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 52

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 52

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he conducted for twelve years. Two years later he returned to Hawkinsville and lived there until his death in 1877. His wife was Martha M. Graves, a native of Sunderland, Conn., and they had three sons and two daughters: Judge Charles C .; Amelia, wife of Samuel W. Bridges, Brooklyn, N. Y .; Henry M., New York city, who was sergeant of the Tenth Georgia regiment, was captured just before the battle of Harper's Ferry and confined at Fort Delaware until the war was over; Dickson E., Milledgeville, Ga., who was also a soldier in the late war, serving two years in Goode's cavalry; and Clara, wife of Edwin M. Graves, Chi- cago, Ill. Mrs. Martha M. Graves died in 1866. Judge Kibbee's grandfather was born in Scotland and came to America at an early day, his sturdy character and national thriftiness having descended to his posterity in a very marked degree. Judge Kibbee and his wife are members of the Episcopal church, of which he is a vestryman, and both are prominent in social circles.

LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR was born Sept. 1, 1825, and died in February, 1893. He was a statesman and jurist, and at the time of his death was associate justice of the supreme court of the United States. He was the son of L. Q. C. Lamar, Sr., who was born in 1794. The father of this latter gentleman was John Lamar, who was born in Crawford county, Ga., about 1766. He was a planter all his life, and married his cousin Rebecca Lamar. His children were as follows: Lola, Gen. Mirabeau B. Lamar, who was at one time president of Texas; Jefferson Lamar, a patriot of the war with Texas, and L. Q. C. Lamar, Sr. Jefferson Lamar had a son, Lucius Lamar, who was a colonel of the Nineteenth Georgia infantry in the late war, and died a few years ago as United States marshal for the southern district of Texas; and he had a daughter, Evaline, who is the wife of William Polk, of Alexandria, La.

L. Q. C. Lamar, Sr., had the following children: L. Q. C. Lamar, whose memoir here appears; Thompson D. Lamar, killed at Petersburg, as colonel of the Fifth Florida infantry, who was a physician; Jefferson M. Lamar, colonel of Hobb's legion in the late war and fell at Hampton gap; Susan, wife of Lemuel Wiggins, of Georgia, both of whom died without issue; Mary Ann, wife of James Long- street, who died in Calhoun, Ga., as solicitor-general of that district, who afterward married Col. J. B. Ross, of Mecklin, Ga .; Dr. Thomas R. Lamar, whose son, L. L. Lamar (deceased), was sheriff of Hancock county for several years, and also served in the Confederate army; Mrs. Louisa McGeehee; Mrs. Mary Ann Moreland; Mrs. Amelia Randall; and Lorella Lamar, who married Absalom Chappell, a distinguished lawyer, and a member of congress from Georgia in 1843. The latter's son, Thomas Chappell, is a prominent lawyer of Columbus, Ga., and author of text books. Another son, Harris Chappell, is a prominent educator of Georgia. Lamar Chappell is a merchant in Memphis, Tenn., and Lucius Chappell is a merchant in Columbus, Ga. At the time of the death of L. Q. C. Lamar, Sr., he was a superior court judge, and resided at Milledgeville, Ga. He died just about the time he had reached his full powers, though he had already won dis- tinction at the bar and was highly honored in the judicial office. Judge L. Q. C. Lamar, Jr., was truly worthy of the honors won in life and deserves the eulogies so richly bestowed on his name since his recent death. He was only a small boy when his lamented father died, which was about 1834 or 1835. His mother was a highly endowed woman, physically and mentally, fitted to be the mother of an eminent son. She lived to a great age and became the wife of Mr. Trantman, who also lived to be very old.

Lucius Q. C. Lamar, the lately deceased jurist and statesman, grew to be a man of fine physical presence, having a symmetrical form indicative of an almost

