USA > Georgia > The history of the State of Georgia from 1850 to 1881, embracing the three important epochs: the decade before the war of 1861-5; the war; the period of Reconstruction, v. 1 > Part 5
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
40
THE KNOW-NOTHING LEADERS.
going to south Georgia. General Toombs has talked to me often about this experience. He says that after two or three speeches Governor Brown was as fully equipped as if he had been in public for forty years, and he was amazed at the directness with which he would get to the hearts of the masses. He talked in simple style, using the homeliest phrases, but his words went home every time. There was a sympathy between the speaker and the people that not even the eloquence of Toombs could emphasize, or the matchless skill of Mr. Hill disturb. In Brown the people saw one of themselves-lifted above them by his superior ability, and his unerring sagacity-but talking to them con- mon sense in a sensible way. General Toombs soon saw that the new candidate was more than able to take care of himself, and left him to make his tour alone-impressed with the fact that a new element had been introduced into our politics and that a new leader had arisen."
The American or Know-Nothing party held a convention. Fifty-ser- en counties were represented. The gentlemen most prominently spoken of for the American nomination were Dr. H. V. M. Miller, Judge Robert Trippe, B. H. Hill, A. R. Wright of Augusta, General J. W. A. - Sanford, Judge Baxter, and Col. John Milledge, a right, brainy, elo- quent galaxy of men. Dr. Miller, though a physician, had won the soubriquet of the " Demosthenes of the Mountains " in his innumerable political encounters, for which he had the same passion that the Irishman is popularly believed to have for a "free fight." Deeply versed in con- stitutional law and political lore, a reasoner of rare power, and as fine an orator as we have ever had in Georgia, capable of burning declama- tion and closely-knit argument, he was the peer on the stump of any of the great political speakers of the last half century in Georgia. Unfor- tunately for him, he had two perilous peculiarities, a biting sarcasm that delighted in exhibition of its crushing power, and that spared neither friend nor foe, and a contemptuous and incurable disregard of party af- filiations. He never in his life worked in harmony with any party, or swallowed whole, any single party platform. And no man ever had more stubborn independence and self-assertion.
Ranse Wright, as he was called familiarly, was another brilliant per- . son, a strong impassioned speaker, with a high order of mind. He was at times too self-willed and combative. He could not temporize enough, often raising unnecessary antagonismns. But he was a very gifted man, a powerful writer, an effective orator, and a rare lawyer. He made the Augusta Chronicle a newspaper power. He was a long time disappointed in political preferment, but he finally received the promo- tion he so richly deserved, and was elected to Congress, but died soon after, just when long delayed gratification of his ambition was especially . dear to him, and his ripe maturity of mental gifts gave large promise of brilliant public usefulness. He was a very handsome man of the
-
41
BENJAMIN H. HILL NOMINATED.
blonde order. He was offered the Know-Nothing candidacy for Gov- ernor, but finally declined. Among the other leading Georgians who were members of this party, were, F. S. Bartow, Jas. Johnson, N. G. Foster, A. J. Miller, Wm. H. Crawford, Washington Poe, E. G. Caba- niss, James Milner, F. H. Cone, Jno. McPherson Berrien, C .- Peeples, C. A. L. Lamar, J. A. Billups, - Stapleton, E. A. Nisbet, Thomas Hardeman, and others.
The American Convention put out Mr. Benjamin H. Hill as its nom- inee. Mr. Hill in some respects is as wondrously endowed a public man as the state has ever known. Tall and of commanding presence, with a marvelously mobile face, he has never had a superior in oratory and pure mental power in the commonwealth. It falls to the lot of few men to have such magical potency of speech, such irresistible mastery of assembled masses of men. A mind clear as a sunbeam in its intel- lectual perceptions, operating with a grand simplicity and invincible strength, and a capacity of expression so fluent, so luminous, and so intense as to be perfect, form a brace of qualities that make the man a demi-god in brain and eloquence. But he has somehow lacked the steady purpose and cool judgment that belonged so richly to Governor Brown, and Mr. Hill has not been what could be called a successful polit- ical leader, though he has won valuable victories. A pyrotechnical poli- tician, he has had hosts of impassioned admirers, and generally an ardent minority following in the state. His superb abilities have won him office, in spite of defects that would have been fatal to a less gifted man. He is now in the Senate, where he has it in his grasp to achieve a great fame. His nomination by the Americans in 1857, created a sen- sation, and his party exulted in his certain triumph over his plain and unknown competitor.
