USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > History of Savannah, Ga.; from its settlement to the close of the eighteenth century > Part 24
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He resumed management of the city hotel as soon as his health per- mitted, but afterwards-in the winter of 1848-49-sold out his interest and moved to Locust Grove where he engaged in farming for two years, after which he returned to Savannah. On the Ist of September, 1851, he formed a partnership with Mr. James Doyle, under the firm name of Mc- Mahon & Doyle, for the carrying on of a wholesale grocery business on . Bay street, which business was successful up to the dissolution of the firm on the Ist of March, 1858. After this dissolution he went into the pro- duce commission business on his own account. On the 30th of April, 1859. he formed a copartnership with Mr. W. J. Harty, under the firm name of John McMahon & Co., which firm continued until November 30, 1862. This firm did a large business in grain and feed up to the middle
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or latter part of 1861, when the war practically brought the business of the firm to a close.
Captain McMahon always took an active interest in military matters. He was a member of the "Phoenix Riflemen" before the organization of the "Irish Jasper Greens" in 1842, and a member of the latter corps from the date of its organization, and held various offices in it from time to time, including the position of captain from 20th of June, 1846, to- 1847; June -, 1847, to December 30, 1848, and December 21, 1855, to January 4, 1859. He was presented with a handsome dress sword by the members of the corps as a testimonial of their appreciation of his services during this latter term, on the Ist of May, 1858. It was to be expected that he would not be idle when the war between the States commenced. With the same spirit that actuated so many others of his fellow-citizens he promptly aided in organizing the Pulaski Guards early in 1861, and entered the service with that corps as a lieutenant. On the expiration of the first term of enlistment of that corps he was elected cap- tain of the Washington Volunteers, and re-entered the Confederate service with that company as a part of the first volunteer regiment of Georgia. He was with this command in Fort Pulaski while it was beleaguered by the Federal forces, and during the bombardment which led to its surren- der in April, 1862. As a prisoner of war he with the other members of the garrison was sent to Governor's Island, N. Y., from which point he was about two months later transferred to Johnson's Island, O., where he ยท remained until late in September when he with a number of others was sent to Vicksburg, Miss., to be exchanged. From this point he returned to Georgia and located in Milledgeville (after severing his connection with the army on account of impaired health) where he remained until the latter part of 1864, when he again returned to Savannah.
Soon after the close of the war in 1865 he again went into business, this time with Mr. E. Waitzfelder, of New York, as a partner, under the firm name of John McMahon & Co., in the wholesale grocery, grain and feed line. The business of this firm was very successful, but owing to Captain McMahon's health failing again it was sold out to Dillon & Stetson on the Ist of January 1869, a short time after he returned from a trip to Europe, taken mainly for the benefit of his health. He was out of business from this time until November, 1870, when in conjunction with Eugene Kelly,
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esq., of New York, and John Flannery and others of Savannah, he organ- ized the Southern Bank of the State of Georgia, and became its vice-pres- ident and manager. The strong financial backing given the institution by Mr. Kelly, coupled with the ability and good judgment of Captain Mc- Mahon and the confidence of the business community in his integrity. gave the bank a reputation at once for soundness and conservatism which constantly increased up to the day of his death, and which continued to grow after that sad event.
Captain McMahon while intensely American in his feelings, and while ever ready to do his duty to his adopted country, never ceased to re- member the land of his birth, and was always in the front rank when any movement for the benefit of Ireland or any of her children was on foot. He was elected a member of the Hibernian Society in December, 1839, was chosen treasurer in March, 1855, served as vice-president from 1859 to 1869, and was elected president in March, 1873, and continued in that position up to his death. He was one of the original thirteen composing the Jasper Monument Association organized in 1878, and served as its president from that time until his death. The time and labor which he devoted to the patriotic work of perpetuating the memory of this "Irish American hero," was the stepping-stone to the final success of this work some years after he had passed away. As chairman of the committee under whose auspices the new cathedral on Abercorn street was built, he rendered efficient aid in that project. As a member of the board of edu- cation he was noted for the deep interest he took in the public schools and in the cause of education generally. He never sought political honor, but at the urgent request of a large number of his fellow-citizens, he served several terms as alderman of the city, and was on various occasions its acting mayor.
