USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100
"The secession battle was fought and won over Judge Nisbet's reso- lution. Amidst the wildest excitement, the colonial flag of Georgia was raised upon the Capitol. Judge Nisbet promptly moved that the commit- tee report an ordinance of secession, to consist of seventeen members. It was carried, and both sides were represented in the personnel of this eommit- tee, as follows: Judge Eugenius A. Nisbet, Chairman; Robert Toombs, Herschel V. Johnson, Francis S. Bartow, Henry' L. Benning, William M. Browne, George D. Rice, T. H. Trippe, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Augustus H. Kenan, Alexander H. Stephens, James Williamson, D. P. Hill, Benjamin H. Hill, E. W. Chastain, Alfred H. Colquitt, and Augustus Reese. Immediately after the appointment of the committee a message was received from Governor Brown, in response to a resolution, furnishing the ordinance of Georgia ratifying the Constitution of the United States, and also a copy of resolutions adopted by the New York Legislature, tendering aid to the President to uphold the Union. The Committee of Seventeen made the following report:
"'AN ORDINANCE
" 'To dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under a compact of Government entitled: "The Constitution of the United States of America. "
565
BALDWIN
"''We, the people of the State of Georgia, in Con- vention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained :
" 'That the ordinance adopted by the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention, on the second day of January, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Con- stitution of the United States was assented to, ratified and adopted; and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying and adopting amendments of said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.
" 'We do further declare and ordain, That the Union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is in the full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty, which belong and appear- tain to a free and independent State.'
"On motion of Mr. Toombs the ordinance was twice read. Ben. Hill moved as a substitute for the ordinance, the preamble and resolutions offered by ex-Governor H. V. Johnson. When the roll was called, the vote stood 133 yeas and 164 nays, a slight gain in the anti-secession vote, . though the motion was lost. Mr. Nisbet then moved the, passage of the ordinance, and the vote stood 208 yeas to 89 nays, showing that 44 of the anti-secession members voted for the ordinance upon the idea that its passage was a foregone conclusion, and, further opposition being useless, it was wise and patriotic to give all the moral force possible to the act. Mr. Hill voted on this ballot for secession, But Governor Johnson, the Stephens brothers, General Wofford and Judge Warner still voted against it. The announcement of the President of the Convention, Governor George W. Crawford, that it was his pleasure and privilege to declare the State of Georgia free, sovereign, and independent, was followed by applause, tempered only by the gravity of thoughtful men over a step of serious and unknown import. The hour of the passage of this momentous ordinance was two o'clock in the afternoon of January the 19th, 1861.
"Before adjournment, Mr. Nisbet, for the sake of unanimity, moved that the entire membership of the Convention, without regard to individual approval or disapproval, be required to sign the ordinance as a pledge of united determination to sustain and defend the State in her chosen remedy of secession.
"At twelve o'clock on Monday, the 21st day of January, 1861, the ordinance of secession was signed in the presence of the Governor and State House officers, judges, and a throng of spectators, and the great seal of the State was attached. The delegates all signed the ordinance, but six of them did so under protest, as follows:
566
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
"' 'We, the undersigned delegates to the Convention of the State of Georgia, now in session, while we most solemnly protest against the action of the majority in adopting an ordinance for the immediate and separate secession of this State, and would have preferred the policy of co-operation with our Southern sister States, yet as good citizens, we yield to the will of the majority of her people as expressed by their representative, and do hereby pledge 'our lives, our fortunes, and our saered honor' to the defence of Georgia, if necessary, against hostile invasion from any source whatsoever.
JAMES P. SIMMONS, of Gwinnett. THOMAS M. McRAE, of Montgomery. F. H. LATIMER, of Montgomery. DAVIS WHELCHEL, of Hall. P. M. BYRD, of Hall. . JAMES SIMMONS, of Pickens.
"This decisive aet of Georgia settled the revolution. Whatever doubts had existed as to the poliey or purpose of the South in regard to seeession were dissipated. The spirit of the Georgia Convention, so riven as it was by a conflict of opinion as to disunion, yet so conciliatory and har- monious in the final action, confirmed the effect of its example abroad. Committed to secession, after a stubborn confliet and a close division, the State was compaetly welded in its cordial support of the policy adopted. The ship was given to the lightning and the gale against the wishes of a powerful majority of her crew, but when the venture was made every man leaped to his post for the storm, devoted, loyal, intrepid and invincible. The news of the action at Milledgeville was flashed over the wires. Ratification meetings were held everywhere. Guns were fired and orators spoke in burning words. The die was cast for war, and the chivalrous spirit of a brave people gave baek a unanimous and deep- souled response. In the sister States of the South the effeet was elec- trical. "*
How the On the final passage of the ordinance of Vote Stood. secession the vote was 208 yeas and 89 nays. Not less than 44 of these were opposed to secession, having voted against the motion to report an ordinance; but the majority was against them, and, both sides having been represented on the committee to report an ordinance, there was quite an accession of strength
*Condensed from Chapter XVII, of I. W. Averys History of Georgia, 1850-1881, with additions from other sources.
