Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 35

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I > Part 35

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TOOMBS, ROBERT, was born in Wilkes county, Ga., about five miles from Washington, July 2, 1810. William Toombs, the great-grandfather of Robert, was the first of the English family to come to America, about 1650, and he settled in Virginia. Gabriel, a son, fought with Braddock. His son, Robert Toombs, the father of the distinguished statesman, commanded a Virginia regi- ment during the revolution and rendered great service against the British in Georgia. He came to Georgia in 1783 and received a rich tract of 3,000 acres of land in Wilkes county. He settled on Beaverdam creek, five miles from Washington. He first married Miss Sanders, of Columbia county. She died without issue and he then married a Miss Catlett, of Virginia. His third wife was Catherine Huling, and of this marriage these children were born: Sarah, who finally became Mrs. Pope; James, who was killed by accident while hunting; Augustus, Robert and Gabriel. Catherine Huling was of Welsh ancestry, a devoted Methodist and a most excellent woman. Robert Toombs was, in his youth, of slender build, and of a rather stunted instead of fragile growth. His physical development was after he had reached the age of fifteen. His first train- ing was at what was known as an "old field school," taught by Welcome Fanning. Afterward a private tutor, Rev. Alexander Webster, the preceptor of Alexander Stephens, gave instructions. About 1840 young Toombs entered Franklin col- lege, now the state university, located in Athens, Ga. His college days are replete with stories of mischievousness, and he left the school without receiving his diplomas. Later in life, in his characteristic way, he refused an honorary degree, though a director of the college. In 1828 he finished his classical course and received his A. B. degree at Union college, Schenectady, N. Y. He studied law at the university of Virginia, and on March 18, 1830, was admitted to the bar of Elbert county, his license being signed by William H. Crawford, judge of the superior court. During the first five years of his practice he did not give a bright promise. His work was that of the average country lawyer. Then he developed forth, with an impetus that carried him to a height in his profession never attained by a lawyer in Georgia. As a lawyer Mr. Toombs had a thrilling delivery, which, coupled with a noble presence, carried his audience or jury from the start. A thorough knowledge of his cases, a lightning-like perception of the weak and strong points of controversy, a capacity and willingness to perform intellectual labor, with charming conversational powers were his master points and contributed to an immense success in his profession.

Robert Toombs cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson in 1832. He almost immediately thereafter joined the whigs. In 1837, just after his return from the Creek war, in which he was a captain, he was elected as a whig from the democratic county of Wilkes to the legislature. He was returned at the annual elections in 1839, 1840, 1842 and 1843. In the big campaign of 1844 he was the chief orator of the whigs in Georgia, and combated the great McDuffie in South Carolina. He took his seat in congress in December, 1845. His first speech was on the Oregon question, and placed him among the first debaters and orators of that body. He opposed the acquisition of Texas, and was active in the compromise measures in 1850, and greatly contributed to their passage. On Nov. 10, 1851, he was elected to the United States senate after serving eight years as congressman. As a senator he was unfaltering in his belief in state rights, and advised secession as soon as Lincoln was elected, and in a passionate speech informally left the senate, which action was followed by his expulsion in 1861. He advocated disunion with all the force of his oratory, and when the state convention met in 1861 was chiefly instrumental in carrying the resolution of secession. He was elected to the Confederate congress and would have been

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elected president of the Confederacy but for old political enemies who opposed him in the last hour. He accepted the portfolio of state under President Davis, but resigned after a short service on account of differences with Davis, and receiving a commission as brigadier-general, on July 21, 1861, joined Gens. Beauregard and Johnston at Manassas. In January, 1862, he was elected to the Confederate States senate, but declined it, preferring to remain in the field. He fought at the second battle of Bull Run and Antietam, but later resigned and returned home. In 1864 he was adjutant and inspector-general of Gen. George W. Smith's division of Georgia militia. He was present during the battles before Atlanta and the engagement at Peach Tree Creek. The four men whom the Wash- ington government wanted to arrest and hold responsible for the war were Toombs, Davis, Slidell and Howell Cobb. Gen. Toombs' escape was accom- plished only after thrilling adventures, and he passed two years in Cuba, France and England, but returned in 1867 and resumed the practice of law. As he refused to take the oath of allegiance he was debarred from citizenship. After the war he acted principally with the Democratic party, but Mr. Toombs' great power always made him independent. He criticised Pierce, Buchanan and quarreled with Jefferson Davis. The last years of his life were spent in a war on the railroads. The legislature of Georgia in 1874 taxed railroad property the same as other property, and those corporations resisted. Gen. Toombs, for the state, carried the case to the Supreme court and recovered $300,000 taxes. He was the originator of the state commission railroad law. Gen. Toombs married Julia A. Dubose, a South Carolinian. A man of great deeds and great temptations, great passions, and glaring faults, his domestic life was a model one. His life- long home at Washington was the scene of proverbial hospitality. Three genera- tions have accorded him the distinction of being one of America's greatest men. He was a strongly marked southerner of the old school. Mentally he was distinctively great, eloquent, and personally, upright, brave and obstinate. He died Dec. 15, 1885.