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perfect manhood. He entered Emory college, Ga., at an early period and gradu- ated in 1845, when he was twenty years of age, in a class containing several men who have achieved prominence. In college he was famous in debates, and was the acknowledged authority among the boys on political matters. His bent was from the first that way-to statesmanship. He was a professor for a time in the Mississippi university, filling an adjunct professorship-the famous Albert T. Bledsoe being the chief professor. After this Mr. Lamar became a lawyer and formed a co-partnership with his famous uncle, Absalom H. Chappell, of Macon, Ga. He was engaged for a few years in law practice when he again moved to Mississippi, and served again as professor. In 1853 he was elected to the legis- lature and in 1854 settled on his plantation in Lafayette, Miss. He was elected to congress as a democrat, serving from 1857 to 1860, when he resigned and entered the secession convention of his state. In the war he served first as lieuten- ant-colonel and then as colonel of the Nineteenth Mississippi infantry, but after severe service in northeast Virginia was forced to retire on account of ill health. He was then sent to Russia as commissioner by the Confederate government. Returning to Mississippi he was elected professor of political economy and social science in the university of Mississippi, in 1866, and in 1867 was transferred to the chair of law. In 1872, he was again elected to congress, and re-elected in 1874. He was then elected to the United States senate. He possessed great independence of thought and action, as was shown by his refusal at one time to vote against his convictions on the currency question, even though so instructed to do by the legis- lature of his state. He appealed to the people and by them was sustained. He was secretary of the interior in the cabinet of President Cleveland during his first term, and in 1887 was appointed by the same president as associate justice of the supreme court of the United States.

Judge Lamar was married July 20, 1846, to Miss Virginia Longstreet, daughter of the famous Augustus B. Longstreet, president of Mississippi university, and noted for very versatile talents as lawyer, judge, writer and professor. By his first marriage, Judge Lamar had four children as follows: Fannie, who married Hon. D. Edward Mayes, president of the University of Mississippi; L. Q. C. Lamar, Jr., planter of Mississippi, who married Kate Lester; Augusta, wife of Hugh Heiskell, of Memphis, Tenn., and Virginia, wife of William H. Lamar. Late in life Judge Lamar married Mrs. Holt, of Macon, who was formerly a Miss Dean. Judge Lamar was pre-eminently fitted for debate, having a thoroughly dis- ciplined and well-stored mind, and possessing a courage that never quailed in the face of a foe. His voice was commanding and well-controlled, he was self-pos- sessed though very vehement in delivery. A man of learning and reading he was in demand on literary occasions, and always achieved distinction in this sphere.

HENRY J. LAMAR, president of the Exchange bank of Macon, Ga., was born on the plantation owned by his father, Benjamin B. Lamar, in Bibb county, Ga., within nine miles of Macon, March 21, 1825, and lived on the farm until he was ten years of age, when his parents moved to Macon. His primary education was obtained in the schools of that city-his chief teachers being M. M. Mason and Gen. James W. Armstrong, the latter a graduate of West Point. Both instruct- ors were famous in their day as teachers. Prepared thus for college, in 184I he entered the university of Georgia at Athens, where he remained until his senior year, when he was compelled to leave without graduating on account of ill health. He had as schoolmates several companions who became distinguished and even eminent. Foremost among these were the late Senator Benjamin H. Hill, Rev. Dr. J. L. M. Curry, Hon. Joel A. Billups and others. On leaving

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the university Mr. Lamar began farming, and pursued this business until the close of the civil war. After this he engaged in various pursuits, but principally the drug business. Beginning by merchandising in Macon in 1865, he extended this trade by founding drug stores in Atlanta in 1873, and Albany, Ga., 1880, and he now owns six drug stores in Macon and is president of the Lamar-Rankin Drug company, of Atlanta, Ga. This heavy business has been conducted suc- cessfully, indicating great ability in Mr. Lamar as a man of affairs. Wealth has been accumulated, yet there is no abatement of his energy nor failure in his capacity, although now in his seventieth year. Able to retire and live in luxury and

ease, he is still devoted to business. Mr. Lamar is an extensive landowner, and conducts large planting interests in Bibb and other counties. He was made presi- dent of the Exchange bank of Macon in 1880, which is a large and successful institution. Since 1890 he has been president of the Union Savings bank of Macon, a very popular and successful bank. Filling such places continuously for many years furnishes strong proof of Mr. Lamar's capabilities as a financier and of the high estimate in which he is held by business mien and the public. Having been so successful in his private affairs, he is easily and fully trusted in the management of the interests of others. The value of such a man of judgment, integrity and enterprise can hardly be estimated in any community. In addition to the interests above mentioned Mr. Lamar is president and chief owner of the Bradfield Regulator company of Atlanta, and he is president and chief stock- holder of the Swift Specific company of Atlanta; this company manufactures and sells on a large scale the famous "S. S. S." remedy, known all over the world.

