USA > Alabama > Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix > Part 63
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PERSONAL NOTICES.
In conformity to a rule, to pay attention to gentlemen who have been directly or indirectly connected with public life, even as candidates for office, I now proceed to give personal sketches in as brief a manner as the facts, and a fair measure of justice, will allow.
JAMES F. DOWDELL, elected to Congress in 1853, has since that time been so prominently before the public, with qualities so deserving respect, that a brief record of his services and character cannot fail to be useful.
In 1852, he was upon the Electoral ticket, and voted for Pierce and King; and in canvassing for those gentlemen, he so impressed the public mind in his favor, that he was nominated and elected to Congress as the candidate of the Democratic party. The ap- portionment of 1853 threw him into the .Montgomery District in part, and made his return to Congress doubtful in 1855. But he stood a candidate for reelection, and was opposed by Col. Thomas H. Watts, than whom a more formidable opponent in the ele- ments of mind and character, and powers in debate, could not have entered the list against him. This year was the great polit- ical contest of Know-Nothingism, and the measuring of strength between these two gentlemen was a manly exhibition of intellect- ual strife from its inception to its close. Col. Dowdell was elected by a small majority.
In 1857, he was opposed by Col. Thomas J. Judge, and thus another contest of giants in the political arena was brought on. But Col. Dowdell was again the victor; and the defeat of two such men in succession, for a seat in the Congress of the United States, made him a hero indeed. It would have been distinction to have made the canvass and suffered defeat at the hands of either, but to have vanquished them both in turn was a crowning with laurel of which any candidate for public favor might justly feel proud, and hence, Col. Dowdell was regarded in political cir- eles as a prodigy, and his reputation became National. He could occupy no other than a prominent position in Congress, where his conquest was known, and he received the deference and respect of his fellow-members.
At the end of his third term, Col. Dowdell retired from Con- gress, and remained in private life until the events of 1860 called him out, when he was elected to the Convention of 1861, and co- operated with the Secession party, and shared actively in accom- modating the State to the new order of things. Hostilities com- mencing, he raised a regiment (the 37th), and entered vigorously the service of the Confederate States, and was distinguished in
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several battles, especially that of Corinth, for his coolness and bravery. But the fatigue and exposure of the camp were more than his feeble constitution could bear for any great length of time, and he returned home sick, and was obliged to relinquish the active service.
Col. Dowdell has always, both in public and private life, been distinguished for the purity of his moral character, and while at Washington he maintained a high standard of religious deport- ment. This adds lustre to his record, when it is remembered that there have been but few men in Congress, comparatively, who have been able to resist the thousand temptations which are said to present themselves in convivial and social circles in the Federal City, which had been the slaughter house of the mem- bers from the "bloody Seventh" for years. But he passed through them all, illustrating in his daily example the virtues and graces of the Christian gentleman, and challenging the respect of all classes.
Since the war, he occupied the position of President of the East-Alabama College, until failing health compelled him to re- tire. He is a native of Georgia, and has been thoroughly edu- cated, and his family noted for extensive wealth. One of his sisters married Gen. Seth P. Myrick, of Baldwin county, Georgia, an enterprising and successful planter, well known for his liberal hospitality, and contributions to the Church. Another sister mar- ried Dr. A. A. Lipscomb, and another married William F. Sam- ford, Esq.
In these days of moral depression, from causes which have en- tered largely into the experience of the South of late years, it is refreshing to study the character and the example of such a man as Col. Dowdell. Having achieved victories in the field of poli- tics, and having acted as a patriot in the most trying situations, with faculties of mind and an amount of literary culture of the highest order, and still in meridian vigor, he heartily applies him- self to the duties of the school-room, to unfold the intellect of youth; and better than all, he has dedicated himself, in the gospel. ministry, to the work of saving souls, as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church! Such a man, such an example, and such an influence, must be a blessing to any community.
[NOTE .- The lamented death of Col. Dowdell occurred in 1871, after the above sketch was written.]
