brave Texans, dashed unawares on the enemy, +threw the forces into utter confusion, and retook the redoubt, together +with one hundred prisoners and three flags. Thirty big guns were at once +trained on the point, but Colonel Pettus bore away his spoils without the +loss of a man. + +At Vicksburg he was again conspicuous throughout the siege, was captured +when the city fell, but soon exchanged, after which he was made a +brigadier general. His command was engaged in the battle of Missionary +Ridge, and was with Johnston in the series of conflicts which extended +from Dalton to Atlanta and Jonesboro. When Hood was appointed to succeed +Johnston, the brigade of General Pettus was with the army throughout that +disastrous campaign, and no command of the army was more hotly engaged +than was his brigade. It was he who forced the passage of Duck River, +forming his men in squads in the face of a galling fire from the rifle +pits of the enemy, and succeeded in driving him from his entrenchments +with the bayonet. + +On the retreat of Hood from Nashville the duty of protecting the rear of +the army was imposed on the brigade of General Pettus. With intrepid and +dogged courage, he held the enemy in check at many points, and perhaps +more than any other, saved the army of Hood from utter destruction. His +last service was in North Carolina, where his command was engaged in the +battles of Kingston and Bentonville, General Pettus being severely wounded +in the latter. + +The war being over, General Pettus entered again into the practice of law +in Selma. He shared in the struggles incident to the era of +reconstruction, during the entire period of which he rendered the most +faithful service at great personal sacrifice, declining meanwhile any +public recognition of his services by official position. His long +experience and native skill placed him in the first rank of practice in +the Alabama courts, and often his patience was taxed in the courts +presided over by the incompetent judges who occupied the bench during the +dark period of reconstruction. Among the judges of that time was the +notorious J. Q. Smith, as conspicuous for his lack of knowledge of the law +as he was for his impudence and presumption. On one occasion there was a +ruling of this incompetent official which was so foreign and far-fetched +as to evoke from General Pettus the daring remark that in a practice of +many years, and as a presiding judge himself at one time, he had never +heard of such a ruling. With a complacent and self-satisfactory air the +ignorant man on the bench moved himself with greatly assumed composure and +replied: "Ah! General Pettus, you have a great many things to learn yet!" + +Sharing in all the momentous movements in the political history of the +state in the period of rehabilitation following the reconstruction, +General Pettus would not consent to accept public office till 1897, when +he was chosen a United States senator from Alabama. In this capacity he +served till his death, in 1905, he and Senator Morgan dying within a few +months of each other, leaving vacant senatorial representation for Alabama +in the highest branch of congress. + + + + +ALPHEUS BAKER + + +The mention of the name of General Alpheus Baker to those who knew him, +revives the memory of flashing wit, inimitable mimicry of which he was a +master, fascinating conversation, captivating manners and a cavalier +bearing, all of which were characteristic of this gallant soldier. The +educational advantages of General Baker, while not scant, were those +afforded only beneath the parental roof. The father of General Baker was a +native of Massachusetts, removed to the South in the early years of the +nineteenth century and settled in South Carolina. The father was eminent +for his ripeness of scholarship, and his proficiency as a teacher of youth +was of the first order. Schooled under the tutelage of a parent like this, +young Baker was himself fitted to teach by the time he was sixteen years +old. His teaching served to make more compact his education, for, after +all, with the real teacher, the question is which learns the more, the +teacher or pupil? + +While still a young man Alpheus Baker had won distinction as an instructor +in the cultured circles of Abbeville Court House, then one of the most +elegant little centers in the South. He enjoyed a similar distinction at +Lumpkin, Ga., whence he came as a teacher across the Chattahoochee River +to Eufaula, in 1848. He was connected with the military school at +Glennville, in Barbour County, then one of the most noted military schools +of that grade in the entire South. Meanwhile he was engaged in the private +study of the law, for the practice of which he applied for license at +Eufaula in 1849, when he had just attained his majority. He brought to his +profession a fund of ripened wisdom supported by a thorough education and, +for one so young, a seasoned experience in the ways of the world. Young in +years, he was in experience old. Bright, vivacious and exceedingly genial +in disposition and bearing, he was not lacking in a sense of +self-assertion and manliness, an indispensable adjunct to success. His +manner was popular and he soon became a favorite in the cultured circles +of the little city of his adoption. + +Long given to close and exacting study and the mastery of principles, Mr. +Baker made rapid strides in the profession of his choice. His habits of +promptness, diligence of application, and painstaking care in the +management of cases entrusted to him, won him much general and favorable +comment not only, but procured for him multitudes of clients and a +lucrative practice. In the sixth year of his professional life at the bar, +he returned at one term of the circuit court as many as one hundred and +five cases. + +In the year 1836, when the question of slavery had become a fierce one, +and when Kansas, struggling to statehood, became a battle-ground between +the pro-slavery and the anti-slavery forces of the country, Major Buford +of Eufaula, insisted that by swelling the forces in favor of slavery in +the territory now aspiring to statehood, thus making Kansas a slave state, +would avert bloodshed. Acting on this suggestion, Major Buford removed to +Kansas, and Mr. Baker accompanied him. As is well known, the effort +failed, and the Eufaulians returned to await the consummation of "the +irrepressible conflict." In 1861 Mr. Baker was chosen one of the Barbour +County delegates to the state constitutional convention, in which capacity +he was serving when Governor Moore accepted the Eufaula Rifles as a part +of the quota of volunteers called for to resist the encroachments of the +enemy on Pensacola. + +Baker was chosen the captain of this company, and, resigning his seat in +the convention, he proceeded with his command to Pensacola, which at that +time promised to be the opening scene of the war. The dashing young +officer had as privates in the ranks of his company such men as James L. +Pugh, E. C. Bullock, S. H. Dent, Sr., Thomas J. Judge, Prof. William +Parker of the University of Alabama, and Prof. Thornton of Howard College, +at Marion. + +In the following fall of 1861, Captain Baker became the colonel of a +regiment composed of Alabamians, Mississippians and Tennesseans, and was +ordered to Fort Pillow, which was destined later to become a scene of one +of the tragedies of the Civil War. Early in 1862 the regiment was captured +at Island Number Ten. He remained in prison for a period of five months, +when, on being exchanged, he was made the colonel of the Fifty-fourth +Regiment of Alabama Volunteers and shared in a number of battles, among +which was that at Fort Pemberton and Baker's Creek, in which last named +conflict Colonel Baker received a severe wound. In March, 1864, he was +made a brigadier general, and participated in the series of battles +extending from the northern part of Georgia to Atlanta. His brigade +rendered splendid service in the Carolinas during the declining days of +the war. The war being over, General Baker returned to Eufaula, where he +resided till his death. + +He was a man of rare parts. Jovial in disposition, he was a universal +social favorite. A scholar, he found congenial companionship among the +learned. A painter and musician, he was at home with the lovers of art. +But he is chiefly remembered as an orator. On the stump before a popular +audience, in the court room, and on commencement occasions, General Baker +was perfectly at home. Diversified, as we have seen, in his gifts, he was +equally diversified in his oratory. By the witchery of his oratory he +could entertain, amuse, arouse and charm an assemblage. His gift of +elocution was superb, and the play of his imagination in speaking, +rhapsodical. He was a master of assemblies. He would sway the multitude as +does the wind a field of grain. The flash of wit, the power of captivating +imagery, the rouse of passion--all these were his to a pre-eminent degree. +Back of these lay a pleasing presence and charming manner. The people +heard him gladly. + + + + +GEORGE P. HARRISON + + +In a recent work, the title of which, "Social Life of Virginia in the +Seventeenth Century," is presented the history of the original families of +repute which emigrated from England to the Old Dominion, among the names +of which appears that of Harrison. From this family have come two +Presidents of the United States, as well as other distinguished citizens +in different states of the Union. General George Paul Harrison of Opelika +is a descendant of that original Virginia stock which was so conspicuous +in laying the foundation stones of the state on the shores of which landed +the first English colony. The name of Harrison is found mentioned in many +of the southern and western states. + +General George Paul Harrison, the subject of the present sketch, was born +on the "Montieth Plantation," near Savannah, Ga., March 19, 1841, and +bears his father's name in full. The father was for many years prominent +in Georgia politics, serving many sessions in the legislature of that +state from Chatham County, and during the late war between the states, +commanding a brigade of state troops. After the war, the elder Harrison +was chosen a member of the constitutional convention of Georgia, aiding +materially in framing a constitution adjusted to the new order incident to +the close of the war. + +Our present distinguished citizen, General George P. Harrison, was +classically trained in the famous academies for which Savannah was noted +before the period of hostilities, the chief of which schools were the +Monteith and Effingham academies. From those advanced studies in his +native city, he went to the Georgia Military Institute at Marietta, from +which he was graduated in 1861 with the degrees of A.B. and C. E. as the +first honor man of his class. He was scarcely twenty at the outbreak of +the war, and in January, 1861, he shared in the seizure by the state of +Georgia, of Fort Pulaski, which was taken possession of on January 3, +1861. With his course at Marietta still uncompleted, Mr. Harrison enrolled +in the service of the state and was commissioned a second lieutenant in +the First Regiment of Georgia Regulars. In the spring of that eventful +year, while yet war was undeclared, he was detailed by Governor Joseph E. +Brown, Georgia's "war governor," as commandant of the Marietta Military +Institute, where he was enabled to prosecute his course to completion. + +Rejoining the First Georgia Regulars, he became its adjutant and went with +the command to Virginia. He participated in the earliest fighting of the +war, was with his regiment at the affair at Langley's farm, and in other +brushes with the enemy. In the winter of '61 and '62 he was commissioned +the colonel of the Fifth Georgia Regiment of State Troops and was assigned +to the protection of the coast of the state for six months, when the +regiment was reorganized for regular service in the Confederate army, with +the retention of Colonel Harrison as its commander, his command now +becoming the Thirty-second Regiment of Georgia Infantry. The regiment was +assigned to service at Charleston, where it remained until near the close +of the struggle. Though still ranking as colonel, Harrison was in command +of a brigade about fifteen months during the years '63-'64. The three +brigade commanders, Generals Hagood, Colquitt and Colonel Harrison, +commanded, by turn, on Morris Island, during the large part of the siege +of Charleston. When the assault was made on Fort Wagner on July 22, 1863, +Colonel Harrison was speedily sent to reinforce the garrison, and arrived +in the nick of time, saved the fort and put to flight the assailants. In a +contest of several days on John's Island he was in complete command of the +Confederate forces, and here he won distinction by his coolness, courage, +and strategic ability. After the final fall of Wagner, Colonel Harrison +was assigned to a separate command, with headquarters at Mount Pleasant, a +part of his command still garrisoning Fort Sumter, over which the +Confederate colors floated till February, 1865. + +During a period of 1864, Colonel Harrison was in command at Florence, S. +C., where he built a stockade for twenty-five thousand federal prisoners, +who were so humanely cared for by the young commander, as to excite the +attention of General Sherman, who, when he captured Savannah, ascertained +where the Harrison home was, as the family was now residing in that city, +and issued a general order to his troops respecting its special +protection. + +In 1864 the brigade which Colonel Harrison commanded was sent, together +with that of General Colquitt's, to turn back the invasion of the federal +General Seymour, in Florida, the object of Seymour being to isolate +Florida from the rest of the Confederacy. Colonel Harrison shared in the +honors won by General Colquitt in the decisive battle at Olustee, and was +at once commissioned a brigadier, being, it is said, the youngest general +in the army. He was not quite twenty-three years old when he received his +commission as a brigadier general. His brigade became a part of Walthall's +division, Stewart's corps. + +On the retirement of the Confederates before Sherman into the Carolinas, +the task was assigned to General Harrison of covering the retreat of +Hardee. General Harrison shared in the closing scenes of the drama in the +Carolinas, was twice wounded, and once had a horse killed under him. He +had just passed his twenty-fourth birthday when his command surrendered at +Greensboro, N. C. + +While in camp General Harrison applied himself to the study of the law as +his prospective profession, to the practice of which he was admitted soon +after the close of hostilities. Removing to Alabama, he located first at +Auburn, and later removed to Opelika, where he has since resided. Elected +commandant at the Alabama University, he accepted, after first declining +the position, after retiring from which he was made commandant at the +state agricultural college, as it was then called, at Auburn. After a year +of service there he abandoned all else and devoted himself to his +practice. + +His service for the public was soon in demand, and in 1875 he was chosen a +member of the constitutional convention of Alabama, serving in the same +capacity, in his adopted state, in which his honored father was serving at +the same time in Georgia. Then followed his election to the state senate, +in 1880, he becoming the president of that body in '82, serving two years. +In '92 he was chosen a delegate to the national Democratic convention, and +in '94 was chosen to fill the unexpired term in congress of the Honorable +W. C. Oates, who had become governor, the district indicating at the same +time his choice to succeed himself two years later. + +As a distinguished Mason, General Harrison is the chairman of the +committee on Masonic jurisprudence of the grand lodge of Alabama. The +United Confederate Veterans have shown their appreciation of General +Harrison by choosing him in twelve successive elections as major general +of the Alabama division. In 1912 he was chosen, at Macon, Ga., lieutenant +general of the army of Tennessee department, which position he now holds. +A man now of seventy-two, he resides at Opelika, as the chief counsel of +the Western of Alabama Railroad. + + + + +CHARLES M. SHELLEY + + +For solid worth, substantial and enduring results, and patriotic service, +no Alabamian enrolled among the worthies of the state excelled General +Charles Miller Shelley. He was built for service, and was endowed with an +energy practically boundless and unconquerable. Denied the boon of an +education, excepting to a limited degree, he appropriated readily examples +and suggestions, built them into practical force, which he wielded with +apt execution as a soldier, citizen, and patriot. The statement of these +qualities furnishes an outline of the character of this worthy citizen and +brave soldier. + +Seized by the enthusiasm which possessed so many of the Alabama youth when +first the cloud of war flecked the national horizon, Mr. Shelley joined +himself to a military company which went of its own will to Fort Morgan +before the war had actually begun. The forts and ports along the seaboard +of the South were supposed, at that time, to afford the first theater of +the coming conflict. These volunteers eventually returned home, a more +thorough organization was effected, and in the company formed at +Talladega, Shelley became the captain. This company was one of the +original Fifth Alabama Regiment, of which the brilliant Rodes was the +first colonel. + +For a period Captain Shelley served at Pensacola, till the regiment was +ordered to Virginia. As a part of Ewell's brigade the regiment was in +close proximity to Manassas Junction, and had a sharp brush with the +enemy at Farr's Cross Road, but did not share in the first battle of +Manassas. + +At the close of the first term of service of enlistment, Captain Shelley +resigned as captain, returned to Alabama and raised another regiment, of +which he became the colonel. This was the Thirtieth Regiment of Alabama +Volunteers, which regiment was assigned to duty in the western army, where +it won great distinction for its fighting qualities. In the memorable +campaign of 1862, in Tennessee and Kentucky, Colonel Shelley's regiment +shared throughout. Subsequently the regiment was transferred to +Mississippi and attached to Tracey's brigade, which saw hard service at +Port Gibson. The first hard fight on the field in which the Thirtieth +Alabama Regiment shared was at Baker's Creek, or Champion Hills, where +Colonel Shelley received special mention at the hands of General Stephen +D. Lee, the hero of that battle. Later still, the regiment was at +Vicksburg and shared in the result of that ill-fated city. + +In the series of conflicts in northern Georgia and in all the fighting +between that region and Atlanta, and on to Jonesboro, the Thirtieth +Alabama Regiment was conspicuous. At Jonesboro, Ga., Colonel Shelley was +placed in command of a brigade, which position he held for a few weeks, +when he was placed at the head of Cantey's brigade and given a commission +as a brigadier. He was with Hood on the return march into Tennessee, and +in the ill-starred battle of Franklin his brigade was a heavy sufferer, +having lost six hundred and seventy men out of a total of eleven hundred +whom he led into the fight. By an adroit movement at Franklin, General +Shelley saved from capture the entire corps of General Stewart, for which +skill and gallantry he received special mention at the hands of General +Hood. It is a matter of record that but for the generalship shown by +Shelley at Franklin, that battle would have been far more disastrous in +its results. He came out of the fight with little more than four hundred +men in his brigade, half of which number was captured at Nashville. + +After these convulsions in Tennessee, contemporaneous with the onward +march of Sherman to the sea, thence into North Carolina, where General +Joseph E. Johnston was restored to his command, now a fragment of its +former self, General Shelley was assigned to duty there. All the twelve +Alabama regiments belonging to the army were thrown together into one +brigade in North Carolina, and placed under the command of General +Shelley. The surrender of Johnston's army resulted in the return of +General Shelley to Selma as a paroled soldier. + +In the resistance against the encroachments of a dominant force during the +direful days of reconstruction, no man in Alabama rendered more patriotic +service than Charles M. Shelley. At different times, during the succeeding +years, General Shelley was made the campaign manager of the Democratic +party in the state, contending often against subtle odds, and to his +resourcefulness of leadership was the party largely indebted in its +gradual emergence from the throes with which it was afflicted for years. +During the closing years of his life General Shelley became one of the +most noted leaders of the Democratic party in Alabama. During the first +administration of Mr. Cleveland, he served by presidential appointment as +the third auditor of the United States treasury. He was a candidate for +the governorship in the campaign which resulted in the election of Hon. +William J. Samford. General Shelley died in Birmingham on January 20, +1907. + +In a brief review like this, scant justice to the worth of so eminent a +man as General Shelley was, both as a soldier and a citizen, is given. +Much of his service is hastily passed over, and if at all alluded to, it +is in a most generalized manner. The salient facts of his eventful life +are barely more than touched, but even from so short a recital of his +services, certain unquestioned facts fix his fame. + +General Shelley was an intrepid soldier whose pluck in the face of danger +was unusual. So far as opportunity was afforded for the exercise of +independent action in the tactics of war, he displayed rare qualities of +skill as a commander. He met all exigencies without shrinking, and +invariably bore his part with the heroism of the genuine soldier that he +was. Nor was he less inclined to assume the obligations imposed in later +struggles for Democratic supremacy in Alabama. Not a few who rose to +political distinction in the state were indebted to the means afforded by +the diligent work of General Shelley. The service rendered by him is a +part of the state's history during the last half century. In certain +instances where junctures arose, it is doubtful that any other could have +met them with equal efficiency. No strained eulogism is needed to tell the +story of his valiant service--the unvarnished facts are sufficient. +Energy, diligence, resourcefulness, courage and a perennial optimism were +the qualities displayed by General Shelley in the long service rendered by +him to the state of Alabama. + + + + +HENRY D. CLAYTON + + +General Clayton served the state in a variety of capacities. In the +legislature, he was one of its most alert and active members as chairman +of one of the important committees; as a Confederate commander, he was +courageous and skillful; as a circuit judge, he was ranked among the +ablest in the state, and as president of the state university he rendered +his last service with signal satisfaction. + +He was educated at Emory and Henry College, from which institution he was +graduated in 1848, and for distinguished scholarship bore away from the +college the Robertson Prize Medal. He lost no time after the completion of +his collegiate course, for a year later he was admitted to the bar, and +entered at once on a successful and lucrative practice. The first eight +years of his life were rigidly devoted to the law, and though recognized +as one of the ablest of the young lawyers of the state, and one of the +most popular, he could not be persuaded to enter on public life. + +In 1857, however, he was chosen without opposition to be a representative +to the legislature from Barbour County, and again in 1859 he was elected. +Mr. Clayton was chairman of the committee on the military in 1861, when +Governor Moore called for twelve months' volunteers to go to Pensacola, +which was considered to be to the enemy a vulnerable point. At that time, +Mr. Clayton was the colonel of the Third regiment of the Alabama volunteer +corps, and in response to the appeal of Governor Moore, the services of +this regiment were tendered. But as only two regiments were called for, +Governor Moore's desire was that they should come from different parts of +the state. However, two companies of Colonel Clayton's regiment were +accepted and mustered into service. + +Pressure was brought to bear on Colonel Clayton to remain in the +legislature, but he positively declined to remain, and declared his +purpose to enter the prospective army of the Confederacy. Finding that the +governor would not accept the entire regiment of which he was the +commander, he resigned his seat in the legislature and took his place in +the ranks of one of the companies as a private. Thereupon the governor +gave him a commission as aide-de-camp and sent him to Pensacola to receive +the Alabama companies as they should arrive, and organize them into +regiments. Colonel Clayton had the distinction of organizing the first +regiment that was organized for the Confederate service. Of this regiment +he was chosen the colonel. The regiment was composed of the pick of young +Alabamians, not a few of whom, though already distinguished citizens, were +serving in the ranks as privates. Among these may be named Hons. John +Cochran, James L. Pugh and E. C. Bullock. Hailing from the same city were +Colonel Clayton and these eminent citizens serving in the ranks as +privates. It reflected as great honor on these privates, as it did on the +young colonel, that while representing the same circle of society at home, +in their respective relations as soldiers, the one a colonel and the +others privates, there was exercised, on the other hand, the rigid +discipline of the officer, and on the other, the prompt obedience of the +soldier in the ranks. + +Indeed, these prominent citizens were models of obedience to discipline, +and sought to render such prompt service as would be exemplary to the men +of lesser note in the ranks. They shared the fate of the commonest soldier +in the ranks, whether it was with respect to guard duty, throwing up +fortifications, or mounting cannon. + +Months went past, and the theatre of war shifted to Virginia and Kentucky. +While the brave Alabamians remained inactive at Pensacola, decisive +battles were being fought in the regions already named. They chafed under +enforced retirement, and on the expiration of the term of service of the +regiment, Colonel Clayton was urged to reorganize it, but preferring the +active service of the field to coast duty, he returned home, organized the +Thirty-ninth Alabama regiment, and offered it to the Confederacy. Assigned +to duty in the army under General Bragg, Colonel Clayton led his troops +into the battle of Murfreesboro, where he received a wound. After a leave +of thirty days, he returned to his command, though his wound was yet +unhealed, and was surprised by the receipt of his commission as a +brigadier general. + +His command became noted in the western army for its fighting qualities, +and "Clayton's Brigade" was the synonym of dash and courage in all the +active campaigns of the western army, and in its long series of conflicts, +this intrepid brigade was engaged. After the battle of New Hope Church, in +which engagement General Clayton was again wounded, he was made a major +general, which commission he held till the surrender of Johnston in North +Carolina. In addition to the wound received at Murfreesboro, he was +knocked from his horse by a grapeshot at Chickamauga, and at Jonesboro he +had three horses either killed or disabled under him. + +After his return home at the close of hostilities, General Clayton was +elected judge of the eighth judicial circuit, in which position he served +till his removal under the reconstruction regime. After that time, he +devoted himself to law and to planting, in both of which he was +successful. + +After an unsuccessful candidacy for the governorship, General Clayton +later became the president of the State University, in which capacity he +served to the close of his life. + +General Clayton was an excellent type of the old-time Southern gentleman. +Free and cordial in intercourse with friends, hospitable, and jovial, he +was deservedly one of the most popular citizens of the state, as well as +one of the most prominent. He left a record cherished alike by the +soldiers of his old command, by the students of the university, and by the +people of a great state. + + + + +JAMES F. DOWDELL + + +During his career, Col. James F. Dowdell occupied a number of important +and responsible positions. He became a citizen of Alabama at the age of +twenty-eight, when he removed from Georgia to East Alabama and entered on +the practice of law. His parents were Virginians, his mother being a +remote relative of Henry Clay. + +Colonel Dowdell was favored by superior conditions in the outset of life, +being a graduate from Randolph-Macon College, which has long ranked as one +of the best in the South. He was also favored by superior legal training, +having studied law under Gen. Hugh Haralson, of LaGrange, Ga. + +The gifts and acquirements of Colonel Dowdell were rather unusual. While +thoroughly independent in thought, he was modest in his disposition. +Unobtrusive, he was yet firm in moral steadiness. Drawn within the circle +of enticement by reason of a varied public life, he maintained a character +unsmirched, and was honored for his uncompromising preservation of virtue. +In this respect, the tenor of his life was uniform. In public and in +private, always, he was the same. Nothing fell from his lips that the most +refined lady might not hear. Yet in intellectual combat on the hustings, +or on the floor of congress, where mind clashed again mind, he was always +an antagonist to be accounted with. While in the rush and onset of debate, +he never failed to stop at the boundary of propriety. There was an +instinctive halt and shrinkage in the presence of wrong. Nothing could +betray him beyond. + +On the entrance of Colonel Dowdell into public life, which was but a few +years after his removal to the state, he was brought into sharp contact +with several of the intellectual giants for which that period of the +state's history was noted. Five years after becoming a citizen of Alabama, +he offered for the legislature, and though defeated in his first canvass, +he succeeded in so impressing the people with his forcefulness, that the +following year he was chosen as an elector on the Pierce ticket. This +afforded an opportunity for the deepening of the impression on the public, +and a year later he was rewarded by his adopted district with a seat in +the national congress. By a political move some time later, however, he +was placed at a disadvantage. The congressional districts of the state +having been reorganized in 1853, he was thrown into the district in which +Montgomery was. But reliant on the public for a due recognition of his +record, he did not hesitate to offer for re-election in opposition to Hon. +Thomas H. Watts, a competitor of gigantic power, skilled in debate, and +perfectly familiar with current questions. This was the period when +know-nothingism was rampant, and as a political fad, novel and striking, +gave to its adherents the advantage of the excitement which it produced. +The contest with Mr. Watts was a notable one, the district was agitated as +never before by the contesting aspirants, and Mr. Dowdell won by a narrow +majority. He regarded this as one of the most decisive victories of his +life. + +Returning to congress for a second term in 1855, he was again opposed at +the end of the next two years, in 1857, by Col. Thomas J. Judge, then in +the prime of his intellectual vigor. Again, the greatest forces of Colonel +Dowdell were summoned into exercise, again was conducted a notable +campaign, and again Colonel Dowdell won. Never violent, and yet never +shrinking from an onset in a contest, he had a manner of meeting it, which +while it showed he was unafraid, he was thoroughly intent on doing right +in each instance, and disdained to seize the slightest advantage, unless +it was compatible with the code of right. This did not fail to challenge +the attention of the crowds, and elicited not a little popular acclaim. + +The reputation gained in two campaigns, the conditions of both of which +made them unusually noteworthy, served to increase the grip of Colonel +Dowdell at Washington, and profuse were the congratulations of his peers, +when fresh from the combat, he returned to resume his duties at the +national capital. At home he came to be regarded as invincible, in which +opinion some of the lions of the state capital shared. These two contests +fixed for all time his reputation in Alabama. The peculiar cast of his +ability came to be recognized, he was honored for his sense of absolute +fairness, and trusted for his integrity. He had opened the door of +opportunity which no man could shut. + +After having served in congress for three consecutive terms, Colonel +Dowdell voluntarily withdrew, and retired to private life for somewhat +more than a year. The rumblings of approaching war were already in the +air, the result of which no thoughtful man of the time could for a moment +doubt. War was inevitable. It was a time which called for all the ablest. + +From his retirement, Colonel Dowdell was summoned to become a delegate to +the secession convention of Alabama. The war followed, and Colonel Dowdell +raised a regiment of volunteers, the Thirty-seventh Alabama, which +regiment was assigned to duty in the west, under Gen. Albert Sidney +Johnson. At Corinth, Colonel Dowdell was distinguished by coolness and +courage at the head of his command. Some time later, his frail +constitution gave way under the exposure and hardship of the camp and +march, and he was forced to retire. Nor was this step voluntarily taken, +because he declined to withdraw because of the detriment of the example, +and for other reasons, and did so only under orders from a medical board. +He was unable to re-enter the army, and addressed himself to his private +affairs, aiding in every way possible in the promotion of the cause. + +After the war, Colonel Dowdell became the president of the East Alabama +College, at Auburn, then a school under the auspices of the Methodist +Episcopal Church, South. This school subsequently became the Alabama +Polytechnic Institute, which it now is. In this new position, Colonel +Dowdell served for a number of years with signal ability. While never a +pastor, he was a preacher, and frequently served in the pulpit as a +minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Distinguished in all +things that he assumed, or in all positions to which he was called, +Colonel Dowdell was most distinguished for his incorruptible character and +piety of life. He died in 1871, died as he had lived--a man of piety, an +ornament to public life, in private life a fearless citizen, an honor to +his church, and one of the first citizens of the state. + + + + +LAFAYETTE GUILD + + +Of the medical profession of Alabama, the man who attained the greatest +distinction during the Civil War, was Dr. LaFayette Guild, of Tuscaloosa. +He was of a family distinguished in medicine, his father, Dr. James Guild, +being one of the most skillful physicians in the country. His operations +in surgery ranked with those of Dr. Valentine Mott, of New York. + +Dr. LaFayette Guild graduated with the highest degree conferred by the +University of Alabama, at the age of twenty. His mental, social and +scholastic equipments were of the highest quality, for at that period, +none were more highly favored than he. The advantages of a cultured +Christian home, the station of which was in the best Southern society, and +the stimulus of a literary center, were his, to all of which advantages +were added his own energy, application, and diligence. + +At the period of his graduation from the University of Alabama, the one +great school of medicine was recognized to be the Jefferson Medical +College, of Philadelphia. After a three years' course he was graduated +from that famous institution. He was a great favorite at the medical +college, admired as much for his culture and gentleness of disposition, as +for the scholastic rank that he held. The tenderness of his sympathy was +shown by the fact that the first time he witnessed the dissection of a +human cadaver, he fainted, while another side of his character was shown, +when at one time he saved the life of a fellow student by sucking the +poison from an accidental wound inflicted while operating. These +sufficiently reveal the type of the man that he was. + +There was not wanting a strain of the chivalrous dash in Dr. Guild, who, +while he loved his profession, was not content to follow the usual humdrum +of the physician's life, and consequently chose to adopt the military +phase of the profession. He was accordingly appointed an assistant surgeon +in the regular army at the age of twenty-four, and assigned to duty, in +1849, at Key West, Florida. + +In this semi-tropical region, he was as enthusiastic in his scientific +research as he had ever been. From Florida he was transferred to +Governor's Island, off Boston, where he was able to bring into requisition +the results of his researches in Southern Florida. His valuable service +was shown in the prevention of yellow fever from infected ships from the +tropics. While stationed at Governor's Island, Dr. Guild wrote a treatise +on yellow fever, which was published by the government. He was the first +to insist stoutly that yellow fever is infectious, though not contagious, +a theory then new, but now accepted. + +Nothing relative to the health of the army escaped his trained eye. About +the time about which we are now writing, a meat biscuit which was issued +to the army, became quite popular, but he condemned it as unhealthful, and +was instrumental in inducing its discontinuance. + +From Boston, Dr. Guild was assigned to duty on the Pacific Coast, where +Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston commanded the Pacific Coast division of the +regular army. Dr. Guild's official duties were such as to enable him to +witness many scenes of Indian warfare in the Far West. It was while he was +serving on the Pacific Coast that the rupture came between the North and +the South. Promptly sacrificing his accumulated means, and the popular and +lucrative position which he had gained in the army, he resigned, turned +his face southward, visited his old home in Tuscaloosa, and repaired to +Richmond, where in July, 1861, he was appointed a surgeon in the +Confederate army. The following month, he was sent by the Confederate +government on a tour of inspection of the hospitals throughout the South. + +On his return to Richmond, Dr. Guild was assigned to duty at the front, +where his relations with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston became the most intimate, +and the families of both constituted a charming circle of army society. +Dr. Guild was among many others who insisted that General Johnston was +among the greatest strategists of either army. + +When General Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines, and General Lee took +command, one of the first inquiries of General Lee was: "Where is Dr. +Guild? Tell him to report to me at once." It was on the battle field of +Seven Pines that Dr. Guild was made medical director and chief surgeon of +the army of Northern Virginia, which position he held to the close of the +war. This position placed him on General Lee's staff, and from that time +till the close of the long and bloody tragedy, Dr. Guild sustained the +closest personal relationship with the greatest southern chieftain. + +When General Lee invaded Pennsylvania, he was one day riding through a +town at the head of his troops, the people of which town gave every +demonstration of hostility to the Confederates. From the windows and +balconies of the homes, the women waved flags and accompanied their +demonstrations with hissing and jeering. From all this the delicate and +sensitive nature of Lee shrank, and, turning to one of his aides, he said: +"Bring Drs. Guild and Breckenridge to the front." Two more graceful and +commanding personages were not in the army, and when they came galloping +up, General Lee quietly placed himself between them, and the three rode +abreast. With characteristic modesty, General Lee later explained his +reason for summoning the two physicians to the front, by saying he felt +sure "the ladies would not ridicule two such handsome men and splendid +horsemen as the two distinguished physicians." + +The war being over, Dr. Guild went to Mobile, and though still practically +a young man, he was wrecked in health by the strain and exposure incident +to the long war. His energetic spirit strove with his disabled body, and +he entertained the hope that by carefully husbanding his remaining +strength he might be able to recuperate. His plan was to begin life over +again by entering on private practice in the Gulf city. But his valuable +services were soon summoned to another sphere, for he was made quarantine +inspector of Mobile during a scourge of yellow fever, and by his skill and +diligence stayed its ravages. In 1869, Dr. Guild removed to San Francisco +with the hope of resuscitation in an equable climate, but he did not long +survive his removal, for on July 4, 1870, he died of rheumatism of the +heart in the little town of Marysville, California. + + + + +M. W. ABERNETHY + + +One act is sufficient to distinguish a man if it be of sufficient merit +and dimension. It is not only those who are eminent leaders in the field +or forum that deserve recognition and encomium at the hands of a grateful +people, but others as well, provided that their lives justify it. + +Quite out of the current of distinction as that element is recognized, +even in the eddies of life, are wrought deeds and lived lives as worthy of +applause as that provoked by the flashing sword or the eloquent lip. Nor +is it necessary that one be classed among the humble, because of that done +aside of the pre-eminent side of life. + +In this connection, the name of Major Miles W. Abernethy deserves to be +presented among those who wrought in contribution to the erection of our +commonwealth. A citizen of Calhoun County, he was a native of North +Carolina, where he was born on July 22, 1807. He was thirty-two years old +when he came from Lincoln County, that of his birth in the Old North +State, and settled in Alabama. Choosing as his home Jacksonville, where he +located as a merchant in 1839, he at once became an interested sharer in +the stirring times of that period. Alabama had now come to giant statehood +through the throes of initial struggle, and had, through her distinguished +sons, won an enviable place in the councils of the nation. Besides, the +internal improvement and vastness of the resources of the state had given +it a place among the commercial factors of the nation. + +The reputation of the state reaching Major Abernethy, served to lure him +thither in the maturity of his years, and he quietly and yet actively +entered on his career as a merchant at Jacksonville. Fixed in character, +matured in judgment, affable of manner, cultured, and possessed of a +breadth of vision much above the ordinary, he was not long in winning his +way to the confidence and esteem of the people among whom he settled. +Three years after reaching the state, he was chosen from the county, then +called Benton, to represent his constituency in the lower branch of the +state legislature, where he served with quiet and efficient ability for a +period of years. + +The monotonous routine of legislative work did not at first impress him, +and he retired after the expiration of a term or two, and resumed +merchandising and planting. However, one of his type of intelligence and +of general interest, could not be indifferent to the current affairs of a +state forging forward in development, and now a genuine factor in affairs +national. + +In 1885 he was again summoned to public life by being chosen to represent +his district in the state senate. His previous experience and intervening +and undiminished interest in public matters, had afforded him an increased +stock of qualification, and he returned to the functions of publicity with +greater force than before. Cautious, prudent, conservative and regarding +the public good with a disinterestedness wholly devoid of future +consideration of self, the counsel of Major Abernethy was in constant +demand concerning the issues pending before the general assembly. + +An ardent Democrat, and a disciple of the Calhoun school, Major Abernethy +was intent on the change of the name of the county of his residence from +that of Benton, to that of Calhoun, which name it now bears. He was one of +the committee of three appointed by the legislature to receive the new +capitol building at Montgomery, when the location was changed from +Tuscaloosa. + +But the crowning act in the life and career of Major Abernethy, and one +that gives to him a permanent place on the roster of the great and useful +among Alabamians, was his creation of the idea of founding the deaf and +dumb asylum at Talladega. Having conceived the plan of this institution +for the unfortunate, Major Abernethy put behind it his force and skill, +and rested not till it was crowned with consummation. + +Had Major Abernethy never done anything more, even though he had emerged +from obscurity, and had succeeded as he did in this undertaking of +humanitarian achievement, his name would be worthy of immortal embalmment +in the historic records of Alabama. With clearness of business judgment, +coupled with a heart of interest and of sympathy for the unfortunate, this +man, who was as gentle in sentiment as he was vigorous in great execution, +grappled with a large undertaking, and halted not till it wore the +capstone of completion. That institution stands, as it has stood for a +half century or more, not alone as a relief of one of the most +unfortunate classes of humanity, but as a monument to Major Miles W. +Abernethy. + +But his record does not end here. He was fifty-five years old when the war +between the states began, and because of a crippled hand, he could not +enter the ranks of the regular service, yet he offered his service to the +Confederate government, to render what aid he might in a struggling cause. +He was commissioned a major, and assigned to duty in the town of his +residence. His capacious and splendid home in Jacksonville became a noted +resort of rest and of recuperation to the sick and wounded of the southern +armies, every man of which classes, no matter what his condition, whether +cultured or ignorant, met a greeting of cordiality at the thresh-hold of +the Abernethy mansion. If he wore a gray uniform, he bore the credentials +of worth to the inmates of that hospitable home. Here he was tenderly +cared for till able to resume his place in the ranks, and with a blessing +from the princely proprietor, he would take his leave. Beyond this still +his beneficence extended. The families of the absent veterans were sought +out, far and near, and cared for by this prince of benefactors. All this +was done with an affableness and a tenderness so unostentatious, that +frequently only the recipients of his bounties and the inmates of his home +were aware of it. + +Thus lived and wrought this noble citizen of Alabama, and this is the +imperfect tribute to his worthy life and noble deeds. + + + + +GEORGE S. HOUSTON + + +No series of sketches of Alabama's great men would be complete with the +omission of the name of Gov. George Smith Houston. His services were +distinguished, and were rendered at a time when they could not have been +more prized. This applies with special force to his services as governor. +Endowed with peculiar powers which fitted him for a crisis, these powers +were brought into active requisition during his incumbency of the +gubernatorial chair of the state. + +Alabama was confronted by a dire crisis, and a man of many-sidedness and +unique force was needed to meet it. The state had been gutted of its means +and facilities of operation; the treasury was empty; the people +demoralized, and the credit of the state sadly impaired. To fail under +conditions like these, would have been fatal, and yet the lowest point of +depression had been reached. The situation called for exalted and peculiar +virtues. Robust manliness, rugged pluck which stood not on the order of +its going, ability not only to compass a situation, but to grapple with +it, a force of statesmanlike constructiveness, and a spirit which would +not quail before colossal difficulties--all these were needed to revive a +suspended interest, which is the most difficult of all tasks. + +To enumerate these is to describe Gov. George S. Houston. He was gifted +with a power to sway men, had an eye to details the most minute, business +acumen, familiarity with public affairs, patience to labor and to wait, +and not least of all, physical endurance. He was an extraordinary man, and +no governor has had more odds to encounter, nor has one ever met his +obligation with more fidelity. With the state palsied in every pulse by +misrule and wanton waste, he seized the reins, and from the outset guided +the affairs of the commonwealth with the skill of a trained statesman. + +The slogan of the time was retrenchment and reform. This alliterative +legend was the watchword of the incoming administration. He met the issue +like a combatant in the arena. He came not with empty demonstrations. No +profuse promises filled the air. It was not promise that was needed, but +performance. The tremendous task was assumed, and its execution has made +the name of Houston forever famous in the chronicles of Alabama. Whatever +others may have done, none have done more for Alabama than George S. +Houston. Pre-eminent as his greatness was, Mr. Houston was not unschooled +in the affairs of the public when he was called to the chair of the +governorship, in 1874. He had seen much of public life. Beginning life as +a lawyer in 1831, he was made a legislator the next year, then came a +career as a solicitor in his district, and within ten years after entering +on public life he was sent to congress. His career in congress was a +prolonged and notable one. With one slight intermission he was retained in +congress for eighteen years, extending from 1841 to 1859. It was generally +conceded in his district that he was an invincible candidate, for one +after another of some of the most prominent men of the district were +defeated by him, and some of them more than once. + +His congressional career was distinguished by his positions as chairman of +military affairs, chairman of the ways and means committee, and chairman +of the judiciary. If this distinction has been exceeded by any one, the +instance is not recalled. Certainly up to that time it had never been true +of any other, and was a matter of comment at the time. + +Politically, Mr. Houston was a Unionist and, therefore, opposed to the +war. In this he was not unlike many others. But Unionist as he was, he +suffered along with the others from the disastrous invasion to which North +Alabama was subjected, declining with characteristic firmness to take the +oath of allegiance to the United States government. Though honored by the +people of Alabama with an election to the senate in 1865, his seat was +denied him at Washington and he practiced law in Athens till 1874, when he +was triumphantly elected governor of the state, under the conditions +already described. He made a heroic canvass of the state, and greatly +impressed the people everywhere with his peculiar fitness for the position +for which he had been nominated. + +It is related that on one occasion, when Mr. Houston was to speak in a new +town in the interior, the people of the town and of the region round about +were all agog over the disposal of the great candidate on his arrival. +There was but one painted dwelling in the town, and that belonged to a +well-to-do widow, who took it in a complimentary way that her home should +be selected for the entertainment of the distinguished visitor. The day of +the speaking arrived, and so did the speaker. The town was filled with +country folk, drawn together to see and hear the man about which so much +was being said. On his arrival, Mr. Houston was taken to "the white +house," where a sumptuous dinner awaited him. He was assigned to one end +of the table, while the hostess occupied the other, no others being +present except the waiters. Mr. Houston was invited with genuine country +hospitality by the good woman, "Now, just help yourself, you see what's +before you." Mr. Houston was an excellent converses and while keeping up a +fusillade of conversation, he nibbled at the food, but really ate but +little. Though hungry, and not without ample gastronomical powers, Mr. +Houston ate quite moderately. He soon finished the meal, and in wonder +that her guest should prize her elaborate spread so lightly, the +hospitable hostess rather chided him with, "Why, you don't eat anything. I +got you the best dinner I could, and here it is, you don't eat." With +characteristic courtliness, Mr. Houston said, "Madame, should I follow the +dictates of my inclination, I should eat everything you have on your +table. I have never tasted food that was better, and it requires restraint +for me not to indulge to the fullest. But do you see that big crowd out +yonder. I have to speak at once, and be away to another appointment for +tonight. Should I eat as I am tempted, I should be too full for +utterance." "Well, now," said the good woman, "that's what I've often +hearn 'em say, an empty barrel sounds the loudest." Governor Houston used +to relate this incident with great gusto. + +Many were the anecdotes related of him as the retrenchment and reform +governor of the state. One of these illustrates the rigid management of +affairs, under Governor Houston. It was reported to him that the wells for +the supply of water on the capitol grounds were in an unsavory condition +and needed to be rid of their unwholesome water, each of which contained a +great deal. He caused it to be known that he was seeking one who would do +the work at the lowest figure of clearing out the wells. The cheapest +offer made was $7. The economic genius cudgelled his brain a bit, and the +happy thought occurred to him of inviting the fire companies of the city +to enter a contest on the capitol grounds, and so the invitation was +extended to them to come to the capitol, and in the presence of the +governor test their rival ability in seeking to throw the water highest on +the dome. + +The day was appointed, due notice of the contest given, and a crowd +assembled to witness the proceedings. The full wells were placed at their +disposal, and streams and jets of water played toward the summit of the +dome. When it was over the governor, as an interested spectator, appeared +before the successful contestant, made a speech on the value of fire +companies, lauded the merits of the company that threw the water highest, +and amid yells, the crowd dispersed. The wells were cleansed, the fire +companies pleased, and $7 saved to the treasury of Alabama in vindication +of a policy of retrenchment and reform. His policy arrested ruin in +Alabama, restored confidence, re-established the credit of the state, and +started it on a fresh career of prosperity. + +Governor Houston was honored by an election to the United States senate, +but died before he could enter on his duties, his death occurring at +Athens on January 17, 1879. + + + + +JOHN T. MORGAN + + +Among the many distinguished sons of Alabama, none is held in higher or +more deserving esteem, than the late Senator John Tyler Morgan. He was a +man eminent of gifts, of the highest culture, and of reigning ability. +Patriot, statesman, jurist, orator, he was all of these in a pre-eminent +sense, the recognition of which was shown in many instances, and through a +long succession of years. The record of no man produced by the state is +more interwoven into Alabama history than is that of this distinguished +citizen. Nor is his fame based on other than on superior merit. + +Not less distinguished is he in the annals of the nation. For a long +period of years, Mr. Morgan was retained in the National Senate, a tower +of strength, the acknowledged leader of southern statesmanship, the equal +of any in the country. A great constitutional lawyer, he stood the chief +exponent and champion of the constitution in the senate of the United +States. + +An arduous and industrious worker, his labors in behalf of Alabama were +unremitting during a long term of years. The sturdy Welsh blood in his +veins gave to him a steadfastness of poise, together with an immensity of +reserve force which was meted out only in response to demand. Never +spasmodic or impulsive, but steady and ready, he responded always with +gigantic ability, and with a power exercised in such way as to be most +effective. Possessed of a wide compass of valuable information, which +sought expression in facility and fluency of diction, Morgan came to be a +source of authority in the senate. When he spoke, all men listened with +profound respect. + +The name of Morgan descends from Revolutionary times, during which period +it was represented by the famous General Daniel Morgan, who was among the +distinguished officers of the first American army. Along the years of the +history of America the name appears in different connections and always +with credit. General John H. Morgan, the daring Confederate cavalry +leader, was a kinsman of Senator John T. Morgan. The family was noted for +its longevity, the father of Senator Morgan dying at the advanced age of +ninety-four. + +Mr. Morgan pursued his legal studies under his brother-in-law, William P. +Chilton. With the same assiduity with which he did all that he undertook, +he addressed himself to the acquisition of the profound principles of the +law. From the beginning, he was a most diligent student, a skillful +pleader, and a successful advocate. His first appearance in public life +was on the occasion of the Alabama convention which chose delegates to the +famous Charleston convention in 1860. The state convention of that +particular date was composed of the giants of the state. Morgan was then +just thirty-six years old, and his ability was unknown save in the local +courts in which he practiced. + +Sent as a delegate from Dallas County to the convention already named, he +had just entered the hall when he heard his name called by the secretary +as the chairman of the committee on credentials. He had heard much in the +corridors of the hotels where the air was vibrant with the discussion of +contesting delegations, in which discussions many of the most prominent +men of the state shared. Devoted to his profession, he had never taken any +active share in public questions, but was interested in the informal +discussions. + +On hearing the announcement of his name on entering the hall, he mounted a +chair, addressed the presiding officer, and was about to decline the honor +of the chairmanship, when Judge George W. Stone pulled his coat and begged +him not to finish his sentence as he had begun it, but to change it and +call his committee together. Yielding to the judgment of his senior +friend, he did as he was bidden. + +The work of the committee was both laborious and irksome, and many +delicate and sensitive features were involved in the task committed to Mr. +Morgan. There was no avoidance of a storm on its presentation. The storm +followed its submission. The young advocate, all unknown to the body, +mingled in the forensic fray in a manly defense of his report, and so ably +was it sustained by his power of presentation of the reasons for its +adoption, and so tactfully did he parry the blows of the giants who came +against him in the contest, that the question was heard all around--"Who +is Morgan?" The brilliancy of his oratory, and the skill which he +exhibited in debate, caught the attention of the public on that occasion, +and he never again sank from view till his remains were deposited in the +tomb. + +His ability established on that occasion led to his becoming an elector in +the approaching presidential contest in behalf of Breckenridge and Lane. +An elector for the state at large, he canvassed Alabama throughout, and +came to be known first, as an orator of great resource and power. This, in +turn, led to his choice as a member of the secession convention of +Alabama. + +When the war began, he became major of the Fifth Alabama Regiment, and on +the reorganization of the regiment, was chosen lieutenant colonel of that +command. Authorized by the war department to raise a cavalry regiment, he +returned to Alabama and did so. Going with his new regiment to the western +army, he was later assigned to the headship of the conscript bureau in +Alabama, according to the request of the Alabama delegation in congress. +Later still, he was notified by General R. E. Lee that he had been made a +brigadier general and assigned to the command of Rode's old brigade. While +on his way to the Virginia front, he learned in Richmond of the death of +Colonel Webb, who had been associated with him in raising the cavalry +regiment, and that he (Morgan) had been elected again to the colonelcy of +the regiment. On learning this, he declined the offered promotion in the +Army of Northern Virginia, and returned. He was again made a brigadier +general, and toward the close of the war was in the command of a division +in the Tennessee army. + +During the period of the reconstruction, General Morgan became the most +sturdy and famous champion of the people of Alabama, and greatly endeared +himself to them by his incessant labor in resisting the encroachments on +their rights. When, at last the power of reconstruction was broken, he +was, in 1876, elected to the national senate to succeed the notorious +George E. Spencer. From that time till his death, he was the political +idol of the Democratic party in the state of Alabama. For full thirty +years he served with distinguished ability in the senate, and died in the +harness of a statesman. + +One of the chief characteristics of Senator Morgan was his ability to +think with unerring accuracy on his feet. His ability to husband rapidly +his resources was remarkable. Nor in presenting these resources was there +ever a lack of classic diction. His chaste elegance commanded the +attention of every listener, especially since it was voiced in musical +tones. His power of application and his tenacity came to be known as +dominant factors of his life. Once enlisted in a cause, he espoused it +with undiminished zeal to the end. For many years he bent all his energy +toward the construction of the Nicaraguan Canal, and resisted the change +to that of the Panama Canal, and was fearless in his denunciation of the +measures adopted to bring about the change, but was forced to yield to the +numerical strength of partisanship. Another remarkable power which he +possessed was that of physical endurance. During the contest in the senate +over the Force bill he held the floor all night, speaking so as to consume +the time, and thereby prevent the passage of that measure. + +Not Alabama alone, but the entire South owes to General Morgan a debt of +gratitude for the fearlessness of his defense of the South when an able +defender was most needed. + +With a versatility which seemed without limit, Senator Morgan was always +prepared for any great junctures that might arise. He was equally at home +upon a great constitutional question, an issue of broad policy, or a +tangled principle of international law. His career marks an era of +greatness in the history of the state. + + + + +JAMES L. PUGH + + +For solid and substantial worth without ornament or frippery, no son of +Alabama has surpassed the Hon. James L. Pugh. His presence and bearing and +his conversation and speeches conveyed the same idea. Utterly without +ostentation, he acted and spoke with an evident absence of +self-consciousness. + +Mr. Pugh was a man of stable rather than of brilliant qualities, hence he +was an intensely practical man. He was indifferent to nothing of interest, +was never superficial, and regarded everything from the viewpoint of the +practical. He was studious, judicial in his cast of mind, of conservative +temperament, and deliberate of speech. Often animated in public address, +he was never excitable or explosive. His every utterance indicated +deliberation. + +The year of his birth was identical with that of the admission of Alabama +into the Union--1819. He came from hardy North Carolina stock, and was +brought by his father to Alabama when he was only four years old. At +eleven he was an orphan boy, a most precarious condition for one so young +in a frontier state. A bare-footed boy, left largely to shift for himself, +he afforded an index of his future worth and greatness, by engaging to +ride the country mail on Saturdays in order to provide means for the +payment of his tuition during the remainder of the week. Later, while yet +a youth, he became a clerk in a dry goods establishment in Eufaula, where +he obtained frugally hoarded means with which to prosecute his studies, +meanwhile looking forward to the law as a profession. After a severe +taxation of strength during the day as a clerk, he would study late at +night, and by such studious application, qualified himself for entrance on +his legal studies. He studied law in the office of John Gill Shorter, who +afterward became governor of Alabama. + +After the entrance of Mr. Pugh on the practice of law for a number of +years, he was chosen an elector on the Taylor ticket, and later still, was +a Buchanan elector. Thus, before the people, his way to congress was +opened, and as a member of the house of representatives he was chosen in +1858. The outbreak of the war occurring two years later, like all other +southern members, he withdrew from congress, shared in the secession +sentiment of the state, and was among the first to enlist as a volunteer +from Alabama in the service of the Confederacy. He was enrolled as a +private soldier in the first Alabama regiment of infantry. + +He shouldered his musket and went with his command to Pensacola, where he +underwent all the fortunes of a soldier in the ranks, declining any +consideration because of the position which he had held as a member of the +national congress. Numerous were the offers made him by his comrades to +assume his duties, and thus relieve him of hardship, but all this he +politely declined, and met the exactions of military duty with cheerful +alacrity. His position was one that tested his mettle, for often beneath +the blazing sun he was engaged in common with his comrades in throwing up +earthworks. The regiment of which he was a member, was ordered to +Paducah, Kentucky, where he served for a year, when his constituents +recalled him by electing him a member of the Confederate congress. In his +first race he had no opposition, but in the second campaign, in 1863, he +had three opponents, but was a second time elected, and served the state +in the congress of the Confederacy till the downfall of the government. No +one was more loyal to the young government than Mr. Pugh, for there was +not a month, of the four years of its career, that he was not engaged in +its service. After the capitulation of the armies, he returned to Eufaula, +and resumed the practice of law. + +An ardent southerner and patriot, he naturally shared in the resistance +against carpetbag rule, and as occasion would demand he would lend +assistance to his struggling people, though he sought no office, but was +rigid in his devotion to his profession. In the memorable contest of 1876, +he was a Tilden elector, and made an active canvass in this and other +states. In 1875, when the backbone of reconstruction was broken, he was +chosen a member of the state constitutional convention, and rendered +valuable service as one of the most prominent members of that body. + +In appreciation of worth and service, Mr. Pugh was chosen a National +Senator from Alabama in 1880, and was a yoke-fellow of John T. Morgan in +the senate for the space of eighteen years. It was universally conceded +that no state had a stronger brace of senators than Alabama during that +period of southern rehabilitation. He was not conspicuous as a speechmaker +in the senate chamber, though he was not silent, for as occasion demanded +he was heard, and always effectively. When he did arise to speak, he +commanded universal attention, partly because of the high esteem in which +he was held, and partly because it was understood that when Senator Pugh +spoke it was with well-digested views on measures of great importance. He +retired from the senate in 1897, being at that time seventy-seven years +old, and returned to his home at Eufaula, where he resided till his death. + +A review of the career of Mr. Pugh will reveal the fact that in all his +emergencies from private life it was in response to recognized duty. He +was not spectacular, and never relied on his oratory for popular acclaim. +His power before the people lay in his impressiveness as a solid speaker, +for no one could listen to him without the impression of the intensity of +his conviction. Whether always right or not, he believed it, and therefore +spoke. Only when he felt that he could be of service was that service +tendered. No more convincing expression of his patriotism could be +afforded than when as a returned congressman he quietly enlisted as a +private in the ranks of the army, at a time when men vastly inferior to +him were solicitous for commissions. This affords an index of the +sturdiness of the character of Senator Pugh. No position ever held by him +was characterized by other than by the most substantial efficiency. No man +who ever represented Alabama in any sphere was more practically and +patriotically loyal than James Lawrence Pugh. + + + + +ANSON WEST + + +The Rev. Anson West, D.D., was the chief Methodist historian of the state. +While the work of which he is the author properly relates itself to the +history of Methodism in Alabama, there is much collateral history +necessarily embraced within its compass which makes it a valuable +contribution to the archives of the state. In its scope, his history +extends from the earliest settlement of Alabama by the whites, to a period +well within the last decade of the nineteenth century--a span of well nigh +a hundred years. + +The history of a people such as the Methodists are, and have been from the +fountain source of statehood, and even before, is not without immense +value. Methodists have been a mighty force in Alabama, and still are, and +the record of their achievements affecting all the orbits of life is a +mighty stimulus, as is all history, for, as Goethe puts it, "The best +thing which we derive from history is the enthusiasm that it raises in +us." + +But the service rendered the state by Dr. Anson West is not to be +restricted to his history of Methodism. He was a tower of strength in his +generation, a man of commanding pulpit ability, a scholar of decided +literary taste, and a character possessed of originality of thought and +boldness of expression which challenged admiration, even though it did not +always carry conviction. Not unlike most preachers, especially of the +Methodist and Baptist ranks, of the period when his life dawned into +manhood. Dr. West was a typical polemicist. In those early days of +ecclesiastical controversy, the man who could wield the most trenchant +blade, and deal the heaviest blows, elicited the most popular applause. +Dr. West was a born debater, and every antagonist found him full panoplied +and never averse to vindicate lustily any cause which he might espouse. +Still he was a cultured gentleman, and numbered many friends among those +with whom he denominationally differed. Nor were his disputations directed +alone against those of an opposite school of theology, but within the pale +of his own people his sword was often brandished in the espousal of a view +which he cherished. It was in the field of controversy that Dr. West was +at his best. Happily, those days of controversy, often not conducted in +the gentlest spirit, are well behind us, but the time was when the clash +of ecclesiastical combat resounded the country through. They had the +redeeming value of stimulating thought, producing much literature of a +sort, and creating schools which else would not have been. Not to be a +combatant in those early days, was to be a man of inertness and of narrow +influence. + +As has already been said, there was an independence of character in Dr. +West that awoke admiration in all capable of appreciating force and worth. +As firmly rooted as a mountain on its base, he was incapable of a +plausibility which veers toward unstableness. No matter in what relation, +there was no misunderstanding any position which was taken by Dr. West. +His countenance was an index to his firmness. He was sometimes firm even +to sternness, an inherent quality of his character which was doubtless +strengthened by the controversial period through which much of his early +life was passed. But to have known him with any degree of intimacy, was to +find that beneath a somewhat rugged exterior beat the heart of a genuine +man. Advancing age softened and mellowed much of that which often led to a +misunderstanding of his real nature. + +Among the productions from his pen was a work entitled "The State of the +Dead," which work reveals much research and profound study on a +much-mooted question. In the presentation of his views on divers subjects +Dr. West was not unaware of encountering opposition, sometimes on the part +of those with whom he was denominationally connected, but his convictions +were never bridled in the expression of the independence of thought. + +Nor was the life and career of Dr. West confined to his pulpit +ministrations, with an occasional excursion into the field of authorship. +He was a stalwart citizen and patriot, and with the courage of an Ajax he +was ever ready to pronounce his views, and to wield his battle-ax, if +necessary, in the advocacy of any question for the public weal. He was a +man, and whatever interested men interested Dr. West. He was a citizen as +well as a minister. + +Dr. West was an ardent advocate of education, and often his tongue and pen +were brought into requisition in the advocacy of this great cause. He had +his own views of this public interest, and to have them was to express and +to defend them. + +Dr. West was a devout Methodist, and from his native temperament he could +be none other than an intense one, but the compass of his being was too +great to circumscribe him to the boundaries of his own denomination in his +relations to others. Numerous were his friends and associations beyond the +pale of his own people. With the intensity and tenacity with which he +clung to his church, there was not sufficient power embodied within the +church to restrain him from a criticism of its policies or methods, if +they happened to run counter to his own convictions. With the uniqueness +of his individuality he impressed all with his earnestness and sincerity, +and, much as one might oppose him, he could not withhold regard for his +convictions. The sincerity of his convictions did not fail to find vent +through his powerful tongue and the sharp point of his pen. + +There was a wonderful blend of heroic manhood and unquestioned +spirituality in the life and character of Dr. West. This served to make +him impressive, and oftentimes powerful. Back of his often stern +declarations lay an unquestioned spiritual force, and the combination of +the two gave to Dr. West an assertiveness always to be reckoned with. His +gifts and acquirements fitted him for a high sphere in the councils of his +own communion, and while others differed with him, often widely, his +sincerity was never a question, nor was his integrity ever challenged. + +He passed through many testing periods during his eventful career, and +went from the earth leaving behind him a trail of influence for good, and +a vast contribution to the good of the public. He rests from his labors +and his works do follow him. + + + + +EUGENE A. SMITH + + +The name of Eugene Allen Smith belongs to the roll of distinguished +Alabama scholars. Autauga is his native county, where he was born October +27, 1841. Academic training was given him at Prattville, in his native +county, till 1855, after which he went to Philadelphia to school, for a +period of four years. On his return to Alabama, in 1859, he entered the +junior class of the University of Alabama. The emergency of the times led +to the adoption of a military system of government for the university, and +Mr. Smith was a member of the first corps of cadets. + +The war interfered with his course, and in 1862, he, together with other +cadets, was detailed to go to Greenville to drill recruits at a camp of +instruction. He did not return to the university to graduate, but received +his degree of bachelor of arts from the university authorities, as the +course leading to that degree had practically been taken by him. +Commissioned as first lieutenant in one of the companies drilled at the +camp of instruction, Mr. Smith saw service on the field, both in Tennessee +and in Kentucky, sharing in the capture of Mumfordville, and in the battle +of Perryville. + +In recognition of his proficiency as a drill officer, Mr. Smith was +detailed to the University of Alabama as instructor in tactics, at which +post he continued till the end of hostilities between the states. Then he +began in earnest his scholastic career, for in 1865 he went to Europe, and +for three years studied in the Universities of Berlin, Goettingen, and +Heidelberg, devoting his time exclusively to the study of the sciences, +with special reference to chemistry, physics, botany, mineralogy, and +geology. + +Dr. Smith's course abroad was completed early in 1868, when he passed with +the highest grade, _summa cum laude_, an examination for the degree of +doctor of philosophy, having for his main subjects, mineralogy and +geology, and for minor subjects, chemistry and botany. After reaping his +degree, he remained still another semester at Heidelberg in attendance on +lectures. + +Possessed of an inquisitive and retentive mind, Dr. Smith, while in +Europe, spent much of his time on tours of observation and scientific +investigation in Russia, the Netherlands, the German states, Switzerland, +the region of the Tyrol, Austria, France, and Italy, and when he started +on his homeward trip he was engaged for a time in geological +investigations both in England and in Scotland. + +On his return to America, late in 1868, Dr. Smith went immediately to the +University of Mississippi, serving as assistant on a geological survey. +For three years he was devoted to the work of making chemical analyses of +soils for the survey, varying his investigations by an occasional +excursion into the cretaceous and tertiary formations of Mississippi, and +in 1871, he published his first paper, "On the Geology of the Mississippi +Bottom." + +During the following summer, Dr. Smith was elected to the chair of geology +and mineralogy of the University of Alabama. Two years later, in 1873, he +was appointed state geologist of Alabama, and for ten years his work on +the survey was gratuitously rendered to the state. In 1880 he rendered +valuable service in connection with the tenth census, furnishing reports +on Alabama and Florida for the cotton culture volumes of that census. + +While visiting Florida in connection with this mission, Dr. Smith +discovered that the greater part of the peninsula of Florida was underlaid +by a substratum of the Vicksburg or Eocene limestone, which comes to the +surface at intervals down the peninsula through the overlying Miocene and +later formations. The results of this tour were published in the American +Journal of Science for April, 1881. A more comprehensive paper was written +for the fourth report of the United States Entomological Commission, which +embodied a general description of the climate, geological and agricultural +features of the cotton-producing states. + +In connection with all this labor, Dr. Smith had charge of the departments +of chemistry and geology at the State University of Alabama for many +years. In 1888 a new chemical laboratory was erected at the university, +which addition, under the special direction of Dr. Smith, was thoroughly +equipped with all needed chemical apparatus, and is one of the best +chemical departments among those of the institutions of the South. + +In the meantime worthy honors came to Dr. Smith from different quarters. +He was appointed honorary commissioner to the Paris Exposition, from +Alabama, in 1878. He became a member of the American Association for the +Advancement of Science, serving as secretary and vice president of the +geological section, and serving also as a member of the committee +appointed by that body on the International Geological Congress and on the +Geological Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition. He is a charter +member of the Geological Society of America--of which he has been Vice +President, member of the council and President in 1913. He was appointed +to prepare the report of the American subcommittee on the Marine Cenozoic +for the International Geological Congress. + +Dr. Smith has long ranked the leading scientist of Alabama, and his +investigations in the field of geology have been of immense value to the +state and country. His connection with the state university has been one +of its chief elements of popularity. Modest and shrinking in disposition, +without the least obtrusiveness or assertion, he has not been estimated at +his real worth to the public, and only those who have been thrown into +immediate connection with him know of the enormity of his labor and of its +value to the state. The young men under his instruction, and the learned +faculty of the university prize his worth, and are unstinted in the +expression of their estimation of his services. No son of Alabama has been +more distinguished throughout America and among the savants abroad than +Dr. Eugene Allen Smith. + + + + +JAMES T. MURFEE + + +The real educator does more than to impart knowledge and acquaint with +principles with which to translate this knowledge into practical use--he +imparts himself. No youth falls under the influence of a great teacher +without taking with himself thereafter somewhat of that instructor. He is +not the great and successful educator who merely knows, but one who does, +as well. + +This was pre-eminently the dominant power of James Thomas Murfee, LL.D., +whose station in life and whose labors within the realm of education made +him distinguished throughout the South, and beyond. To him education was a +passion, not of the spasmodic sort which spends its force at theoretical +random, but which he built into constructive character in such way as +wisely to direct the instruction obtained. His idea was to build knowledge +into character, making the one a component of the other, and thus +construct manhood, not alone for usefulness in the ordinary humdrum of +life, but in order to invest the entire man with an atmosphere conducive +to making life radiant, delightful and useful--to teach one not alone to +do, but to be. This was the conception which Dr. Murfee had of a thorough +education. + +Swayed by this purpose, Dr. Murfee for a long period of years, taught in +several states, but the bulk of his lifework was done in Alabama. One +never met him without finding him buoyant with enthusiasm concerning +education. Nor did he expend his theories in mere phrasing, but reduced +them to actual practice. His was the enthusiasm of patience. His passion +was to make men, and to turn to practical account every advantage afforded +in the drill of the classroom to this end. He sought to excite assertion +of a salutary sort, and then to impart the power for its execution. There +are hundreds of men adorning the different vocations in this state and in +others, including the preacher in the pulpit, who gratefully trace the +inception of their success to this great teacher of youth. + +Indeed, the rule is well nigh universal that a genuinely successful man is +able to date the turning point of his life to the vital touch with some +superior character, from which thrill has been derived, and as life +broadens into stern practicalness, additional ingredients from the same +source are appropriated which continue to tincture and temper for good +throughout. While the recipients of these advantages may not be always +conscious of the derivation of these augmenting and contributory forces, +yet the fact remains that without the abiding presence of this once +dominant force, life might have been vastly different. + +There would come under the sway of this master of men, at the different +institutions in which he served, raw lads from obscure rural retreats, +unskilled, gawky, and awkward, yet within whom were powerful +possibilities, which the student of character and the incisive teacher +would detect, and, like the opaque diamond in the hand of the lapidary, +the crude youth would yield results often the most astonishing. + +Thus through multitudes who sat at his feet Dr. Murfee has been +instrumental in changing the faces of many communities, as his students +have taken their places in life. This expression is attributed to +Alexander the Great: "I am indebted to my father for living, but to my +teacher for living well." + +All this is suggested by the life and career of the great teacher now +under review. A life so long and so useful was necessarily varied. Born in +Southampton County, Virginia, on September 13, 1833, Dr. Murfee lived +through a number of the most stirring periods of our national history. His +collegiate career was at the Virginia Military Institute, from which he +was graduated with the rare distinction of never having received a demerit +in a school, the most rigid and exacting in scholastic work and +discipline. It is not surprising that the result was that he bore away the +highest honors of his class, which occurred in 1853. + +Dr. Murfee's gifts and disposition led him to the adoption of the vocation +of teaching, and he was called first to Lynchburg, Va., in that capacity; +then, later, to the chair of physical science in Madison College, +Pennsylvania. In 1860 he came to Alabama as professor of mathematics and +commandant of cadets at our state university. During the war that +followed, soon after his advent into the state, he became the lieutenant +colonel of the Forty-first Alabama Regiment, but resigned to resume his +duties at the University of Alabama. Near the close of the war, when the +state was overrun by the federals, he commanded the cadets in an +engagement at Tuscaloosa. + +After the close of the war Dr. Murfee was engaged as architect to design +and erect new buildings for the university, in place of the magnificent +edifices destroyed by the enemy, to which stupendous task he set his hand +and mind, recommending at the same time a new scheme of university +organization, all of which was accepted by the board of trustees, but he +was thwarted in his efforts by the reconstruction régime. + +Called in 1871 to the presidency of Howard College, then at Marion, which +institution had writhed in the throes incident to those troublous times, +he brought it to the front as one of the best institutions of its grade +then in the South. On the removal of Howard to Birmingham, in 1887, Dr. +Murfee was tendered the presidency of the college in its new location, but +preferred to remain at Marion, where he founded, in the original college +buildings, the Marion Institute, of which he was the superintendent until +1906, when he retired from active service on an annuity from the Carnegie +Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This annuity was granted on +the basis of "long and distinguished service to the cause of education in +Alabama." + +In 1882, Dr. Murfee was appointed by President Harrison, a member of the +board of visitors to the West Point Military Academy. After his retirement +from active service, Dr. Murfee devoted his time leisurely to the +development of the educational foundation at Marion, that it might become +a source of perpetual strength to the state and to the South. On April 23, +1912, Dr. Murfee died at Miami, Fla., at the advanced age of seventy-nine +years. + + + + +ABRAM J. RYAN + + +"Father Ryan," as he is familiarly called, was Alabama's sweet singer. He +was a born poet, and sang because he could not help it. Emanating from the +heart, his plaintive strains go straight to the head. Yet he wrote only at +intervals. Moved by the afflatus which only a poet feels, he would now and +then take up his poetic pen and give voice to the minstrelsy of his soul. +His verse is merely fugitive snatches of song springing from an +imagination essentially poetic, and a heart subdued by religious emotion. +In no sense was poetry a profession with this charming lyrist, for he +himself tells us that his verses "were written at random--off and on, +here, there, anywhere--just when the mood came, with little of study and +less of art, and always in a hurry." + +Leaping warm from the heart and taking the wings of poesy, his thought +throbs with virility, and makes an appeal to the heart of another with a +force that is irresistible; visions of matchless beauty rose continually +before his imperial imagination and sought vent in song. + +Had Father Ryan subjected his thought to the lapidary finish of the +professional poet, it is doubtful if it would now be so popular. He wrote +as he was moved, the fervid thought seizing the first words within reach +as a vehicle, and thus they fall on the ear of the world. + +Simple songs his poems are, generally melancholy, meditative, pensive, the +chief virtue of them being that they touch the heart. His thoughts seem +to move in popular orbits in search of objects invested with the +plaintive. It is not the weirdness so often met with in Poe that one +encounters in the poetry of Ryan, but the touch of moaning, the sadness of +a burdened heart yearning and burning for that which it has not, but hopes +for and looks for in other realms yet unrevealed. Resounding corridors of +gloom, dimly lighted vestibules, processions of mourners moving till lost +in darkness, the chimes of melancholy airs heard by mystic ears, the +muffled footfall in mysterious darkness, the touch of vanished hands, the +outreach of timorous arms through the gloom for a kindred touch, the +sighing of a soul for its inheritance--these are the elements which +resound his verses through. + +Much of his poetry savors of his theologic thought and environment, and, +naturally enough, the object frequently pertains to that dear to the +devout Catholic; but it is not about the substance of his thought that we +here speak, but of his undoubted genius as a poet. Equal objection might +prevail against much that is written by other poets, as, for instance, the +substance of some of Poe's productions, whose "Annabel Lee" is heathen +throughout, but it is poetic in its every syllable. + +The symbols and paraphernalia of his church, its worship, and all that +pertains to it may be encountered in one way or another in the poetry of +Ryan, but the undoubted genius with which it is wrought and molded into +verse is that which fascinates the lover of poetry. + +That Father Ryan would have been pre-eminent in poetry had he exercised +his powers, seems clear. The vividness of expression, the subtle beauty +inherent in his strains, and the deft touch given his thought are those of +the genuine poet. He dwells apart from the ordinary drift of thought. The +coloring of his thought was derived from numerous sources, and, emitted +from the furnace of his heart, it was ever in transformed shape. The +rattle and clatter of the rushing world fell on the ear of his soul with +the element of melody. His emotions were pent up, and when they leaped +their barriers, they gave to a responsive soul-world that which we call +Father Ryan's poems. His own soul, subdued to softness and gentleness by +his inner reflection, sang itself in musical cadence. + +His verse, always graceful and often brilliant, flowing melodious and +limpid with the lilt of a landscape rill, borrowing delicate tints of +beauty from the greensward and varied bloom which fringe its banks, and +flashing back the light derived from heaven, makes an instinctive appeal +to the soul of the reader, and has a sobering effect on his thought. From +the source to the sea there is the same gentle flow with its occasional +puddle and its subdued sound of ripple. + +That which our poet does is more indicative of possibility than of final +actuality. His strains are merely soft touches of the fingers of the +musician on the keys of the soul, and yet they evoke such melody that one +wishes the reserved force of the soul, whence they come, might have fuller +and freer expression, that the slight thrill experienced might rise to +rhapsody. + +Most rare are many of the pithy passages to be met with in his +productions. Did space permit, it would be a delight to enumerate many of +these gems which glitter along his pages, but only one or two may here be +indicated. On the occasion of a visit to Rome, he penned a fragment on +"After Seeing Pius IX." The first four lines are here quoted to illustrate +the power of the poet derived from a mere glance of a man's face, and in +the last two of the lines quoted resides a power in metaphor rarely met +with. Says the poet: + + "I saw his face today; he looks a chief + Who fears not human rage, nor human guile; + Upon his cheeks the twilight of a grief, + But in that grief the starlight of a smile." + +The transference of the idea of the twilight and the gentle star meekly +peeping through, to the struggle discerned in the features of one, is a +picture that would occur to none other than a poet. + +Equally striking is the beauty of the figure contained in his "A Land +Without Ruins," where he says: + + "Yes, give me the land where the battle's red blast + Has flashed to the future the fame of the past." + +Numerous are the striking pictures which he brings before the eye by one +single stroke of the pen. Nor does Father Ryan conjure with the emotions +merely to quicken and to stir for the moment. Indeed, he does not seem +conscious of that which he has done and so greatly done; he merely sings +out his soul in low refrain and leaves his melody lingering in the air. + +Ryan was patriotic to the core. In the thunderous years of the great Civil +War his pen was busy with the ink of patriotic fire, but the aftermath of +the war was more aptly suited to his nature. When in her night of sorrow, +the South was a land of mounded graves, within which slept a generation of +young heroes, while blackened chimneys stood sentinel over them, and while +the monuments of the South were only heaps of charred ruins, and her once +fair fields were littered with wreck and disaster, these appealed to our +lyrist with unwonted force. The spirit of his Hibernian blood was +invincible, and when embodied in a stream of poetic fire it illuminated +scenes which else were dreary and desolate. From out the environment of +darkness and ruin, his spirit sought the solace which the future must +bring in recognition of principle, and thus he sang. Thousands who +differed with Father Ryan religiously, honored him as a gifted singer. He +has but scant recognition in the literary history of the country, but this +is to be expected. He was largely a poet of locality, both geographically +and religiously, and wrote not so much for others as for his own pastime, +but Alabama owes him much as her greatest poet. Because of the genuine +merit inhering in his verse, and because of the unquestioned worth +attaching to his productions, he is easily the file leader of the literary +spirits of Alabama. + + + + +JAMES R. POWELL + + +The presentation of the name of Colonel Powell suggests a turning point in +the history of the state. A new era had dawned of which Colonel Powell was +an exponent. The long agitation with which the country was rocked for +decades, had culminated in bloody conflict which was waged to exhaustion. +The turbulence of rehabilitation represented in the struggles of +reconstruction had followed, and now the eyes of the people were once more +turned to the ways of peace and re-established prosperity. Resources +practically immeasurable were untouched in the soils and mountains of a +great state, and public thought began to peer into the future with a +longing for tranquil prosperity. A class of men represented by the subject +of this sketch was in demand, and, as is always true, when the demand +exists for men they are to be found. Thus appeared this pioneer at the +threshold of a new era. + +A native of Brunswick County, Virginia, Mr. Powell, while yet a beardless +youth, had ridden the distance from Virginia to Alabama on horseback. This +was before Alabama had emerged into statehood. On his faithful horse he +reached the straggling village of Montgomery with less than twenty dollars +in his pockets. Entering on life in the new region to which he had come, +as a mail contractor, he gradually rose to the direction of a line of +stage coaches for the transportation of mail and passengers, and with a +widening horizon of business tact and comprehensiveness of enterprise for +which he was remarkable, he adjusted his stage coach enterprise to a +chain of hotels, the most noted of which were located at Montgomery, +Lowndesboro and Wetumpka. These interests flourished as the people +continued to pour into the new state. As the forests were transmuted into +smiling fields, villages, and towns began to emerge into populous centers, +and institutions began to flourish. While Powell was instrumental in +making new conditions, the conditions were making Powell. A man grows by +the means which he creates. While he makes a fortune the fortune makes +him. Gifted with an enterprising and constructive mind, Mr. Powell was +gradually coming to that stage for which his life was fitting him. The +combination of conditions which followed in the wake of the turbulence of +years, was one which would arrest the enterprising eye of a man of +executive skill, and breadth of vision, which James R. Powell had. Two +unfinished lines of railway penetrated the state, in part, one reaching +from the Gulf northward, but checked by mountain barriers, the other +stretching from the fertile West southward, but halting before the +mountains, beyond which was the line with which it was destined to be +linked in the creation of one of the greatest arteries of commerce in the +South. Between the two, lay a wide barrier of mountain region, in which +were embosomed untouched treasures which were destined in their +development to excite the interest of the world. + +With these resources was associated in the fertile brain of James R. +Powell, the picture of a mineral metropolis in the mountains of north +Alabama, and in a region where men least dreamed of such a possible +creation. He had engineered primitive mail routes, first on horseback, and +later by the rumbling coach, and widening the expansion of interest and +effort by the establishment of timely hostelries, but here he was destined +to crown his unusual career as the builder of a mighty city. Hence, +Birmingham. + +In the rush and rattle of a great mart, such as Birmingham has become, +those of a later generation, who throng its streets of architectural +magnificence, and gaze on its piles of splendor, are apt to forget those +who laid the foundation stones of the great municipality, and made +possible a mighty urban center, destined to eclipse all others of the +South in compass and in the number of its people. Men are apt to tread +with careless feet over the unmarked graves of the harbingers of that +bequeathed to a later generation, forgetful of the brain which contrived +and the hand which executed. + +It is not the phrase of empty eulogium to speak of James R. Powell as one +of the greatest of Alabamians. Unlettered in the schools, he followed the +unerring finger of a transparent judgment, and unawed by formidableness of +difficulty or vastness of scheme, he planned and wrought, both wisely, +and, propelled by a pluck born of the enthusiasm of patience, he +succeeded. The career of a man like this in a generation, or even in a +century, is a vital inspiration, and far worthier of record more +elaborate, than a brief and humble sketch like this. + +Incidents in his career illustrative of his native and inherent greatness, +are worthy of at least a casual notice not only, but of permanent +embalmment in the memories of those who reaped where he sowed. Men like +the subject of the present sketch are apt to be thought of as sordid and +selfish, while with intensity of spirit and strenuousness of brow, they +drive impetuously over obstruction, forgetful of the gentler amenities of +life. Oftener, however, than is supposed, there is beneath the intense +exterior, hearts of corresponding compass with the sweep of executive +activity. There were many instances of gentle and substantial worth woven +into the career of Colonel Powell, only one of which is here given. + +The record of the severity of the winter of 1863 is phenomenal in +meteorological chronicles. The lakes and ponds were covered with a thick +stratum of ice. An object of wonder to many, the phenomenon addressed +itself to the practical side of the mind of Colonel Powell, who cut large +quantities of the ice and carefully stored it away. The manufacture of ice +was then practically unknown as a commodity for market, and it was in +great demand in the hospitals of the Confederacy. He declined an offer of +forty thousand dollars for his store of ice, and presented it to the +Confederate army hospital department, for use in Alabama and Georgia. Many +acts of generous spirit were his, but they belong to the chronicles of +unwritten history. + +In 1871, James R. Powell, at the head of the famous Elyton Land Company, +was scouring the territory of Jefferson County with the plan in view of +founding here a large city, the logical result of the immense resources +embedded in the hills and mountains of this favored region. The +Louisville & Nashville Railroad had supplied the missing link between the +North and South, and Colonel Powell was among the first to see the +possibility of a great city in this region. While the local and adjacent +resources were then only imperfectly known, they were sufficiently known +to justify the colossal proposal of a mighty emporium. The task was +herculean, but the projector was a man of wide experience in grappling +with odds, and in subordinating to the mastery of his will the disputing +difficulties. Small minds quarrel and quibble over points of +inconsequence, while giants stride over them with serene non-recognition. + +Without tiring, Colonel Powell gave the world accounts of the fabulous +resources of the district of the prospective city. The facts first +published throughout the United States and Europe, were first regarded as +speculative rose-water, but they in truth represented only a stiver of +that which subsequently came to be known. + +Birmingham was first a straggling, struggling village, penetrated here and +there at irregular distances, by rugged highways, the terror of the driver +in a rainy season. Diminutive houses dotted the scene over, without +respect to order or system. One small brick structure stood where now +stands the Brown-Marx Building, then the most substantial expression of +confidence yet given. Highways of deep red clay ran past the building on +either side, and among the shanties and small houses was an occasional +dingy tent. + +Under such conditions, Colonel Powell, with his usual daring, ventured to +invite the session of the Alabama Press Association to hold its session +in "the city of Birmingham," in 1873. He succeeded, but, not content with +this, he appeared before the body and again pleaded that the following +session be held here also. He encountered stout opposition for two +reasons, namely, Birmingham was a most uninviting place, without +accommodation, and other places of the state wanted the next session. But, +combining diplomacy with suavity, Powell prevailed a second time. Having +succeeded in this, he urged that the New York Press Association, which +would be meeting at the same time, be invited to join their brethren of +the quill in Alabama. Such temerity staggered the body. Besides the ragged +and rugged conditions existing, the New York press was hostile to that of +the South, because of its opposition to President Grant in his southern +policy. Insuperable seemed the barriers in the way of such an +accomplishment as Colonel Powell sought, but he overbore all obstruction, +and succeeded. + +The result of such movement, coupled with the geological investigations +going steadily on meanwhile, made Birmingham secure. The voice of the +northern press resounded throughout all the states, and went beyond the +Atlantic. Honorable Abram S. Hewitt, of New York, sounded the prophetic +expression: "The fact is plain--Alabama is to become the iron +manufacturing center of the habitable globe." A wave of awakening light +spread throughout the financial world, and Birmingham was secure. + +But a new disaster arose. A scourge of Asiatic cholera smote the young +city now struggling to the birth. The dead were numerous, and a funeral +pall hung over the town. Colonel Powell remained with Roman courage on +the ground, caring for the suffering, burying the dead, and preserving +order. Pestilence stalked along the rugged streets and wasted at noonday, +but the faith of this man of iron nerve was unshaken. His courage +stiffened that of others--his faith was contagious. No wonder that he came +to be called "The Duke of Birmingham." No special shaft marks the +recognition of this mighty builder of a great city, but the city attests +his power. In the dim light in St. Paul's, in London, the tourist reads a +tablet, "Christopher Wren, builder. Would you seek his monument? Look +around." Not otherwise is the relation of Greater Birmingham to James R. +Powell. Its towering turrets and lofty buildings, its residence palaces +and shaded streets, its smoking stacks and hives of mineral mines, and its +numerous railway lines with their cargoes of daily traffic--these are his +monument. + +That one so great and noble should come to a death so novel and untimely +is a mystery. He fell a victim to a pistol fired by a beardless youth in a +Mississippi tavern, in 1883. For all the future his monument will stand, +Alabama's greatest city. + + + + +H. F. DeBARDELEBEN + + +In the year 1851 there might have been seen working in a grocery store, in +Montgomery, a sprightly lad of ten, whose father had just died, and whose +mother had removed to the Capital City. This boy was Henry DeBardeleben, +destined to become prominent not alone in the development of the resources +of the state of Alabama, but a picturesque figure in the coal and iron +industry of the South. + +Friendships of other days had united the Pratts and the DeBardelebens, +which led to the guardianship of the lad by Alabama's pioneer +manufacturer, Daniel Pratt, under whom Mr. DeBardeleben was directly and +fortunately fitted for life. His academic course over, the young man was +placed as superintendent over the famous gin factory at Prattville. Mr. +DeBardeleben found in business a more congenial air than he found in +books. The harness of work in the supervision of a manufactory was more +easily adjusted to the young man than was that of the schoolroom, and the +young man shed the one and gladly donned the other, for, from the outset, +he cared but little for books, only as they could be used as tools to +bring something to pass. + +In the new sphere in which he now was, young DeBardeleben was of just the +cast of temperament to seize the principles of business, work them into +habit, and translate them into life. He learned those under the tutelage +of Daniel Pratt, and in later years often alluded to them by the power of +association with conditions encountered in future life. For instance, Mr. +Pratt would never allow a piece of timber the least defective to be used +in the manufacture of gins. It must be thoroughly seasoned, and be sound +in every respect. Then, too, no defect must be sought to be concealed by +an oversmear of paint, but solid merit must be in every splinter, screw +and nail. Besides, no promise must be made that was not to be literally +kept, if possible, and all bills must be promptly met to the day. In +addition still, there must be no lounging or lolling during working hours, +for idleness was akin to criminality in the mind of Daniel Pratt, and +things must move while they were working. + +Easily susceptible, the young man grasped these as cardinal principles of +life, and they became to him abiding oracles for which he cherished the +highest regard. Becoming the son-in-law of Mr. Pratt, marrying his only +daughter, and, indeed, his only child, Mr. DeBardeleben necessarily became +the more intimate with the proprietor and father-in-law. + +One of the first interests enlisting the attention of Mr. DeBardeleben was +that of a central system of railway through the heart of Alabama. A +railroad from the Gulf reached the base of the mountains of north Alabama, +but there it stopped. From the opposite direction another descended from +Nashville into Alabama, and likewise stopped on the opposite side of the +mountains. To see this missing link supplied by the knitting together of +the two ends was a matter of deep concern to Mr. DeBardeleben, and he +rested not till it was done. That accomplished, the opening of the +resources embedded in the mountains and hills of north Alabama enlisted +him. As he came to learn more of these abounding deposits his enthusiasm +was enlisted as never before, and visions of accomplishment rose before +him to lure him to fresher endeavor. It is not possible within the narrow +compass of a slight sketch even to name the enterprises to which he set +his hand, and only the barest outline of the man and of his achievements +is possible. + +The combination of elements in his character was exceedingly rare. He was +a great and perpetual dreamer, but his dreaming was of the solid and +constructive sort. No day dreams nor woven rainbows were his, merely for +entertainment of lazy hours. He pictured possibilities, not visionary +vacuities. He had poetry in his being, but it was the poetry that was +practical. He was a great poet and a great business prince combined. He +was not unmindful of the formidableness of difficulty, but it inspired +rather than deterred him. Underneath the ardor of the man was a solid +substratum of calculation, and a calculation that took into account +herculean effort. His penetration was sharp, quick and decisive. + +In this sweeping delineation the fact is not overlooked that Mr. +DeBardeleben was forced to succumb to the inevitable when Birmingham fell +a victim to the cholera scourge, and equally to the prostration occasioned +by the memorable Black Friday in Wall street, the effects of which event +fell with crashing weight on every interest throughout the Union. Furnaces +grew cold, the pick in the mine lay idle, eager laborers sat holding +their hands in idleness, and a nightmare fell on the nation throughout. To +have known Birmingham in those days would have been to know a forlorn +town, straggling and gloomy, while the environing districts were silent +and smokeless. + +But the darkness gradually wore back to light. + +With the return of dawn, men were open-eyed for advantage in the great +mineral domains of Alabama. Mr. DeBardeleben returned to Birmingham in +1877 with an immense fortune at his command, for he was the successor of +Daniel Pratt. Now he became united with Colonel Sloss and Mr. T. H. +Aldrich, names forever inseparable from the history of the mineral +development of north Alabama, and an invincible trio it was. + +In the immense enterprises now entered on by the three, there was +sufficient in the colossal proportions of the undertakings for the +adjustment and adaptation of the peculiar gifts of all. Mr. DeBardeleben +was the chief planner and sagacious seer of the group, and daring he was +in all the enterprises proposed, but he was willing not alone to see, but +to do. The expansive fields of ore constantly challenged his highest +forces of enthusiasm and energy, and he chafed under his own limitations, +as a man, to meet the challenge forthwith. Dreaming in the solid way +already indicated, planning by day and night, and meanwhile always doing, +Mr. DeBardeleben was a prodigious factor of development in this marvelous +district. + +It was the dawn of a great era in the history of the Birmingham district +when Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben combined his immense energy and equally +immense fortune in its development. He took the refluent tide of +prosperity at its fountain, and, directing it into new channels, +rehabilitated the district, and in the transformation made others +forgetful of the preceding gloom. Indifferent to fame, he was intent on +gratifying his unceasing enterprise and energy by seeing the strides of +development made. + + + + +WILLIAM C. OATES + + +Altogether worthy of enrollment among the great men of Alabama, is the +name of Governor William C. Oates. His service to the state for many years +was varied and loyal. He was crowned with honors by his countrymen and was +altogether worthy. Reared to manhood with only ordinary educational +advantages, he was for many years recognized as one of the foremost +citizens of the state. He was a man of solid qualities without the glint +of the picturesque or the foil of the superficial. Honesty was his purpose +in life, and in view of this quality, his faults were as transparent as +were his merits. In no cause or issue was there a misapprehension of his +position. If in some respects he was rugged, it was due to the fact that +he did not propose to pose for that which he was not. He had his enemies, +but they were no more cordial in their opposition than were his numerous +and strong friends in their attachment and loyalty. + +In the dawn of manhood he gave but little promise of success. Leaving home +at the age of sixteen, he roved the far Southwest for a period of years, +struck the hard sides of life, and returned to his home more matured in +wisdom by his bitter experience, and came to realize the necessity of +stability of plan and purpose in order to succeed. In the raw region of +Henry County, as it then was, Oates taught a rural school for a period of +months, later readdressed himself to study, and finished his course at a +high school at Lawrenceville. At that time the bar opened the widest and +most inviting gateway to eminence, and Oates aspired to be a lawyer. + +In the office of Pugh, Bullock & Buford, at Eufaula, the rustic aspirant +learned the principles of his chosen profession, and was admitted to the +bar in 1858. Locating in the rural village of Abbeville, the seat of +justice of Henry County, he rose to be the leading lawyer of southeast +Alabama, and gradually came to be recognized as one of the best lawyers of +the state. His matter-of-fact manner and sturdy honesty won him a wide +circle of confidence, and men would ride on horseback long distances to +engage his professional service. + +The rural press was not so abundant at that early day as it has since +become, and because of a lack of representation in that then inaccessible +region, he edited a newspaper at Abbeville. He was engaged in the combined +functions of editing a country journal and practicing law, when the storm +of war broke over the land in 1861. Raising a company of volunteers, he +became the captain, and was attached to the Fifteenth Alabama Regiment of +Infantry. He led his command into twenty-seven battles and became +conspicuous for his courage on the field. He received his commission as +colonel in 1863, and received a wound at Brown's Ferry, on the Tennessee +River, near the close of that year. At Fussell's Mills, near Petersburg, +Va., he sustained the loss of his right arm, but after recovering from the +wound, he resumed the command of his regiment, which command he retained +until the close of the war. + +Returning to Abbeville after his capitulation, Colonel Oates again took +up his practice, and came to be esteemed one of the leading citizens of +the state. With all important movements in the state he was connected, and +his practice meanwhile became immense, so that Colonel Oates came to be +regarded not only as one of the most successful and leading lawyers of the +state, but one of the most prosperous. In many ways his name was +prominently known throughout the state, and a number of times mentioned in +connection with gubernatorial honors. This was notably true in the two +conventions for the nomination of a governor in the years 1870 and 1872. + +In 1870 he represented Henry County in the state legislature, where he +became a distinguished leader. His service as a legislator brought him +still more prominently before the public. He was a member of the +constitutional convention in 1875, and from 1881 to 1894 he served his +district, the third Alabama, in the National Congress. His long and useful +career in congress gave him an influence second to that of none other of +the Alabama delegation. He was serving in congress when he was chosen +governor of the state in 1895. + +Shortly after this came the monetary slogan of the free coinage of silver +at the sixteen-to-one ratio, of which William Jennings Bryan was the +apostle, and Governor Oates was with the minority of eminent Alabamians +who resisted the doctrine, in consequence of which he paid the penalty of +defeat at the polls for the national senatorship in a subsequent election. + +When the Spanish-American War began in 1898 Governor Oates was +commissioned a brigadier general and served throughout the ninety-three +days of that sharp and decisive contest. + +He was again chosen a member of the convention which revised the state +constitution, in which body his services were of immense value to Alabama. +His closing years were spent in the city of Montgomery, where he continued +to practice law till compelled by failure of vision to surrender it. He +died at an advanced age. + +Reviewing a sketch so brief and imperfect, and one altogether unworthy of +his long career of usefulness, we are enabled to glean sufficient to learn +that for a full half century Governor Oates was engaged in contributing to +the growth and development of the state. The stations filled by him with +ability so signal, and extending through so many years, attest his +usefulness as a valuable citizen of Alabama. As a lawyer of distinction, a +soldier as courageous as any son of Alabama, a delegate in molding the +fundamental law of the commonwealth, a statesman whose qualities were +signally demonstrated in the halls of congress, and in the gubernatorial +chair, there is due him the worthiest praise. Solid rather than brilliant, +rugged rather than polished, useful rather than ornate, and substantial +without the alloy of artificiality, there were embodied in Governor Oates +elements of genuine greatness. In nothing mediocre, he rendered a +permanent service to Alabama and went to his grave as one of the state's +most distinguished public servants. + + + + +JONATHAN HARALSON + + +Judge Jonathan Haralson was an eminent type of that generation of southern +gentlemen who were a connecting link between the old and the new South. He +had just reached the threshold of cultured manhood when the crash of war +came. He was of the finished mold of the young southerners of that period. +He descended from a noble stock that was pre-eminent in southern society +and in the affairs of his native section. His father belonged to that +wealthy class of typical planters that gave prestige to the South on two +continents. His uncle, General Hugh A. Haralson, was one of the most +distinguished congressmen from Georgia, and for many years together was +one of the most learned jurists of that state. + +Graduating from the University of Alabama in 1851, Judge Jonathan Haralson +studied law and was admitted to the bar a year later, but in order to +equip himself thoroughly he went to the law school of the University of +Louisiana, where he spent a year and obtained his degree of LL.B. He +immediately entered on the practice in Selma, where he became eminent as a +citizen, barrister, and an active Christian. + +When, in 1876, the legislature of Alabama organized the city court of +Selma, a court of common law with civil, criminal and equity jurisdiction, +the bar of Dallas County recommended Judge Haralson to Governor Houston +for the judgeship of this court. For sixteen years he presided over the +court with signal ability. At the end of that time he was elected to the +supreme bench of the state, where he served for twelve years. + +One of the distinctions conspicuous among others possessed by Judge +Haralson is worthy of special mention. His unusual culture, affableness of +disposition, cheerfulness, varied ability, and prominence in Christian +work found for him unsought niches of high honor in Christian work. Purely +in recognition of his worth, he was chosen the president of the Baptist +State Convention of Alabama in 1874, which position he held for eighteen +years, and was the most distinguished layman in the denomination of the +state during that time. In 1888 he was chosen the president of the +Southern Baptist Convention, which embraces the largest Baptist +constituency in the world, and for ten successive years presided over that +great body. He was a model parliamentarian, and came to rank as one of the +foremost laymen of his denomination in the union. His retirement from that +position was voluntary, for no one ever enjoyed more universal confidence +and popularity than he. + +Other honors still were his. He was for many years a member of the board +of trustees of the Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, chairman of the board +of trustees of Howard College, and a member of the American Baptist +Education Society. An index to the character of Judge Haralson is afforded +in the remark which he has been heard to make that he suffered nothing to +interfere with his religious obligations. His conception of life +throughout was ideal. Himself a model of genuine manliness, he sought to +stimulate it in others. In all things his method was that of exactness. +There was a scrupulous care in his bearing, his speech, his conduct toward +others, and to the close of his life, the little amenities that make up so +much of life, were not lacking in his character. While his high sense of +manliness begot firmness, it was of that type which always bore the stamp +of gentleness. + +His suavity won him friends by the multitude, and his character and +ability gained for him unlimited confidence. Presiding over bodies +sometimes rent by agitation, where skill and firmness were put to the +severest test, such was his personal influence, and such the confidence +reposed in him, that no appeals from his decision as a parliamentary +officer were ever taken. + +Judge Haralson has but recently passed away, leaving behind him a record +of public life of more than fifty years, with not a dent in his shield or +a tarnish on his armor. He labored as long as he was able, and under the +weight of years voluntarily retired from public life. His death occurred +in his eighty-second year. In the quietude of his own home circle in +Montgomery, after his retirement from the supreme bench, he serenely +awaited the call of death. + +Among the public men produced by Alabama, none ever excelled Judge +Jonathan Haralson in loftiness of character, incorruptibleness of life, +gentleness of disposition, and fidelity to duty. He was never the least +ostentatious. His manner was quiet and cordial, and never the least +reserved. While his conclusions were always positive and firm, they were +so tempered by gentleness as to leave never a shadow behind. He was as +cautious of the feelings of others as he was for those of his own. + +No man was freer of self-seeking. It was purely in recognition of his +worth that he was called forth by others to the varied functions which he +performed. His companionableness bound to him the best of men who loved +him because of the loftiness of his life. + +He lived throughout, the life of a typical southern gentleman--easy and +quiet of manner, pleasing always in his address, unstilted, yet possessed +of all the graces of the highest expression of culture. He was never +profuse of praise or of compliment, but indulged in a sort of pleasing +raillery and jest in which was couched an estimate which he entertained, +and which meant immensely more from him than would the extravagance of +many another. In a circle of friends he was invariably charming. His +appreciation of a joke was delightful, and in this he indulged to the +close. Jocular without yielding to unseemly levity, easy without undue +freedom or familiarity, sometimes slightly stinging in his jovial +criticisms of those for whom he had the highest regard, he always +recognized the boundary of propriety, and never suffered himself to be +betrayed beyond. There was no assumption either in his speech or manner. +He was simple, while at the same time great in very many respects, +invariably respectful, and dutiful to every trust, as a friend and as an +official--these were the dominant traits in the character and life of +Judge Jonathan Haralson. + + + + +W. J. SAMFORD + + +Readers of that sterling Democratic journal, the New York Daybook, +published in the metropolis in the years before the war, recall the +articles of a spicy correspondent from "The Oaks," in Alabama. That writer +was the father of Gov. William James Samford. As one might judge from the +conversation and from the speeches of Governor