USA > Alabama > Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix > Part 70
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In 1855, he was again elected, and continued in his former po- sition on Committee; and with increased age and experience, he developed those rare powers which pointed him out in public esti- mation, for a wider field, and a more exalted position. In 1856, he was on the Electoral ticket for Buchanan and Breckinridge. In 1857, Mr. Harris, the late member, having died, Mr. Curry was unanimously nominated, and elected his successor from the Seventh District, and in 1859, he was reelected, without opposi- tion, for another term, and was one of the members of Congress from Alabama when they withdrew from its Halls upon the seces- sion of the State.
In 1860, Gov. Moore appointed him Commissioner to the State of Maryland, to "counsel and advise with the Governor and Leg- islature as to what is best to be done to protect the rights and the honor of the slaveholding States," etc., and he proceeded at once to Annapolis in discharge of that duty, and submitted an able communication to the Executive, intended also for the Legislature, to be found in Smith's Debates of the Convention of 1861,
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Mr. Curry was elected one of the deputies to the Provisional Congress, at Montgomery, which formed the Constitution, and in- augurated the Government of the Confederate States, and took an active part in its proceedings. In 1861, he was elected by the people to a seat in the Congress at Richmond. In 1863, he was a candidate for reelection, but was defeated by Marcus H. Cruik- shanks, Esq., of Talladega. At the meeting of the Legislature in November of that year, his claims were canvassed for the Con- federate States Senate, in opposition to the Hon. C. C. Clay, Jr., but without success. He entered the military service, and was at the fight and taking of Selma, in which he was said to have dis- played much heroic daring.
The result of the war opened a new field for Mr. Curry, con- genial with his tastes, and in harmony with his convictions of duty, no doubt long entertained, and promotive of the public good. Embracing the Christian religion when young, he lived an exem- plary and useful member of the Baptist Church, was actively con- nected with its entire organization, and, of course, occupied a lead- ing position in its councils. He is now a minister of that Church, exercising his eminent abilities and influence, without ostentation, for the happiness of his fellow-men. Within the last few years, he was elected President of Mercer University, at Macon, Geor- gia, which position he declined to accept, and is now the pastor of a Baptist Church, in Richmond, Virginia.
It were needless, after making up such a record of a gentleman who has barely attained the meridian of life, to say much of the great natural endowments and rare culture of Mr. Curry, as ex- hibited in the forum, and in the pulpit. Small in person, and unpretending in his manner, he has never failed to impress his audiences with the strength of his logic, and the power of his elo- quence. The future display of his vast intellectual resources may not have so much of the vim and fire of his earlier days, in public discussion; but the loss in this respect will be compensated by the maturity and compactness of thought and feeling, under the con- trol of a judgment improved by experience.
In early life Mr. Curry married Miss Bowie, an excellent lady, who died about the termination of the war. She was the accom- plished daughter of the late Chancellor Bowie. His second mar- riage was with Miss Thomas, a lady of Richmand. He was born in Lincoln county, Georgia. His father, the late Col. William Curry, of Talladega county, a gentleman of large wealth and solidity of character, removed to Alabama during his son's minority.
It may be proper to add, as a public recognition of the talents and moral force of Mr. Curry soon after he entered Congress, that his portrait, with a sketch of his life and character, appeared in "Harper's Weekly," as among the distinguished men of the
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country. Compliments from such a quarter to a Southern man before the war, were to be prized as wholly impartial, and dictated by a spirit of fairness and justice.
THE LEGISLATURE.
The general election in August, 1857, returned a majority of Democrats in both branches. The General Assembly met on the 9th November, 1857-members generally in attendance. In the House, Gen. Crawford M. Jackson, of Autauga, was elected Speaker; Albert Elmore, Principal Clerk; W. M. Hames, Assist- ant Clerk; C. C. Corden, Engrossing Clerk; and J. Gibson, Door- Keeper.