He died suddenly on the night of the 20th of January, 1881. . This sketch may be fittingly closed with a paragraph taken from a sketch of his life in the Morning News of the day after the announcement of his death, .. which says, "In truth there are few men who will be more missed in the community than Captain John McMahon, and his death is an affliction to the city. He was kind hearted, genial, charitable and generous, and hundreds who have enjoyed his benevolence will most bitterly mourn his loss." Captain McMahon left no children. His widow survived until
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August 25, 1887, when she died after a short illness, while on a visit to Atlanta, Ga. Both are interred in the Cathedral Cemetery, near Sa- vannah.
L AWTON, HON. GEN. A. R. Alexander Robert Lawton was born, and reared, in St. Peter's Parish, Beaufort District, South Carolina, on the 4th of November, 1818. His grandfather was an officer of the Continental army, and his father pursued the avocation of a planter. His youth was spent among the comforts and the sports of a generous South- ern plantation, while his early education was acquired at the private schools in the neighborhood, established and supported by contiguous planters intent upon the liberal instruction and intellectual advancement of their children. At the early age of sixteen he received an appoint- ment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Graduating from that institution in June 1839 with the rank of second lieutenant, he was assigned to the First Artillery and, for the ensuing eighteen months was stationed successively at Plattsburg and Rouse's Point, New York,
and at Eastport, Maine. His class at West Point, numbering eighty- three at the beginning, graduated only thirty-one members, among whom may be mentioned Generals Halleck, Canby, Burton, Hunt, Stevens and Gilmer. Resigning his commission in the army in January, 1841, Lieu- tenant Lawton repaired to Cambridge, Mass., where he matriculated as a student of Dane Law School. Receiving his degree of L L. B. from that institution in June, 1842, he returned home, and for sonie six months, continued his law studies in the office of the Hon. William F. Colcock. In December of the same year, after a thorough examination before the Court of Appeals in Columbia, South Carolina, he was admitted to the bar.
In January, 1843, he established his home in Savannah, Georgia, and entered regularly and very earnestly upon the practice of the profession of his choice. His marriage, in November, 1845, to Miss Sarah H. Alex- ander, a daughter of that prominent Georgian and cultivated gentleman, Adam L. Alexander, esq., proved a source of unalloyed domestic hap- piness.
Without in any wise laying aside his professional employments, he ac- cepted, in November, 1849, the presidency of the Augusta and Savannah
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Railroad Company. This office he retained until the entire completion and successful operation of that road in 1854. In its location, construc- tion, equipment and conduct he displayed an energy, intelligence, fidelity, and ability worthy of every commendation.
General Lawton's entry into political life was as a representative from Chatham County in the Legislature of Georgia during the session of 1855- 56. Among other important services then rendered by him will be remem- bered his framing, introduction, and successful support of the bill which culminated in the incorporation of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Com- pany, a project which enured to the ever-expanding benefit of Southern Georgia and Florida. During those days of excitement which rendered the winter of 1860-61 ever memorable in the political history of Georgia, he was a member of the State Senate, and time and again in the chamber of that body measured swords with the famous Benjamin H. Hill, who was then the acknowledged leader of all opposed to the Secession Senti- ment which was agitating the public mind.
While absent from the State, and entirely without solicitation on his part, General Lawton was again called upon to represent the county of Chatham in the Lower House during the legislative session of 1874-75.