567
BALDWIN
to the secession ranks on this ballot. The vote is given below in detail :
APPLING-Seaborn Hall, Yes; J. H. Latimer, Yes.
BANKS-W. R. Bell, No; S. W. Pruett, Yes.
BAKER-Alfred H. Colquitt, Yes; C. D. Hammond, Yes. BALDWIN-Augustus H. Kenan, No; L. H. Briscoe, Yes.
BERRIEN-W. J. Mabry, No; J. C. Lamb, Yes.
BIBB-Washington Poe, Yes; John B. Lamar, Yes; Eugenius A. Nisbet, Yes.
BROOKS-G. S. Gaulden, Yes; Henry Briggs, Yes. BRYAN-C. C. Slater, Yes; J. P. Hines, Yes.
BULLOCH-S. L. Moore, Yes; Samuel Harville, Yes.
BURKE-E. A. Allen, Yes; E. B. Gresham, Yes; W. B. Jones, Yes.
BUTTS-David J. Bailey, Yes; Henry Hendricks, Yes.
CAMDEN-N. J. Patterson, Yes; F. M. Adams, Yes. CAMPBELL-J. M. Cantrell, Yes; T. C. Glover, Yes. CALHOUN-W. C. Sheffield, Yes; E. Padgett, Yes.
CARROLL -- B. W. Wright, Yes; B. W. Hargrave, Yes; Allen Rowe, Yes.
CASS-W. T. Wofford, No; H. F. Price, No; T. H. Trippe, No.
CATOOSA-Presley Yates, No; J. T. McConnell, Yes.
CHARLTON-F. M. Smith, No; H. M. Merchon, Yes.
CHATHAM-Francis S. Bartow, Yes; A. S. Jones, Yes; John W. Anderson, ' Yes.
CHATTAHOOCHEE-E. A. Flewellen, Yes; James' A. Smith, Yes.
CHATTOOGA-Wesley Shropshire, No; L. Williams, No.
CHEROKEE-W. A. Teasley, Yes; E. E. Fields, Yes; John McConnell, Yes. CLARKE-Thos. R. R. Cobb, Yes; Asbury Hull, Yes; Jefferson Jennings, Yes.
CLAYTON-R. E. Morrow, No; James F. Johnson, Yes. CLAY-W. H. C. Davenport, Yes; B. F. Burnett, Yes.
CLINCH-Benjamin Sermons, Yes; F. G. Ramsay, Yes.
COBB-George D. Rice, Yes; A. A. Winn, Yes; E. H. Lindley, Yes. COFFEE-Rowan Pafford, No; J. H. Frier, No.
COLUMBIA-W. A. S. Collins, Yes; H. R. Casey, Yes; R. S. Neal, Yes. COLQUITT-H. C. Tucker, Yes; John G. Coleman, Yes.
COWETA-A. B. Calhoun, Yes; J. J. Pinson, Yes; W. B. Shell, Yes.
CRAWFORD-W. C. Cleveland, Yes; Isaac Dennis, Yes.
DADE-S. C. Hale, No; R. M. Paris, No.
DAWSON-Alfred Webb, No; R. H. Pierce, No. DECATUR-Richard Simms, Yes; C. J. Munnerlyn, Yes.
DE KALB-Charles Murphey, Yes; G. K. Smith, No. DOOLY-John S. Thomas, Yes; Elijah Butts, Yes. DOUGHERTY -- Richard H. Clark, Yes; C. E. Mallary, Yes.
EARLY-R. W. Sheffield, Yes; James Buchanan, Yes.
568
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
ECHOLS-Harris Tomlinson, Yes; J. B. Prescott, Yes. EFFINGHAM-E. W. Solomons, Yes; A. G. Porter, Yes. ELBERT-J. C. Burch, Yes; L. H. O. Martin, Yes. EMANUEL-A. L. Kirkland, No; John Overstreet, No. FANNIN-W. C. Fain, No; E. W. Chastain, Yes. FAYETTE-M. M. Tidwell, Yes; J. L. Blalock, Yes.