The campaign became an earnest one. Judge Brown was greeted with a ratification meeting at Canton, his home, and made a strong, sensible speech, full of practicality. He referred modestly to his past career. He discussed the Kansas matter, condemning the course of Gov. Walker and upholding Mr. Buchanan. He touched upon State matters, foreshadowing his purpose to make the State road a paying enterprise-a purpose carried out with signal success. He promised to call around him safe counsel, and administer the State government for the best interest of the people. His letter of acceptance of the nomi- nation was brief, and a model of good taste and sound statesmanship. It was like the man, clear and wise, and it excellently typified his intel- ligence. Two parts deserve reproduction. Ile said:
42
THE CALICO BED-QUILT.
" The circumstances of my nomination preclude the idea that I have made any prom ises either express or implied ; and I shall neither make nor intimate any, to any one, as to the distribution of executive patronage in the event of my election. If your nomination voluntarily tendered, should be ratified by my fellow-citizens at the ballot box, I shall enter upon the discharge of the duties. of the important official trust which may be committed to me, perfectly free and independent of personal obligations. I shall exercise all power I shall have under the constitution and laws according to my best judgment, with an eye single to the promotion of the public interest, holding as I do, that those powers are granted for the sole purpose of upholding and advancing the rights and interest of the people."
The following paragraph is a remarkably fine one, and embodied in a nutshell the Democratic creed:
" The Union is the effect of the Constitution. We value it. We cherish the Con- stitution as its foundation, and because it provides the wisest plan of government for confederated States, and secures, if properly administered, the blessings of civil, relig- ious and political liberty to the people. With hearts of patriotism we are devoted both to the Constitution and to the Union."
The committee of notification were C. H. Williams, Geo. N. Phillips, E. D. Tracy, Wm. Phillips, Lawson Fields, W. Hope Hull, R. M. Johnston and Wm. Schley.
Much amusement was created and an infinite deal of fun was expended by the opposition press over the fact that the ladies of Cherokee Co. presented Judge Brown with a calico bed-quilt in honor of his nomina- tion. The Democratic press turned the matter effectively in Brown's favor. The incident took with the rural masses. Says the Milledge- ville Union, concluding a witty article on the subject:
" All we have to say is -- go ahead gals-give Joe Brown just as many calico bed- quilts as you please-it will be a compliment to the Mountain Boy, and save the state some hundreds beside. Hurrah for the girls of Cherokee, the plough-boy Judge and the calico bed-quilt."
The Cherokee girls and their calico bed-quilt became a slogan of vic- . tory for Brown.
Mr. Hill was notified of his nomination by a committee composed of Hines Holt, R. J. Morgan, and J. W. Jones. His letter of acceptance was confined almost to an elaborate discussion of the Walker-Kansas matter, and a rasping indictment of President Buchanan, and said very little on State matters, and that merely a general expression of opposi- tion to the Democracy.
The Georgia Democracy was divided upon the subject of Walker's inaugural in Kansas, and the resolution of the Democratic convention condenming Walker had created some spirited discussion in the Demo-
-
1
THE KNOW-NOTHING ISSUE. 43
cratic press. The Know-Nothings hoped to profit by this division. They very adroitly assaulted Walker, but held Buchanan responsible, and assailed him and the National Democracy.
The real issue of this gubernatorial race was a tapering continuation of the ephemeral but fiery Know-Nothing agitation. It was a stormful flurry while it lasted. The people of Georgia especially took the swift epidemic hard, and had a tumultuous paroxysm of it. Along in 1856 there were mammoth mass meetings running up into the tens of thou- sands. October 17th and 18th, 1856, there was a vast Democratic gath- ering in Atlanta, fully 15,000 people present. Thursday the 17th, John A. Calhoun, W. A. Wright of Newnan, George Hillyer of Walton county, and R. J. Moses of Columbus, spoke. And on Friday the 18th, Robert Toombs, Alex. H. Stephens, B. C. Yancy, Hiram Warner, Thos. P. Saffold and L. J. Gartrell made speeches. Col. James Gardner was chairman of the huge affair. A banner was given to Newton county as the one sending the largest delegation.
