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 36
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A son* of Judge Dawson (to whose courteous reply to a letter on the subject the author is indebted for the family-record given) thus speaks of his father :-
* Edgar G. Dawson, Esq.
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I see that the Masonic Fraternity are preparing and arranging to raise a monument to his memory, and to establish a " Dawson Professorship" in the Masonic Female College.
My father was very liberal in his donations to such institutions,-always active in the cause of education. As you are aware, he was eminently social,-was remarkably fond of the chase,-always kept a fine pack of fox-hounds, the fleetest in the country, as he spared no expense iu pro- curing them. IIc was the best horseman I ever saw, and surpassed all his companions in his exploits upon the field with his horse and hounds. I have frequently seen him from daybreak until nightfall in the chase, (of the red fox, the fleetest and most enduring of the species, ) and then return home and work until twelve or one o'clock in his office. I think he was one of the most industrious men I ever knew, and at the same time the most social.
He made companions of his children, and never failed to have them with him, when not inconvenient to do so,-upon the circuit, at Wash- ington, in his travels, upon the plantation,-and seemed delighted, in the chase, to see his sons well mounted, contesting with him the palm of horsemanship in leaping fences, ditches, and in keeping nearest the hounds in full pursuit through woods and fields.
* *
A few months prior to his death he wrote me :-
" I shall return to the practice with all diligence in the spring, and have nothing to draw my attention from it, and shall expect to be pointed at in a short time by the people and have them say, 'There is a rising and promising young man who will soon make his mark at the bar.'" He always contended that he was never over thirty years of age, and that he was as able and active at fifty-eight years of age as at thirty-eight.
The employments Judge Dawson held, in all of which he acquitted himself usefully to the public, may be stated :-
1. Clerk of the Georgia House of Representatives twelve years.
2. Compiler of the laws of Georgia from 1820 to 1830,-the last publication in the quarto form.
3. Representative in the State Legislature.
4. Senator in the State Legislature.
5. Captain of a volunteer company in the Creek War of 1836.
6. Representative in Congress from 1836 to 1841.
7. Judge of the Superior Court of the Ocmulgee circuit.
8. Senator in Congress from 1849 to 1855 .*
While in Congress, he was placed on committees of much labor and responsibility, and, as chairman, had frequently to report evidence and the result of his investigations. Just before he retired from the Senate, the citizens of Washington, through the mayor and aldermen, presented him a silver pitcher, or with a pair of richly-chased silver goblets, with inscriptions signifying
* Judge Dawson presided at the great Memphis Convention in 1853.
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their gratitude for his services in behalf of the city as Chairman of the District Committee. The ceremony of presentation was noticed in the papers at the time.
As a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Judge Dawson had reached the highest elevation. Of the two hundred subordinate Lodges in Georgia, perhaps there were but few, if any, which did not drape their rooms in mourning and pass resolutions of sym- pathy and honor on account of his death. Such an instance of universal grief, of such genuine outpouring of the Masonic heart, is not to be found elsewhere in the annals of the Order. The extracts which follow, from the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, at its Annual Communication in October, 1856, will show in what light he was held by his brethren :-
P. 10 .- R. W. Deputy Grand Master Rockwell, in behalf of the com- mittee appointed in the morning, under the resolution offered by Bro. A. W. Redding, respecting the death of our late Grand Master, WM. C. DAWSON, reported as follows, which report was read and ordered to be entered on the minutes :-
The committee appointed to prepare a suitable tribute to the memory of our late Grand Master beg leave to report :-
Whereas, It has pleased the Almighty Disposer of events to remove from our earthly temple to a higher and holier one, as we devoutly trust, our late Grand Master, Most Worshipful WM. C. DAWSON, who for thirteen years has presided over our deliberations, guiding them by bis wisdom, controlling them by his firmness, and dignifying them by his manly and Masonic bearing. While we bow in humble submission to IIis All-wise decree, and acknowledge the solemn importance of the momentous truth that man is born to die, we deem it our Masonic duty to place on record a fitting testimonial of our affection for him as a brother and our deep and abiding reverence for his memory as a man. Therefore,
Be it resolved, by the Grand Lodge of Georgia, That in the death of our late Grand Master we have sustained a loss which human wisdom cannot measure. Our onward progress in prosperity has received a check which a close imitation of his bright example can alone enable us to over- leap; our Masonic fabric is weakened by a breach of which the broken column among our mystic emblems will perpetually remind us ; . but the living sprig of evergreen which a Brother's hand has deposited with his perishable dust in the last home of all the living, with its symbolic teach- ings, triumphantly assures us that his undying spirit will live forever, as we cheerfully hope, in the realms of a blissful immortality.