HON. FRANCIS S. LYON is a native of North Carolina, and em- igrated to Alabama, then a Territory, in 1817, and first settled at St. Stephens. In 1822 he was elected Secretary of the Senate, and was reelected each year for eight succeeding years. He was a member of the Senate at the sessions of 1832, 1833, and 1834, and at the latter was elected President of that body.
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The particulars of his early life can not fail to be interesting and profitable, and so far as I have been able to ascertain, he was a Clerk in the old Tombigbee Bank, located at St. Stephens, of which his uncle, George S. Gaines, was Cashier. This was previous to 1819. The presumption is, that under the friendly auspices of his relative, the Cashier, and of his uncle, Major-General E. P. Gaines, he, about this time, read law in the office of William Crawford, Esq., who attained distinction, and was, for many years, United States Judge of the Southern District of Alabama. Judge Crawford contested for a seat in the United States Senate, in 1821, against Col. William R. King.
· As I have stated, Mr. Lyon was eight years Secretary of the Senate, and such, a Secretary! The records made by him will bear a comparison, in accuracy and neatness, with any ever made in the State. There was no Journal Secretary, or Clerk, in his day, or scarcely need of an Assistant. The enrolled acts of his times were mostly in his hand-writing, and can now be seen in the State Department, a proper standard for all good Clerks to aspire to; for he kept his Journal, and enrolled most of the bills, and they are all stamped with the marks of his business qualities and faithful- ness. No interlineations, or blots, or irregularities; and these Journals and enrolled bills will stand as a model of clerical excel- lence worthy of imitation, as long as they remain in the archives of the State. Here he laid the foundation of his future success in life, and gave an earnest of capacity for the service he was des- tined to render the State, in his peculiar adaptation to business.
In 1835, he was elected to Congress from the Mobile District, and reelected in 1837, serving through both terms to the satisfac- tion of his constituents, with a very respectable rank in the delib- erations and doings of that able body of statesmen.
The Legislature, in the act of 1846, constituting a Commission to take charge of the assets of the State Bank and Branches, could not overlook the peculiar fitness of Mr. Lyon for a place in it, and in bringing his abilities to the aid of the State at this trying crisis, was eminently fortunate. Nothing in the transactions of these critical times contributed more to uphold the public confidence than the name of Mr. Lyon in connection with the management of these assets. In 1847 he was constituted Sole Commissioner and Trustee, with extraordinary powers and discretion in collecting the debts, and taking up the bonds of the State, at that time consider- ably depreciated. No one man had ever received such proof of confidence in the management of the finances of the State. He was continued in 1849, and again in 1851, with the same unre- stricted powers.
On the 25th November, 1853, Mr. Lyon addressed a communi- cation to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, requesting
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him to lay before that body the report, then enclosed, of his trans- actions as Commissioner and Trustee to settle the affairs of the State Bank and Branches.
That report was referred to a joint Select Committee, and after its careful examination, the Committee made a report, signed by Mr. Jemison on the part of the Senate, and by Mr. Bell, on the part of the House, from which the following is an extract:
Our bond debt when the banks were placed in liquidation, as will be
seen from the accompanying tabular statement, was. .$9,232,555.55
Bearing an annual interest of. 472,757.77
Which debt is now reduced to. 3,584,666.67 Bearing an annual interest of. 178,523.33
The entire circulation of the banks outstanding 1st November, 1847, was 457,177.00
Which is now reduced to 290,237.00
During the process of winding up the Banks, the outstanding circulation has not been redeemed with specie, but the fact of its having been received in pay- ment of taxes and other public dues, and the general confidence felt in the skill- ful management of the Commissioner in closing up the affairs of the Banks, and in the good faith of the State, has caused the bills to pass at or near par, and they are at this time, for all ordinary business purposes, quite equal to the notes of the specie paying banks of the State.
While the community has sustained no loss by their circulation, the State has derived very great and important advantages therefrom.
The most sanguine friends of the system adopted and pursued in winding up and closing the affairs of the Banks had not, in its commencement, ventured to predict or hope so favorable a result as has been witnessed.