FLOYD-James Ward, Yes; Simpson Fouche, Yes; F. C. Shropshire, Yes. FORSYTH-Hardy Strickland, Yes; Hiram P. Bell, No.
FRANKLIN-John H. Patrick, No; Samuel Knox, No.
FULTON-Dr. J. F. Alexander, Yes; L. J. Glenn, Yes; Dr. J. P. Logan, Yes. GLASCOCK-Joshua F. Usry, Yes; Calvin Logue, Yes.
GLYNN-John L. Harris, Yes; H. B. Troup, Yes.
GILMER-Joseph Pickett, No; W. P. Milton, No.
GORDON-W. H. Dabney, Yes; James Freeman, No; R. M. Young, Yes. GREENE-Nathaniel M. Crawford, Yes; R. J. Willis, Yes; T. N. Poullain, Yes.
GWINNETT-R. D. Winn, No; J. P. Simmons, No; T. P. Hudson, No. HABERSHAM-R. C. Ketchum, Yes; Singleton Sisk, Yes.
HALL-E. M. Johnson, No; P. M. Byrd, No; David Welchel, No. HANCOCK-Linton Stephens, No; B. T. Harris, Yes; T. M. Turner, Yes. HARALSON-W. J. Head, Yes; B. R. Walton, Yes.
HARRIS-D. P. Hill, Yes; W. J. Hudson, Yes; H. D. Williams, Yes. - HART-R. S. Hill, Yes; J. H. Skelton, Yes.
HEARD-R. P. Wood, No; C. W. Mabry, No.
HENRY-F. E. Manson, No; E. B. Arnold, No; J. H. Low, Yes.
HOUSTON-J. M. Giles, Yes; D. F. Gunn, Yes; B. W. Brown, Yes.
IRWIN-M. Henderson, Yes; Jacob Young, No.
JACKSON-J. J. McCulloch, Yes; J. G. Pitman, Yes; D. R. Lyle, Yes.
JASPER-Aris Newton, No; Reuben Jordan, No.
JEFFERSON-Herschel V. Johnson, No; George Stapleton, No.
JOHNSON-William Hurst, No; J. R. Smith, No.
JONES-James M. Gray, Yes; P. T. Pitts, Yes.
LAURENS-Nathan Tucker, Yes; J. W. Yopp, Yes. LEE-W. B. Richardson, Yes; Goode Bryan, Yes.
LIBERTY-W. B. Fleming, Yes; S. M. Varnadoe, Yes.
LINCOLN-Lafayette Lamar, Yes; C. R. Strother, Yes.
LOWNDES-C. H. M. Howell, Yes; Isaiah Tilman, Yes. LUMPKIN-Benjamin Hamilton, No; William Martin, No. .
MADISON-J. S. Gholston, Yes; A. C. Daniel, Yes.
MACON-W. H. Robinson, Yes; J. H. Carson, Yes.
MARION-W. M. Browne, Yes; J. M. Harvey, Yes.
MCINTOSH-J. M. Harris, Yes; G. W. M. Williams, Yes.
MERIWETHER-Henry R. Harris, Yes; W. D. Martin, Yes; Hiram Warner, No. MILLER-W. J. Cheshier, Yes; C. L. Whitehead, Yes. MILTON-Jackson Graham, No; J. C. Street, No.
569
BALDWIN
MITCHELL-William T. Cox, Yes; Jesse Reed, Yes. MONROE-R. L. Roddey, Yes; Hiram Phinizy, Jr., No; J. T. Stephens, Yes. MONTGOMERY-T. M. McRae, No; S. H. Latimer, No.
MORGAN-Thomas P. Saffold, Yes; Augustus Reese, Yes.
MURRAY-Anderson Farnsworth, No; Euclid Waterhouse, No.
MUSCOGEE-J. N. Ramsey, Yes; Henry L. Benning, Yes; A. S. Rutherford, Yes.
NEWTON-W. S. Montgomery, Yes; Alexander Means, Yes; Parmedus Reynolds, No.
OGLETHORPE-D. D. Johnson, Yes; Samuel Glenn, Yes; Willis Willing- ham, No.
PAULDING-Henry Lester, Yes; J. Y. Algood, Yes.
PICKENS-James Simmons, No; W. T. Day, No.
