USA > Alabama > Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix > Part 65
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I notice this circumstance in justice to Mr. Bell, who has long since ceased his connection with the State as a citizen. After the grant of this loan, many others were proposed by the friends of different roads, but they failed. It was his gratifying privilege to return to his constituents, as the only successful applicant for such an accommodation. And yet it was a dangerous precedent, and one that would have involved the State in serious embarrassment,
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but for the firm opposition of the Executive-Governor Winston. Mr. Bell has for years resided in New York, engaged in commer- cial and financial pursuits.
AUGUSTUS BENNERS, of Greene, is a native of North Carolina, where he was educated, and grew to manhood, graduating in the University at Chapel Hill, in the class of 1837. Removing to Alabama when young, he settled in Greenesboro as a lawyer pre- vious to 1840. By close application to study, by manly persever- ance, and by great probity of character, he secured a high rank at the bar and in the community.
In 1853, he took his seat in the House for the first time. He was placed on the Judiciary Committee, and rendered efficient aid by his industry and counsels. In the debates on the floor, he exhibited much knowledge of government, and a mastery of legal questions, which placed him on the list of rising men. Withal, his social qualities were agreeable and lively, which made him a general favorite.
In 1861 and 1863, he returned to the House, where I again met him in legislative council, and in the meantime had the pleas- ure of his conversation and society, which I esteemed as an enjoy- ment. We conversed frequently together on the ways and means by which the State could be kept up. He was Chairman of the Committee on the Military in 1863-4, and labored with his accus- tomed energy and ability to accomplish the best ends with the means at command. He knows the hard work he accomplished, and has the satisfaction to reflect, that in this trying period his efforts were untiring.
Mr. Benners was a Whig under the old classification, open and firm in his principles. He still resides in Greenesboro, now Hale county, where he is justly esteemed for his legal attainments and personal qualities.
NEWBERN HOBBS BROWN, of Tuskaloosa, was raised in the county, and completed his education at the University, near his father's residence. He studied law, and was admitted to the practice. In 1853, he was elected to the House for the first time, and was reëlected in 1855, 1857, and 1859, which embraces a period of eight years of public service, without abatement in the confidence of his constituents. Considering the times, and the many new questions presented, this was no slight compliment to his intelligence and force of character.
At his first session, being young and diffident, he remained quiet on the floor until toward the close, when some measure im- mediately affecting the interests of his county was taken up, especially the appropriation to complete the Hospital for the In-
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sane. In support of this bill, he made a good speech, which had a favorable impression upon the House, and gave him a respecta- ble standing in debate. I remember how embarrassed he was upon rising to address the House, and how he was oppressed by a sense of the importance of the occasion, and the subject; but he stood, as a Representative, almost in the attitude of entire re- sponsibility, and proved himself equal to the task. Dr. Creagh came to his aid, and the bill passed, but encountered Gov. Win- ston's veto, and was lost for that session. If I mistake not, Mr. Brown still resides in Tuskaloosa county.
THOMAS J. BURNETT, of Butler, came to the House as a mem- ber in 1853. He had been several years a merchant, with fine intelligence and business capacity, which made him at once a use- ful member. His legislative duties were faithfully performed. In 1857, he was returned to the Senate, and again to the House in 1861.
In 1856, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Conven- tion at Cincinnati, which nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Pres- idency; and in 1860, he was a delegate to the Charleston Con- vention. In Major Burnett's connection with public life, he de- veloped, as he advanced, abilities of a very respectable class, and became an earnest and animated speaker. I heard him at the Charleston Convention, where it required a good deal of nerve to speak before such an assemblage, and was impressed with his self- possession, and the ease and fluency with which he expressed himself. He entered the Confederate service and was promoted to the rank of Major, and, so far as I have been informed, ren- dered gallant aid to a cause which he had espoused with a warmth and zeal of a sanguine temperament. He resides in Greenville.