Mr. Lamar belongs to no secret societies or any church. He was married in 1850 to Miss Valeria B. Jones, daughter of Wiley E. Jones, deceased, who once resided in Columbus, Ga., but died near Macon. Mrs. Lamar had three uncles in the ministry of the Methodist church, men of mark and merit. She is a woman of fine intellect and excellent traits of character. They live in the beautiful village of Vineville, Ga. (a suburb of Macon), and reside in a beautiful home. Seven children have been born to this family, viz: Henry J. Lamar, Jr., of Macon, Ga .; Valeria, wife of Edwin McLaren, of Columbus, Ga .; John T. Lamar, of Butts county, Ga .; Fannie L., wife of J. W. Rankin, deceased, of Atlanta; Wilena, wife of Eli S. Shorter, of Eufaula, Ala., and Walter D. Lamar, of Macon. Alberta Lamar married W. H. Washington, of Nashville, Tenn., and died in 1887, leaving a son, Henry L. Washington, grandson of Henry J. Lamar. Mr. Lamar's father was a native of Jones county, Ga. He was a Baptist minister and a large planter, and died in 1835, leaving five children, the second being H. J. Lamar, who alone survives. Mr. Lamar belongs to a large family of that name, many of whom have been prominent, but as most notable we mention L. Q. C. Lamar, of the United States supreme court, and his father, L. Q. C. Lamar, an eminent lawyer and judge. Gen. Mirabeau B. Lamar, a hero of the Texan revolution and after- ward president of the young republic, was a kinsman. Mr. Lamar may be char- acterized as a gentleman of good and mild manners, of such style as does not repel approach, being easy of access to all grades in society. There is no appear- ance of vanity or pride proceeding from his success in life. He is intelligent and discreet and of capacity for a higher position before the public. There seems to be no aspiration for political honors, no effort to win fame or even notoriety. Moving smoothly on his ways of business he makes no loud report of what he is doing. Any day nearly he may be seen on horseback riding to and from his business, looking more like a farmer than a merchant prince and banker. A quiet man, without ostentation or pretense arguing wealth and self-importance,

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he has reached old age without reproach and with great credit to himself and family. Able to live well, he does so in a charming home presided over by a wife, intelligent and discreet, affectionate and religious.

ALEXANDER LAWTON MILLER, late judge of the Macon circuit, was born in Richmond county, Ga., Nov. 6, 1848. He was reared, however, in South Carolina, obtained a good education and graduated from the University of South Carolina at Columbia in 1869. He then removed to Houston county, Ga., where he taught school a year and a half and at the same time studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and immediately thereafter located in Houston for the practice of his profession. He practiced there continuously until 1890, when he was appointed judge of the Macon circuit, serving until Jan. 1, 1893, when he resigned and resumed his practice, forming a partnership with A. D. Bacon. Mr. Miller was elected to the legislature in 1876 and served in the lower house three terms-from 1876 to 1882. During his middle term he was continuously on the finance committee and chairman of the special committee which impeached the state treasurer. He also served as county judge of Houston county and was one of the five commissioners that directed the building of the present state capitol, which was erected at a cost of $1,000,000. He is a Mason, but has sought no higher rank in the order than that of a Master Mason. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Oct. 26, 1876, married Catherine, daughter of George T. Hurt. Mr. Miller's father was Jonathan M. Miller, a native of South Carolina. who was born in 1811. He was a planter all his active life, owning plantations in Georgia and South Carolina. He was an enthusiastic secessionist. He married Margaret Smith, a Georgian by birth, and they had twelve children, of whom ten, six sons and four daughters, grew up, and seven, four sons and three daughters, are now living. Two of these sons fought in the Confederate army in the last war ; William W. went out in 1861 with the first regiment of South Carolina cavalry and served until November, 1864, when he was captured near Fredericksburg and held a prisoner at Point Lookout until the war closed; John M. served in an independent cavalry company from 1862 until the close of hostilities. His com- pany was known as Walpole's company and was Hardee's escort during Gen. Johnston's last campaign, and surrendered in North Carolina.

HENRY ARCHER METTANER, physician, Macon, was born in Prince Ed- ward county, Va., Dec. 27, 1829, where he was brought up and received his primary education. He attended Hampden Sidney college (Va.), where he remained until his senior year, and then he entered the medical department of the Randolph- Macon college, located in Prince Edward county. This department was presided over by Dr. John P. Mettaner, his father, a distinguished surgeon of that day, and a surgeon in the war of 1812, who was a son of Dr. F. J. Mettaner, a surgeon of distinction in the army of Gen. La Fayette during the revolutionary war. Dr. Henry Mettaner was graduated at Randolph-Macon college in 1851, and a year later located in Macon, where he has since remained. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted as surgeon in A. H. Colquitt's brigade, and served as such until the war closed.

