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. 2 > Part 4
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This Ashburn matter constitutes one of the darkest episodes of that dark day. It left a more lasting and bitter legacy of hard feeling than any event of reconstruction. It wounded Gov. Brown more deeply than any other incident of his life, and has followed him with a crueler punishment, and yet if there is anything in human evidence, he was governed by a noble motive, he sought a worthy object and deserves honor for his conduct. The whole occurrence was tragic in the extreme -the gory murder, the wholesale arrest, the torture of the sweat boxes, the despotism of an armed court, the substitution of the bayo- net for the law, and the soldier for the judge, the perilous pendency of human life upon the caprice of the shoulder-strap, the bloody hunger of the clamorous mob at the north, the background of political strife seething with the unsettled passions of war, the resentful fears of an angry state-all were strong features of this throbbing picture. But of it all there was no part more striking than the long crucifixion of Gov. Brown, seemingly an instrument of unsparing hate, but really a champion of release and civil supremacy.
There could be no more marked demonstration of the ultimate power of truth than the change wrought in Col. R. J. Moses. He was of counsel for the prisoners. He even refused to practice in the Supreme Court while Gov. Brown was Chief Justice. Up to 1877 he had con- tinued to hold Gov. Brown in deep censure. But the light thrown upon him, tested in the judicial crucible of an unusually strong and well equipped legal intelligence, drove him to make public profert of his exoneration of Gov. Brown. And it loses none of its significance
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389
A MISCONCEPTION OF GOVERNOR BROWN.
because he rectified the honestly entertained misconception of years in Columbus, where the unabated condemnation of Gov. Brown frowned with all the terror wielded by a sincere and virtuous public opinion. It was an act of genuine courage on the part of Col. Moses. Many worthy citizens in that section still honestly hold Gov. Brown in blame in this connection. But the marvelous transformation wrought in the large majority of our best people upon this intense question is an earnest of that completed correction that is coming to him from the entire people of the State.
Another charge made against Gov. Brown at this time was a very serious accusation, but was so utterly incredible as to have gained no gen- eral lodgment in the public mind. It was believed and used to some extent, but people generally did not heed it. It was too flagrant for belief. In an address in Atlanta he was accused of stimulating the negroes to resort to the incendiaries' torch if need be in furtherance of their rights. These are the words used by Gov. Brown on that occasion, and which have been so injuriously construed.
" When in the history of the past, did you ever know four millions of people with the ballot in their hands, surrender it without bloodshed ? It cost revolution to give it to them, and nothing short of bloody revolution can take it from them. If you will allow them to exercise it without disturbances, they will do it peaceably. If there are any outbreaks and disturbances, they, I predict, will grow out of the attempts of the white race to deprive the colored race of this right, or to interfere with its free exercise. I warn you, my friends, to be cautious on both sides, how you put your lives in jeopardy and your homes and families in peril. And I especially warn my own race of the extreme danger to them in case of collision. The colored people have but little, except their lives to risk in the fight, if it should unfortunately come. The white race have the same risk, and in addition to this, they have their property to lose. Your houses, your villages, towns and cities are all pledged to peace. Be careful then how you excite discord and bloodshed."
It will be seen from a critical and dispassionate examination, how this language in a rancorous time could be distorted into a perversion of its meaning, and yet there be no real ground for the damaging construc- tion that was put upon it. In cooler moments of judgment, the speaker's purpose is unmistakably clear of making an argument against any vio- lent attempt to disturb negro suffrage after it had been legally estab- lished and practically exercised. The words, instead of being an incitement to trouble, was a very decided admonition against it.
In July, 1868, two important bodies convened in Atlanta, the State Democratic convention and the new General Assembly. The convention met on the 23d, to choose Seymour and Blair electors. Judge Augustus Reese was made president of the body, and the vice-presidents were
390
THIE GREAT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OF 1868.
