USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume I > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
He was now called to a still prouder elevation,-one equal, if not superior, in dignity to the Executive of a sovereign State of this Union. At the session of the Legislature in 1842, Judge Colquitt was elected a Senator in the Congress of the United States for a term of six years, commencing on the 4th March, 1843. Here he formed the acquaintance of Mr. Calhoun, the great champion of the South, whose principles and character he so much admired. Mr. Webster was also in the Senate part of the term, and it was the privilege of Judge Colquitt to confer with these master-minds of the world on the policy best calculated to advance the public good, and to sustain or oppose, as a brother Senator, on a footing of perfect equality, any measure they might advocate. The talents of Judge Colquitt were such as to command respect anywhere ;
206
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
but candor urges the author to say that the manner of the judge in debate was an innovation upon the usages of the Senate, and was at times deficient in tone and self-respect which had generally distinguished that august body. Special reference is here made to the notice taken by Judge Colquitt of an attack made upon him in the columns of the Madisonian, the editor of which paper accused him and other Senators of dining with the British minister, and then receding from the claim of 54° 40', for which he had pre- viously stood by President Polk as being " clear and indisputable."
When criticisms have been made, by editors or correspondents of newspapers, unjust to members of Congress, or placing them in a false position, they often bring the subject before the House to which they belong, read the exceptionable matter, and then com- ment upon it as the case may require, usually in a calm, explana- tory style, with no passion or bitterness, certainly with no epithets. But Judge Colquitt departed from this rule. He became excited, and denounced the editor of the Madisonian in terms so gross, so novel in the Senate, that he let himself down while he broke up the Madisonian. It changed hands immediately, and, after struggling a short time from its death-wound, it ceased altogether to be pub- lished. The revenge was terrible; but, like an overcharged gun, it injured in both directions.
While Judge Colquitt was in the Senate of the United States, our controversy with Great Britain relative to Oregon elicited very earnest discussion, and at one time seemed likely to produce war between the two countries. Within the same period of ser- vice, from 1843 to 1849, the whole Mexican War had transpired, from the murder of Col. Thornton and his comrades on the Rio Grande to the Treaty of Guadaloupe. Those who knew the tem- perament of Judge Colquitt, his burning patriotism and restless courage, impatient of delay, can well imagine his feelings when battle after battle, victory after victory, was borne by the electric messenger to the capital of the Union. The opening cannonade at Palo Alto, the rout of the enemy at Resaca de la Palma, the glories of Monterey and Buena Vista, with TAYLOR leading the embattled host,-the splendid siege and entire capture of Vera Cruz, the bloody heights of Cerro Gordo, the onward march of our conquering army to Chapultepec, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey, and the triumphant entry of ScorT into the city of Mexico, into the very "Halls of the Montezumas" of fabled grandeur,-all quickened the pulse and sent joy to every bosom within our extended borders. Ile was a warm supporter of
207
WALTER T. COLQUITT.
the administration throughout the conflict, gave the President all the aid in his power, and advocated the measures necessary to prosecute the war vigorously. To such men as Judge Colquitt, sagacious and daring, are the people indebted for that proud rank which our Government occupies among the nations of the carth,- grand in peace and mighty in war.
The author regrets that he has none of the speeches delivered in Congress by the bold Georgia Senator from which to give extracts. Fortunately, it is not essential to his fame. He possessed a kind of oratory-an eloquence of the blood-not to be written. It would be useless to attempt a description. In the Presidential campaigns of 1840, 1844, 1848, and 1852, he took the field and mounted his war-horse for the Democratic nominees, often at a great distance from home, on special invitation. It made no difference how many speakers of note were assembled on the platform at a mass conven- tion, whether from other States or from Georgia, whether ex- governors or ex-members of the Cabinet, he towered above them all in energy of declamation and in power to sway the multitude. He had an eye that could look any man or any peril in the face, as the eagle is said to gaze upon the sun, without blanching.