J. W. MYRICK, farmer, Holton, Bibb Co., Ga., son of James and Nancy (Flew- ellen) Myrick, was born in Bibb county, where he now lives, Nov. 24, 1833. Mr. Myrick's father was a physician, and was born in South Hampton, Va. The family is of Welsh ancestry, several generations having lived in Virginia before the revolutionary war, and many of the name were soldiers in the patriot army. Dr.

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Myrick came to Georgia a single man along in the '20's and married in Baldwin county. For many years the Myrick and Flewellen families have resided in this locality. Although a physician, Dr. Myrick did but little practice on account of the precarious condition of his health. But he was very careful and thrifty and an excellent manager, and accumulated a handsome property, some 2,000 acres of land and sixty or seventy slaves. He was a devoted Christian and an ardent Methodist, a liberal giver, and a willing and enthusiastic helper and worker in the upbuilding of his church. Dr. and Mrs. Myrick had six children, three of whom died in infancy and three reached maturity: Frances, who married Thomas Norris, is now deceased; Susan, who married W. D. Williams, also deceased, and the subject of this sketch. Dr. Myrick died in 1865, and Mrs. Myrick in 1872. Mr. Myrick is unmarried, and has passed most of his life on the farm. Until the war he stayed there to take care of his aged father and mother. After hostilities fairly began, in 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Floyd rifles, Macon, Ga., and was a participant in many of the bloodiest and most important battles. Since the war, in addition to looking after his landed and other interests, he has been largely interested in railway construction. In this direction he has had contracts with the Eastern Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia, the Macon & Dublin, and the Georgia Southern & Florida. Although unmarried he takes an absorbing interest in all movements which promise to ameliorate the condition of the oppressed and distressed, and to promote general advancement and enlightenment-particularly all educational enterprises. In politics Mr. Myrick is a stanch democrat; fraternally he is a Master Mason, and religiously he is a thorough-going Methodist.

HON. EUGENIUS A. NISBET, LL. D. To none of the readers of this volume who are at all conversant with Georgia history will the name of Nisbet be strange, for it can be found honorably mentioned in every work presented to the public which deserves recognition as a true history of the state. In presenting the life of the above distinguished member of the family the biographer will tell "a plain, unvarnished tale," well knowing that fullsomeness is not needed in hand- ling a subject of true merit. The deceased subject of this sketch was of the old Scotch Presbyterian stock, who suffered martyrdom and banishment at the hands of men rather than to risk the displeasure of God. Capt. John Nisbet, an officer of the Covenanters, was executed for loyalty to his religious principles in the streets of Edinburgh in the year 1668. In that same year his sons were expa- triated, came to America, and settled in North Carolina. About a century later James Nisbet came on the scene of action in Rowan county, N. C. Having graduated from the Philadelphia Medical college, he came to Georgia and settled in Greene county-one of the first graduates of medicine to locate in the state. Dr. Nisbet soon became known as a friend and promoter of advanced education and held many offices of trust with honor to himself and the state.

Eugenius A. Nisbet was the son of this Dr. James and Penelope (Cooper) Nisbet, and was born in Greene county, received his preparatory course at Pow- elton, Hancock Co., Ga., entered Columbia college, S. C., where he remained one year, and finished in 1821, when he graduated with the highest honors of his class from Franklin college (university of Georgia), Athens. He began the study of law under Judge (ex-United States senator) A. S. Clayton, and completed it at Judge Gould's celebrated law school, Litchfield, Conn. Being under age, he was admitted to the bar by a special act of the general assembly. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Madison, Morgan Co., then included in Ocmulgee circuit, whose bar at that time was said to be the strongest in the state, having on its rolls such names as Early, Cobb, Shorter, Gordon, Longstreet and Lamar.