Your Committee, in presenting a state of facts so auspicious and gratifying to the people of the State, regret to learn that the officer mainly instrumental in bringing about a state of things so conducive to the credit and flattering to the prospects of the State, finds it no longer convenient to remain in office where his labors have been so signally useful to the public.
The Committee remark that in the sale of the stock which the State owned in the Bank of Mobile, amounting to $600,000, Mr. Lyon had made a profit of $52,500 for the State over the cost of purchase. From beginning to end, the execution of his trust, as shown by the Committee, has been beneficial to the State, and most honorable to the skill and fidelity of the Commissioner.
Mr. Lyon was called to preside over the January Convention of 1860, preparatory to the Charleston Convention, and was ap- pointed a delegate for the State at large, and also to Baltimore. In 1861, he was elected to the House, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Leseur, of Marengo. In 1861, he was also elected from the Marengo District to the Congress of the Confed- erate States, and was reelected in 1863, bringing all the while his great powers in council to assist the Confederacy.
Throughout the whole period of his life, Mr. Lyon has occupied a high position legally and socially. Without attempting to be brilliant, he seems to prefer the quiet, the solid attainments of a thorough business man, and profound lawyer. Faithfulness in all the relations of life, private, professional, and public, is a striking
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trait in his character. As he was, as Secretary of the Senate, with his Journal and his bills in hand, so he was as Commissioner and Trustee of the Banks, with the responsibilities of millions upon him, faithful and industrious, anxious to meet the just expectations of the State, threatened with bankruptcy on the one hand, or ex- cessive and burthensome taxation on the other in case he failed. But it should be recorded and held in remembrance, in estimating the services of public men in Alabama, that in his administration of the trust committed to his hands, he saved to the State by his activity and vigilance, coupled with an integrity that can not be questioned, millions of dollars, and it was done so quietly that, but for the publication of his reports in the newspapers, as re- quired by law, the public would have known nothing about it. And it is very questionable whether he made an enemy or gave just grounds of offense to a single Bank debtor during the period of his administration.
Mr. Whiting told me an anecdote which illustrates his character in this respect. He said that a Bank debtor was pressing terms upon him, as Assistant Commissioner, for the settlement of his debt, which he could not accept, and the debtor applied to Mr. Lyon, confident that he would get favorable terms of compromise. He did so, and when he returned, Mr. Whiting asked him of his success. He replied that he did nothing; that Mr. Lyon was so mild and reasonable, and so very conciliatory in his talk, and was so anxious to save the credit of the State, that he concluded to try and pay the whole debt; that his denial of the proposition was so gentle that it was really agreeable.
I have no doubt that this instance is only one of hundreds of cases, and is one of the secrets of his success. Few men in the history of the State have had such a record as Mr. Lyon, and few present such a model for young men, and business men, and public men, in the faithful discharge of duty. Without parade of any kind, he prosecuted his work, and had it entirely under his con- trol. His visits to New York in the interest of the State were not announced in the papers, nor at what hotel he lodged. He courted not, but avoided, such distinction. He had no private secretary, but indorsed the reports made by his assistants in the different Banks himself, and carried on, as he must have done, an extensive correspondence. There were no idlers or hangers-on about him. For instance, he extended four or five millions of Bonds falling due, and made the exchanges with no extra assist- ance, or charge to the State-a transaction that in these days, from the way such matters are now managed, would have cost the State thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. His last report is in itself a model of clearness and simplicity in statement which any citizen can comprehend.
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In early life, Mr. Lyon married Miss Glover, of Marengo county, and still resides at Demopolis, where he first settled, and has raised a large family. One of his daughters married Mr. William H. Ross, of Mobile; another married Oliver H. Prince, Esq., a lawyer, and son of Edmund Prince, of Tuskaloosa. He himself is passing into the "sear and yellow leaf" of life, and his name is the synonym of an upright gentleman.