COBB, THOMAS W., was born in Columbia county, Ga., in 1784. He studied law under William H. Crawford, and practiced in Lexington, Ga. In 1817 he was elected to congress, serving until 1821, was again elected in 1823, but resigned in 1824 to succeed Nicholas Ware, deceased, in the United States senate. In 1828 he resigned and became a judge of the superior court. He was a brilliant orator, and during his public life was prominent in all debates on important questions. He died in Greensborough, Ga., Feb. 1, 1830.

HILL, JOSHUA, was born in Abbeville district, S. C., Jan. 10, 1812, and remov- ing to Georgia when a lad, he studied law and began its practice at Madison. He was a member of congress, being elected as an American, from 1857 until Jan. 23, 1861, when he resigned on command of his people, he being opposed to seces- sion. He took no part in public affairs during the war, save accepting a nomina- tion for governor and being defeated by Gov. Brown in 1863. He was a member of the constitutional convention called by President Johnson in 1866, and was defeated for United States senator. During the reconstruction period he defeated Gov. Joseph E. Brown for United States senator, serving until 1873.

COLQUITT, WALTER T., was born in Halifax county, Va., Dec. 27, 1799, and soon after his parents moved to Georgia and settled near Mount Zion, where Walter was sent to the school of Mr. Beman. He went to Princeton, but was called home by the sickness of his father before he graduated. He read law in the office

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of Col. Samuel Rockwell of Milledgeville, and was admitted to the bar in 1820. He first located at Sparta, and then moved to a village called Cowpens in Walton county. In the meantime he had been elected brigadier-general by the legislature when twenty-one years old. In 1826 he was a candidate of the Troup party for congress, and in a district which contained a majority of 2,000 Clark voters he was only beaten by the Hon. Wilson Lumpkin, their candidate, by thirty-two votes. At the age of twenty-seven he was elected judge of the Chattahoochee superior court. In 1836 and 1837 he represented Muscogee county in the state senate. He was elected to congress as a state's rights whig man in 1838. He resigned upon the nomination of Harrison for the presidency, and supported Van Buren. His course was indorsed by his constituency, and he resumed his seat in congress, serving till March, 1843, when he was sent to the United States senate. He supported the Polk administration and the Oregon question and the Mexican war issue, and opposed the Wilmot proviso. As an advocate Judge Colquitt stood alone in Georgia, perhaps in the whole south. No man could equal him in vigor and brilliancy where the passions of the jury had to be led. He was a Christian and a member of the M. E. church. Of a magnificent constitution, Judge Colquitt was prodigal of his health, and died in the prime of life, aged 56 years. He was first married on Feb. 23, 1823, to Nancy H. Lane, daughter of Joseph Lane, of Newton county, by whom he had six children. The second marriage was in 1841 to Mrs. Alphia B. Fauntleroy, formerly Miss Todd. She lived but a few months, and in 1842 he married Harriet W. Ross, daughter of Luke Ross, of Macon.