In October, Toombs spoke in Augusta against Know-Nothingism in a noisy tumult. Savannah had upon this inflammable question the hottest municipal struggle she had experienced in years. The Democrats nom- inated Dr. Jas. P. Screven ; and the American party Col. E. C. Ander- son-both representative citizens. Dr. Screven was a stern, slender, wealthy little gentleman, a most positive and influential leader. Col. Anderson was a large, genial, frank-mannered gentleman of a worthy and powerful family of the old and honored inhabitants of the place, a man of independence and brain. This fine old city was convulsed with this contest. It was a close race, the two mettled racers running nip and tuck. But the Democratic candidate came in on the home stretch with 1,101 votes against 911 for the Know-Nothings.
The Democratic mass meeting in Atlanta was followed by an equally huge convocation of the earnest Americans. This was October the 2nd, 1856. The lowest estimate of the number present was 12,000. Hilliard, Alford, Hill, Miller, Trippe, Wright and others spoke. At this meeting an ominous incident occurred. In raising a flag on a lofty pole, John McGehagan, a delegate from Morgan county, fell from the pole eighty feet to the ground and died in a few minutes.
In December, 1856, the Southern convention, called in the interest of Southern prosperity, met in Savannah. It had assembled in Richmond in February, 1856, and adjourned to meet in Savannah. Southern con- ventions were held at Macon, Augusta and Charleston in 1838 and 1839, Memphis in 1845 and 1849, Baltimore in 1852, New Orleans in 1851 and
-
44
BROWN AND HILL IN DISCUSSION.
1854, and in Charleston in 1855. Among the objects of these conven- tions were the valuable ones of enlarging Southern industries and diver- sifying Southern agriculture. Upon these industrial questions both parties were united, but upon the policy as to guarding Southern politi- cal rights the two were very widely apart, and the gubernatorial battle involved largely the national issue. The Georgia Know-Nothings were getting uneasy about their name, and showed some anxiety to get rid of this objectionable designation and establish their title as the American party. Linton Stephens, who was nominated in the seventh district, in his letter of acceptance made the most incisive and trenchant presenta- tion of the issues.
The discussion between Judge Brown and Mr. Hill began at Newnan. It would be difficult to conceive two more radically different men in mind and methods. Mr. Hill was and is a hard foeman to tackle on the stump. He is both showy and strong. He had brilliant repute as a political controversialist. Judge Brown was unshowy, conversational and unknown. Both were bold men. Hill was imprudent sometimes, Brown never. Brown was just the man to puncture imaginative rhet- oric. When the heat occasioned by Hill's entrancing declamation had passed off, Brown had the faculty to put the common sense of the situa- tion in a clear, direct, unanswerable way. Brown was cool, wary and ready-witted. In his first speeches alone he did not pass for his real worth. His conversational talks disappointed expectation. But he grew wonderfully. And discussion drew out his power. Hill made some inaccurate statements. Brown used these inaccuracies with tre- . mendous effect. Hill was magnificently mature. Brown improved with an accelerating rapidity every trial. It was with him a constant and marvelous development. Every discussion added to his controversial capacity. He never winced under a blow no matter how severe, and the harder he was hit the harder he struck back. Without humor he yet had a grim perception of incongruity that he put so plainly that it was like humor. The Democratic press crowed lustily over some of Brown's strokes at Hill. At Newnan, Brown said that the Federal government should act slowly. Hill replied that Buchanan was too slow a President for him, that he believed in a fast government, and he was afraid Brown would make too slow a Governor. Brown retorted very happily and tellingly upon his bright rival.
" It was true he was not a fast man. Mr. Hill was a Fast Young Man, he was a Fast Candidate, and if elected would doubtless make a Fast Governor. As for himself he was a slow man, and if elected would make a slow Governor. He liked Mr. Buchanan
45
THE CONGRESSIONAL CONTESTS.
for his slowness and prudence in deciding upon great questions affecting the people. Every President, holding in his grasp the destinies of a mighty nation like ours, should be cautious and slow to act."
The applause was lively over this palpable hit, and no little badinage was used at Hill as the "Fast Candidate," afterwards. At Columbus they met. Columbus is a very fastidious place, used to city manners and college graces. Mr. Hill therefore suited better the ideas of such an audience with his more showy declamation and impassioned utter- ances. Judge M. J. Crawford tells the good anecdote that while the Know-Nothing side was endeavoring to depreciate Brown for his plain ways and homely talking, Mr. Porter Ingram came to the rescue and turned the tables by saying earnestly that Brown was "d-d sound in his doctrine," unconsciously putting the invincible excellence of the man into the terse brevity of an axiom. The two candidates did not have many discussions. They each had their separate appointments, and there was a good deal of sparring about being afraid to meet the other. Judge Brown in all of his appointments invited Mr. Hill to be present. The result was a foregone conclusion before the election. The Ameri- can party only claimed that they would reduce the Democratic majority.
