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 49

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 49

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Mr. Guerry was a delegate from Sumter to the state convention of 1883, and was the author of the resolution to appoint the conference committee of eighteen, and which resulted in the nomination of his friend, Mr. McDaniel, for the office of governor. He has attended a number of other state conventions, and was a delegate, for the state at large, to the national democratic convention, which inet at Chicago in 1892. He was appointed by President Cleveland United States attorney for the southern district of Georgia in 1886, and thereupon removed to Macon, where he now resides. He tendered his resignation to Mr. Cleveland, to take effect on March 4, 1889, but the saine was not accepted until Mr. Harrison accepted it in April thereafter. Mr. Guerry has been quite active in politics, though an aspirant on two occasions only for political office. He has made speeches throughout Georgia during several campaigns, and, in 1892, made a number of speeches in Alabama at the request of the democratic national com- mittee. He is a member of the Methodist church, and also of the board of trustees of the Wesleyan Female college. He is a member of the legal firms of Gustin, Guerry & Hall, at Macon, and Guerry & Son, at Americus.

WILLIAM MILLER GORDON. This gentleman is one of Macon's prominent business men, being general manager of the Progress Loan and Improve- ment company, and also senior member of the insurance firm of Gordon & Budd. Mr. Gordon lays claim to nativity in Macon county, his parents residing there at the time of his birth. As a matter of fact, however, that old and famous hostelry at Oglethorpe, Ga., known for long years as "Old Travelers' Rest," was his real birth- place, his parents being temporarily there when the event occurred. . The parents, John and Catherine Gordon, removed to Perry, Houston Co., in 1858, where they still reside, at an advanced age. William M. Gordon was born April 19, 1851. His early education contemplated the law as a profession, but heavy reverses suffered by his father during and immediately following the war (his property being in slaves and in money loaned throughout the state) caused a change in their plans for the son. Instead of entering college, therefore, the youth, at seventeen, became acting deputy clerk of the court of Houston county. At nineteen he was enabled, by judicious economy, to enter in a small way the mercantile business at Perry. From time to time his success admitted an enlargement of the business, and it was not many years before he found himself at the head of a large and successful mercantile establishment. To his business he added that of farming, buying land in small lots as opportunity offered for profitable investment. In fact, it was the I-22

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old story, too rarely realized, however, of honesty, persistence and the judicious use of money saved, that made Mr. Gordon one of the wealthy men of his com- inunity before middle age. In 1887 he decided to take up outside work, and removing to Macon, went into the general insurance business, and also became general manager of the Progress Loan and Improvement company. He still retains his interest in Houston county, where he owns some 7,000 acres of fine farming and fruit lands, and an interest in the mercantile establishment conducted by a brother at Perry. Mr. Gordon's success as a financier caused his selection in 1881 as the proper person to represent Houston county in the general assembly. It will be remembered that the session of '81-2 was a most important one, because of the weighty financial legislation which came before it-notably the building of the present beautiful capitol. Mr. Gordon was promptly made a member of the finance committee, and took a leading part in all the discussions which came up, acquitting himself with much credit. In September, 1884, Mr. Gordon was united in marriage to Bessie, daughter of J. T. Budd, of Monticello, Fla., who became the mother of two children, Josiah Budd and Catherine.

JOHN LUMSDEN HARDEMAN, judge of the superior court of the Macon circuit, was born in Macon, Ga., Nov. 12, 1851. In that city he was reared, receiving a rudimentary education, and in 1867 he entered the state university, graduating there in 1871, with the degree of A. B. He was a brilliant scholar, winning the debaters' medal and the anniversary oratorship from his college society-the Demosthenean-early giving promise of the great oratorical gifts which have made him famous at the bar, the forum and on the hustings.

It falls to the lot of but few men to be so gifted with the peculiar power of eloquence possessed by this distinguished son of Georgia. Peculiarly original, without the monotony of oft-repeated and hackneyed familiar quotations, his ornate addresses abound in gems from the classics and apt sayings from the sacred writings, which latter have a singular potency whenever properly applied. On leaving college his first work was in the cause of education, teaching school one year in Jones county.