Samford, he was reared in +an atmosphere of literature. To him, like to thousands of other southern +youth, the war was untimely, as it interposed to cut short all prospects +of a finished education, for as a stripling of seventeen he entered the +service of the Confederacy. He had previously enjoyed all the facilities +afforded in a country school near Auburn, and was in the sophomore class +at the University of Georgia, when the call to arms reached him. Youthful +as the boy soldier was, he soon became a lieutenant in the Forty-sixth +Alabama Infantry, which distinction he won by gallantry on the field. +Conditions were such that he was oftenest in command of the company. + +Captured at Baker's Creek, he was taken to Johnson's Island. When his +command was surrounded at Baker's Creek, with no chance of escape, he drew +his sword and behind a log drove it into the ground to the hilt to prevent +its falling into the hands of the enemy. After his exchange, Governor +Samford rejoined his command and was with Lee's remnant when it +surrendered. + +Returning home when he was just twenty-one, Governor Samford went bravely +to work on a farm to help save the growing crop of the spring of 1865. +During the following fall he was married to Miss Drake, and settled on a +small farm which he largely tilled with his own hands for several years. +Possessed of an unusual intellect, as all who knew him recognized, +Governor Samford was not content with turning the glebe, and procuring the +elementary books of law, he would study at night after laboring through +the day. He was fortunate in the companionship of an intelligent and +sympathetic wife, to whom he would from time to time recite, as he would +wade through the successive volumes of law. + +In 1871 he removed to Opelika, was admitted to practice, and applied +himself with energy. His thorough knowledge of the principles of law, +resulting from his rigid application from the time of his entrance on its +study, was superinduced by the labor which he bestowed on each case. A +diligent, attentive, and intelligent lawyer is rarely without clients, and +this admits of peculiar application to Governor Samford. + +A striking and command physique, a genial manner, a mastery of his cases, +and an eloquence which was natural, won him a practice that rapidly +extended, not only, but a rank at the bar of which any one might justly +feel proud. It is a notable fact that in the long career of the practice +of Governor Stamford, he was never caught on any point unawares. He had +gone over the entire ground in advance, had consulted the authorities with +minute care, and entered the court fully equipped. Never presuming, as +some lawyers do, that his opponents would overlook certain points involved +in a given case, he strongly fortified each one, especially the weaker, +so that he was ready for battle when the case was called. + +This habit, well known in connection with the practice of Governor +Samford, won for him a widening fame, so that his practice was +considerable and prominent throughout East Alabama, and in other parts of +the state, and even beyond. A client once defeated in an important +criminal case, by the scientific knowledge of Governor Samford, remarked +that a man who knew as much as Samford, should not be allowed to practice! +Instances occurred when the opposition and even the court itself, was +taken by surprise by his exactness of knowledge of the scientific points +involved in given cases. Governor Samford had read every available +scientific work bearing on the case at issue, and was a match for the most +expert witness that could be pitted against him. + +While Governor Samford was fearless in the prosecution or defense of any +cause, civil or criminal, entrusted to his care, there was always a +stately suavity that characterized his bearing, even in the rough and +tumble of the courtroom, as his native gentleness of heart forbade the +slightest harshness, or any warmth of passion. He was willing to +acknowledge a lack of firmness on his part, about which he would speak to +friends, but he would at the same time acknowledge that it was due to his +indisposition to be unkind to any one. + +The creation of the present board of pardon in this state was due to his +energy, as he did not believe that so much of that which is sacred should +be lodged in the hands of a single man, but that there should be +deliberation derived from a number of sources in the settlement of grave +questions. No one was more distrustful of his own firmness than was he +when confronted by an issue involving much happiness. There was this +womanly element in his great nature which would sway him in spite of +himself. Whatever may be said of Governor Samford, his most obstinate +opponent could never deny the existence of this trait of gentleness and +kindness. Yet when confronted by a principle which demanded decision, he +could be firm, and was, as was abundantly shown by the exercise of the +veto power when it needed to be invoked. + +Governor Samford's service to the state was manifold. Beginning as a +soldier boy at seventeen, his career was marked throughout by services of +a varied nature. While serving as a representative in the lower house, +from Lee County, he was the recognized leader of that body. As senator, +his merits were recognized by his being chosen the president of that body. +As a delegate to the constitutional convention, his services were +invaluable. As a representative in congress, he made a reputation for +himself and for the state. Honored at last as governor, he brought to the +functions of that high office his learning, ability, and experience in +public life, all of which were valuable. + +Only hints of the force of this profound lawyer, skilled statesman, +cultured citizen, eloquent barrister, and Christian governor can be given +in a sketch so circumscribed as this, but even such glimpses afford +sufficient insight to enable one to judge of his rank of superiority. +Always bright and cheerful, his sense and appreciation of humor did not +forsake him on his last bed of illness. Yet there was profound devotion to +God which he cherished and cultivated to the end. Cut down in the prime of +life, Governor Samford died while serving as governor of the state. + + + + +W. W. SCREWS + + +For solid and substantial service and for disinterested devotion to the +cause of Democracy, the duration of all which stretches through a period +of about a half century, none excels the veteran editor, William Wallace +Screws, of Montgomery. From the early dawn of manhood to ripened age, +Major Screws has been identified with the fortunes of his native state. It +is doubtful that another has impressed the thought of the state so +uninterruptedly for so long a time as he. There has never been the +slightest waver in his fidelity and downright labor for a long period of +years. Certainly he has sufficiently won the approval of the people of the +state as to be worthy of a place among the men who have constructed the +commonwealth to its present stage of advancement. No flash nor +picturesqueness, no sensation nor sudden innovation has at any time +attached to that which he has done--it has been service rendered as in a +treadmill, patiently, persistently, and perseveringly. He has gone down +into the depths with his people, has suffered as they have, and has risen +along with them through the varying fortunes which have been theirs in the +years of the immediate past. + +Major Screws' native region is Barbour County. His academic training and +all indeed he ever had, was at Glennville, a village noted in other days +for its educational advantages. He entered life early, for he was admitted +to the bar at twenty, after having studied in the law office of Watts, +Judge & Jackson, at Montgomery. At the end of a two years' practice, he +entered the Confederate service, being among the first to enlist. Like +many others, Major Screws was not a secessionist, but he was a patriot, +and subordinating his personal views to the expressed judgment of the +people of Alabama, he shouldered his musket and went with the first troops +that were concentrated at Pensacola. He joined in the capture of the navy +yard and of Fort Barancas, and later became a lieutenant in Company H, +Fifty-ninth Alabama regiment, and served under General Bragg in Tennessee +and Kentucky, participating in the battles of Chickamauga and Knoxville. + +The last year of the war found Major Screws under Lee in Virginia. During +that stressful and distressful period he was an active sharer, and was +with the remnant of that brave army that surrendered at Appomattox. It was +during his campaigning with the two armies that Major Screws developed his +popular ability as a writer. A vigorous and versatile correspondent from +the front, he enlivened the columns of the Montgomery Advertiser, then +presided over by that brilliant editor, Samuel G. Reid. The keen insight +of Major Screws into the situation led him at one time to forecast some of +the contemplated movements of Bragg's army, the publication of which led +to his arrest by General Bragg, but this was a merely meaningless episode, +and only served to develop the fact that the sagacious correspondent had +too keen an insight for the comfort of the commanding general. + +On his return home in 1865, Major Screws was entirely reliant on his pen +for a livelihood, and became connected with The Advertiser as an +associate. Great consideration was shown him by the editor, Mr. Reid, who +finally put him in possession of the paper. Here has been the orbit of his +great service to the state. His tripod was his throne, and though the +paper was suppressed for a period of months, under the bayonets of +reconstruction, it was not throttled, and its columns radiated with +exposures of the corruption of those corrupt days. Under Major Screws, The +Advertiser was the vent of heroic expression and the champion of the +liberties of the people of Alabama. In those days of darkness and of +trial, when Major Screws wrestled with poverty in the maintenance of his +journal, the people of Alabama little knew what he was undergoing in their +behalf. But in cool heroism he labored on, as though he had the purse of a +prince at his command, and unselfishly served the people, undergoing +perhaps as much privation as anyone who has ever served the state. + +Under conditions like these the unselfishness of Major Screws was put to +the test on more than one occasion. At one time during the agitation +caused by the Stantons in the notorious struggle to obtain the issue of +bonds in behalf of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, the history of +which struggle is too long to be gone into here, an agent of the Stantons +appeared at Montgomery and proposed to Major Screws to pay him $51,000 for +the use of the Montgomery Advertiser in the promotion of the fraudulent +scheme. Major Screws was to remain the editor of the paper, and the sum +proposed was merely to purchase the right to use its columns, through +another, in fixing this burden on the people of the state. He was a poor +man, grappling with the difficulties incident to the times, but he flatly +declined the offer, and bravely continued his opposition to the issue of +the bonds. + +There was another occasion when he might have succumbed to a proposal as a +Democrat, and found some plausible pretext for his action. The marvelous +mineral resources of the state were winning national attention, and a +segment of the Democracy in congress under the leadership of Hon. Samuel +J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was espousing protection in the interest of +the mineral developments of the country. Mr. Randall was the champion of +these Democratic protectionists, and it was sought to bring the mineral +interests of Alabama into the movement. The bait was a tempting one at a +time when capital was in great need for the development of our deposits, +and an exponent, such as the Montgomery Advertiser was, would have proved +of immense advantage to this wing of the Democratic party. Accordingly, a +special agent was commissioned to Montgomery to offer to Major Screws the +snug sum of fifty thousand dollars to espouse the cause of that particular +wing, and take plausible shelter beneath the plea of the necessary +development of the coal and iron of Alabama, but this he promptly +declined. These are sufficient to show his unselfishness as well as his +devotion. + +Perhaps more than any other since the Civil War, Major Screws has been +instrumental in shaping and directing the policies of the Democratic party +in the state. He was a candidate for office once, when in 1868 he was +elected secretary of state, and during the first administration of Mr. +Cleveland he was appointed postmaster at Montgomery. These are the only +positions he has ever filled. His career is an important component of the +forces which have made Alabama great in the galaxy of American states. + +Major Screws has grown old in years in the cause of democratic liberty in +Alabama, yet in spirit he is as virile and vigorous as he was in the days +gone. + + + + +HILARY A. HERBERT + + +When a lad of thirteen, Col. Hilary A. Herbert came with his father's +family from Laurensville, South Carolina, to Alabama, and settled at +Greenville, Butler County, where the lad grew to distinguished manhood. +His advanced studies were prosecuted at the universities of Alabama and +Virginia, at both of which schools he established a reputation for aptness +and rigid accuracy. Admitted to the bar, Colonel Herbert had scarcely +begun his career as a lawyer when the Civil War began. He had leisurely +pursued his scholastic course and was about twenty-seven years old when +the call to arms came. + +Entering the army as a captain, he was attached to the Eighth Alabama +Infantry, which regiment was sent to Virginia. He was with Magruder at +Yorktown, was in the peninsula campaign, during which time he was promoted +to the rank of major, and at Fair Oaks he fell into the hands of the +enemy. He was soon exchanged, and on rejoining his command, was made +lieutenant colonel. His regiment was first assigned to Longstreet's corps, +but later was transferred to that of A. P. Hill. + +Colonel Herbert led his regiment into the battles of Fredericksburg, Salem +Heights, Antietam, and Gettysburg. In the battle last named the Eighth +Alabama was directly opposed by a Federal regiment commanded by Colonel +Maginess, who, in after years, sat side by side with Colonel Herbert in +congress. + +The retirement of Colonel Herbert from the army was due to a serious +wound received in the Wilderness. The wound was inflicted on the left arm, +a portion of the bone of which was carried away, and that practically +nerveless limb still hangs at his side as a memorial of his gallant +services. On receiving his wound, he was borne from the field in a +critical condition. + +Up to that time, though commanding the regiment for a long period, Herbert +was only a lieutenant colonel, the colonel having been long disabled and +unfit for duty, was not with the regiment, though his name still appeared +on the roster as the commander of the regiment. Personally disabled as +were both the colonel and the lieutenant colonel, they stood in the way of +the promotion of those who were still in active service on the field. In +recognition of this condition, Colonel Herbert wrote at once to the +brigade commander, expressing the wish to be retired. Major I. P. Emerich, +who was now in command, with great magnanimity, protested against such +action, insisting that Herbert had won distinction as a leader of his +troops, and insisted that fairness demanded that he be promoted before he +be suffered to retire. Major Emerich was joined by other officers of the +command in the protest, which resulted in the retirement of Colonel +Herbert with the full rank of colonel. The action was alike creditable to +Colonel Herbert and Major Emerich. The latter still lives an honored +citizen of Mobile. + +After the capitulation of the Confederate armies, Colonel Herbert located +at Greenville in the resumption of the law practice, where he was easily +at the head of the local profession. A wider sphere opened to him in +1872, in Montgomery, whence he removed and entered into copartnership with +Mr. Virgil Murphy, and later was associated with Messrs. Clopton and +Chambers, with whom he was engaged till 1877, when he was elected to +congress, his intention being to gratify an ambition by remaining in his +seat but one session of two years. + +But an event occurred which changed the current of Colonel Herbert's +career. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, had become speaker of the +house, and there appeared on the scene Col. Tom Scott, of the same state, +with a colossal scheme to procure a subsidy of $40,000,000 with which to +build the Texas Pacific Railroad with branches extending to the most +important southern points. It was a gigantic venture and wore a rosy front +for the South, which region was seeking to get again afoot. On the +delegation from the South, pressure was brought, because it was so +plausibly promising and it was sought to be made appear that it was an +undertaking which the South could not lightly esteem. The enginery of the +scheme was far reaching in its operation, for the state legislatures were +urged to take such action as would force the co-operation of their +congressional delegations in its success. The Alabama legislature +instructed its senators to vote for it, and requested its representatives +to do so. + +Knowing the source and purpose of the mammoth scheme, Colonel Herbert +declined to support it. Every possible pressure was brought to bear, but +Herbert was immovable. His maiden speech in congress was in opposition to +Scott's plan. His argument changed the current of his life. The speech +was printed and sent throughout his district, and though he protested +against his renomination, he was returned to congress. Colonel Scott made +another desperate effort to force the co-operation of Colonel Herbert, +even employing learned and local counsel in Montgomery to induce the +legislature to give imperative instruction to the state delegation to +support the measure, and while this learned attorney alluded before the +legislature to Colonel Herbert as misrepresenting the interests of the +state, the assembly declined to instruct the members as desired, and the +whole scheme was killed. Colonel Herbert now came to be recognized as one +of the safest custodians of the interests of the state. While not a +demonstrative gentleman, his merits came to be recognized in congress, as +was shown by his appointment on the ways and means committee on which +committee were such men as Reed, McKinley, and Morrison. His district kept +him in congress as long as he would serve. + +In 1885 he was appointed chairman of the committee on naval affairs at the +request of President Cleveland. In 1893 Mr. Cleveland appointed him +Secretary of the Navy. So popular was Colonel Herbert in Congress, that +Republicans vied with Democrats in demonstrations of gratification at his +promotion to the presidential cabinet. Just after his appointment to this +honored post, he entered the hall of congress and was moving quietly +toward the Democratic cloak room. Mr. Outhwaite, of Ohio, was speaking as +Colonel Herbert was moving along the outer aisle, when a member spied him +and broke forth with "Herbert! Herbert!" He paused, when Mr. Outhwaite +generously said, "I will yield five minutes of my time to the gentleman +from Alabama." There was no escape, and Colonel Herbert had to speak. He +pronounced with deep emotion his high appreciation of the honor and +tribute, and it is said that this was the first instance where he was +unable to restrain his emotions in public. He was wholly unable to +disguise his profound emotions at a demonstration so great. + +To Colonel Herbert the entire country is indebted for the efficiency of +its national navy. Behind the guns of Dewey, at Manila, and those of +Schley at Santiago, was the efficiency of Hilary A. Herbert. Though +advanced in age, he is still prosecuting his practice in the national +capital. + + + + +WILLIS BREWER + + +Prominent among Alabamians who have aided in building into greatness our +commonwealth is the Honorable Willis Brewer, of Lowndes County. Along +different channels he has wrought for many years. Planter, journalist, +lawyer, author, and statesman, Colonel Brewer has been no inconspicuous +contributor to the growth of the state. A native of Sumter County, +Alabama, with his education restricted to academic training, he has turned +to most valuable account his gifts and acquirements, and by the +self-cultivation of the one, and by means of close and studious +application of the other, he has been an active participant in the affairs +of the state for many years. + +When a mere lad of sixteen he, in connection with the late Judge William +R. DeLoach, of Sumter County, began the publication of a paper at Milton, +Florida, where they were, when the war began, in 1861. Both enlisted in +the Confederate army, but the health of Mr. Brewer became broken, and he +was assigned to post duty during much of the war, but served for a period +on the staff of General Wirt Adams in the Mississippi campaign. + +His fondness for journalism led him to resume the editorial pen just after +the close of the war, when he published at Camden, Alabama, the Wilcox +Times. It was at this time, when Mr. Brewer was only twenty-two years old, +that Governor Patton appointed him on his staff with the rank of colonel, +by which title he has since been known. + +In 1868 Colonel Brewer removed to Hayneville, and founded the Hayneville +Examiner. The times and the environments served to evoke from the young +editor the best that was in him, and his paper became one of the most +powerful engines in the state in the exposure of the corruption of +reconstruction. The slogan resounding from the Hayneville Examiner, "the +people against the fools and thieves in power," caught, in its aptness, +the ear of the state, and became a popular legend throughout the +reconstruction era. + +In 1876 to 1880 Colonel Brewer served the state as auditor. During 1880 he +was chosen for the legislature and served during the remarkable period of +eighteen years, twelve of which as senator and six as representative. At +the end of that period he was chosen for congress, where he served for +four years. Twenty-six years of public service, years of diligent +activity, entitles him to the gratitude of the people of a great state. + +Valuable as his service was in every position occupied by Colonel Brewer, +his most useful service was rendered while he was state auditor. His +career in that capacity began with the administration of Governor Houston, +which was one of retrenchment and reform. The pivot on which the economic +administration of Governor Houston turned was the office of the auditor, +over which presided Colonel Brewer. Here he discovered the leakage of the +resources of the state, and it was Colonel Brewer who not only discovered +this vent but sealed it, and gave backbone to the economy of the +administration. To illustrate, Colonel Brewer found that the tax +collector of Mobile County was allowed a credit of sixty-two thousand +dollars for the lands bought by the state in 1874-75, and yet it was shown +that Mobile was sold every year, while in the County of Dallas, not +including the town lots, ninety-five thousand acres were sold in 1875. + +Conditions like these had prostrated the state financially, and the eight +per cent "horse shoe" money of the state was being hawked in the market at +fifty and sixty cents on the dollar. Within two years after Colonel Brewer +became state auditor, the eight per cent bonds of the state were funded at +six per cent. He never suffered a tax collector to settle with a +subordinate, but always with himself. + +Another illustration of his share in the financial rehabilitation of the +state is afforded by the fact that Colonel Brewer originated the state law +of sale of property for taxes, which law he worked through the legislature +during the session of 1878-9. He is the author of the law relative to +descent and distribution by means of which parents inherit from their +children when they die intestate, without wife or children. For seventy +years the state had made no provision for parents, and no matter how old +or infirm, they could not inherit, and the property fell to the brothers +and sisters of the intestate. + +From the dry, dull details of rigid business and the exacting irksomeness +of burdensome labor, Colonel Brewer could turn with his facile pen to the +production of the rarest English and the highest expression of thought. +His passion for literature, for he is a most versatile student, has +resulted in a style peculiarly his own--crisp, terse, luminous, +condensed, cast in a classic mold. His History of Alabama, published in +1872, is an invaluable contribution to the literature of the state. As a +stylist he is rigid in exactness, while preserving a singular flavor which +is most agreeable to the learned reader. His "Children of Issachar," a +novel, deals with Ku Klux times. "The Secret of Mankind" is a metaphysical +production which has won such praise as to cause it to be compared to the +works of Tacitus and Swedenborg. Though published as far back as 1895, +this work is securing a revived popularity, and is now being translated +into the German. The last literary production of Colonel Brewer, "Egypt +and Israel," is a scholarly production of philology, and shows a +remarkable knowledge of the language of the ancient Egyptians and Hebrews. + +At this writing Colonel Brewer is still among us. His poise is still as +erect as when a lad, and his speech as clear, though he has passed his +sixty-seventh milestone. In commenting on an allusion made to him in the +Mobile Register in September, 1907, which journal spoke of him as "the +last of the southern colonels," the Montgomery Journal said of Colonel +Brewer: "No man in the state has a more distinguished personality, a +personality more distinctly southern, and none whose brain and intellect, +culture and learning so forcibly remind of the Old South, as does the +Register's Hayneville friend." + +In quiet leisure Colonel Brewer is spending his closing days at "The +Cedars," his country mansion, a few miles distant from Montgomery. + + + + +JOSEPH F. JOHNSTON + + +Alabama was favored by the double administration of Joseph Forney +Johnston, who took with him into the office of chief executive the +qualities of a successful man of business and a varied experience of +years. When a boy, Governor Johnston removed from his native state, North +Carolina, and, his father settling at Talladega, the son was placed at +school, where he was when hostilities were begun between the states in +1861. Scarcely eighteen years old, he was among the first in the state to +enlist in the Confederate service, and became a private in the Eighteenth +Alabama Regiment. It is a matter of common observation that a good soldier +makes a good citizen, which admits of application to Governor Johnston. +The record of his soldierly career may be summarized in the facts that the +stripling soldier rose from the ranks to a captaincy, served throughout +the struggle, and bore from the conflict four scars as the results of +wounds in so many battles. + +Like thousands of others, the close of the war found him practically +penniless in the midst of conditions of desolation occasioned by the long +struggle, and in facing the future, as a young man of twenty-three, he +selected law as a profession, studying in the office of General W. H. +Forney. Admitted to the practice, Mr. Johnston located at Selma, where for +eighteen years he devoted himself to law, confining himself, for the most +part, to commercial law, which served to imbue him thoroughly with the +principles of business. While an active participant in current affairs of +a public nature, he was content to render whatever service he might to the +common weal, but evinced no desire for official station. In the +reconstruction struggles he actively shared, and, while assisting others +to the gratification of political ambition, Mr. Johnston was content to +adhere strictly to the demands of his profession. + +The development of vast mineral deposits in north Alabama induced his +removal to Birmingham in 1884, in which growing city he practically +abandoned the practice of the law, having been chosen the president of the +Alabama National Bank. A still wider sphere was opened to him when he was +invited to become the first president of the Sloss Iron & Steel Company. +Voluntarily retiring from the presidency of the bank, he assumed the +larger duties of this great organization. This responsible station +afforded ample exercise of the qualities of business with which Captain +Johnston was equipped, and by the application of these, the company was +placed on a solid and paying basis. + +After years of service in this capacity, he caused it to become known that +he aspired to the governorship of the state. He had never held political +office, had never before desired it, hence had never before sought it; but +now he did not disguise the fact that he wished to occupy the executive +chair in the capitol of Alabama. His characteristic announcement of his +candidacy was quite aside of the hackneyed phraseology of the ordinary +political seeker. With blunt frankness he declared that he had not been +solicited by numerous friends, and was not yearning to become a victim on +the altar of political sacrifice in a consuming desire to render a public +good, but simply that he had an ambition to become governor, believing +that he could serve the state efficiently and with fidelity. Nor did he +disguise the fact that he was possessed of this ambition for the +distinction which it would afford and the honor it would bring. + +Having resolved to enter the race for this high office, he bent his +energies to the achievement. Twice he sought the position, and twice +failed. In the third contest, however, in 1896, he was overwhelmingly +chosen. That much was due to his praiseworthy persistency, his fealty to +his party, which was ardently shown in his espousal of the candidacy of +his opponents after he had himself failed, and to the fact that greater +publicity was given his forces of character, there is no doubt. His +unsuccessful efforts had served to display the type of man that he was, +and there was a growing recognition of his merits. + +On his entrance to the gubernatorial office he began at once to reduce the +government to a business basis. He proceeded to lop off, here and there, +official branches that bore no fruit and yet were duly fertilized at the +public expense; he regulated the system of taxation, so as to equalize it, +by requiring taxes to be paid which had hitherto escaped; he instituted +the system of the examination of the books and accounts of county +officials by expert accountants, and by economy of management caused to +accrue to the state treasury a sum exceeding thirty million dollars. He +took a direct personal interest in the public school system of the state, +and it was during the administration of Governor Johnston that the +question of an improved public road system was inaugurated. By steps like +these he came to be recognized as "the business governor." He was +unanimously chosen to succeed himself after the expiration of his first +term, and his gubernatorial career closed with the last year of the +nineteenth century. In 1909 Governor Johnston and Honorable J. H. Bankhead +were chosen by the popular vote of the state to succeed Senators John T. +Morgan and E. W. Pettus, and in 1910 took their seats. Senator Johnston +displayed the same solid qualities in the National Senate that he had +previously shown as governor. His was not a demonstrative career, for he +was a man of solid qualities rather than one of shining gifts. There was +the utmost popular confidence in his judgment and in the integrity of his +character. Steadfast to duty, often when physically unable, for his health +had become greatly impaired, he won, as a senator, the thoughtful +confidence of the people of Alabama. + +An indication of the conscientiousness of his conviction was shown in the +fact that in the famous Lorimer case, before the senate of the United +States, Senator Johnston, guided by the evidence, declined to be swayed by +the popular clamor to vote for the ejection of the Illinois senator. To +many this was thought to be hazardous, but he openly declared that rather +than do violence to his convictions, he would resign his seat. He +therefore voted for the retention of Mr. Lorimer, and refused to be +swerved by the outcry of the popular press. Senator Johnston was +preparing for a contest to succeed himself when he suddenly died at +Washington, in August, 1913. + + + + +ROMANCE OF ALABAMA HISTORY + + + + +FIRST WHITE INVADER + + +The morning of May 25, 1539, found the shore of Tampa Bay, Florida, the +center of a bright and animating scene. A wealthy Spaniard, chivalrous and +dashing, had just before reached the port with a force of six hundred men, +twenty officers and twenty-four priests in white canonicals, all bent on +an expedition into the far interior. Their quest was the long-imagined El +Dorado of the western world, which was a prize glittering before the +imagination of the fervid adventurer. Ferdinando DeSoto, who led this +daring troop, was not unaccustomed to adventures such as he had in +contemplation, for he had been with Pizarro in Peru, where he was rewarded +with rich booty, and he pined to invade the southern part of the North +American continent, where he hoped to reap richer rewards than were found +on the continent to the south. In the exploration on which he was now +entering he had been preceded ten years before by Narvaez, who had +perished by drowning. Now, with a freshly equipped expedition, DeSoto +entered anew on an exploration of these western wilds in search of gold. + +Novel spectacle was this on the wild and primitive shore of Florida. Men +in brilliant uniforms, and with helmets glittering in the spring sun, +gayly caparisoned steeds, a procession of white-robed priests bearing +their crucifixes, formed a procession at once novel and imposing. As they +filed out and formed for the march, there was ranged in their rear a +small herd, each of cattle and of hogs, to be driven on the expedition for +supplies of milk and meat. As the expedition advanced inland, there was a +strange multiplication both of swine and of cattle. + +It was picturesque enough, this cavalcade of horsemen in shining attire, +bearing the ensign of Spain, wending its way slowly through the virgin +forests of tall pines. Their camp fires of rich, resinous pine knots, in +the midst of stately trees, which stood like pillars in a vast cathedral, +lent a scene of enlivenment to the forest surroundings. The region was +green with long, wild grass and the native peavine, while the blossoms of +early spring were in their glory. + +Streams deep and crystal abounded, along which grew the rank cane. Herds +of deer and droves of wild turkeys came frequently into view as targets +for the Spanish marksmen, and the troop reveled in unusual luxury, with +venison and turkey meat even in the wild woods of the continent of the +West. + +From the early stages of the march toward the interior, combats with the +Indian tribes began, but the Indian was unequal to the Spaniard because of +the better equipment of the latter. The savages were overawed by the +splendor of the white soldier, and as much by his horse as by himself, for +horses the Indians had never before seen. DeSoto was fortunate in the +capture of Jean Ortiz in a contest in the interior of Florida. Ortiz had +been one of the band of Narvaez, had been captured by the Indians ten +years before, had succeeded in saving his life by wily stratagem, and +because of his soldierly qualities had been made a chief of one of the +tribes. + +Under conditions like these, Jean Ortiz had lived for ten years, making +the most of the circumstances, and had long ago given up all hope of +leading other than the life of a wild savage. The dominion of his tribe +fell within the march of invasion of the Spaniards, and Ortiz led his +warriors to battle against them. Sorely beaten in the encounter, many of +his warriors having been slain, Ortiz and his troops fled in confusion, +hotly pursued by the Spanish horsemen. Ortiz was specially sought to be +killed because he was the leader, and as a cavalryman raised his lance to +deal a deadly blow, the chief cried out in Spanish, much to the surprise +of the pursuer: "Slay me not; I, too, am a Christian!" The half-nude +savage was taken to DeSoto, his body smeared with divers paints, his hips +swathed in a fawn skin girdle and his head bedecked with a coronet of +pretty feathers. He told the story of his capture and wild life to the +Spanish commander, and placed himself at his service. Ortiz proved to be a +valuable ally to the troop in acquainting DeSoto with the methods of the +savages, and in serving frequently as an interpreter. + +DeSoto found the aborigines to be far more formidable fighters than he had +expected. While their implements of combat were rude, yet when wielded by +the Indian, they did deadly execution. The chief weapon of warfare of the +Indian was the bow, the character of which made it an object of terror. +The bows were made of sun-cured hickory saplings the size of a man's wrist +and eight feet long. Curved and secured by a strip of rawhide, the bow was +no mean instrument of peril in the hands of the muscular savage. To the +flexibility of the hickory bow and the elasticity of the thong were +adjusted the skill and aim of the practiced warrior. The arrows were +finished with a view to accuracy of aim, velocity, and deadliness of +execution. Tipped with triangular flints with rough edges and pointed +sharpness, they were driven with an aim so unerring, and with such force +and celerity, that they could be shot through a man or beast at a distance +of one hundred yards. With a quiver full of these arrows strapped to his +back, the brawny warrior would sally forth, an object of terror. + +Fortunately for the Spaniards, they were prepared with armor sufficient to +withstand these crude weapons, for each soldier wore a coat of steel, a +helmet and breastplate, and carried a shield of metal. Their horses were +also protected with coats of steel. With their biscayan lances, +broadswords, arquebuses, crossbows, and a small piece of artillery, the +Spaniards felt secure against the primitive implements of the savage. +Though thus secured against savage attack, DeSoto and his men soon learned +that theirs was not a primrose path through the American wilds. The Indian +proved to be a terrible antagonist with his foxy stratagem and his +primitive method of warfare. These pampered sons of Spain, many of whom +had been petted and nourished in mansions and in palaces of luxury, had +daily to fight for their lives on the invaded territory of the red man, +who would engage the Spaniards at points of the greatest advantage to +themselves, and who enjoyed every possible advantage because of their +familiarity with the surroundings. But for Ortiz, the expedition might +have perished before it had quitted the present territory of Georgia. + +The Spaniards never knew when to expect an assault. Often at the most +unconjectured time, they would receive a shower of arrows, noiseless in +their flight, and coming from unseen sources. Every hour, by day and by +night, they were kept in suspense, and even intervals of quietude became +ominous of accumulating trouble. Sometimes from the summits of rocky hills +in front an attack would be made; sometimes one flank assailed, then both +simultaneously; while not infrequently the rear would be attacked by +overwhelming numbers of shrieking, yelling demons, whose painted, naked +bodies and fierce demonstrations would create pandemonium. There was +little in tragic scenes like these to hearten the tender gentry of Spain. +By dint of rare discipline, maneuver, powder and ball, of which the +Indians knew nothing, and an intensely common interest of protection which +welded the Spaniards together, they invariably prevailed, but never were +shrewder, more stubborn or fiercer foes encountered, than these raw +savages of the American forest. + +Though duly provided with workers in metal with their pots and ladles for +the refinement of gold, the troops found no use for them after months of a +straggling march through the woods of the South. The alluring vision of +the invading Spaniard of the abundance of gold in the retreats of the +American wilds, was gradually dispelled and vastly counterbalanced by the +hourly peril that menaced. That the spirit of the troops so long survived +conditions like these, shows the stern stuff of which the Spanish soldier +of that time was made. His love of gold was consuming, while his spirit of +adventure was the most audacious. These, combined with the necessary +coherence in common defense, made DeSoto's band well nigh invincible. + +After a considerable detour of the present state of Georgia, DeSoto +reached the region where the city of Rome now is, where he crossed the +river, and was the first white man to set foot on the soil of Alabama. Of +the subsequent scenes of the expedition we shall have occasion to learn in +the chapters that are to follow. + + + + +INGRATITUDE AND CRUELTY + + +Thirteen months of hardship and of Indian warfare had changed the original +picnic appearance of the Spanish troop. The uniforms were not now so +lustrous, and the young grandees did not disport themselves as they did +more than a year before, on the shore of Tampa Bay. The elements had +dimmed the luster of their equipments, the hot southern sun had bronzed +their complexions, their uniforms looked much the worse for wear, and, +while the pots and ladles of the refiners were still unused, there was yet +the undaunted flash of hope in the Castilian eye. It was a resolute legion +under a resolute leader. + +The Coosa was crossed, that stream of crumpled surface which the Indian in +his native sense of poetry had called "Rippling Water," which is the +meaning of Coosa, and now the cavalcade turned toward the southwest, as +one would look from Rome toward Blount Springs and Tuscaloosa. It seems +that from the Georgia side the Indians had sent runners to the tribes on +the thither side, warning of the advance of the strange cavalcade of +invasion, for as DeSoto pursued his way he met one embassy after another, +offering every concession in order to placation. + +The line of march was through the present counties of Cherokee, Calhoun, +Talladega and Coosa. Like Cæsar in Gaul, DeSoto jotted down his +observations and impressions, for he was a scholarly warrior, and his +records are a matter of permanent value. He was charmed by the primeval +beauty of that northeastern region of Alabama. Streams, swift, bright and +deep, unalloyed by the soil and sediment of the present time, wound their +way among the hills; magnificent timbers stocked the forests; mountains +were the more imposing because of their wooded flanks; flowering vines, in +gorgeous beauty, climbed to the tops of the tallest trees; festoons of +wild grapes were suspended from tree to tree; varied floral coloring +decked the region throughout, while meadows of the rarest green were +spread like carpets along the valleys, through which ran flashing streams +like threads of silver woven into the carpeted verdure. + +Here, too, the observant and intelligent Spaniard detected the difference +between the Indian tribes that he had encountered on the eastern side of +the river, from those on this side. Fertility of soil, picturesqueness of +scenery, or the inheritance of forces from a superior ancestry, or all +these combined, had placed the Alabama tribes far in advance of their +tawny brethren across the stream. Here were found cleared fields, on which +was grown corn in abundance, of which there were rude barns full to +overflowing. Settlements and towns were laid out with some respect to +order, and the huts and wigwams were built with more regard to comfort and +of appearance. It was the opinion of DeSoto that the highest civilization +possible to the Indian unaided, was here reached. + +Environed by conditions like these, the Spanish commander was much +affected, favorably concerning the Indian, but unfavorably respecting +himself and his men. This advanced condition of the Indian suggested to +him a problem which he had not anticipated, for he was now to deal with a +class of people not before met, and for which he had not planned. This was +accompanied by a suspicion, inseparable from Spanish character, that these +manifestations of embassies meant for him a trap, and by this he was +controlled ever afterward, much to his disadvantage, as we shall see. + +He was now within the dominion of the chief of Coosa, a great monarch in +these far interior wilds. His dominion was vast, his people loyal and +brave, thrifty and numerous. His capital city was Coosa, and to DeSoto the +chief sent an embassy of welcome, which was coldly greeted by the +suspicious Spaniard. When DeSoto came near the capital, he was met by the +Indian monarch himself, attended by a thousand painted warriors, stalwart, +tall, erect, lithe, and dignified of movement. They walked the earth like +princes. Around a band about the head of each, were nodding plumes of +varicolored feathers. With lofty port and evident pride, they escorted +their chief into the presence of the Spanish invader. The chief himself +was a fellow of commanding build, and as he sat erect on a rude chair +borne on the shoulders of four brawny braves, he was not unconscious of +his consequence as a great ruler. + +The Spanish were astonished by a scene so splendid in these sylvan +retreats. To them it was a spectacle of wonder. About the wide shoulders +of the mighty chief was a mantle of martin skins, soft and glossy, which +fell in graceful folds about his huge form, while his head was adorned +with a coronal of brilliant plumage. His immense escort of painted +attendants lifted their voices in Indian melody, accompanied by piping on +their cane flutes. + +The two bands of Indians and of Spaniards were brought front to front, +each silently scanning the other curiously, each magnificent in its own +way. Each was equally a revelation to the other--the plumed and half-naked +savages, with faces hideous with divers paints, bearing bows, arrows and +wooden clubs, and the steel-clad warriors of ancient Spain with metal +armor, and mounted on animals never before seen by the Indians. Through +Jean Ortiz, an interpreter, the ceremony was conducted. Speeches were +exchanged, after which DeSoto was escorted with much pomp to the quarters +prepared for his entertainment. + +Haunted by a dark suspicion, DeSoto kept the chief near him and retained +him as a sort of hostage near his quarters. While the Indian is +revengeful, he is kind even unto death, when a friend. The chief had +exhausted his ingenuity in providing entertainment for his distinguished +guest, and that guest now requited that kindness by placing the chief +under arrest. The man of the woods showed deeply and keenly the +humiliation felt, but the supercilious Spaniard cared not for that. The +untutored warriors were enraged by the untimely treatment of their chief +and gathered in knots and groups about the settlement with a low hum of +murmur. Their savage blood waxed hot, and they began to foment mischief. +DeSoto cared nothing for savage amenity and hospitality, and was concerned +alone for his own safety. Gratitude is not an element in the Spanish +character, and DeSoto had not crossed the seas to indulge in diplomatic +palaver, but had come in search of the yellow gold. + +Stung by revenge, the Indian warriors by thousands slid away to the woods +by different ways, to plan for the extinction of the invading host, the +intruder, the ingrate. Apprised of their movement, DeSoto summoned his +forces and sent them in pursuit, and scattered the warriors before they +could assemble, and by concerted action attack him. A large number of them +were made prisoners, both of men and women, whom DeSoto handcuffed, put +iron collars about their necks and loaded them with chains. All this was +done openly in their own capital city. Around his headquarters sat in +groups the meek-eyed prisoners, while near the house provided for the +entertainment of the Spaniard sat their revered chief, himself a prisoner. +The chief, the wiser of the two, pleaded that, whatever was meted out to +him, his people be not thus so cruelly served. In response DeSoto +sufficiently relented to release some of the prisoners, while he retained +others, and when at last he took his leave he forced them to become +burden-bearers of his camp equipage. + +Still anxious to afford assurance of his sincerity, the imprisoned chief +sought repeatedly to avow it afresh, but it fell on the leaden ears of the +heartless Spaniard. Engaging DeSoto in conversation, the chief even went +so far as to offer a vast domain of land to the Spaniard for the founding +of a Spanish colony, and proposed to allow him to select it himself. At +this DeSoto only laughed, and told his entertainer that it was not land +that he sought, but gold. Well had DeSoto learned the lesson given by the +atrocious Pizarro in Peru, with whom he was, during that notorious +invasion far to the south. + +DeSoto was in no haste to quit the Coosa capital, and with lavish hand he +fed his horses, cows, and hogs on the housed corn and provender of the +savages, while his men were refreshed by a long-needed rest. When he at +last took his departure, he left with the Indians some of his most +undesired cattle and swine, besides a negro slave, who had fallen sick, +and was unable to travel. The Indians were delighted to retain the +African, as they were greatly impressed by his thick, heavy lips, his +black skin, and his woolly hair. Long afterward it was noted that the +Indians in that quarter were of a darker hue than were the neighboring +tribes, which was attributed to the remote ancestry of this son of Ham. +After lingering for a full month in the Indian capital, DeSoto took his +leave, but not without crowning his cruelty by taking with him the proud +young chief as a prisoner of war. The most that can be said in extenuation +of this infamy is that he treated him with kindness. Realizing that it was +futile and perhaps perilous to protest, the chief bore the indignity with +becoming calmness, showing that of the two men, he was the superior. +Though kindly treated, the chief was closely watched and guarded, lest he +might escape and produce havoc. Taking up his line of march, DeSoto still +moved toward the south. + + + + +TUSKALOOSA, CHIEF OF THE MOBILIANS + + +As had before occurred, couriers preceded DeSoto, warning the Indians of +other settlements and tribes of his coming. Numerous Indian towns were +passed by the Spaniards as they wended their way, following the wide and +well-beaten paths of the Indians as they threaded the primeval forests. +The Spaniards were cautious and wary, and kept a sharp outlook for lurking +danger. They would invariably pitch their camps at night on the outskirts +of an Indian village, and at times, well within its limits. If an attack +or misfortune should come, there was an evident advantage of close +proximity to supplies. The Spaniard was suspicious, the Indian +distrustful. + +Much after the fashion of the ancient cities of Europe and of the farther +east, some of the larger towns of the Indians were surrounded by massive +walls. Timbers hard and heavy, of cured oak and hickory, sometimes sunk +deep into the earth and standing upright, at others lying horizontally, +but in each instance strong and compact, made the walls most formidable to +attack. Along the summits of these ramparts, high and rude, were watch +towers or lookouts, warily sentineled. There was evident the sense of +geometric order, skilled workmanship, and resistfulness to attack from +without, all of which served to heighten the wonder of the Spaniard, if +indeed it did not deepen his solicitude. + +The Tallapoosa River was reached--a stream flanked by dense woods and +penetrating soils of blackness and of a dingy red. DeSoto was greatly +impressed by the savage skill shown in the location of a fortified town in +a graceful curve of the river. Tallassee, for that was the name of the +town, had a double protection in the river which coiled about it, and in +the wall which more immediately encircled it. From the nature of the +fortifications, the Indians evidently regarded Tallassee one of their +strong and strategic points. In the regions adjacent, lining the fertile +banks of the river, were fields of corn with heavy ears almost +sufficiently ripe for the harvester. This was in 1540, some time after +which this beautiful and prosperous Indian region was invaded by tribes of +Indians from Mexico, who, with tomahawk and fire, laid waste the country, +burning the towns, and reducing to slavery such of the native tribes as +were not slain. In point of Indian relics, no part of the country is rarer +and richer than this. Numerous relics have here been found for the +enrichment of depositories, and a few years ago a peculiar implement of +antiquated warfare was plowed up in this region. The metal implement suits +the description of the cannon in use at the time of the DeSoto invasion. +It represents the type of ordnance known in those days as the "drag," the +heavier pieces of which were suspended by chains, from an axle between two +wheels, when movable, or between two fixed objects, when used for +stationary service. They were sometimes sufficiently light to be held off +from the person, in the palm of the hand, when used for firing. This last +description suits that of the implement found in the Tallapoosa region. It +may be seen among the interesting collections so industriously made by +Dr. Thomas M. Owen, the able and efficient director of the Alabama state +department of archives and history, in the capitol at Montgomery. When the +railroad was building between West Point and Montgomery, there was dug up +in the region of the Tallapoosa River, a necklace of rare beads, such as +were worn by chiefs and princesses in the primitive days. + +At Tallassee, whither had come the terrible news of the approaching +Spaniards, such of the Indians as did not betake themselves to the forts +met DeSoto with slight and cool civility. In order to rest his force, the +Spaniard halted here for twenty days, during which time men and stock were +recuperated and the stores of the commander replenished. It was here that +DeSoto was visited by a sprightly young brave of splendid physical mold, +gaudily attired, excessively polite, and making much show of primitive +diplomacy, who invited the Spaniard to the dominion and capital of +Tuskaloosa, a powerful chief, the territory of whom began about thirty +miles south of Tallassee and extended westward to the banks of the +Tombeckbe. + +DeSoto was notified that Tuskaloosa was in person awaiting him near the +northern confine of his dominion, and was ready to accord a welcome alike +befitting the great monarch, and the brave Spanish commander. To all of +this and much more, DeSoto listened with imperturbable mood, meanwhile +according due respect to the punctilious young diplomat, who, when he +signified his purpose to return, the Spaniard sent a message of grateful +acknowledgment to the chief, not unattended with gifts. With this the +incident closed, but it had a bloody sequel. + +On quitting Tallassee, and before crossing the river on his southward +march, DeSoto released the chief of the Coosa and sent him back to his +people a bearer of gifts. The chief had served DeSoto's purpose, and, now +that no danger could come of him, he was dismissed. The valuable gifts in +part atoned for the perfidy of his retention in captivity. + +Up to this time the Spaniards had had much their own way. Everything that +disputed their progress had been swept aside as so many cobwebs. With +genuine Castilian arrogance, mixed with cruelty, they had marched the land +through with the air of masters, but their brightest days were now behind +them. The future had in store for them abounding trouble and misfortune, +to grapple with which would tax them to the utmost. Gold, the only object +of the quest of this adventurous itinerary, had induced these young +fellows of Spain to sell their estates and enlist under the standard of +DeSoto, had not been found. Not a grain of the precious metal had been +discovered, and more, they were not destined to find any. They had been +lured by lust for gain far into the wilderness fastnesses of America, had +encountered fierce and hostile tribes, were remote from their ships, and +their condition was now a precarious one. Brave, daring and well equipped +as they were, even these advantages were not without serious limitation, +and there was little to save them from utter extinction in these deep +forest retreats. + +Nor were there lacking omens of disaster which did not escape the acute +detection of the wary and wily Spaniard. Beneath the thin sheath of +diplomacy and protestations of friendship and of hospitality, there +lurked a subtle purpose to decoy these men of Spain to destruction. DeSoto +felt this in his bones. That the Coosa chief was sincere there is little +doubt, but DeSoto's treatment of him had exposed his apprehension, which, +in turn, sharpened the revenge of the Indian. The Spaniard's overwrought +precaution hastened to ripeness a conspiracy which else might have been +averted. + +Coming within easy reach of the place of meeting appointed by the chief, +Tuskaloosa, DeSoto dispatched his camp master, Moscoso, in advance with +fifteen picked horsemen, clad in imposing attire, ostensibly to negotiate, +but really to impress. Ostensibly Moscoso was to ascertain the wishes of +the chief concerning the nature of the formalities at the approaching +meeting. Moscoso found the proud monarch of the wilderness seated on two +beautiful cushions, placed on a rare and curiously wrought mat. He was +stationed on a lofty eminence which commanded, in all directions, a view +of imposing natural grandeur. Around him stood, in large numbers, +half-naked warriors, with bodies smeared with paint of different colors. +Above the chief they held a canopy formed of deerskins, and supported at +each end with slanting staves. The canopy was rudely ornamented on the +upper side with parallel lines of varied color. While this was used as an +improvised protection from the sun, it was really a banner of war. The +chief was a fine specimen of the physical man, large, strong, sinewy, +erect, and heavy limbed. He looked the savage sovereign to perfection. His +manner was consequential, but dignified. Anxious to impress the haughty +chief with the importance, and especially with the prowess, of the coming +Spaniards, Moscoso and his band pranced their proud steeds before him. +With necks arched, eyes dilated and nostrils thin, the horses reared and +plunged, while the practiced cavalrymen would perform feats of acrobatic +horsemanship. With visage unmoved, the chief quietly gazed on without +demonstration. + +Later, dashed up DeSoto with the entire troop, hoping to produce an +impression of awe, if not of terror, but the stolid chief remained as +austere as ever. If DeSoto would impress Tuskaloosa with his importance, +Tuskaloosa was just as intent on impressing DeSoto with his profound +greatness. It was throughout a dramatic game of diplomacy, at which each +sought to play with more effect. The reception was short, the speeches +brief and cautious. The savage spoke with haughty reserve, as though +compelled by courtly form. DeSoto, though speaking briefly, was +extravagant in praise of the chief, but especially of himself. He sought +to impress the proud Indian with the idea that, while as an Indian he +thought him peculiarly great, and in condescending magnanimity he would +accord this, still it was an honor not to be lightly esteemed by the +chief, that the Spanish commander should make any concession at all. This +event occurred just south of Line Creek, in the present county of +Montgomery. + +The meeting was mutually unsatisfactory. Both chief and commander were +doubtful of the accomplished result, and both were consequently stiffened +to increased vigilance and resolution. One was suspicious, the other +treacherous. In motive, each was equally hostile. Each felt that he had +strained concession, each was bent on final success. That a juncture had +been reached that would result in a fair test of ability, each knew, and +of the issue, neither doubted. Both would plan and watch. It was a +hand-to-hand fight beneath a show of formality. Whatever the conditions, +DeSoto was determined to keep the chief near himself. After two days, +DeSoto prepared to move. With much show of politeness, he invited the +chief to ride with him. The choicest of the horses was selected, a blood +red blanket thrown over it, while there was tendered to the chief a +crimson cap, and robe of the same color, all of which fascinated +Tuskaloosa while it showed a courtesy undreamed of. For the first time, +the doughty warrior was lifted astride a charger. The spectacle was +grotesque enough--the red robed warrior on the red blanketed steed, with +his huge feet, in loose moccasins, hanging low. Out of the camp they rode +at the head of the cavalcade, DeSoto and the chief, while thronging +thousands gazed with admiring and gaping wonder. It was a ride that +preceded a bloody tragedy. + + + + +TROUBLE BREWING + + +Since he had gone so far in unmasking his apprehension there was now left +nothing for DeSoto to do but to accept whatever results might come. He +could not recede from the position which he had assumed without danger, +yet that he could maintain it, remained to be seen. As league on league +they rode together, DeSoto and Tuskaloosa, the Spaniard was kind, polite +and civil, chatting through an attendant interpreter with the doughty and +deluded chief, it gradually dawned on the Indian that he was trapped, but +he uttered not a word. The fact that DeSoto's objective point was the +capital of the captive chief afforded opportunity for the contrivance of +new schemes in the heart of Tuskaloosa. + +Still moving in a southerly direction, through the present territory of +Montgomery and Lowndes counties, and the lower end of Dallas, the command +reached Piasche, a town built within a bend of the Alabama River. +Unfortunately for DeSoto, his supply of salt was here exhausted, from the +lack of which all suffered--both man and beast. A peculiar malady was the +result, from the effects of which a number of the troops died. Others +affected by the malady became loathsome. The deficiency of salt was in +part overcome by the use of ashes of a certain plant, for information +concerning which DeSoto was indebted to the natives. + +On leaving Piasche the troops followed the Alabama River, and passed +through a portion of the present County of Wilcox. Meanwhile the chief +had become sullen