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It is certainly strong evidence of great industry and superior talent that he suc- ceeded in obtaining a lucrative practice. He rose rapidly in his profession, be- came one of the leading jurists of the state, and the Nisbet law firm of Macon one of the very strongest. In 1830, while a member of the state senate, he stren- uously advocatd the establishment of a supreme court-his speech on the bill being of such strength as to bring forth a request from his brother senators for its publication. The bill was lost at that time, but when, finally, in 1845, the court was established, he was elected one of the judges. He served eight years of his term with entire acceptability to the people and with distinguished ability. This is a fact worthy of note, as in those early days of the court precedents were established rather than followed. In regard to Judge Nisbet's written opinions Judge Richard Clark (himself an ex-judge of the court) of the Atlanta circuit, says: "As a judge his chief characteristic with me is that his written opinions are couched in better rhetoric than any judge who ever sat on the supreme bench, and he has the happy faculty of making clearer to others his own thought than any other judge. When one of his opinions is read to me I know it by the sound." Among his fellow-members of the bar Judge Nisbet was highly respected, and especially beloved by the younger members, for whom he had great sympathy. Judge Nisbet's public life was varied and useful. It began quite early-the people having elected him to the lower house before he had attained his majority. In- deed, he had to wait seven days after the general assembly was organized before he could take the oath. During his lifetime he served seven terms in the general assembly, four in the house and three in the senate. The journals of both houses show that, uninfluenced by party or local considerations, he was always ready to support any policy by which the best interests of Georgia would be promoted. Among his special efforts which were marked by great ability was his successful championship of the penitentiary system, which was savagely attacked in the legislature of 1828. As chairman of the committee to whom the subject was referred he made an elaborate report in favor of the continuance of the institution. which was adopted. Another report which still further added to his reputation he made as chairman of the committee on federal relations. A discussion had arisen between the general government and the state of Georgia concerning the Cherokee Indians. His report on the subject was a masterly effort and triumph- antly established the state's position. His entrance into the senate in 1830 was signalized by a speech advocating an increase in the appropriation to his alma mater, Franklin college (university of Georgia), of which institution he was a trustee to the time of his death. It was at this time that he made his effort in behalf of the supreme court already mentioned. The services of Judge Nisbet at the bar in the legislative halls had given him, although a comparatively young man, a state-wide reputation, and in 1836 he was one of the nominees on the whig ticket for congress. At that time, in Georgia, congressmen were elected by gen- eral ticket, and to secure a nomination a wide and favorable reputation was essen- tial. The whole ticket was defeated. In 1838 he was again placed on the ticket, and this time the entire ticket was elected. In the next ("Tippecanoe and Tyler too," 1840) campaign he was re-elected, but from private considerations resigned before the expiration of his term. He was in congress when Henry Clay organ- ized the whig party, and was an ardent admirer and faithful follower of that great leader. As events progressed toward the movement which culminated in civil strife, Judge Nisbet's voice was lifted for the union, which he earnestly strove to preserve. But with the election of Lincoln his last hope for its preservation failed, and he bent his energies to the formation of the new government. Elected as one of the Bibb county delegates to the convention of 1861, he was made chairman

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of the most important committee-that which prepared the ordinance of secession -on which were such giants as Toombs, Hill, Stephens and Johnson, and the ordinance as prepared by him was adopted by the convention. He was also among those who were selected by the convention to represent Georgia in the Mont- gomery convention. In that body, also, he took an active and leading part, as its proceedings show. He conceived the idea of making Alexander H. Stephens vice-president of the new government-a brilliant stroke of policy which rallied the conservative element to its support and added incalculably to its strength. Judge Nisbet was a broad-minded man, and while he was essentially a lawyer and profoundly versed in all that pertained to his profession, he found time to gratify his taste for literature and educational work. On this point we quote from a former biographer who was intimately acquainted with him: "Fond of literature, he is a writer of excellent taste and high cultivation. Although from early life a hard professional worker, he has found time to be an occasional contributor to one of our most popular magazines. He has been invited to deliver addresses on various literary occasions, and has devoted much time and thought to the common and free schools." In religious belief Judge Nisbet was a Pres- byterian-following his Scotch ancestry. In his family circle he was kind and gentle, but firm, charitable to a fault, and a man of great personal dignity of character. His marriage occurred in Hancock county in 1825. The lady of his choice was Amanda M. F. Battle, a granddaughter of Capt. James Alexander, who distinguished himself as an officer in Gen. Clarke's brigade at King's mountain during the revolutionary war, and at the siege of Augusta. A large family was born to them, among whom may be mentioned the late Judge James T. Nisbet, who was a distinguished member of the Macon bar, and the surviving children: Col. R. B. Nisbet, Eatonton; Mrs. Judge W. A. Reid, New York City; Mrs. Laura Boykin, Nashville, Tenn .; Mrs. Dr. P. H. Wright, Macon, Ga. Judge Nisbet died in 1870 at Macon and was buried in Rose Hill cemetery, attended by a large concourse of mourning friends. The bar adopted appropriate resolutions and the press united in graceful and feeling tributes to his memory.

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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 52

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