Dr. R. D. Arnold, Gen. A. H. Colquitt, L. H. Featherston, John J. Floyd, B. T. Harris, Col. S. J. Smith, and C. D. McCutchen. The gathering was an unexampled one in Georgia political annals. There were 1,009 delegates from 108 counties, and nearly every leading man in Georgia was present. There has never been a more heated time in our State politics, and the fervor was universal. It was a solid assemblage of the leaders of public opinion in the commonwealth, with one conspicuous exception, and that exception the most potential one of all, ex-Gov. Joseph E. Brown, who stood single handed in the most unsparing public conflict of the century. Public passion has never been intenser or stormed higher, and it beat pitilessly upon Joe Brown. The convention ratified the nomination of Seymour and Blair, adopted the Democratic platform, declaring the amendments revolutionary, unconstitutional and void, and put out an electoral ticket composed as follows:
At Large .- John B. Gordon, John T. Clarke.
Alternates .- William T. Wofford, Thomas M. Norwood.
District .- J. C. Nichols, C. T. Goode, R. J. Moses, A. O. Bacon, J. B. Cumming, H. P. Bell, J. D. Waddell.
Alternates .- J. H. Hunter, William O. Fleming, W. O. Tuggle, Dr. H. Wimberly, Gen. D. M. Du Bose, G. McMillan.
Many of these were new men. So many of the older politicians were disfranchised that a selection of new material was unavoidable. Gen. J. B. Gordon had been our most famous Georgia soldier, and adding, as he did, the sweet graces of a Christian character to the glittering eclat of the successful general, he became the idol of the people. A hand- some, noble looking person, with a soldier's carriage and air, a face full of genial chivalry like his soul, a brave, capable, royal gentleman, Gordon was, and is to-day, as fine a specimen of the typical Southerner as we have ever had in the South. The man has absolutely rioted in popularity. He became United States Senator under extraordinary circumstances of personal triumph.
· · Judge John T. Clarke owed his selection as elector to his having been removed as Judge by Gen. Pope. The choice illustrates the fervent temper of the people about reconstruction, and the spirit of resistance to military tyranny that prevailed. Judge Clarke is one of the readiest and most accomplished lawyers and debaters in the State, possessing singular power of thinking upon his feet. He was a member of the last State Senate. Col. J. C. Nichols has served a term in Congress. Col. C. T. Goode is now dead. He enjoyed the name of the "Silver Tongued Orator." Maj. A. O. Bacon has become a very prominent
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391
THE BUSH ARBOR MASS MEETING OF 1868.
public man, and has a bright promise before him. A lawyer of uncom- mon ability, he has developed an unusual capacity for public life. His appearance is very marked-a tall, shapely person, with a fine head and face, and a long flowing blonde beard, Maj. Bacon is a noticeable indi- vidual anywhere. Repeatedly elected Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, no one has ever enjoyed a higher reputation as a presiding officer. His popularity in the deliberative bodies, over which he has so gracefully reigned, has been something exceptional. All of his public addresses and documents are finished, logical and full of thought. A recent letter of his in the American newspaper on the political situation was the finest and most philosophical discussion of public issues of the many published by that journal. The lack of Maj. Bacon is warmth; and his defect, a tendency to exclusiveness and reserve, that, in a measure, has cut him from the masses. An infusion of popular sym- pathy into his very rare intellectuality will come to him and will add materially to his political equipment.
Maj. J. B. Cumming, a brother of the gifted Julian Cumming, to whom allusion has been made heretofore, is a stately Spanish-looking gentleman, whose gifts of manner and speech are very attractive. He was a member of the last State Senate and one of the leaders of that body. Gen. D. M. Du Bose, a son-in-law of Gen. Toombs, was an efficient member of Congress several years ago. Col. J. D. Waddell is a brilliant writer and speaker, and the author of a delightful book about Linton Stephens. William O. Fleming is now judge of the Albany circuit, and a jurist of ability. Col. W. O. Tuggle has made himself famous by his masterly prosecution of Georgia claims before the Congress at Washington. A gentleman of fine social qualities, an unusual capacity for handling statistics, and unbounded energy, Col. Tuggle will be a useful public man, if he cares to enter politics.