Gen. Jackson, the Speaker, has been noticed elsewhere; but it is only just to say that this distinction was well merited. He had long been connected with the legislation of the State; was well acquainted with political history, and was proficient in parlia- mentary law, and ready and prompt in its administration. His educational advantages, reading, and knowledge of men and things, assisted in fitting him for the place. His claims to this po- sition had been postponed with his cheerful assent, as subservient to other claims and interests which his previous election might have embarrassed, and he readily yielded for the sake of his friends. His speech upon the adjournment sine die was in fine taste, and in terse language expressed the feelings of his warm and generous heart. It may be seen on the Journal of the House.
In the Senate, the Hon. James M. Calhoun was unanimously elected President; Joseph Phelan, Secretary; P. H. Brittan, As- sistant Secretary; and W. J. B. Padgett, Door-Keeper.
Many gentlemen prominent in one or the other branch at the last session, were not members in 1857, having retired, or been transferred to new positions. Others, however, had come forward, and each House presented a respectable grade of talent, with much experience and weight of character. In the Senate, there was the accession of Messrs. Calhoun, Bullock, Crawford, and others; and in the House, of Messrs. W. G. Jones of Mobile, Martin of Talladega, Bulger of Tallapoosa, Irby and Mabry of Dallas, and many others; constituting altogether a Legislature of moral and intellectual worth-a credit to the State.
Gov. Winston's message was delivered on Tuesday, which was read, and 5,000 copies ordered to be printed. It fills about thir- teen pages of the Journal. Like all his other State papers, it is brief, bold, pointed and vigorous. The last paragraph is the fol- lowing:
I know of no important measure of legislation that will be required at your hands, which will long detain you from the enjoyment of the more pleasant rela-
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tions of private life. In a few days my connection with the legislation of the. State will come to a close. It has been my fortune, in much of the legislation of the last four years, to differ with the legislative department. I endeavored to dis- charge my duty to the people of Alabama conscientiously, and have yet seen no cause to believe my course was injurious to the general welfare. With a lasting sense of gratitude to the people of the State, for the kindness and confidence they have ever extended to me, I shall retire from the obligations of official position.
His administration being thus closed, it may be proper to say that Gov. Winston, as will be seen by his vetoes, had a way of his own; always firm, if not always courteous; which led to un- pleasant relations with the General Assembly. This remark is especially applicable to the session of 1855, when he stood up and battled against an overwhelming majority of both Houses upon many important questions of public policy, of interest to the State. That he was entirely free from error in all his vetoes, I will not undertake to say; but that he was adhering faithfully to his avowed sentiments before the people, and which were well understood in his triumphant election twice to the Chief Magistracy, there can be no doubt; and while his vetoes were, in many instances, over- ridden by a constitutional majority in both Houses, the interposi- tion of the veto doubtless prevented much legislation that was useless, or would have been hurtful to the State; and his admin- istration will stand, with his messages, a monument of Executive devotion to the interests of the people.
The Legislature was an independent, coordinate department of the Government, and in defending the rectitude of Gov. Winston's course, it is not my intention to condemn the others. They rep- resented interests committed to their hands, and had responsibili- ties as well as he, and they were alike answerable to their constitu- ents. But the moral heroism of the occasion and the contest is with the Governor. He contended single-handed against a form- idable majority in both branches of the Legislature, which in- cluded much of character, experience and mind. With many of them he had been connected in public life, and many of them were his friends and supporters at the polls, and, no doubt, he would have preferred to be in accord with them in the discharge of his official duties. But when it became necessary to maintain his position, he separated from them, and stood pretty much by himself in this controversy, so far as the Legislature is concerned.
VOTE FOR GOVERNOR.
The two Houses having convened in the Representative Hall, the votes for Governor were examined and announced :
For Andrew B. Moore. 41,847
Scattering. 2,447
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Proclamation having been duly made that Andrew B. Moore was elected Governor of Alabama for the term prescribed by the Constitution, and a Joint Committee having waited on that gen- tleman with a notice of the fact, and another Committee having made all suitable arrangements, the ceremonies of inauguration took place at the Capitol, on the 1st of December, 1857, in pres- ence of a large concourse of his fellow-citizens, including much of the beauty and fashion of the State in the fair sex.
