USA > Alabama > Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix > Part 15
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Col. Tunstall was a high-toned gentleman, dignified in his deportment, and had very little sympathy or communication with persons whose manners were not refined by education and society. He possessed a strong and agreeable voice, wliich made him a good reader while Clerk of the House of Representatives for fourteen years. He dressed well, and always in good taste, but never married. A bill had been introduced securing to married women the property they owned at the time of marriage, and, that which they might afterwards acquire by purchase or inheri- tance. While the bill was under discussion, it is said of Col. Tunstall, who was standing by the fire listening attentively, that he remarked to a member, "that is a good bill; I wish it may pass, for I think it will do me some good. In my attentions to the ladies, I have found several who were willing to entrust their persons with me, but not one that would go to the same extent with their property. If the bill becomes a law, I think my chance for matrimony will be much improved." Col. Tunstall, like many other lofty and honorable minds, never attached any value to money. He was the uncle of Mrs. C. C. Clay, Jr., who adorned society at Washington and Richmond several years, while her husband was Senator in Congress.
GIDEON BLACKBURN FRIERSON was born in Tennessee, and when a boy, accompanied his father to Alabama, who settled in
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Tuskaloosa county, where young Frierson read law, and after his admission to the bar, he became a law partner of Lincoln Clark, Esq., in Pickensville, Pickens county. In 1834, Mr. G. B. Fri- erson was elected Assistant Clerk of the House of Representa- "tives, and in 1836, when Col. Tunstall was elected Secretary of State, he succeeded him as Principal Clerk, to which office he was elected again in 1837. During the session for the lat- ter year, Mr. Frierson was elected Solicitor for the 7th Judicial Circuit, and changed his residence to Livingston. In 1842, he was elected Judge of the County Court of Sumter county, over the Hon. Henry F. Scruggs, the incumbent. In 1847, he was a candidate for Judge of the Circuit Court, in opposition to the Hon. Samuel Chapman, and was defeated. He died in 1853.
Mr. Frierson had a well formed head, a fine, commanding per- son, and was quite agreeable in his address. There was a painful event in his life which it may not be amiss to notice, especially as it reflects no discredit on his memory, and may serve to restrain violent men from rashness in seeking revenge for supposed inju- ries. I give the particulars substantially as they were related by Mr. S. G. Frierson, a brother of G. B. Frierson.
Rufus K. Anderson, Esq., formerly of Tennessee, resided in Pickens, and was a Senator in the Legislature from 1829 to 1833. He had previously killed his own brother-in-law, Thomas P. Taul, of Franklin county, Tennessee, and was arraigned for mur- der. He was on trial eighteen days, during which time he was defended by Col. Felix Grundy, the eminent advocate, who suc- ceeded in procuring his acquittal by the jury. .
Mr. Anderson was said to be an over-bearing, reckless man, who insulted whom he pleased, and was generally regarded as a dangerous man. Peaceable men avoided difficulties with him, and would often submit to exactions rather than enter into a deadly conflict. To oppose him in any way, or to incur his resentment, brought life into jeopardy. It was reported that he had beaten one of his slaves to death in his barn, and had left the slave hang- ing from a beam. Several persons happened to pass near the barn, and from curiosity peeped through the cracks to see the negro, if there. Among those who looked in for discovery was Mr. Frierson. It appears that Mr. Anderson was then absent
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from home. In the meantime, Mr. Frierson made a journey to Mississippi. When Mr. Anderson was informed of the liberty which had been taken at his barn, he declared vengeance, and set out in pursuit of Mr. Frierson to take his life. At one place in Mississippi, he dined at the house where his intended victim had stayed over night, and on learning that the latter would probably return the next day for a bundle he had left, Mr. Anderson said that he would remain, as he wished to see him. Providentially, the bundle was sent for by the person to whom it was addressed, and Mr. Frierson went in another direction. Anderson kept on his track from Mississippi to Pickensville, and arrived in a few hours after Mr. Frierson had reached home, April, 1834. The latter was in his office when he was informed of the threats of Anderson to take his life, and was advised by his friends to be prepared. He loaded a double-barrelled gun, and awaited the attack. Anderson soon appeared before the office, and called out in a loud, angry voice, "Come forth, Gideon, like a man. I am after your blood, and am determined to have it. Face the thing at once, and let it be over."