and morose, as though cherishing a deeply nourished +grudge, but not once did he complain or protest against his imprisonment, +and for a time DeSoto flattered himself that the deluded chief was pleased +with the distinction of accompanying him on his tour, while the Indian +well understood the situation, but was willing to rely on the future for +redress. + +By one thing was DeSoto puzzled and embarrassed--that of a number of +warriors who had followed the troops all the way from Line Creek in order +to watch the fate of their chief. They would hang on the rear of the +troop, stop when it would, and move when it moved. While not pleased with +this, DeSoto was reluctant to drive them away, as he was under the +impression that he had Tuskaloosa thoroughly infatuated with him and he +was anxious to retain the supposed hoodwink. The embarrassment was +increased when Tuskaloosa, who seemed to detect the deception into which +DeSoto had beguiled him, availed himself of the advantage thus afforded, +and asked for an occasional interview with his warriors who followed the +troop. + +To decline the request would be to expose DeSoto's plan concerning +Tuskaloosa, while to grant it, was not unattended by danger. However, the +privilege was granted, with the result that Tuskaloosa was constantly +sending messengers toward his capital with dispatches, of the nature of +which DeSoto knew nothing. There was constant disagreement between the +Spanish troops and the Indian hangers-on, and danger was constantly +imminent. An outbreak finally occurred in which two Spaniards were +killed, when DeSoto raved and swore, and more than intimated to Tuskaloosa +that he was the occasion of it, and in his warmth of wrath let fall some +intimated threats of future purposes which furnished to his shrewd Indian +guest what his ultimate determination was. To all of this, Tuskaloosa +growled back that he was the keeper of the Spaniards, and the threats he +treasured up in his heart. + +So grave, at last, became the suspicion of DeSoto that he sent two of his +most trusted followers in advance, to the Indian capital, to ascertain, if +possible, if there was not a conspiracy hatching against him and his men. +Following rapidly, came DeSoto himself with a hundred of his picked men. +Following him again, were a hundred foot soldiers in their best trim, +while to Moscoso was entrusted the rest with the heavy ordnance to come +more leisurely on, but to lose no time. The plan was that by the +successive arrival of troops, in detachments, to impress the Indians that +his numbers were without limit, as they should arrive in order. At no +time, however, did DeSoto leave the chief, but kept him close to his side. +The two messengers charged to ascertain the true situation at Maubila, +reported to their commander that there was evidently much discontent among +the Indians that boded no good. + +Early on the morning of October, 18, 1540, DeSoto reached the Indian +capital, Maubila. Much as he had before been impressed by the skill and +workmanship of the Indians, he was surprised at the scene now presented. +Here indeed was a great Indian city, beautiful for location, and +formidable in its fortifications. Situated on a wide grassy plain through +which ran the deep rolling Alabama, was the capital of the Mobilian tribe. +The city was completely walled about with timbers of immense size, +standing perpendicularly, and made deep set in the earth, and the thick +coat of plastering made of lime mud, gave it the appearance of a wall of +stone. There were two gates in the walls which stood oppositely, and when +closed were very strong. Within, there were eighty large edifices, any one +of which would accommodate 1,000 men. The grounds were well cared for with +their carpet of natural grass. The city viewed from without, looked like +one of the ancient cities of Asia with its lookouts of sufficient size to +accommodate in each eight men. At regular intervals around the walls, but +a few feet above the ground, were portholes for bowmen. + +The exact location of Maubila has given rise to much speculation, and not +a little discussion. Plausible reasons are assigned by different writers +in support of their respective views, but the preponderance of testimony +seems to favor the present site of Choctaw Bluff, in Clarke County, as the +location. In opposition to this view, however, it has been urged that its +distance toward the south is incompatible with the time given for reaching +it by the DeSoto band. + +The arrival of the troops on horseback, under DeSoto, aroused terror on +the part of the Indians, who seemed to regard more the terrible horses +than the men themselves. At the head of the imposing troop rode the +haughty DeSoto in splendid uniform, his armor glittering and his gay plume +gracefully falling back of a wide brim, while beside him was the revered +chief, with his robe of red and his crimson cap, now somewhat dimmed by +rough exposure. There was a hush of consternation when first the cavalcade +rode into full view on the plain. DeSoto had intended by dramatic effect +to overawe the Indian spectators, and with this end in view he neglected +nothing. The armor of the troops was unusually bright, the men were +perfectly erect in their saddles, the horses neighed and pranced, and the +whole effect was inspiringly striking. + +The cavalcade proceeds to the gate on one side of the city, and proudly +enters. With the first sensation of terror gone, the multitude breaks +forth into mighty demonstration. Throngs of men give vent to their +emotions in wild whoops and shouts, accompanied by rude music on cane +flutes. They leap, they dance, and by every conceivable means manifest +their excited joy. On the public square, the dusky maidens gather, and +with shrieks and shouts, dance with unabated glee. No demonstration to a +returning conqueror could exceed that now accorded to DeSoto and his men, +as they proudly ride within the walls of Maubila. Hideous cries from +thousands of throats, mingled with the unmusical notes of many reeds, made +the scene one of terror. + +Silently, but with much ostentation, they ride upon the public square +beneath the wide-spreading oaks. At a given signal, all dismount. A canopy +underspread with rich matting, had been prepared for DeSoto and the chief. +They slowly repair thereto and are seated. With the suddenness of a flash, +Tuskaloosa leaps to his feet, his eye glittering with pent-up anger, and +in stentorian tones he demands that he receive the honor due him within +his own walls, and that he be no longer treated as a common prisoner. +DeSoto is taken quite off his guard. He is as silent as the tomb. An awful +hush falls suddenly on the scene. Wheeling on his heel, the indignant +monarch steps forth and leisurely retires to one of the buildings. DeSoto, +usually very resourceful, is now at his wits' end. Hoping to placate the +stormy chief, he sends an invitation to join him at breakfast, but the +offer is not only sternly declined, but Tuskaloosa notifies the Spaniard +that the sooner he betakes himself without his dominions, the better it +will be for him. A crisis had come and DeSoto must face it. + + + + +BATTLE OF MAUBILA + + +Signs now grow more ominous and rapidly, and DeSoto begins to fear the +worst. This is his greatest dilemma. He would avoid a clash if he could, +and fight only if he must. The occasion has become tense, and he thinks +and plans fast. The Indians have largely vanished from sight in rather a +mysterious way, and those now huddled on the square are in close +conference. A Spanish spy whispers to DeSoto that a thousand warriors, +well armed, are concentrated in one of the large buildings, while in +another is a large supply of Indian munitions of war. The crisis is graver +than he had apprehended. The Spaniard dreaded Indian treachery the more +because it might exceed that of his own. That which he has just learned is +startling, and shows that he has not been mistaken in his suspicions. + +Meanwhile DeSoto keeps up negotiations with the chief, but receives only +rebuff. Meanwhile, also, he is sending secret orders to his men to be +ready at any moment and for any emergency. He now realizes his error in +allowing Tuskaloosa to get beyond his grasp. That which he now wishes is +to have him once more in his possession, and to this end he is working. +His flattery is profuse, his promises to the chief extravagant. His +principal hope lies in gaining the possession once more of his person. He +plies his ingenuity by cajolery, and by all the arts known to the +flatterer, but the foxy Indian had himself recently learned some lessons +of Spanish character, and he is as anxious to keep himself beyond the +reach of DeSoto, as DeSoto's anxiety is to gain possession of him. In one +of the buildings, Tuskaloosa is holding a council with his leading +spirits, as message after message comes from DeSoto. The Indian is not so +unskilled in the art of deception, that he does not see through the thin +guise of the purpose of the Spaniard. "Surely in vain the net is spread in +the sight of any bird." While the negotiations are thus pending, while the +parleying and dallying are going on, an Indian warrior dashes from the +assembled host, and with stentorian voice attended with grim expressions +of heated hostility, denounces the Spaniards as robbers, thieves and +murderers--denounces DeSoto for holding in captivity the beloved chief, +who is as free as the Spaniards, and as good as the Spanish leader +himself, meanwhile making as though he would shoot with an arrow into the +Spanish ranks. Truth is hard, and sometimes hurts. DeSoto is inclined to +disregard all this. The fact is, there was a mutual and balanced fear +between the two parties. Each feared the other; each was equally doubtful +of an issue joined. + +What might have been the result had not a most untimely occurrence taken +place, cannot be imagined, but a Spanish cavalier standing near the +warrior who gave vent to the speech just referred to, irritated beyond +control, clove him asunder with a heavy sword, and his bowels gushed out +in sight of all present. This is the touch of the match to the magazine. +Like the muffled roar of a distant storm, the savages quickly gather, and +in fury rush on the Spaniards, who stand with entire self-collection as +though nothing was occurring. Checked by this marvelous coolness, the +Indians hesitate, and with the utmost precision, the Spaniards march +outside the walls, excepting fifteen, who alarmed by the outbreak, flee +into a room of one of the buildings and close fast the door. + +Once beyond the gate, the Spaniards wheel in defiance and show battle. +Their eyes flash terror, their attitude is one of ferocity. DeSoto has +less than a hundred men, as the infantry has not yet arrived. Soon it +appears, however, and gives fresh nerve. Save the unfortunate killing of +the warrior, nothing has been yet done to indicate an approaching battle, +though the signs thicken fast. The low thud of hurrying feet within the +walls, while all else is silent, betokens trouble. The Spaniards have but +a minute or so to wait, before indications of hostility are manifest. The +camp equipage has been left by the Spaniards on the square, as well as the +Indian prisoners, who had been used all the way from Coosa as burden +bearers. The baggage is burned and the prisoners are freed. The iron +collars are taken from their necks, and the chains from their wrists, and +bows and clubs are placed in their hands to avenge themselves of their +oppressors. The fifteen who fled into one of the buildings are still cut +off, and the situation is ominously acute. + +The delay is only temporary, for soon the savages pour through the gateway +with demoniacal yelling, while a thousand swift arrows plow the air. Five +Spaniards of the little band fall dead, and DeSoto receives a wound. +Regardless of the flowing blood, he leads his command to meet the shock of +the foe. Surprised at courage so unusual, the savages falter, then rush +back within the gate and make it fast. They now turn to the destruction of +the fifteen penned within the room, and seek to force the door, but as +each savage shows himself the enclosed men shoot him down. Some of the +best of DeSoto's fighters are shut within that room--among them are five +of DeSoto's bodyguard, some crossbowmen, two priests, and a friendly +Indian. Their doom seems certain, but they are fighting like bayed tigers. +Unable to force the door, the Indians climb to the top of the walls, and +begin to tear up the roof in order to reach them, but again as an Indian +comes within view he is killed. The dead are heaped before the door, they +lie in a pile on the roof. + +Meanwhile there is no slack in the fighting at the front. The Spanish +assault the walls, but are driven back, though in perfect order. +Encouraged by this, and believing the battle already won, the Indians +again throw open the big gate and rush with fury on the Spaniards. Indians +know little of the value of a retreat in order to rally, and are stunned +by the steadiness and nerve with which they are met. Now begins the battle +in downright earnestness. + +DeSoto is at great disadvantage both in numbers and in supplies of +munitions. Moscoso lingers with the reserves. He is much in need, should +be here, but delays. With strained vision, DeSoto looks for his +lieutenant, but he comes not. The fight is now hand to hand. The Indians +are perhaps fifty to one against the Spaniards, but order and discipline, +powder and ball, crossbow and sword, horse and armor prevail against the +odds. DeSoto leads his troops in person. His men are animated by his +dauntless presence and the terror of his execution. He fights like a +common trooper. The blood still oozes from his wound, but he fights on +still. The Spaniards not only hold their own, but force the savages back. + +At this juncture Moscoso arrives. The Indians rush again within the walls +and make fast the gate. DeSoto now plans for the final onset. His heavy +ordnance is to be brought into prompt execution. On the spot he organizes +his detachments, and while the arrows are flying, he assigns to each body +its task in the closing scene of the drama. Coolness like this is almost +superhuman, but DeSoto is not cooler than his men. + +The axes begin to ring on the gate. Nerved now to desperation by this, the +Indians fight with more ferocity than ever. With resounding blows the axes +fall on the doomed gate. From the summit of the walls and from the +portholes the arrows are rained down on the Spaniards, but striking their +encased armor glide off. Huge pebbles, the size of a man's fist and +larger, fall like hailstones upon their helmets, but to no effect. The +gate begins to give way, it reels, it falls with a creaking crash, and the +Spaniards sweep within. Indians and Spaniards alike fight like demons. +DeSoto still leads, hewing down man after man with his broadsword. His men +follow with equal execution. + +Torches in hand, the walls are being fired. The thick plastering is +knocked off and in many places, the fires begin. Ladders are improvised, +the walls are scaled, and near the summit the torch is applied. The +fifteen pent-up men are released, jump with exhilaration into the fray, +and do deadlier work than the others. The fires begin to climb the walls. +They toss high in air their forked tongues. In a swaying column the smoke +darkens the heavens. + +For nine long hours the battle has raged without cessation, and the end is +not yet. Yells, orders, shrieks, the clang of steel, the stroke of axes, +the roar and crackle of flames mingle in common confusion. DeSoto rushes +on a big warrior, raises his lance to drive it through him and receives a +long arrow in his thigh. He cannot stop to extricate it now, and while it +is protruding, and is much in his way, he fights on like a demon +unchained. Rising in his saddle he sways his sword about his head and +yells, "Our Lady and Santiago!" and plunges anew into the storm of battle. +Spurring his horse into the thickest of the fight, he lays many a warrior +low. + +The Indians begin to break away. They rapidly disappear. The fires become +intense, unbearable. It is a circle of flame leaping from eighty buildings +of dried wood, all at once. The fires rage. The dead braves lie in heaps +both within and without the wall. The blood stands in puddles over a wide +area. At last there are no Indians to fight. They have fled in confusion +to the woods, and DeSoto is master of the situation. + +October 18, 1540, remains to this time the date of the bloodiest Indian +battle that was ever fought. The sun goes down on a city which in the +early hours of the day resounded with the sound of cane lutes, and the +voices of many dancers. The mighty buildings which met the astonished gaze +of the Spanish conqueror, are now a mass of charred ruins. The autumn +grass, green and luxuriant in the morning, is now red with gore. The +populous city of ten hours before is deserted. The great trees, rich in +foliage, are now blasted and seared. Where peace and prosperity were, +havoc is now enthroned. DeSoto had won; his greatest obstruction is now +out of his way, but fresh, and now unconjectured, troubles await him for +which he is ill prepared. + + + + +AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE + + +The morning following the battle of Maubila the autumnal sun broke in +radiance over the desolate scene. The high oaken walls were gone, the +great buildings had vanished, the ancestral oaks that stood about the +grounds now looked like bare sentinels with arms of nakedness--scarred, +barkless and leafless, the greenswarded square of the morning before was a +sheet of black. When the morning before DeSoto first beheld it, Maubila +was a busy hive of humanity, but it was now as silent as the desert. The +buzz of conversation was no more, the cane lute was silent, the shout of +the warrior had died away, the voices of the Indian maidens were hushed. +The warriors were now stiff in death--the maidens had perished. From the +smouldering ruins of the burned city, still crept a slow smoke, while +around the borders of the horizon it shrouded the fronting woods. Nothing +was wanting to complete the scene of desolation, nothing to finish the +picture of horror. + +About the grounds lay heaps of the dead, many burned to blackness, while +around the walls without, bodies were scattered like leaves. The wide +paths leading to the city from different directions, were paved with the +dead, while along the neighboring streams they lay, still grasping their +bows and tomahawks. Wounded unto death, they had dragged their bodies in +burning thirst to the streams, had slaked their intense desire for water, +and had lain down to die. Squaws and babies were intermingled with brave +warriors, while maidens in their tawdry regalia, worn to greet the +Spaniard and his men, were stretched in death. The leaves, grass, and low +underbrush about the once proud city, were painted in the blood of its +brave defenders, now no more. + +To DeSoto it was a victory dearly bought. He had won by dint of discipline +and of orderly evolution, by means of powder and bullet and encasing +armor, but he had paid a heavy toll. It was the beginning of his own end, +and that of the expedition which he led. Eighty-two Spaniards of the small +band were either dead, or a little later, died of their wounds. Forty-five +horses had been killed, and much of the clothing of the men had been +consumed in the flames, together with medicines, relics, and much other +valuable property. There was not an unwounded man in the party save among +the priests, who did not share in the fight. Some of the men bore as many +as eleven wounds, and in not a few instances, the arrows were still buried +in the flesh, made difficult of extrication because of the triangular +shape of the stones with which the arrows were tipped. Every surgeon was +dead excepting one of the staff, and he the least skillful. Following the +example of the men under Cortez in Mexico, the Spaniards cut away the fat +part of the thighs of the slain Indians, and bound the flesh about their +wounds. The camp was removed sufficiently away from the scene to escape +the stench of the dead, the Spanish slain were buried, and DeSoto was left +to plan for the future. Forgetful of his own wounds, he was intent on the +comfort of his men. He would seek to cheer them with visions of fortune +yet to be realized, and with promises never to be fulfilled. + +In the solitude of thought, DeSoto kept well within himself. He realized +the seriousness of the situation, was half inclined to abandon the quest +for gold, but his proud spirit revolted against acknowledgement of +failure. Yet a serious breach had been made in his ranks, his resources +were impaired beyond recuperation, winter was coming on, he knew not the +condition of the country ahead, nor did he know what the temper of his +troops would be after the reaction from the battle. He talked to no one, +for the very excellent reason that he did not know in whom to confide. The +Spaniard is wary, suspicious. Every one suspects every other. Daring as +DeSoto was, he was not without a modicum of precaution. As he had westward +gone, the tribes had increased in intelligence and in formidableness. What +lay before him toward the further west, he knew not. He could not sustain +another Maubila. After all, would it be wise or not, to seek again the +fleet in Tampa Bay? Here was a perplexity with which to wrestle. He must +act, and that soon, but how, was the question that harassed his mind. + +One ray of hope pierced the gloom of the silent and morose Spaniard--the +Indian tribes westward and northward, on learning of the fate of Maubila, +sent envoys of peace to DeSoto, attended with assurances of good will and +of friendship. Stricken with terror by the feat of the valiant white +invader, they were anxious to placate him in advance. Whatever may have +been their sentiments before, they were now sycophantic enough. Among the +Indian visitors it was said by some that the Chief Tuskaloosa had fled +during the battle, but the general opinion was that he had perished. These +same Indian envoys told DeSoto that the great chief had long been planning +for the extinction of the Spanish host, and that his plot was deeply laid, +which news served to encourage the Spaniard with the belief that he had +committed no blunder in overthrowing him. These envoys gave partial nerve +to DeSoto in his growing perplexity and despondency. + +While the commander sat alone in his tent meditating on what course he +should pursue, his men nursed their wounds, and with returning relief, +they became the same volatile spirits as before. Up to this time, their +confidence in their leader had been supreme. While they did not comprehend +his unusual moroseness, and while no one would venture to approach him +with any degree of familiarity, they confided in his judgment, and lolled +the days away in utter indifference of the future. Sprawled on their rough +pallets of leaves and straw, or else stretched on the grass beneath the +wide trees, they would while away the time gambling. Their cards had been +destroyed by the fire, but they improvised others. They were inveterate +gamblers. Throughout the entire march these reckless fellows gambled at +every halt. Money, jewelry, horses, clothing, and even Indian mistresses +were staked in the games. With nothing now to beguile the tedium of the +camp, they whiled away the days in gaming, while the demure commander sat +alone in his tent doubtful as to what to do next. Heartened by the reports +of the envoys, DeSoto finally almost resolved to push westward, but an +unexpected dilemma arose for which he was least prepared. Idleness was +demoralizing his men, and an unlooked-for trouble was in store for him, +the news of which almost stunned him, when he learned it. Far severer and +sorer than any yet encountered, it went to his heart like cold steel, when +once it was realized. + + + + +MURMURING AND MUTINY + + +Nearly eight months now lie behind the expedition, and they had been +months of almost superhuman endurance. Exposure to rain and cold, groping +through tangled swamps, and wading or swimming numerous creeks and rivers, +undergoing hunger, fatigue, and sickness, kept in constant anxiety, by day +and by night, lest they be attacked by a stealthy foe, climbing high hills +and mountains without the semblance of a road, or even a path, fighting +frequently without any knowledge of the force opposed, utterly cut off +from communication with home, or with the outside world, and utterly +without any compensation for all endured--when were the trials of a body +of men greater? Their ranks were now thinned, most of their luggage was +gone, they were worn out by long marches, many of their comrades were +sleeping in graves in a land of wilderness, and yet not a grain of the +much-sought gold has been found. Many had staked their fortunes on the +quest, and these young, blooded Castilians were now beginning to show +signs of hostile restlessness. + +DeSoto discovered all this, and he had so often cheered them with dazzling +phantoms, while he had only poverty and distress to offer, that he knew +not whither to turn in an extremity so dire. A difficulty now faced him +that required greater courage than that needed to resist Indian arrows, +for his men were quietly fomenting rebellion. They had learned from Indian +visitors to the camp, that a fleet of Spanish ships, under Maldinado, was +lying off the present location of Pensacola, awaiting the return of +DeSoto. This was corroborated by other reports from the coast. This +impelled a determination on the part of the men, to break away and seek +the shores of the south. DeSoto would himself have turned southward at +this juncture, but for his humiliating failure. The vision of his +sumptuous home in distant Spain rose often before him, and in his dreams +he had pictured a palace rivalling that of royalty, in consequence of his +discovery of gold, but he was destined never to see that home again. + +The worst at last came. His apprehensions were fully confirmed when he +learned that under the leadership of some of his most trusted men, a +conspiracy was hatching to leave him to his fate, and make their way +southward, some proposing to sail home, others to join a new expedition to +Peru. In order to satisfy himself fully, DeSoto quietly slid about the +camp at night, and by a process of eavesdropping gain what he might. Among +his men were some who had deserted Pizarro at a juncture, and DeSoto began +to prepare for the worst. This was the severest trial of his eventful +life. He had no means of knowing who were his friends, or indeed whether +he had any. The crisis was extreme. + +Turning the matter over in his mind, DeSoto finally resolved on a +desperate course. He had been planning to found a Spanish settlement in +this particular region, and had gone so far as to send an Indian agent to +Ochus, where the plans of colonization were being arranged. Goaded to the +extreme of desperation, he proposed to make a bold show of authority and +force. It was now just a month since the battle, and all his men had so +far recovered from their wounds that they were again able to take up the +line of march. Reserving his plan to himself, on the morning of November +18, he suddenly issued an order to get ready to move at once. His men did +not know what direction he would go, but to their astonishment, he turned +northward. He accompanied his order with a threat to kill any man who +undertook to disobey. This was quite unusual, indeed, nothing like it had +before occurred, and it took the men quite off their guard. Before the +troops could confer or consult, every man was in his saddle and strung out +on the line of march. By this means DeSoto surprised the men instead of +their surprising him. He was really without authority in a step so +arbitrary. The expedition was entirely voluntary, but DeSoto saw that +unless he could by a single stroke, shatter the rising revolt, he should +be totally undone. + +Giving up the idea of a colony, DeSoto moved toward the northwest, beyond +the confines of the present County of Clarke, and through the territory of +Marengo and Greene, as they now are, and, after five days, reached the +Black Warrior River about where the village of Erie now is. Here he +encountered resistance. The news of the disaster at Maubila had spread to +the remotest settlements, arousing the Indians to vengeance, and at Erie, +they appeared 1,500 strong, painted, and bearing clubs and bows. As though +nothing was before them, the Spaniards moved steadily on, the Indians +falling back, while they filled the air with their arrows. On reaching +the river, the Indians in haste filled their waiting canoes and rowed +rapidly across, and such as could not find place in the boats, plunged in +and swam the stream. On the opposite side, the Indians met a large +reinforcement that had gathered to dispute the passage of the river by +DeSoto. The Spaniards began leisurely to fortify, giving but slight heed +to the wild demonstrations on the opposite side, which the Indians +observing, quietly dispersed and disappeared, save a number who were left +to watch the object of the Spaniards. + +Detailing a hundred men to cut timbers and construct rafts, DeSoto quietly +rested till the arrangements were complete, when he began to cross with +his force, giving no attention to the showers of arrows from the foe. +Struck by his cool determination, the Indians fled precipitately. + +No region before entered, had so impressed DeSoto, as this one. He was +charmed by its natural grandeur. The late dry fall had enlivened the +autumnal scenery, the grass was still green, which, together with the +flaming foliage of the forests, lent magnificence to a wide scene. The +soil was of a deep black, and the surface somewhat rolling, the billows of +green and the delicious color of the engirdling woods, affording a view +lovelier than any he had ever before witnessed. The troop was now passing +through the upper part of Greene County, where it borders on Pickens. + +Five days more brought the Spaniards to the bank of the Little Tombeckbe. +The Spaniards were impressed by the fact that in proportion to the +fertility of the country, was a sparseness of population, the explanation +being that the Indian detests prairie mud, making his home on the uplands, +and descending to the fertile plains only to replenish his store of meat. +Again at the Little Tombeckbe, the Indians appeared in hostile array, and +DeSoto, eager to avoid battle, sent a friendly Indian across the stream to +negotiate terms of peace. Him they slew within sight of the Spaniards, and +then strangely fled to the woods, and DeSoto crossed without further +interruption. He was now on the eastern border of Mississippi, but the +final act of the tragedy was yet to come. + + + + +THE CLOSING SCENE + + +Though we have followed the daring and dashing DeSoto to the western +confines of the state, the story would be incomplete without a record of +the closing scene of his career. His life was thrilling in incident, even +to the end. Entering the territory which long afterward came to be called +Mississippi, DeSoto found it the most fertile and prosperous of the +regions yet visited. Thriving Indian towns abounded with evidence of the +most advanced Indian civilization he had yet met. + +Though delayed, winter at last set in with unusual severity, and DeSoto +decided to spend the cold season in that quarter. He was eager for the +good will of the inhabitants, and sought by every possible means to gain +it. Foraging over the country, his men would return with supplies, and +always with prisoners. These DeSoto would liberate with much show of +kindness, and dismiss them with presents to their chief. This would +surprise the prisoners, and more the chiefs themselves. This resulted in +bringing to his camp the chief of the Chickasaw tribe, the fiercest and +most warlike of all those on the continent, and notably the most advanced. +This chief, not to be outdone by the kindness of the Spaniard, brought as +a present, one hundred and fifty rabbits, besides four mantles of rich +fur. Nor did he cease with a single visit, but came again and again and +chatted with DeSoto with unrestrained familiarity around his camp fire. +The Indian was studiously diplomatic, and after several visits, disclosed +to DeSoto that he had a certain rebellious subject whom he wished the +Spaniard to subdue for him. This task, the chief further disclosed, was +one attended with such complications as to prevent his action in the +matter, and yet if DeSoto would intervene with sternness, the chief would +see to it that it would not be forgotten. + +DeSoto sent his men against the rebellious subaltern, burned his village +and forced him to sue for terms with the chief. On occasion, when the +chief would spend a few hours with him, DeSoto would send him home on one +of his finest horses, much to the delight of the savage. But a strain came +in their relations when after the fight with the insubordinate Indian, +those of the tribe who had accompanied DeSoto's men back to camp were +served with savory and toothsome bits of pork. The Indians had never +before tasted swine meat, and they were so delighted, that they showed +their appreciation by several nightly visits to the pig pens, and by a +stealthy appropriation of some of the choicest rooters. DeSoto was willing +to divide, but protested against his pig sties becoming the prey of +nightly marauders. His men lay in wait for the red rogues, who caught +three, two of whom they killed, and in order to advertise a warning to +future offenders, cut off the hands of the third at the wrist, and set him +free. This was one exception to the rule working both ways. The Spaniards +had never scrupled to steal from the Indian, or to take, by force, +whatever might please them, but so soon as somebody's else ox was gored, +the rule of roguish reciprocity ceased its operation. The standard of the +Spaniard was, might makes right. An early spring came with its balminess, +its singing birds, and first blossoms, and DeSoto was actuated to move +onward, and yet he was reluctant to quit the ease of so many months. He +was worn down by the strain to which he had so long been subjected. He +sought to rally himself, but his gait had lost much of its elasticity, his +eye was not so lustrous, and the stylus of care had marked deep crowfeet +on his brow. Whatever there was of nobleness in him, was turned into a +sense of sternness. Presuming that he knew the Indian character, he had +lost much already, but he proved not to be an apt scholar in Indianology. +He had courted the good will of the chief of Chickasaws, and had been +requited by a return of civility, but the Spaniard really had a contempt +for Indian character, and contempt always clouds justice, and when +exercised, leads often to serious error. + +Now that he was about to quit his encampment, DeSoto made a peremptory +order on the Chickasaw chief for 200 of his ablest men to become his +burden bearers. The Chickasaws were the proudest and most arrogant of the +Indian tribes, and rather than be humbled, they preferred death. As +allies, they were valuable, as foes, formidable. + +On the receipt of the order from DeSoto, the gentleness of the lamb was +turned into the wrath of the lion, but the Indian chief wisely curbed his +spirit, and sent an evasive answer, not without a dignified phase of +manliness, and an expression of remindfulness that DeSoto did himself +slight credit by failing to understand the stuff, of which himself, the +chief, was made. This was not the first time that DeSoto had encountered +men in these western wilds who were wiser than he took himself to be. +DeSoto saw too late that he had turned loose a storm which he might not be +able to manage. Moscoso was summoned, told to be on his guard, and to get +ready for the worst. DeSoto impressed him with the importance of the +utmost vigilance, but Moscoso saw nothing in it all, and continued lax. + +Though the trees were budding, and the young leaves were peeping from +their coverts, there came on one of the last nights in March, one of those +cold snaps to which this latitude is subject. A cold wind roared from the +north, and furiously soughed through the trees. In its suddenness, the +Spaniards made unusual preparation for comfort that night, and huddled +together on their bunks of straw and dried leaves. The camp was as silent +as a cemetery, save the howling of the wind. The fires died down, and the +men were fast asleep. Suddenly there came a din of confusion rarely heard, +mingled with the howling of the wind. From four different quarters came +the sound of the beating of wooden drums, the hoarse notes of sea shells, +and the unearthly shrieks of thousands of warriors. When the sleepers +awoke, the roofs of dry hay were afire, and the Indians were already in +the camp. They had wisely chosen that terrible night for the extinction of +the invaders, and on nothing less were they bent. The Spaniards had often +had recourse to fire, and the Indians thought they would test its virtue. +Fire-tipped arrows, shot into the straw-thatched roofs had fired them, +while the dry wattled cane of which the huts were built, lent loud +detonations by the explosion of their joints. The fire-tipped arrows, +DeSoto later learned, was by the use of a decoction from certain herbs +known only to these Indians as a means of occasioning fire. + +Springing from his couch, DeSoto was the first to gain his horse, and a +cavalier mounted his own at the same moment. With sword and lance, they +spurred their horses into the midst of the host of savages, dealing death +with every movement. Half-dressed, the other troopers followed in quick +succession, and soon the camp was the scene of a hand-to-hand fight. +DeSoto had failed to fasten the girth of his saddle sufficiently, and by a +sudden turn of his horse in one of his desperate sallies, he was thrown +hard to the ground, just as he had laid an Indian low. He was speedily +rescued by his men, and securing his girth, he fought as never before. +While the fight was at its height, fifty of his men chose the moment as an +opportune one to desert, but DeSoto had them brought back and join in the +fray. The Indians were routed, but not till forty Spaniards had been +killed. This had the effect of welding the Spaniards afresh, and ended all +insubordination. + +There was no more sleep in the Spanish camp that night. Moscoso was +summoned, roundly abused, and cashiered in the presence of the troops, and +Beltecar was appointed in his stead. After burying his dead, DeSoto set +out on a renewed march, encountered resistance again at Alilome, where, +after another fierce engagement, he routed the enemy, but lost fifteen +more men, making in all three hundred and fifteen, of the six hundred, +with whom he started, and in May, 1541, reached the Mississippi River, of +which he is the reputed discoverer. Here he lingered a year, making an +excursion into Arkansas, and on his return, was stricken with swamp fever. +His system was ill prepared for this attack, and from the first, he was +aware that he must die. He summoned his men about him, restored Moscoso to +command, begged his men to be subject to the new commander, and yielded to +the last foe--death. + +To prevent the possible mutilation of his body, his men hewed out a coffin +from the trunk of a huge oak, placed the body within it, sealed it +securely and bore it to the middle of the deep Mississippi and lowered it +in its current. Thus died this chivalrous son of Spain, and though a +monster of cruelty, none in the annals of that ill-fated land was ever +braver. + + + + +ORIGINAL MOBILE + + +Following the death of DeSoto, it was one hundred and sixty-two years +before another white man was in Alabama. During this century and a half, +there was developed such a spirit of exploration as the world had never +before known. The new regions of the earth were visited by explorers from +a number of European nations, chief among which were Spain, Portugal, +France, England, and Holland. The French came to vie with the Spaniards in +the comprehensiveness of expedition and exploration, and from Canada, the +French found their way to the upper limits of the navigable waters of the +Mississippi, and followed it to the gulf. + +From their established possessions west of the great river, the French +came later to skirt the upper waters of the gulf, and were much impressed +by the sinuous character of the long shore front, with its numerous inlets +and indentations, its promontories, bays, and rivers. It was by means like +these that they first entered Mobile Bay, and finally came to found +Mobile. Biloxi had previously been established, and was an important +colonial center to the enterprising French of that period. In order to +impress the native savage and ward off interference, the French would +erect forts of mud, poles, and grass, which, while appearing formidable to +the Indians, they were flimsy and frail. The savages themselves relied on +their strong-timbered forts for defense, and they had an idea that those +of the French were similarly strong. + +Attracted by the beautiful sheet of water known to us as Mobile Bay, the +French entered it from the gulf through its deep mouth, flanked on the one +side by a long tongue of land, and on the other by an island. Once on the +bosom of the bay, its shores were explored, and on the present location of +Mobile was erected Fort St. Louis, which was intended as a permanent name, +but Iberville, the great sea captain of the French, insisted on calling it +Mobile, from the name of the tribe of Indians on the boundary of the +territory of which the original fort was built. The name is supposed to +mean "paddling." + +From its inception, Mobile came to be to the French an important center. +By nothing was Iberville more impressed than by the magnificent timbers +with which the forests were stocked. Nothing was more important at that +time than heavy oaken timber for ship building, and to the practical eye +of the great navigator, it seemed an excellent place for the erection of a +saw mill. Later developments of the geographical advantages of the +location, led to its adoption as the headquarters and seat of government +for this region of the French possessions. Seaward, it was open to the +world as a port of navigation. + +It was found that the river, on the west bank of which is the location, +was like the base of the letter Y, with its prongs, fifty miles to the +north, penetrating regions at great distances in the interior, which +regions were already populous with Indians, and of fabulous fertility of +soil. While, like the Spaniards, the French dreamed of mines of gold, +they were not unmindful of the importance of colonization. + +One of the first chief cares of these early colonizers was that of winning +to their loyalty the native tribes, as an agency against the English, who +were equally desirous of the possession of the fertile region. Bienville, +the French governor of Louisiana, was ambitious to extend the dominions of +his royal master as far eastward as possible, and vied with the English in +seeking the alliance of the native tribes. From no point were these +natives so easily reached, as from the fort just erected on the swell of +land on the western side of this river pouring into the beautiful bay. +Sufficient space was therefore at first cleared, a stockade was built, a +few dingy tents were erected about it, while on the premises might have +been seen a few specimens of imported swine, chickens, and horses moving +domestically about. + +There was, however, lacking one element of civilization, concerning which +Bienville proceeded to make complaint to the home government at Paris. The +improvised homes were minus the presence of the gentler sex. On receipt of +this information, the King of France forthwith instructed the bishop of +Quebec to send to the Mobile region twenty-three young women of good +families, to become the wives of these original founders. In due time +these twenty-three blushing maidens reached the fort under the care of +four Sisters of Charity. Governor Bienville at once issued a proclamation +announcing their arrival, and very practically proceeded to place a +premium on manly worth, by stating that no man would be allowed to claim +the heart and hand of these waiting damsels, who did not first prove +himself capable of supporting a wife. The result was a rapid improvement +of the manhood of the community, eventuating in another fact, namely, that +not many moons waned before every one of the Canadian prospectives became +a wife. + +These were the first marriage rites, under Christian sanction, ever +solemnized on the soil of Alabama. This meant homes, and homes meant the +beginning of a new order of civilization. This romantic touch to our early +civilization in Alabama is worthy of record. + +From that primitive beginning in the wild woods of south Alabama, and from +conditions as crude and uncanny as those named, our chief port had its +beginning little more than two centuries ago. As a common center of +importance, it was visited by numerous deputations of Indians, from points +near and remote, skimming with their light canoes the deep waters of the +Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. While this was true, trade was established +with the Spaniards as far south as Vera Cruz, and from the region of the +great lakes of the north, came French traders to Mobile. While the +conditions were such as to excite the most optimistic outlook, there were +counter conditions of vexation and of perplexity. These early years were +full of anxiety and harassment to Bienville. In his efforts to conciliate +the native tribes, he encroached on the territory of the active emissaries +of the English, as competitors of native alliance, and thus the Indian +became a shuttle in the loom of primitive politics between the French and +the English. The Indians were incited to lure the French into the interior +by false representations, and straightway to massacre them. To question +their statements, meant unfriendliness, to trust them, meant death. +Abundant trouble was in store for the French governor in the immediate +future. + + + + +FORT TOMBECKBE + + +Just above the point where the bridge of the Southern Railway spans the +Tombigbee, at Epes station, in Sumter County, may be seen a clump of +cedars on a high chalky bluff overlooking the river. This is a historic +spot, for here Governor Bienville had built Fort Tombeckbe, as an outpost +of civilization. The barest traces of the old fort are left in the slight +mounds still to be seen, but it was at one time an important base to +Bienville. + +By tampering with the savages in the interior of Alabama, English +emissaries had occasioned such confusion as to give to Bienville much +annoyance. Whatever may be said of the conduct of England in this +connection, and it was reprehensible enough, it was at par with that which +was done by the French. Both nations took advantage of the untutored +savage, and laid under requisition his worst passions, in order each to +avenge itself on the other. On the part of England, however, this +continued much later, and that nation was responsible for many of the +atrocities perpetrated on Americans. + +On one occasion, two artful warriors appeared at Mobile with every +possible show of interest in the government of Bienville, and with +extravagant asseverations of loyalty to his government. Bienville was +responsive to demonstrations like this, for nothing he so much desired as +the loyalty which these red men professed. These savages advised the +French governor that they had carefully accumulated much corn at a given +point up the river, and if he desired it, they were in position to sell +it cheaply. As provisions were growing scarce at the fort, this was +cheering news to Bienville, and he promptly sent five men from the +garrison to fetch it. Only one of the five returned, and he with an arm +almost cut from his shoulder, the rest of the party having been massacred. +Bienville was at once impressed that it was necessary to teach the Indians +that he was not to be trifled with, and taking forty men in seven canoes, +he ascended the river to the scene of the late massacre. Finding ten empty +Indian canoes tied to the bank, he knew that their settlement was not far +distant, and from the smoke seen rising above the tree tops, he was able +to locate the village. Hiding his men in the underbrush till night, he +crept stealthily to the encampment and opened fire. The Indians were +scattered in all directions, and loading his boats with provisions, +Bienville leisurely returned to the fort. How many of the Indians were +killed in this night attack, was not ascertained, but Bienville suffered +the loss of three men. These offensive Indians were of the Alabamas, whom +to punish more effectually, Bienville incited against them both the +Choctaws and the Chickasaws, promising rewards to those who would kill the +greater number. That the Alabamas were effectually punished, abundant +proof was afforded by the numerous warriors who sought their way to Mobile +to compare the number of scalps which they bore, dangling from their +belts. Beads, hatchets, pipes, and ammunition were given the savages in +reward for their work of death. + +Fort Tombeckbe had been built at the point already designated, which was +within the territory of the Choctaws, whose special service Bienville now +needed, since the Chickasaws had revolted against him. Meantime they had +also become most hostile toward the Choctaws, therefore Bienville +concluded that their service could be the more readily enlisted in his +proposed expedition against the Chickasaws. In order to subdue the hostile +Chickasaws, Bienville proposed a unique expedition which he would head in +person. The dominions of the Chickasaws were remote from Mobile, but he +would make Fort Tombeckbe the base of his operations, while he would bring +them again into subjection. + +Accordingly Bienville summoned the garrisons from Natchez and Natchitoches +to co-operate with the one at Mobile in the up-country expedition. As it +was regarded as a sort of picnic outing, a company of volunteers, composed +of citizens and merchants from New Orleans asked to join in the excursion. +Everything was gotten in readiness. Thirty rough dugouts, and an equal +number of flat boats or barges, were arranged along the shore ready to +join in the diversion of subduing the Chickasaws. In due time, Governor +Bienville appeared in gay uniform, plumed hat, and bright sword, and +headed the expedition which sailed from Mobile on the morning of April 1, +1736. The day might have been taken as indicative of that which was to +come, for never was a body of men more fooled than were these. + +There were pomp and circumstance on this occasion. Banners, trappings, and +bunting were galore. Boats, little and large, were well filled, men, young +and old, business men and merchants, adventurers and gamblers, idlers and +jail birds, men of fortune and men of leisure, rough mariners and veteran +soldiers, friendly Indians and forty-five negroes, made up the medley of +the expedition. The Indians belonged to the general command, while the +negroes were a separate command under a free, intelligent mulatto, named +Simon. They shove from the shore in the current. Lillied flags wave and +flutter in glinting curve, varied colored banners are displayed, and the +incongruous expedition starts. Amidst the yells of the hosts, the cannon +booming from the fort, the report of which rebounds and re-echoes along +the shore, while the gay and hilarious host shouts itself hoarse, the +expedition starts. For twenty-three days they pull against the current in +their ascent of the Tombigbee. Messengers were dispatched in advance to +advise Captain DeLusser, at Fort Tombeckbe, of the coming of the mighty +multitude, and to provide against their hunger by cooking several barrels +of biscuits. DeLusser cooked for life, by day and by night, but he had +only about two-thirds the quantity of biscuits needed for the hungry host +on its arrival. No trip could have been more laborious, as the barges had +to be dragged against the current by seizing the overhanging branches and +vines, when possible, and at other times employing beaked rods by means of +which, when grappling with trees or rocks the barges were pulled slowly +along. All this was forgotten when the fort was reached, and men could +again refresh themselves. + + "When the shore is won at last, + Who will think of the billows past?" + +Bienville was much disappointed to find that just before his arrival there +had been a revolt at the fort, and the conspirators were now in irons +awaiting his coming. The plan of the conspirators was to kill DeLusser and +the commissariat, and return to the Chickasaws two men who had been +delivered from their hands, and who had been previously reduced by the +Chickasaws to slavery. By thus conciliating the Chickasaws, the +conspirators hoped to have aid given them in reaching Canada, where they +would join the British. Bienville made short work of them, for after a +brief court martial, they were marched out on the prairie and shot. The +most significant event connected with the coming of Bienville was that of +the assembling of six hundred Choctaw warriors, who had heard much of +Bienville and under their leaders, Mingo and Red Shoes, had now come to +offer their service. To impress them with his importance, Bienville +regaled the warriors with a dress parade of his host, only a part of which +knew anything about military evolutions, but where the Indians knew +nothing of regularity, the purpose was equally served. With great delight +the savages witnessed the drill, and announced themselves ready to join +Bienville in his campaign against the Chickasaws, fifty miles away. With +his body of five hundred and fifty, and the six hundred Choctaws, and the +reinforcements under D'Artaguette of three hundred more, which last body +was to join him later, Bienville felt confident of success, but he little +knew the character of the foe that he was to meet. + + + + +CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CHICKASAWS + + +Never felt one surer of success than Bienville when he took up afresh his +expedition against the Chickasaws. By prearrangement, D'Artaguette was to +descend from the Illinois region, and meet him near the stronghold of the +Chickasaws and aid him in their subjection. Of ardent temperament, +Bienville was easily made overconfident, and yet he had but little on +which to rely. Save the veterans of the command, he had little else. + +The motley horde that had enlisted under his banner at Mobile, was not +worthy of trust in an emergency, nor did he know how far he could depend +on his Indian allies, for Red Shoes hated the white man, only he hated the +Chickasaws the more. He was going not so much in aid of the French, as he +was to punish the Chickasaws. This made his influence a doubtful quality, +and that influence was great with the Choctaws. But if Bienville could +have the command of D'Artaguette to aid him, which was destined not to be, +he could possibly succeed, though the Chickasaws were the fiercest +fighters among the tribes, and they had among them English officers, who +were training them for the coming attack. + +The command was again ready to move, but the keen edge of the novelty and +enthusiasm was now blunted, on the part of at least a large contingent of +the command, which was going simply because they had to go. The scene was +a peculiar one, as the boats were ranged along the bank of the river at +Fort Tombeckbe. With refreshing complacency, the French took possession of +the boats, Simon and his seventy-five black followers owned their crafts, +and the Canadians and Indian allies were left to make their way, as best +they could, along the river to the point where all were to unite to go +against the Chickasaws. + +On May 22, 1736, they reached the region where Cotton Gin Port, +Mississippi, now is, where Bienville built a temporary fort which he named +Fort Oltibia, and after securing his stores, locking his boats to the +trees, and appointing a guard to protect them, he started with twelve +days' rations to the Chickasaws' stronghold, still twenty-seven miles in +the interior. + +It was a rainy season, the prairie mud was deep, the inland streams were +up, the country a tangled region of underbrush, the banks of the streams +slippery with lime mud, and most of the host already demoralized. They +started inland, the men sometimes being forced at times to wade waist deep +in crossing the streams, the march was slow and laborious, and the +prospect grew dimmer with decreasing enthusiasm, as they proceeded. There +was straggling not a little, but from more of this Bienville was saved, by +reason of the fact that they were in the enemy's country, and a sense of +common interest welded them together. They marched past fortified villages +of the Chickasaws, which villages Bienville disregarded, but he found it +next to impossible to restrain the Choctaws, in their hatred of the +Chickasaws from attacking these. One fortified village, Schouafalay, the +Choctaws did attack, much against the judgment of Bienville. + +There was partial relief afforded the troops when they emerged from the +tangled wilderness and reached the open prairie. Here was an abundance of +game, of much of which the troops availed themselves, while they were +cheered not a little by the patches of ripe strawberries growing in +wildness on the plain, and by the unbroken green of the prairie dashed +here and there by patches of beautiful blossoms. + +They were now within six miles of the object of attack. Here it was +proposed that the commands of Bienville and of D'Artaguette were to unite, +but the latter failed to appear. The scouts sent on in advance by +Bienville, reported that they could not find D'Artaguette and could learn +nothing of his whereabouts. This was a sore disappointment to Bienville, +for he had counted much on D'Artaguette and his veterans, but he could not +now stop. He still had about one thousand five hundred in his command, and +he was confident of success. + +Bienville's plan was to pass around Ackia, where the Chickasaws were +strongly fortified, and proceed to the town of Natchez, overthrow the +Indians there, and by that means inspire the troops, and at the same time +demoralize the Chickasaws. In a council of officers now called, he +advocated this plan, but the Choctaw leaders would not listen to a +proposal like this. They wanted to attack the Chickasaws outright, crush +them, and then quietly return. Some of the French officers concurred in +the proposed policy of the Choctaws, while not a few coincided with +Bienville. The Choctaws seemed almost uncontrollable in their frantic +desire to reach the Chickasaws. To have heard them rave, one would have +thought that there was little use of the French in the expedition, at all. + +Nothing was now left but to traverse the remaining six miles, and give +battle to the waiting Chickasaws. The line of march was again taken up, +and another half day brought them within full view of the battlements of +the enemy. The conditions were not such as to occasion much inspiration. +The fortifications were imposing, and seemed sufficiently strong to resist +any force. + +On an eminence stood the fort of heavy logs. Around it were palisades with +port holes just above the ground, while just within the palisades was a +trench, in which the defenders would stand, rest their guns within the +port holes, and fire with ease on the plain below without the slightest +exposure of their bodies. Outside the palisades were a number of strongly +fortified structures or cabins. The fort itself was of triangular shape, +with the roof of heavy green logs, overlaid with a thick stratum of dried +mud, a double security against fire, should the French undertake the use +of combustibles. The imposing fortifications had a disheartening effect +even on the officers of the French troops, and much more the men. + +A careful inspection was made, and there was nothing left but to plan for +the attack. The French were to open the battle, and the Choctaws were left +to attack as they might wish. The Indians occupied a camp some distance +from the others, and proceeded to paint and to deck themselves for +battle. They stood in readiness, as though waiting for the battle to open. +All plans were gotten in readiness, and at two o'clock in the afternoon +the fight was to begin by regular assault from the outset. + + + + +BATTLE OF ACKIA + + +At two o'clock on the afternoon of May 26, 1736, the battle of Ackia was +opened by Chevalier Noyan, who, as his troops advanced within carbine shot +of the fort, could easily see English officers within the palisades +directing the defense. + +The French were moving to the attack in the open, without personal +shields, which were too heavy to be brought so great a distance, and they +had to resort to portable breastworks made of heavy ropes, closely woven +together in strips of about four feet in width and about twenty feet in +length. This wide strip of roping had to be borne at either end by strong +men, who were of course exposed, while the firing line was somewhat +protected. These mantelets, for such the movable fortifications were +called, were carried by negroes, whom the French forced into this perilous +service. A broadside of musketry was opened on the fort, in response to +which the garrison vigorously replied, and among the casualties was that +of killing one of the negroes, while another was wounded, whereupon every +black man who was supporting the mantelets threw them down and fled the +field. Without a waver in their line, the French pressed on to the attack. + +The grenadiers led the advance and moved on into the outside village. The +battle was now on in earnest, and one of the ablest of the French +commanders, Chevalier de Contre Coeur, was killed, together with a number +of grenadiers, but the fortified cabins were taken without, as well as +some smaller ones, to the latter of which fire was applied. This quick +advantage gained, led to an enthusiastic determination to carry the fort +by assault. Noyan, at the head of his troops, saw the advantage and was +ready to lead the charge. With sword upraised, he commanded the advance, +but on looking back he found that all the troops, save a mere handful, had +fled back to the fortified cabins, leaving the officers. The enemy taking +advantage of this juncture, fired more vigorously still, and another of +the brave commanders, Captain DeLusser, the same who commanded at Fort +Tombecke, fell. The officers bringing up the rear urged, besought, +exhorted the troops who had sought shelter in the cabins to rejoin their +officers, but to no purpose. They were promised the reward of promotion, +but that did not avail. Finally the officers sought to appeal to their +pride by proposing to take such as would follow and themselves make the +assault, to all of which the troops were agreed, but they did not propose +to face again the galling fire of the Chickasaws. Suiting the action to +the