There were several exceedingly racy Congressional contests go- ing on that added considerable piquancy to the gubernatorial fight. The two Stephens brothers were both running for Congress and ยท both on the stump making effective speeches. Linton Stephens' oppo- nent was Joshua Hill, a gentleman of very superior ability. Hill's letter of acceptance was a model of political satire. He made a happy use of the Democratic predicament in condemning Walker but approv- ing Buchanan whose appointee Walker was. Linton Stephens and Joshua Hill were marked opposites, one vehement and intense, the other placid and plausible. In the First District, James L. Seward was the Democratic nominee against that most brilliant Savannah gentle- man, Francis S. Bartow. Seward was cool, adroit, managing. Bartow was eloquent, impulsive and wholly artless. The other Democratic candidates for Congressmen were, Martin J. Crawford, L. J. Gartrell, James Jackson, David J. Bailey, A. R. Wright of Rome.
A leading issue in the canvass was the sale of the State road, Mr. Hill being for its unconditional sale, and Brown advocating its dis- position only upon advantageous terms to the State. The road had been a source of expense to the State, and there was a good deal of desire that the State should dispose of it in some way.
The election resulted in the success of Judge Brown over his gifted
46
THE MAN FOR THE TIMES.
competitor by an increased Democratic majority over the majority in 1855. The mountain plow-boy Judge ran with a nimble pair of heels and came in over 10,000 votes ahead. Alex. Stephens beat T. W. Miller easily for Congress. Joshua Hill left out Linton Stephens by a close shave of 275 votes. Robert Trippe, the Know-Nothing, beat David J. Bailey by a small majority. James L. Seward whipped out both Gaulden and Bartow. L. J. Gartrell, A. R. Wright and James Jackson went in over Tidwell, Tatum and Simmons by large majorities. And a Legislature was elected overwhelmingly Democratic. It was certainly a crushing victory for the Democracy, and it buried Georgia Know- Nothingism forever out of sight. It was the practical end of that short-lived but animated political doxy. After this, with a few mild flickers, it disappeared out of Georgia politics. Graver issues .were rising, that involved something more than mere party success. The shadow of great events, drifting to an awful culmination, was darkening the country. Mightier matters than political changes were pending. The spirit of revolution, cruel and implacable, was surely preparing for its colossal work of rupture and upheaval. And amid the marked forces of that vast civil convulsion, was the young plow-boy of the Georgia mountains, the hero of the calico bed-quilt, slender, obscure and homely, who had just won in a gallant battle the glorious Governorship of his great State. Talk of Providence and romances ! Both were united in the philosophical chances of this pivotal election. The man for the times had come, iron-willed and fitted for revolutions.
CHAPTER VII.
BROWN'S ELECTION AS GOVERNOR THE PRECURSOR OF A STRIKING ERA OF CHANGE.
. The Drift to a Stately Regime Checked .- A Popular Revolution .- The Antithesis of Gov. Johnson and Gov. Brown .- The Aristocrat and the Man of the People .-- Brown's Inauguration .- His Appearance .- The Bank Suspension .- Brown's Decla- ration of War on the Banks .- The General Assembly of 1857 .- Its Personelle .- John E. Ward .- John W. H. Underwood .- Robert Toombs .- Joseph Henry Lump- kin .- Toombs the Genius of the Impending Revolution and its Providential Instru- ment .- An Analysis of the Great Slavery Issue Pending .- A Conflict between Legally Fortified Wrong and Unconstitutional Right.
THE inauguration of Gov. Joseph E. Brown stamped the beginning of a new era in Georgia. In the course of state progress and individ- ual advancement, families of talent, decision and wealth had become aristocratic and dominating. The cities had steadily grasped control- ling power, representing culture and accumulations of bank capital and corporate influence. In the executive administration there was a ten- dency to costly display and court entertainment, far removed from the Republican simplicity supposed to belong to our free institutions. Men of high family connections and polished manners had the best chances for public honors.
