USA > Alabama > Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix > Part 36
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JOSEPH PHELAN, of Tuskaloosa, was first elected Assistant Clerk of the House in 1838, and was reelected in 1839 and 1840. In 1842, and for several years in succession, he was elected Clerk of the House. In 1845, he had opposition in a very respectable gentleman, and received every vote of the House, his competitor not receiving a single vote. This was painful to the kind feelings of Mr. Phelan, who sympathised with the defeated man more than anybody else.
The character of Mr. Phelan was always moral and exemplary. He possessed strong religious emotions, and was a man of deep piety. In 1847, he entered the ministry of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and labored with marked success in the several appointments to which he was sent by the Conference. His health failing, he located, and settled in Coosa county. In 1853, he was elected Secretary of the Senate, and reëlected in 1855. By this time the condition of his health brought him down to a sick room, where he lingered until the latter part of 1858, when he died-a man without reproach, universally respected for his consistent Christian deportment and his high social qualities. At an earlier period of his life he married Miss Laura Powell, a sis- ter of Col. James R. Powell.
MARION A. BALDWIN, the successful candidate for Solicitor of the 8th Circuit, was a native Alabamian, and from his election to his death was engaged in the public service. In 1847, he was elected Attorney-General of the State, which office, after the. removal of the Seat of Government to Montgomery, embraced the Solicitorship of the 8th Circuit. In 1851, again in 1855, and again in 1859 and 1863, he was reelected, and continued in office until the overthrow of the Confederate cause, making a period of twenty-two years in which he was engaged as a prosecuting officer for the State, during which time his efficiency was acknowledged, so that no complaint was heard of a want of faithfulnesss, or that the majesty of the law, or the dignity of the State, had in any degree been compromised. He represented the State in all cases in which it was a party, with an ability that fully came up to the high standard of official and professional duty, and the same elevated tone of character was maintained in all the rela- tions of life.
The exalted qualities of Col. Baldwin were obvious to all. As a man, his good nature, his accommodating disposition, his pleas- ant manner, his cheerful smile and beaming countenance made
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him a general favorite. Entirely free from moroseness, his ready and winning response to the kind salutations of friends, was a joy of itself, and will long be remembered by hundreds and thou- sands who have respected and admired him. Of enemies he had but few, if any; for none could be his enemy, unless from feel- ings of envy. He was so kind and self-sacrificing in his inter- course with men, that I never knew how any could dislike him. His earthly career closed in August, 1865, in the meridian of life, with bright prospects from mature character and influence among his fellow-men. The name of "Gus" Baldwin will, wherever mentioned, fall pleasantly upon the ear thoughout the generation that knew him.
RUSH ELMORE, a son of Gen. John Elmore, was raised in Autauga county, and came to the bar a year or two before this contest for the Solicitorship in 1843. He served in the Mexican war as Captain, and returned home with a good name for bearing, and correct deportment as an officer. He was soon after elected Brigadier-General of militia. Continuing the practice of the law until 1854, he was appointed by President Pierce a Judge of the United States Court in Kansas, and afterward made his resi- dence there, except that during the war between the States, he retired to Texas as a climate more congenial to his political feelings. Not long thereafter he died.
Judge Elmore was a gentleman of great warmth of social feel- ings, which were cultivated and developed in his intercourse with his fellow-citizens. He was honorable in his bearing and dealings, and when he departed from Alabama to Kansas, he left behind him many warm friends who had already become attached to him though he was still considered as belonging to the class of young men.
GEORGE C. BALL was a native of Virginia, where he was lib- erally educated. On his removal to Alabama, he settled in Mont- gomery as a member of the legal profession, and was for several years associated in the practice with Charles Cromelin, Esq. In 1848, he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court, an office he held many years and then resigned. He married a sister or Col. Charles T. Pollard, of Montgomery, an alliance which secured him a strong influence.
Mr. Ball was a gentleman of fine person and culture, with rare conversational powers. In addition to his legal attainments, he possessed a business capacity which opened up to him a successful future. His social qualities were of a high order, and indulged to excess, until that unguarded habit fastened upon him which too often enslaves a warm, generous and confiding nature like his.