WALTER COOK, of Lowndes, a young lawyer, took a seat for the first time in the House in 1853. He was liberally educated, had a fine person, was ardent in his feelings, and especially sensi- tive for the honor and rights of his native South. He was a good representative of Southern character in its first stages of devel- opment. He had seen much of the world, and knew its crooked ways, and especially the traps and pitfalls set for inexperienced youth.
When a bill was before the House to punish and suppress gam- ing, Mr. Cook frankly gave his experience to the House while on his travels among strangers. He described the tricks of the shark to attract young men to the den of the tiger-what ingenious plans and devices were used to make him a victim. It was successful to a certain extent, but not enough to do him serious injury. The lesson it taught had been of great advantage to him, and he earn-
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estly appealed to the House to harpoon the shark, and muzzle the tiger, so as to prevent the mischief they were inflicting upon society. The gaming table, he maintained, was a great evil in the land, and ought to be suppressed.
The speech and experience of Mr. Cook had a salutary effect on the members of the House, and contributed to give a proper direction to the bill. His age placed him in the circle of young men, yet his thoughts were mature, and as a member of the Com- mittee on Education, he assisted in getting up the bill establish- ing a system of public schools, and became identified with that important measure.
After the session closed, he engaged in planting; but the war aroused his Southern blood, and he entered the service as Cap- tain, and displayed, by his constancy and zeal, the character of a patriot and brave man. In one of the battles of Virginia, he was mortally wounded, and died a martyr to the cause which his convic- tions of duty led him to espouse heartily. In his death, the State lost a noble and true son.
DR. MEMORABLE W. CREAGH, of Marengo, was first elected to the House in 1849, and was again returned in 1853. His father, Mr. Thomas B. Creagh, was one of the early settlers upon the rich lands of Wilcox, and died an opulent planter, leaving several sons:
1. Col. Gerard W. Creagh, long time a Senator, and heretofore noticed in this work.
2. Judge John G. Creagh, of Clarke-for many years Judge of the County Court, and a member of the Legislature, a lawyer of very respectable legal position, and planter of solid substance-who died many years ago, leaving an intelligent and accomplished widow, who became the wife of A. B. Cooper, Esq.
3. Alexander Creagh, an intelligent planter, and a gentleman of fine culture and standing, who has been dead several years.
4. Dr. M. W. Creagh, now specially noticed.
This family, father and sons, had as much wealth and character as any in South-Alabama, and, as the record shows, a warm and devoted public spirit.
Dr. Creagh has been well educated, and carries, in his address the evidence that he has been raised in polished society. Always accustomed to wealth and refinement, it is natural that he should be a high-toned Southern gentleman, of which class he is a true representative. While ardent in his attachments, and indulgent in his feelings, his soul takes fire when the rights and the honor of the South are drawn in question, or put to hazard. These he is at all times ready to support and defend at any peril. Under the old classification of parties, Dr. Creagh was a Whig.
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I have long and closely observed the course of public men; but in my whole acquainiance I have never known one more sincerely devoted to the interests, honor, and prosperity of the State than Dr. Creagh. He was a good speaker, and had considerable influ- ence on the floor of the House. In the debate on the appropria- tion to complete the Hospital for the Insane, he made a strong and beautiful effort. The question was wholly free from politics, and his soul overflowed with arguments in behalf of a class not capable of appealing for themselves. The fountains of humanity were opened, and his language was so forcible and eloquent that many gentlemen changed their purpose and voted for the bill. This, if I mistake not, was the last speech of any moment he made in the House, and, whether by design or not, it was not likely that he could have improved upon it. Dr. Creagh died in 1872.
ROBERT S. HATCHER, of Dallas, was a member of the House as far back as 1841, and was several times elected to one or the other end of the Capitol. He again appeared in the House in 1853. He was a planter of large means, a Whig, and a jovial, good-humored, kind-hearted man, who generally had a pleasant word or a good joke for his fellow-members, without regard to po- litical associations. He seldom said anything in the way of a speech, but he was, nevertheless, attentive to his duties as a mem- ber and a committee-man, and mindful of the interests of his con- stituents, including those of the State. He was usually the center of a good-humored circle, and was regarded with much favor by his fellow-members.