TWO AND THREE PER CENT. FUNDS.
Probably no one subject has cost so much labor in the examina- tion, and so much writing by the Clerks in copying the reports and tables, in the Legislature, as the donation by the General Government of a certain per centum on the sale of public lands in Alabama, as will be seen by the following extract:
The third proposition in the sixth section of the act passed by the Congress of the United States on the 2d day of March, 1819, "To enable the people of Ala- bama Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admis- sion of such State into the Union," is as follows: "That five per cent. of the net proceeds of the public lands lying within said territory, and which shall be sold by Congress from and after the 1st day of September, in the year 1819, and after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals, and improving the navigation of rivers, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the State, under the direction of the Leg- islature thereof; and two-fifths in the making of a road or roads leading to said State, under the direction of Congress."
A Joint Committee was raised to take charge of the whole sub- ject, and to ascertain what sums had been received from the Gen- eral Government, and what disposition had been made of them, from time to time, and the present condition of the fund. The labors of the Committee were thorough and searching, as appears from the report made by Mr. John S. Storrs, Chairman on the part of the Senate, and Mr. R. N. Walden, Chairman on the part of the House. The items were given in detail, with dates and payments, which may be condensed, as showing the aggregate of the three per cent:
Paid to State Bank up to 1841 . $353,831.99
Paid since, and up to 1857 236,353.04
Dividends in bank to 1834 104,853.30
Total $695,043.33
Since 1834, when taxation ceased, and the Banks paid the ex- penses of the Government, the dividends on this fund have been placed to the credit of the sinking fund, and loans and expendi-
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tures have been made under this title. The amount of the three per cent. fund in 1857, unappropriated, was $287,125.58 .. In the meantime, advances had been made to certain railroads, to the amount of $111,511.50, for which certificates of stock have been issued to the State.
By act of Congress of 4th of September, 1841, the two per cent. fund was re- linquished to the State on the terms and conditions that " the whole of the said two per cent. fund shall be faithfully applied, under the direction of the Legisla- ture of Alabama, to the connection, by some means of internal improvement, of the navigable waters of the Bay of Mobile with the Tennessee River, and to the construction of a continuous line of Internal improvement from a point on the Chattahoochee River opposite West-Point, in Georgia, across the State of Alabama, in a direction to Jackson, in the State of Mississippi."
The whole amount received, as constituting this fund,
principal and interest, to 1857, is $481,227.88
Loans and expenditures to 1857 434,870.40
Balance in the Treasury $ 46,357.48
This matter of the two and three per cent. funds had more or less wasted the time of the Legislature for thirty years, and the cost of delay, and printing reports and bills, and in printing the Journals, the expenses of clerk hire to make the examinations, and the expenses of agents in various ways, have all cost the State probably half the.entire value of the funds. It had reached such a point of annoyance, that it was next to impossible to get a bill through with a single appropriation of any part of it for one ob- ject, and so it became subject to combinations for mutual interest to different localities, in bills known, in parliamentary phrase, as Omnibus bills, and in this way, in 1859-'60, it had passed from the control of the Legislature.
JUDICIAL ELECTIONS.
Chancellor Clark was reelected over G. L. Nabors, of Pickens county.
MR. NABORS was a member in 1855, and was again returned in 1857-intelligent and attentive to business. He was afterward appointed by Mr. Buchanan a Judge of the United States Court in one of the Western Territories, perhaps New Mexico, which, for some cause, he declined. For a number of years, he filled the office of Judge of Probate, and still resides in Pickens county.
GEN. CULLEN A. BATTLE, of Macon county, was defeated in a contest for Solicitor of the Ninth Circuit, by Judge Woodward, upon a close vote,
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Gen. Battle was a Georgian, a son of Dr. Cullen Battle, a gen- tlemen of wealth and intelligence, who settled in Barbour county as a planter at an early day. The son had established himself at the bar in Macon county, and when hostilities broke out in 1861, he entered the service of the' Confederate States, in which he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General.