PIERCE-E. D. Hendry, Yes; J. W. Stevens, Yes.
PIKE-R. B. Gardener, Yes; G. M. MeDowell, Yes.
POKE-W. E. West, Yes; T. W. Dupree, No.
PULASKI-T. J. McGriff, Yes; C. M. Bozeman, Yes.
PUTNAM-R. T. Davis, No; D. R. Adams, Yes.
QUITMAN-E. C. Ellington, Yes; L. P. Dozier, Yes.
RABUN-Samuel Beck, No; H. W. Cannon, No.
RANDOLPH-Marcellus Douglas, Yes; Arthur Hood, Yes.
RICHMOND-George W. Crawford, Yes; Jacob Phinzy, Sr., Yes; J. P. Garvin, Yes.
SCHLEY-H. L. French, Yes; W. A. Black, Yes.
SCREVEN-C. Humphries, Yes; J. L. Singleton, Yes.
SPALDING-W. G. Dewberry, Yes; Henry Moor, Yes.
STEWART-James A. Fort, Yes; James Hilliard, Yes; G. Y. Banks, Yes.
SUMTER-Willis A. Hawkins, Yes; Timothy M. Furlow, Yes; Henry Daven- port, Yes.
TALBOT-W. R. Neal, No; W. B. Marshall, Yes; L. B. Smith, Yes.
TALIAFERRO-Alexander H. Stephens, No; S. H. Perkins, No.
TATNALL-Benjamin Brewton, No; Henry Strickland, No.
TAYLOR-W. J. F. Mitchell, No; H. H. Long, Yes.
TELFAIR-H. MeLean, No; James Williamson, No.
TERRELL-William Harrington, No; D. A. Cochran, No.
THOMAS-A. H. Hansell, Yes; S. B. Spencer, Yes; W. G. Ponder, Yes.
TOWNS-John Corn, No; Elijah Kimsey, No.
TROUP-Benj. H. Hill, Yes; W. P. Beasley, Yes; J. E. Beall, Yes. TWIGGS-John Fitzpatrick, Yes; S. L. Richardson, Yes.
UNION-J. H. Huggins, No; J. P. Wellborn, No.
UPSON-P. W. Alexander, No; T. S. Sherman, No.
WALKER-G. G. Gordon, No; R. B. Diekerson, No; T. A. Sharpe, No.
WALTON-George Spence, Yes; Willis Kilgore, No; Henry D. McDaniel, Yes. WARE-W. A. MeDonald, Yes; Carey W. Stiles, Yes.
WARREN-M. D. Cody, Yes; N. A. Wicker, Yes.
570
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
WAYNE-Henry Fort, Yes; H. A. Cannon, Yes.
WASHINGTON-E. S. Langmade, Yes; Lewis Bullard, Yes; A. C. Harris, Yes. WEBSTER-P. F. Browne, Yes; M. H. Bush, Yes.
WHITE-Isaac Bowen, Yes; E. F. Starr, No.
WHITEFIELD-J. M. Jackson, No; F. A. Thomas, Yes; Dickerson Talia- ferro, No.
WILCOX-D. A. McLeod, Yes; Smith Turner, Yes.
WILKES-Robert Toombs, Yes; J. J. Robertson, Yes.
WILKINSON-N. A. Carswell, No; R. J. Cochran, No.
WORTH-R. G. Ford, Sr., Yes; T. T. Mounger, Yes.
Oglethorpe Univer- Two miles and a half to the west of
sity : Where Sidney Milledgeville there flourished before Lanier was Taught. the war an institution of learning, on whose alumni rolls the name of Sidney Lanier blazes like a star of the first magnitude, and from which a recent Chief Executive of Georgia, Joseph M. Brown, received his diploma. Oglethorpe Uni- versity was one of the first of Georgia's schools to receive a charter. It was located at a place called Midway, after the famous settlement on the Georgia coast. During the brief quarter of a century in which it flourished it made a record, the influence of which will be felt to the end of time; but in the wreckage entailed by Sherman's destruc- tive march to the sea, old Oglethorpe went down, to rise no more-at least upon the Oconee heights.