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He died before his day-star had reached its meridian. In the · amenities of social and official life, which the writer enjoyed in friendly intercourse with him for several years, Mr. Ball had but few equals. He was kind to everybody but himself.
J. MCCALEB WILEY was born in Cabarras county, North Car- olina, in 1806. While he was at school his father removed to Alabama, and in 1823 he came to his father in Lawrence county, and in a few years he began a career of adventures.
From North-Alabama, Mr. Wiley removed to Dallas county, and thence emigrated to Louisiana in 1829. Being in bad health he was advised by his friends to spend the winter of 1832-3 on the Gulf of Mexico. Accordingly he went to Matamoras, and stayed there until the first of February. He then started across the country to Paral, and was robbed on the journey. He man- aged to get down to Tampico where he was aided by the Ameri- cans, and he again started. He found a caravan at Papanela, and went with it to the city of Puebla. Thence he set out for Mazat- lan on the Pacific, and being two and a half days on the journey, he was again robbed, and then went back to the Gulf at Tuespan where had spent some time. Whilst there he was induced by Gen. Santa Anna to join the regular army, and became his Aid- de-Camp, with the command of a Major of Infantry, in Octo- ber, 1833. He remained in the Mexican army until 1836, when he deserted.
In the meantime, Major Wiley passed through many perilous adventures, in battles and otherwise. Among them, he was ordered to Texas in 1836, and on refusing to go, he was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be shot. He was confined in the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, at Vera Cruz, when the battle of San Jacinto was fought on the 21st of April, 1836, and was finally discharged from the Castle, and from arrest, without any intima- tion from any human being as to whom he owed his deliverance. He always thought, however, that there was a certain mystic influ- ence which, by its labor of love, wrought his liberation. On his release from imprisonment he was ordered to duty.
At this time, the Americans in Mexico were in very bad odor, and he took the first private opportunity to escape, and to return to Alabama, since which time he has remained a quiet citizen, with enough of romance in his early manhood to render old age the more tranquil and indulgent.
After his return from Mexico to Alabama, in 1836, Mr. Wiley settled in Bibb county. In 1839, Chancellor Crenshaw appointed him Register in Chancery, when he removed to Clayton, Barbour county, where he continued to reside until January, 1850. He then removed to Troy, Pike county, his present home.
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In politics, Mr. Wiley was an old fashioned Whig, and in 1850 and 1851, he took an active part with the Union men to prevent the mishaps which have since occurred. At an earlier period, so far back as 1838, he was a candidate before the Legislature for the office of Solicitor, and was defeated by F. S. Jackson, Esq. As some recognition of his claims to public favor he was elected Major-General of Militia, in the Barbour Division. In 1852, Gov. Crawford, the Secretary of War, appointed him one of the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy at West-Point.
Gen. Wiley was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons, in Alabama, of which institution he is a zealous member. In 1865, he was appointed, by Gov. Parsons, Judge of the Eighth Circuit, but was beaten before the people by Gen. Clayton. In 1866, he was elected to Congress from the Montgomery District, to supply the place of Major Freeman, but was not permitted to take his seat. When the reconstruction measures of Congress took effect in Alabama, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court- holding the office now, (1871). In social circles, Gen. Wiley is affable, communicative, and companionable.
Although some of the gentlemen who are noticed as candidates in the preceding pages of this chapter, may not have been con- nected with public life, to the extent of acting a part in history, still it has been deemed proper to refer to them, briefly, while passing through the crowd, to which circumstances have brought the author of this work in a relation more or less familiar. In the next chapter, the course of legislative action is resumed, with a number of personal sketches.
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CHAPTER XXI.
Session of 1843 Continued-New Senators-Sketches of the House.