BERRIEN, JOHN M'PHERSON, was born in New Jersey, Aug. 23, 1781, and was the son of Maj. John Berrien, a distinguished officer under Washington, and his mother, Margaret Macpherson, whose brother, John Macpherson, was aid-de-camp to Gen. Montgomery, and fell with him at Quebec. In the house occupied by Gen. Washington as headquarters, whence he issued his farewell address to the army, John McPherson Berrien was born. He graduated at Princeton at the age of fifteen, and was admitted to the bar of Georgia in 1799, having read law under Hon. Joseph Clay. In 1809 he was elected solicitor-general, and the next year judge of the eastern circuit. Judge Berrien commanded a regi- ment of cavalry during the war of 1812. He left the bench in 1821, and was elected to the state senate in 1822. His abilities were so conspicuous there that he was elected in 1824 to the senate of the United States. His eloquence gave him the name of the "American Cicero," and Chief Justice Marshall called him the "honey- tongued Georgia youth." In March, 1829, he became attorney-general under President Jackson. A quarrel in the cabinet, caused by social jealousies on the parts of families of certain members, led to Mr. Berrien's withdrawal. He was elected to the senate again in 1840, and supported the policy of the whigs, and modified his views on the tariff so as to support "incidental protection." He was a delegate to the convention at Baltimore that nominated Henry Clay for president. He became dissatisfied with the whig party in 1845 and resigned from the senate. In 1847 Mr. Berrien had been re-elected by the legislature of Georgia for a new term in the senate, to expire March 4, 1853, and during this service he supported the compromise measures. In 1852 he resigned and returned to his home. He had had fame enough to satisfy even the proudest ambition. In all offices, in all trusts, in all emergencies, his fidelity was acknowledged. Besides, he had a repu- tation beyond the borders of his own country for scholarship, eloquence, and refine- ment. He was president of the American party convention held at Milledgeville in December, 1855, and died a month later at his home in Savannah. A writer has said of him: "He was, indeed, a man whose equal in many respects the world

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has not produced since the days of Cicero. America has had her Henry, one of nature's thunderbolts, her Clay, of grand and surpassing gifts, to electrify the public by their soul-stirring eloquence; but neither of them had the polish of the Roman school, with its rich stores of learning and classic beauties gathered from every epoch and every clime. It was reserved for John McPherson Berrien to stand alone as an example in the nineteenth century."

DAWSON, WILLIAM C., was born Jan. 4, 1798, in Greene county, and died May 5, 1856. He graduated at Franklin college about 1816, and studied law in the school at Litchfield, Conn. He commenced practice in Greensboro in 1818, and soon won for himself a high reputation as an advocate. He was clerk of the house of representatives of Georgia for about twelve years. He was several times elected a senator and representative from Greene county in the legislature, and was a member of congress from 1836 till 1842. He commanded a brigade against the Cherokee Indians in 1836. In 1841 he was beaten for governor by Hon. Charles J. McDonald, and in 1845 was appointed judge of the Ocmulgee circuit. In 1847 he was elected United States senator, and served until 1855. He was a vigilant senator, watching the interests of the whole country, and no constituents were ever more faithfully served in the various trusts committed to his care. As a member of the Masonic order Judge Dawson had reached the highest elevation, and upon his death 200 subordinate lodges draped their rooms in mourning. He was mar- ried first to Miss Henrietta M. Wingfield, who died in 1850, then in 1854 to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Williams, of Memphis, Tenn. His eldest son died while at school, the second in infancy; the third son was George Oscar, who frequently repre- sented Greene county in the legislature, and the fourth child was Henrietta Wing- field, who married Joseph B. Hill, of Columbus; the fifth was Edgar Gilmer Dawson, who became a lawyer of Columbus; the sixth child, Emma Caledonia, married Edward W. Seabrook, a nephew of Gov. Seabrook, of South Carolina; the seventh child was Lucien Wingfield Dawson.

T AIT, CHARLES, was born in Louisa county, Va., in 1768, and at an early age located in Georgia. He was associated with William H. Crawford in the management of the Richmond academy. He was judge of the western circuit court of Georgia from 1803 till 1809, and was elected that year to succeed John Milledge in the United States senate. He served till 1819, when he removed to Alabama, dying Oct. 7, 1835.

WALKER, FREEMAN, was born in Charles City county, Va., Oct. 25, 1780. He began the practice of law in Georgia in 1802, and soon became distin- guished at his profession. In 1807 he was elected to the legislature, and in 1819 to the United States senate. A speech on the Missouri compromise question won him distinction. He resigned 1821 and retired to private life, dying Sept. 23, 1827.

KING, JOHN PENDLETON, was born in Barren county, Ky., in 1799, and was taken by his parents to Tennessee, where he resided until 1815, when he removed to Georgia. He was admitted to the bar in 1819 and then spent two years in Europe completing his education. He returned to Augusta where he practiced his profession with great success. In 1833 he was a member of the constitutional convention of Georgia and distinguished himself as an orator in debate with W. H. Crawford, Mr. King being a Jackson democrat. The same year he was elected United States senator to fill an unexpired term, and, in 1834, for the full term, serving till Nov. 1, 1837, when he resigned. In a speech before

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the senate he attacked Van Buren's administration, and being criticised for it by a newspaper he retired from public service. In 1842, he took charge of the Georgia railroad and under his management the road was finished and prospered. His daughter, Louise Woodward, established the Georgia society for prevention of cruelty to animals, and was the founder of the Louise King Home for widows at Augusta.