It has generally been the good fortune of most commonwealths to have, at some period, one citizen distinguished from all the rest by qualifications for a particular service, in some political or finan- cial pressure, whose ability and virtues exactly meet the demand. Such has been the relation sustained by the Hon. Francis S. Lyon to the people of Alabama, in relieving them from embarrassments which threatened to weigh them down by onerous taxation, or to do what was still more painful-suffer the public faith and the good name of Alabama.to be dishonored by a protest. The man was found for the occasion, from 1846 to 1853, in whose praise there is perfect unanimity in the State. No picture is more com- plete in moral grandeur and beauty.
JOHN WHITING, who had long held the office of Cashier of the Branch Bank at Montgomery, and was Assistant Commissioner under Mr. Lyon, and one of his faithful, confidential advisers in his operations, succeeded that gentleman as Commissioner ; and it may be said, that if the field of his supervision was not so exten- sive, yet in sagacity, and in fidelity to the interests of the State, he "followed in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor."
Mr. Whiting possessed business qualifications of a high order, and these, coupled with indomitable energy, brought him a large return in wealth and influence. He was a Virginian, well bred, intelligent, high-toned, and honorable, with no disguise or deceit in his composition.
After the war, he was elected President of the North & South Railroad Company, and had infused new life into that almost ex- hausted work. His election as President secured a large subscrip- tion to the road by the city of Montgomery, the citizens of which had unbounded confidence in Mr. Whiting. In 1869, he visited New York on the business of the road, and died of an attack of erysipelas. In his death, the State and the city of Montgomery lost one of its most intelligent and useful citizens. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, and ready coop- erator in all philanthropic and charitable efforts.
LYMAN GIBBONS, during the recess of the General Assembly, was appointed by Gov. Collier Judge of the Supreme Court, in the place of Judge Dargan, resigned. He came to the State in
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1833, when a young man, and entered upon the practice of the law in Mobile, as a member of the law firm of Gibbons & Fisher. He was well educated, and well versed in the elements of his profession. His attention to business and his sound judgment secured him a fine rank at the bar.
On the resignation of Judge Bragg in 1851, he was appointed, and then elected, Judge of the Sixth Circuit. In 1853, he declined an election as Judge of the Supreme Court, being satisfied with the Executive appointment. Soon thereafter, he married Emma, the accomplished and only daughter of the late Hon. James Del- lett, and became a planter in Monroe county.
Judge Gibbons was elected a member of the Convention of January, 1861, and was prominent in the debates, especially on the subject of taxation.
In May, 1845, he went to Europe, studied the civil law in France, and returned to this country in the Autumn of 1847.
JOSEPH P. SAFFOLD was appointed by Gov. Collier, Chancellor of the Southern Division, in place of Chancellor Lessene, resigned. He was permitted to wear the honors of his office but a short time, as he died in the Fall of 1853, of yellow fever, then prevailing at Montgomery.
It was not extravagant in his friends to predict for him a long and honorable career in the judicial department. He was a son of Judge Reuben Saffold, and had established himself fully in the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lived, and was just entering upon a theater of action promising much public usefulness. In stating his appointment, in his annual message, Gov. Collier said: "It is with profound regret that I announce the death of Chancellor Saffold. He was a man of great purity of character, and admirably adapted, by his attainments and the structure of his mind, to the station to which he had been called."
WADE KEYES, elected Chancellor at the session of 1853, is a North-Alabamian. He resided in Florida several years, and came thence to Montgomery, where he engaged in the practice of the law. About the year 1850 he published a legal work of which he was the author, on the Tenure of Personal Property, or a title of similar import, which evinced considerable research.
He discharged the duties of Chancellor with industry and faith- fulness, to the satisfaction of the public, but resigned, if I mistake, not, a considerable time before the expiration of his term. Upon the organization of the Confederate Government, he was appointed Assistant Attorney-General, an office that he held during the ex- istence of that Government. Chancellor Keyes now resides in Florence, pursuing his profession. He is a brother of Dr. John
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W. Keyes, of Montgomery, who married a daughter of Mrs. Car- oline Lee Hentz.