Under Hon. James H. Blount he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1873. Immediately thereafter he accepted an offer of partnership, becoming a member of the law firm of Blount, Hardeman & Hardeman. He was twice elected to the office of solicitor-general of the Macon circuit, by the general assembly, holding that responsible trust from 1880 to 1888, and discharging its duties with that zeal and ability that has ever characterized him. No official ever gave more general satisfaction than has Judge Hardeman in the various positions of honor and trust to which the confidence of his people have called him. There lives no man more faithful and fearless in the discharge of duty. To those who enjoy the honor of an acquaintance with his life's work, this will not sound as anything but merited praise. His every act in public and private life seems born of a sacred regard for duty.

His last law partnership was with W. D. Nottingham, extending from 1888 to September, 1892. Soon after this he was appointed judge of the superior court of the Macon circuit, by Gov. Northen, which office he now holds, enjoying the confidence and esteem of bar and people. In 1889 he was elected a member of the house of representatives, from Bibb, and did valuable work in that body, serving on committees on general judiciary, railroads, banking and academy for the blind.

In 1878 he was made captain of the Floyd Rifles, one of the oldest and best military organizations in the state, being organized in 1841. For three years

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he was a member of the state military advisory board, of which he was secretary. In 1894 he was elected major of the Second regiment, infantry. This honor, as well as a still higher one in military circles-that of lieutenant-colonel-was easily within the reach of this gifted gentleman at another time in the past; but by reason of loyalty to his company, whose devotion to him caused them to pass a resolution urging him not to accept, but to continue as their captain, this tempting honor was put aside. This act of self-denial but simply accords with the unselfish nature of the man. The final acceptance was due to the accumulation of judicial labor that made it necessary to resign the captaincy and become major, with its less exacting duties.

Judge Hardeman was, prior to his present appointment, attorney for Bibb county. Many and varied are the positions of trust and responsibility he has filled.

He is a member of the F. & A. M. and of the Knights of Pythias, having held in the latter the captaincy of the uniformed rank, resigning it in 1893. He is past chancellor, commander of Empire lodge, No. II, which, however, disbanded some time ago. He is also a member of the Baptist church, and in 1875 was united in marriage with Miss Fannie E., daughter of John B. Ross, who was at the time of his death a wealthy and leading merchant of Macon. In 1894 he was elected a trustee of the Georgia academy for the blind, an institution for which his honored and lamented father faithfully labored.

On April 27, 1894, within five minutes after receiving official information of the resignation of Judge Charles L. Bartlett, Gov. Northen appointed Judge Hardeman to his present position. This prompt selection of the governor's froin among so able a bar as that of the Macon circuit stands as a well deserved tribute to the personal and professional character of the gentleman chosen, while the uni- form correctness of his rulings and the respect and confidence he commands and enjoys among the members of the bar will attest the wisdom displayed in his selection.

Still in the prime of life, of great mental and physical vigor, Judge Hardeman has before him a brilliant career, and a devoted people only await his consent to bestow additional honors on him. Judge Hardeman resides in a palatial mansion on the heights in Vineville, a beautiful suburb of Macon. His home is graced by a lovely wife, a lady of most elegant and entertaining manners. One child has blessed their union-young Tom Hardeman, who is just budding into manhood, who bears the name of his distinguished grandfather, and is the pride of his parents. Many are the distinguished guests who have enjoyed the hospitality of this home.

Verily the lines of this favored son of fortune seem to have fallen in pleasant places. But those who have watched his career know best that his eminent success in life is largely due to his untiring energy, his high sense of honor, as well as other noble traits of character. Generous, chivalrous, manly-a truly typical southern gentleman is he-possessing qualities of head and heart that bind his friends to him as with hooks of steel. No wonder that he is successful in the varied paths to which the versatility of his genius has borne him. Well versed in matters military, an able lawyer and jurist, learned in statesmanship, his life of success affords an example for the rising generation.

"Colonel Hardeman was always a generous antagonist, just, courteous, fair and honorable, scoring no underhanded advantage, and dealing nothing but legitimate blows. Such a man as this candid and lofty gentleman made politics honorable and elevated public agitations. The truth is that Tom Hardeman, as he is familiarly called, is the type of truth, correctness and fidelity, and has been a true representa-

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tive of our best Georgia manhood; and he never made a poor or an uninteresting speech in his life." (Avery's History of Georgia).