In the meantime, Mr. Frierson had retired from his office through a back door, and came facing the street where Anderson stood. On the latter perceiving him, he advanced with his pistol drawn, swearing that the time had come, and he would make sure work. Mr. Frierson discharged one load without effect, and, as Anderson still came on, he emptied the other barrel with better aim. A number of shot entered the breast and shoulder of An- derson, who, in the meantime, had fired one pistol, and drawn another. Mr. Frierson held his ground, and was about to club his gun. To ward it off, Anderson picked up a chair, which he held before him as a shield, when Mr. Frierson struck a blow with his gun which shivered the chair into fragments, and came down upon the head of Anderson with such force that the cock pene- trated his brain, when he fell to the ground and died in a few minutes. Thus, the bloody encounter terminated, fatally to the aggressor, and much to the relief of the community. The rela- tives and friends of the deceased appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the result, and no steps were taken against Mr. Frierson for the homicide. The disagreeable necessity was forced upon him,
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and he faced the peril like a man of firmness and courage in self- defense. No blame from any quarter ever attached to him for the deed. His memory has no stain from this or any other cause.
CHAPTER X.
Public Men in 1840-Sketches of Character.
In a previous chapter, it has been intimated that the Legisla- ture of 1840 consisted of men far above mediocrity. That ses- sion was in fact marked by abilities of a high order, equal to any that has preceded or that has succeeded it in Alabama. Many events of the session, showing the mind and experience in the two Houses, have been already noticed. It now remains to give a brief outline of some of the individual characters; and in select- ing names it is a source of regret that the limits of this work necessarily preclude a more extended sketch, embracing other names justly entitled to commemoration.
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SENATE.
1. WILLIAM J. ALSTON first appeared in the Legislature as a Representative from Marengo in 1837. In 1839, he was elected to the Senate, and after serving his term of three years, he retired until 1849, when he was elected a Representative to Congress over his able competitor, Calvin C. Sellers, Esq., of Wilcox. After his term in Congress had expired, he was again elected to the Legislature in the Lower House. Thence he withdrew from public life, and still resides in Marengo, highly respected by all parties. While he figured in the political arena, he displayed great activity and zeal as a Whig, before that party was absorbed by another organization in 1855. He was a gentleman of fine talents and culture, of engaging address, and pleasant delivery in
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debate. No man had stronger convictions in the line of duty, and none was more courteous in discussion. The same measure of respect which he required from others, he cheerfully accorded to his opponents on all occasions.
JEFFERSON BUFORD came to the Senate from Barbour county in 1840, a Whig of fiery temperament. He had acted a gallant part in the Indian war of 1836, and was quite popular. He was a gentleman of extensive reading, and of punctilious scholarship, always abounding in poetic thoughts and language in debate. Somewhat erratic in his opinions and temperament, he said many things with such bitterness and severity as materially to weaken his influence as a legislator. His impulses were noble and daring, far beyond the common necessities of life, and he seemed to live in an atmosphere of his own creation. It was never my privilege to hear him speak at the bar; but while fin the Senate, he made his mark more like a comet, brilliant and eccentric in its course, than as a fixed star, emitting a gentle radiance in the Heavens. Nor was this impression of his character at all diminished by the fact that, in 1855, he raised a company of emigrants, with more or less of a military organization, under peculiar rules of his own, to assist in making Kansas a slave State. He and his followers spent about a year in the attempt, on Kansas' soil, and then returned to Alabama, depressed by the failure of the experiment. In 1861, Mr. Buford was a delegate in the Secession Convention at Montgomery, to succeed General Alpheus Baker, who, at an advanced stage of the session, resigned his seat to raise a Company or Regiment for the war, about the close of which Mr. Buford died. He was a gentleman of high, chivalrous character, with talents and infirmities, and in the grave may the latter be forgot- ten, while his good qualities, his genius and his honor, shall ever be held in pleasing remembrance.
3. JOHN R. CLARKE was a native of North Carolina, and removed to Alabama in 1834, settling in Benton county. In 1839, he was elected to the Senate, and in 1842, he was defeated by Thomas A. Walker, Esq. Mr. Clarke was again elected to the Senate in 1845, and after serving out the term, he retired
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from public life. He possessed fine common sense, and great moral worth. His reading was very extensive. On a slight acquaintance, his large stores of information was not so manifest as upon a mature knowledge of his real value. Not only was his intellect well. improved by literary cultivation, but his heart abounded in kindness and sympathy, and with warm and lasting friendships. He died in September, 1870, at an advanced age.