Of the convention which in 1877 formed the present Constitution of Georgia, and over which the venerable and beloved Ex-Governor Charles J. Jenkins presided, General Lawton was unanimously chosen the vice- president. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee the services rend- ered by him were continuous and most valuable. Of the Electoral Col- lege, which in 1876 cast the vote of Georgia for the Hon. Samuel J. Tilden as president of the United States, General Lawton was the presi- dent. He was chairman of the Georgia delegation, which at Cincinnati nominated General Hancock for president, and also of the delegation which at Chicago nominated Grover Cleveland for the same exalted office.
Early in 1885 he was nominated by President Cleveland as Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia. Upon a reference of this nomination to the proper committee in the Senate, it was claimed that General Lawton was ineligible to the position by reason of the fact that having early in life held commission in the regular army of the United States, he had during the war between the States accepted service as a general officer in the
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Confederate Army. The nomination was withdrawn by President Cleve- land, and the special session of the Senate was concluded. It was con- ceded on all sides that the nominee was in every respect well qualified to represent the government in the diplomatic position indicated, and that no objection to his confirmation could be urged save the technical one which raised a doubt as to his legal status under the constitutional amendment.
The question of General Lawton's eligibility was referred by the pres- ident to the attorney-general, who, after a careful examination, submit- ted an opinion that "Mr. Lawton is qualified to hold civil office under the government of the United States." Before the opinion of the attorney- general had been communicated to General Lawton, wishing to relieve the president of all embarrassment, he addressed the following communi- cation to the chief magistrate of the nation :
" SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, April 17, 1885.
To his Excellency Grover Cleveland,
President of the United States.
DEAR SIR : - Since the interviews which you were kind enough to grant me during the early days of the present month, I have thought often and earnestly about the relations which I sustain to your adminis- tration by reason of my nomination to be Minister to Russia, and the objections which have been interposed to the same.
After full consideration of the probable effects to flow from your ad- herence to this nomination,-or rather from my appointment during recess,-I am constrained to believe that I would become the innocent cause of attacks annoying, if not virulent, upon the action of the Presi- dent. I have felt too sensibly the great honor which has been conferred upon me, and the unexpected manner in which your kind intentions have been hindered, to be willing that any unpleasant results should be reached, if I can prevent them.
Permit me therefore, Mr. President, to request that my name be no longer considered by you in connection with the mission to Russia, and that this high commission may be bestowed upon some citizen whose ap- pointment will produce harmony rather than discord. I cannot be blind to the fact that recent events in Europe must put an additional pressure upon you to have this important position promptly and satisfactorily filled.
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I present this request in sincerity and in all good faith, with a grate- ful sense of the high honor conferred upon me, and of the over-partial estimate of my fitness for so responsible a post, evidenced by the nomi- nation already made. No results that may be reached in the future can deprive me of the satisfaction thus derived.
While my relations as a citizen to the Government were under dis- cussion, with the probability of an appointment to follow, I refrained, through motives of delicacy, from expressing any opinion in my own case. But now that I relieve the President from all further consideration of my fitness or eligibility, I beg leave to append to this letter a mem- orandum giving reasons in brief for my conviction that I labor under no political disabilities. Had I entertained any doubts on the subject, I would not have been dealing fairly with an administration which has so honored me.
With sentiments of the highest respect and esteem, I am
Your most obedient servant, A. R. LAWTON."
To this letter the President made the following reply:
" EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 22, 1885. The Hon. A. R. Lawton, Savannah, Ga.,
MY DEAR SIR :- I regret exceedingly that for any reason the ad- ministration is to be deprived of your honorable and valuable services in the mission to Russia. The opinion of the Attorney-General upon the question of your alleged disability under the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution was so completely satisfactory, and removed so entirely from my mind all doubts as to your eligibility, that upon reading it I at once decided to ask you to accept the position, and I learn from the Secretary of State that he telegraphed you to that effect: but it seems that your letter of April 17th was then on its way, which was followed by that of April 18th affirming your decision.
I sincerely regret this determination on your part, so unselfishly formed and patriotically expressed ; and whilst I must reluctantly accept it as an announcement of your deliberate desire and personal wish, I can but feel that the Country is greatly the loser by it.
