USA > Arkansas > Biographical and pictorial history of Arkansas. Vol I > Part 10
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Very respectfully, etc.,
JAMES A. GAITHER.
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In the autumn of 1886 the author paid a special visit to that venerable jurist and statesman, the Hon. Alfred B. Green- wood of Bentonville, who comes to us from a past generation rich in the wisdom and experience of the jurist and the sage, with unimpaired memory and mental faculties. He manifested much interest in the efforts of the author to stay the remorse- less vandalism of oblivion in high places, and his face lighted up with pleasant anticipation as he said : "Hallum, are you in possession of the history of Judge Lacy's life ? if not, spare no exertion to get it; he was one of the purest and best men I ever knew. I have been in public life and in contact with the educated and refined of this country and Europe, and have never met a man more gentle and pleasing, or possessed of more engaging conversational powers."
Judge Lacy graduated at Chapel Hill with the highest honors in the class of 1825, when only nineteen years old. His father was the warm personal friend and political adherent of General Jackson. His mother was an Overton, one of the best families of Virginia ; through her he was a blood relation of Judge Overton of Tennessee, who was ever the friend of General Jackson, and was his partner in the purchase of the Chickasaw Bluffs, on which the city of Memphis is located. These facts, added to young Lacy's solid, independent merit, gave him access to the old hero's heart and confidence, and laid the foundation of his commission as judge.
Here the author may be pardoned for relating an episode illustrating the character of General Jackson in forming his opinion of men. The Arkansas delegation in congress during his second administration united in an earnest effort to have Mr. B .- - appointed receiver of the land office at Little Rock. The president gave this characteristic reply : "I have seen that fellow around here and don't like his looks; he won't do ; I don't intend to appoint him - recommend some- body else, gentlemen." The name is withheld for obvious reasons ; he was in every sense a worthy man, but his face ruined him in the opinion of the president.
In 1832, there were two vacancies on the territorial bench of Arkansas which were filled without solicitation or interven- tion from extraneous sources.
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Thomas J. Lacy, then of Nashville, and Archibald Yell of Fayetteville, Tennessee, were first in the heart of the appoint- ing power for these positions, and each received the judicial seal.
Territorial law then required the judges to reside in their respective districts, and Judge Lacy selected Monroe as the most eligible county for his residence. He soon became known as an upright and able jurist, and all who came in contact with him were impressed with the great moral worth and magnetismn of the man. In the fall of 1835 he was elected delegate from Monroe county to the constitutional convention which con- vened early in January, 1836, to formulate a State government, and was conspicuous in moulding the convictions of that learned body of men.
The first legislature under the new government assembled in the fall of 1836, and among its first acts was the election of three judges of the supreme court ; the honor was conferred on Judges Lacy, Dickinson and Ringo. Under this constitution the president of the senate and speaker of the house were re- quired to apportion the judges by lot into three classes, so that one thereafter should be elected every four, six and eight years. In this apportionment the six-year term fell to Judge Lacy.
His popularity as a jurist grew and increased with his years and experience, and he was re-elected, without opposition, in 1842, for the full period of eight years.
In 1845 his health was impaired to an extent necessitating resort to New Orleans for surgical treatment. Shortly after his return his devoted wife died without having borne him any children. These combined misfortunes influenced him to resign his commission as judge on the 7th of June, 1845, much to the regret of the people he had so long and so well served.
He moved to New Orleans where he entered upon a large and lucrative field of practice, but died of cholera in January, 1849, in the forty-third year of his age.
He was six feet high, slender in form, weighed one hundred and thirty-five pounds ; had black hair, dark skin and black eyes. He was an orator possessed of the most graceful and pleasing diction. ITis published opinions embrace the era extend- ing from 1836 to 1845, and show him to have been a
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learned, painstaking, upright jurist, satisfied to follow the great current of authority, without embarking on the hazardous field of leading and exceptional cases on which to found personal fame.
TERRENCE FARRELLY, ARKANSAS POST.