But few changes had been made in the Senate by the elections of 1843. John W. Bishop succeeded Gen. McConnell; John A. Winston took the place of Mr. J. E. Jones; Gen. Moses Kelly succeeded Mr. Baylor; Dr. Berney succeeded Judge Hunter; Mr. Robert S. Hardaway followed Mr. Buford; Robert Dougherty succeeded Dr. Dailey; Mr. W. L. Yancey succeeded Mr. Hall, and Solomon McAlpin succeeded to the seat of Judge Thornton. A passing notice of some of these gentlemen is necessary :
DR. JAMES E. BERNEY, of Lowndes, is a South Carolinian, and served only this session in the Senate. He was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, and upon party questions maintained his prin- ciples. As a legislator, he was active and attentive in the dis- charge of his duties, to which he brought a large fund of informa- tion. In social life, his qualities shone brightly, and the zest of his humor and good nature brought about him always a circle of friends who delighted in his society.
He came to Alabama a young man, in the practice of his pro- fession, and married a daughter of the Hon. Reuben Saffold, who was a member of the Convention in 1819 which framed the State Constitution, and afterward occupied, for years, a seat upon the Supreme Court bench. Dr. Berney still lives, in the vigor of life and usefulness as a physician.
ROBERT DOUGHERTY, of Macon, was from Georgia, where he graduated in the University, and served in the Legislature of that State. He was a brother of the Hon. Charles Dougherty, distin- guished in the legislative and judicial history of Georgia, in whose honor a county has been named; and also a brother of William Dougherty, Esq., of Atlanta, one of the most eminent members of the Southern bar. This family connection is alluded to merely to indicate that abilities of a high order were natural in his case. They had been well improved by education, and when he ap- peared at the session of 1843, he was a perfect specimen of fine health and temperate habits, openly espousing the temperance reform, and allying himself with the movement,
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He was a Whig of very decided convictions, and could relato anecdotes with provoking pungency to ridicule his opponents, as well as to serve his own cause. Some of his stories have been incorporated in books, as among the very best from any source. His manner was inimitable. He related an adventure which he professed to have had with a large alligator in the Alabama River, he found sleeping in shallow water, and whose back he straddled, while the alarmed animal instantly made into deep water with his reluctant rider, who had a remarkable voyage for a mile or two, sometimes half-drowned, before he could extricate himself, or run his craft on a sand-bar. All the particulars of this odd adventure were given with minute precision, and with such grav- ity, that Judge Collier who happened to be present, and who never indulged in humor, or suspected invention in others, was much impressed by it, and related it to a number of his friends, ladies and gentlemen, at his fireside, as a remarkable instance of the goodness of Providence in rescuing Mr. Dougherty from his perilous situation. Upon this being casually mentioned to the latter gentleman, with a hint that the pious Judge expected he would become a minister of the Gospel after such deliverance, almost as wonderful as that of Jonah, he seemed to be a little con- fused, and desired his friend, the first time he met with the Judge, to signify that the affair with the alligator had been a little exag- gerated-in fact, that it had never occurred at all, and was intended merely as a joke to amuse the company. In what light the grave Chief Justice regarded the veracity of Mr. Dougherty afterward, or his peculiar qualifications for the ministry, never transpired. The great story-teller was often bantered on the subject by his jovial companions; but he seemed not to relish the fun, and begged as a favor that they would say no more about it.
The practical jokes of Mr. Dougherty were sometimes very ex- pensive to his friends, in the way of comfort. He weighed not less than two hundred pounds, and was the very picture of robust, vigorous manhood. He was very intimate with Mr. A. B. Clith- erall, Assistant Clerk of the House, who was a tall, sickly-looking man, though full of wit and humor, and always ready for a prank. Mr. Dougherty assured him that cold bathing, Summer and Win- ter, every morning, would make him as stout and healthy as him- self, and begged Mr. Clitherall to accompany him in one of his visits to the Warrior River, at Tuskaloosa, where he was in the habit of taking a plunge and a good swim at the dawn of each day during the session-the water, at that hour, being of mild tem- perature, and very pleasant to bathe in. There was no mistake in the comfort of the operation, nor in its efficiency to make a new man, a strong man, a very effective man, physically, of the novitiate
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Mr. Clitherall consented to try the experiment, and if it agreed with him he would continue the practice. A certain morning was appointed, which happened to be cold and frosty. The friends went to the river at dawn of day, and, after divesting himself, Mr. Dougherty plunged in head foremost, rising and swimming like a duck, praising the water for affording him warmth against the cold atmosphere. By the time Mr. Clitherall was ready to follow, his teeth began to chatter, and he felt very much like hav- ing an ague; but being encouraged, he threw himself into the water, and being perfectly satisfied with one dip, he came out, hastily putting on his garments, as if life demanded their protec- tion. His whole body quivered in the cold like a leaf shaken by the wind. His face and his finger-nails turned purple. He was the very image of despair and suffering. Mr. Dougherty told him that his distress was caused by not remaining in the water long enough to produce a reaction, which was probably true; but the Assistant Clerk did not concur in that opinion, and vowed that it was his last Winter bath. They both related the adventure with such fringing as the rich cloth seemed to require, which always afforded amusement to others.