word, the officers proceeded to the assault, for which they paid +severely, for every prominent leader was shot down wounded--Noyan, +Grondel, Montburn and De Velles. Though bleeding and suffering, Noyan +supported himself and, much exposed, held his ground with a remnant of +troops. Hoping to elicit those from the cabins, he ordered an aide to +request the secreted troops to come to his rescue, as he was wounded. As +the officer turned to obey, he was shot dead. + +The assault had been carried to within a short distance of the main walls +where the officers lay bleeding from their wounds, the foremost of whom +was the gallant Grondel. A number of Indian warriors issued from the fort +to scalp him, on observing which a sergeant with four men rushed to his +rescue, drove the Indians back into the fort, and raised his body to bear +it off the field. Just as they started, every rescuer was killed. A +stalwart Frenchman named Regnisse, seeing what had happened, dashed toward +the body alone, under a galling fire, lifted the wounded man to his back +and bore him off, though not without the receipt of another wound by +Grondel. + +Meanwhile, where were the courageous Choctaws who were so eager for the +fray and who were the chief cause of bringing on the fight? While the +French were exposed to a raking fire, these six hundred painted warriors +remained at a safe distance on the plain, giving frequent vent to shouting +and shrieking and yelling, interspersed now and then with dancing, and +shooting into the air. This was the utmost of the service rendered by the +Choctaw allies. + +Though with a courageous few, Noyan had come under the shadow of the walls +of the fort, he could do no more unsupported, and so proceeded to return, +in order, to the fortified cabins, where he found his men crouching in +fear, when he at once notified Bienville of the peril of the situation. He +asked for a detachment to bear off the dead and wounded, and notified the +governor that without troops to support him, nothing more could be done to +capture the fort. + +At this juncture, Bienville saw a demonstration made on the part of the +savages in the fort, from an unconjectured quarter, to capture the cabins +in which were gathered the men and officers, and made haste to send +Beauchamp, with eighty men, to head off the movement, rescue the troops +and to bring away the wounded and the dead. Beauchamp moved with speed, +turned back the movement, and while many of the dead and wounded were +recovered, he could not recover all. In this movement Beauchamp lost a +number of men. So hot was the firing from the fort, that he was compelled +to leave a number to the barbarity of the Chickasaws. + +As Beauchamp was retiring in an orderly way, the Choctaws issued from +their camp with much impetuosity and fury, as though they had at last +resolved to carry everything before them. Fleet of foot, and filling the +air with their wild yelling, they dashed toward the fort, but just then a +well-directed fire into their ranks, from the Chickasaws, created a speedy +rout, and they fled in every direction. + +Had Bienville been able to bring his cannon so far into the interior, he +would have demolished the fort in short order, but as it was, everything +was against him. Instead of his plans being executed as originally formed, +they fell to pieces, step by step, and his defeat was the most signal. +Thus ended the campaign against the Chickasaws, the fiercest and most +warlike of all the tribes. After all the imposing grandeur at the outset +of the campaign it ended in a fiasco. The situation was much graver than +Bienville seemed to apprehend. He was in the heart of the enemy's country, +without substantial support. His Choctaw allies had failed him, and in a +grave crisis his own men had forsaken him. Nothing would have been easier +than for the Chickasaws to cut him off from his boats, and extinguish the +entire command, but, themselves unapprised of the conditions, they kept +well within the enclosure of the fort. Other difficulties were in store +for the unfortunate Bienville. + + + + +AFTER THE BATTLE, WHAT? + + +The battle of Ackia had lasted three hours, but during that brief time +there were some as excellent exhibitions of bravery, as well as sad +defections of soldiery, as can well be conceived. However, all the +dramatic and tragical scenes were not confined to the battle, as other +interesting details are to follow. The day was now closing. For about two +hours, the utmost quiet had fallen on the scene. The noisy Choctaws, in a +camp adjoining, had become strangely silent. Not a note of activity came +from the fort, not a man was to be seen. The horses and cattle of the +Chickasaws, grazing on the prairie when the battle began, had fled far +across the plain, but now that the day was closing, and the firing had +ceased, they came wending their way across the expanse to a small stream +that flowed at the base of the hill. + +In a group the French officers were standing, discussing the scenes of the +recent conflict, and indignant at the conduct of the Indian allies; they +turned jocularly to Simon, the negro commander, and chid him on the +cowardice of his black crew. Simon was polite and bright, and was much in +favor with the officers. While he smiled in return to the jocularity of +the officers, he glanced about him, suddenly picked up a long rope, and +said: "I'll prove to you that a negro is as brave as anybody, when it is +necessary to be," and with this dashed toward the herd of cattle and +horses, selected a milk-white mare, hastily made a halter, mounted on her +back, and sped the entire circuit of the walls of the fort, perhaps a +distance of a quarter of a mile. He was fired on by hundreds of rifles +from the fort, but dashed back to the group of officers without having +received a scratch, leaped from the back of the mare, gracefully saluted +the officers and bowed, while they cheered his exploit. No one doubted the +courage of Simon after that feat. + +That night the French slept on their arms. Not a note came from the fort. +There was funereal silence everywhere. When, however, light broke over the +scene on the following morning, a horrible spectacle met the gaze of the +French. The Chickasaws had sallied forth during the night and had borne +within the fort the dead left on the scene, had quartered them, and had +hung from the walls portions of the bodies of the unfortunate slain. This +act of barbarous defiance, added to the sting of defeat, infuriated many +of the officers and men, and they demanded to be given another chance at +the Chickasaws and they would demolish the fort. Incensed and insulted, +they became almost uncontrollable, but Bienville admonished coolness and +prudence, for he had had enough, and was now more concerned about how he +should get away with his crippled command. As the Choctaw allies had +proved an incubus to Bienville from the start, and a source of annoyance +and of embarrassment, the governor thought to enlist them in the removal +of his stores and of the wounded. To this proposal they at first demurred, +then became sullen, and finally refractory, and proposed to abandon the +French outright, leave them to their fate, and hunt again their homes to +the south. + +Bienville was a shrewd diplomat and sagacious, and knew full well that if +such an emergency should come, and the Choctaws would reach the boats +first, take them and the stores left at Fort Oltibia, float down the +river, and leave him and his men to perish in the wilds. In order to avert +this calamity he proceeded on a policy of conciliation. It was ascertained +that Red Shoes was the instigator of the discontent, who was as merciless +as he was shrewdly ambitious of influence and leadership. Bienville +dreaded him, and had distrusted him all along, but there was no way of +disposing of him, and he had to accompany the command. The governor sent +for the chief, who appeared before him accompanied by the despicable Red +Shoes. Bienville not only persuaded the chief to remain steadfast, but +gained his consent to have his warriors become burden-bearers of the camp +equipage. At this agreement between the two leaders, Red Shoes indignantly +protested, and in his rage snatched his pistol from his belt and would +have shot the chief on the spot, had not Bienville seized his brawny arm +and prevented the commission of the deed. + +The march back to the boats was tedious and irksome, covering only four +miles the first day. Two of the wounded men died on the way and were +buried in the woods. The showers under which the march to the fort had +prevailed, ceased for a week or more, followed by a season of hot, dry +weather, the river at that point had shrunk, and the water was scarcely +of sufficient depth to float the craft. As quickly as possible, things +were gotten in readiness, the Choctaws were again left to shift for +themselves, and Bienville and his command drifted down the river to Fort +Tombeckbe. Here he left De Berthel in command, with a year's supply of +provisions, a quantity of merchandise with which to trade with the +Indians, the wounded men to be cared for till restored, and Bienville, +with spirit much subdued and humiliated over his discomfiture, returned to +Mobile. + +But what had become of D'Artaguette and his three hundred? His fate was +the saddest. In seeking to comply with the request of Bienville to join +him in the expedition against the fort, he had fallen in with a body of +Chickasaws, who, by superior numbers, had overwhelmed him and captured him +and his entire command. Himself and his men were prisoners in the fort +during the engagement, and the ammunition used by the Chickasaws was that +captured from the ill-fated D'Artaguette. Up to the time of the attack on +the fort, D'Artaguette and his men were as well treated as Indians can +treat the captured, but on the retirement of Bienville, D'Artaguette and +his men were tied to stakes and burned. + +For all the disasters attendant on the ill-starred campaign, including +that of the fate of D'Artaguette, Bienville was held responsible by the +Paris government, with which he lost favor, and the wane of influence and +of power followed. Bienville was a victim of conditions over which no +mortal could have had control, but it was a juncture of conditions that +sometimes comes to the most meritorious of men, into which Bienville was +brought, and he had to be sacrificed. While the work that he did laid the +foundation of the civilization of three southern commonwealths, he was +removed in dishonor, and left the scene of action and sank from view +forever. + + + + +THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS + + +About the year 1721, a body of German colonists reached Mobile, and +settled in the region adjoining. Among them was a woman of unusual +personal beauty and of rare charm of manner. Her dress, and especially her +jewels, indicated not only her station, but her wealth. She caused it to +be understood that she was the daughter of the Duke of Brunswick +Wolfenbuttel and the wife of Alexis Petrowitz, the son of Peter the Great, +and accounted for her strange presence in the wilds of south Alabama, as +due to the fact that she had been cruelly treated by the heir to the +Russian throne; that she had fled the dominion of the great Peter, and for +security, had sought the most distant region known to her. She furthermore +asserted that the younger Peter had duly advertised the death of his wife, +but insisted that the monstrous Muskovite had done this in order to +conceal the scandal of her forced flight from his castle, and in order, +too, to explain her absence from the court circles of St. Petersburg. + +All this she explained to be a mere ruse, and that she was the real +princess who had escaped his tyranny, preferring the inhospitable +wilderness of a distant continent, to the royal palace with its tyrannous +cruelty. The story received general credence, since the splendor of her +attire and her familiarity with the inner secrets of the Russian court +proved that she was no ordinary personage. Besides all this, there was +increased evidence afforded by her conduct. Her beautiful face was +saddened by some evident trouble over which she seemed to brood, as with +a far-away look she would sit and muse for hours together. How else could +all this be explained, save by the story which she related? This is just +the evidence one would look for in substantiation of a story of cruelty. + +The prepossessing manner of the princess, her immense fortune, and her +ability to discuss Russian affairs, served to win not alone the confidence +of all, but their sympathy as well. Her wrongs were the burden of her +conversation, and her own reported station in life elicited much +deference, which was duly and promptly accorded by all alike. + +Great as the credence was, as a result of the recital of her wrongs, it +received a reinforcement from another source that seemed to place it +beyond question. Chevalier d'Aubant, a young French officer, had seen the +wife of the Russian prince, and he declared that this was none other than +she. He could not be mistaken, for he had seen her at St. Petersburg. This +insistence settled the identity of the princess in the estimation of all. + +But d'Aubant did not stop at this point of mere recognition. His profound +sympathy awoke interest, which brought him frequently within the circle of +the charms of the fair Russian, and, in turn, interest deepened into +tenderness of affection. To the vivacious Frenchman, the glitter of wealth +was far from proving an obstruction to the valiantness with which he +assailed the citadel of her heart. At any rate, the chevalier and princess +became one, lived in comparative splendor for years, and removed to +Paris, where, in sumptuous apartments, they resided till the death of the +chevalier. + +The deep shadow which had come into the life of the princess, according to +her own story, won her hosts of friends whom she was able to retain by +reason of her charms. The well-known character of the second Peter, a +dissolute, worthless wretch, and the fact that his father had sent him +abroad in Europe, to travel with the hope that his ways might be reformed +by a wider margin of observation of the affairs of the world, lent +increased credence to the pathetic story and elicited fresh installments +of interest and sympathy. Chevalier d'Aubant died in the belief that he +had married the repudiated wife of the eldest son of Peter the Great of +Russia. + +But a fatal revelation was inevitable. It is said that while strolling in +the Garden of the Tuileries she was one day met by the marshal of Saxe, +who recognized her as one of the attendants of the Russian princess, an +humble female who greatly resembled her mistress, and by reason of her +contact with the most elevated of Russian society, had acquired the +manners of the best, and while in the service of the princess had means of +access to her wardrobe and purse, and by stealth, had enriched herself and +at an unconjectured time fled the palace and escaped to America. The +Chevalier d'Aubant, having seen the princess once, was easily deceived by +the appearance of this woman, her wealth, and by the reputation of the +Russian prince. On her ill-gotten wealth he lived for years, and died in +blissful ignorance of her huge pretension. + +It is said that the pretender died at last in absolute penury in Paris, +leaving an only daughter as the result of the marriage with Chevalier +d'Aubant. The story has been related in different forms by different +writers, and at one time was quite prevalent as a sensational romance in +the literary circles of Europe. The particulars of this rare adventure may +be found recorded in much of the literature of that period, some insisting +on its accuracy, while others deny it. Duclos, a prolific writer of +European romance, furnishes the amplest details of the affair, while such +writers as Levesque, in his Russian history; Grimm, in his correspondence, +and Voltaire, straightway repudiate the genuineness of the story on the +basis of its improbability. The incidents of the time at the Russian +court, the career of d'Aubant, and much else afford some reason for +believing that there is at bottom, some occasion for a romance so +remarkable. + +Without here insisting on its genuineness, such is the story, in one of +its forms, as it has come to the present. However, this, as well as much +else, indicates how much of interesting matter lies in literary mines +unworked in connection with our primitive history. The literary spirit of +the South has never been properly encouraged by due appreciation, with the +consequence of a scant literature. The industrial spirit seized our +fathers in other years, and the fabulous fertility of our soils, the +cultivation of which beneath fervid skies, in an even climate, has largely +materialized our thought, and still does. Who now reads a book? If so, +what is the character of the book? We scan the morning daily, or read at +sleepy leisure the evening press, skim the magazines, and this usually +tells the story. From sire to son this has been the way gone for +generations. Permit the bare statement without the moralizing. + + + + +EARLIEST AMERICAN SETTLERS + + +In advance of the territorial construction of Alabama, this region had +been sought as a refuge by adherents of the British crown during the +stormy days of the Revolution, while others who were loyal Americans, also +came to escape the horrors of war in the Carolinas. All these filed +through the dense forests which covered the intervening distance at that +early day. Across Georgia, the most western of the thirteen colonies, they +fled, putting the Chattahoochee between them and the thunder of war, and +buried themselves in the obscurity of the Alabama forests. These forests +had remained unbroken from the beginning, now pierced here and there by +the wide beaten paths of the Indian. Several of these paths became, in +subsequent years, highways of primitive commerce, running from terminal +points hundreds of miles apart. + +The Indian knew nothing of roads and bridges, his nearest approach to the +last named of these conveniences being fallen trees across the lesser +streams. Nor had he the means of constructing them, as he was dependent on +the flint implements which he rudely constructed into hatchets and wedges. +By means of these, he would fashion his light canoe from the less heavy +woods, like the cedar and birch, which were easily worked while in a green +state, but when dry became firm and light and well suited to float the +waters of the streams and bays. While in a green state, the trunks of +these trees were hollowed out with each end curved up, and the paddles +were made from slabs riven from some timbers light and strong. These +canoes served to transport them across the streams, and afforded the means +of fishing and hunting. When not in use, craft like this was secured to +trees by means of muscadine vines. These were the conditions found by the +white man when he came to invade the domain of the Indian. + +With his improved implements of iron and steel trees were easily felled by +the paleface, rafts were built, bridges were constructed, and by degrees, +as the population grew, roads were opened. The refugees from the storms of +war who came about 1777, followed the Indian trails when they could, but +now and then they would have to plunge into the thick forests, pick their +way as best they could through a tangled wilderness, and pursue their +course to their destination. By immigrants like these, some of the +territory stretching from the western confine of Florida to the Tombigbee, +came to be peopled in the first years of the nineteenth century, and for +more than two decades before. + +Localities in the present territory of the counties of Monroe, Clarke, +Baldwin and Washington were occupied as early as 1778. Some of the white +men in the lower part of Monroe County married Indian maidens, from which +connections came some of the families that subsequently became conspicuous +in the early annals of the state. Among such may be named the +Weatherfords, Taits, Durants, and Tunstalls. In the bloody scenes which +followed in Indian warfare, some of these espoused the cause of one race, +and some the other. Not a few of these became wealthy, according to the +estimate of the times; some were intelligent and influential, and imparted +a wholesome influence to the early society of the state. + +Primitive commerce was quickened along the great beaten pathways in +consequence of the advent of the whites. These original highways extended +from the ports of Mobile and Pensacola long distances into the interior. +One of these ran from Pensacola by way of Columbus, Georgia, to Augusta, +where was intersected another, which reached to Charleston. Another ran by +way of Florence and Huntsville to Nashville, whence it extended as far +north as old Vincennes, on the Wabash. Through the ports of Mobile and +Pensacola exports were made to distant parts, as primitive craft was +always in wait for these commodities at these ports. The commodities were +brought from the interior on pack horses, or rather ponies, which +commodities consisted of indigo, rawhides, corn, cattle, tallow, tar, +pitch, bear's oil, tobacco, squared timber, myrtle wax, cedar posts and +slabs, salted wild beef, chestnuts, pecans, shingles, dried salt fish, +sassafras, sumach, wild cane, staves, heading hoops, and pelfry. + +The introduction of cotton had begun long before the invention of the gin +by Eli Whitney, in 1792. The seeds were first picked from the cotton with +the fingers, which was improved later by some small machines, the +appearance of which was hailed as a great advance on previous methods, and +an early chronicler records the fact with much elation, that by means of +the method of these small French machines as much as seventy pounds of +cotton were cleared of seed in a day. The commodities already named were +transported to the sea on small, scrawny ponies, usually called "Indian +ponies," tough, and possessing a power of endurance against hardship and +fatigue that was wonderful. The cost of transportation was practically +nothing, as these animals were hobbled at noon and at night, and turned +out to graze to the full on the rank grass and native peavines, and, when +in the region of a low country, on young cane. The weight of a load was +usually one hundred and eighty pounds, one-third of which was balanced in +bundles or packs on either side, while a third was secured in the center +on the back of the animal. Ten of these ponies were assigned to a single +"drover," who walked in the rear of the drove and managed all by wild +yelling. After one or two trips over the same way, the ponies came to +learn where to stop for water and encampment. They often wore bells of +different tones, the wild clangor of which bells would fill the +surrounding forest for great distances. When loaded, the ponies would fall +into line at a given signal of the "drover," each knowing his place in the +file, and amble away with ears thrown back, going ordinarily the distance +of twenty-five miles each day. Some of the streams were fordable, while +others had to be swum by these primitive express trains. Camping places +became famous along the different routes, at which points all the droves +came to camp. + +As commerce thus grew, there came anon highwaymen who would rob the droves +of their burdens. One of these robbers became as notorious as Dare Devil +Dick in English annals. His name was Hare, and Turk's Cave, in Conecuh +County, was the place for the deposit of his booty. With the years, this +obstruction was removed. By means of this traffic not a few accumulated +considerable fortunes, the traditions of whose wealth still linger in the +older regions, with many extravagant stories attending. These stories +embodied in a volume would give an idea of the ups and downs of these +early times in Alabama. + + + + +INDIAN TROUBLES + + +The Indian viewed with envious eye the pale-faced invader who dared to +"squat" on his dominions, for which he had slight use save for that of +hunting. The law of the untutored savage is revenge, and to the Indian +revenge means murder. The safety of the whites lay in the community of +interest and a common bond of protection. In every large settlement or +group of settlements there was built a local stockade of protection and +defense, while in a given region there was erected a large fort, to be +occupied in case of serious danger, or of general attack. Of these there +was a large number throughout the territory of Alabama. There was no basis +by which the Indian could be judged. He was a stealthy, treacherous +fellow, who was constantly lurking about the homes of the first settlers, +in order to wreak vengeance on the women and children, to massacre whom +the Indian thought would force the retirement of the men. + +Among the strange incidents connected with the menacing presence of the +Indian during the primitive period of the state's history, was that of the +conduct of the horses and cows when a savage would come within easy +distance. Whether grazing or at work, these animals would instinctively +lift their heads and raise their tails, while with protruding ears they +would indicate the direction of the savage. More than that, they would +frequently give demonstration to their excitement by running here and +there, and stop only to turn their ears in the direction of the +approaching or lurking Indian. They did not see him, but by some other +means, perhaps by the keen sense of smell, they could detect the presence +of the savage, even while he was some distance away. It was thus that +these animals became danger signals which no one dared disregard. Not +infrequently a horse would stop while plowing, lift his head, snuff the +air, and give other indications of excitement, all of which would put one +duly on guard. By this infallible sign, much violence was averted and many +lives saved. The ears of the brutes became almost as valuable to these +pioneers, as the needle of the compass to the mariner, and certainly the +protruding ear was just as unerring as the pointing of the needle. + +Another fact which became proverbial among the primitive settlers was, +with regard to young children, especially helpless babies, in the presence +of excitement and danger. Not infrequently mothers would have but a few +minutes in which to flee for safety to the nearest stockade, and often +they would snatch their sleeping babes from their cradles, in order to +make hasty flight, and the remarkable fact is that the little ones would +never cry. In their flight, mothers would sometimes stumble and fall with +their babes in their arms, but the little ones would still hold their +peace. These facts became proverbial among the pioneers. + +The condition to which one may become inured or accustomed, was abundantly +illustrated in pioneer life. Occasional danger would have made life well +nigh unbearable, but when it was frequent, when one did not know when he +was to be pounced upon from some covert, by an Indian, it came to be a +matter of constant expectation, and was no more thought of than any other +ordinary condition of life. Of course, with danger always impending, men +went armed, and the constant expectation of attack reduced the condition +to one of the most ordinary. Men generally felt but little concern about +themselves, but they were gravely concerned about their dependable +families. These hardy men of the frontier usually became indifferent to +personal danger, which fact greatly impressed the savage. While he hated +the paleface, he dreaded to encounter him. Only under conditions of +advantage, or when so penned that there was but slight hope of escape, +would the Indian dare to engage in open fight with a white man. The skill +of the Indian was limited, while the cool calculation of the white man +would enable him the more readily to comprehend a given situation. In a +reëncounter the Indian would always act with precipitation, while the +white man would act with calculation, even under a stress of exciting +conditions. This was often illustrated in the difference of the conduct of +the two races. + +One chief advantage the Indian enjoyed over the white man--he could easily +outrun him. The Indian was trained to fleetness of foot from early +childhood. He could run with bent form, faster than could the white in an +upright position. + +It was almost incredible how rapidly the Indian could penetrate the +tangled underbrush in flight, or in seeking the advantage of a foe. +Athletic training was common among all the tribes. On just two things the +Indian relied, one of which was his fleetness of foot and the other his +ambuscade, unless he was forced into a condition of desperation, when he +would become the most terrible of antagonists. While the sinews of the +Indian were toughened by his mode of life, his muscles were kept in a +perfectly flexible condition. This was in part due to his constant +exposure to the open air. He slept and lived in the open. The consequence +was that the constitution of the Indian was rarely impaired by disease. +Active exercise, in which he every day indulged, the open air, simple +food, and sleeping on the hard earth, made him an athlete, and among them +there were often prodigies of strength. + +The Indian spurned ease, and to him clothing was an encumbrance. It was +like a child encased in a shield. On the other hand, the white man coveted +ease. In those early days, and even for generations later, the white man +would regard a bed uncomfortable unless it was of feathers, and he would +never walk when there was a possibility of riding. In physical strength +and endurance, therefore, the Indian was the superior, while in coolness +and in calculation, and in the rapid husbanding of resource, the white man +was at an immense advantage, and this made him the dominant factor. + +This last element stood the whites well in hand in their intercourse with +the Indians. Treacherous to the utmost, the Indian, in his pretensions of +friendship, came to be a study to the frontierman, and rarely was one +thrown off his guard by the pretended warning of an Indian. Oftener than +otherwise, given advice of impending danger, by an Indian, was reversed, +and savages were often intercepted in fell design by the whites, who came +readily to detect the treacherous purpose of the Indian. When suddenly +foiled, no people were more easily demoralized than were the Indians. Of +these characteristics, as frequently displayed, we shall have occasion to +take note in these sketches. + + + + +ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY + + +The name of Alexander McGillivray is inseparable from the earliest annals +of Alabama history. So notorious was he, that to omit his name from the +records of the state, would be to occasion a serious gap. Though a private +citizen, McGillivray, in the sway of power, was practically a sovereign. +In the constitution of this wonderful man were extraordinary force, +comprehensive resourcefulness, unquestioned magnetism, and sinisterness of +purpose, rarely equaled. He was born to dominate, and his facility for +planning and scheming, as well as for executing, was phenomenal. Nor was +the dominion of his influence restricted to Alabama, for it extended into +Georgia and Florida, and reached even the seat of the national government, +which was at that time, seeking to stand erect in its emergence from +infantile conditions. + +McGillivray was the Machiavelli of these early times. With a gaze lifted +immensely above that of his contemporaries, he planned vast designs, while +the order of mind of this remarkable man was such that, in the requisite +details of execution, he could fit and adjust conditions with a skill so +marvelous, and a precision so exact, as to be able to accomplish all to +which he set his hand. + +His mind was fertile, his vision comprehensive, his judgment unerring, his +skill adroit, his cunning foxy, his facilities without seeming limit, and +his absence of principle as void as space. His plans were often a network +of tangled schemes, so wrought into each other, that to most men involved +in such, there would be no possibility of escape, but under the +manipulation of this master of craft and of intrigue, they would be +brought to a culmination invested with so much plausibility, as to divest +them of any open appearance of wrong. McGillivray was always cool and +collected, suave and smiling, and could make so fair a show of sincerity +and of innocence, backed by a cogency of assertion, as often to make the +false wear the mask of truth. + +The times in which McGillivray lived were exceedingly favorable to the +cultivation of his character. That which he did would have been unnatural +with an ordinary man, but to Alexander McGillivray, and to the period in +which he lived, nothing seemed more natural. The times were out of joint, +his native gifts were exceptional, the period afforded just the orbit for +their exercise, and with audacious effrontery he seized on every chance to +execute his fell designs. + +The close of the Revolution had left the country in a deplorable +condition. The demoralization which inevitably follows in the wake of war, +was one of unusual seriousness to the young American nation. Added to that +of widespread disaster was the sudden transition from colonial conditions, +under the crown, to that of republican independence. History has failed to +emphasize the moral and social conditions in the American territory, +incident to the Revolution, which conditions imposed a herculean task on +our primitive statesmen. At best, the undertaking of a free government, +under conditions such as then prevailed, was an experiment on which the +hoary nations of Europe looked with doubting interest. + +Under the conditions of universal demoralization, the task was assumed of +welding into coherency the scattered elements of population, which +population viewed freedom more as license than as liberty, and with an +interpretation like this, there was a greater tendency toward viciousness +and criminality than toward a patriotic interest in the erection of stable +government. Then, too, the untutored savage still roved the forests, and +his wigwam settlements extended from limit to limit of the territory of +the prospective nation. The savage was revengeful, and stood in defiance +of the encroachment of the whites on his rightful domain. It was under +conditions like these that the unscrupulous McGillivray came on the scene +with all his seductive arts. + +In point of diplomacy, he was the peer of any man on the continent, while +in cunning unscrupulousness he was unapproached by any. To scheme was to +him a natural gift; to plot was his delight, and to him intrigue was a +mere pastime. His machinations were so adroitly shaped as to enable him to +rally to his aid forces the most opposite and contradictory, and yet into +each of his wily schemes he could infuse the ardor of enthusiasm. The +danger embodied in McGillivray was that he was not only bad, but that he +was so ably and atrociously wicked. In his veins ran the blood of three +races--Indian, Scotch, and French. His grandfather, Captain Marchand, was +a French officer, his father, a Scotchman, and his mother, one-half +Indian. Alexander inherited the strongest traits of these three races. He +had the quick but seductive perception of the French, the cool +calculation and dogged persistency of the Scotch, and the subtle +shrewdness and treachery of the Indian. Possessing these traits to a +preëminent degree, they were greatly reinforced by an education derived +from the best schools of the time, he having been educated at Charleston, +South Carolina. He was Chesterfieldian in conventional politeness, and as +smooth as Talleyrand in ambiguity of speech. Apparently the fairest and +most loyal of men, he possessed a depth of iniquity inconceivable. + +His father, Lachlan McGillivray, had run away from his home in Scotland +when a lad of sixteen, and reached Charleston about forty years before the +outbreak of the Revolution. Penniless and friendless, he engaged to drive +pack-horses, laden with goods, to the Indian settlements on the +Chattahoochee. His only compensation for the trip was a large jackknife, +which proved the germ of a subsequent fortune. Nothing was more highly +prized at that time, than a good jackknife. Lachlan McGillivray exchanged +his knife for a number of deer skins, which commanded an exorbitant price +in the markets of Charleston. Investment followed investment, which +resulted in increasing dividends to the Scotch lad, so that by the time he +was fully grown, he owned two plantations on the Savannah River, both of +which were stocked with negro slaves. He later came to possess large +commercial interests, both in Savannah and Augusta, and having married the +half-breed Indian girl, in Alabama, he owned large interests in this +state. He had, besides Alexander, three other children. One of these +married a French officer, Le Clerc Milfort, who became a +brigadier-general in the army of Napoleon, while another became the wife +of Benjamin Durant, a wealthy Huguenot merchant, the ancestor of the +present Durants in Mobile and Baldwin counties, while another still, +married James Bailey, a half-breed, who was subsequently a conspicuous +defender of Fort Mims. These names are suggestive of fountain sources of +history. This brief introduction prepares us to enter on the remarkable +career of Alexander McGillivray. + + + + +THE INDIAN "EMPEROR" + + +Among the other traits of Alexander McGillivray was that of an +insufferable vanity. The Indians came to recognize him as their chief, but +this he indignantly put aside and named himself "the emperor." Designing +the career of his son to be that of a merchant, Lachlan McGillivray had +afforded him every possible educational advantage that the most advanced +schools could give, but the young man chafed under the restrictions of +commercial life and left his father's home, which was now in Georgia, and +returned to Wetumpka, the scene of his birth and childhood, and allied +himself with the Indians of that region. Most opportune was the time to +young McGillivray, for the Creeks had become involved in a serious +disturbance with the whites of Georgia, and were in search of a competent +leader who could cope with the situation. + +The American Revolution was now in progress. The British, here and there +about the South, were active through the Tories, in inciting to rebellion +the ferocious Indians. Every wrong was exaggerated, and many supposed +wrongs were created, to engender strife between the whites and the +Indians. On reaching Wetumpka, young McGillivray was hailed as their chief +and as the man who had come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Fresh +from academic honors, the youth was altogether responsive to the +flatteries of the Indians. Proclaiming himself the emperor of the Creeks, +he donned their garb, and became their idol. He began his operations on a +scale so delightful to the Indians, that he won their confidence at once. + +His movements attracted the attention of the British authorities at +Pensacola, and there was tendered him a colonelcy in their army, without +interference with his chiefship in the Indian tribe. He was placed on the +payroll of the English army and exchanged his toggery of the Indian chief +for the crimson uniform of the British colonel. This was an occasion of +fascination to the Indians, who exulted in the promotion of their young +chief. McGillivray now had everything his way. He plied his seductive +arts, and there was nothing that he desired that was withheld. The Indians +doted on him, and the pride of the young man knew no limit. He proved a +skillful leader in battle, courageous and strategic, but his sphere was in +the field of diplomacy. He left others to lead in fight, while he +solicited the aid of Indians in the service of the king of England. In the +ranks of the Tories, none was so efficient as was McGillivray, yet when +the war closed disastrously to the crown, and when the British had no +further use for him, they abandoned him to his fate, took his commission +from him, and cared no more for him. + +While the result was disastrous to the British arms, it was exceedingly so +to the McGillivrays. The father had been a devoted loyalist throughout, +and when peace was declared his property was confiscated, he was left +without a penny, and, worse still, the Whigs thirsted for his blood. They +sought to find him, and, without a dime in his pocket, he fled the country +and returned to Europe, after making many narrow escapes, for had he been +captured, he would have paid the penalty of his loyalty to the British +crown by dangling from the end of a rope. All that saved Alexander's neck +was that he was recognized the chief of the Indian tribes whom the +Americans were eager to conciliate. The conditions created by the close of +the war afforded to Colonel McGillivray a fresh opportunity for new +alliances on a new field. + +Impoverished by the calamitous result of the Revolution, Colonel +McGillivray was more enraged than dispirited, and in seeking new +connections, he turned to the Spanish, who recognized the services of so +valuable an ally, and were not slow to use him. In order to facilitate +their schemes they gave to McGillivray the commission of colonel in the +Spanish army on full pay, and besides, made him commissary commissioner to +the Creek Indians, whom to win to the loyalty of Spain there was offered +to them open ports on the Gulf coast for the shipment of their peltry. + +This latter position gave to McGillivray vast advantage, as his palms +itched for Spanish gold, much of which he handled in this new relation. +Having the confidential ear of both parties, McGillivray was not slow to +replenish his impoverished purse. He was equally the trusted counselor of +both, and was not hindered in cross-purposes by any scruple, to make the +most of the advantage afforded. He was the prince of plotters, and the +impersonation of selfishness. A treaty was entered into at Augusta, +Georgia, between the white settlers and the Creeks, respecting the lands, +which treaty was repudiated by the Indian tribes, and led to outbreaks of +violence on the part of the savages. This action was inspired by +McGillivray, the promotion of whose interest lay in agitation and +disturbance. Outbreaks became general, as the result of the instigation of +McGillivray, who did nothing openly, but inspired the Spanish to stimulate +the animosity of the savages against the white settlers. + +Conditions rapidly assumed an aspect of gravity, and outbreaks became so +general, that it was necessary for the American government to take the +matter seriously in hand, and to seek to placate the Indians. A commission +of able men was appointed by congress, under the leadership of General +Andrew Pickens, to negotiate with the Indians, with the end in view of +adjusting all differences. General Pickens addressed a letter to +McGillivray, which communication was a masterpiece of astute diplomacy. +While it bristles with threat, it is at the same time pervaded by +conditional conciliation; while stout in the assertion of independence, it +is yet concessive in tone, and while it promises direful consequences in +case the general government declines to recognize the rights of the +Indians, it adroitly injects, in a patronizing way, the suggestion that +the Americans who had wrested independence from the British crown would be +glad to be in position to accord great consideration to the unfortunate +Indian. + +Able as General Pickens was in the field of statescraft, it was impossible +for him so to depress the standard of his character to such a plane as to +be able to cope with the villainy of McGillivray. The difficulty lay in +the fact that the two men were working from two opposite points. Pickens +was seeking reconciliation, while this was precisely what McGillivray did +not wish. Pickens was seeking to heal a serious breach, while it was to +the interest of McGillivray to keep it as wide open as possible. However, +negotiations were arranged for and the congressional commission was to +meet, in council, Colonel McGillivray, at Golphinton. + + + + +McGILLIVRAY'S CHICANERY + + +At great sacrifice, and by laborious travel, the commissioners of the +government, under General Pickens, made their way to Golphinton, when, lo! +McGillivray was not there. Instead, he had sent to represent the Indians, +the chiefs of two towns, accompanied by about sixty warriors. As +negotiations had been conducted by McGillivray, and as his presence was +necessary to consummate the proposed treaty, there was not only +disappointment on the part of the commissioners, but great indignation. +Even though every chief had been present, the absence of their +representative and commissioner would invalidate any agreement, and this +McGillivray well knew. + +Nonplused by his absence, the commissioners of the government merely +stated to those present that which congress desired to accomplish, and +withdrew. This gave rise to fresh complications, which now assumed a +three-cornered aspect, as the federal commissioners' plans were objected +to by the commissioners of Georgia, on the one hand, and by the Indians, +on the other. Conditions were growing worse instead of better, much to the +delight of Alexander McGillivray, who would produce such a juncture as +would eventuate in his final enrichment. Without the knowledge of either +of the other parties, he was pulling the wires with the hand of an adept +schemer. After all the negotiation, therefore, the whole affair proved a +fiasco. + +Still, something must be done. Conditions could not remain as they were, +and border warfare was continually imminent. The government was prostrated +by the Revolution, and a general war with the Indians might invite an +interference on the part of both England and Spain. President Washington +was much worried and perplexed, and summoned to his aid the ablest +counselors. The situation was exceedingly grave, and a single misstep +might plunge the country into the most disastrous of wars. + +The next step led to the appointment of Dr. James White as the +superintendent of the Creek Indians. Dr. White was cool and cautious, a +skilled diplomat, and was familiar with Indian treachery, while he had the +advantage of enjoying, to a degree, their confidence. He was not without a +sense of self-reliance in the undertaking, and if he could not succeed in +the ratification of a treaty, he would so probe into the situation as to +glean facts which would enable the government the better to adopt proper +policies. He knew McGillivray well, and was not averse to a tilt in +diplomacy with this arch plotter and schemer. He at once wrote to +McGillivray from Cusseta, setting forth his mission and that which he +proposed to accomplish. The reply was one of equivocal phraseology, +lengthy, shrewd, evasive. It might mean anything or nothing, and was +susceptible to a variety of interpretations. The upshot of the +correspondence was a meeting at Cusseta. This time McGillivray was present +with a proposal to the national commissioner, which proposal was +astounding and startling. Surrounded by a large number of chiefs, +McGillivray submitted his unreasonable proposal. This occurred in April, +1787. + +The proposal, in brief, was that the general government make large and +unreasonable grants, with the alternative of a prompt acceptance, or that +of a declaration of war on the first of the following August, just four +months hence. McGillivray knew that the proposed conditions would not be +acceptable, and he also knew the consequences of a war to the young +nation. Matters were not growing better fast. Here was a juncture that +called for the skill of the ripest statesmanship. The general government +and the state of Georgia were as much out of accord, as were both, with +the Indians. It was an opportunity which the keen McGillivray could not +suffer to remain unused. It was a matter of bargain and trade with him, +and the question uppermost with him was how much he could derive from it. + +So astounding was the proposal, that Dr. White found himself a pigmy +dealing with a colossus, and he could do nothing more than to report to +the President the result of the meeting. All the while, McGillivray was +shuffling with the Spanish authorities in such a way as to extort large +sums of gold from them, while he was dissembling with the American +government for a similar reason, using meanwhile the deluded Indian as an +instrument to promote his designs. He would hold the Indian in his grip by +an affected solicitude in his behalf, while he would promise certain +results to Spain for given sums, and meanwhile agitate Washington with a +threat of war. Men and interests, however sacred, were to him as puppets +to be employed for the profoundest selfishness. He would create +demonstrations of hostility on the part of the Indians, in order to extort +from interested merchants tribute to quell the disturbance. He would +threaten Spain with America, and America with Spain, thereby producing +alarming conditions in the commercial world, and from nations and +merchants alike, he reaped booty. + +Exasperated to a pitch almost uncontrollable, Washington at one time +thought of a war of extermination, but this would involve the lives and +property of the people of the whole South, involve the country seriously +with England and Spain, and leave a stain on the American government, and +the idea was abandoned. Resourceful as he was, Washington had practically +reached the limit of suggestiveness when it occurred to him to appoint a +secret agent charged with the mission of inviting a big council of the +Indian chiefs to repair on horseback all the way from Alabama and Georgia +to New York, then the seat of national government, in order to confer with +him in person in the adjustment of all grievances. Colonel Marinus Willett +was chosen by the President for this delicate and difficult function. + +Taking a ship at New York, Colonel Willett was just fourteen weeks +reaching Charleston, from which point he immediately set out along the +Indian trails on horseback for the region of the Chattahoochee. He was +served by faithful Indian guides, and through many days of hard riding, he +proceeded to his destination where he had arranged a meeting with +McGillivray and all the great chiefs. Conditions were now favoring +McGillivray, for he well knew that he had produced grave concern at the +national capital, and was abundantly prepared for the result which he was +now nursing. According to prearrangement, Colonel Willett and Colonel +McGillivray met at the town of Ocfuske, on the Tallapoosa River. +McGillivray found his match in Colonel Willett, who was as skilled in the +art of diplomacy as was McGillivray, but without his unscrupulousness. + + + + +A NOVEL DEPUTATION + + +The diplomats met--Willett and McGillivray. Willett was polite, courtly of +address, skillful of speech, resourceful, but wary. McGillivray was suave, +excessive in politeness, equivocal of speech, deceitful, ostensibly +generous, though as treacherous as a serpent. Both were able. Each had had +much to do with men and affairs, but the motives of the two were as wide +as the poles. In the assembled council, Willett showed that he was at +home. Under the guise of excessive politeness, the two played against each +other for advantage with the skill of trained fencers. There was a mastery +of self-confidence that equally possessed both. Each spoke in a measured, +cautious way. With mutual distrustfulness, each vied with the other in +courtesy of tone. Objections were met and verbal blows were parried with a +degree of politeness that approached the obsequious. It was Greek meeting +Greek. The widest discretion was Willett's in arranging for the proposed +council in New York, where the Indian chiefs were invited by the "great +President" to meet him. + +With the mastery of a skilled disputant, Colonel Willett addressed the +assembled chiefs, including, of course, Colonel McGillivray. The pith of +his speech was that "our great chief, George Washington," had sent him to +convey to them a message of cordial affection, and to invite them to his +great council house in New York, where he wished to sign with his own +hand, along with Colonel McGillivray, a treaty of peace and of alliance. +He assured them of the high regard entertained for them by "our great +chief," who did not want their lands, but wished to see them happy, +contented, and protected. He further assured them that Washington would +make a treaty "as strong as the hills and as lasting as the rivers." His +tone of address and assurance of sincerity greatly pleased the assembly. + +The result of the meeting, which lasted for hours, was that a deputation +of chiefs, together with Colonel McGillivray, would accompany Willett on +horseback to New York. Arrangements for transporting the baggage on horses +were made, and the day appointed for the departure. Accordingly, Colonels +Willett and McGillivray, a nephew of Colonel McGillivray, and a body of +Indian chiefs filed out of Little Tallassee, near Wetumpka, on the morning +of June 1, 1790, for the distant capital. Along the way the party was +reinforced by other chiefs on horseback, who were in wait for the arrival +of Willett and McGillivray. At Stone Mountain, Georgia, the two great +chiefs of the Cowetas and Cussetas joined the party. Onward the procession +moved, exciting much interest, and in certain quarters, not a little +sensation. On reaching the home of General Andrew Pickens, on the Seneca +River, in South Carolina, they were received with the utmost cordiality by +this distinguished gentleman, who arranged for more comfortable means of +travel. Here the party fell in with the Tallassee king, Chinnobe, the +"great Natchez warrior," and others. Henceforth the Indians rode in +wagons, excepting the four who were the bodyguard of Colonel McGillivray, +who accompanied him on horseback, while Colonel Willett rode alone in a +sulky. At Richmond and at Fredericksburg the party halted to rest, at +which places much consideration was shown to Colonel McGillivray. +Distinguished honor was shown the entire party at Philadelphia, where they +were entertained for three days. Boarding a sloop at Elizabethtown, New +Jersey, they were finally landed in New York. + +Now began a series of demonstrations that lasted through a number of days. +The sachems of Tammany Hall turned out in full regalia, met the deputation +at the water's edge in lower New York, which was at that time about all +there was of the city, marched up Wall Street, then the principal +thoroughfare of the city, past the federal building, where congress was in +session, then to the home of the President, with that pomp and ceremony of +which Washington was very fond. Each member of the deputation was +presented to the President, while the eyes of the enchanted chiefs fairly +glittered with delight as they unceremoniously gazed on the scenes about +them in the mansion of the President. Washington could not outdo Colonel +McGillivray in conventionality in the exchange of greeting. Both were men +of splendid physique, McGillivray being just six feet high, with broad +shoulders, well proportioned, and as straight as a flagstaff. From the +home of the President the procession filed to the office of the secretary +of war, thence to the mansion of Governor Clinton, all of which being +over, they were marched for entertainment to the principal hostelry of +the city, the City Tavern, where a banquet was spread for the unique +deputation, when the functions of the first day were closed. + +Other notable attentions charmed the visiting chiefs, whose elation over +the novel scenes in which they were the principal sharers was equaled +alone by the concern of Colonel McGillivray regarding what all this might +mean for him. The chiefs of the wilds were easily beguiled by these +profuse attentions, but not so the wily McGillivray. With sedulous care he +kept the chiefs well under his thumb, lest they might fall into other +hands, by means of which they might be alienated from himself. + +After some days, negotiations were entered on between McGillivray and the +Indian chiefs, on the one hand, and Henry Knox, the chosen representative +of the government, on the other. With cautious vigilance on the part of +both Knox and McGillivray, each step in the proceeding was taken. Knox +knew his man, and McGillivray knew what he wished, and all else was made +subservient to that purpose. McGillivray was as free in the ply of his art +in the metropolis, as he was beneath the native oaks of his tribe on the +distant Coosa. Nothing daunted him, and with dexterity he employed his art +as the situation was gone into. A sensational episode occurred in +connection with the proceedings. Washington learned that the Spanish of +Florida and of Louisiana, having heard of the departure on this mission of +McGillivray and his chiefs, had dispatched a secret agent with a bag of +Spanish gold, by ship to New York, to bribe the chiefs and prevent a +treaty. McGillivray wore their uniform, bore a commission as colonel in +their army, and was their agent, but their confidence in him was naught, +hence the mission of the agent. This agent was detected on his arrival, +and was shadowed by an officer from the moment he touched the soil of the +city. The agent was never able to reach the Indians. With consummate skill +the contest continued from day to day, McGillivray determined to force the +initiative in the offer to be made, before he would agree to commit +himself. He was a plausible enigma to the statesmen at New York, whom he +forced to show their hands before he would agree to disclose his purposes +and wishes. + + + + +THE TENSION RELIEVED + + +While several previous articles have been devoted to the notorious career +of Alexander McGillivray, there was a phase of the situation which +logically belongs to the interesting proceedings in New York which should +not be omitted, and when read in connection with facts already presented, +adds increased interest to the narrative. + +Keeping his plans well to himself, McGillivray was quietly breeding +schemes with which to baffle the able men at the national capital. For +days together, the negotiations were kept up, and they were days of +serious concern and of lingering suspense to President Washington. The +parleying and dallying led to the apprehension that McGillivray would +propose terms so startling, as to end the whole affair with a fiasco, and +in view of the recent demonstration, reduce the situation to governmental +mortification. On the other hand. McGillivray was apprehensive that his +intended proposals would be rejected, hence his tactical delay and parley. +Knox was patient, McGillivray impatient. At last Knox was able to force +from the wily trickster and supple diplomat the condition on which he +would be willing to sign the treaty. It proved to be an occasion of as +much elation to the one as to the other. McGillivray chuckled over his +success, while the government congratulated itself on the settlement of +terms so easy. + +When, at last, McGillivray stated his terms, they were that fifteen +hundred dollars in gold should be paid him outright by the government +annually, together with other easy emoluments, yet to be named, and a +certain quantity of merchandise, with certain limited sums of money to the +Indians each year, for which consideration the vast domains of the Oconees +were to be surrendered, while they were to remain under the peaceable +protection of the United States, and form no treaties with any others. +Yet, on account of that which occasioned this treaty so cheaply, much +suspense and terror had been created and much blood spilled, and not a few +whites were even then in bondage to the Indians. These slaves were to be +liberated, and the two powerful tribes, the Creeks and the Seminoles, were +to become subject to the general government. Paltry as the consideration +was, McGillivray got the utmost of his wishes, and crowed over the result. + +The infamy of this malicious character grows in depth with the probing. +Back of his tampering with different embassies in the past, his Judas-like +dealing with different nations at the same time, his instigation of the +tribes to outbreak, his dragging these Indian chiefs across the country +all the way to New York, lay the sinister and sordid selfishness of this +perfidious man, already named, McGillivray provided for himself by being +made a brigadier general in the regular American army on full pay, which +was at that time twelve hundred dollars, while he was to derive additional +remuneration as the government agent to the Indian tribes. + +Intoxicated with delight at his success, McGillivray headed the procession +homeward bound, after an exchange of congratulations with President +Washington, where each vied with the other in stilted conventionality. +McGillivray flattered the artless Indians into the belief that he had won +for them a victory, and they shared with him in the gusto of his elation. +His maneuvers were just such as to produce fresh plans of conspiracy and +of intrigue for the future. On his return home, he doffed the uniform of +the Spanish colonel, and donned that of the American brigadier, all of +which heightened the admiration of the Indians, while it afforded newer +opportunity to the general to lay deeper schemes and reap richer rewards. +This course was occasioned by the reasons now to be given. + +One of our modern investigations would have disclosed the fact that while +the treaty was based on the conditions named, there lay beneath it, out of +the sight of the general public, a secret treaty between President +Washington and General McGillivray, on condition that he would manage the +Indians as the President might desire. As a sort of secret agent, and in +order to enhance his position in the estimation of the Indians, +McGillivray was made a channel for the transmission of certain gifts and +privileges, which he was to use to the advantage of the government, for +which he cared not a thread, and he would never have become the secret +purveyor, without the prospect of personal enrichment. He was to give to +the Indians, in his own way, the assurance that their commerce was to find +exit through the Gulf and ocean ports, while he was to present to each +chief, as from himself, but really from the government, a handsome gold +medal, besides a yearly gift of one hundred dollars in gold. Besides +still, the government was in the same secret way to educate annually four +of the Indian youth, free of all charge. All this was to be done in such +manner, as to have it appear how strong was the hold and influence of +McGillivray on the general government, and thus maintain his grip on the +Indians. This looks a little nebulous, from the government side, but it is +a matter of history, and at the time, was known only to the favored few. +History, like the sea, has hidden depths. That which Washington wished, +was to keep in subjection the troublesome Indian; that which McGillivray +wished was the enhancement of his importance, in