WARE, NICHOLAS, was born in Carolina county, Va., in 1769, and accompa- nied his father, Capt. Robert Ware, to Edgefield, S. C., thence to Augusta, where he studied medicine. He finished his studies at the Litchfield, Conn., law- school, and located in Augusta. He represented Richmond county in the legis- lature, was mayor of Augusta, and United States senator from Georgia in 1821-24. At the time of his death, Sept. 7, 1824, he was trustee of the state university of Georgia, and president of the board of trustees of Richmond county academy.

TELFAIR, EDWARD, second governor of Georgia, was born in Scotland in 1735, and came to America in 1758 as an agent of a mercantile house. He resided in Virginia and then North Carolina, settling in Georgia in 1766. Through- out the revolutionary struggle he bore a conspicuous part, and was intrusted by his fellow citizens with the highest offices. In February, 1778, he was elected delegate to the continental congress, and on July 24 signed the ratification of the articles of confederation. In May, 1785, he was re-elected a member of congress, but did not take his seat. He was governor of Georgia from 1787 to 1789, and from 1791 to 1793. Gov. Telfair was a successful business man. Tel- fair county, Ga., is named after him. He died Sept. 17, 1807.

PRINCE, OLIVER HILLHOUSE, was born in Connecticut about 1787, moved to Georgia in early years, studied law and practiced at Macon. He was elected to the United States senate, in place of Thomas W. Cobb, serving from Dec. 1, 1828, till March 3, 1829. He was the author of many humorous. sketches and of Digest of the Laws of Georgia to December, 1820. He per- ished in the wreck of the steamer "Home," on the coast of North Carolina.

CUTHBERT, ALFRED, was born in Savannah in 1786, was graduated at Princeton college in 1803 and began the practice of law in Monticello, Jasper Co., in 1803. He was a member of the legislature and then elected to congress in 1813, and 1815, when he resigned. He was again elected in 1821, serving to 1827, when he was chosen senator to succeed John Forsyth, resigned. After filling out the unexpired term he was re-elected, serving till March, 1843. He died near Monticello, July 9, 1856.

CHARLTON, ROBERT M., was born in Savannah, Jan. 19, 1807. In 1828 he was elected to the state legislature and afterward became United States district attorney under President Jackson. In 1834 he was appointed and after- ward elected judge of the supreme court for the eastern district of Georgia. In 1852-53 he was United States senator. He was an elegant orator, possessed fine literary accomplishments, being the author of several works of prose and poetry. He was twice mayor of Savannah and died in that city Jan. 18, 1854.

BIBB, WILLIAM M., was born in Virginia, Oct. I, 1780, was graduated at William and Mary college and received the degree of M. D. in 1801 at the university of Pennsylvania. He located in Georgia and was elected for two

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terms to the legislature, a member of congress from 1807 to 1813 and United States senator 1813 until 1816. He removed to the territory of Alabama and was elected governor there 1817, and 1819, and was the first executive 1819-21, after its admission as a state. He died July 9, 1820.

DUNN, JAMES, was born of humble parents in Virginia in 1739. Receiving the benefits of a common school education, he applied himself to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar. He joined the continental army and as captain of dragoons he participated, under Gen. Wayne, in the movement for the relief of Savannah, in 1782. After the war he selected that town as his home and resumed the practice of law. He became a colonel of the state militia and subsequently brigadier-general. He was elected a member of the continental congress but never took his seat. He was a member of the first congress under the constitution of 1787, and a United States senator from Georgia, in 1795 and 1796. He was forced from office by his connection with the "Yazoo Frauds" and died in Louisville, Ky.

IVERSON, ALFRED, was born in Burke county, Dec. 3, 1798, was graduated at Princeton and began the practice of law at Columbus. He was a member of the legislature for eight years and was for seven years judge of the superior court for the Columbus circuit. In 1846 he was chosen to congress as a democrat and in 1855 took his seat as a United States senator, withdrawing in 1861 when his state seceded. During the war he was colonel of a Confederate regiment and was commissioned brigadier-general in 1862. In a speech in the senate, before his withdrawal, Mr. Iverson said the southern states would never be satisfied with any concession "that does not fully recognize, not only the existence of slavery in its present form, but the right of the southern people to immigrate to the common territories with their slave property, and their right to congressional protection, while the territorial existence lasts." He died in Macon, March 4, 1873.