NOTE .- It is painful to add that Mr. Hatcher was killed, and his body horribly mangled by a railroad train, near Selma, March 30, 1872.
GIBSON F. HILL, of Chambers, served only through the session of 1853, in the House. He was a lawyer, and had received a good education in Georgia, where he was raised, but he never en- gaged much in the practice of his profession.
He came to the Legislature with the project of a lottery, to raise money for the endowment of a Military and Scientific Academy, in Chambers county, where he proposed to teach and educate a certain number of indigent young men, and his efforts, quietly directed, succeeded in getting such a bill through both 'Houses, without that due reflection and examination which ought to have governed. The measure was fraught with mischief. The Agency was given to a sharp man, Mr. Samuel Swan, and every appli- ance brought to bear on the public mind to excite it to dealing in tickets, with a prospect of getting rich. Some drew prizes, of course, and this was heralded over the country, and others ven-
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tured; and on it went in its influences and ravages, taking money out of the pockets of men of all classes, and appropriating it to individual uses, until the country, in many portions, was impover- ished of money.
The Agent, in the meantime, from being an operative in a jew- eler's store, rose to the position of a banker, and with the surplus of his abundant means planned and built (at a cost, it is said, of $40,000) the fine residence in Montgomery, owned, in his life- time, by Col. Seibels. How much fell to the lot of Col. Gibson F. Hill, in this transaction, I never heard; but he ought to have received a good sum to compensate for the "wear and tear" of such a proceeding, gotten up by him with the most plausible pre- texts, to obtain money without a valid consideration, from an over- credulous people. This is the only measure with which he was identified during his service in the Legislature. Col. Hill was favored with an attractive person, and cultivated, insinuating man- ners, which secured him access to the better feelings of his fellow- members.
RICHARD F. INGE, of Greene, served only through the session of 1853. He was a young man, well educated, and a planter, with strong family alliances and the prestige of name which gave him at once a favorable reception. He held a very respectable rank with the young members of the House, was diligent and watchful, and always able to advocate or oppose on the floor any measure which he approved, or disapproved. He was particularly vigilant in relation to the Treasury, and of the many leakages by which the public money goes out. I think he was a son of Dr. Richard Inge.
In the late troubles, Major Inge entered the service of the Confederate States with a zeal and courage which might be ex- pected from his raising, and the influence of his paternal example. The last time I saw and talked with him was in 1863, returning through Montgomery to his command in Virginia, after a short furlough. Soon afterward, in one of the battles in that State, he was killed while leading his command in action. Thus bravely fell another of the sons of Greene county, who sacrificed their lives to the Southern cause.
ANDREW JAY, of Conecuh, was returned to the House for the first time in 1853, and was reelected in 1855. He had fair abili- ties for legislation, was an attentive observer of proceedings, al- ways at his post, and was much respected by his fellow-members. In a party sense, he was a Whig, and on all questions purely polit- ical, he adhered rigidly to his party principles; but in other re- spects he was liberal, and gave his support to such measures of State policy as he deemed most likely to promote the public wel-
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fare. He still resides in Conecuh county, occupying a respectable place in the pulpit of the Baptist Church, and is much respected for his moral teachings.
ROBERT MURPHY, of DeKalb, concluded a long term of service in the Legislature at the session of 1853. He was first elected to the House in 1843, and from that time there were few meetings of the General Assembly that Bob Murphy, as he was familiarly called, was not there with credentials to take his seat. I think he was never beaten. He watched the political elements, and never ventured out in murky weather, but would make some plausible excuse for staying at home. He possessed a far-seeing sagacity and discretion, and seldom failed in carrying any one of his meas- ures. His fund of wit and good-humor was inexhaustible, and he was seldom at a loss for a reply, which was generally pointed and pithy, as could be shown if I had room for some of the specimens.
Soon after his last session in Alabama, Mr. Murphy removed to Arkansas, where it was not long before he attracted the notice of the people, by whom he was elected to the State Senate, in which capacity he was serving when the Federal troops overrun that State during the war. He was arrested, and required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, which refusing to do, as he had taken the oath to the Confederate Government, he was cast into prison, and there died. In this act, he exhibited the steadfastness of purpose which belonged to his character, and which marked his whole public life in Alabama.