Judge Colquitt imitated no model. He possessed strong sympa- thies, was a close observer of men and things, knew the prejudices, habits, and prevailing opinions of the people in all conditions of life. These were the arrangements of Heaven, and it was not his office to substitute an artificial system which might perhaps secure him the reputation of being a very precise, elegant gentleman, but which would unquestionably place him beyond the companionship which he desired with his fellow-men,-with all,-those in broad- cloth and those in homespun,-all upon an equality in his affec- tions, all children of a common Father, travelling the same road to eternity! The accidents of fortune, a white house, a showy equi- page, rich apparel, or any other allurements of wealth, had no influence upon him. He grasped the hand of a poor man as cor- dially, and treated him with as much respect, as he would the richest in the land. If his attentions to either varied, it was only to show more kindness to the humble, to ward off any appearance of neglect. With such principles and feelings he squared his con- duct through life.
As an advocate, he 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. In criminal cases, where life or liberty was at stake, he swept every thing before him. No
208
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
heart could resist his appeals, no eye could withhold its tears, on such occasions. He has been known to get upon his knees and implore jurors by name to save the husband, the father, the son,- not to break anxious hearts at home, nor stamp disgrace upon innocent kindred. At other times he would go up to certain mem- bers of the jury and address them, "My Baptist brother," "My Methodist brother," "My young brother," "My venerable bro- ther,"-applying suitable expressions to each one as the facts might authorize,-and, with a look and prayer to Heaven which impressed the greatest awe, would stir the soul to its very depths. Many examples of the kind might be given, as the author has been informed by eye-witnesses : he never heard Judge Colquitt make a speech in court, but has heard him in other places. It is said that he rarely failed to obtain verdicts in favor of his clients when the occasion called forth his energies. His delivery, gesticulation, pathos, ridicule, scorn, mimicry, the tones of his voice, his anec- dotes, the motion of his features, every thing about him,-all acted a part, all assisted in the incantation. A wizard could not have been more potent in exercising his charms. In all this exhibition there was much to offend particular schools of acting; but it was nothing more than "holding the mirror up to nature,"-nature in a tempest.
Nor was Judge Colquitt at a loss for other methods. He could be gentle as a zephyr when it suited his purpose, when he had pic- tures of bereavement and sorrow to press home to the jury. Then the sweet, plaintive tones of his voice, the melting sadness of the heart, and the glistening pearl-drops from the eye would dissolve all opposition. He would take a poor, fainting mortal in his arms, and softly as an angel he would lay him down to repose amid the flowers of Eden.
The career of Judge Colquitt would be most inadequately sketched were the part he took on the Southern Rights question in 1850 and 1851 entirely omitted. It is known that with the acquisition of territory from Mexico there arose in Congress a very delicate issue between the North and South as to free soil, or the application of the Wilmot Proviso to all the country thus obtained. The South contended for equal rights,-for the privilege of carrying and holding there such property as the Con- stitution recognised in the State from which the owners might remove. This was the simple proposition. Most of the Represen- tatives in Congress from the non-slaveholding States objected to it, and the contest became sectional,-the very existence of South-
209
WALTER T. COLQUITT.
ern institutions depending on the result. Judge Colquitt came out promptly and denounced the injustice of covering a foot of the territory by the Wilmot Proviso, but, for the purpose of concilia- tion, expressed his willingness to extend the Missouri-Compromise line 36° 30' to the Pacific, and there let the matter rest. He addressed his fellow-citizens publicly by speech and pen, using all his influence, every argument of which he was capable, to stimulate them to action proper for the emergency. He was for marching up to 36° 30' with fixed bayonets, prepared to hold it and prepared to be buried.
His speeches in the Nashville Convention, where he was sus- tained by Judge Cheves,* of South Carolina, and other eminent men in that body, were of the most resolute character. Accounts were published by letter-writers for the Northern press, and Judge Colquitt was spoken of in about equal terms of censure and praise. His manner was described as being most furious in that assem- blage of Southern patriots. He and Gov. McDonald were chosen by the Legislature as delegates to represent the State at large. The Congressional districts each had two delegates, one from the State-Rights and the other of the Union party, elected by the people. Nothing need be said of the Nashville Convention other than that its proceedings, like the Virginia and Kentucky Resolu- tions of 1798, have given rise to various conflicting interpretations. The following are three of the resolutions, embodying the most material part of those passed in November, 1850, at the second session of the Nashville Convention, after the Compromise mea- sures had been adopted by Congress :-
Resolved, That all the evils anticipated by the South, and which occa- sioned this Convention to assemble, have been realized by the failure to extend the Missouri line of compromise to the Pacific Ocean, by the admis- sion of California as a State, by the organization of Territorial Governments for Utah and New Mexico without giving adequate protection to the property of the South, by the dismemberment of Texas, by the aboli- tion of the slave-trade and the emancipation of slaves carried into the District of Columbia for sale.