Terrence Farrelly was born in county Cavan, Ireland, in 1792. When quite young he immigrated to America and set- tled at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he remained a few years in the avocation of daily laborer. He had a great thirst for knowledge, and with little assistance acquired during leisure hours and long winter nights the rudiments of a common school education, which he continued to improve during life. He was a great reader and embraced in a desultory circuit a vast field of literature, history being his favorite study. A large stock of good practical common sense supplemented by an hospitable and genial nature justly entitled him to a high degree of consideration with the primitive inhabitants of the territory. He was a prominent actor in the section where he resided for many years ; was often elevated to official station, and thus became one of our early historic characters. He came to the ter- ritory of Missouri in 1818 and settled on a farm four miles above Arkansas Post, where he continued to reside the remainder of his long life. He married Mrs. Mary Mosley, a widow, who bore him eight children, but two of whom now survive, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Langtree and Charles C. Farrelly of Little Rock. He read law and was admitted to the bar at a late period in life and was enrolled in the supreme court as a member of " the old bar" of Arkansas. He came to the front as a member of the territorial legislature from Arkansas county in 1823, and was that session elected speaker of the house. He stood for re-elec- tion in 1825, but was defeated by Ben Harrington. He was successively elected to the territorial council in 1827, 1829, 1831, 1833 and 1835, aggregating twelve years' service in the territorial legislature. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1836, elected as a floater from Arkansas and Jefferson counties. This " fine old Irish gentleman," after the inauguration of the State government, retired from public life and devoted the remainder of his life to the practice of his pro-
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fession and his private affairs. He passed quietly to rest at his country seat in 1865, regretted and honored by his fellow citi- zens. He was a large planter, and delighted in dispensing the hospitalities so famous in the south during his day.
JUDGE DAVID WALKER, FAYETTEVILLE.
Judge Walker's lineage is traced back to an ancient line of Quakers of robust integrity, belonging to the middle classes of England. The last trans-Atlantic ancestor in the male line is Jacob Walker, whose son George emigrated to America and settled in Brunswick county, Virginia, preceding the revolu- . tion, where he married a native to the manor born, allied in lineage to the cavaliers.
To him was born several sons whose descendants have made him the central figure in the American line of a very distin- guished family, whose attainments are written high and prom- inent on the escutcheon of several States.
One of these sons, Jacob Wythe Walker, born in the decade that ushered in the revolution, joined, early in life, the resist- less tide of emigrants that crossed the mountains into Ken- tucky, where, in what was then a part of Christian, now Todd county, on the 19th of February, 1806, was born unto him and Nancy Hawkins, his wife, David Walker, who became the distinguished citizen and upright jurist of Arkansas.
His father was a distinguished lawyer, free-hearted and generous to a fault ; no sordid desire ever entered his mind to enslave and corrode his heart. His nature was in accord with the divine monition, " lay up not riches, lest they take wings and fly."
As we have oft-repeated, and need not here emphasize, edu- cational facilities on the frontier in the early decades of this century were meager and primitive.
This want of juncture in fortune and facility placed the noble signet of a self-made man on the brow of David Walker.
Instead of dwarfing and perishing his native resources, it kindled the latent energies of a noble nature early in life, and led it onward and triumphantly upward to the end of a long and useful life. His achievements in the rudimental and higher branches of literature, and the noble science he mastered, were
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DAVID WALKER.