Few men said more things, in his way, to be laughed at; and at this distance, whenever the events and men of that period are canvassed among friends, in social review, Bob Murphy, with his droll wit, and humor, and waggery, comes up in kind and tender remembrance.
SIDNEY B. PAYNE, of Macon, was a Captain in the Mexican war, from which he returned with a fine reputation for gallantry and good conduct, which won for him great esteem. In politics, he was a Whig.
He was elected to the House in 1853, and with bland and gentle manners, and with a fair capacity for legislation, he soon obtained the good opinion of all who came within the circle of his acquaint- ance. He was modest and retiring in his disposition, and without seeking public favor, he was largely a recipient on the merits of his character. He had the entire confidence and respect of his fellow-members. Honest and faithful in all situations, he was a gentleman to be trusted and to be loved. All his virtues were crowned by a deeply religious principle, and he exhibited every- where the graces and attractions of a true Christian gentleman.
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Captain Payne had no taste for public life, nor for the competi- tions and management by which it is usually attained. By birth and education, he was a Georgian, and also a member of the bar, and a planter. He still resides in Macon county.
GEORGE C. PHILLIPS, of Dallas, had served in the Legislature previous to 1853, when he was again elected to the House. His . father, Dr. George C. Phillips, in former days, and his brother, William S. Phillips, more recently, had a long experience in the General Assembly, where their superior judgment and general strength of character commanded respect. They belonged to the Whig school of politicians.
Mr. Phillips, the member now under review, was a planter of considerable wealth, energetic and intelligent. He was not very communicative in his intercourse with his brother legislators, but was rather retired and taciturn, devoted to the dispatch of public business, and administering the government faithfully and econom- ically. He was efficient on the Committee of Ways and Means, and upon the floor of the House, addressing himself to questions in a plain, matter-of-fact way, that was easily understood, and had its influence. In his sound judgment, in the integrity of his pur- poses and character, there was general confidence, and no little prestige in his name. He still resides in Dallas.
RICHARD O. PICKETT, of Lawrence, was the colleague of Maj. Hubbard in 1853. He was first a member of the House in 1849, and, before that time, was Judge of the County Court. , In 1861, he was again returned to the House, and during that session, was elected Adjutant and Inspector-General of the State. The exi- gencies were considered important, and it was believed General Pickett, by his intelligence and energy, would be able to organize and enthuse the military spirit. But he did not continue a great while in the office. He, however, became connected actively with the defenses of the country, but I am not advised of their nature and extent.
Under the old organization of parties, General Pickett was a Whig; but in 1860, he adapted himself upon principle to the plat- form, with Gen. Breckinridge for President. He was regarded in the Legislature as possessing good legal abilities, and was assidu- ous in his attention to business. In 1861, the sphere of his opera- tions was enlarged, and he took a prominent part in the proceed- ings of that year. He now resides in Florence, in the practice of the law.
DANIEL S. ROBINSON, of Chambers, was a substantial, intelli- gent planter, a native of Georgia, but settled in Alabama at the
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opening of the Creek country, and, by industry and good manage- ment, had grown rich. He was a quiet man, attentive to business, and rendered the State good service. He was several times hon- ored with the confidence of the people of his county, his first ses- sion in the Legislature being in 1845. That of 1853 was his last. His health was declining-so much so that he was unable to attend regularly upon the sittings of the House, or to meet the Com- mittee of Ways and Means, of which he was a member. He con- tinued to decline until the Summer of 1855, when he died. Mr. Robinson was a Whig, and was greatly respected as a citizen by all parties.
N. G. SHELLEY, of Talladega, concluded at this session a service of four years in the House. He was young, possessed an intelli- gent mind and sprightly intellect-a Whig, and in the frequent contests, became well versed in the questions of the day. His struggles with fortune, to overcome the difficulties of dependence, had exerted a good influence in developing his mental faculties and energies. He was a ready, fluent, off-hand speaker, at all times prepared for a tilt; but unfortunately, perhaps, he had grown up under political bias, that, to some extent, warped his judgment and cramped his usefulness.