THOMAS HARDEMAN, JR., as he was popularly known (his real name being

John Thomas), was born in Putnam county, Ga., Jan. 12, 1825, at what is known as the Brooks place, a few miles from Eatonton. His Hardeman ancestors were Welsh and settled in Virginia. Three brothers spread from these. Thomas Hardeman followed Daniel Boone into Kentucky, Hardeman county, Tenn., being named for him. Isaac Hardeman went west, and was one of the defenders of the Alamo, Hardeman county, Tex., being named for him; the Confederate general, W. P. Hardeman, was a son of this one. The other brother, John, came to Georgia and settled in Jackson county, in the part which afterward became Oglethorpe. This John, the grandfather of the subject of our sketch, was one of the earliest clerks of the superior court of Oglethorpe county. He was the father of one daughter and five sons: Thomas; Jack, who moved to Mississippi; Robert V., a state senator in 1845 from Jones county and twice judge of the superior court of the Ocmulgee circuit; Benj. Franklin, state senator from Oglethorpe in 1851, and twice solicitor-general of the northern circuit; and Isaac, who died in childhood.

Thomas Hardeman, Sr., was born in April, 1797, in Oglethorpe county. He was married Oct. 16, 1821, to Sarah Blewett Sparks, they being the parents of Thomas Hardeman, Jr., and also of Robert Ulla Hardeman, the present state treasurer, who has held his position since 1884, having opposition in his own party only once. Faithful and pure, Robt. U. has more warm personal friends than any man in the state. They lived for many years in Putnam, Thos. Harde- man, Sr., being several times sheriff of that county, a position he resigned rather than execute a negro that had been sentenced to be hanged, and afterward became clerk of the superior court. In 1832 they moved to Macon, soon settling in Vineville.

Thos. Hardeman, Jr., was graduated at Emory college in 1845. Beside lead- ing in his literary society he stood high in the class of that year, which has long been considered the banner class of the institution. He studied law at Clinton under his uncle, Robert V. Hardeman, and was there admitted to the bar April 20, 1847, Judge James A. Meriwether presiding. He was defeated for solicitor- general of the Flint circuit in November, 1847, by R. W. McCune, who was then the incumbent. This so discouraged him that he soon abandoned the pro- fession of law and turned his attention to the business of a commission merchant which he followed almost uninterruptedly up to his death. In 1846 he had an assistant's position in the clerical department of the house of representatives, to which he was re-appointed in 1849 and 1851.

In 1853 he first entered political life with the following announcement:

"To the Citizens of Bibb County :- The time for selecting those who shall represent you in the state legislature is rapidly approaching, and at the solicitation of many friends of both political parties, I offer myself as a candidate for your support. Questions involving the future interest of our city, and thereby of our county, will command the attention of our next general assembly, and with a view of advancing that interest, independent of party obligations and caucus requirements, I have been induced to offer myself a candidate to represent you, pledging myself, if elected, to represent your interests independent of such obliga- tions."

He was a whig, and though the parties were evenly divided in Bibb county, in the election he led all competitors by seventy-five votes over the leading

Thestarduam

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democratic candidate, leaving his brother whig 125, Bibb being entitled to two representatives.

In those days each county was entitled to one senator; so in 1855 he was a whig candidate for senator, defeating Leroy Napier, the democratic candidate, and being again far in the lead among his own party candidates. In 1857 he was again elected to the house, still leading the ticket. He at once took a prominent stand upon first entering the legislature, devoting his energies to the advance- ment of the people and to the upbuilding and fostering of all public institutions, especially the academy for the blind and the Georgia military institute, so much so that in 1859, when he was the whig (or American, as it was then called) candi- date for congress, he was fought most bitterly for the interest thus displayed, but, nevertheless, he was elected to congress over Alexander M. Speer, a democrat, who afterward became judge of the supreme court of the state. He was the only Georgia whig, with the exception of Joshua Hill, elected to that congress, the other members of the delegation being all democrats, Robt. Toombs and Alfred Iverson being in the senate, Martin J. Crawford, Peter Love, Lucius J. Gartrell, John W. H. Underwood, James Jackson and John J. Jones being in the house. The Americans believing strongly in the south were nicknamed "South Ameri- cans." All of this delegation have passed away except John Jones of Burke; Hill and Hardeman, the only whigs, dying within a few hours of each other on the night of March 7, 1891.