order to the +gratification of his personal vanity, and in order, too, to a plethoric +purse. At any rate, such are the facts. What our modern muckrakers might +make of a proceeding like this now, deponent knoweth not. While in the +state councils of New York, there was silent and suppressed glee over the +result, in the heart of Alexander McGillivray, at the same time, there +were fresh schemes being incubated, as in daily meditation he southward +rode. Washington thought he had McGillivray bagged, while McGillivray knew +he had Washington hoodwinked. Later developments afford fresher +revelations of the diabolical character of Alexander McGillivray. + +A season of tranquillity ensued which Washington regarded as auspicious, +when as a matter of fact it was ominous. McGillivray never intended to +execute the terms of the treaty, only in so far as they would conduce to +his personal ends, for on his return to the South, he at once entered into +secret negotiations with the Spanish. He explained to them that his jaunt +to the capital was a mere ruse, in order to gather information, the better +to aid the king of Spain, and that he was just now ready to render to +Spain the most efficient service. Here, then, was an American general +disporting himself in the national uniform, spurs, boots, epaulettes, and +all, betraying the government into the hands of a foreign foe. While +drawing the pay of a brigadier, he was, as a secret emissary of Spain, the +recipient of a sum much larger. + +In order, at last, to promote his schemes, he fomented strife and +agitation among the chiefs, by instigating them to protest against the +terms of the treaty. Meanwhile, he informed the government at New York +that he was doing his utmost to enforce the terms, and must have broad +discretion and ample time, in order to accomplish the end in view. Between +himself and the secretary of war an active correspondence was kept up in +which correspondence the atrocious Alexander McGillivray was more than a +match for the cabinet officer of Washington. Thus went events for years +together. + + + + +THE CURTAIN FALLS + + +In the records of the race, it would be difficult to find embodied in the +life and career of any one, more strange and incongruous elements than +those which entered into the history of General Alexander McGillivray. +Though unquestionably a man of ability, that ability was turned into the +most wicked of channels; highly gifted with the elements of leadership, +these were devoted to the single end of the enhancement of his purse; +gracious in manner, courteous, and ostensibly obliging to an astonishing +degree, yet, at bottom, all this demonstration was only so many decoys to +catch the unsuspecting, and even to the suspicious they were oftener than +otherwise availing; cool and collected, placid and serene, it was but the +charm to wheedle the confidence in order to sinister consummation, and, +while emphatic sometimes with a make-believe sincerity, it was only to +delude. + +McGillivray's only idea of right was that of self-gratification. If to do +right at any time was most productive of methods of self-promotion, why he +would adopt that course, but only as a means of convenience. Unhampered by +a sense of obligation and unchecked by conscientious scruple, his +prodigious intellect and fertility of resource made Alexander McGillivray +the most dangerous of men. Yet he could descant at length with all the +mein of a moral philosopher on duty and obligation, the rights of man, the +turpitude of wrong, the cruelty of injustice, the inhumanity of deception, +and all else in the catalogue of morality. His familiarity with all these +afforded him room for the amplest guilt. Self was his measuring rod, laid +with accurate hand on the most contradictory of conditions. + +The amplitude of his personal forces enabled McGillivray to do what the +fewest can successfully--wind his sinuous course through the most tangled +conditions, while dealing with a number of conflicting agencies and +causes, and yet equally dupe all, and if apprehended, be able so to summon +to his defense a sufficiency of plausibility as actually to invest the +whole situation with a sheen of fairness. Contradictory at many points, he +could give to all the aspect of consistency. + +The only service that Alexander McGillivray rendered was that of +preventing a general outbreak of the Indian tribes, which fact was due, +not to his horror of blood, so much, as to the fact that using the deluded +red man, he was able to hold him up as an object of fear, and thus elicit +by agitation and apprehension, that which would conduce to his emolument. +He never did right unless it was to his profit, and falsehood was +preferable to truth, if it would serve a turn to his personal profit. He +derived abundant encouragement from the conditions of his environment, to +which his character was exactly adapted. The man and the occasion met in +Alexander McGillivray. + +As the agent of the government entrusted with the dispensation of the +financial and commercial gifts to the Indians, in accordance with the +secret treaty with President Washington, no one ever knew how much, or how +little, the poor red men ever received. The fact that the arrangement was +a secret one, was much to the purpose and pleasure of McGillivray. The +government promptly met its obligation, and there is not wanting evidence +that there all sense of obligation ended. This notorious man went to his +grave invested with the deepest suspicion. Nor was it altogether +restricted to suspicion, this outrageous conduct of Alexander McGillivray. +Detection was unescapable under certain conditions. Secret agents of a +suspicious government, spying out his varied transactions, exposed his +atrocity time and again, but in each instance, it was found that he had so +successfully woven a network of defense, that to undertake to eliminate +him by force, would have been like tearing a new patch from an old +garment, according to the sacred parable, the rent of which would have +been made the worse thereby. + +The government sought by indirection and not always in the most creditable +way, to uproot the confidence of the Indians by due exposure, but +McGillivray was never found unprovided with means to account for the +reasonableness of each separate charge. With the strategy of a Napoleon, +this extraordinary man could outgeneral all who were pitted against him. +Such was the character, such the career of Alexander McGillivray. + +He was now an old man. The stylus of care and of responsibility, assumed +in an arena the most atrocious, had drawn deep grooves on his brow. His +silver hair and tottering gait admonished him of the brief time that was +his, but so far from relaxing his grip on the things which had actuated +him throughout, this condition only served to tighten it. Experience had +sharpened his wits, and villainy had made him impregnable in plying his +art. His was a master passion that gave fresh desperateness in view of the +approaching end. A vast fortune was his, and with the passion of the man +who never had a higher dream than that of personal gain, he hugged it with +a tenacity common to men under conditions of advancing age, yet knowing +meanwhile, that with his end would come that of the use of his immense +means. + +He lived to see himself repudiated by all alike. He was rejected by the +American government, cast out by the Spaniards, and, by degrees, came to +be distrusted even by the Indians. All sense of remorse was gone, all the +finer emotions which shrink from public exposure of wrong, long ago +deadened. Moral obliquity was complete, and hardened iniquity made him +insensible to the frown of reproach with which he was everywhere met. + +Worn out by the criminality of a long life, McGillivray sought a home, in +his last days, at Little River, in the lower part of Monroe County, where +he died on February 17, 1793. His remains were taken to Pensacola and +interred in the spacious gardens of William Panton, a wealthy Scotch +merchant, with whom McGillivray had long been associated in business +connections. His very aged father survived him, and was still living at +Dummaglass, Scotland, to whom William Panton wrote of the death of his +notorious son. Thus passed away the greatest diplomat Alabama ever +produced, but he left to posterity nothing worthy of emulation. + + + + +LORENZO DOW + + +So far as can be ascertained, and the fact seems beyond doubt, the first +protestant that ever preached in Alabama was the eccentric Methodist +minister, Lorenzo Dow. He combined in his character a number of strange +elements, some of which were quite strong, and by his stentorian preaching +he stirred the people wherever he went. He was unique in his make-up, and +no conjecture could be had of what he would ever say or do. Mr. Dow +reached the distant frontier settlements of Alabama along the Tombigbee as +early as 1793. He was a fearless, stern, plain, and indefatigable preacher +of the old-time type, who spurned all danger, and boldly faced the direst +of perils on the border, that he might preach the gospel. He had a notable +career, though still a young man, before he found his way to the vanguard +of western civilization. + +Born in Connecticut during the stormy days of the Revolution, Dow became a +Christian in his youth, and for some time was perplexed about what church +relationship he should form. He finally joined the Methodists, as the zeal +of that people was an attraction to his heated temperament. His errant and +arbitrary course soon made him an undesirable acquisition to the +Methodists, and while not severing his relations with the church, he was +disposed to yield to a disposition to become a general evangelist or +missionary of the independent type. His health was broken, and he +conceived the idea of going as far westward as the advanced line of +Caucasian occupation had gone, taking with him on his perilous journey +his young wife. + +At this time Mr. Dow was about twenty-seven years old. By means of the +tedious and uncomfortable methods of travel at that early time, he found +his way from New England to the thin line of settlements along the +Tombigbee. Here, in company with his wife, Peggy, he preached as a son of +thunder, but as though the dangers encountered did not gratify his love of +the perilous, he sought his way through the dangerous wilds to the region +of Natchez, Mississippi, long before made an important French settlement. +To Dow peril was a fascination, and like the Vikings of Saga story, he +sought danger in order to gratify a desire to fight. Not that he was a man +of physical violence, but his love of contention and of opposition was +without bound. He loved combat for its own sake, and was never so much at +peace as when engaged in wordy war. He was of that mold of humanity that +immensely preferred disagreement with one than tranquil acquiescence. He +rusted when not in use. His blade glimmered only by constant wielding. + +From the region of Natchez, he returned at last to the Tombigbee and +Tensas settlements, virile, strenuous, impetuous, and fiery. His journal, +which seems to have been sacredly kept, discloses many romantic adventures +among the wild tribes, many of the leading spirits among whom regarded him +with a terror that was awfully sacred, because of his utter lack of fear, +his consuming zeal, and his stormy preaching. In advance of the choice of +St. Stephens as the territorial capital, he visited the location while +only one family was residing there. Impressed by the location which +overlooks the river from an elevation, and the country beyond, Dow +predicted that it would become a point of great importance. Both in his +diary and in the "Vicissitudes" of Peggy Dow, we learn much of the +adventures of this anomalous brace of souls. He would sleep in the open +air in the resinous regions of South Alabama, where the abounding pine +straw could be raked together in a heap for a mattress, and where he could +be lulled to slumber by the soothing monotone of the tall pine trees. +There is little doubt that the frail system of this wonderful man was +prolonged, by being nurtured in the open air, freighted with turpentine, +and strengthened by activity. + +Mrs. Peggy, on the other hand, judging from the tone of her journal, did +not find so much gratification in this rough and tumble method of life, as +did her incorrigible liege lord. There is an undisguised reluctance in her +words of compliance with conditions from which there was no appeal. + +One of the most singular chapters in the life of Lorenzo Dow preceded his +invasion of the far Southwest. When seized by a peculiar fancy that he was +called to preach to the Roman Catholics of the world, and having learned +that Ireland was one of their strongholds, he hied himself thither. To the +quaint Irish, he was a wonder. His vociferous preaching and pungent zeal +drew large crowds, but at times his path was not strewn with primroses, +and the rougher element of the Irish throngs offered battle at times to +his vaunting banters, but nothing was more to the liking of the +indomitable Lorenzo. He stood ready to meet any rising emergency even when +it was as grave as the attacks of the scraggy sons of the Emerald Isle. + +From Ireland he crossed over into Britain, and introduced the camp meeting +method of worship, which meetings became popular in England, and later, in +the United States. So far as is known Lorenzo Dow was the founder of the +camp meeting with its flexibility and abandon of worship. His way in +England was clearer than it had been in Ireland. To the staid Briton, he +was an object of wonder, and his natural eloquence and eccentricities of +speech and of dress, won for him boundless popularity, and the pressing +throng heard him with avidity. He found peculiar delight in his assaults +on the Jesuits, whom he denounced as conspirators against civil and +religious freedom. + +Weird, stormy, and extensive as the career of Lorenzo Dow was, he was not +an old man when he died, being only fifty-seven. He fought off +constitutional weakness and heroically braced himself against the inroad +of disease, with the same force with which he did all things else. For +years he held the dark monster, death, at bay, and grimly declined to die +that he might live and fight, to do which none was fonder than the +redoubtable Dow. + +As may be easily inferred, Dow was a man of scant learning, so far as +pertains to books, but he was a close and apt student of men and of +affairs, and from his acquired fund, he preached with great effectiveness, +unrestrained by conventionality, and unhindered by prim propriety. He told +the truth as he saw it, not in tones of choice diction, but with a +quaintness and pluck, and with such projectile force as to stir conviction +and arouse action. He chose to be called a Methodist, yet he chafed under +the imposed limitations of his church, and defiantly trampled down all +restrictions, while he followed the bent of his own sweet will, controlled +by none, not even his bosom companion, Peggy, if the indirect suggestions +of her journal are to be relied on. He did not seek to found churches, but +only desired to preach in his own wild manner. Sometimes he would make +appointments a year in advance, at remote points, but would meet them +promptly at the hour named. + +In point of whimsicalness, Lorenzo Dow has had few peers, for he would +veer from the ordinary, for which he had a singular passion, but no one +was ever found who could pronounce Lorenzo Dow a fool. He was not without +extravagance of speech and of manner, but when challenged, he was gladly +able to evince strength equal to the occasion. + +His son, Neal Dow, was a brigadier in the Union army, and the author of +the "Maine law," which procured a prohibitory statute for his state. + + + + +WEATHERFORD, THE "RED EAGLE" + + +The most picturesque figure among the Indian leaders of the Alabama +tribes, was William Weatherford, called by the Creeks, of whom he was the +splendid commander, Lamochattee, or Red Eagle. He was a nephew of Gen. +Alexander McGillivray, and had an equal admixture of blood in his veins. +Weatherford was reared near Montgomery, at the village of Coosada, just +below the junction of the Coosa and the Tallapoosa Rivers, where his +father owned a plantation, a large store, and a popular race track. +Charles Weatherford, the father, was a white man who had married a +half-breed, and became very popular and influential among the Indians, as +an agent in important functions, in negotiating with the Spanish and the +Americans. + +The son, even from boyhood, was a pet among the Indians, by whom he was +greatly pampered and flattered, and into the wild pursuits of whom the lad +entered with a gusto. With them he hunted and swam, practiced athletics, +on foot and on horse, danced with them at their rude frolics, vied with +the best in the use of the bow and arrow, the rifle and pistol, in all of +which he became an expert, much to the delight of the warriors. He was +especially skilled in horsemanship, his taste for which was gratified to +the amplest by the fine animals in his father's stables, which animals +were kept for racing purposes. + +The pronounced force of Weatherford's leadership was early shown, when he +would join in the perilous expeditions of his tribe against others in the +frequent wars along the Cumberland and the Chattahoochee, and in other +regions, as well. Not only for these qualities was the handsome and +chivalrous young man idolized, but also for his gifted oratory. He had a +voluble tongue, possessed a wonderful power of persuasion, and his +knowledge of Indian character enabled him to inflame and sway their +volatile passions at will. + +At an early age, Weatherford became a dominant figure among the tribes, +and soon came to be proclaimed a great leader. He understood perfectly the +Indian character, and his power of discernment taught him when to speak, +and when to keep silent. Genius, judgment, oratory, and courage were the +ranking qualities of Weatherford's character, which, when taken in +connection with his natural gracefulness and agility, made him an object +little short of adoration to the untutored tribes. Nor was this yet all, +for to these meritorious qualities were added others which while +forbidding to sense of refinement, greatly enhanced Weatherford in the +estimation of the Indian. He was avaricious, treacherous, blood-thirsty, +and a glutton and debauchee of a low cast. + +Early in life, he came into possession of a fine plantation, which he +every way beautified, while his home was made the abode of the worst vices +to which the Indian was addicted, all of which served to elevate him in +Indian esteem. His physique afforded him another advantage, for he was +tall, symmetrically built, and bore himself with the erectness of a +flagstaff, while his large black eyes were flashing, his nose of the +Grecian mold, with other features in harmonious blend. Such was the Red +Eagle of the Creeks, who was to become their great leader and champion, in +the stormy years that were to be. Like Hannibal of old concerning the +Romans, Weatherford had early instilled into him a profound antipathy for +the whites. His uncle, General McGillivray, to whom the young man was +greatly attached, and to whom, too, he was an ideal, had early injected +into the heart of the nephew hatred for the white man, and hostility +toward him. Weatherford when young would accompany his favorite uncle to +Pensacola, and while associating with the Spanish, he would imbibe +additional rancor for the Anglo-Saxon. To him, the encroachment of the +white population on Alabama soil, meant robbery and ruin to the Indian, +and the worst blood of his nature was fired with growing intensity +throughout the period during which he was ripening into manhood. + +Weatherford was scarcely thirty years old when Tecumseh, the celebrated +chief, visited the Muscogees, in 1812. The popularity and bearing of the +young favorite of the Creeks caught the eye of the astute old chief, who +took the young man at once into his confidence, opened his plans for the +extinction of the white race in Alabama, and flattered him not a little, +when he named Weatherford the intrepid leader of the tribes of the south. +Tecumseh wished him to plunge into the war of extermination at once, but +Weatherford asked for time to consider the assumption of a charge so +grave, and promised to give his final answer on the return of Tecumseh in +the near future. + +The truth is, that Weatherford had serious misgivings about his relation +to the pending troubles, and with all his dash and venom, he was not +without judgment and discrimination. While he hated the white man, he knew +his courage and force, and besides, he had many relatives and friends who +would resist any demonstration of hostility on the part of the Indians. +Yet Tecumseh, by fervor of appeal, had fired the Indian heart, and the +tribes were seething for the onset. Under these conditions, Weatherford +found himself in a dilemma. + +Quietly stealing away from his plantation in the neighborhood of Wetumpka, +he went down the Alabama River to the region of Little River, in the lower +part of Monroe, to confer with his brother, Jack Weatherford, and his +half-brother, David Tait. The difficulty of the situation was increased +when both advised the younger brother to have nothing to do with the +impending troubles, and urged him to return to his home, and with his +family, slaves, and stock, to flee to the region in which they resided. +These older brothers predicted not only defeat, but disaster to +Weatherford, if he should yield to the solicitations of the tribes to +become their leader. The brothers pointed out that while much injury might +be inflicted on the whites, they would, in the end, crush the Indians; +that he would do well not to be drawn into the hostile campaign. The +advice was accepted, and William Weatherford retraced his steps to the +upper counties, with the intention of adopting the course suggested, but +it was too late. + + + + +ENFORCED ACQUIESCENCE + + +The tumult of passion raised by Tecumseh, and the full knowledge of the +proposal which he had made to Weatherford, as well as the well-known fact +of his kinship with certain influential families in lower Monroe, of their +attitude to the Indians, and last of all, the hesitation of Weatherford to +assume command, and his strange visit to his brothers--all of these things +awoke suspicion and placed the Indians on their guard. Here was a reversal +of human sentiment as sudden and as powerful as possible. Weatherford had +been idolized till suspicion was aroused, when his presumed treachery was +watched with much eagerness. On his return from the visit to his brothers, +Weatherford was chagrined, and doubly disappointed, to find that his +premises had been invaded, his family, slaves, and stock seized by the +Indians, and held under close guard against his return. Not only so, but +they laid hold on him also, and notified him that they would kill him and +his if he did not join them, and lead them against the whites. It was now +death, or submission to their demand, the latter of which was, after all, +not difficult for Weatherford, for the denunciation heard by him on every +hand, revived the old fire in his heart, and complete as the change was, +as a result of his visit to his brothers, he now cordially acquiesced in +their demands, and announced himself ready to lead them to the field. + +Under these compulsory conditions, Weatherford fed afresh his hatred for +the white race, recalling that which his uncle had instilled, and with +all his being, he threw himself into the cause of the Indians, and became +the most brilliant and the bitterest of Indian leaders. Since there was +nothing left but acquiescence with the demands of the Indians, Weatherford +gored himself to unquenchable hatred, and boldly took the field at the +head of the hilarious and tawny braves. Summoning to his support all the +resources for a fierce war, and calling to his aid every available warrior +of the tribe, a thousand in number, he was ready for the march to the +counties of the south. Already hostilities had broken out in the southern +quarter of the state, and the initial victory of the Indians at the battle +of Burnt Corn, gave vigor to his spirits, and led him utterly to repudiate +the sentiments which he cherished when he left the homes of his brothers, +only a few weeks before. + +At the head of as ferocious an army as ever trod the soil of any region, +Weatherford repaired southward on a mission of utter extermination. Every +day of the march sharpened his zest for the fray, as well as that of his +fierce followers on the war path. He slid into the south as stealthily as +possible, and on reaching the scene of impending hostility, found that the +whites had betaken themselves into a strong stockade, which had been built +about the residence of one of the settlers named Mims, which name was +given to the fort. Together with his picked warriors, he stealthily +inspected the fort unobserved, studied its weakness and its strength, and +repaired to the deep forest to await the time to attack. + +He saw that to undertake to storm the strong barricade meant disaster to +his army, and with genuine genius of generalship, he decided to await the +favorable moment to strike the fatal blow. He hid his warriors in the deep +woods, at a point sufficiently remote from the fort not to be detected, +allowed no camp fires to blaze during the night, and no demonstration that +would occasion alarm at the fort, while he would daily reconnoitre the +situation, and watch how life went inside the stockade. + +Within Fort Mims, day after day passed in silence, silence into +inactivity, then into indifference, and this in turn, into negligence. The +growth of this spirit within the fort was a matter of encouragement to +Weatherford on the outside, several miles away, and this, he was +persuaded, would continue to grow. When it should have become a spirit of +lassitude, toward which it was tending, then would Weatherford strike. +Lounging within the walls of the stockade induced exceeding restlessness, +and by degrees, the inmates of the fort would sally forth in quest of +flowers and wild fruits, while within the enclosure, diversions and games +were introduced and gained in favor. In addition still, the great gateway, +which at first had been kept closed, was now suffered to remain open, not +only during the day, but at night. Heavy rains had washed the sand against +the gate, so that if it were desired to close it, it would be with great +difficulty. The inmates had grown indifferent to the situation, and really +had ceased to believe there was any occasion for apprehension. + +Of all this Weatherford, lurking in the neighboring forest, was apprised, +and while his warriors chafed yet the more because of the delay, the +inmates of the fort grew increasingly indifferent, both which facts were +conducive to the purpose of the wily Weatherford. It was not easy for the +wary chief to hold in check his warriors, but he would daily persuade them +that the pear was not yet ripe, and that when the set time should come, +the victory would be the easier. Weatherford fully understood that when +the dogs of war were turned loose, he would have to rely entirely on the +force of their frenzy and excitement for success, while he quite +understood the collectable qualities of the whites, who, even when +surprised, would rally and rerally with a growing coolness in the +struggle. + +Thus the days became monotonous alike to the inmates of the fort, and the +warriors hid away in the woods, but the effect on each was diametrically +different. This was just as Weatherford wished it, and while he found it +not easy to hold in check his warriors thirsting for blood, he was enabled +to do so till the fatal day arrived. + + + + +FORT MIMS MASSACRE + + +The fatal morning of August 30 dawned on Fort Mims. The weather was hot, +and slowly from sleep the inmates of the fort awoke. Breakfast over, the +day began the usual routine of indifference to conditions, the little +children beginning their play about the block houses, men gathering in +small groups about the enclosure, chatting, smoking, laughing or playing +cards, while later a fiddle was brought into requisition for an old time +reel by a body of youngsters, while the elderly women sat in quiet groups +sewing, talking, and knitting. The matter of attack, so much feared at +first, was now a subject of jocular comment, men joking as to what they +would do, should the Indians appear. + +Amidst the scene of merriment, a negro appears fresh from the woods, and +in excitement, tells of having seen a body of Indians rapidly approaching +the fort. Major Beasley, the commander, who is engaged in a game of cards +with other officers, orders the black to be strung up and whipped for +giving a false alarm. The gate still stands wide open with its obstruction +of sand banked against it, and the serenity within the fort remains the +same. + +Suddenly, the calmness is broken by the firing of muskets without, +attended by the hideous yells of savages. They are near the entrance, and +sure of making good their way into the fort, they make a demonstration of +joy. Consternation seizes the inmates. The rushing tramp of the +approaching assailants is now heard, and as a squad rushes to take its +place in the gateway, the Indians are in full view, only a few yards away. +Before Beasley could rally his men, a few Indians have rushed through the +gate. The advance of the Indians is shot down, and the voice of Beasley is +heard calling to his men to rally at the gate. They seek to close it, but +the Indians are now coming rapidly on, and every one is needed to keep +them back. If the narrow passage of the gate limits the entrance of the +savages, it also hampers the defense of the garrison. A solid mass of +savages, half naked and with the glitter of fury in the eyes of each, jam +in closeness to force the passage. The defenders in desperation shoot them +down, or stab them, one by one with their bayonets. There is no time for +order, and confusion is complete. At the gate, it is a hand to hand fight, +as officers give orders, and the Indians yell like demons, and press with +might to force the entrance. Within the fort, women are shrieking, and +children crying in wild confusion. Only the advance of the Indians has as +yet appeared, the others approaching in order on the run, under the +leadership of Weatherford. Piles of dead bodies, Indians and white, +already fill the gateway. + +Major Beasley stands at the head of his men, faces the savages, and fights +like a demon. He cheers his men, while he bravely leads. He is courage to +the core, and every man is doing his utmost. Inspired by the pluck of the +men, the women rush to the rescue. Beasley falls, shot through his body. +Lying prostrate in the passage, his life ebbing rapidly away, as he sinks +in death, he appeals to his men. A brave lieutenant takes his place, is +soon covered with blood from his own wounds, but fights on, and from +sheer loss of strength, reels and falls. Two brave women rush up, drag his +body from the pile of dead, bear it back, give him water, and suddenly he +rises, staggers to the gate, and renews the fight. After a half hour's +fighting, the gate is closed just as Weatherford appears with eight +hundred fresh warriors. Excluded from the gate, the Indians under +Weatherford, begin to cut down the pickets about the fort, and as holes +are made through the pickets, the firing is continued. The advantage is +now on the side of the savages. Blow on blow finally brings down a portion +of the walls, and like an overflowing flood the yelling demons rush +within. Outside, the dry walls and pickets are set on fire by the savages, +the roofs are soon aflame, while the work of destruction goes speedily on. +On their knees, women plead for life, while they clasp their children +close to them, but they are slain and scalped on the spot. Neither age nor +sex is spared. Of the five hundred and fifty within the fort, only a few +negroes and half breeds are permitted to live. + +In a corner of the fort is seen an Indian holding at bay his companions +who are seeking to reach a group of half breeds huddled together, a mother +and her children. The Indian defender strikes down any who attempt to +reach them. The explanation of this strange scene will appear in the next +article. Besides these thus rescued, only nine out of the entire number +within the fort are spared. Of the thousand savages who assaulted the fort +three hundred and fifty were killed. + +It has been said that Weatherford sought to restrain his warriors from +the wanton bloodshed, but on the contrary, he was in the thick of the +fray, dealing the deadliest blows, and by his example, inspiring his men +to the utmost destruction. Than Weatherford, the whites never had a more +relentless and bloodthirsty foe. His purpose was the extinction of the +whites, and in this, his first battle, he would teach them a lesson of +savage warfare that would remind them of that against which they had to +contend. He was as merciless a demon as was to be found among the men of +the forest. In after years, when Weatherford saw that his cause was lost, +and when he surrendered to General Jackson, and went to the lower part of +Monroe to live, there was an effort made to create the impression of his +proposed gentleness at Fort Mims, but it is utterly without foundation. + +The horror of the dreadful scene was added to by the devouring flames. The +roofs and the walls falling in on the dead, they were scorched or burned +in one common heap, and Weatherford, though he afterward became a good +citizen in the same region, gloated over the murderous desolation thus +wrought. His delight was fiendish, his glut of revenge was ominous. This +was Weatherford on August 12, 1812. + +The news of the horrible massacre spread dismay everywhere. It sounded the +note of extinction of one or the other of the Indian or white races. +Dismay gave place to revenge, and everywhere men flew to arms. From that +time forth the battle cry of the whites was, "Remember Fort Mims." From +the north marched Jackson from Tennessee, and from the west came +Claiborne with his Mississippi militia. Weatherford had raised a storm +which he would never be able to quell. + + + + +INDIAN GRATITUDE + + +From the general estimate of Indian character, one would be slow to +believe the savage capable of gratitude, but even with the Indian, +instances of this virtue are not altogether wanting, one among which was +displayed at the horrible massacre of Fort Mims. Of the seventeen who +escaped death from that tragedy of blood and fire, was a mother and her +eight children. + +That they should have been found together by a certain Indian warrior, who +was enabled to give full expression to his gratitude, was providential. +The story is well worthy a place in our annals. Years before this terrible +holocaust at Fort Mims, an Indian boy, an outcast and an orphan, in his +friendless wandering, found his way to the home of a Scotchman in the +wilds of South Alabama, whose name was McGirth, who had married a +half-breed. Touched by the condition of the off-cast Indian waif, the good +Mrs. McGirth not only fed and clad him, but took him into the home, cared +for him, and reared him as her own son. The Indian boy, Sonata, grew to +manhood beneath the McGirth roof, and shared in common with the children +of the family, the moderate comforts of the frontier home. + +After Sonata became a man, he took leave of the home, and joined himself +to the Creek tribe of which he was a member. The McGirths lost sight of +Sonata, Sonata of his benefactors. Years with their changes came and went, +and Sonata was in the upper counties with his people. + +When the war began, he was one of the braves who enlisted under +Weatherford in the campaign of extermination which led to the slaughter at +Fort Mims. He was among the foremost to enter the ill-fated fort, and do +deadly execution. In his death-dealing blows, Sonata came suddenly on a +woman, somewhat advanced in life, behind whom crouched a number of +children. With upraised hands, she pleaded, as did all others, that she +and hers might be spared. In the wild tide of death, while the slaughter +was at its height, the uplifted hand of Sonata was suddenly stayed. There +was something in the voice of the pleading woman that was familiar to the +ear of the savage, and his tomahawk was arrested in mid-air. He looked +into her face, and while the woman did not recognize him, he did her, and +in the excitement of the carnage that was rampant, he dropped his tomahawk +and led the woman and her children to a corner of the fort, and took a +position of defense in their behalf. Again and again, efforts were made to +reach them, but he stood sentinel over the group, and suffered not a hair +of their heads to be touched, claiming that they were his slaves, and must +not be disturbed. It was his foster mother, Mrs. McGirth. + +It so happened that when the alarm was first given to the settlements to +repair to the fort, Mr. McGirth was away from home, in another part of the +country on business, for he was a trader, and did not return till after +the slaughter at the fort. When the horrors of the massacre were over, +Sonata mounted his prisoners on horseback and sped them away to his home +far up on the Coosa. He feared that should they remain in the +neighborhood of the fort, even in the camp of the Indians, he would be +unable to restrain the ferocity of the savages, hence their flight to the +upper country. Nor did the grateful protege leave his former foster mother +and her group, till he saw them comfortable in his own wigwam beside the +Coosa. This done, and he hurried back to rejoin his command. When +hostilities in the South partly subsided, Sonata sought again his home to +see that Mrs. McGirth was cared for. + +The seat of war was transferred from the south to the upper counties, and +Weatherford was preparing to encounter General Jackson, who was descending +from Tennessee to destroy Weatherford and his command. Sonata had been at +home for some time, and when he felt that it was his duty to re-enlist +against Jackson, he arranged for the flight of Mrs. McGirth and her +children, should he fall in battle. + +In the bloody conflict of Cholocco Litabixee, where a thousand painted +warriors met Jackson in battle, only two hundred survived. Among the slain +was the grateful Sonata, the news of whose death reaching Mrs. McGirth, +she hastened with her family to the south. All who had previously known +her, thought of her only as dead, among whom was her broken-hearted +husband, who had long ago given up his family as among those who had +perished at Fort Mims. He had settled at Mobile a sad and broken-hearted +man, and sought diversion of his sorrow in business. One day, while he was +laboring on the wharf at Mobile, there was suddenly ushered into his +presence his entire group, still unbroken. He stared at them as though +they had strayed from the land of the dead. He stood fixed like a statue, +with his face as expressionless as the surface of a lake. He was dumb. +This was followed by a nervousness that made him shake as with an ague. He +stared till he realized the truth of their deliverance, when he burst into +uncontrollable weeping, and wept till he no more had power to weep. + +The story following his return to Mobile after the massacre was a sad one. +He had gone immediately to the scene of the slaughter, hoping to recognize +his loved ones and give them decent burial, but flames had disfigured the +faces of all, now lying charred and blackened in death, and the utmost he +could do, was to aid in the burial of all, presuming that among them +somewhere, were his own loved ones. + +To the rescued Mrs. McGirth is history largely indebted for a detailed +description of the scenes enacted at Fort Mims. Though an uneducated +woman, she was endowed with a remarkable fund of common sense, and without +extravagance, gave the fullest account of the dreadful slaughter. Her +kindness to the poor Indian boy saved her in the direst extremity of her +life. "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many +days." + + + + +THE CANOE FIGHT + + +The Indian was as thoroughly skilled in the use of the oar on the larger +streams and inland bays, as he was with the tomahawk, the scalping knife, +and the bow. It is believed that the name of one of the Alabama tribes was +derived from their adroit use of the oar. In his Creek Migration Legend, +Gatschat suggested that Mobilian means "paddling." Certain it is that the +early settlers found the Indian an adept in the use of the skiff or canoe. + +The faculty with which the Indian could direct his canoe, and the +dexterity with which he could divert it suddenly from a given course, was +wonderful. He had studied with the utmost accuracy the force or swiftness +of the current of a given stream, and could calculate at a glance any +point at which he would arrive on the opposite side, when starting from +the side of departure. On the land, the whites were generally at an +advantage in a contention with the Indians, but on the water the Indians +generally excelled. + +The bloody massacre at Fort Mims had created a spirit of recklessness on +the part of the whites. The warfare was turned into a species of hunting +expeditions, and the regions were scoured as though in search of wild +beasts. The massacre had put fire into the bones of the whites, and a +prolonged revenge was the result. Thereafter they never waited for an +Indian to advance, they simply wished to know where the savages could be +found. The Indians made no use of the fertile soils save for hunting, and +when the whites sought to till them and turn them to practical use, +seeking meanwhile to preserve peaceful relations with the red men, the +Indians sought their destruction. The morality of the question of +depriving the Indian of his possessions turned on this point, and not on +that of deliberate robbery, as is so often contended. The white settlers +sought to buy the lands for agricultural purposes, but the Indian wanted +the virgin forests to remain untouched that he might hunt. Since the red +men had raised the cry of extermination, with Weatherford in the lead, and +since they had shown at Fort Mims that nothing short of utter extinction +was sought, the whites accepted the issue, and under conditions like these +the conflict raged. This condition converted every white man into a +soldier, a patriot, an exterminator. + +Among the most daring and intrepid of Indian fighters, in those early +days, was Gen. Sam Dale. A giant in size and in strength, as fearless as a +lion, and familiar with the stratagem of the Indian, no one did more +valiant service in those early days of Indian warfare than he. More than +any other white man, the Indians dreaded Dale, whom they called "Big Sam." +His known presence on any occasion would produce among the Indians +consternation. + +While on a scouting expedition along the banks of the Alabama, Dale +discovered a canoe descending the stream with eleven stalwart warriors. +Seeing that they were making for a dense canebrake, Dale ordered his men +to follow him quickly, and seven reached the canebrake just as the savages +were about to land. Dale and his men opened fire on them, but overshot +them, when two of the Indians sprang into the water. As they rose, Dale +killed one, and Smith the other. The remaining nine began to back the boat +so as to reach the current, and escape, three using the oars, while the +others lay flat on the bottom of the boat. It seems that Weatherford was +within hailing distance, for one of the warriors shouted to him to come to +their aid. In order to facilitate the movement of the boat, one of the +warriors had jumped overboard, and was directing it toward the current, +and as he stood breast deep in the water, he shouted to Dale in derision +to shoot, meanwhile baring his bosom. Dale fired and crushed his skull. +Soon the boat was well in the current, and was moving down stream. + +Being on the side of the river opposite that on which his boats were, Dale +called across the river to his men to bring the boats. Six sprang into a +boat and started toward Dale, but when they got near enough to see that +the canoe was filled with savages lying flat, they sped back. Just below +was a free negro named Caesar, with a boat and gun, and Dale shouted to +him to bring his boat, and when the negro declined, Dale yelled to him +that unless he should come at once, he would cross the river and kill him, +when Caesar crossed a hundred yards below the canoe of the Indians. Dale +and two of his men sprang into it, and Caesar was ordered to head off the +boat of the Indians. + +So soon as the boats touched, Dale sprang up and placing one of his feet +in each boat, the nearest warrior leveled his gun at him, but it flashed. +Quickly clubbing it, he dealt a blow at Dale's head, he dodged, and +shivered the head of the Indian with his gun. Austill sprang up, but was +knocked down by an Indian, who in a moment more would have killed him, but +Dale broke his gun across the warrior's head. Austill grasped the barrel, +and renewed the onset. Dale being without a gun, Caesar handed to him his +gun with a bayonet attached. The boats drifting apart, Dale leaped into +the Indian boat alone, while the other bore away. Smith fired and wounded +the Indian nearest Dale, who was now standing like a monument in the boat +of the Indians, two of whom lay dead at his feet. At his back the wounded +savage snapped his gun at Dale several times, while four powerful warriors +were in front. Too close to shoot, the foremost one dealt a blow with his +gun at Dale, who parried it with his gun, and then drove the bayonet +through him. The next made an onset, but was killed by Austill. The third +came, but was thrust through with the bayonet. The last was a giant +wrestler, well known to Dale, and as he strided over the prostrate bodies +of his companions, he yelled: "Big Sam, I am a man--I am coming--come on!" + +With this, the big athlete sprang forward, clubbing Dale with his heavy +musket. He struck Dale's shoulder with such violence as to dislocate it, +when Dale buried the bayonet into his body. It glanced around the ribs and +stuck fast into his backbone. Dale held him down while he was struggling +to recover, and when Dale jerked it out, he leaped to his feet and with a +wild yell sprang furiously at the big white man, but Dale was ready with +the bayonet which he drove through his heart. Within ten minutes eleven +Indians had been killed, six of whom died by the hands of Dale. + + + + +A LEAP FOR LIFE + + +There is no more ambitious purpose in this series of unpretentious +sketches than to present the striking events, or those of more than +ordinary humdrum, that dot the rich history of our state. The sketches are +mere snatches, severed here and there, from historical connection only in +so far as that connection serves to give a proper setting. Though several +articles are devoted to the eventful career of Red Eagle, there is no +attempt made here or elsewhere in the series to follow his dashing life, +as the idol of his dusky hosts, throughout, but as they are presented, +proper regard is had for the chronology of events. + +The advent of General Jackson on the scene in Alabama, took Weatherford +back to the central region of the state to dispute his advancement. +Untrained as Weatherford was in the science of war, he knew it +instinctively, as does any other natural military man. He had all the +elements of a great soldier, else he could not have withstood so long the +forces of his formidable adversaries. His territory was exposed from every +quarter, and in order to meet the odds coming against him from Mississippi +and Tennessee, he had to concentrate his forces, not only, but had to +accumulate supplies with which to support his army on the field. + +Weatherford was not slow to realize that to fight organized forces under +competent and skilled commanders, demanded more than a desultory warfare +on his part, hence he set to work for a long and arduous campaign. The +success at Fort Mims, where with unusual skill Weatherford directed the +campaign, and outgeneraled all the white commanders, made him the one +great chief of the Indians. Under similar conditions, this would have been +true of any people and of any man. He was still the Red Eagle, but to that +was added by his adoring followers the designation of Tustenuggee, or +mighty chief. While the vain warrior was inflated by the adulation of his +followers, he knew the feebleness of his numbers and the scantiness of his +resources. Because of these conditions, and because he was hailed chief, +he appreciated what it meant in its application to him in his difficult +condition. For the first time, he was to lead his untrained warriors +against drilled troops. It was native valor against courage and skill, +native strategy against scientific tactics, the war of the savage against +that of the civilized white man. + +Within a month, four battles were fought--Tallahatchee, Talladega, +Hillabee and Autossee--all fought in November, 1813, one hundred years +ago. At Echanachaca, or Holy Ground, were concentrated Weatherford's +supplies, and the women and children of his tribe. This point was located +on the south bank of the Alabama, between Pintlalla and Big Swamp Creek, +in the present region of Lowndes County. To the Indian, the Holy Ground +was that which Jerusalem was to the ancient tribes of Israel. In this +sylvan retreat, dwelt their chief prophets who had drawn a circle about +it, and the deluded savage was persuaded to believe that for a white man +to plant his foot on this consecrated ground, would mean instant death. + +The Holy Ground was surrounded by a region of loveliness. For seven months +in the year the virgin soil of the prairie was carpeted with luxuriant +grasses, dashed here and there with patches of pink and crimson bloom, +while the wild red strawberry, in occasional beds of native loveliness, +lent additional charm. Enclosed by high pickets rudely riven by savage +hands, and girdled by the magic circle of the prophets, the Holy Ground +was thought to be impregnable. Here Weatherford was attacked by General +Claiborne at the head of the Mississippi militia, on December 23, 1813, +the day before Christmas eve. To Claiborne's command was attached a body +of friendly Choctaw Indians under Pushmataha. + +General Claiborne began the attack with a storm. Weatherford led his +troops with consummate skill and unquestioned courage, but to little +effect. The fact that he, the notorious leader at Fort Mims, was in +command, whetted the desire of the Mississippians not alone to defeat him, +but to capture him. In spite of the false security promised the Indian by +their prophets, and in spite of the valor of their idol chief, they melted +rapidly before the deadly aim of the Mississippi backwoodsmen. Seeing that +the battle would be against him, Weatherford with skill worthy any great +commander, slipped the women and children across the Alabama, while he +still fought with ability, and while his men were piled around him in +heaps, he fought to the bitter end, and was the last to quit the field. +When all hope was gone, he mounted his noble charger and sped away like +an arrow towards the Alabama River. + +He was hotly pursued by a detachment of dragoons, who almost surrounded +the chieftain before he fled the field. Down the wide path leading toward +the river, the hoofs of the horses of the pursued and the pursuers +thundered. There was no hope of escape for Weatherford, but to reach the +river in advance, and swim across. Hemmed in on every side, he was forced +to a summit overlooking the stream at the height of almost one hundred +feet of perpendicular bluff. On the precipice the bold leader halted for a +moment, like a monument against the distant sky. Splendidly he sat his +horse, as his pursuers thundered toward him, and with taunting shouts +called to him that he was caught at last. He coolly raised his rifle to +his eye, and brought down the foremost horseman, then slowly turning down +a deep defile which no one would dare to tread, he slid his horse down the +stony surface which broke abruptly off about fifty feet above the river. +Putting spurs to the sides of the beautiful animal, it leaped with its +brave rider on its back into the seething current below. Just before the +water was reached, Weatherford leaped from the horse's back. The horse +went down to rise no more, while Weatherford, still holding his rifle +aloft, with one hand, swam to the opposite side and thus escaped with +deeper vengeance against the white man than ever before. He was yet to +lead his troops in other battles, and to fight while there was hope of +success. + +The world instinctively honors a brave man. This valorous chief had +withstood overpowering numbers during the day, had saved his women and +children, and now as a December night came down on that sad day of defeat, +he stood on the north bank of the Alabama drenched and cold, but nerved by +a spirit as heroic as ever had place in the bosom of man. Though an +Indian, Weatherford was an ideal hero. Fear he knew not, and while the +most daring of fighters, he was never reckless. His power of collection +was simply marvelous. + + + + +WEATHERFORD'S OVERTHROW + + +Weatherford met his downfall at the battle of Tohopeka. This was the last +battle ever fought by the Indians in Alabama. In a long succession of +engagements, Weatherford, though fighting bravely, had incurred defeat. +His warriors slain almost to the last man, he would rally another force, +inspire his wild troops with fresh hope and new courage; and again offer +battle to General Jackson. The limit of his resources was now in the force +which he had summoned on the Tallapoosa, where with unusual desperation +the Indians had resolved to make the last stand. + +Weatherford had selected his own ground for the final contest, and it was +well chosen. In a long loop of the river near the further end of the +entrance to which was an Indian village called Tohopeka. Across the +entrance, or neck, there was erected a bulwark of heavy, seasoned logs, +which fortification extended from bank to bank of the stream the distance +of about three hundred yards. This defense was about ten feet high, with a +double row of portholes from which the Indians could fire simultaneously, +as a part would stand upright, and the other would shoot on their knees. +Protected by the river on the flanks and in the rear, they were able to +concentrate their fire solely to the front. With a deadly aim, and +shielded by their breastworks of logs, they felt that they could pick off +the assaulting party, one by one, and thus utterly destroy the army of +Jackson. + +Behind this formidable bulwark were gathered one thousand two hundred +Indian warriors from the towns of Oakfuskee, Hillabee, New Yauka and +Eufaula. These were desperate men, well armed, and each confident of +dealing a final blow to Jackson's army. Weatherford had summoned to the +occasion the principal prophets of the nation, who inspired the dusky +defenders with the belief that it was impossible for them to fall, because +in this present emergency the Great Spirit would give them the victory. +The more to inspire the troops, the prophets themselves proposed to share +in the battle, and arrayed in their blankets of red, with their heads +bearing coronets of varied feathers, while about their shoulders were +capes of brilliant plumage of red, black, blue, green and yellow, they +joined the Indian ranks. About their ankles were tiny bells of different +tones, the jingle of which they kept up during the battle, while +occasionally they would leap, dance, and howl in inspiration of the +warriors. Weatherford was too sensible a man to attach any importance to +the sacredness of their claims, but he was solicitous to elicit to the +utmost the fighting mettle of his men. To the rude and ridiculous +incantations of the prophets he would add his matchless eloquence, in +bringing his troops to the highest pitch of desperation. + +The women and children had been removed from the village of huts and +tents, to the rear of the garrison, while back of the village still were +tied the canoes of the Indians on the river bank, to be used in the +emergency of defeat. But while Jackson appeared at the front, General +Coffee with a strong force appeared in the rear of Weatherford, with the +river between him and the village of Tohopeka. One of the first cares of +Coffee was to send a force to fetch the boats, by means of which he could +cross the river and assail the Indians in the rear. + +Jackson received a signal from Coffee that the latter was ready for the +attack to be made at the front, when about ten o'clock on the morning of +March 27, 1814, two field pieces opened on the breastwork of logs. No +effect whatever was had on the logworks by the artillery, and Jackson +resolved on storming the fortifications. Under a raking fire the troops +marched at a double quick, and began pouring over the breastwork, many +falling in the assault of approach, and many more on the walls, and within +the fort. It became a hand to hand fight for the mastery, and the Indians +were beaten back from their works, fighting meanwhile with desperate +courage. + +During the assault at the front, Coffee crossed his force over in the +boats, and added discomfiture to the Indians by firing the village in +their rear. Between a cross fire, the Indians fought with more desperation +than ever. In the roar of battle could be heard the animating voice of the +heroic Weatherford urging his troops to desperation, while in the ranks he +fought like a common warrior. When Jackson saw that all hope for the +Indians was gone, he sent a messenger with proposals of surrender. This +was treated with disdain, and the response was that no quarter was asked, +and none would be given. It was then that the American troops began with +renewed desperation, and entered on a work of extermination. From behind +brush, stumps, or other obstructions the Indians fought till the approach +of night. Many of the warriors sought to escape by jumping into the river, +but they were picked off by the riflemen, and the waters of the Tallapoosa +were reddened with their blood. A few escaped, but on the field were +counted the bodies of five hundred and fifty warriors. It was estimated +that not more than twenty-five of the army of Weatherford survived. + +Among the striking incidents of the battle was that of a warrior who was +shot down in a wounded condition, in the midst of others who were killed, +and who saved his life by drawing the bodies of two others across his own, +and appeared as though dead, and was counted among the dead when the field +was reviewed at the close of the day. When darkness came on, he dragged +his bleeding body to the river, and with difficulty swam across. Another, +named Manowa, was seriously wounded, but managed to reach the river, in +which he sank his body in water four feet deep, and holding it down by +means of gripping a root of a tree, he maintained life by poking the joint +of a cane above the surface, through which he breathed. Availing himself +later of the darkness, he finally escaped. In later years he showed that +he was shot almost to pieces, yet with stoical endurance he underwent the +tortures of hours under the water, escaped, and survived. + +But where was Weatherford? This was the question on every lip. They could +not find him among the slain, and it was thought that he was perhaps among +those who perished on the river in seeking to escape. But, as usual, he +fought to the last, was among the latest to quit the field, when he +escaped to the river on his fine charger, concealed himself till darkness +came, when he floated on his horse down the river, around the bend past +the American camp, and made his way into the hills to the south of the +Tallapoosa River. Here he remained for some time, during which General +Jackson offered a reward for him, taken dead or alive. The condition of +his romantic reappearance will be told in the next article. + + + + +WEATHERFORD SURRENDERS + + +For some time following the battle of Tohopeka, the warriors came in and +surrendered to Jackson. None of them seemed to know anything of +Weatherford, for he had not shown himself since the fatal contest. +Determined not to be forcibly taken, Weatherford resolved on going +voluntarily to the camp of Jackson, make a plea for the women and +children, and then surrender, to be dealt with as the American commander +might desire. + +Issuing from his solitary retreat in the hills, he mounted his fine gray, +with his rifle well loaded, and turned toward the American camp. On his +way, a large deer came within rifle range, which he shot, strapped it +behind his saddle, reloaded his rifle, and proceeded to the camp of +Jackson. His full purpose was to present himself as a prisoner, and to +demand proper treatment, which if denied him, he intended to kill Jackson +on the spot, and boldly take the consequences. Reaching the outposts, he +politely asked the way to the tent of the commander, when the pickets +chided him, without knowing who he was, and gave him no satisfaction. A +gray-haired civilian being near, kindly pointed out the tent of General +Jackson, who was sitting just within it, talking to some of his officers. +As Weatherford rode up, Jackson spied him, but a few yards away, and +rising from the camp-chair greeted him with, "Well, Bill Weatherford, +we've got you at last!" This was followed by some abusive language to +which Weatherford made no reply till he had finished, when he said: "I am +not afraid of you, General Jackson. I am a Creek warrior, and fear no man. +I am not here to be insulted, and if you undertake that, I shall put a +bullet through your heart. You can't awe me, but I wish to say some +things, and when I am done, you may do with me what you please, but these +things you shall hear. I have come voluntarily to surrender, and you shall +not insult me, sir, till I am through speaking." Jackson's eyes were +flashing in anger while Weatherford spoke coolly, as he sat on his horse. +Meanwhile a large crowd gathered about the scene. + +Continuing, Weatherford said: "It is plain that I can no longer fight you. +If I could, I would. It is not fear that leads me to surrender, but +necessity. My brave warriors are dead, and their war-whoop is silent. +Could I recall them, I should fight you to the last. I come to ask nothing +for myself. I am now your prisoner. I am indifferent about what you shall +do to me, but am not about the women and children of my dead warriors. +These helpless ones are now starving in the woods. Their fields and cribs +have been destroyed by your people, and they are wanderers in the woods, +without an ear of corn. All that I now ask is that you will send out +parties and bring them in and feed them. I know that I am held responsible +for the massacre of the women and children at Fort Mims, but I could not +stay the fury of my warriors there, though I sought to do so. However, +take what view you please of that, I