The story of how the institution came into existence may be briefly told. For years there existed under the fostering care of the Educational Board of Georgia two manual labor schools: the Midway Seminary and the Gwinnett Institute; and when the dissolution of the board necessitated a division of interest, the trustees of Midway Seminary, in the spring of 1835, tendered the school to Hopewell Presbytery, believing that ecclesias- tical supervision might yield better results. The offer was accepted, and a committee appointed to report on the expediency of elevating the school to college rank. As chairman of the committee, Hon. Eugenius A. Nisbet,
571
BALDWIN
afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia, submitted a report in which strong grounds were taken in favor of an institution of the proposed character to be under the exclusive government and control of the Pres- byterian Church. The report met with unanimous adop- tion. Accordingly, a board of trustees consisting of 24 members, was appointed by Presbytery to take charge of Oglethorpe University, the name by which the new school was to be known. The first meeting of the board was held at Milledgeville, on October 21, 1835, and within two months thereafter a charter was procured from the General Assembly of Georgia. Under the terms of the charter it was made a penal offense, in the sum of $500, for any one to sell merchandise of any character within a mile and a half of the University and in addition the form of deeds granted in the sale of lots belonging to the University required the forfeiture of such lots to the institution, in the event the law was violated.
On November 24, 1836, the university was organized by the election of the following faculty: Rev. Carlisle P. Beman, D. D., president, to hold the chair of chem- istry and natural philosophy; Hon. Eugenius A. Nisbet, vice-president, to teach belle lettres and natural philos- ophy; Rev. Samuel K. Talmage, professor of ancient languages; Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, chaplain, to teach moral philosophy ; and Rev. Nathaniel Macon Craw- ford, professor of astronomy and mathematics. The corner-stone of the main building was laid on March 31, 1837, at which time an address was delivered by Hon. Joseph Henry Lumpkin, afterwards Chief Justice of Georgia. Dr. Talmage, in writing of the school at a later period, thus describes the building: "It is a brick structure, painted white, two stories high, besides a base- ment. It is constructed after the Grecian Doric order, without and within. The central part contains the finest college chapel in the United States; its whole dimensions are fifty-two feet front by eighty-nine feet deep, includ- ing a colonnade fourteen feet deep, supported by four
572
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
massive pillars, and the vestibule of the chapel is eleven feet deep. The dimensions of the chapel are forty-eight feet by sixty in the main story, and forty-eight by sev- enty-one in the gallery, the latter extending over the vestibule. The ceiling of the chapel is in the form of an elliptical arch, resting on a rich cornice and con- taining a chaste and original centre piece. Attached to the building are two wings, thirty feet front by thirty- four deep, and three stories high; making the entire front of the edifice one hundred and twelve feet in length. Each story in the wings is divided into a professor's office in front, and a recitation or lecture room in the rear. There are in the basement story and wings sixteen rooms, affording ample accommodations, museum, apparatus and all other conveniences for college purposes." On each side of the campus there was a row of dormitories, one story in height, for the use of the students. The other buildings were the president's house, on the south side, below the dormitories; the academy, a large two- story edifice opposite, on the north side; and an old chapel, the interior of which was converted into recita- tion rooms.
On the first Monday in January, 1838-before the main building was finished-the college commenced oper- ations. The attendance by 1842 registered 125 students, of which number 50 were in the collegiate and 75 in the preparatory department. The college year was divided into two sessions: the winter session from January to May and the summer session from June to November. Commencement was usually on the second Wednesday of the last-named month. In the fall of 1839, at the re- quest of the Board of Trustees, Presbytery tendered the institution to the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, by which body it was eagerly accepted. President Beman resigned his position in 1841, and Rev. Samuel K. Tal- mage, a graduate of Princeton and an uncle of the great
573
BALDWIN
Brooklyn divine, was electetd to succeed him as presi- dent. He remained in office until his death, in 1865, a period of nearly twenty-five years. Toward the close of the war, the exercises of Oglethorpe University were suspended, due to the lack of necessary funds and to the impoverished condition of the State. Besides, a large percentage of the young men of Georgia were at the front. From 1867 to 1869 feeble efforts to resuscitate it were made. The office of president was repeatedly declined. Finally Rev. W. M. Cunningham accepted the office, but, on the eve of the college opening, he died. In 1870, Dr. David Wills succeeded him. The school was then removed to Atlanta, where it opened in General Sherman's former headquarters, on Washington Street, diagonally across from the present State Capitol. But the change failed to produce the expected reinvigoration ; and in 1872 the doors of Oglethorpe University were closed. In the opinion of many no greater misfortune ever befell the State. The apparatus was afterward used by the Talmage High School, at Midway, to which school the other property holdings also reverted. Dr. Wills, the last president of the institution, is living today in Washington, D. C., an old man, verging upon the cen- tury mark.