4. GERARD W. CREAGH, a native of South Carolina, was among the early graduates of Columbia College, in that State. He came to Alabama while it was a part of the Mississippi Territory, and was a Lieutenant in the battle with the Indians at Burnt Corn, in 1813, where he was severely wounded, after a most gallant contest with the savages. His Captain was the late Gen. Samuel Dale, of Mississippi, whose life and adventures have been pub- lished by the Hon. J. H. F. Claiborne. An account of this ex- pedition is given in Pickett's History of Alabama, in which the name of Lieut. Creagh is honorably introduced. With his high literary culture, and varied information, Mr. Creagh, after the war, adopted the trade of a merchant, in Clarke county, and was suc- cessful in acquiring property. In 1838, he was elected a Repre- sentative, and in 1839, was returned to the Senate, in which he continued to serve until his death, about the year 1850. He was a gentleman of the strictest integrity, and was always appointed Chairman of the Committee on Accounts and Claims. His vigil- ance in guarding against fraud and extravagance was proverbial; so much so that he was called the "watch-dog of the Treasury," by way of commendation. After a claim had been indorsed by his report, there was no further use of inquiry, and it was at once allowed. Mr. Creagh was a modest gentleman, whose real worth did not show itself at first sight. His reputation is a proud in- heritance to those who represent the blood and the name.
5. JAMES LAFAYETTE COTTRELL, of Lowndes, belonged to the Calhoun school of politics, and for several years was a member of the Lower House. In 1838, he was elected to the Senate by the Democratic party, with which he had identified himself, and in 1840, was elected President of the Senate without opposition.
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He often participated in the debates on the floor, and, on the Gen- eral Ticket question, made the leading speech in favor of that measure; the power of which may be inferred from the fact that he was requested by the Democratic Convention to write it out for publication, which he omitted to do, probably from a want of leisure. He was a clear-headed and logical debater, with strong party bias in his arguments, and at times a little petulant in dis- cussion. After serving his term of three years in the Senate, his next candidacy was for a seat in Congress, in 1846, to fill the un- expired term of the Hon. William Lowndes Yancey, who had resigned. Samuel Beman, Esq., of Wetumpka, the half-brother of Mr. Yencey, was the competitor of Mr. Cottrell, and came within 38 votes of producing a tie in the district. This small ma- jority was secured by Mr. Cottrell, after a hard-fought field, in which his competitor won laurels by the tact and ability he dis- played in the canvass. After his return from Congress, Mr. Cot- trell, in 1848, was placed on the, Electoral Ticket for Gen. Cass, but resigned, and removed to Florida, where he has since acted a prominent part in the political fortunes of that State.
6. GEN. DENNIS DENT was originally from Maryland. During the war in Florida, he raised a company of volunteers in 1836, and served a campaign against the Indians, and returned to Tus- kaloosa with great popularity. After serving in the House, and after Gen. Crabb was elected to Congress, he succeeded him in the Senate, in 1838, and continued to serve in that body until 1849-'50, at which session he was chosen President of the Senate. This terminated his public life. He afterwards engaged in com- mercial pursuits, and became a partner with B. B. Fontaine, Esq., in the commission business, under the firm of Fontaine & Dent, which proved disastrous in a financial view, and Gen. Dent, in his old age, was embarrassed, and his large property, in a great meas- ure, absorbed to pay the liabilities of the Mobile house. In poli- tics, he was an ardent Whig, and took a very active part for Gen. Harrison, in 1840, and for, Mr. Clay, in 1844. He was quite suc- cessful in acquiring the favor of the people by his plain and win- ning address, with a kind word for everybody, and his purse always open to the poor and needy. Gen. Dent frequently engaged in
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debate, was sensible in his views and quite pleasant in his manner. He was a man of mark in his day, always triumphant at the ballot- box. For many years he had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died in 1860.