am no longer concerned about myself. +I am done fighting, but these helpless women and children in the woods are +my chief concern. They never did you any harm, but I did all I could, and +only the lack of men prevents me from continuing the struggle. I have done +my best. Would have done more if I could. I am now in your hands, and if +it is the wish of the white people, you may kill me." + +The crowd, roused by his defiance, rushed about him with cries, "Kill him! +Kill him!" While Weatherford bowed his head, with his rifle still in front +of him, Jackson strided forward with indignation, and in a stentorian +voice commanded silence, and then in severe rebuke said: "Any man who +would kill as brave a man as this, would rob the dead." The crowd was +sternly ordered to disperse, and Jackson, subdued by the eloquence of the +brave chief, as well as by his courage, invited him into his tent, and +extended to him all the civilities due a distinguished guest. The horse +was given in charge of an orderly, and the brave men sitting face to face +forgot the strife of the past, and were now friends. A prolonged interview +followed, in which a treaty was entered into, and the war between the red +and white races was over in Alabama. Jackson arranged to provide for the +women and children of the Indians, and when all was duly settled, +Weatherford kindly presented to General Jackson the buck which he had +shot, and they shook hands, when Weatherford mounted his horse and rode +away. Jackson and not Weatherford became concerned about the safety of the +other, for he knew the temper of the people and the vengeance which they +bore toward Weatherford. In truth, Jackson was charmed by the spirit of +the chief, and resolved on saving him from the fury of those who had +suffered by reason of the Fort Mims massacre. + +Weatherford now sought his home at Little River, in Monroe County, where +his brothers had kindly divided their effects with him, and established +him comfortably on a good plantation stocked with negro slaves. Gen. +William Henry Harrison having resigned as major general in the regular +army was disbanded, and the troops returned home. him. The war with the +Indians being over, the Tennessee troops were mustered out of service, the +army was disbanded and the troops returned home. + +In the southern part of the state, the Mississippi militia was still held +in organization, a large body of which was located at Fort Claiborne, on +the Alabama River. This was about one year before the battle of New +Orleans was fought. As this does not come within the compass of this +narrative, we lose sight of General Jackson here, excepting as he will +appear in the succeeding article in a new relation to Weatherford, who did +not find his surroundings the most congenial in the outset of his +residence at Little River. Of the hazards which menaced him in that +quarter we shall see in the article next succeeding this. With the +presentation of that article, Weatherford will vanish from the narrative. +But that which follows, reflects the spirit which animated both +Weatherford and Jackson to the end. + + + + +WEATHERFORD'S LAST DAYS + + +The presence of William Weatherford at Little River, as a permanent +citizen, was not appreciated by the residents in that quarter. It was not +far from this place that the terrible tragedy of the massacre had occurred +only about two years before, and grief over the butchery of loved ones was +still keen, and sensitiveness was raw. While with Weatherford, all was +over, not so with those whose cherished ones were murdered, and soon +rumors became rife that violence would be visited on the head of the +ex-chief. + +As a means of protection he was advised to repair to Fort Claiborne, some +distance up the river, till the fury was passed. Thither he repaired, was +kindly received by the commander, and placed in a tent near his own, +around which was posted a cordon of soldiers. Still the fury would not +down, and rumors were of such a nature of the intention to kill him, as to +awaken the gravest apprehension of his safety. He remained here about two +weeks, when he was summoned into a quiet conference with the commander, +the result of which was that, on the night following, Weatherford was +escorted to the outskirts of the camp by a single guard, with a note to +the officer of the outpost, Captain Laval. On the receipt of the note, +Laval quietly took the arm of Weatherford, and through the pitchy darkness +conducted him to a certain tree where a good horse was found hitched, and +Weatherford was told to mount it, and flee for his life. He shook hands +with Laval, saying, "Good-by, God bless you," and vaulting into the +saddle, sped away through the thick gloom like an arrow. Laval stood and +listened to the rattling of the horse's feet till the chief was fully a +mile or more away. + +Weatherford sought the camp of Jackson, on the eve of his return to +Tennessee, and Jackson assured him of his protection. To the Hermitage, +General Jackson took his erstwhile adversary, cared for him with the +utmost hospitality, and when assured that it was entirely safe for +Weatherford to return to Little River, sent him thither. The bearing of +these heroes toward each other was equally creditable to both. + +Weatherford returned to his plantation in the quietest way possible, and +throughout his later life was one of the most exemplary citizens of the +county. As a neighbor, there was none better. He rapidly won the +confidence of the community, then the esteem, and all rancor rapidly +subsided. + +An incident in his life fully illustrates the spirit of the man. At a +private sale held in the county, at which sale every element of society +was, two bullies took advantage of an old citizen, named Bradberry, whose +son had been a lieutenant in the army, was in the battle of Burnt Corn, +and was finally killed in battle. These two bravados having provoked a +difficulty with the venerable Bradberry, one of them broke a pitcher over +his head, while the other ran up and stabbed him in the back of the neck, +and the old man fell dead at his feet. Weatherford witnessed the scene +throughout. His Indian nature came to him anew, his blood was on fire, and +he found it impossible to restrain himself. He was the more exasperated +when the brace of murderers took their stand on the public square, and, +defiantly brandishing their revolvers, dared anyone to approach them. A +justice of the peace being present, called on the crowd to arrest the +perpetrators of the deed, but no one ventured to approach them, for their +names had long been a terror in the region. Standing near the magistrate, +Weatherford said, "Maybe this is the white man's way of doing things, but +if there was a drop of Indian blood in that dead man's veins I should +arrest these fellows at the risk of my life." The justice then told him to +arrest them. Weatherford quietly drew out his pearl-handle dagger, while +he shifted his heavy hickory stick to his left hand, and moved upon the +murderer of Mr. Bradberry. The murderer warned him to stand back, but with +firm step, Weatherford coolly approached him, commanded him to give up his +weapons at once, when the murderer did as he was bidden. Then, clutching +the murderer's throat with the grip of a vise, Weatherford called for a +rope, and securely tied his hands behind him and turned him over to the +officer. + +The other continued clamorous, swearing that he would kill any man who +sought to arrest him. Without regard to his threats, Weatherford now +turned to him. As he came near, the fellow said, "I didn't mean you, +Billie Weatherford," to all of which Weatherford paid no attention, and, +taking his weapons from him, he clutched him likewise and quietly tied him +and gave him over to the officer. + +When asked why he dared venture in the way he did, Weatherford gave +explanation in a way that is really philosophic. He explained that it is +not the noisy man that is to be feared, but the cool man. Then he wished +to know which was the noisy and the cool in that transaction. The bravado +when confronted by courage, wilts. Weatherford's idea was that the man who +is always going to fight will never fight without an advantage. He seeks +to impress others with his courage, but not till he gains undue advantage +over an adversary will he fight. + +This made Weatherford a hero in the section in which he lived. By his +conduct as a neighbor and citizen he became increasingly popular, and +succeeded in transmuting the bitterness against him into love. For twelve +years he lived in the Little River community with increasing popularity. +He was a prosperous planter, shared in all that concerned the weal of the +community, never flinched in the discharge of duty as a citizen, and when +he died, his death was universally regretted. In a fatiguing bear hunt in +the swamps along the river, he overtaxed his strength, and died in 1826. +Throughout his life he deplored the precipitate tragedy at Fort Mims, and +no doubt his subsequent reflection led him to insist that it was not his +wish that the women and children should perish. Descendants bearing his +name still live in that quarter of the state, esteemed for their worth as +quiet and worthy citizens. + + + + +AARON BURR IN ALABAMA + + +Than Aaron Burr there has scarcely been a more striking, not to say a more +startling, figure in the public life of America. Reared in the highest +circle of society, greatly gifted by nature, enjoying the best possible +advantages in education, a brave officer in the Revolution, Vice-President +of the United States, and coming within a scratch of being President, and +the grandson of the great philosopher, Jonathan Edwards, this favored son +of fortune was a fugitive with a reward offered for his apprehension. +Sides so varied rarely appear in the life of anyone. Aaron Burr was +arrested, brought to trial, and was finally acquitted, and yet such was +his private life, and so deep was the suspicion against him, that his +former friends forsook him, and on one occasion Henry Clay declined to +take his hand, when offered. + +The story of Burr is too long to be undertaken here, even in brief +outline, though it is thrilling throughout, and to this day his movements +remain wrapped in mystery, because Burr in his dying hour disclaimed any +purpose of the dismemberment of the Union, which was one of the chief +charges urged against him so long as he lived. That he had deep designs, +however, is not a question, and with proclamations containing offers of +reward for his arrest circulated, and his effort to leave the country, the +doubt of his guilt and of his complicity in some nefarious scheme is at +once dispelled. He was well on his way to Pensacola in his flight, when he +was checked in the Tensas settlement, in this state, which event led to +his trial. + +The night of February 18, 1807, was one of unusual coldness for this +latitude. The surface of the ground was frozen, and nothing was so unusual +as for travelers to be abroad on the highways. In the little village of +Wakefield, in Washington County, were a few huts of the early settlers of +that region. In one of these, at the hour of ten, were two young men +greatly absorbed in a game of backgammon. A fire of logs and pine knots +burned in the wide fireplace, the village was quiet in slumber, and +perhaps the light seen through the chinks of the cabin was the only one +visible in the village. These young men engaged in the game, heard the +sounds of horses' feet rapidly approaching their cabin. Someone halting in +front of the cabin, in which the young men sat, a voice hailed, and on +opening the door, the light revealed two mounted men, one of whom asked +where the tavern was, and then how far it was to the home of Colonel +Hinson. They were told that the home was seven miles away, the road rough +and dark, and that a dangerous stream intervened. As the two travelers sat +on their horses with the light of the cabin falling fully on them, one was +seen to be much more than an ordinary man because of the character of his +language, his striking face, and the evident anxiety expressed in an +unusual way, and while he wore a slouched hat and the garb of a common +farmer, his exquisite boots and superb horse revealed the discrepancy in +the conditions. + +Notwithstanding the advice of the young man not to undertake the hazard +of finding the home of the Hinsons, on a dark night like that one, the +travelers got their information and rode away. The two young men in the +cabin were Nicholas Perkins, a lawyer, and Thomas Malone, a clerk in the +local court. After the travelers had gone, and the young men were again in +the cabin, Perkins expressed the opinion that the man of unusual +appearance was Aaron Burr, as it exactly suited the description given in +the proclamations, and proposed that they follow him and procure his +arrest. + +At the suggestion, Malone demurred, saying that it was not particularly +their business, the night was severely cold, and it was absurd to be +chasing a stranger on a bare suspicion, through the cold darkness and at +the risk of their lives. But Perkins was not so easily daunted, and met +each objection in a vigorous way. However, Malone could not be enlisted in +the effort, and Perkins sallied forth in search of the sheriff, Theodore +Brightwell, with whom he was soon on horseback, and they were making their +way to Colonel Hinson's. Meanwhile Burr and his companion had reached +Hinson's about twelve o'clock. Colonel Hinson was absent, and in response +to the hailing at the gate, Mrs. Hinson glanced through the window, saw +two men mounted, and went back to bed without responding. The travelers +alighted, went into the kitchen, where a fire was still burning, and were +warming themselves, when the sheriff, a relative of Mrs. Hinson, walked +into the kitchen, having left Perkins on the roadside to await his return, +as Perkins deemed it imprudent to show himself after having been talked +to in Wakefield. Burr partly concealed his face with his handkerchief, and +at first was the only occupant of the kitchen, as his companion had gone +with the horses to a stable. + +After a few hurried words, the sheriff aroused Mrs. Hinson, a supper was +improvised, the strangers began eating, Burr was affable and chatty, was +profuse in apology for the unseasonable interruption, and complimentary of +the excellent supper. The sheriff had prepared Mrs. Hinson to ascertain, +if possible, if either man was Burr, and while the sheriff stood over the +fire, with his back to the company, and after Burr had retired to the +kitchen, she asked his companion if she did not have the distinction of +entertaining Colonel Burr. In much confusion, the companion arose without +a word of reply, and joined Burr in the kitchen. + +The sheriff rejoined them, engaged in conversation, and soon all were +abed. The next morning, Burr expressed his disappointment at not meeting +Colonel Hinson, and, strange to say, was soon mounted, together with the +sheriff and his companion, the sheriff proposing to show the travelers the +way out of the country, and well on toward Pensacola. + +Meantime, Perkins was left to his fate in the cold. Finding toward morning +that the sheriff apparently did not intend to return, Perkins made his way +to Fort Stoddard by a rapid ride to the river, where he obtained a boat, +and engaged a negro to row it down the river. The fort was reached about +daybreak, Perkins notified Captain Gaines, the commander, of all that had +taken place, and at sunrise, a troop were in their saddles, following +Gaines and Perkins toward the road leading to Pensacola. About nine +o'clock they met the three men on horseback--Burr, his companion, and +Sheriff Brightwell. They were in fine spirits, and were chatting in a +jocular way, when suddenly they were confronted by a troop of government +cavalry. Burr at once recognized Perkins as the young man to whom he had +talked the night before in the village of Wakefield. Then came a +juncture. + + + + +BURR'S ARREST + + +With the glance of his eagle eye, Burr took in the situation at once, and +in a moment was prepared for it. Captain Gaines saluted him, and asked if +he had the honor of addressing Colonel Burr. Polite as the salutation was, +Burr feigned great indignation in denying the right of a stranger to ask a +question so impolite, of a traveler on the highway. Gaines cut short the +tactics of the occasion by saying: "I arrest you at the instance of the +Federal Government." In a burst of indignation, Burr again demanded to +know his right and authority to arrest a traveler going in pursuit of +private affairs on the public highway. In a perfectly cool way, Gaines +replied that he was an officer of the army in possession of the +proclamations of the governor of Mississippi, and of the President of the +United States, directing his arrest. Burr reminded Gaines that though he +was an officer, he was young and inexperienced, and might not be aware of +the responsibility incurred in arresting strangers, to all which Gaines +replied that he was willing to assume the responsibility, and would do his +duty. + +Heated by the obstinate coolness and evident determination of the young +officer, Burr began to denounce the proclamation, as expressions of +resentment and of malevolence, without justification, and resumed his +advice of warning to Gaines of the hazard he was incurring by an undue +interference of strangers on a public road. With iron coolness, Gaines +ended the colloquy by telling Burr that his mind was made up, and he +wished to treat him in a manner becoming his high office as vice president +of the United States, all of which would be duly respected so long as Burr +conducted himself becomingly, but that he would have to take him a +prisoner to Fort Stoddard. Burr sat, and his eyes blazed while he looked +at Gaines. Without further ceremony, Gaines moved with an order to his +men, and Burr submitted. + +The conduct of Sheriff Brightwell was never explained. He had left Perkins +the night before on the edge of the road some distance from the Hinson +home, did not arrest Burr, and was now on his way with Burr to Carson's +Ferry, on the Tombigbee, to enable Burr to get to Mobile and make his way +to Pensacola. Was the sheriff awed by the commanding presence of the +distinguished man, unduly persuaded, thrown off of his guard by seductive +and misleading logic, or was he influenced by the fact that his kinsman, +Colonel Hinson, had some months before met Burr at Natchez, was charmed by +him, and had invited him to his home to spend some time, or was there a +bribe involved in the transaction? + +Burr was taken to Fort Stoddard, where he was intent on making himself +most agreeable by his courtly manner and pleasing address, and whiled away +the days playing chess with Mrs. Gaines, the wife of the man who arrested +him, and the daughter of Judge Harry Toulmin of Mobile. Burr was +especially intent on showing every possible kindness to a brother of the +commander at the fort, which brother was an invalid. Indeed, he won the +hearts of all by his affableness and cheeriness of disposition. + +Meanwhile, preparations were on foot to convey the noted prisoner to +Richmond, Va., for trial. When the arrangements were completed, Burr was +sent by boat up the Alabama River, along the banks of which curious crowds +had gathered, to catch a glimpse of the notorious captive, among whom were +many women, who when they saw him a helpless prisoner, some of them burst +into weeping, and one of them was so fascinated by his manner and conduct, +that she afterward named a son for him. + +At a point called "The Boat Yard," Burr was consigned to the care of eight +selected men, who were to escort him across the country on horseback to +Richmond for trial. Two of the guard were of the federal cavalry, all were +cool and determined men, and the guard was placed under the command of +Nicholas Perkins, the young man who had procured his arrest. + +Burr was dressed in the same garb which he wore when arrested, a +round-about homespun coat, a pair of copperas trousers, and a sloughed +beaver hat, once white, but now very dingy, which drooped at points, and a +pair of dainty boots. A gaping crowd was present to see the departure, and +as Burr mounted his horse to ride away, he lifted his hat in a manner so +graceful as to waken a rousing cheer. He rode the same horse on which he +was captured, and his equestrian appearance and qualities were superb. A +tent was provided for his comfort, and at night while it was closely +guarded, and while the wolves howled in the neighboring woods, he would +sleep with all the comfort that a camp could afford. The party passed up +through the counties of Monroe, Butler, Montgomery, thence to the +Chattahoochee. The two federal soldiers rode closely beside him, and when +entering a swamp, the entire party would gather close about him. + +Among the incidents of the journey was that of a tavern-keeper just beyond +the Chattahoochee, who on learning that the party, which had stopped at +his rural hostelry for the night, had come from the region of the Tensas, +quizzed his guests with many questions, and to the embarrassment of all, +turned his loquacity toward the rumor that had reached him of the arrest +of "that dangerous scoundrel, Aaron Burr," and wished to know if they knew +anything of it. All present dropped their heads in confusion, but Burr, +who fixed his flashing eyes on the garrulous fellow, and when the +innkeeper began his denunciation of Burr, saying what he would like to do +for him if he could "lay eyes on him," Burr straightened up with his full +of fire eyes and said, "I am Aaron Burr, now what'll you have?" The +tavern-keeper vanished in a moment, and his lips were hermetically sealed +till the party left, while his attentions were most profuse. + +Burr made but one effort to escape. In South Carolina, where lived his +son-in-law, Col. Joseph Alston, who was afterward governor of South +Carolina, Burr felt that he was somewhat known, and one afternoon late, as +the squad approached Chester Courthouse, and was passing the tavern, where +a large crowd was gathered, Burr leaped from his horse, and exclaimed, "I +am Aaron Burr, gentlemen, under military arrest, and claim the protection +of the civil authorities." Perkins and several of the guard dismounted, +and ordered him to remount his horse, which he defiantly declined to do, +when Perkins threw his arms about him and flung him into his saddle, and +the party galloped away. The crowd looked on with wonder, and to them it +was only a strange proceeding of a prisoner under guard who was seeking to +escape, and the sensation turned out to be merely momentary. A vehicle was +bought, Burr was placed in it with a guard, and no further trouble was had +to the end of the journey. + + + + +A DREAM OF EMPIRE + + +The fall of Napoleon at Waterloo, created consternation in the ranks of +his adherents. In rejoining him after his return from Elba, they had +staked all on his attempt to regain the empire. When he fell, his +supporters were in a worse plight than was he. A number of the best were +shot, among them Marshal Ney, while many others fled penniless to +different parts of the earth, among whom was a large and respectable body +who came to America. These included Marshal Grouchy, who was charged with +being the occasion of the defeat at Waterloo, and others whose names will +appear in this narrative. This body of refugees sailed for America, where +they hoped to build a miniature empire in a remote quarter of the American +continent, with such construction that while they would be able to imitate +their life in France, by having their own local laws, they would at the +same time bring themselves into practical conformity to the constitution +of the United States. We shall see how fully their dream was realized. + +Once in America, they elicited the aid and co-operation of a Dr. Brown, of +Kentucky, who had spent much time in France, knew the French people, and +was endeared to them. Dr. Brown acted as an interagent between the French +and the Federal Government in the introduction of the cause of the +refugees. That which they sought was the utmost confines of western +occupation, for two reasons, one of which was because of the cheapness of +the land, and the other was because of its segregation. At that time the +Tombigbee was that western boundary. Here was to be established a new +France, with its growth of olive trees and grape vines. To the ardent +French this was a rosy dream, and on these western borders they saw in +vision, mansions and palaces, spacious grounds, and the affluence of gay +society to which they were accustomed in their own brilliant capital on +the Seine. Dreams like these heartened the host and eclipsed all care and +worry, and banished the prick of ills to which they were destined to be +subjected. Arriving at Philadelphia, they lingered for many months during +the negotiations with the American Government for a domain of land on the +distant Tombigbee. They commissioned a French statesman, Nicholas S. +Parmentier, as their agent to consummate the plan. There was accordingly +adopted a bill by the American congress in March, 1818, granting to these +refugees four townships fronting on the Black Warrior River, in the +present County of Marengo. This land was sold at $2 an acre, payable +within fourteen years, provided the olive and the vine were produced. The +land was divided by themselves, as a stock company, each one of the three +hundred and fourteen families taking quantities of from eighty to four +hundred and eighty acres. In contemplation of a town to be built, there +was assigned additionally to each head of a family, a lot within the +proposed city, and one on the suburbs. + +With this arrangement completed, the novel colony was to sail at once and +occupy it. Accordingly a schooner, the McDonough, was chartered to convey +the company, numbering about one thousand five hundred in all, to Mobile, +when they were to make their way up the river to their final destination. +With their varied household effects, the vivacious French set sail from +Philadelphia in April, 1818, and for more than a month, slowly sailed down +the coast of the Atlantic. + +During the following May, late one afternoon, Lieutenant Beal, the +commander of Fort Bowyer, near Mobile, saw in the distance, a vessel +wrestling with a gale which was sweeping that quarter of the sea. Through +his glass, the commander could see the direction in which the vessel was +bearing, while sorely tossed by the wind, which was blowing at a fearful +velocity. The captain of the McDonough had a chart which was out of date, +and Beal saw that the vessel was heading rapidly toward danger. He fired a +cannon as an alarm gun, hoping thereby to arrest the erroneous course of +the vessel. The day was now far advanced, and darkness settled over the +face of the sea. Beal took the precaution to erect lights along the shore, +and some time after night, he heard the signals of distress from the +unfortunate McDonough. + +While the wind was still very high and fierce, Beal did not think that the +vessel should be left to its fate, and called for those who would +volunteer to go with him in as large boat as they had at command, to the +rescue of those on the vessel. The McDonough had struck, and was lying in +the thick gloom at the mercy of the waves, in the sand into which an +obsolete chart had directed the captain. Accompanied by five brave men, +Beal plunged into the darkness with the boat, and guided by the dim +lights of the vessel, he was enabled to reach it somewhat after midnight. +Everything on board the vessel was in commotion, as every fresh wave +threatened to engulf it, but Beal coolly proposed to save, if he could, +the women and children, whom he crowded into his boat and set out on his +return toward the fort through the dense gloom. After much struggle the +boat was safely brought to the fort, and the women and children were +saved. Luckily the vessel was later released by the waves from its +perilous condition in the sand, and in the early morning was washed into +deeper water, and though crippled by the accident, was saved, and in due +time pulled into port at Fort Bowyer. There was great glee and sport among +the French after it was all over, as they would joke each other with that +which happened. They soon forgot the seriousness of the situation to which +they were only a few hours before exposed, and gave themselves again to +jollity and song. + +In expression of their just gratitude to the brave lieutenant who had been +the occasion of so much timely aid, they proposed to take him with them to +Mobile, and give him a banquet. This was accordingly done, vivacity ran +high amidst sparkling wines and merriment unconfined, and the gay throng +in the banquet hall little resembled a colony driven by disaster from +their native land, and so recently exposed to death. + +At Mobile, the McDonough was dismissed, and plans were at once adopted to +provide flatboats and barges to convey the company up the winding +Tombigbee to their future home among the wilds of Western Alabama. Of +their future experiences we shall hear later. + + + + +THE TRIP AND SETTLEMENT + + +It was a gay and mirthful throng that was gathered on board the rough +flatboats, at the wharf of Mobile, on the morning of the departure of the +French for their settlement far up along the Tombigbee. One would have +thought that it was a huge picnic party instead of a people fleeing from +oppression, with all the novelties of an untamed region to be grappled +with. Distinguished French generals were among them, men who had for years +shared in the bloody campaigns of Napoleon. There were also eminent men of +science, educators, merchants, and statesmen, with their wives and +children. The delicate French women still wearing their Parisian styles, +and beautifully dressed children, young men and women, and a few servants +constituted the multitude now slowly pulling out from Mobile for a long +and torturous trip up the river. More incongruous conditions can scarcely +be imagined. + +In those primitive days before the use of steam, the barges had to be +heavily dragged against the upstream current by the use of long poles +planted into the bank of the stream from the stern of the vessel, while at +the same time long poles with iron beaks were used from the bow, by being +fastened to trees or projecting rocks. The proceeding was torturous +enough, but nothing dampened the ardency of these effervescent French, and +every incident was turned into a fresh outburst of jollity, and +seriousness was tossed to the winds. + +At night, they would build their campfires on the bank of the river in +the edge of the primitive forests, and after the evening meal, the violin, +guitar and the accordion would be brought into requisition to repel dull +care, and regale themselves on the tedious passage. The wild flowers were +in bloom, and the early fruits were already ripening in the woods, and not +infrequently the company would stop at some inviting point and spend a day +picking flowers and fruits, romping the woods, and frolicking. + +Thus wore away two or three months during which they were making their way +from Mobile to the present site of Demopolis. They were not without +competent guides, of course, to direct them to the point of their future +homes on the wild prairies, and when the junction of the Tombigbee and the +Black Warrior was reached they landed on the white, chalky banks to begin +life on the frontier. Along the bank for some distance were strewn their +household goods, of every conceivable article--oval-topped trunks with big +brass tacks, carpetbags, chests of divers colors and of varied size, +bundles carefully wrapped, demijohns, military saddles, swords, +epaulettes, sashes, spurs, bandboxes, violins, guitars, and much else that +made up the medley of more than three hundred families, who were about to +enter on a wilderness life on the prairies of West Alabama. + +They had provided themselves with a few tents, which were promptly brought +into use, while improvised habitations were at first constructed of the +tall canes which grew wild along the river, and of the lithe saplings cut +from the clumps of trees which dotted here and there the prairie over. The +prairies were now in their floral beauty, while the young, tender cane +was just springing, undermatted with luxuriant grass, with here and there +a dash of wild strawberries. In dry weather the surface of the land was +flinty with abounding fissures, while during the rainy season it was +converted into a soft, waxy, black mud. These bright and pretty French +women, used to the gilded salons and festive scenes of Paris, found a +complete reversal of conditions in this wild and inhospitable region, but +their native joviality never forsook them. Novelties and mistakes were +turned into laughter, and roughness into cheeriness. They would promptly +adjust themselves to conditions, and would meet them with burst after +burst of jollity. They shared in the sentiment expressed by the trivial +John Gay, who wrote: + + "Life is a jest, and all things show it, + I thought so once, and now I know it." + +Donning their dainty garbs, these unconquerable French women did not +hesitate to cook, wash, iron, hoe in their gardens and yards, or join +their husbands in efforts of a more serious nature, in tillage, and in the +erecting of log houses. Their lightness of heart was a cordial in the +conditions of actual gloom which sometimes confronted them, but they would +never repine, and would decline to take conditions seriously. + +The personnel of this novel colony was most interesting. Marshal Groughy +was classed by them with that segment of society called by Mr. Roosevelt +"undesirable citizens," because of the affair at Waterloo, and was left +behind in Philadelphia, though he was one of the allottees of the land +procured, but got another to occupy it for him. The stigma of the defeat +of Waterloo was his, and this made him most unpopular. But Count +Desnoettes, who was a cavalry general in Napoleon's army, and a great +favorite with the Emperor, was of the colony. Napoleon loved Desnoettes +because of his fighting qualities, and because of his exceeding +attractiveness of person. He accompanied Bonaparte on the memorable +retreat from Russia, and when the French officers were gathered at +Fontainebleau, on the eve of Napoleon's departure to Elba, and all were +weeping, he embraced Desnoettes, saying that he would avail himself of +this means of bidding all farewell. + +Penier was a distinguished statesmen; Colonel Raoul was a distinguished +cavalry fighter, who had accompanied Napoleon in his exile to Elba, and +afterward led the advance guard on the return of the Emperor to France +after escaping from his island imprisonment. Madame Raoul was a handsome +Italian woman, a native of Naples. Cluis was one of the aids of Marshal +Lefebvre; Chaudoin was a French poet of note; Clausel was a count; +L'Allemand was a lieutenant general of artillery under Napoleon; Lackonel +was a savant, who was at the head of the department of education, in the +empire, during the regime of Napoleon, together with others of equal note. + +All of these notables were once residents of Alabama, and encountered the +conditions of pioneer life on its western plains. Of some of the ups and +downs of this strange colony something will be said in the next article. + + + + +LIFE IN THE FRENCH COLONY + + +One may easily infer from that already said about these peculiar +colonists, who settled in the early years of the nineteenth century, at +the confluence of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers, that life under +such conditions must have been strikingly novel throughout. It was an +attempt to graft an exceptional European civilization, with all its +traditional peculiarities of many centuries, into the raw wilderness +conditions of western civilization, and to preserve intact, the customs of +the gay Gallic capital of Europe, on the prairies of black mud in Alabama. +The log huts which lined the streets of primitive Demopolis, were made as +nearly palaces as they well could be, and the streets themselves were +lighted at night, in imitation of the French capital. It was a play doll +performance, as pathetic as it was patriotic and loyal. + +The French founded and named Demopolis "the city of the people," seeking +thus to blend a miniature Paris with democratic sentiment. In vain did +these people seek to grow the olive and the vine in an unfriendly soil, +and the attempt was gradually abandoned, and by every possible makeshift +they eked out a bare subsistence. In a fertile soil, vegetables and corn +were easily grown, and with these and with such supplies as they could get +from the game of the woods, they struggled on against odds. They were not +without annoyance from the Indians, and more from the American settlers +who were now beginning to come into that quarter of the Alabama +territory. These latter would entrench on the lands of the French which +gave rise to much friction, and an agent had to go to Washington to sue +for protection against such invasions. This occasioned opposition to the +"furreners," as the French came to be popularly called, in the neighboring +log cabins of the American squatters. + +As an indication of the extremity to which the French were reduced, +Colonel Raoul, a large, handsome and dignified cavalry officer in the +Napoleonic army, had to establish a ferry on the river to convey travelers +from one side to the other, while his beautiful queenly wife sold +gingerbread and persimmon beer on the bank, at the ferry. With her +delicate jeweled fingers she would manufacture these crude refreshments, +and with much grace serve them to the rude pioneers. + +Years afterward, when Raoul had been restored to the confidence of the +French government, and was occupying a lucrative position in Paris, after +serving for some time in the Mexican army, he was visited by John Hurtel, +who was also one of the French colonists, but now a prosperous merchant in +Mobile. Intimate and even affectionate as friends, Colonel Raoul gave a +dinner to his Mobile friend, and invited to the banquet many of his +distinguished Parisian friends. To a group, Raoul was relating his pioneer +experiences as a ferryman, which all laughingly doubted, when Raoul called +to Hurtel, in another part of the room to join them. He then asked Hurtel +what he (Raoul) did at Demopolis. He replied that he kept a ferry. "And +what did the madame do?" asked Raoul. "Sold ginger cakes and simmon +beer," said Hurtel, all of which was greeted with roars of laughter. + +As an expression of devotion to his imperial sovereign, General Desnoettes +built a shanty near his log cabin, which shanty he called his "sanctuary." +In the center of this humble museum stood a bronze statue of Napoleon, +encircled by relics of war captured by Desnoettes--swords, pistols, +spears, spurs and saddles--while in graceful folds about the walls hung +the captured banners. The customs of the people were often as grotesque as +they were pathetic. After days of struggle and labor, the evenings would +be spent in music and dancing in the log cabins, or else along the narrow +grassy streets of the village would resound, till a late hour of the +night, the notes of musical instruments. The great generals of a hundred +battles preserved their military dignity and conventionalities while +working with might and main in their laboring garbs, with their +broad-brimmed hats flapping about their heads. Every stranger would be +greeted with the military salute, no matter who he was. + +In compliance with the requirements of the territorial laws, every male +citizen of a given age, had to meet statedly at some point named by the +commanding militia officer, to drill. From this the French were not +exempt, and these experts in military science were compelled to join in +the ranks of the rough and tumble yeomanry on the muster ground, and go +through with the rude evolutions known to them from the days of their +cadetship. + +These were the days of the country grocery, and of the crossroads grocery, +which were inseparable from the muster ground and the rural drill, and +their presence meant fisticuff fights, gouged eyes, broken noses, and +dislocated teeth. There was not the best feeling toward the "furrener," at +any rate, and there was a disposition in this region especially, to +provoke him to difficulty. It is related that on one occasion a bully +under the sway of liquor, sought a difficulty with one of the French, +which ended in the Frenchman being knocked down and jumped on by the rough +militiaman. The poor fellow knew not a word of English, and he cried in +his extremity for "enough" the French word "bravo," which he knew had +something to do with fighting. He repeatedly yelled "bravo" with the hope +that some one would pull off his assailant, but the assailant interpreted +it to mean an expression of defiance, and was brutally pommeling the Gaul. +Some of the by-standers properly construed the meaning of the Frenchman, +from the tone of his appeal, and pulled the ruffian off. + +In the geographical names of that region--Arcola, Agleville (Eagleville), +Linden (Hohenlinden), and Marengo, not to mention Demopolis--one finds the +evidence of the past occupation of the French. During the first year or +two, a number of other French came from France and joined the colony, but +the object which they had in view, failing, that of raising grapes and +olives, the colony gradually dissipated, the emigrants going in different +directions, and in Mobile and New Orleans, as elsewhere, may be found the +descendants of some of these original colonists, still bearing the names +of their ancestors of almost a century ago. Long after the occupied +domain had been abandoned, there could be seen in the waxy mud in the +region of Demopolis the imprints of the delicate shoes of those Parisian +women. + + + + +PRIMITIVE HARDSHIPS + + +Few are aware of the extremes to which the earliest settlers of Alabama +were reduced in their migration from the old colonies to this region, +while it was yet a territory. It may be said that the original stock of +Alabama settlers was generally of the best type of Anglo-Saxon manhood and +womanhood. Inherently, they had no superiors on the continent. They are +not to be thought of as adventurers, restlessly migrating to a new region +with a dissatisfaction which sought relief in the mere act of moving, for +adventurers would never have undergone that which was experienced by these +fathers, in pitching their homes in a wilderness infested by savages and +wild beasts. The fact that they did that which was done, labels the type +of character of these original commonwealth builders. + +Back of their migration from Virginia and the Carolinas, from which most +of the original settlers of Alabama came, lay a fact which largely +influenced their removal. The new republic was still in course of +construction. The revolution had left a chaotic condition in the older +colonies, and men of sturdiness conceived the idea of going far westward, +where they could create new conditions, and build for the future. They +were not unprepared for the privation that was to be encountered, nor +altogether unapprised of it, but in the face of these suspended +difficulties, they were nerved by genuine Caucasian grit. A number of +solid and substantial folk would get together and agree to removing to the +west, with a common understanding of general sharers in a common +interest, thereby procuring a sense of sympathetic protection, traverse +the wide distance, occupy a given community in a fresh territory, and rear +their fortunes together. + +The most ordinary conveniences were scarce, utensils and tools hardly to +be had, shoes and clothing scant, methods of conveyance rude, and thus to +the utmost extremity were these original founders of Alabama reduced. The +dependence for transportation was a few horses and oxen, which were +employed in common by a body of hardy colonists. On the horses were placed +the women and children, on the oxen the scanty household effects; the +stock was grouped in a common herd, cattle, swine and sheep, to be driven +on foot by the men and boys, each of whom was supplied with a gun or an +implement, and thus would they begin their march to a region of which they +knew nothing, save that it was without population, densely wooded and with +no other denizens than those of Indians and of ferocious beasts. + +Even where roads and bridges were encountered on the way, they were crude, +and west of the confines of Georgia, the wilderness was untraversed save +by the wild savage, whose slender paths wound the forests through. So far +as these pathways were available, they were used, but oftener than +otherwise these plucky pioneersmen would have to hack their way through +the forests, opening paths as they slowly went. Regarded from this point +of time, there was a ludicrousness in these primitive shifts, but men and +women were never more serious than were these old-fashioned mothers and +fathers. They were the rough germs from which sprang a civilization +unsurpassed in its elements in history. Wives, mothers, and daughters, +bare-headed or wearing the old fly bonnet, were mounted on poor horses, +with children on their laps, or clinging on from behind, while dangling on +either side of the burdened beast were packages which contained the most +of that which they possessed in this world. In advance, men with axes +would rapidly hew away the underbrush for a bare passage, while the +bleating herd would follow, driven mostly by the larger boys. The smaller +streams were waded, while in order to cross the larger streams, rafts were +constructed, the timbers of which were held together by the native vines, +while such of the animals as could swim were forced to do so. + +There was a flow of cheer and jocularity which served as a condiment to +hard conditions, and when the camp fires were lighted, the stock fed on +the native grasses, and supper was eaten, men chatted and smoked, sang and +told jokes, while the industrious wives and daughters would ply their +knitting needles. By turns the camp was guarded against possible +contingencies for the night, and the next morning the same arduous march +would be resumed. + +The destination finally reached, the struggles against difficulties would +begin in earnest. Boundaries of chosen land would be indicated by cutting +belts about the trees with a peculiar, personal mark, and then await the +future for full legal possession. In the construction of temporary homes, +colonists would vie with each other in the ingenuity displayed. The +method most common was to select trees as corners of the dwelling, and +then wattle saplings among those intervening from corner to corner, while +the roof was made of bark and the skins of wild animals. The cooking was +done without, in one or two small utensils. The grounds about were cleared +of the underbrush sufficiently to be planted, which was commonly done with +wedge-shaped rods being thrust stroke by stroke into the rich soil, the +seed dropped, and covered with the foot. As for meat, there was slight +difficulty, as deer, turkeys and squirrels were abundant. Shoes and +clothing would soon become matters of grave concern, but the deficiency +would be met by the appropriation of the hides of animals, from which +grotesque garments would be made, while the feet would be wrapped about +with strips of just sufficient size to cover them, the fur being turned +inward, and held by strings tied about each foot. The fortunate possession +of a pair of good shoes was an object of neighborhood envy. Objects so +valued and prized as were real shoes, were worn only on special occasions. +It was a custom long after the original settlement of Alabama, for many to +take their shoes under their arms, in going to church, and just before +reaching the place of worship, to put them on. Shoes that creaked were +specially prized, as they would attract attention. + +Small water mills came to be erected, and it was not unusual for one to +take his corn on his back the distance of twenty miles in order to have it +ground. This meant an absence from home of three or four days at a time. +From the earliest years of the century just gone, these conditions +continued in parts of the interior of Alabama till 1815 and even later. +The battle of New Orleans meant much for what was then known as the +southwest, of which Alabama was a part. Not a few of the future +distinguished families in the history of the state, emerged from +conditions such as here have been described. From straits of poverty, they +came to be among the most wealthy of the state. + + + + +LAFAYETTE'S VISIT + + +In April, 1825, when LaFayette visited Alabama, the state was about six +years old. Conditions were still very crude, there being but few roads, +and they bad enough in a wet season; but few villages existed; the country +was sparsely settled; the Indian was still in the land, but was now +subdued and peaceable, and a few boats plied the waters of the rivers. +Israel Pickens was then governor, and it was through his patriotic +enterprise as a wideawake governor, that LaFayette was induced to turn +aside from Augusta, Ga., and make the overland trip to Cahaba, the new +capital of Alabama, instead of going to Charleston to take a boat to New +Orleans. + +LaFayette was now about sixty-eight years old, but he was still vigorous +and active, and so far from a tour through a region largely wilderness, +deterring him, he was really anxious to take it. As he came westward from +Augusta, conditions grew cruder, but every possible provision was made for +his comfort. For months together, he had been in the country as its guest, +and the character of the receptions varied in every respect save one--the +cordiality of the people which was unbounded. + +The American congress had extended to him a formal invitation to return to +America on a visit, the invitation being impelled by a double motive, that +of showing the revolutionists of his own land, to whose vengeance +LaFayette had fallen a victim, because of his democratic principles, that +America was his loyal friend, and that of enabling a new generation of +Americans to express their gratitude to a patriot of France, who had spilt +his blood in behalf of the independence that they enjoyed. From the moment +that he landed on our soil, throughout, his tour was a triumphal journey, +and he was hailed with a universal tumult of honor and praise. He was +comparatively a poor man because of principle. Though the possessor of +vast estates in France, they were forfeited, or in plainer language, were +confiscated by the government of France, because of his republican +principles. The American congress voted him $200,000 in gold, and a +township of land. He was deeply moved by the gratitude and love of the +young nation, and often in speaking in response to welcomes accorded, his +voice would tremble with emotion. It may be said, in passing, that at the +one hundredth anniversary of the battle of Yorktown, in 1881, in which +battle LaFayette shared, a representative of his family was present as the +guest of the nation. + +When LaFayette reached Washington, in 1825, there was accorded him an +ovation that was almost overwhelming. From long distances the common +people had traveled, some coming on foot, others on horseback, in ox +carts, wagons, carriages and every way, men, women and children, to catch +a glimpse of the great ally of Washington, and patriot of the revolution, +and all about the city on the outside were their braying mules, neighing +horses, and lowing oxen in the midst of an unbroken encampment formed by +the country folk. In crushing multitudes they thronged about LaFayette, in +genuine democratic style, seeking to grasp his hand, a demonstration that +was as much enjoyed by LaFayette as by themselves. Henry Clay was then +speaker of the house, and his speech of welcome to LaFayette is one of the +most splendid bursts of oratory that ever came from his musical lips. The +reply of the distinguished Frenchman did him great honor. It is a pity +that these great deliverances are buried in old and musty books of which +but little is known. Wherever LaFayette appeared in Washington, the +unrestrained multitudes would rush frantically toward him as though they +would devour him. + +From Washington he planned his trip southward and westward, or toward the +great Southwest, as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were then called. +In making his dates, in advance, he knew practically nothing of the nature +of the country, nothing of the difficulty of travel, so that by the time +he reached the eastern border of Alabama he was several days behind time. +So far from delay cooling the ardor of the people, it had just the +opposite effect. The interest deepened, widened and seethed meantime, and +his announced coming into a given region absorbed all things else. Even +the Indians of Georgia and of Alabama were seized by the contagion of +enthusiasm, and while knowing little or nothing of LaFayette or of his +career, they learned that he was the friend of Washington, and a great +warrior, and so joined with native ardor into the excitement of his +reception. A body of painted warriors with varied and gay plumage, and +with bodies stained in divers colors, and wearing red and striped +blankets, insisted on becoming a part of his escort through Georgia, and +cherished the privilege of serving him with the most minute servility. +There is a good side to humanity always, if we only reach it. To the +Indians it was a special delight to shoot down an occasional buck on the +way, and to present it to the polite Frenchman between whose cultured +conventionality and the rude but touchingly sincere kindness of the +Indian, there was an amusing difference. + +With great effort and sacrifice, Governor Pickens had made every +arrangement possible for as august demonstration as the young state could +give to the eminent guest of the nation. His plans were perfect in every +detail, for he was an executive master, as is shown by the correspondence +in the possession of the present writer, between him and the militia +commanders, as well as with the civil authorities and prominent citizens. +The chief difficulty seems to have been to raise a fund sufficient for a +demonstration worthy of the great French patriot, for money was +exceedingly scarce in those infant days of struggle, but Pickens was +indefatigable, and he had a way of accomplishing whatever he set his hands +to. Fortunate for Governor Pickens was the delay of LaFayette, as this +enabled him to execute more to his satisfaction the vast and difficult +plans relating to the series of receptions along the triumphal march of +LaFayette through Alabama. For days together, LaFayette was lost to the +public eye as traversing the wilderness he was lost in its depths, making +his way as best he could from the Savannah to the Chattahoochee under the +protection of the Georgia escort of militia and painted Indian warriors. +The correspondence shows that he could not be heard of for days together, +but on the banks of the Chattahoochee the provided escort waited, day +after day, till he should appear. He at last came within sight and the +demonstration began, and novel enough it was. Of this we shall learn more +in the article next succeeding. + + + + +LAFAYETTE'S RECEPTION + + +Large barges were in readiness to convey the party across the +Chattahoochee to the Alabama side, where was gathered a multitude of +distinguished citizens, a troop of Alabama militia under General Taylor, +and a body of Indian warriors in their native attire, who seemed more +enthusiastic than the others. As the barges glided toward the bank, the +Indians raised yell after yell, and rushed to the edge of the water to +receive them. They were under the command of Chilly Mackintosh, or Little +Prince. So soon as the barges were arranged for landing, the Indians +dashed on board, unhitched the horse from the sulky that bore LaFayette, +each vying with every other to render the promptest service, and drew the +vehicle to the top of the steep bank with every indication of delight. + +When all was over, speeches of welcome and the response were in order. +Here LaFayette met a former aide of his, who had served him during the +Revolution, as a young man, but now somewhat advanced in life--Rev. Isaac +Smith, a Methodist missionary to the Indians. LaFayette recognized him, +and gave a warm and affectionate greeting. In the exuberance of his zeal, +the missionary begged that they bow in prayer. There under the tall trees +of the river's bank the party bowed in solemn prayer, LaFayette and the +Indians joining, and with uplifted voice, Mr. Smith prayed the blessings +of heaven on the great patriot. The Indians intent on showing their +interest proposed to have a game of ball for the entertainment of +LaFayette, after which Mr. Smith invited him to his humble home, where +they recounted to each other the scenes of their lives since they parted +at the disorganization of the army, about forty-three years before. + +After a season of rest, LaFayette started with the cavalcade along a road +which led through an uninhabited region for almost a hundred miles, he +riding in a fine carriage drawn by four beautiful grays, and attended by +the uniformed state soldiery and the Indians, who proposed to see him +safely through their own territory. So complete were the arrangements made +by Governor Pickens, that at proper intervals, along the dreary and +monotonous way, there were the amplest provisions for refreshments, of +food, shelter, and rest. + +At Line Creek, twenty miles from the village of Montgomery, the limit of +the territory of the Indians was reached, and here they took formal leave +of LaFayette. Their chief, the Little Prince, made a stirring speech to +LaFayette in his native tongue, not a word of which did LaFayette +understand, and guided solely by the gesticulation and facial expression +of the chief, the old patriot replied in English, not a word of which did +the Indians comprehend. With much ceremony they shook hands with +LaFayette, and quietly turned on their march to their homes in the woods. + +At Line Creek, the ranks of the cavalcade were largely reinforced by the +addition of a fresh installment of troops and of many distinguished +citizens, who had made their way across the country from different +directions, in order to share in the demonstration. Once within the +confines of civilization the journey to Montgomery and beyond was relieved +by the cultivated fields of the white man, now in the bloom of young and +promising crops, and the homes of refinement dotting the country over. +This was a great relief to LaFayette, who had been buried for almost a +week in the depths of an uncultivated wilderness. The improved roads +enabled the procession to make greater speed as it moved toward the +village of Montgomery. + +On a range of hills about two miles from the village, arrangements had +been made for the cavalcade to halt for the formal reception to be given +by the governor, who had come from Cahaba to meet the distinguished guest +at that point. On each side of the road was a large, snowy-white tent, +between which, over the road, was an arch of beautiful artistic +construction, beneath which stood Governor Pickens and his suite awaiting +the arrival of the eminent guest. When the carriage which bore LaFayette +halted under the arch, Governor Pickens advanced to greet him, and after a +mutual introduction, the governor proceeded to extend the courtesies of +the new state, in apt and well-chosen terms, for which he was remarkable, +and was followed by the reply of General LaFayette, in phraseology just as +happy. This was followed by a sort of improvised reception on the spot, +when the distinguished citizens of the state were presented to LaFayette +one by one. In the meantime, the ladies who had come to assist in doing +honor to the occasion, remained in the tents, and the governor taking the +arm of the great guest, led him into the tents and introduced him to the +ladies. This occurred at noon on Sunday, April 3, 1825, and immediately +after these initial ceremonies were over, the procession again took up the +line of march for the village of Montgomery, LaFayette now being taken in +the carriage of Governor Pickens. A band of music attended on the +procession, the notes of which were mingled with the acclamation of the +multitude, the volume of sound increasing as Montgomery was approached, as +fresh accessions were made to the procession. Every object that could +create noise and din was brought into use, among which were the +detonations of powder, which in the absence of guns was confined in such a +way as to cause a loud explosion, and bells of every size were rung, the +people seeming determined to make up in noise the deficiency of +population, for at that time Montgomery was nothing more than a small +town. + +Once in the town, the most sumptuous quarters possible were placed at the +disposal of LaFayette and his party, and though he was fatigued, the +people pressed in to greet him. LaFayette and the governor dined privately +together, and in the evening attended together divine service. + +Monday brought to LaFayette a busy day. Citizens had come from every +quarter of the state to shake his hand, among whom were some old veterans +who had served under him in the campaigns of the Revolution. His eye +kindled at the sight of a Revolutionary soldier, and his greeting was +always one of the most ardent affection. He must need have a brief +off-hand chat with every old soldier that came in to see him. A busy day +was followed by a ball given in honor of the eminent soldier and patriot. +This lasted till 11 o'clock at night, when a procession was formed to +escort him to the river landing, where three small steamers were in +waiting to take the party down the river to Cahaba--the Henderson, Balize +and the Fanny. + +The next article will conclude the account of the notable visit of +LaFayette to Alabama. + + + + +LAFAYETTE'S DEPARTURE + + +As one now goes up Commerce street, Montgomery, from the railway station, +he will find about midway between the station and the Exchange Hotel, on +the right side of the street, a bronze tablet in the wall on which is +inscribed this valuable bit of historic information: "On this site stood, +until December, 1899, the house in which Marquis de LaFayette was given a +public reception and ball, April 4, 1825, while on his last tour through +the United States. This tablet is placed by the Society of the Sons of the +Revolution in the state of Alabama in lasting memory of this illustrious +patriot and soldier of the Revolution, the friend of Washington and the +youthful champion of liberty. April 4, 1825-April 4, 1905." On the same +tablet appears the figure of LaFayette with the accompanying dates of 1776 +and 1883, and beneath appear the words, "The Sons of the Revolution." +While our people have been generally negligent of the preservation of +notable spots, it is an occasion of gratitude to the Sons of the +Revolution that they have so thoughtfully