In this drift of things to a stately and aristocratic regime, the elec- tion of a simple man of the people like Gov. Brown, representing to the fullest extent popular customs and ideas, was a decisive check to this tendency. Coming direct from the country people, and the mountain country at that, symbolizing severe simplicity of life and utter absence of social display, Gov. Brown's elevation to the chief magistracy of our great and growing commonwealth was a shock to the dominant public men and their views and practices. It meant serious innovation upon existing customs. It meant a grave warfare upon powerful institutions and cherished influences. It betokened an important revolution in well-established prejudices. It foreshadowed a severe struggle between conflicting theories of both social and financial government. And it seemed as if fortune had hit upon the right agent to conduct such a contest-an agent embodying the ideas he championed-an agent, earnest, firm-nerved, with unerring, intuitive popular discernment.
4S
BROWN AND II. V. JOHNSON CONTRASTED.
The writer at that time was just about grown, had been closely famil- iar with administrations for several years previous, and was well situated to be impressed with the new regime. Gov. Johnson, who preceded Gov. Brown, was an aristocrat intellectually and socially. He did everything in a royal way. He had little popular tact, knew nothing of popular influences, and how to reach the masses. To strong intellect he added classic culture, and attached great value to courtly proprieties. He paid a large measure of deference to custom and social and intel- lectual authority. Gov. Brown was the opposite-socially a democrat; looking under the garb for the, throbbing heart and breathing humanity. He did everything simply and plainly, disliking display and averse to forms. He was full to the brim of popular ideas, had an almost infalli- ble popular tact, knew wisely every popular influence, and had the keenest power of reaching the masses of any public man we have ever had in Georgia. His powerful mind sought nothing from orna- ment, dealt in no rhetorical finish, and was disregardful of ceremony. He was free from any sentiment of reverence for custom or authority unless his judgment approved. He gave no homage to power, and never hesitated to tackle it boldly. Social influence and official prestige affected him not at all. And yet Gov. Brown was under the strong despotism of old-fashioned and primitive ideas of moral government. But for either social glitter or the glamour of official distinction, he cared nothing. Whether fighting banks, legislature, the press, or a Confederate administration, this simple, plain-mannered man of the masses took up the wager of battle with a cool confidence in himself, and an invincible, unyielding spirit that was something dramatic. He was certainly a native-born belligerent. Nature had endowed him with powers of intellectual combat that few men possess. He showed him- self at once a positive influence and a new and acknowledged success- ful leader on a large arena.
His inauguration, in 1857, is well remembered. He was thirty-six years of age. His figure was boyishly slender and fragile, but . very erect. His face was cleanly shaven, rather square-shaped and oblong, having no comely attractiveness about it, and yet a pleasant, placid countenance, with a mild expression in marked contrast with his iron temper and combative disposition. His mouth was wide and thin- lipped, something like Henry Clay's, though not so extensive, and to a close observer indicating in its set the firmness of the man. His eyes had a gentle expression that in his smiling moods threw some sunshine over an otherwise rather expressionless face. His forehead
-
49
GOV. BROWN'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
was very high and a good demonstration of the phrenological theory that the brain is symboled in the formation of the head. His hair was dark and lay close to his head and behind his cars, leaving a clear out- line of the pale, bloodless face. His composure was perfect, though his manners, while not easy, were not awkward. There was about the man the quiet, steady calm of conscious brain power and self-reliant man- hood, but none of the grace of the man of society. His country raising was distinct, and in his very clear and not at all musical voice there was the peculiar accent, long and tending to a rather drawling tone, with an emphasis on the concluding syllable of words that marks rural pronun- ciation. His use of the word judgment for instance, with a perceptible accent upon the syllable " ment," has given rise in connection with his wonderful possession of the golden quality of practical sense to the soubriquet of "old judgment," alike in recognition of his clear brain and his method of speaking. His garb was a plain black without attempt at fashionable fit, neat and simple. His very appearance and country marks but rendered him the more observable in his high pro- motion, and created a varied commentary upon him. His canvass had somewhat introduced him to the people, but he was still generally un- known. He was emphatically a new man, with his appearance unfavor- able in impressing upon strangers his genuine power, and giving no indication of his uncommon qualities of will and ability. Those who knew him well staked confidently upon his being equal to the new situa- tion of responsibility. Those who did not know him, and they were the overwhelming majority, underrated him wofully. And, supplementing the impression made by his appearance with the accident of his nomi- uation, they rated him low. Nor did his brief inaugural allow much room for display of power. Yet brief as it was, and purely formal as it generally is, Gov. Brown threw out in his quiet way and in a few deliberate words an utterance that fell like a bomb-shell upon the State, that occasione'd one of the toughest and most dramatic public battles of his career, and that gave a startled State a pretty fair example of the extraordinary mettle of this untried and youthful country Governor.
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.