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Mr. Dougherty was in mind and in logic a strong man, and a very earnest debater, with a voice of considerable power, and a person quite commanding. He was so intensely Whig in his prin- ciples, that he seemed to have little charity for opponents, and by this spirit his influence was sensibly diminished. He was a good lawyer, made able reports from committee, and was very attentive to his public duties. His Senatorial term closed in 1844, after which he retired, to devote himself more entirely to the practice of his profession. When, in 1850, the choice of Judges was given to the people, he was elected Judge of the Ninth Circuit, a posi- tion which he continued to hold under the changes of government, until the surrender, in 1865. In reorganizing the State Govern- ment, Provisional Governor Parsons appointed him to his old office, the duties of which he continued to discharge until he was superseded by the reconstruction measures of Congress, shortly after which he died.
There is one light in which the character and example of Judge Dougherty should be held up to public view, and it is with reluc- tance that I refer to it. After his first election as Judge, his tem- perate habits began to give way, and his downward course in this direction, was rapid, and brought him to a premature grave, which should serve as a warning to youth, and to men of mature age, to keep at a distance from the temptation. His social qualities were very attractive and exuberant, and when in the best of his days, before a blight had withered his moral nature, he could keep a circle of friends in a constant roar of laughter for hours at a time.
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His stories were his own, told in his own way, and admit of no transfer to paper. His admirers were many, and his friends not a few. How much to be regretted that a man so genial, and so fully qualified to add to the happiness of others, and withal to render substantial service to his country, should become a wreck, and pass away under a cloud ! This was the fate of Judge Robert Dough- erty, who died at home, in 1868.
ROBERT S. HARDAWAY, of Russell, a native of Virginia, made his first appearance in the Senate at this session, and continued a member of that body until 1847. He was an intelligent planter, modest and reserved, and seldom participated in debate. His dis- position was enterprising, and he had considerable skill in the management of corporations. Business of this character induced him, after the conclusion of his Senatorial service, to remove to Columbus, Georgia. In his deportment, he resembled the olden school of gentlemen; sedate, dignified, and courteous, without any manifestations of humor or hilarity. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the session of 1845 Mr. Hardaway introduced the bill to in- corporate the Girard and Mobile Railroad Company. The Mont- gomery delegation in the Legislature supposed that the work con- templated would interfere with the prosperity of their city, by diverting trade in another direction. While they admitted the jus- tice and benefits of the proposed line of communication to the people represented by Mr. Hardaway and others in that section of the State, the delegation said they were instructed by their consti- tuents to oppose the charter, and they would be compelled to vote against it. The question of removing the Seat of Government from Tuskaloosa, in the form of an amendment to the Constitution, was then pending in the Legislature, and the vote of Mr. Harda- way against the proposed change would defeat it in the Senate. He saw his opportunity, and took occasion to inform the members from Montgomery, that, if they persisted in opposing his railroad bill, he would return the compliment on the question of "removal." This hint was enough. Mr. Hardaway obtained his charter, and Montgomery the Seat of Government, through votes thus accom- modated to the emergency.
After the lapse of twenty-five years it may be added, that, in the opinion of many, the railroad constructed under this charter has largely increased the business and wealth of Columbus, where Mr. Hardaway still resides. For many years he has been Presi- dent of the Board of Directors.