Be it also Resolved, That this memorial to our late beloved presiding officer be inserted in a fitting place in the minutes of this Grand Com- munication.
P. 13 .- From the report of R. W. Deputy Grand Master GAULDING :-
On the 7th day of May, having been informed of the sudden death of our worthy and honored Grand Master, Wm. C. Dawson, I hastened to the village of Greensboro for the purpose of attending his funeral.
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WILLIAM C. DAWSON.
Being the senior officer of this Grand body present, it became my mournful duty to conduct the solemn ceremonies. In this I was assisted by Worshipful David E. Butler, Senior Grand Warden, being the only other Grand officer present. At 3 o'clock P.M., San Marino Lodge convened in their room, together with a number of the Brotherhood from the neigh- boring counties of Warren, Hancock, Morgan, Taliaferro, Newton, Putnam, and other parts of the State. A procession in accordance with the usages of our Order was formed, and proceeded to the residence of the deceased. A strong desire being manifested by the people generally to behold for the last time the face of the honored dead, the procession, composed of hundreds, passed through the chamber, where he lay in an open coffin, and, with pensive eyes, looked for the last time upon him for whom, while living, they entertained feelings of so much kindness and respect. The remains were escorted to the Presbyterian Church, where an appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Axsom, President of the Greens- boro Female College. The body was then conveyed to the village cemetery and deposited in its final resting-place, with the solemn burial- ceremonies peculiar to our Order. The occasion was indeed a solemn as well as an interesting one. Every person present seemed to feel the force of the sudden blow which had fallen upon the community and stricken down a strong pillar of our social fabric. To the Masonic Fraternity especially the scene was truly affecting, calculated to impress every mind with awe and fill each bosom with the deepest sorrow. Their beloved and honored chief, who had for thirteen years been to them as a father and a governor, was taken from them, and they were now left to look for a new Icader, and search for a new object, around which the broken ten- drils of their affections might be entwined. The interest of the occasion was materially enhanced by the presence of the faculty and about one hundred of the pupils of the Southern Masonic Female College. An appropriate position was assigned them in the procession, next to the relatives of the deceased and near the body of their Masonic father. The presence of these pupils was peculiarly appropriate. They are the men- bers of an institution under the immediate control and patronage of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, at the head of which had so long stood our illustrious brother. This school was with him an object of deep solicitude. It was his delight to speak of the pupils in the affectionate relation of daughters ; hence, it was peculiarly fit and proper that the children should follow to the grave the remains of a fond and loving father. It was a sight upon which angels might look down with admiration,-to behold one hundred young ladies, all dressed in robes of spotless white, the chaste emblem of innocence and virtue, marching with solemn tread in the funeral procession of their friend and benefactor. While the vast number of Brethren present surrounded the grave, forming the mystic chain peculiar to our burial-service, these young ladies were alined within the large circle in the form of a crescent, thus symbolizing the invisible bulwark which Masonry rears around female weakness, virtue, and inno- cence.
I have thus briefly and imperfectly sketched an outline of the solemn obsequies of a distinguished man and an illustrious Mason. William C. Dawson is dead; his mortal remains now slumber in silence beneath the sod, but his memory, like the evergreen, symbol of immortality, shall continue to flourish in perpetual verdure in the remembrance of a grateful people and in the hearts of a trusting and affectionate brotherhood.