7. DIXON HALL was many years a Senator from Autauga county, including the session of 1840, when he shared freely in the dis- cussions and business of the Senate. He possessed a fine person, a strong voice, and was always ready for a tilt in defense of the Democratic party, its principles, or its usages. His estimate of men appeared to be not very high, judging by the motives which he imputed to others, and which seemed to influence his own judgment. Consequently his views lacked the elevation which a more generous faith in human nature would inspire. While he managed and wrangled adroitly to gain his point, he often forgot the opinion which a more scrupulous mind might entertain of the matter in hand. But this error was common to active politicians like Mr. Hall, who believed that nothing was done while any- thing remained to be accomplished. After his career in Alabama, he removed to Mississippi, where he died.
8. BENJAMIN HUDSON, of Franklin, was many years in the Senate, where he was a laborious, efficient member, always on the principal committees, and usually had much to do with the condi- tion of the banks. He was a straight-forward man, without du- plicity, and was faithful in all the trusts committed to him. Often, while a debate was progressing, or when a measure needed a brief explanation, he would address a few words relevant to the question and take his seat. In this respect, his example was worthy of all imitation by other Senators, who usually inflicted long harangues on their audience, without any benefit to the cause they repre- sented. In social intercourse, Mr. Hudson was very pleasant, and he might have included among his personal friends many who did not belong to the Democratic party. He died of cancer, in 1848.
9. JOHN EDMUND JONES, of Sumter, came to the Senate, in 1840, by a majority of 4 votes, over Samuel B. Boyd, Esq., out of 2,500 cast in the county. His faculties for electioneering were
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superior. Full of resources in his own mind, by rigid discipline and cultivation, and accustomed to face large assemblies of the people, when he officiated in the pulpit as a Methodist preacher, he appeared before the masses with very great effect, although his competitor, Mr. Boyd, was a gentleman of acknowledged abilities at the bar, and a good stump orator, full of anecdote and pleasant humor. A victory over such a rival was no small achievement. His first speech in the Senate placed Mr. Jones at once among the most ready and skilful debaters. He was in the bloom of life, attractive and graceful in person, with a sonorous voice, quite mu- sical in its modulations, and with language of great beauty and force, he could pour forth his arguments, his appeals, or his sar- casm, with powerful effect, always earnest, and often impassioned. Had he been a little more liberal toward his opponents, especially in construing their motives and plans as a party, he would have secured more sympathy, and his labors, in the end, would have been crowned with greater success. In short, had Mr. Jones divested himself of all prejudice, and awarded to his political adversaries the same honesty of intention, and the same patriotism, which he claimed for himself, which as a Christian gentleman he might well afford to do, he would have been perfectly invincible. His bitter- ness as a partisan impaired his usefulness in the Legislature. After his term in the Senate expired, he was, in 1844, elected Solicitor of the Mobile Circuit, over Percy Walker, Esq .; and, in 1847, he was elected Judge of the City Court of Mobile, which office he continued to hold until declining health compelled him to retire. He died about the year 1854.,
10. DR. PEYTON KING was elected to the Senate from Pickens county, in 1838, and served a number of years, always sensible and vigilant, and was justly ranked among the sound thinkers and useful men of the Senate. He was zealously attached to the Whig party, and suffered no occasion to pass when its principles were assailed, without taking up the defense. Dr. King was open and manly in character, and wore no disguises. He still lives to enjoy the confidence and good opinion of his fellow citizens.
11. HENRY C. LEA, of Perry, had a noble person, and a look of majesty in his expressive face. He seemed born to govern 11
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men, with a tone of character firm, yet conciliatory, and a smile that won all hearts. Such he appeared when he came into the Senate in 1836, with a bright future in prospect. In 1839, he was reelected, and took position with the giants of the Senate; with Cottrell, Thornton, Terry, and Oliver. Mr. Lea bore himself with peculiar dignity in debate, and with great courtesy toward his opponents, except when they ventured at personalities or departed from the usual decorum. Then he was scathing and blistering in reply. A few scenes of this description occurred on the floor of the Senate. He was returned to the House of Representatives in 1851, and was at that session elected Solicitor of the Second Judicial Circuit. It is much to be regretted, that, in the latter years of his life he became the victim of intemperance, and the man of giant intellect and person was lost in the shadow which pursued him. The fact is here stated with much hesitation and regret, and nothing but the hope of serving others by holding up the melancholy result has induced its notice here. The wreck of such a man brings no dishonor upon his kindred. He died about the year 1855. The second wife of President Houston, of Texas, was a sister of Mr. Lea.