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the results of unaided battles and toils. He was admitted to the bar in Scottsville, Kentucky, early in 1829, and practiced law there until the fall of 1830, when he moved to Arkansas, land- ing at Little Rock on the 10th of October. A short time after this he located in Fayetteville, where he continued until his death, on the 30th of September, 1879, the consummation of a long and useful life, well worthy the study and imitation of noble and aspiring youth. From 1833 to 1835 he was prose- cuting attorney in the third circuit. He was one of the many - able members of the constitutional convention of 1836. In 1840 he rode the tidal wave of whiggery into the State senate, in which he served four years. In 1844 he led the forlorn hope of his party in the ever memorable contest with Governor Yell for congress, which is more fully detailed in the life of the latter. In 1848, whilst he was on a visit to Kentucky, and with- out his knowledge, a legislature largely democratic elected him associate justice of the supreme court over strong democratic opposition, embracing such men as Judges English and William Conway, both of whom afterward succeeded to the office. The election to this high office over such opposition at a time when party politics ran high was the best testimonial the Commonwealth could pay to the exalted worth of the lawyer and citizen. He was much astonished at this election ; being a leader of the opposition, he did not for a time understand its import, and it required some earnest effort on the part of his friends to persuade him to accept the office; but after being satisfied that it would not conflict with his high-church whigism he accepted. In the administration of this office he made and left a record for ability and stainless integrity. The people of Arkansas have always accorded him that high degree of meri- torious consideration which the British subject accords his lord chancellor. When he saw that war was likely to become the final arbiter in the great sectional conflict between the States, his love embraced the Union as the fruition of the greatest blessings and achievements God had held out to man since the creation of the world, but his deeply-moved sympa- thies clung to his native south like the undying love of the mother for her wayward child, and he cut the " Gordian knot," without doing violence to his heart, by joining the revolution he could not stay.
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With his soul, and head, and heart, and the delicate adjust- ment of mental and moral forces which dominated his nature and impressed it with the signet of that noble individuality- the sum and product of his character - it was simply impossi- ble for him to embrace the idea of striking down the south in blood. He ascended to that lofty summit where General Rob- ert E. Lee stood, and with the noble ken that belongs to the higher type of man, recognized and acted on the fact, that what the world calls patriotisin has its qualifications and limi- tations in supreme emergencies like those which ushered in the war between the States. The exercise of this God-given right has marked the world with more monuments than one Pharsalia.
On the 18th of February, 1861, he was elected to the con- vention which convened on the 4th of March, and finally on the 6th of May, passed the ordinance of secession. He was nominated for president of the convention, and received the forty conservative votes of that body, representing its union strength, as against thirty-five votes cast for Judge B. C. Totten, representing the disunion strength as then developed. But the rapidity with which the scenes and developments moved in one of the world's greatest dramas changed every member of this majority (save one) over to the minority by the 6th of May, and Arkansas with Judge Walker at the head of her revolutionary government cut loose from her ancient moorings, and proceeded to organize and equip forty regiments and battalions to maintain her defiant and resolute attitude.
In the disjointed era of 1866 he was elected chief justice of the State, and in a little less then two years was driven by military power from the office.
When the sun of reconstruction went down under the accu- mulated corruption of the serfs who violated sacred trusts and abused temporary power ; when those, who, "like dead bodies thrown in the Ganges, rose as they rotted and floated on the surface, objects of loathing and contamination," were finally removed from power and place, this sterling old citizen and jurist was again called from his private retreat and placed on the supreme bench by the unanimous acclaim of a free people. He discharged the duties of this high office until September, 187S,
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when he resigned, to enjoy the ease and comforts of private life, but he had already attained the patriarchal age of seventy and two, and but one year more was spared him. Nature gave him a vigorous, well-balanced mind, robust constitution and energies that taxed it to its full capacity. He rode the circuit through storm and through sunshine, through the rays of an August sun, and the snows of the winter solstice; he camped out on the road, forded creeks and swam rivers. To him the discharge of duty in all the relations of life was man's noblest performance.
We have stated that Judge Walker belonged to a very dis- tinguished family. His father moved to Arkansas in 1836, and was president of the Fayetteville branch of the State Bank when he died. His uncle, George Walker, was an able lawyer, and was a senator in congress in 1814 from Kentucky ; his wife was a niece of General Jackson's wife. Another uncle, David Walker, was a member of congress from Kentucky, and died in Washington while attending the session of 1820. John Walker, another uncle, was treasurer of Missouri for many years, and the father of General John G. Walker of the Con- federate army. His cousin, David S. Walker, was governor of Florida. His cousin, James Volney Walker, was the father of his son-in-law, the Hon. James D. Walker, of Fayetteville, ex-United States senator from Arkansas, who married his accomplished daughter Mary. He was cousin to the Hon. William Walker, of Fort Smith, long celebrated as one of the ablest lawyers of the State. He was also nearly related to Richard S. Walker, ex-judge of the supreme court of Texas. Royal T. Wheeler, deceased, once an eminent judge of the court of appeals in Texas, married his sister Emily. Other distinguished kindred of the same name figure conspicuously in the local histories of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
THE CUMMINS BROTHERS - WILLIAM AND EBENEZER, LITTLE ROCK.