Mr. Shelley was warmly enlisted in the cause of education, and took an active part as a member of the committee in getting up the system of free public schools that was adopted at the session of 1853. Soon after this service, he removed to Texas. He was a vigorous political writer, and, if I mistake not, connected for a time with the Whig press of Talladega.
ALPHONZO A. STERRETT, of Shelby, after a long retirement, was a member of the House in 1853. He had previously been a Representative, and was for many years Judge of the County Court. He brought much experience and practical informa- tion, with legal knowledge and fair ability, into the House, which constituted him quite an efficent legislator. He was indus- trious in the preparation of business, and very attentive to public duty, with a quietness and modesty that amounted almost to diffi- dence. The Speaker committed to him, as Chairman of a Joint Committee raised for the purpose, the task of reporting appropri- ate resolutions on the death of Col. William R. King. His self- distrust was such that he made application to be excused, upon the ground that he did not feel competent; but the Speaker de- clined granting a request which modesty alone prompted. He brought in his report and resolutions, which were adopted, with only one dissenting voice. These appear in a preceding chapter.
Had Judge Sterrett made no other report during the session,
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this will stand as a memorial to show the estimation in which he held the character of Col. King, responsive to the public judg- ment. Such passages in the life of a public man it is pleasant to record. Judge Sterrett still resides in Shelby county, occupied in his profession.
GEN. E. G. TALBERT, of Perry, a South Carolinian and a Dem- ocrat, was elected to the House in 1853, the only session in which he consented to serve. He was a planter, and preferred the tran- quillity of private life, and the cultivation of the soil.
He was Chairman of the Committee on the Military, the duties of which place he performed with marked vigilance and fidelity. The rectitude of his course, and his gentle manners, won the con- fidence and esteem of his fellow-members. He possessed a cul- tivated taste, and amiable feelings toward all mankind, under the influence of Christian sympathy, and the most enlarged benevo- lence. He was incapable of doing wrong to any one. In his strong and expressive face could be seen the upright character of the man, and true nobility of soul.
It was my privilege to be much in the society of Gen. Talbert during the session. We occupied adjoining rooms, and many pleasant hours have we passed together, after the toils and anxie- ties of the day had ceased. It is a satisfaction to revive in mem- ory the friendship and confidence of former years. To know Gen. Talbert well, is only to love him with sincere affection. He is a worthy member of the Baptist Church, and still resides in Perry county.
MALCOLM D. GRAHAM, although not a member, deserves a place in conclusion, as the Clerk of the House at the session of 1853. He was raised and educated in Alabama, and setttled in Wetumpka as a lawyer. His father, John G. Graham, Esq., was a gentleman of great respectability and moral worth.
Mr. Graham entered upon his duties as Clerk of the House without experience of that kind. But he was intelligent, and by close attention to business, and to the labors of his office, he soon overcame all inconveniences. His Journal will compare favora- bly with that of any other Clerk, in the clearness and perspicuity of its entries, and in the regular order of business as it is intro- duced and acted upon.
His Journal was always made up and his papers properly ar- ranged, so that there was no delay when they were called for on the calender, or as special orders. His reading was prompt, agreeable, and distinct, while his whole bearing at the desk was respectable.
In 1854, or thereabout, Mr. Graham removed to Texas, and
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engaged in the practice of his profession. He must have taken rank, as, at the time the State seceded, he was Attorney-General, elected by the people, which gave him a strong legal position. He was elected one of the members of the Confederate Congress at the first election, and was continued in that place by renewals at the ballot-box. While on his journey from Richmond to Texas, on important business, in the early part of 1865, and while at- tempting to cross the Mississippi River, he was taken by Federal troops, and carried to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, where he was left a prisoner until the close of the war. A widower, he married a daughter of Col. T. B. Bethea, of Montgomery, where he now resides, engaged in the practice of the law.
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