12. FELIX GRUNDY MCCONNELL was a Tennesseean by birth, and settled in Talladega, as a lawyer, about 1834. In 1836, he was elected Clerk of the County Court; in 1838, a Representative in the Legislature; and a Senator in 1839. In 1842, he was elected a Major-General. He continued in the Senate until 1843, when he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, and suc- ceeded over his Whig competitor, W. P. Chilton, Esq. In 1845, he was reelected, as an independent candidate, over "Samuel F. Rice, Esq., the Democratic nominee, and while at Washington City Gen. McConnell committed suicide, in September 1846.
What public man in Alabama, or elsewhere, ever made such strides in the way of advancement in less than ten years? No obstacle, it seems, could impede his onward march. He moved like a conqueror, driving the ablest opposition before him. Surely there must have been a secret power in such a man, such a victor. To those who knew him, the mystery is at once explained by the wit and congeniality with which he captivated universal favor,
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even in spite of defects and vices which, unfortunately, disfigured his otherwise noble character. His originality was fresh and true to nature. No attempt at description could be successful.
When Col. Lehmanowsky, a Polish officer, who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, was in Tuskaloosa delivering temperance lec- tures, in 1842, nearly all the members of the Legislature were present on one occasion, besides a vast concourse of citizens. After the lecture had ended, Gen. McConnell rose in the audience and moved that a temperance society be at once formed, which he would be the first to join. The motion was carried by acclamation, and hundreds took the pledge on the spot. A number of beauti- ful speeches were made on the occasion, but none had the pathos and overwhelming effect of Gen. McConnell's. He confessed and mourned how he had trifled away his past life; how he had abused his faculties by the too free indulgence in the use of ardent spirits; but his eyes were now opened, and he was clothed in his right mind, resolved by the assistance of Heaven to be a new man in future. His friends heard the resolution with delight, and hoped that he might have the self-control to make it good by a permanent reform, but still they had their fears, which proved too well founded. The old habit was revived, and in four years that noble man passed from the halls of Congress to a suicide's grave ! What a voice of warning to the young, issues from the cemetery !
About the close of his last term in Congress, after Texas had been incorporated in the Union, and the policy of adding to the national territory seemed the order of the day, Gen. McConnell offered a resolution in the House of Representatives to annex Ire- land to the United, States, which, under the rules of the House, the Speaker declared to be out of order. It was probably a joke, and was so considered by all parties; but it is significant of the character of Gen. McConnell, who was bold enough to say or attempt anything which was responsive to the great heart of hu- manity. Was not the statesmanship of Gen. McConnell for grasp- ing Ireland more promising of benefits than the acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Government, by the diplomacy of Secre- tary Seward ? There may possibly be a future to decide the ques- tion. The present authorities of the United States seem to be exploring new seas without any chart to guide them, or to point
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out rocks and breakers in the voyage. St. Domingo has a place in the picture.
13. HUGH McVAY was a patriarch in the legislative history of Alabama, having commenced his career while it was a Territory, and for a period of forty years, with slight intermission, was con- nected with the State Government in one or other of its principal departments. In 1819, he was a delegate from the county of Lauderdale, in the Convention at Huntsville, which framed the first Constitution of Alabama. He was elected President of the Senate in 1836, and became ex-officio Governor on the resignation of Gov. Clay, who had been elected to the Senate of the United States. His messages were unpretending, plain, frank, and honest, in keeping with his whole character from the time he entered public life in the zenith of manhood, to an advanced age, when he voluntarily retired. He was a Senator in 1840, a Democrat in principle, and yet so liberal in his feelings as to differ from the majority, when he believed wrong or injustice was likely to be done to his political opponents, an example of which was given by his vote against the General Ticket bill, he being the only Demo- . crat who opposed that measure. Occasionally he made brief re- marks on the floor, never anything like a formal speech with flour- ishes and pretensions to win applause. It was more like a ven- erable father, with his sons around him, communicating wholesome advice-to be fair and just to all men, and to walk uprightly. He was always heard with great deference and respect, of which no man was more worthy. No blemish rested upon his name; but he was loved and trusted by all men, and was indeed a patriot without guile, and a citizen without reproach. He was a planter of large means, and a professor of religion, having been many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died about the year 1850, at, probably, not less than eighty-five years of age.
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