Resolved, That we carnestly recommend to all parties in the slave- holding States to refuse to go into, or countenance, any National Conven- tion whose objects may be to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, under any party denomination whatever, until our Constitutional rights are secured.
Resolved, That in view of these aggressions, and of those threatened and impending, we earnestly recommend to the slave-holding States to meet in congress or convention, to be held at such time or place as the
. Hon. Langdon Cheves died June 25, 1857, aged eighty-one years. VOL. I .- 14
210
BENCHI AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
States desiring to be represented may designate, to be composed of double the number of their Senators and Representatives in Congress of the United States, intrusted with full power and authority to deliberate and act with the view and intention of arresting further aggression, and, if possible, of restoring the Constitutional rights of the South, and, if not, to provide for their future safety and independence.
As a politician and advocate, enough has been said to give some idea of Judge Colquitt. It now remains to follow him into another sphere,-as a man and a Christian. How early in life he connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church the author is not informed; but he remembers to have heard him deliver an exhorta- tion thirty years ago (1827) at Milledgeville, in a church where sat with him in the pulpit the late Rev. Stephen Olin and Rev. Samuel K. Hodges,-the latter then the presiding elder. Judge Colquitt had a very youthful appearance. His checks were rosy, and his countenance was, lighted up by the sacred fires within. After Mr. Hodges had closed a very solemn discourse, while the congregation was silent and serious, he rose, and sung, in beautiful style and with much feeling,-
"Young people all, attention give, While I address you in God's name : You who in sin and folly live, Come, hear the counsels of a friend."
Nothing could have produced a happier effect. Many persons wept as the song proceeded; and when it was over he made an appeal to the young to forsake their evil ways,-to give up the phantoms of pleasure and yield their hearts to God. It was a time long to be remembered. Hodges, Olin, Colquitt, and more than half that large congregation, are in the grave! He who was then a youth weeping under the exhortation is now quite an old man, shedding a tear as he records the incident in the biography of the exhorter.
The author never attended any of the courts at which Judge Colquitt presided, and can only state the fact on reliable informa- tion, that he was in the habit of opening his courts with prayer, himself officiating. Whether he continued the practice through both his terms cannot be here affirmed or denied. That he was truly pious, and aimed to do good, there is no question. But many of his religious friends were sorely grieved to witness the levity and relish for fun and anecdote which the judge indulged at the hotel and other places when not engaged at prayer or in his official administration. Indeed, his hilarity was so boisterous, his stories so broad and related with such enjoyment, that a stranger would never have suspected that he belonged to the church. On
1
1
211
WALTER T. COLQUITT.
these jovial occasions he has been known to look at his watch and start up suddenly, apologizing to his companions, as he had to preach, and the people were waiting for him! While in the State Senate, he has been known to make a strong speech on some bill, then go to the church and deliver an animated sermon, then attend a political caucus and make the principal speech there, rally- ing his forces, and then conclude the night by inviting a number of his friends to an oyster-saloon for refreshments. In all this, while nothing positively wicked can be perceived, there was seem- ing impropriety in the opinion of many of his brethren. It was a sort of stumbling-block which gave room for unfriendly remarks. Yet, if an error, it lacked the intention to make it criminal.
Soon after announcing the plan of his work, the author applied to the Rev. Lovick Pierce, a minister of close observation as well as of established ability and influence, for names belonging to the church and the bar that might assist in removing the reproach so generally cast on the legal profession that from its very nature it was hostile to Christianity. In the reply, the name of Judge Col- quitt, then living, occurs in a manner which will be sufficient to introduce the letter here, even if other names in it did not show the justice and propriety of doing so :-
COLUMBUS, January 28, 1851.