saved this site from utter +obliteration. + +Resuming the narrative where it was left off in the first article, with +respect to LaFayette and the large escort that accompanied him on the +boats down the river, the flotilla reached the village of Selma the next +morning, where a stop was made to enable an eager multitude who had +gathered from different and distant directions, to catch a glimpse of the +illustrious guest of the nation, and to grasp his hand. The stay was +necessarily brief, for the boats must steam rapidly on to Cahaba, where +the people of the new capital were eagerly waiting to extend to LaFayette +a really great welcome. + +The sight of the boats coming down the river was sufficient to raise from +the throats of the assembled multitude on the bank of the river, a loud +acclamation, attended by the waving of handkerchiefs, hats, umbrellas, and +banners, accompanied by the loud booming of guns and the ringing of bells. +It was difficult for LaFayette to descend the gangway, so eager were the +people to reach him and take his hand. Once on shore, and Mr. Dellet, who +was charged with the task of extending the speech of welcome, delivered +his speech, which was fitly responded to, when a long procession was +formed, which marched to the courthouse, which was tastefully decorated +throughout, and a formal reception was held. This being over, a sumptuous +dinner was in readiness, and, after dining, LaFayette was allowed a few +hours of respite. After refreshing himself by sleep, he appeared again, +and the ingenuity of the people seemed to be exhausted in the methods +devised to do him honor. + +His stay at Cahaba was the shorter because he was already several days +overdue at other points. Plans had been made for a stop of a day at +Claiborne, Monroe County, then one of the largest and thriftiest towns in +the state, but which is now practically extinct, but the miscalculation in +fixing advanced dates forbade a stay of only a few hours in this bustling +little river center. An elaborate ball had been prepared for at Claiborne, +in honor of the French hero, but he was unable to remain, and after some +hours of delay the boats proceeded southward, bearing the LaFayette party, +the governor and his staff, and a multitude of attendants on the several +steamers. + +The next important point to be reached was Mobile. No place in all his +travels exceeded in demonstration that accorded by this Alabama +metropolis. The wharves were thronged by the eager crowds, watching for +the first appearance of the boats descending the river, and their +appearance was the signal for the shouts of the multitude, the ringing of +church bells, and the booming of big guns. The usual ceremonies were gone +through of speeches of reception and the reply, banquets and receptions, +into all of which LaFayette entered with the snap and spirit of a boy. He +had been much refreshed and invigorated by his trip down the river, and +this unusual amount of rest gave him fresh elasticity. He seemed to throw +off all reserve, and yielded himself with abandon to the festivities and +gaieties of the occasion. He was no more happy than was Governor Pickens, +who was intent on the highest possible expression of hospitality to the +national guest, and the more so, because he was so insistent on his coming +to the young state. To the credit of Governor Pickens, be it said that +there was not a jar or jostle in the elaborate plan and arrangement which +he had conceived and executed to the letter, from the time LaFayette set +foot on the soil of Alabama till he left it forever. + +The stay in Mobile was cut somewhat short for the reasons already given, +as New Orleans was on the tiptoe of expectation of LaFayette's arrival. +Governor Pickens remained with LaFayette till he left the utmost limit of +the state. The finest boat that had yet been built for southern waters, +the Natchez, was to convey LaFayette to New Orleans. The Natchez was +accompanied by other steamers, which bore the large escort, but Governor +Pickens and LaFayette sailed out of the port of Mobile to Mobile Point, +where Governor Pickens took affectionate leave of his eminent guest. The +separation of these two eminent men was most affecting, as they had become +mutually much won to each other. It was agreed that they should continue +to correspond so long as both continued alive. LaFayette asked that a copy +of the paper containing an account of his visit to Alabama be sent him, +which explains the following letter: + + "My Dear Sir: According to my promise, I directed a paper to meet you + at Pittsburg and again enclose you one herein. This contains but a + partial account of our doings when you were with us. You will receive + a packet which I have caused to be directed to you at Boston, giving + an account at each place where you stopped in your journey through + this state, believing that it may be satisfactory to you, or to some + of your friends, in giving a reference to the incidents occurring here + on the gratifying occasion to our citizens of the young state of + Alabama. + + "I hope you will have reached Boston by the time you wished, in good + health and spirits, after a journey unexampled in our own or any + other time; a march so extended, so rapid, and at the same time so + triumphant has never been the boast of any personage before, and it is + truly a source of common congratulation among the friends of + republican institutions and of free social order throughout the world. + + "I am too sensible of the fatigues of your late journey, of those + gratifying attentions by which you will be surrounded when this shall + have reached you, to add anything to them by a longer letter without + material to make it interesting to you. + + "Hereafter when you shall be enjoying the tranquillity of your own + domestic circle, I hope to have the pleasure of corresponding with you + in conformity with your kind invitation when I parted with you. + + "I am, with sentiments of profound respect and esteem, your most obt., + + "ISRAEL PICKENS. + + "General LaFayette." + +This is a literal transcription of the first letter addressed by Governor +Pickens to General LaFayette. + + + + +OLD SCHOOL DAYS + + +No change that has come to later times has been more radical than that in +our schools. The discipline, management, method of instruction and general +spirit of the school have all undergone a thorough transformation. In the +early days, the old blue-back speller was a sine qua non in the elementary +schools. Its columns and battalions of words, ranging from the least +spellable words to those that are octosyllabic and even beyond, all of +which had to be learned by rote, made many an excellent speller of the +English. The modern method of acquiring ability to spell may be superior, +but one who ever mastered the old blue-back was never known to be an +indifferent speller. Consigned to the limbo of the junk heap, the +blue-back may be, but to master it was to become the possessor of most of +the words in common use, and more besides. + +In former days the location of a country school was selected with +reference to the largest possible patronage, while many boys and girls +were forced to trudge the distance of several miles each morning to +attend, and return the same distance home every afternoon. The buckets +with curved wire handles would contain the dinners of the children of a +given family. School periods extended from eight in the morning till four +in the afternoon, with three brief intervals of recess during the day. For +a well-regulated school, the furniture comprised plain, unpainted seats, +none too comfortable, and unpainted desks. Where not so well regulated +the seats were of split logs, backless, with peg supporters, and no desks, +save that of the teacher, which was used at different times by a given +class of students in taking writing lessons from the teacher. + +This teacher sat on a platform, which was slightly raised, in order to +give him complete oversight of each pupil. Within his desk were securely +kept the sinews of discipline in the form of a number of well-seasoned +hickories, flexible, tough, and just long enough for faithful execution. +These were a source of terror to all alike, for under the nature of the +discipline there were no immunes in view of certain infractions. + +The rules of discipline were generally harsh, hard and drastic, the very +essence of the unreasonable. A pupil failing to spell a given number of +words, or to give a given number of correct answers, was straightway +drubbed. This was done in a most mechanical way, as the machinery of +discipline must, of course, run regularly. Nothing was said, but the +teacher would administer the flogging, and go straight on with his other +work. The fear of punishment, so far from acting as a stimulus, was a +barbarous hindrance. Study was not pursued so much as a pleasure, as it +was from fear of punishment. + +A "big boy," one past sixteen generally, was given the alternative of a +flogging in the presence of the school, or of downright dismissal. No +respect was had for the difference between a laborious, earnest student, +who might be slow of acquisition, and one who was bright and quick, though +the former might be the solider of the two, and often was. School was +taught according to certain arbitrary rules and not according to the +principle of common sense. Most schools were therefore regarded by pupils +as terrors, and not as places of mental pleasure. A "tight" teacher, as +the rigid disciplinarian was called, was much in demand. Many a pedagogue +would lose an opportunity to procure a school because he was "loose," or, +as we would say nowadays, because he was reasonable, and not a ringmaster +with his whip. No higher commendation was there than that one would flog +even the largest boys. In consequence of this condition in the early +school, the teacher was held in almost universal awe, with no touch of +congeniality with any pupil. + +In all recitations save those of reading and spelling, pupils would sit. +The spelling classes were somewhat graded, and, in reciting, would stand +in a line facing the teacher, who would "give out" the words to be +spelled. Each syllable had not only to be spelled and articulated, but in +spelling, each preceding syllable was pronounced, even to the close of the +word. If, for instance, the word notoriety was given, the pupil would +spell n-o, no, t-o, noto, r-i, notori, e, notorie, t-y, te, notoriety. +When it would come to spelling long words, they would be rattled off with +a volubility that was often amazing. It was interesting to hear words like +incombustibility and honorificabilitudinity spelled after this fashion. As +with a vocal fusillade, the pupil would clatter off long words, building +each up as he would proceed, the teacher would stand with his head +slightly careened to hear it properly done. Whatever other effect such +exercise had, it gave clearness of articulation. If a word was misspelled, +it was given to the next student with a "Next!" from the teacher, and if +successfully spelled by the one next below him, he would "turn down" the +one who failed, or, in other words, take his place in the line, sending +the one who failed nearer toward the foot of the class. Like trembling +culprits the pupils would thus stand throughout the recitation, and +everyone who had missed spelling a given number of words, walked +mechanically up to the teacher and took his drubbing. Every class of +spellers was only a body of culprits on trial. + +One of the choice pranks of those early days was that of "turning the +teacher out." When a holiday was desired, and had been previously +declined, a revolt was almost sure to follow. A secret conclave of "the +big boys" was held, a mutiny was hatched, a fearless ringleader was +chosen, the plans were laid, and the time of the real issue awaited. On +the morning of the desired holiday, the young conspirators would reach the +school an hour or two in advance, barricade every door and window so that +none could enter, and quietly await the coming of the teacher. He would +usually demand that the house be opened, when the leader would inform him +that it would be done solely on condition that he would give them a +holiday. + +The teacher's ingenuity, tact, or physical strength was often sorely taxed +by a juncture like this. It was not an easy thing to handle a half dozen +or more determined boys just emerging into manhood, and those whose quiet +grudge prompted a desire for a tilt, at any rate, and the teacher must +either yield and thus lose his grip thereafter, or take the chance of a +rough and tumble with the odds against him. The usual method of settlement +was to sound a truce, and compromise on some satisfactory basis. One +advantage always lay on the side of the teacher--no matter how stern or +severe his method of adjustment in quelling the rebellion, he would have +the moral reinforcement of the parents, but it was an advantage that might +prove more than a forlorn hope, if he should attack a body of muscular +country boys. + +Happily, those days are gone, with some slight advantages, perhaps, over +some of the present methods, but with immensely more disadvantages. At +least, the tyranny and brutality of the olden days have given place to +common sense. + + + + +THE CROSS ROADS GROCERY + + +Among the defunct institutions of a past era in the state's history, is +that of the country grogshop, which was known in those days as "the cross +roads grocery," a name derived from the enterprising spirit of the keepers +of such places to locate where the roads crossed, in order to catch more +"trade." Many of these country saloons became notorious resorts. These +places were the rendezvous of the rustics of the hilarious type in those +far-off days. These rude trysting places were the weekly scenes of coarse +sports, gross hilarity, and of rough-and-tumble fights. Hither the rowdies +gathered from a wide region, drank freely, yelled vociferously, and fought +not a little. The monthly muster of the militia was usually in connection +with one of these rural institutions, and hither would come "the boys" for +an all-day frolic. While squirrel guns and old flint and steel rifles were +used in the drill, these would never be brought into requisition when the +combats would usually ensue. Shooting and stabbing were far less frequent +then than now, the test of manhood being in agility, strength, and the +projectile force of the fist. There were bullies, not a few, and when one +got sufficiently under way to raise a yell like a Comanche Indian, it was +regarded as a defiant banter. This species of "sport" would usually come +as the last act of the tragedy of the day. + +Among the diversions of the day was that of test of marksmanship. The +stakes were usually steaks, or, to use the terminology of the time, "a +beef quarter." To be able "to hit the bull's-eye," as the center of the +target was called, was an ambition worthy of any rustic. A feat so +remarkable made one the lion of the day, and his renown was widely +discussed during the ensuing week. No greater honor could come to one than +to be able to win a quarter, and "the grocery" was alluded to as a place +of prominent resort throughout a wide community. There were also "racing +days," which was applied to foot races as well as to horse racing. There +was a track for each hard by "the grocery," and in the foot races the +runners would strip bare to the waist, pull off their shoes, and run the +distance of several hundred yards. Brace after brace of runners would test +their speed during the day, the defeated contestant having always to +"treat the crowd." + +This was varied, in turn, by horse racing day. Two parallel tracks were +always kept in order by the grocery keeper for this equestrian sport. +Scrawny ponies that had plowed during all the week were taken on the track +on Saturday, betting was freely indulged in, the owners would be their own +jockeys, and amusing were many of the races thus run. + +Still another sport, cruel enough in itself, was that of the "gander +pulling." A large gander with greased neck would be suspended to a +flexible limb overhanging the road, and one by one the horsemen would ride +at full tilt, grasp the neck of the goose, and attempt to wring it off, +while his horse was at full speed. With many a piteous honk, the goose +would turn its head here and there to avoid being seized, and it was not +easy to accomplish the required feat. A given sum of money was the usual +reward to the successful contestant. This cruel sport of more than +seventy-five years ago was among the first to disappear from the programme +of rural diversions. The reader of "Georgia Scenes" has been made familiar +with this sport, which at one time was quite popular. + +"Muster day," which came once each month, was usually one of bloody +hilarity. The crude evolutions on the field being over, "the boys" would +return to the grocery, and, after being bounteously served several times +at the bar, they were ready for the fun, which usually began with a +wrestling or boxing bout, in which some one who was unsuccessful would +change the scene into one of an out-and-out fray. When temper became +ascendant, which was not difficult under the condition of free imbibing, +one violent blow would invite another, when the crowd would form a ring +around the belligerents, and cries of "Stand back!" and "Fair play!" would +be heard on all hands. If one interfered in behalf of a kinsman or friend, +he was pounced on by another, and not infrequently as many as a dozen men +would be embroiled in a fisticuff battle. Nothing was tolerated but the +fist. Not even a stick could be used, though when one was down under his +antagonist it was accounted lawful to use the teeth, or even to fill the +eyes of an opponent with sand, in order to make him squall. When the +shriek of defeat was sounded, the successful antagonist was pulled off, +and some one treated him on the spot. + +It was by this means that bullies were produced in those days. Sometimes a +bully would come from some other region where he had swept the field, in +order to test his prowess with a local bully. Bets would be made in +advance, and the announcement through the region, a week or so in advance, +would serve to draw an unusual crowd to the scene of pugilistic contest. A +ring was drawn in the sand, and while the contest would begin in a boxing +exercise, there came a time when it grew into a battle royal with the +fists. The champions of different neighborhoods each felt that not only +was his own reputation at stake, but that of his community. Bulls on the +pastures would not fight with greater fierceness than would these rough +rowdies. When one or the other would "give up," then would come a general +disagreement among the boozy bettors, and the entire crowd would become +involved in a general melee. + +Saturday night usually brought fresh accessions from the neighboring +population, and frequently the brawls would last throughout the night. +Broken fingers, noses, well-chewed ears, and dislocated teeth usually made +up the casualties of the day. Bunged and beaten as many were, they would +resume their usual labor during the next week, while the scenes of the +preceding Saturday would be the subject of general comment, and the end of +the following week would find them again at the grocery. + +These groceries, so called, prevailed throughout the South till the +opening of the Civil War, during which it is presumed that the +belligerently disposed got full gratification on fields of a different +type. Among the changes wrought in our social life by the war, this was +not among the least. Efforts to revive "the grocery" of the "good old +times" after the return of the few from the battlefields of the war, +proved abortive, and thus vanished this popular institution in the states +of the South. + + + + +EARLY NAVIGATION + + +The rude crafts that once floated our magnificent rivers were crude and +primitive enough, and were but a slight advance on the dugout or canoes of +the red men. The heavy, clumsy flatboat, propelled in part by long oars +used by the hand, and in part by long poles let down from the edge of the +boat and by the pressure of the body urged slowly along, and by the use of +grappling hooks to pull the boat upstream, were in use far into the +twenties of the nineteenth century. These boats were of limited surface +capacity, difficult of management, and exceedingly slow. An indication of +their sluggish movement is afforded by the fact that in 1819, when +Honorable Henry Goldthwaite was on his way from Mobile to Montgomery, to +make the latter town his home, he was just three months on the voyage up +the Alabama River. With slow movement and noiselessly, these heavy craft +would be propelled up the river, and on approaching a given point the +boatmen would signal their approach by firing a small cannon kept on each +barge for that purpose. After the invention of the steam whistle, now so +common, by Adrian Stephens, of Plymouth, England, whistles came at once +into use on all American waters. + +For ages these great streams had been rolling wanton to the sea, and after +the occupation of Alabama by the whites, the natural advantages were +readily recognized, but as nothing was then known of the steam engine, of +course there was nothing left but to employ the most available craft for +transportation. For a long period, only the awkward barges and flatboats +were used. It may be readily seen how the introduction of steamers on our +rivers would facilitate individual and aggregate prosperity, which had +been so long retarded by the slow process of navigation already mentioned. + +Though Robert Fulton's first grotesque steamer appeared on the waters of +the Hudson as early as 1807, and while a steamer had not yet been seen in +these parts, enterprising spirits, in anticipation of the coming use of +steamboats, organized a company at St. Stephens, the territorial capital, +in 1818, which company was duly authorized by the legislature of the +Alabama Territory, and bore the name of the St. Stephens Steamboat +Company. This was followed two years later by another, which was +incorporated under the name of the Steamboat Company of Alabama, and a +year later still came the organization of the Mobile Steamship Company. If +it is supposed that the fathers had no enterprise in those early days, +this will serve to disabuse the minds of all doubters. They were dealing +in steam futures, but they were ready for the coming tide of steam +progress. In due course of time, these rival organizations introduced +steamers on the rivers of the state, but they were not rapid of +locomotion, were at first small, rather elaborate in adornment, and +afforded some degree of comfort to a limited number of passengers. These +diminutive floaters were gradually displaced by larger vessels, the number +multiplied, and by 1845 magnificent packets were lowered from the decks +and became "floating palaces" on our waters. + +At first, a steamer was propelled by a wheel at each side, but this +gradually gave way to a single wheel at the stern. The period of the +career of these magnificent steamers was a brief one, lasting not more +than fifteen or twenty years before the outburst of the Civil War. + +Railways in Alabama were still practically unknown, and steamboat travel +was exceedingly popular. On the best and finest steamers the entertainment +could scarcely be excelled. The staterooms were often elegant, and always +comfortable, and the tables were banquet boards. The best country produce +was gathered at the landings, and the table fare was one of the boasts of +the steamers. The most sumptuous carpets were on the floors of the +passenger saloons, while superb furniture was alike pleasing to the eye +and comfortable in practical use. The boats were constructed with three +decks, known, respectively, as the lower, the middle or passenger, and the +upper or hurricane deck. + +During the cotton season, which extended from September to March, or about +one-half the year, the boats would descend the rivers loaded each trip +with hundreds of bales of cotton, and returning, would be laden with +merchandise, while in both directions, there was usually a throng of +passengers. On some of the most elegant steamers were calliopes, the music +of which would resound at night over many miles of territory pierced by +the rivers. Nothing known to entertainment or comfort was omitted on a +first-class steamer in the forties and fifties. + +Many of the landings on the rivers were located on high bluffs through +which a flight of steps would lead from the summit to the water's edge, +the length of which flight would sometimes exceed several hundred feet. +Alongside the uncovered stairway, was a tram for a wide car, which was +nothing more than a platform on wheels, which wheels ran on two beams of +wood, the surface of which was sheeted with iron. The car was operated by +means of a pulley on the summit, which, in turn, was operated by a mule or +horse moving in a circular enclosure. The freight from the steamer was +strung along the bank below, to be cared for by the warehouse above. When +cotton was to be shipped from the top of the bluff, a number of deck hands +would go to the top of the steps, and each bale was slid down the tramway +to the boat. The bale would be started endwise and descend with whizzing +swiftness, strike the lower deck, be seized by the hands below, and put in +place. + +Great were the days of the reign of the steamboat! While slow, compared +with later methods of travel, steamboat passage was the acme of comfort +and enjoyment. The social pleasure afforded was unsurpassed. While it +would require several days to go two or three hundred miles by boat, the +element of time was not so much a consideration in those leisurely days as +it is now, and the regret was often that the time of the passage was not +longer. During the busy season the schedule of the boats was most +irregular, and not infrequently passengers would wait the arrival of the +boat for twenty-four hours, and sometimes even longer. + +It was interesting, the contention and competition among the rival boats +for freight and passenger traffic. In order to be able to advertise the +popularity of a given steamer, the subordinate officers and others of the +crew, would solicit passengers at the hotels of the terminal cities, and +would not only offer free passage, sometimes, but actually offer a +consideration of a small sum of money, in addition, to such as would make +choice of that steamer in preference to another. + +The war greatly crippled boating on the rivers, and with the rally and +rehabilitation of the South from the effects of the war, the railway came +on anon, and the steamers largely disappeared from our rivers. + + + + +HARRY, THE MARTYR JANITOR + + +Howard College, then at Marion, was burned on the night of October 15, +1854. + +Dr. Henry Talbird was at the time the president of the institution, and +his nightly habit was to make a thorough inspection of the grounds and +buildings, in order to see that all was well. After making his usual and +uniform round on the night just named, he went to bed somewhat after ten +o'clock. He had fallen into deep sleep, when he was aroused by the ringing +of bells and the loud cry of "Fire! Fire! Fire!" On rushing out, he found +the lower floor of the dormitory all ablaze, the fire already having begun +its ascent up the stairway. + +To this day the origin of the fire is a mystery. It was in the fall of the +year, the weather was still warm, and there was no occasion for fire about +the building. The basement was one mass of rolling flames when first the +building was reached. In a house near by, the janitor, a negro boy of +twenty-three, was sleeping, and when he reached the scene, the flames were +moving steadily up the stairway. He made a movement as if to plunge into +the flames, when he was warned to keep clear. He replied that he must save +the boys who were sleeping on the two upper floors, and did plunge through +fire and smoke, and disappeared beyond. + +Within a short time many of the people of the town had gathered, and the +boys began to leap, one after another, to the ground. Ladders were brought +into requisition to aid those on the highest floor to escape. Every +student was aroused by the heroic colored janitor, and all but one had +descended safely to the ground. + +The young man who was still missing soon appeared at a window and was +saved through the exertions of the late Dr. Noah K. Davis, late professor +of philosophy in the University of Virginia, and several others. + +About this time the negro boy, burnt almost bare, and raw from his burns, +his hair burnt from his head, and his eyebrows and lashes gone, appeared +at one of the highest windows and flung himself to the ground, about sixty +feet below. + +He rolled over on the grass a dead man. + +His body was drawn from under the influence of the intense heat, and every +effort was made to restore life, but he had been burned to death, and +evidently had thrown himself from the window to prevent his body from +being consumed in the burning building. + +The terrible fire was now lost sight of in the attention which was +bestowed on the faithful negro janitor. He had given his life for others. + +The following morning, elaborate preparations were made for the becoming +burial of the heroic Harry. Negro slave, as he was, he was honored with a +burial from the leading white church of the town. + +The building was packed with wealthy planters, merchants, lawyers, and +their families to do honor to the hero of the fire. + +In the funeral services leading citizens arose, one by one, to pronounce +eulogies on the dead slave. + +Flowers were in profusion, and the procession to the cemetery was composed +of the carriages of the wealthy. Greater distinction could not have been +shown the most eminent citizen of the town. + +At the grave, every possible consideration was shown, and mournfully the +vast crowd turned from the grave of an humble slave. A sum of money was at +once raised for the purpose of placing a high marble shaft at his grave, +and in the cemetery at Marion it still stands conspicuously, with the +inscriptions undimmed by the storms of more than half a century. On the +front of the shaft is the inscription: "Harry, servant of H. H. Talbird, +D.D., president of Howard College, who lost his life from injuries +received while rousing the students at the burning of the college +building, on the night of October 15, 1854, aged 23 years." On another +side appears the inscription: "A consistent member of the Baptist church, +he illustrated the character of a Christian servant, 'faithful unto +death.'" On still another side appears the language: "As a grateful +tribute to his fidelity, and to commemorate a noble act, this monument has +been erected by the students of Howard College and the Alabama Baptist +Convention." The fourth side of the monument bears this inscription: "He +was employed as a waiter in the college, and when alarmed by the flames at +midnight, and warned to escape for his life, he replied, 'I must wake the +boys first,' and thus saved their lives at the cost of his own." + +Here humanity asserted itself to the full. Uninfluenced by any other +consideration than that a young man had proved himself a hero in a dire +crisis, every worthy man and woman was ready to accord to a dead but +heroic slave, the merits of his just deserts. + +At this time the country was shaken by the acrimonious discussion of +domestic slavery, in which the negro was as extravagantly exploited in the +North as he was depreciated in the South; so much so, indeed, that it was +deemed unwise in the South to accord him other than ordinary +consideration. But in a juncture like this, humanity asserted itself, and +to the faithful negro janitor every possible honor was shown. For when an +ignorant slave boy became a rare hero, and voluntarily gave his life for +others, all else, for the time, was forgotten at the bar of tested +humanity. + +The name of Harry was heralded through the press of the country, and on +the floor of the Baptist State Convention of Alabama wealthy slave owners +eulogized him a hero, and freely opened their purses to give expression to +their appreciation of his chivalrous conduct in saving the lives of so +many. + + "World-wide apart, and yet akin, + As shown that the human heart + Beats on forever as of old." + + + + +A MEMORABLE FREEZE + + +The year 1849 is signalized as the most remarkable in the history of the +state. The winter was ushered in by mildness, there was but little harsh +weather during the entire season, and the winter was early merged into the +mildness of spring. Vegetable life began to appear in the greenswards, the +blossoms came in profusion, birds were singing and nesting, vegetables +grew to early perfection, and the good housewives were careful to stow +away the winter apparel with safeguards against moths and other +destructive insects. + +Planters were awake to turning the advanced season to practical account, +the fields were plowed and planted, and the young crops began growing +rapidly under the genial and fervid skies. The crops were much advanced +because of these favorable conditions, and the fruit was rapidly +increasing in size. Every indication pointed to a prosperous year, and the +flash of confidence was in the eye of every planter. Cool snaps would now +and then come, but they were not of such character as to occasion concern, +and the young crops were growing rapidly apace. Corn had been planted +early, and excellent stands were everywhere to be seen. The peculiar +season excited much wonder, and was the occasion of not a little comment. +There was a rush and bustle of life everywhere. Cotton was early planted, +was chopped out, and was rapidly growing off. + +The burst of summertide had practically come by the middle of April, the +gardens were yielding abundantly of vegetables, and cold weather came to +be regarded as a memory. The oldest declared that they had never before +witnessed a year like that, and the indications were that the harvest +would come at least a month in advance of any previous year. Early fruits +began to ripen, and progressive housewives were vying with each other in +the production of early fruits and vegetables, and especially in the +quantity of eggs gathered. + +Near the latter part of April of that year a sudden change came. The +atmosphere became rapidly chilly, but as snaps had come at different +times, this occasioned no serious alarm. + +But the weather continued to become more icy, and there was a rapid shift +of apparel. The sudden change culminated in one of the fiercest freezes +that had occurred within a number of years. The corn was waist high, and +the cotton fully twelve inches in height, and perfectly clear of grass. +The morning following the severe freeze revealed a wide waste of +desolation. Wilt and blight and death were everywhere. The deepest green +was turned into sallow, and cheerlessness everywhere reigned. Not a +glimpse of green was to be seen. Gardens, fields and pastures equally +shared in the general desolation. Not a note of a bird could be heard, +many of the songsters were found dead, and nature seemed to put on the +weeds of mourning. + +The enthusiasm of the planting public was turned into consternation. There +was everywhere dismay. The season was well advanced, seed was scarce and +difficult to be had, and the sudden check was a shock. The difficulty was +that few knew what to do in the presence of a phenomenon so remarkable. +But there was no halt on the part of the progressive planters. They +resumed their activity and fell to the work of planting anew. The soil was +in excellent condition, economy was had in the use of seed, and soon +another crop was planted. The weather rapidly changed to warmth again, +showers followed, and the seasons thenceforth were ideal. Every condition +favored germination and growth, cultivation was rapid, and within a few +weeks the fields were again radiant in vernal freshness. The leaves came +again slowly on the trees, though many of the trees died. Fruit utterly +failed, and not a few of the fruit trees were killed. + +As with compensating balance, a long summer ensued, followed by a late +fall, the crops grew rapidly to perfection, every condition favored their +tillage and final harvesting, the whole resulting in one of the most +bounteous crops produced up to that time in the state. + +Hickorynuts, walnuts, acorns, and swampmast generally were abundant to the +salvation of the small game of the woods, and to the supplementary aid of +the raisers of hogs, and no inconvenience was experienced save that +everything was backward. + +The opening of the cotton market was delayed for a month or six weeks, but +the price was good, and the year 1849 recovered from its disaster, and +proved to be one of the most prosperous that had ever been experienced. +Merchants who were accustomed to go north for their stocks were somewhat +delayed, but so were the seasons, and conditions were amply equalized by +the close of the year, and events took their usual and uniform round. + +To be sure, scientific wiseacres here and there declared that the seasons +were changing, just as is always true when phenomena come, but practical +men went on their way, farmers becoming more economic and careful, but as +'49 receded, it became a year much talked of during the then existing +generation, and in time became a tradition as a remarkable exception among +the years. + +Remarkable meteorological phenomena have come in all periods of history, +and while they have furnished supposed data to a certain class of +scientists, so-called, with which they have woven theories not a few, the +temperature of the different zones has continued as of old, and while +fatuous theories have gone to the winds, the seasons have kept on their +wonted rounds as of old. + +The modification of temperature may come as a result of certain conditions +like that of the denudation of our forests and others, yet there is +scarcely any prospect that any material change will come, for so long as +the gulf stream pursues its way, climates are not liable to undergo any +decided change. + + + + +TWO SLAVE MISSIONARIES + + +Amidst the shadings and shinings of slavery were two instances in Alabama +history that are worthy of record. During the regime of slavery, provision +was made in the churches of the whites for the accommodation of the +slaves, in the larger churches by spacious galleries, and in the smaller +ones, by rear seats. The latter custom prevailed, for the most part, in +the rural churches. + +Among the different denominations, the Baptists and Methodists were +foremost in the provision of the means of the evangelization of the +slaves. These two denominations made each year appointments of white +missionaries to the blacks on the plantations, and on the services held +under such conditions, both the whites and blacks would attend. Provision +was made for membership of the slaves in the churches of the whites, where +they enjoyed the same privileges in common, being received into membership +in the same way, baptized, as were the others, and sharing in the +communion alike. When the slaves were freed, they were encouraged to found +their own churches and other institutions, the friendly whites aiding them +in every way possible. + +So far back as 1828, before the agitation of the slavery question began in +earnest, in the press, the schools, and in the congress of the United +States, much attention was given to the christianization of the slaves. +This spirit was somewhat later checked by the establishment of the +underground railroad, and by other methods clandestinely employed by the +abolitionists to liberate the southern slaves. These secret methods called +into exercise counter means as those of circumvention. Among these last +mentioned was that of the legal imposition of a penalty on anyone who +would teach a slave to read or to write, which law was generally enacted +in the slave states, and the other was that of the fugitive slave law, +which was enacted September 18, 1850. + +Between the legislative bodies and the Christian denominations there was +no apparent conflict, and yet those interested in the evangelization of +the slaves recognized the necessity of intelligence in order to appreciate +the gospel. The practical result was that the legislature would enact its +laws and the churches would pursue their own courses in their own ways. In +the Alabama Baptist Association a step was taken, in 1828, that reveals +one of the bright sides of slavery. At that time the Alabama association +embraced a number of counties in the heart of the "black belt," where were +many of the largest slave owners of the state. + +Within the territory of that association was a remarkable negro named +Caesar, who belonged to John R. Blackwell. This slave showed not only +remarkable ability as a preacher, but possessed a rare character which was +highly esteemed by the whites. The missionary to the slaves at that time +was Rev. James McLemore, on whom Caesar won rapidly, and he often took the +slave preacher with him on his tours, and not infrequently had him to +preach in his stead. Mr. McLemore called the attention of the association +to the worth of this man, and proposed that he be bought from his master, +given his freedom, and be employed as a missionary to the slaves on the +plantations. This was accordingly done, through a committee of the body, +and the sum of $625 was paid for Caesar out of the treasury of the +association, and the remainder of the life of Caesar was given exclusively +to preaching as a free man. Exceedingly black as Caesar was, he was gladly +listened to by white auditors, as he would go here and there about the +country on his missionary tours. + +In another instance, the Alabama state convention sought to purchase a +gifted slave for the same purpose. There belonged to John Phillips, of +Cotton Valley, Macon County, a slave whose name was Dock, a large, +muscular and valuable man, who was a blacksmith on his master's +plantation. He and his master had been reared together, and were much +devoted to each other. In his younger days, Dock had been taught to read +and to write by his young master, who came at last to inherit him from his +father's estate. Mr. Phillips continued to teach Dock, who became a +preacher of note among his people, and who was widely esteemed by the +whites because of his Christian worth, wise influence on the slaves, and +because, too, of his gift as a preacher. He attracted the attention of +some of the prominent members of the convention, and the proposal was made +to purchase his freedom, and to send him forth as a missionary among the +blacks. An influential committee was appointed, one of which number was +the late Dr. Samuel Henderson, and in due time, the committee visited the +master with the view of negotiating the purchase. + +When the matter was submitted to the master he replied that he did not +wish to prevent the greatest good being done among the slaves, and +admitted that Dock was a tower of strength with his people, but added that +he regarded Dock indispensable to his plantation, because he was his chief +"driver," and his only reliable blacksmith. After much discussion, the +master consented to leave the matter for settlement to Dock himself. +Accordingly he and the committee of distinguished preachers repaired to +the blacksmith shop, called Dock out, who was wearing his long leather +apron, and had his sleeves rolled to his shoulders, while his face was +begrimed with smoke and soot. Mr. Phillips remained silent, and allowed +the preachers and Dock to negotiate concerning his purchase and consequent +freedom. + +Dock listened in silence while they proceeded to show him the advantages +which would accrue to him, in consequence of his freedom and the exercise +of his gifts as a preacher. When the committee had ended, Dock asked his +friend and master what he had to say to a proposal so novel, and the +master told him that it was left to him to decide. The blacksmith then +said: "Marse John, we were raised together, and have always been like +brothers. You give me all the freedom I want. You let me have a horse to +ride when I want it, and there has never been a word between us. No +greater kindness could I have, if I were free, but if you want to sell me, +I will go, not because I want to, but because you want to get rid of me. +Of course, I belong to you, and if you leave it to me, I'm going to stay +with you till one or the other of us dies." "That settles it, gentlemen," +said the master, and turning to Dock, he said, "You may go back to your +work." Dock lived many years, was a slave preacher of power, but was never +free. There is much of the inner history of the South of which the world +knows nothing. + + + + +THE CAMP MEETING + + +For the camp meeting, so long a popular institution in the South, we are +indebted to the people called Methodists. The originator of the camp +meeting seems to have been Lorenzo Dow, who adopted this as a popular +method of reaching the people of England in the earliest years of the +nineteenth century. It was so successful that the early Methodists adopted +it with much advantage in the new and growing states of America. Others +partly adopted this method, but none could ever equal the success of the +Methodists in its conduct. It remained a popular institution till the +beginning of the Civil War. + +Unique in many respects, the camp meeting rapidly won in popular favor. +Though religious, the camp meeting had the inviting side of an outing and +the dash of the picnic together, with the abandon attendant on a season of +religious worship in the woods. Its lack of restraint of formality and +conventionality, such as pertained to church worship, gave it a peculiar +tang of popularity. In the camp meeting there was a oneness of spirit, +with the total obliteration of favoritism where people could worship +without the fear of trenching on the rules of stilted propriety, and +without having to conform to style or aught else, but common sense +propriety. The preacher could preach as long as he might wish, and the +people could sing and shout without limit. The fresh, open air, the tented +grounds, social contact, and freedom of worship were the chief elements of +an old-time camp meeting. Certain points throughout the South became +famous as camp grounds, and remained so for full fifty years or more. That +the camp meeting was an occasion of vast good, no one familiar with it +would deny. To old and young alike it was always one of the prospective +focal points of genuine enjoyment. There was the zest of novelty of living +apart a week or ten days from the noisy world, in the midst of the most +congenial association. The approach of the season for the camp meeting +spurred the farmer to the time of "laying by" his crop, and excited the +diligence of the good housewife in hoarding eggs, butter and honey and of +fattening the turkeys and chickens, all for "the coming camp meeting." Nor +did the idea of denominationalism ever enter the minds of the people. +While it was a Methodist institution, those of other denominations shared +with equal interest in its promotion and success. The recreation afforded +was of the most wholesome type physically, mentally, socially, and +spiritually. + +A level tract of land in close proximity to a large spring of water was +usually selected, cleared of its undergrowth and fallen timbers, in the +midst of a populous region, and with surroundings of abundance in order to +provide against any emergency respecting man or beast. The grounds were +generally laid out in regular order after the fashion of a camp, and any +who might wish to do so were invited to pitch their tents, and share in +the general enjoyment of the occasion. The only restriction imposed were +those of good order and the observance of decent propriety about one's +tent. Disorder of no kind was tolerated, and if discovered, was promptly +removed. There were no rigid rules, the law being that of common sense +based on decency and propriety. + +The camp meeting was held at an annually stated time, and by the Christian +community was looked forward to with a sense of delight that must have +been akin to that of the ancient Israelites in their annual pilgrimages to +Jerusalem. For at least a week in advance of the beginning of the meeting, +there were those who were active in getting the grounds into condition for +the coming event, while those who were to tent on the grounds were engaged +in storing supplies and arranging for the comfort of the occupants of the +tents and cottages erected about the grounds. The tents were thickly sown +down with oat or wheat straw, and partitioned with curtains, in +accommodation to the different sexes. + +The chief building on the grounds was the place of worship, or the +tabernacle. This was usually a pavilion with permanent roof and seats and +deeply overstrewn with straw. Sometimes it was an immense tent which was +erected each year. The worship began with a sunrise prayer meeting, to +which the audience was summoned, as it was to all occasions of worship, by +the blowing of a large cow horn. Four services a day were held, one at +sunrise, another at midday, a third in the afternoon, and another at +night. No limitation of time was imposed on the services. They were as +liable to last four or five hours, as one. The matter was settled by the +interest, and not by the watch. Often after midnight the services were +still in progress. + +Near the center of the grounds was what was called the fire-stand, which +was a small platform four or five feet square, covered deeply in sand, on +which a fire was kept blazing by means of light-wood during the entire +night. This platform was supported by four strong supports, and the +resinous flame would irradiate all the grounds and surrounding forest. +About the camp, were the stalls for the stock, and the braying mules and +neighing horses served to remind one of the domestic conditions of the +camp. + +These occasions were gala ones to the young folk who were seen perched in +buggies about the grounds discussing themes that "dissolve in air away," +while more serious subjects were being conned under the roof of the +tabernacle. No class more gladly hailed the camp meeting than the +old-time, thrifty slave, who appeared on the scene with crude articles for +sale. The old black mammy was present with her coil of flaring bandana +about her head, and wearing her snowy apron, while she sold her long +ginger cakes, while the old uncle dispensed from an earthen jug good +"simmon beer," or corn beer, while others were venders of watermelons and +sugar cane. + +Other organizations more formal and formidable have come to take the place +of the old time camp meeting, but it is doubtful that they accomplish the +same beneficent results. The camp meeting was a social cement which +blended most beautifully with that which was spiritual in a wide region, +and in its discontinuance there is occasioned a gap which nothing has come +to fill. + + + + +THE STOLEN SLAVE + + +Rev. Dr. I. T. Tichenor, who was for many years pastor of the First +Baptist Church of Montgomery, later the president of the Polytechnic +Institute at Auburn, and still later corresponding secretary of the Home +Mission of the Southern Baptist Convention, relates the following story of +cruelty as connected with his pastorate at Montgomery. It was the habit of +Dr. Tichenor to preach to the slaves of Montgomery, every Sunday +afternoon, during his long pastorate in that city. + +Among the many hundred slaves who came to the service was a large, +muscular, yellow man, well advanced in years, whose infirmity was +supported by a large hickory stick, the peculiar thump of which always +signalized the coming of this old man into the church. The pastor was +sympathetically attracted to the old man because of his devotion, marked +silence, and physical infirmity. This particular slave rarely smiled, and +when the pastor would call on him to pray, which he sometimes did, Jesse +Goldthwaite, the crippled slave, would respond with a fervency rarely +heard. + +When the emancipation of the slaves came as a result of the close of the +war, there was much jubilation, but it seemed not to affect Jesse +Goldthwaite. Conscious that his end was near, freedom could be of but +slight benefit to him. The distinguished white pastor noticed that the old +man was not the least cheerful, in the midst of the wild demonstrations of +racial joy, and the shadow of the sorrow under which the aged slave lived +never disappeared. After the slaves had been free for some time, Jesse +came one day during the week into the study of Dr. Tichenor, and +addressing him as "master," as he was in the habit of doing, wished to +know if he would be good enough to write some letters for him. + +Dr. Tichenor assured him that it would be a pleasure to serve him. With +difficulty the old ex-slave took a seat that was offered him, and leaning +on his big stick began by saying that when he was stolen from his home in +Maryland, his father, mother, three brothers and a sister were then living +in a thrifty village in that state, the name of which village was given. +But this was just fifty-two years before. Jesse indulged the hope that +some of them still lived, though he had not heard from them since he was +kidnaped at the age of eighteen. + +Never having heard his story, Dr. Tichenor encouraged him to give it. +Jesse's father and his family were free. The family lived on the outskirts +of a Maryland village where the father owned a good home and a small farm. +Having occasion to send Jesse on an errand to the shores of the +Chesapeake, the stalwart youth of eighteen, muscular, large, active and +bright, was seized by some slave traders, and forcibly taken on board a +small vessel and carried to Richmond, where in the slave market he was +sold on the block. He protested that he was free, and was forcibly brought +hither, but no attention was given to his defense. From Virginia he was +brought to Montgomery, and bought by the Goldthwaites, in which family he +had been for more than fifty years. On being sold at Montgomery he again +protested, but was answered by the statement that he had been bought in +good faith, and the fault was not that of his present owners. This, he +said, destroyed all hope, and he knew that he was doomed to a life of +slavery, from which condition there was no possible appeal. This made him +desperate, and he resolved on a course of perpetual rebellion. His +mistress sympathized with him in his condition, after she learned his +story, and sought to show him every possible kindness, but his refractory +disposition brought him under the stern discipline of his master, who +sought to subdue him at any cost. While he was forced to succumb, he was +not reconciled to his fate, and resisted in every way possible. He was +notorious as a thief, liar, and profane swearer, and in his desperation he +resolved to drown his troubles in drunkenness. Exposure on cold nights, +while drunk, induced the rheumatism and impaired his sight almost to +blindness. + +The years wore wearily on, and when he was brought under the influence of +the preaching of Dr. Tichenor, Jesse became a Christian, and thenceforth +he sought to lead a subdued and submissive life, but his frame was now a +wreck. Advancing age had bent his form, and it was with difficulty that he +could see. While submissive, Jesse was never cheerful, but lived under the +burden of a wrong enforced, from which there was no possible deliverance. +Now, at the age of seventy-two, he came to Dr. Tichenor to request that he +write to Maryland, and if possible, to learn whether any of his relatives, +who never knew of his fate, were still surviving. Letters were written, +one to the postmaster of the village, and to others known personally to +Dr. Tichenor, at Baltimore, and elsewhere. + +For several weeks the old man would trudge with difficulty to the pastor's +study to learn of the result of the letters, but no favorable answer came. +In order to cheer the old man, and to prolong hope, Dr. Tichenor would +write to yet others, but nothing could be learned of the whereabouts of +any of those sought by Jesse Goldthwaite. The aged ex-slave would leave +the presence of the pastor with a heavy groan each time, and express the +hope that when he should come the next time he might be able to learn of +his loved ones of the long ago. Finally the old man ceased to come. It was +thought that continued discouragement had checked his visits, but when Dr. +Tichenor sought to learn of the strange absence of Jesse, he ascertained +that he had been dead for weeks. In a negro cabin he had died in +Montgomery, and had been quietly buried by his own people in the pauper +graveyard. + +In the annals of the horrors of slavery no story can perhaps excel that of +the doom of Jesse Goldthwaite. Born a free man, and stolen in the prime of +his robust youthhood, manacled and sold into slavery, he lived more than a +half century in this condition, and when he died, he was buried in a grave +of poverty. + + + + +HAL'S LAKE + + +In the fork of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, about fifty miles above +Mobile, is said to be a lake, beautiful and clear, which is called Hal's +Lake. The name is derived from an incident that occurred in the days of +slavery. A runaway slave from a Mississippi plantation found refuge and +secretion in this dismal resort, and hither he lured other slaves, all of +whom lived in the region of the lake for an unknown time. + +Having run away from a plantation in Mississippi, Hal, a stalwart slave, +made his way across the Tombigbee, and on reaching the swamp of big cane, +tangled underbrush and large trees, he found his way into it with great +difficulty, where he discovered that the bears of the swamp had regular +paths, the tall canes on the sides of which being worn smooth by their +fur. For a day or two the runaway subsisted on the wild fruits of the +swamp, but on exploring further toward the north, he found that there were +plantations on the opposite side of the Alabama River, and by means of the +use of a piece of wood to support him in swimming across, he made his way, +a hungry man, to a plantation at night, where he told his story and +procured food. + +Hal soon became an expert forager, as was indicated by the loss of an +occasional pig, lamb, goat, or turkey from the plantation. Not content +with his own freedom, he determined to bring his family to this swampy +retreat. Making his way back to his distant home, he succeeded at night in +mounting his family on two or three choice horses, and being familiar +with the country in that region, he chose to travel during the first night +along plantation paths, and the next morning after leaving the home, he +and his were fully thirty miles away. The horses were turned loose, and +the remainder of the journey was pursued at night, while the fleeing +slaves would sleep during the day. When the Tombigbee was reached, he +succeeded in conveying his family over by lashing some logs together. +After a perilous passage, they finally reached the swamp, and set about +providing a temporary home on the lake, by constructing a booth of canes +and saplings, covering it with bark. + +In his trips to the neighboring plantations across the river for +necessaries, Hal induced other slaves to join him in his safe retreat. +After a time, he had a colony in a quarter where white men had never gone, +and on the shores of the lake chickens crew, turkeys gobbled, with the +mingled notes of the squealing of pigs and the bleating of goats. + +Hal was the sovereign of the tiny commonwealth, and in due course of time +he found it unnecessary himself to go on foraging expeditions, and would +send others. Still the population of the colony grew, as an occasional +runaway slave would be induced to join it. In those days of "underground +railroads," the continued absence of a slave from a plantation would be +taken to mean that he had fled by some of the numerous means of escape, +and after a period, search for the missing would be given up. Not only was +there a mysterious disappearance of slaves, but that of pigs, chickens, +sheep and other domestic animals, as well. The secret of this slave haunt +was well preserved, and the news of its security became an inducement to a +large number of slaves, some from a considerable distance, to join Hal's +colony beside the lake. + +Not only was Hal autocratic in his immured fastness between the rivers and +in the jungle of cane, but he became tyrannical, which in turn, provoked +revolt. A burly slave refused to obey his dictation, and Hal straightway +expelled him from the colony, and exiled him. Bent on revenge, the exile +made his way back to his master, surrendered and told the story fatal to +Hal's colony. The mysteries of several years were thus cleared up to +planters along the rivers. The exile became the guide to the retreat where +was ensconced the slave colony, and with packs of dogs and guns, the +stronghold was surrounded and the slaves captured. But slight resistance +to the dogs was offered, and the submissive black men and their families +were conveyed across the river, the ownership of each ascertained, and +each was sent, under guard, to his owner. As for Hal and his family, the +sheriff notified the owner on the distant Mississippi plantation of their +capture, and he came, in due time, proved his chattels, and they were +taken back to their original home. + +How long they might have remained in this secure retreat, but for the +intolerance of the original leader, it is impossible to say. Hal was not +unlike many another with advantages vastly above his--power made him +top-heavy, and soft seductions were turned into tyranny, all of which +reminds us of the comment of Artemus Ward on the conduct of the Puritans +of New England. Artemus said: "They came to this country to worship God +according to their own consciences, and to keep other people from +worshipin' Him accordin' to their'n." + +The capture of Hal and of his party led to the discovery of this +phenomenal body of clear water in that interior retreat not only, but to +the discovery of bears, which fact made it the hunting ground for big game +for many years. It is said that much big game is still to be found in that +region between the two great rivers. + +How much of truth there is in the details of this story which comes to us +from the old slave days, none can tell, but it reveals to us one of the +features of slave life. That the story has its foundation in fact, there +seems to be no doubt, and it still lingers as a tradition in that quarter +of the state. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Text on page 530 is misprinted in the original. This error is presented in +this version as it is in the original. + + Gen. William Henry Harrison having resigned as major general in the + regular army was disbanded, and the troops returned home. him. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Makers and Romance of Alabama History, by +B. F. Riley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41485 *** |