These two brothers once adorned and honored the bar of Little Rock. William, the elder, came on the stage in terri- torial times, and was an important actor in shaping our laws and jurisprudence. Ebenezer, the younger, was an active 14
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worker with those not now old, and died in the prime of man- hood, a short time before the late civil war commenced. They- were born on their father's farm in Jefferson county, Kentucky -William on the 11th day of June, 1800; Ebenezer on the 1st of February, 1818. Their paternal grandfather, William Cummins, immigrated from Pennsylvania, and settled in Ken- tucky in the times of Daniel Boone. The old pioneer and his son John, the father of William and Ebenezer, built a fort near the present site of Louisville to protect them and their families against Indian warfare. This was of prime considera- tion to the early settlers in the " dark and bloody ground," whose history is written in the best blood of the most heroic type of our race. The elder Cummins became a large land- owner and settled a numerous family of sons and daughters around him on the rich lands of Jefferson county.
John, the father of our subjects, had twelve children, of whom William was the oldest. He gave his children the best educa- tional advantages the country and times permitted. William at the age of sixteen had mastered a good English education, and at the age of twenty had accomplished a classical education. He left school and entered the law office of his uncle, William Cummins, who was a profound scholar and able lawyer then living in southern Kentucky. The careful training under his kinsman left its impress through life, aud bore the ripest fruit.
In 1824, young Cummins located in Little Rock, and com- menced a brilliant professional career - soon advancing to the front rank at a bar renowned for able men, many of whom at- tained national fame. In October, 1833, the ripest scholar America has yet given to the world located in Little Rock as one of the editorial staff of the Advocate, a whig paper founded by Robert Crittenden.
This young man read law at leisure intervals whilst engaged in editorial labor, and in October, 1834, was licensed to practice law by Judge Thomas J. Lacy. In the spring of 1835, William Cummins, recognizing the great possibilities in the reach of the young man, offered Albert Pike a law partnership,. which was accepted. This partnership lasted many years ; they were con- genial spirits; their minds were of the same chaste, classic mould; their ambition looked upward to the same goal, though
WILLIAM M. CUMMINS.
ELECTRO
EBENEZER CUMMINS.
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the means to reach it varied ; their political affiliations and convictions were founded on the model of the great whig idol, Henry Clay.
Cummins sought political preferment, and would have at- tained the highest honors in the gift of the people, if his for- tunes had not been linked to the whig party, which never attained the ascendency in Arkansas.
Pike's ambition led him to avoid the conflict of political parties, and to quietly ascend on the wings of literature, juris- prudence and philosophy to a loftier throne than that presided over by the fickle godness of popular fortune in a republic.
The old Knickerbocker president's administration was very unpopular with a large majority of the American people. This caused the great tidal wave of 1840 which swept democracy from power and gave Van Buren an opportunity to luxuriate at Kinderhook for life.
In the contest of 1840 the whig party everywhere put its. best material in the field. That year William Cummins, Dr. Lorenzo Gibson and Charles P. Bertrand (all whigs) were elected to the legislature from Pulaski county. This was the only political office ever held by Mr. Cummins.
But it should not be forgotten that he was a member of the constitutional convention of 1836 which formulated our State government, and that his great abilities as a lawyer gave him conspicuous prominence in that body and enabled him to render the State valuable and lasting service.
He who employs a great intellect, and toils well in laying the foundation of a great State deserves the gratitude of her children to the remotest ages.