From Dec. 7, 1859, to Feb. 1, 1860, there was no organization of the national house of representatives. The republicans coming into power all elements of the opposition fiercely fought them for the speakership.

On the first ballot Bocock, the democratic candidate, led with John Sherman, republican, a close second, Mr. Hardeman alone voting for his colleague, Mr. Hill. He then alone on the second ballot supported Mr. Boteler, of Virginia, whose vote afterward reached as high as forty-nine. On the twenty-eighth ballot Mr. Boteler, Zeb Vance and Hardeman voted for W. M. H. Smith, of North Carolina, and from these three he gradually grew until the forty-first ballot, the vote then being Pennington, republican, 115; Smith, 113; necessary to a choice, 117. Pennington on the forty-fourth ballot gained two votes and was elected.

Early in the session in a short speech Mr. Hardeman said: "It has been charged here by a portion of the members on my left, that the responsibility for not organizing rests on the opposition members from the south. Now, I wish to state distinctly that I am opposed to and shall oppose from now till Christmas next year the election of a republican candidate for speaker. At the same time I will not and cannot support a man who indorses the opinions of Judge Doug- las, which opinions are, I think, subversive of southern interests and southern rights, to-wit, that the organic act confers on the people of a territory while in a territorial condition the power to exclude slavery by unfriendly legislation."

This was a stormy session of congress, the southern members all banding together regardless of politics.

On Jan. 19, 1861, when Georgia seceded from the Union he, although strongly opposed to secession, with all of the Georgia delegation except Mr. Hill, with- drew from congress, not resigning, but contending that the secession of Georgia vacated their seats, Mr. Hill holding a different view of his obligation of the state's position, formally resigned. Mr. Toombs was afterward expelled from the senate. By this time the preparation for war had begun in earnest. Mr. Hardeman, being captain of the Floyd Rifles, a position he occupied since Jan. 5, 1856, at once ten- dered the services of his company to Gov. Brown. In April that company, together with the Macon volunteers and City Light guards of Columbus, were ordered

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to Norfolk and on April 22 arrived at Portsmouth navy yard, while it was still burning, having been fired by United States officials on evacuating the place, they being the first troops from any state, except Virginia, to appear in the Old Do- minion in behalf of the Confederacy. They, together with the Spalding Grays of Griffin, which arrived a day or two later, were at once organized into the Second Georgia battalion by the election of Capt. Hardeman as major. On March 15, 1862, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Forty-fifth Georgia regiment; at Frazier's farm on June 30, 1863, "while nobly encouraging his brave men, was severely wounded" (Gen. Anderson's official report), from which wound he never recovered, suffering seriously until the day of his death. Being discharged on ac- count of physical disability, he returned to Macon and was elected a member of the house of representatives in October, 1863, and upon its organization was made speaker, defeating the Hon. B. H. Bingham by a vote of 86 to 58. He was ap- pointed major to take charge of a conscript camp in 1863, which commission he returned, declining to accept the position. On July 10, 1864, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to Gen. G. W. Smith, who commanded the state troops and was serving with him when the war closed.

In 1865, upon the assembling of the first legislature after the fall of the Con- federacy, he was again elected to the legislature and upon the organization of the house was elected speaker, defeating Judge E. H. Pottle by a vote of 117 to 17. Upon taking his seat he delivered the following address:

"We are convened to-day under circumstances of no ordinary character. Our difficulties are many and threatening, yet, as the pillar of fire guided the children of Israel through the perils of the wilderness, so may the star of patriotic duty so shed its light upon our pathway as to conduct our people to the land of deliver- ance and of hope.

"The political status of our state depends in a great measure upon our actions here. May I be permitted to hope, in view of the great interests at stake, we may so shape our legislative action as to secure for our people a restoration of civil law and insure for our state a position and representation in the council of the nation?