Here I take occasion to observe the frequent resignations of the office of Chancellor by gentlemen of the bar, who laudably aspire to the station, and in a year or two, occasionally in a few months, give it up. The reason must be the absence of jury, witnesses, and a miscellaneous audience, to interest the attention of the pre- siding functionary. Further reasons might be assigned, if nec- essary.
STERLING G. CATO, an unsuccessful candidate for the Chancel- lorship, was a Georgian, who settled in Eufaula in the practice of the law, some years previously, in connection with his brother, Lewis L. Cato, Esq. He was afterward appointed to a United States Judgeship, in Kansas, where he resided for several years, and died, if I mistake not, during the war. He was a gentleman of fair legal attainments, and had a good standing in the profession.
SEPTIMUS D. CABANISS, defeated by Judge Walker, was a law- yer of Huntsville, where he settled, a young man, to pursue his profession. He held, for several years, the place of Register in Chancery, and established a good character for efficiency as a busi- ness man and attorney. In 1861, he was elected to the House from Madison county, and shared prominently in the delibera- tions and decisions of that momentous period. He still resides at Huntsville.
JOHN H. CALDWELL, defeated for Secretary of State, was a young lawyer, possessing intelligence, industry, and a laudable ambition. In 1857, he was returned a member of the House from Calhoun county, and in its organization and proceedings took an active part, being Chairman of the Committee on Internal Im- provement.
In 1859 he was elected Solicitor. The war coming on in 1861, he entered service, and was, I think, promoted to the rank of Colonel, and was distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. In 1863, while he was at the front, his election came on for Solicitor, and the regiment to which he was attached, from Captains, Lieu- tenants, and privates, joined in a hearty attestation of his merit in the camp and field, and requested his reelection. Of course, their wishes were respected. In 1865, on the reorganization of the State, he was again elected Solicitor, and continued in the office until he was superseded by the reconstruction policy of Congress. He resides at Jacksonville, in the practice of his profession.
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GEN. ROBERT W. HIGGINS, another defeated aspirant for Sec- retary of State, was also a lawyer. He started in Jackson county, and I think was a beneficiary of the United States Military Acad- emy at West-Point, but I am not certain about graduating. He had lived in DeKalb county a few years, and in 1854 or '55, went to Talladega, and became connected with the editorial department of the " Watchtower."
In 1857, he was a member of the House from DeKalb, and in 1859 was elected to the Senate from that and Marshall counties. On the commencement of hostilities between the North and South in 1861, he entered the service, and went up to the rank of Major; but before he had reached the middle of the war, or had satisfied his patriotic desires to serve the cause which he had espoused, he sickened and died, leaving to his native State the character of a brave and gallant man. Previous to the war he was elected a Brigadier-General. He died young, and unmarried.
ALFRED E. VANHOOSE, elected Solicitor of the Seventh Circuit, was a young man raised in Fayette county, and had lately come to the bar. His conversational powers were good, and he possessed a mind capable of improvement-and, with popular manners, and a fair ambition, he was regarded as having a fine career of useful- ness in prospect.
He was very efficient as a prosecuting officer for the State, and made such a character in four years, that, in 1857, he was reëlected without difficulty. In 1860, while returning from the Court in Walker, he was thrown from his buggy, and found dead. Like many of our young men of good endowments, he yielded to a certain influence resulting from convivial companionship, which, it is to be feared, in this case, eclipsed the light of a rising star of intellect and genius.
ELLIOTT P. JONES is a native of Lawrence county, Alabama, and was born in 1819. At the session of the Legislature in 1847, he was elected Judge of the County Court of Fayette.
His first service in the Senate was, in 1850, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of D. Coggin, Esq. He was reelected in 1853, 1855, and 1857. In 1861, he was a member of the Con- vention which passed the Ordinance of Secession, and, in 1865, he was a member of the Constitutional Convention to reorganize the State. He was also elected in 1865 to the Senate from the Dis- trict composed of Fayette and Marion counties, and served through the sessions of 1865-'6, and 1866-'7.
Judge Jones was honored by the Legislature of 1866 with hav- ing his name given to a new county then established; but on the coming in of other political influences, the name of the county
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