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P. 25. From the report of the Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master A. HOOD, of the First Masonic District :-
It would seem needless to remind you, my Brethren, that since our last Annual Communication, Death, that fell destroyer, has been in our midst. All our hearts feel the sad and melancholy bereavement we have sustained in the death of our much-beloved Grand Master, WM. C. DAWSON. Our Grand Master's chair, which is now temporarily filled by one of your chosen substitutes, the absence of that Brother whose cheerful countenance and urbane manner lent a charm to our Annual Convocation, remind us of our sad bereavement, and teach us the sad but truthful lesson that "in the midst of life we are in death," and "that we know not the day nor the hour when the Son of man cometh." To us he was indeed a friend and a brother. Who of this Grand body whose privilege it was to have met with him here year after year, as it were in our annual love-feast, but feel the sad loss we have sustained? While dwelling on our loss we should endeavor to recall the many excellencies of character which endeared him to us, and that secured our respect and affection while living, heartfelt tears at his death, and a memory precious to all who esteem goodness so thoroughly manifested and so purely preserved. He was indeed happily constituted. Of manners gentle, of affections mild. His manner and heart won that confidence that was never forfeited, his goodness and greatness that love and affection that was never lost or impaired.
P. 52. From the address of the Most Worshipful Grand Master of New York, JOSEPH D. EVANS :-
In a communication recently received from the R. W. Wm. S. Rock- well, Deputy Grand Master of Georgia, was conveyed the melancholy intel- ligence of the death of the Grand Master of that State, the Most Worship- ful the Honorable William C. Dawson. His death will not only be felt by the Craft in that jurisdiction, but the whole country will sympathize with them in his loss. He was a zealous Mason, a true patriot, and a highly honorable and noble statesman. For years he had been Grand Master, and for years a member of the United States Senate, representing Georgia. In both of these prominent positions his amiability and wisdom won for him the esteem and respect of all his peers. He had a strong hold upon the affections of his brethren, and was beloved by all who knew him. But he has gone to his eternal home. His spirit has fled to God who gave it; but his memory will remain deeply impressed upon our hearts, to flourish there as the green bay-tree. Thus for a brief period do our bright lights display their effulgence in sparkling and glittering rays, and then pass from us forever.
The official circular of the Deputy Grand Master, communicating the sad intelligence, was afterward read by the Grand Secretary and referred to a special committee, who reported the following resolutions :-
Resolved, That the Grand Lodge of New York has heard with emotions of heartfelt sorrow of the decease of the M. W. and IIon. Wm. C. Dawson, the Grand Master of Georgia, alike distinguished for his ability and patriotism as a statesman and as a wise and accomplished Mason.
Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with our Brethren in Georgia in the loss of one who has added wisdom, prudence, and energy to their counsels, who gave additional lustre to the distinguished station he has so ably filled, and whose fame and memory will not only be cherished by the
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Brethren of his State, but is the heritage of the Craft throughout the Union.
Resolved, That the R. W. Grand Secretary transmit a certified copy of these resolutions to the M.W. Grand Lodge of Georgia.
P. 77. Bro. II. P. BELL, from the committee appointed in relation to the erection of a monument over the grave of our late deceased Grand Master, Wm. C. Dawson, made a report, which was amended and adopted as follows :-
The undersigned committee, to whom was referred the resolutions sub- mitted to the consideration of the Grand Lodge by Baber Lodge, No. 123, and San Marino Lodge, No. 34, in relation to the erection of a marble monument in memory of our late lamented Grand Master, Hon. William C. Dawson, and also the resolution in relation to the procurement of a portrait of our deceased Grand Master, to be placed in the East of the Grand Lodge hall, have had the same under consideration ; and respect- fully submit,-That his eminent public services, his resplendent virtues as a citizen, and his unswerving devotion to the tenets of our cherished and time-honored Order, and the elevated position which he so long held and so nobly adorned as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, all conspire to render it proper that we should perpetuate his memory and virtues in some enduring and substantial manner.
Therefore Resolved, That the sum of $1200 be, and it is hereby, appro- priated by the Grand Lodge, out of any funds now in the treasury not otherwise disposed of, to be expended in the erection of a suitable monu- ment (of white marble) in memory of the Hon. Wm. C. Dawson, deceased, late Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, and that the treasurer is hereby authorized to pay the same to a committee hereafter to be appointed to superintend the erection of the same.