"It were useless to disguise the fact, gentlemen, that all the dreams of a southern Confederacy and a separate nationality have passed away, and having qualified ourselves for citizenship by swearing to support the constitution of the United States, it becomes us in good faith to comply with this obligation and so legislate as to convince even our enemies of the sincerity of our intention and the purity of our motives. This can be accomplished without servile submission or sycophantic protestations that belie the action of our people during the struggle through which they have so heroically passed, by a manly regard for principle, and a faithful observance of the constitution which we have sworn to support. Now that the carnage and strife of war are over, it were vain to spend our time in idle regrets for and crocodile tears over the events of the past. Action, bold, enterprising action, is necessary for our success in the present and our hope for the future; to enliven the home made desolate, to rebuild our ruined cities, to re- vive our drooping commerce, to vocalize our streams with the music of machinery, to fill our furnaces with the fruit of honest industry and our granaries with the rich harvest of our fertile fields.

"I know our prospects are as drear as a winter scene. A dark cloud obscures our political horizon and no bow spans its mantling gloom; but southern energy and southern enterprise will not bend before the storm that gathers in its bosom, but outliving its fury will be all-powerful in rebuilding the broken fortunes of our people and restoring our state to the proud position she occupied before war

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desolated her happy hearthstones or its results marred her hitherto untarnished escutcheon.

"To facilitate these results, gentlemen, wise, prudent, economical legislation will be required of this general assembly; protection to person and property should be given to that unfortunate class who have been left homeless and unpro- tected in our midst; and protection should be sccured against that spirit of lawless- ness and vice that mistaken notions of freedom have engendered in their bosom.

"Our agricultural pursuits, now languishing for want of a proper system of labor, our mechanical interest so essential to the complete development of our greatness, especially need our fostering care and support.

"Liberal arrangements should be made for the education of our poor children, and above all we should provide for the maimed soldier and the orphaned little ones of those gallant men who evinced their devotion to their cause by shedding blood,

That so holy was, It would not stain the purest rill That sparkles in the grove of bliss;

and who by their gallant deeds and heroic bearing have created in the hearts of their countrymen a monument as lasting as the foundation of their own granite hills.

"In the discharge of our duties let no jealous bickerings or party strife mar the harmony of our actions. Forgetting the animosities of the past, burying with our noble dead those old issucs that have been effaced by their blood, let us with one accord renew our allegiance to the state and to the Union, and by our legisla- tion here and actions elsewhere convince the world that Georgia, though pros- trate, will rise again; though desolated, her fields will gladden once more with waving harvest the hearts of her husbandmen; though stricken with poverty, her hills will enrich with their hidden treasure and her commerce whiten with her sails her ocean waters, and though her schools are deserted and her colleges sus- pended, learning will decorate her brow with the wreaths of science and religion rekindle her fires upon the desecrated altars of her faith. Though joined to the rock of an irresistible destiny, she will sever the cords that bind her, and witlı stately step and graceful mien resume her onward and upward march to glory and to greatness.

"Invoking upon our deliberations the wisdom of divine agency, let us now pro- ceed to the duties confided to us by a generous constituency, humbly praying that our labors will redound to Georgia's interest and to the nation's glory."

And here he thus early sounded the signal for the fight that he ever afterward kept up. Public education, liberal provision for the Confederates and for the orphans of those who had been killed, justice to the negro, but supremacy for his own race.

The keynote to all of his future efforts was: "Georgia, though prostrate, will rise again.'

In 1853 he rendered signal service to the academy of the blind by securing an appropriation to erect the building and was a great friend to the Georgia military institute at Marietta, and strove hard for the removal of the capital from Milledge- ville to Macon. The bill for the removal was introduced by Wilde Cleveland of Crawford, but a substitute of Mr. Hardeman's was adopted, and on its final passage the vote was 51 to 51, when the speaker, John E. Ward, voted "aye." This bill provided for a submission of the question to a popular vote at the regular election of 1855, when it was defeated by a vote of 49,781 to 34,545. He also opposed the bill for the sale of the state road, as he did again in 1855 and 1857.

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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 49

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