DEAR SIR :- Your letter and circular are received. I cannot call to mind any deceased lawyers whose connection with the church, and piety, would add any thing to your praiseworthy work, but the lamented Few, with Cicero Holt and Clayton of Athens. Clayton I did not know as a Christian, only from others. His conversion, life, and death added as much lustre to his Christian character as his tongue and pen did to his professional.
Cicero Holt was a Christian of the highest and purest character, suf- ficient of himself to disprove the idea that irreligion is a sort of consti- tutional quality of the legal calling. At this time there are many lawyers open and avowed Christians. Even here are half a dozen, members of our church,-none of them, except Colquitt, known afar off.
Judge Longstreet can give you more reliable information than any one who would feel a lively interest in your enterprise. IIe is President of the Mississippi University. It is located at Oxford: the county I don't know. I think the following direction would find him : A. B. Longstreet, President of the Mississippi University, Oxford .*
* On this hint, the author paid his respects more than once to Judge Longstreet. desiring contributions to interest the public in these pages. It will be seen, by other letters published, that Judge Longstreet is looked to for much that is curious. -as the only writer who can dress up things to perfection. The author shared this belief, and only regrets that Judge L. has been so occupied by his official duties, or so disinclined to put people in a good humor, as used to be his vocation when writing "Georgia Scenes" twenty years ago, that the author has to go to press without a solitary line from his graphic pen.
---
-
212
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
I am not able to render you the aid you need: if I could, I would gladly do it. Respectfully, yours,
L. PIERCE.
But it is not necessary to dwell on the virtues or defects of Judge Colquitt. He was not always understood by the world. A natural buoyancy of feeling sometimes led him into extremes
He had to be cheerful : his organization would not permit him to be otherwise. There was no stagnation in the currents of his soul. They flowed on through all temperatures. Happen what might to depress others, no frost ever locked up the tide of his upward, joyous nature. His spirit could scale the loftiest mountains, sport with the clouds, and then descend in a thunderbolt to terrify the evil-doer, or in the form of mercy to soothe the unfortunate and the miserable.
Such a man, however, has no guarantee of life more than the veriest trifler. The lion-hearted is often the mark of Death's arrow, while the hare in society seems to escape for a longer pro- bation. The decree is thus written; and it is right, however mys- terious to finite conceptions.
Judge Colquitt endured sharp bodily afflictions in the latter years of his life. His friends were long in painful suspense, at times believing that his recovery was possible, and then giving up in despair. All the time he submitted like a child to his heavenly Father, and patiently awaited the issue. Having obtained partial relief from the waters at Montvale, East Ten- nessee, on a former visit, he sought their efficacy once more. Emaciated as he was, he had himself borne to the cars at Colum- bus, to reach Knoxville by railroad, within twenty miles of the springs. At Macon he grew worse; and tidings forthwith came, on the telegraph-wires and in the public prints, that he was in a dying condition. Friends-pious friends-gathered at his bedside. His talk was of heaven. Those dark, beaming eyes, which had so often irradiated the sanctuary and the forum, are now turned with seraphic mildness upon wife and children in the last hour. With words of consolation to all, and with the light of eternity playing upon his features, WALTER T. COLQUITT calmly returned his soul to God who gave it. IIe died at the house of his brother-in-law, William A. Ross, in the city of Macon, May 7, 1855, in the fifty- sixth year of his age.
The mournful intelligence, though looked for, filled all hearts with sorrow. A great man had fallen. The newspapers did justice to his character : many of them contained a brief memoir of his
213
WALTER T. COLQUITT.
life. A void was felt which can never be supplied. He was a gallant and favorite son of Georgia,-a second CALHOUN to the South. If he had blemishes, they were scarcely visible in the noonday brightness of his active and useful career.