JOHNSON, JAMES, was born in Robinson county, N. C., Feb. 24, 1810. He was of Scotch descent, his grand-parents being natives of Scotland. He was graduated from Georgia state university in 1832, and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He practiced in Columbus with great success and in 1857 was elected to congress, but was defeated two years later by A. H. Colquitt, he then being the nominee of the unionists. He was a member of the Georgia know- nothing convention in 1857 and of the Georgia American convention in 1858. By appointment of President Johnson he was provisional governor of Georgia from June 7 to Dec. 19, 1865. He was appointed United States collector of customs at Savannah in 1866, serving until 1869; was made a judge of the superior court in 1870 and in 1872 was an elector on the Grant ticket. It was a high tribute to his qualities as a firm and devoted unionist that he was selected for the delicate duty of restoring Georgia to the Union after the war.

AKERMAN, AMOS TAPPAN, was born in New Hampshire in 1819. In 1842 he was graduated at Dartmouth college, and settled in Elberton, Ga., in 1850, practicing the profession of law. He went with his state in secession and was quartermaster-general in the Confederate service. He joined the republican party after the war and supported the reconstruction acts. He was district attorney for Georgia in 1866, and attorney-general of the United States in 1870, resigning in 1872.

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BULLOCH, WILLIAM BELLINGER, was born in Savannah in 1776 and was the son of Archibald Bulloch, the first republican president of Georgia. He received a finished education and was an eminent lawyer. He was mayor of Savannah in 1809, then collector of its port. He served in the war of 1812 and succeeded William H. Crawford in the United States senate, officiating from May 24, 1813, to Dec. 6, 1813. From 1813 to 1843 he was president of the state bank of Georgia. He died March 6, 1852.

BALDWIN, ABRAHAM, was born in Guilford, Conn., Nov. 6, 1754, and his collegiate course was pursued at Yale college where he graduated in 1772. From 1775 to 1779 he was a tutor in that institution, and during the revolutionary war, was chaplain in the continental army under General Greene. In 1784 he moved to Savannah and was admitted to the bar. Three months afterward he was elected to the legislature, where he originated the plan of the university of Georgia, drew its charter, and indicated the lines along which this institution has ever since moved. He was a delegate to the continental congress from 1785 to 1788, and as a member of the convention of 1787, which framed the constitution of the United States formulated some of the essential clauses of that memorable instrument. He was a federalist. He was elected United States senator from Georgia, and served from 1799 to March 4, 1807, his death occurring on the last date. In private life Abraham Baldwin was correct in all his habits, and given to benevolent deeds. Never having married, he expended his accumulations in assisting worthy young men in acquiring an education and in establishing them in business.

WALKER, WILLIAM H. T., was born in Georgia in 1816, was graduated at West Point, 1837, served in the Florida war and was wounded three times at the battle of Okeechobee, and was brevetted first lieutenant for his gallantry there. He served in the Florida war of 1840-42, and became captain in 1845. He was in all the principal engagements of the Mexican war, and won his star as major by heroic conduct at Cantreras, and was made lieutenant-colonel for bravery at Malino del Rey. He was instructor in military tactics at West Point and in 1860 resigned his commission in the United States army. He was made major- general in the Confederate army and was killed at the battle of Decatur, July 26, 1864.

M'LAWS, LAFAYETTE, soldier, was born at Augusta, Jan. 15, 1821, attended the schools of that city and entered the university of Virginia, from which place he was appointed to the United States military academy. He was graduated in 1842 and gained his final experience on the Indian frontier. He was under Gen. Taylor in the Mexican war and was at the occupation of Corpus Christi, the defense of Fort Brown, the battle of Monterey, and the siege of Vera Cruz. In 1851, he was made captain of infantry, and took part in the expeditions against the Mormons and Navajo Indians. He resigned his commission to enter the Confederate army as a brigadier-general. His services in the battle of Lee's Mill, his maneuvers on the retreat to Richmond and at the battle of Williamsburg brought his advancement May 23, when he was made major-general. At the battles of Savage's station and Malvern hill, he commanded divisions, and on the retreat of the Federal army from the Virginia peninsula, his division watched the operations at Harrison's Landing. His division was with the army of north- ern Virginia in its march into Maryland. He captured Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights and rejoined the main army at Sharpsburg in time to restore

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 35

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1294

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294