Resolved, That a suitable sum be, and the same is hereby, appropriated to be expended in the procurement of a lifelike portrait of our deceased Grand Master, to be placed in the East of the Masonic hall of the Grand Lodge of Georgia.
A committee to carry out the object of the above report was appointed by the M. W. Grand Master, consisting of Brothers H. P. Bell, Y. P. King, R. A. Lane, Wm. Cox, II. Greene, L. H. Featherston, and D. E. Butler.
The members of the bar at various courts gave expression to their feelings on the occasion. The proceedings of the Supreme Court of Georgia, held at Macon, June Term, 1856, are of record :--
Upon the opening of the court, the HIon. E. A. Nisbet, formerly one of the judges, announced the death of Hon. WILLIAM C. DAWSON as follows :-
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONORS :- It is proper to arrest the business of the court, and, standing around the grave of a deceased brother, contem- plate for a few moments the virtues which ennobled his character. It is a . matter of serious thought and of painful interest that, within a short period of time, we have been called to bury so many of the distinguished members of the bar of this court. The brilliant and almost faultless Charlton ; the strong, honest, upright, and independent Dougherty ; the eloquent, accomplished, and profound Berrien ; Judge Colquitt, the car- nest, ardent, impulsive, and generous man of genius, and the accurate and learned Miller. Nor are these all. Others have died within a short period
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of time not undistinguished or wanting in merit. Now we add to the list Judge DAWSON, who recently departed this life at his residence in Greens- boro. They are all beyond that bourne whence no traveller returns. They are silent, yet they speak : they are dead, yet they live in the record of their lives. It becomes us to profit by their virtues and to take the warn- ing which their death affords. We, too, are mortals. It is appointed unto man once to dic, and then the judgment. Verily, until our time comes we are immortal, and when it arrives we are merely mortal. Arch- angels' arm cannot pluck us hence : legions of angels cannot hold us herc. Occasions like the present are melancholy, yet they are not altogether painful. Even when we come to bury our dead there is a mixture of pleasure in the solenin service. It is our necessity to mourn their loss, but it is our privilege to rejoice in the achievements of their life. It is manly to weep beside the bier of a departed friend, and the tear that falls upon his grave meets, as it descends, a smile which, springing from the heart, mantles the face as memory traces his generous traits and noble deeds. The departed members of the bar are never dead. When in life they were our keepers and we their keepers. United in the bonds of pro- fessional brotherhood, linked together by habits of close association, accus- tomed to similar trains of thought and investigation, and holding in our mutual custody the honor of our class, the character and distinctions of each are the property to no small extent of all. And to each belongs the responsibilities of all. Are we not brothers? And when a brother de- scends to the tomb, shall not we rejoice in the good fortune of his life,- exult in the triumphs of his genius and learning, and emulate his virtues? Shall we not protect his fame and reputation, and watch around his grave as kindred guard the resting-place of their dead ? The lesson taught us in the death of these eminent gentlemen is, that the ways of wealth and honor and social life-indeed, all the paths of glory-lead but to the tomb.
In relation to Judge Dawson, allow me to say that I have known him from my childhood, and, on account of my long and intimate association with him, I feel at liberty to speak with some confidence. I can but speak with sensibility, for he was my friend. When quite a child I met him at my first school,-a school taught by Rev. Dr. Cumming, in Greene county. in the neighborhood where we were both born. He was then a youth of some seventeen or eighteen years of age, with the stature of a man. A few years in advance of me when I came to the bar, he was, for a young man, in the enjoyment of a handsome practice. Living in the same circuit with him, I was in the habit, for twelve years of my professional life, of attend- ing the same courts that he attended, and therefore saw a great deal of him. I was with him in the State Legislature and in the Congress of the United States. I saw hini occasionally on the bench and was not unfre- quently an inmate of his family. On the wayside, at village taverns, in the court, in legislative halls, among the people, in the highest circles of the Federal City, and under his own roof, surrounded with his family and friends, he was always cheerful, affable, genial, kind, and just. No one sympathized more promptly or more sincerely with the troubles or joys of others. His hand was always open to the claims of charity, and to publie objects he ever gave an early and effective support. Under all circum- stances he was a gentleman and an honest man. Is not that his highest eulogium? For what are talents, or riches, or honors, without those attri- butes which constitute the gentleman ? The occasion does not warrant any elaborate review of Judge Dawson's character as lawyer, citizen, states-
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man, master, husband, and parent. If it did, it would be no unpleasant or unprofitable task to undertake its elucidation. I cannot forbear, how- ever, to say that, amid all the agitations of his political life, such was his amiable and upright bearing that he never forfeited the respect of his adversaries, and very often, indeed, secured their warm personal regard. He was a patriot. He loved his country,-his whole country. He was a thorough-working, practical legislator. In my poor judgment, he gave as few bad votes, whilst in the Senate of the United States, as any member of that august body. He maintained as stringently and as wisely as any other man the rights of his section, and was at the same time eminently conservative, looking steadily to the interests of the whole Union. But I will not detain you longer. His body sleeps beneath the soil of his nativity. May his character be ever a living presence among us!