Of his domestic relations the following has been gathered. His first marriage was on the 23d day of February, 1823, to Miss Nancy H. Lane, daughter of Joseph Lane, Esq., who was many years a Representative in the Legislature from Newton county. From this union were six children, of whom four are living. The Hon. Alfred H. Colquitt, of Baker county, late Representative in Congress, and Peyton H. Colquitt, Esq., attorney-at-law, of Columbus, are two of them. One of his daughters married the Hon. O. B. Ficklin, of Illinois, at the time a Representative in Congress from that State, and the other daughter, Emily, married Samuel Carter, son of Col. Farish Carter. Gen. Joseph Lane, the delegate in Congress from Oregon, is a near relative of the first Mrs. Colquitt.
The second marriage of Judge Colquitt was in 1841, with Mrs. Alphia B. Fauntleroy, formerly Miss Todd, sister of H. W. Todd, Esq., of West Point, Georgia. She lived only a few months.
He was married the last time, in 1842, to Miss Harriet W. Ross, daughter of the late Luke Ross, Esq., of Macon, and sister to J. B. and W. A. Ross, merchants of that city. Six children were born of this marriage,-four now living.
The mother of Judge Colquitt, Mrs. Nancy S. Tarver, resides at La Grange, in her seventy-seventh year. After the death of her first husband, she married the father of the late Gen. Hartwell H. Tarver, of Twiggs county.
Before closing this memoir, the author makes free to extract from a letter written by a gentleman* to a son of Judge Colquitt, under date of January 19, 1857 :-
I know nothing specially in regard to your father but what everybody else well knows, for he had no conccalments in him. No man, either friend or foe, can say aught against him. I was his associate almost from infancy. He was " a head and shoulder" above all boys, as he was above all men ; for I have seen him tried in all capacities and situations, in none of which did he ever falter. I could cite many incidents and character- istics of him known only to myself, all of which would redound to his credit and fame. His faults were few : if he had any, I never knew them. He was admitted to the bar at Irwinton, Wilkinson county, I think,
* Alfred B. Holt, Esq. to P. HI. Colquitt, to assist in the particulars of this memoir.
.
214
BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.
in 1820 or '21. He commenced the practice of law in Sparta, but shortly after removed to the Cowpens, in Walton county, and in the Western circuit soon took a prominent stand among such men as Cicero Holt, Charles Dougherty, and others with whom he was associated.
This decided testimony from one who knew him well is indeed honorable to the character of Judge Colquitt. It goes far to justify the compliment from Gen. Cass, the present Secretary of State, who once remarked that "Georgia had cause to be proud of her Representatives, as two of the readiest debaters he ever heard were from that State,-Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Colquitt." Mr. Calhoun frequently said of him that he was a very " sagacious man."
Though intended as private, there is nothing to forbid giving a passage from another letter* relative to Judge Colquitt :-
My father during his life seemed to shun every thing like posthumous fame. He was often applied to, and as frequently denied having his life published. He seemed to feel that if his services to his State and his country were worth any thing they would be remembered. He cared little for praise, so he knew he was right and advocated the truth. He marked out for himself a course of policy, and did not pander to popular feeling. He had no care whether he was in the minority or majority, so he felt that he was right. If I knew any thing of his character, the most prominent traits were unselfishness, kindness, and strong friendship,-im- petuous, quick, fiery. His attachment to a friend would lead him to face any danger.
To show that the views taken of the character of Judge Colquitt and the praise bestowed in the progress of this memoir are fully supported in the highest quarter, the very head of the Judiciary in our State, the proceedings of the Supreme Court on the occasion of his death are subjoined :-
SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA, AMERICUS, July 10, 1855.
The Honorable the Supreme Court met pursuant to adjournment. Present their Honors JOSEPH H. LUMPKIN, EBENEZER STARNES, and HENRY L. BENNING, Judges.
The death of the Honorable WALTER T. COLQUITT, a member of this bar, was announced this morning by the Hon. G. E. Thomas, who moved the appointment of a committee to prepare and report resolutions in rela- tion thereto, which was seconded by Col. Seaborn Jones.
Whereupon the court moved as a committee the following gentlemen,- viz. : Hon. G. E. Thomas, Col. Seaborn Jones, William Dougherty, B. Hill, B. H. Hill, G. M. Dudley, and T. R. R. Cobb, Esquires.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.