SENATORS.
Among the new Senators, and those of more experience in public life, who served at the session of 1857, and not hitherto specially mentioned, are the following gentlemen:
NOAH ALFRED AGEE, of the town of Claiborne, was elected to the Senate in 1857, from the district composed of Monroe, Clarke, and Baldwin counties. He was a member of the House in 1853, and acted his part well in the walks of legislation. He is a native Alabamian, and graduated at the University in the class of 1845.
He was made Chairman of the Committee on Education, and filled his place well, not only in this, but in all other respects as a Senator. He served through the session with increased efficiency, from the development of his faculties and enlarged experience. His deportment. was good, with fine social qualities; and although somewhat reserved, he was still an agreeable companion. He continues to reside at Claiborne, in the practice of the law.
EDWARD C. BULLOCK, of Barbour, came into the Senate as a member for the first time, in 1857. He was raised and educated in Charleston, South Carolina, but had resided some years in Eu- faula, where he practiced his profession as a lawyer, and edited a newspaper. He brought into public life a great deal of character ; and his bearing as a gentleman, and ability as a lawyer and legis- lator, soon placed him in the front rank of Senators.
He was made Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, in which position he displayed industry, and business tact and knowl- edge. In 1859, he was again placed at the head of that Com- mittee, with the increased strength of experience and legislative ability, which gave him a controlling influence, not only in the Senate, but also in the House, and throughout the circle of his acquaintance. He was affable and courteous in his deportment and address. His speeches in the Senate were not labored efforts, but were explanatory and in reply. Simplicity, clearness and force seemed to be the ruling object of his remarks, in which he was highly successful.
Mr. Bullock was closely allied, in consultation and in action, with the events which resulted in the secession of Alabama. He
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was a very prominent member of the State Convention that sent delegates to Charleston, in 1860, and was active in its proceedings, and in passing the platform resolutions. When the State seceded, he was appointed by Gov. Moore a Commissioner to Florida, to consult with the authorities there on the common interest of the cotton States. That duty he performed with his usual ability.
Soon thereafter, he entered the Confederate service at Pensa- cola, and was made Colonel of a regiment; but his health, feeble at first, doubtless the result of years of close application and study, soon gave way from the exposures of a camp life, and in 1862, he died.
Few men who occupied public position in Alabama have, within so short a time, made a more decided impression, or took in a larger range of respect and influence than did Col. Bullock. His death was generally regretted as a loss to the country, and espe- cially of the State which was proud of him. The first Legislature after the war, named a new county in honor of his memory, which embraces within its limits some of the finest lands, and best citi- zens of the State. Col. Richard H. Powell, of Union Springs, the Senator from Macon, is entitled to the credit of inaugurating this project which perpetuates the name of Bullock.
OAKLEY H. BYNUM, of Lawrence, was first elected to the House in 1839, a young man, and was again elected in 1849. In the early part of the latter session he was attacked with fever, which prevented him from sharing in the labors of the House. In 1857, he was elected to the Senate, and with vigilance and fidelity he served through his term of four years, often participat- ing in the debates, in which he exhibited wit, and was happy in his retorts upon the floor. Col. Bynum was a member of the National Convention at Baltimore, in 1860, and supported Mr. Douglas for the Presidency. He was an opulent planter.
DANIEL CRAWFORD, of Coosa, made his first appearance in the House in 1847, and served with industry and credit on the Com- mittee of Ways and Means, and, although a new member, assisted in getting up the revenue bill of that year, which, a little unpop- ular at the time, contributed to the preservation of the faith of the State. In 1857, he was returned to the Senate, and served a ses- sion, bringing to the discharge of duty a good judgment, and much reading and reflection.
In 1865, he was elected a delegate to the State Convention that formed the Constitution of that year, and rendered good service in the deliberations of that body, on Committees and in council. He is no public speaker, at which I am not a little surprised, that a gentleman who converses well, and intelligently, reasons logi-
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cally, and seldom fails to make out a case with clearness, can not get up and say publicly, in the form of a speech, what he can ex- press so admirably in conversation. Mr. Crawford, however, is not the only gentleman I have known who labored under this disability.