GEN. MOSES KELLY, of Jefferson, had served in many public stations previous to 1843, and continued, with very little intermis-
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sion, until 1853. He was a Brigadier-General of Militia, and later in life, Judge of Probate for the county of Jefferson. With- out pretending to a great deal, he filled many public trusts with uniform fidelity, and thus secured the public confidence. He was a Democrat of the old Jackson type; served under him in the In- dian war, and his kind recollections of his old commander, and his high regard for him, were apt to be shown on the 8th of January, the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans. He was faithful in his friendships, obliging in disposition, and gentle in his manners.
Gen. Kelly was a brother of the Hon. William Kelly, Senator in Congress from Alabama, 1822-25, a lawyer of high standing, and a brother also of the late Isham Kelly, Esq., a rising young lawyer in Pickens county, who married a daughter of Mrs. Har- riet Herbert, of Tuskaloosa, and who died from consumption in the morning of life. Gen. Kelly, himself, has been dead several years.
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE, 1843.
Of the one hundred constituting the House of Representatives, a number had served at previous sessions, who have been noticed elsewhere in this work. To others, especial attention is now paid.
ENOCH ALDRIDGE, of Blount, was a member of the House in 1837, and continued, with occasional intermissions, in one or the other branch of the Legislature until the secession of Alabama in 1861. Although far beyond military age, he entered the service of the Confederate States, and, if I mistake not, was Lieutenant- Colonel of the 47th Alabama Regiment, commanded by Colonel Sheffield. He was in several battles, and was wounded at Cedar Run, in Virginia, which compelled him to leave the service, with the savor of a good name and a brave soldier.
Col. Aldridge was a well-informed, vigilant and useful member of the Legislature, and often spoke informally on the merits of a question, but always with good sense and to the point. As chair- man of the Committee on Accounts, (a position generally assigned him) he was particularly watchful of the interests of the State, and if a claim passed his scrutiny it was generally considered all right. He was a Democrat of the old school, who, without con- fusing his head with abstractions, looked every four years to the National Democratic Convention as the exponent of his political faith. He still resides in Blount county, respected as a citizen, and for his long and faithful service both at the Capitol and in the field.
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DECATUR C. ANDERSON, of Marengo county, for the first time elected to the House, was a young lawyer of fine abilities, gallant in bearing, and the model of courtesy. In 1851, he was elected Solicitor of the Mobile Circuit, the duties of which office he per- formed faithfully and efficiently. Since that time he has resided in the city of Mobile, in the practice of his profession.
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN, of Sumter, a native of Virginia, was de- cidedly a young man of rare gifts and cultivation. He was a law- yer in good practice, and at once took a high rank in debate, and in the business of legislation.
On the resolutions of Mr. Taylor, of Butler, to rescind the white basis in the formation of Congressional Districts, Mr. Bald- win made a speech of acknowledged power, which was published in a pamphlet of sixteen pages. A brief passage is here given:
My constituents, sir, find themselves, since the last session of this body, de- prived of a large portion, in fact, almost of a moiety of the political power which they enjoyed before that time. A sudden, violent, an unprecedented innovation was made upon the manner of exercising the noblest franchise they enjoyed, equivalent, in its operation, to taking from them nearly one-half of the political power they possessed ; and they have a right to demand that the strongest, most convincing reasons should be given for that innovation, and for that deforcement of their rights. They will not be satisfied with less. No artful appeals to party feelings ; no juggleries of State ; no mere arrangements of political maneuvers to create party capital by the deprivation of their rights, will excuse, or palliate to them what they esteem a reckless scheme of legislative robbery.
The closing paragraph is as follows:
But the South may, notwithstanding all the efforts of her enemies, rest secure, as long as she is true to herself. They will be safe no longer. Her rights are guaranteed by the Constitution. I, for one, am for preserving the guaranty. I am for upholding the banner as planted by our fathers in the deep granite of that charter. After all, sir, that banner, guard it as we will, may go down. Pressed upon and overwhelmed by external foes, our united strength may not be able to bear it up. It may go down by the charge of banded zealots from without ; nay, sir, it may fall by the paracidal hands of those who should defend it to the last extremity with "life, and limb, and terrene honor." But one thing I know full well : when it does go down, many a true Southern heart-many a gallant South- ern spirit-will go down with it.
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