With sincere regard and high respect, I am
Your obedient servant, GROVER CLEVELAND."
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The patriotism which thus laid upon the altar of Democratic harmony one of the highest honors within the gift of the administration, won for him a reputation transcending any fame he could have acquired by an acceptance of the tendered mission.
When Congress reassembled in December, 1885, the first private act passed was one removing the political disabilities of General Lawton. 'It received the unanimous vote of both houses.
In April, 1887, President Cleveland conferred upon him the mission to Austria-Hungary. As minister plenipotentiary to that power, Gen- eral Lawton conducted himself, and maintained diplomatic relations, with marked acceptability both to his Home Government and to the Austrian Court. His residence in Vienna, which extended over a period of two years, was entirely pleasant. His resignation of this official position was in the hands of the Secretary of State prior to the inauguration of President Harrison; although, by request, he delayed his return home until the arrival of his successor.
On the evening of his departure the Vienna Weekly News thus spoke of the American Minister : " All who have enjoyed the favor of General Lawton's acquaintance can bear witness to the amiability and dignity with which he has discharged his important duties, while those whose relations with him have been purely official, can testify to his unfailing attention and zeal in whatever he had to do. The American Community in Vienna have at all times had in him a valuable adviser, as well as a keen and able protector of their interests."
Since his return to Savannah General Lawton has not resumed the practice of his profession which he relinquished when he went abroad upon the diplomatic mission to which we have just alluded.
He was the first colonel of the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia, organized in Savannah in 1852; and, in that capacity, in obedience to an or- der promulgated by the governor of Georgia, with a portion of his com- mand took formal possession of Fort Pulaski on the morning of the 3d of January, 1861. He remained in command of that post and at Savannah until April of that year when he was commissioned as a brigadier-gen- eral in Confederate service and assigned to the command of the Military District of Georgia. With characteristic energy and acknowledged abil- ity he expended every effort in fortifying the Georgia coast, and in con-
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centrating troops for the support of the Confederate cause. His head, heart, sword, and purse were solemnly pledged for the maintenance of Southern independence. From the inception of the contest he wavered not in his devotion to the reserved rights of the States, and the susten- tation of the Confederacy. In June, 1862, with a brigade of five thou- sand men-selected from a force of thirteen thousand then garrisoning the Georgia coast,-he repaired to Virginia under orders from General Robert E. Lee, and reported to General Thomas J. Jackson in the valley. With this brigade, then unattached, and the largest in the army of North- ern Virginia, he quickly participated in the celebrated "flank movement," and in all the battles constituting the " Seven Days Fight " around Rich- mond. In these bloody engagements his command performed brilliant service and sustained severe losses. Subsequently he led his brigade,- which afterwards constituted a part of Stonewall Jackson's Corps,- in all the battles which culminated in the memorable engagement at Sharps- burg. He was then, and he had been for some time, in command of Ewell's Division. At Sharpsburg his horse was killed under him, and he was disabled by a painful and dangerous wound which for a long time seriously threatened the loss of his right leg. By it he was incapacitated from active service until May, 1863, when, although still lame, he deemed himself fit for the field and reported in person to the adjutant-general in Richmond for assignment.
The Confederate Congress had recently provided additional rank for 1 the quartermaster-general, and it remained with the president either to compliment the officer then in charge of that bureau, or to designate some general officer for the discharge of the duties incident to that posi- tion. President Davis and the Secretary of War were of the opinion that General Lawton should be assigned to the station of quartermaster- general. When advised of this determination, General Lawton was much surprised, and manifested a decided disinclination to enter upon a discharge of the duties suggested. At the earnest request of the presi- dent he finally yielded, and in August, 1863, became the quartermaster- general of the Confederate States. This weighty position he continued to occupy until the termination of the war and the disintegration of the Confederate Government. It lies not within the compass of this sketch to allude to the vast responsibilities then assumed, or to enumerate the
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multiplying difficulties by which General Lawton was environed in his efforts to equip and transport the armies of the Confederacy. It has been truthfully stated that these difficulties were met by General Law- ton with wonderful tact and energy, and that while the other supply de- partments of the government, in their conduct and administration, were frequently and severely criticized, no censure was passed upon the quar- termaster department while he had charge of it.