Few men in the State are more deservedly respected; few illus- trate more fully, in fitness for public trusts, the injustice of the Fourteenth Amendment; and yet, with his mature capacity and character for usefulness in public life, few men have less thirst for its honors and employments, or are more wedded to private station than Mr. Crawford. He is a native of South Carolina, but came to Alabama when a young man, and became, by well directed en- ergies, the architect of his own fortune.
ROBERT S. HEFFLIN, of Randolph, is a Georgian, and, in 1849, was elected to the House, following his father in the same relation by four years. Under the old organization he was allied fully with the Democratic party. In 1859, he was elected to the Sen- ate, as the successor of Mr. Henry M. Gay, a modest, worthy gen- tleman, who represented his constituents honestly for a term, and died a few years ago.
Mr. Hefflin's service in the Senate extended through six years. In the elections of 1860, he supported Mr. Douglas as the repre- sentative of the National party. During the war his relations be- came complicated with the Confederate Government, and he felt justified, in self-defense, in a transfer across the line.
After the surrender, he was appointed by Provisional Gov- ernor Parsons, Judge of the Probate Court, and in 1868, he was upon the Grant Electoral ticket. In 1869, he was the nominee of the Republican party for Congress, got the return certificate, and served through his term, just now expired.
Mr. Hefflin's life has been chequered by various political shades and relations. It is not my province or desire to crit- icise or to pass judgment in such cases on public men. Many of their acts, in junctures of peculiar trial, however much we may regret and disapprove them, should be forgotten, and the waves of time be allowed to roll over them with obliterating effect upon whatever of error or mistake they involve. My personal and official connection with Mr. Hefflin, many years ago, was friendly and agreeable. . He was true, straightforward and reliable in his actions. His present affiliations as a politician are his own. Whether for good or for evil, he has the right to determine for himself, even when public opinion assumes the prerogative.
ALLEN C. JONES, a Virginian and a Democrat, was first elected to the House in 1851, which was a little remarkable in that day
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of old party organizations, and Greene county having a decided Whig majority. But his success was owing to personal popularity, and to family influences, he having married a daughter of Col. John Erwin, who, for thirty years, was a leading lawyer and poli- tician, of great intellect and force of character. In 1857, Mr. Jones was elected to the Senate from Greene and Marengo, and served through a term of four years, an active and efficient member.
He gave himself to the Confederate service, and had the com- mand of a regiment. His conduct during the war was distin- guished for patriotism and courage. Col. Jones still resides in Greene, and is justly considered a high-minded and useful citizen.
S. K. McSPADDEN, of Cherokee, commenced, in 1857, a term of four years, in which he established a respectable character for talents and attention to business. He is a lawyer, and in prepar- ing himself for his profession, he had to struggle with poverty and its depressing influences. When the war called the sons of the South to rally to her standard, he obeyed the summons, and rose to the command of a regiment, and returned home with rep- utation for gallant service.
In 1865, Col. McSpadden was elected Chancellor of the North- ern Division, and continued in the office, performing its duties in a manner satisfactory to the public, until he was superseded by the Reconstruction measures of Congress. He now resides in Cherokee, practicing his profession.
JOHN ROWE, of Tallapoosa, a Georgian, was first elected to the House in 1849, upon the Democratic ticket, and reelected in 1851, as the colleague of Gen. Bulger, on a ticket in opposition to the Compromise measures of Congress. At both sessions, he exhib- ited a fair degree of ability, and by his general information, he had influence with his fellow-members, and in the political coun- cils of the day.
In 1857, he came to the Senate for a full term, and brought to the discharge of his duties an improved capacity which gained him confidence and respect in that body, in which he proved an effi- cient co-worker. He had fine social qualities, which rendered him a pleasant sojourner in the offices of the Capitol during periods of relaxation. He had read much, and was well versed on political and other questions, and, while modest and unpretending, he could impart information to his fellow-members, which was always gladly received.
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