May Arkansas, midst all the revolutions of government - the mutation and spoliation of time never forget to honor and remember her worthy sons, who made her history and achieved her fame. He was often appealed to by the whig party to lead its forlorn hope in deathly struggles with the democratic party, encountering defeat in contests with Yell and Judge Cross for congress. IIe stood alone in his family in polities ; his father and brothers and other kindred were democrats. He adhered to the fortunes of the old whig party with unswerving tenacity, and preferred its flag as a winding sheet to his ambi-
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tion, rather than court success by joining the dominant party in Arkansas. In this conscientious devotion to principle he has left a nobler signet to fame than all the laurels of office could lend. In 1832 he married Francine Notrebe, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Colonel Frederick Notrebe, then a wealthy planter in Arkansas county, who immigrated from France about 1810, and settled at the Arkansas Post. Notrebe is a historic character, and is entitled to honorable mention in any work which relates to the early history of Arkansas. He was a polished, high-spirited gentleman, and had been an officer in the French army under Bonaparte during the consulate. He had participated in the revolution which dethroned and exiled the effeminate Bourbon dynasty from France. IIe drew his sword, as he thought, in the interest of liberal insti- tutions, certainly not to strengthen monarchy or despotism.
When the first consul in 1804 threw off the mask and put on the crown, he sheathed his sword and came to free Arkansas, to enjoy what the inevitable had denied him in Europe.
Men like Notrebe, who give up home, fortune, place and power, rather than principle, belong to the highest type of man, are entitled to the highest consideration, and make the strongest pillars of State. He was buried in the cemetery at Arkansas Post, and his remains have been invaded and washed away by the river in its onward flow to the sea.
William Cummins left one daughter, now living in St. Louis, widow of the late Captain Edward Morton. He died in March, 1843, in Little Rock in the forty-third year of his age, and was. buried in Mt. Holly cemetery. The first four volumes of Arkansas Reports contain all his law argu- ments that have been preserved. He was possessed of a high order of physical and moral courage, was never officious and never avoided just responsibility. He was a devoted friend, a defiant enemy.
Ebenezer, the younger brother, enjoyed the same educational facilities his elder brother, William, enjoyed, and he also ac- quired a classical education at Middleton, Kentucky. He was a good-natured boy and one of the most amiable of men, and though an ardent, zealous advocate, never wounded the feel- ings of any one, certainly never intentionally. After the com-
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pletion of his studies in 1838 he came to Arkansas and read law with Pike & Cummins, and for a short time before his brother's death was his law partner. After his brother's death in 1843 he practiced law alone until after Captain Pike returned from the Mexican war. In 1848-9 he formed a part- nership with his old legal tutor, and this relation continued until Captain Pike, afterward General, removed to New Orleans, late in 1854.
In 1856 there lived in Washington, Hempstead county, an obscure young lawyer who was scarcely known beyond the limits of his county, but he was possessed of a strong native intellect, untiring application and splendid possibilities. The young man naturally desired an outlet, an opening upward for the flight of his genius, that it might soar away from the unkind clouds that hid A. H. Garland from the world.
Ebenezer Cummins was kind hearted and held that splendid opportunity in his power. He commanded a much larger busi- ness than a man of his precarious health could attend to. Mr. Garland saw the opportunity and utilized it.
In 1856 the partnership of Cummins & Garland was formed, and Mr. Garland made one round of the extensive circuit before the death of Mr. Cummins in March, 1857. This partnership was a great stepping-stone to the junior member and left him heir to an extensive and lucrative practice. After the death of the elder partner many wealthy clients in Chicot urged on the surviving junior the propriety of engaging older counsel. To obviate the necessity of dividing large fees and playing second fiddle, the junior resorted to strategy and diplomacy by calling up a demurrer in one of the most important cases in Chicot circuit, which to the astonishment of clientage, court and auditory, he argued at great length, displaying wonderful knowledge of the law, and the minutest detail of fact and his- tory of the case. This had the desired effect and ended all importunity for associate counsel. This inheritance of a large and wealthy clientage, with the ability to sustain the demands it imposed, opened up to Mr. Garland a brilliant career and national fame.
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