It is not an exaggeration to affirm that such administration of the affairs of this bureau, under the perplexing circumstances then existent, could have been accomplished only by an officer of broad vision, wise forecast, tireless energy, and superior capacity. The subject of this sketch, now in the evening of his busy, eventful, and useful life, may, in the judgment of a friend, contemplate with peculiar pride and satisfaction the conspicuous labors performed by liim during this epoch of danger, of embarrassment, and of supreme trial.
Soon after the cessation of hostilities General Lawton returned to Sa- vannah and resumed the practice of his profession. The times were out of joint, and many questions, suggested by the abnormal condition of affairs, demanded solution at the hands of wise counselors and sagacious lawyers. The harvest was abundant, and claimed the attention of the honest, intelligent reaper. His professional employments at once became numerous and remunerative.
In January, 1866, he was elected chief counsel of the Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This office he continued to fill without interruption until his departure for Vienna in 1887. Various and exacting as were the duties appertaining to this position, they were supplemented by engagements incident to a large and constantly in- creasing general practice. It may be safely stated that during the ensu- ing twenty years there was no lawyer within the limits of Georgia whose time was more fully occupied, or whose legitimate professional income was more remunerative. Such was his reputation for sound judgment, so strong his sense of right and equity, so able his presentation of fact and argu- ment, so clear his conception of the question at issue, so broad and ac- curate his business views, so careful his analysis of the situation, so relia- ble his legal examinations, so unswerving his fidelity to the true interests of his clients, and so exalted his appreciation of right and justice, that
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his services were eagerly sought in cases of moment, and in controver- sies involving matters of conscience and fair dealing.
When he became chief counsel of the Central Rail Road and Bank- ing Company, the property of that corporation consisted chiefly of a line of railway connecting the cities of Savannah and Macon, and its integ- rity had been sadly impaired by the desolating march of General Sher- man and his forces. When he left Georgia to enter upon the Austrian mission, the Central Railroad system had developed into the practical control of some twenty-five hundred miles of railway, and the ownership of an Ocean Steamship Company operating three first class lines of coast- wise steamers plying between Savannah and the ports of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. During this period of expansion the most im- portant charter rights, immunities, and exemptions of this great corpora- tion were challenged, discussed, and adjudicated in the courts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, and in the Supreme Court of the United . States. The aid of Legislatures was invoked in granting necessary cor- porate powers, and for the protection of corporate rights. Large con- tracts for construction and consolidation were moulded and consummated. Intricate questions of finance and damage were constantly demanding speedy solution. In all the negotiations connected with the develop- ment and protection of this corporation General Lawton participated. All contracts affecting its existence and enlargement were submitted for his judgment and reduction into legal shape. Cases arising in the courts affecting the rights of this vast transportation system were either argued . by him and his associate counsel, or were compromised and settled at his instance. The labor was immense, and we utter the language of simple justice when we declare that it was performed with a fidelity and an abil- ity worthy of all admiration. Be it spoken iu praise of General Lawton . and in token of his exalted character. that he never once utilized the knowledge,-acquired by virtue of the confidential relation he sustained toward this corporation,-of its plans, inner workings, and purposes, in the promotion of private benefit or for the acquisition of personal advan- tage. The commercial methods of the present, and the prostitution of confidential information obtained in the execution of a trust, found neither countenance nor lodgment in his upright breast. His hands were always clean, and his reputation is without a stain. In all his relations he has ever been the embodiment of fidelity, courage, probity, and honor.
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