On motion of Judge Nisbet, seconded by Col. H. G. Lamar, a com mittee, consisting of Hon. E. A. Nisbet, Col. Henry G. Lamar, Hon. Lott Warren, Col. Hines Holt, and Washington Poe, Esq., was appointed to report to the court suitable resolutions on Monday morning next.
Monday morning, June 30, 1856.
The Hon. E. A. Nisbet, chairman of the committee, made the following report :-
The committee appointed to report upon the death of the Hon. WM. C. DAWSON beg leave to submit the following resolutions :-
Resolved, 1. That it is a matter of serious reflection as well as pro- found regret that within a few years so many of the leading minds and beautiful ornaments of the profession have been summoned to the grave. Charlton, Dougherty, Colquitt, Berrien, Miller, and others, with startling rapidity have followed each other from the scenes of earth to the realities of eternity. The places that knew them-the bar, the bench, the Senate, the walks of private life, and their own firesides-know them no more. Still they live in the record of their virtues, in the memory of affection and of friendship, and in the recognition of their genius and learning. They were the guiding lights of this bar; and it is a pride and a solace to know that, though dead, they yet speak. To this brilliant list of departed worthies it is now our painful duty to add the Hon. WILLIAM CROSBY DAWSON, who died at his residence in Greensboro, in the month of May last.
2. That whilst we rejoice that our brother died in the full vigor of his faculties, bodily and mental, before age had impaired his capacity either for enjoyment or for the duties of his high station, we mourn his departure at a time when those faculties gave promise of long usefulness to the State and the nation.
3. That we who knew him (and he was known to the bar and people of Georgia more generally as a familiar acquaintance than almost any man in the State) realize his removal from our social, political, and professional cireles as a personal bereavement. And many, very many, beyond the limits of our own State have heard the announcement of his death with the most poignant anguish ; for, to a greater extent than most men, he possessed the power of electing and securing the affection and esteem of all who had the good fortune of coming within the influence of his agree- able manuers and genial spirit. Political rivalry and party struggles had no power to cool his friends, or to heat his adversaries. Men differed with and opposed, but at the same time loved and respected him. VOL. 1 .- 20
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4. That we testify that with industry, integrity, and honor he performed the duties of a lawyer; that with impartiality and ability he administered the law ; that with fidelity and assiduity, with unconsciousness and effi- ciency, he executed the numerous public trusts to which he was called ; and that we respect and would emulate those qualities of head and heart which raised him from undistinguished and not very propitious beginnings to Senatorial, dignity, and there sustained him respectably among the greatest minds of the nation.
5. That he is chiefly to be admired for the amiable virtues of private life. His hand was ever open to the calls of charity ; his means were liberally appropriated to the necessities of his relations; his house was the scat of a frank, free, and profuse hospitality; and in his family he enforced and obeyed but one law, and that was the law of kindness.
6. That these multiplying memorials demonstrate the inevitable cer- tainty of death, and that neither wealth, nor honors, nor genius, nor learning, nor social position can for one moment postpone its advent, and that they impressively warn us also to be ready so that when called we may go in peace.
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