During the spring of 1912 a movement to reorganize Oglethorpe University was launched in Atlanta under the vigorous initiative of Rev. Thornwell Jacobs, a most enthusiastic and wide-awake Presbyterian. The idea was pressed in such a way that it fired the imagination of the church, not only in Georgia, but throughout the South. In less than six months over one hundred men of means were found who were willing to lend financial aid to the enterprise; a temporary organization was ef- fected ; a beautiful tract of land at Silver Lake, on Peach- tree Road, was secured as a donation to the school, and plans devised for laying the corner-stone of greater Ogle- thorne University during the monster Presbyterian jubi- lee, in May, 1913, when four General Assemblies were
574
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
scheduled to convene in Atlanta : an auspicious time for the Phoenix to rise once more from the ashes.
We quote the following paragraph from Dr. Tal- mage :*
"The Midway Hill is an elevated region, traversing from east to west, abounding in botanical and mineral productions, two and a half miles south of Milledgeville, and terminating in a bold bluff on the Oconee River, at a point where the picturesque ruins of old Fort Wilkinson, one mile and a half from the university, may be seen. The hill affords an abundant supply of pure, cold water. The foundation of the college is on a level with the cupola of the State House. The view from the cupola of the college is highly impressive, commanding a prospect for twenty miles around, in a beautifully undulating country, of the most varied and romantic kind, abounding in hill, valley, and forest, with the city of Milledgeville in full view."'
The Banquet to In March, 1825, while General La- General Lafayette. fayette, accompanied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, and his secretary, Colonel Lavoisier, was making a trium- phal tour through the United States, a magnificent re- ception was tendered the distinguished visitor by the people of Milledgeville. There was a public dinner in the open air on the Capitol lawn and a grand military ball at night in the Capitol building, and scores of the most prominent people in the State were present to par- ticipate in the festivities. Some eight or ten visiting companies were on hand. The marshals of the day were John S. Thomas and R. L. Buchanan. The military or- ganizations were under the chief command of Major- General Daniel Newnan, who made quite an impressive appearance in his handsome regimentals.
Says Major Stephen H. Miller, who witnessed the splendid pageant :
"Wishing to show ourselves and to get a glimpse of the Nation's guest, the writer's company, the Lafayette Volunteers, from Twiggs, or-
*Georgia Illustrated, p. 7, Penfield, 1842.
575
BALDWIN
ganized for the occasion, marched into town and halted opposite the Gov- ernment House, where General Lafayette was quartered. Our Captain went in and was introduced by Governor Troup; then the Captain introduced the three Revolutionary veterans, William Duffel, John Shine, and Charles Raley, to General Lafayette, who, on seeing Father Duffel, cordially em- braced him, saying, "I remember you well; you were one of my body- guard, and helped to carry me from the field when I was wounded at Brandywine; I am happy to see you."
* * * * * *
"Two tables, each about one hundred yards long, with cross-tables of fifty feet at the ends, were covered with barbecue, roast beef, bread and other edibles.
"At the upper end, in the center, General Lafayette, with Governor Troup on one side, and Colonel Seaborn Jones, his' aide, who was master of ceremonies, on the other side, of the Nation's guest. Governor Troup's staff, including Colonel Henry G. Lamar, Colonel Samuel T. Bailey, Colonel Samuel A. Bailey, Colonel Yelverton P. King, Colonel John W. A. Sanford, and perhaps others, were arranged at the same end of the table, all taking part in the administration of order, in the proper observance of etiquette, and some of them reading the regular toasts prepared by the Committee of Arrangements.
"The author was within seeing and hearing distance of the General. His son, George Washington Lafayette, was also pointed out. The latter's head was bald; and the father's wig gave him the advantage in youthful appearance. Colonel Lavoisier, the author could not identify. There was quite an array of public characters present, men known in the history of Georgia, among them, General John Clarke, formerly Governor of Georgia.
" The appetite being satisfied with strong meat, next came the wine, bottles of which, with wine glasses, were distributed on the tabels so that every one could have a share. Then a proclamation was made by Colonel Jones, 'Gentlemen, fill your glasses for a toast from General Lafayette, ' Thereupon the Apostle of Liberty, the companion and bosom friend of Washington, rose to his feet, and in broken English, which all heard with delight, he gave 'The Georgia Volunteers: the worthy sons of my Revolu- tionary brethren.' Cheer after cheer resounded, the music struck up 'Hail to the Chief,' the cannon uttered its loud rejoicing, and soon all was' quiet again.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.