The assembling of the convention was made the occasion of the largest political mass meeting ever held in Georgia. Dr. J. F. Alexan- der was the chairman of the Fulton county Democratic executive com- mittee, and he exhibited a wonderful management in the creation and handling of this monster affair. An immense BUSH ARBOR was con- structed down in an open space on Alabama street, near the depot, since built up. The fiery addresses made on this occasion received their distinctive designation as the "Bush Arbor speeches." There was an immense torchlight procession. People flocked to this gathering from all parts of the State. The four orators of the day were Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, Benjamin H. Hill, and Raphael J. Moses, a rare and
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THE FIERCE INVECTIVE OF THE BUSHI ARBOR GATHERING.
unequaled quartette of popular speakers. Perhaps there never has been, in the annals of eloquence, a grander display of red-hot invective than was given in these memorable Bush Arbor orations. It was a sweltering day in July. The uncomfortable plank seats were packed. A pall of stilling dust hung over the massed throng and the swarming city. But for five mortal hours of unspeakable discomfort, the solid mass of people, with fully one-third of it ladies, sat unmindful of the discomfort, hanging eagerly upon the torrid utterances of the speakers. The enthusiasm, at times, was overwhelming. Every note of denun- ciation of reconstruction and reconstructionists, was greeted with deaf- ening applause. The pelting given Gov. Brown, was simply savage. There was no qualification in the abuse heaped upon him. When passion subsides, its fierce words, in the light of cool sense, read like extravagant lunacy. The rancorous phrases of these undeniable states- men on that mid-summer day in 1868, conned over in the calm reason of this far distant time, excite wonder at their ferocious exaggeration. Said Gen. Cobb:
"Oh Heaven ! for some blasting word that I might write infamy upon the foreheads of such men !"
Said Mr. Hill:
" Oh! Give over the miscreants to the inextinguishable hell of their own conscious- ness of infamy .. . Ye miserable spawns of political accidency, hatched by the putrid growth of revolutionary corruption into an ephemeral existence-renegades from every law of God, and violators of every right of man-ye unnameable creatures !"
Such were the hard terms born of the fury of the era that were put upon men who are to-day solid in public esteem. There is a grim les- son in it all. Tempests of human passion, like storms of the elements, make cruel work while they last. But through their craziest fury, the great Providence of God is steadily reigning and the sun of truth pre- serving its serene and omnipotent immutability. There were many vile men engaged in the crusade of reconstruction, who merited the worst of this crimination. But there were true citizens who, under patriotic duty, urged submission to the choice of evils, who were terribly bat- tered in the unrelenting strifes of that mad epoch, and who have lived to see the reaction that always comes in favor of right-purposed men. Gen. Cobb, in conversation with the writer, at the rooms of the Young Men's Democratic Club, the afternoon after the speaking, alluded to his own severe invective and declared with a grave frankness that he feared that the denunciation had been unwise.
The very savagery of that day grew out of the natural and honor-
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393
THE EXCESS OF VIRTUOUS PUBLIC INDIGNATION.
able rebellion of a virtuous people's best impulses against indig- nity and wrong. The very excesses of spirit of a good community in resentment of oppression, are the best evidence of the possession of those qualities of chivalric manhood and sensibility to injustice, with- out which there can be no great national character. And the sen- timental martyrdom of intractable zealots, violating the teachings of policy, has demonstrated the exalted heroism of human nature and laid the groundwork for the ultimate triumph of truth and right. The South resisted Reconstruction under a noble inspiration. The men whom she crucified in that day in her splendid fury, can find vindica- tion the more valuable from that fact.
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CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE FAMOUS LEGISLATIVE EXPURGATION OF THE BLACKS.
The Racy Legislature of 1868 .- A Parody upon Legislation .- Its Personelle .- I. E. Shumate .- The Speakership .- Gen. Meade's Orders .- Mr. Chairman Bullock,- Dunlap Scott .- B. Conley .- R. Me Whorter .- J. E. Bryant .- Eligibility .- Bullock's Inauguration .- " Go it, Niggers !"-Message .- Gov. Bullock's Administration .- Gov. Brown's Defeat for U. S. Senator .- Ferocity of Public Passion .- A Wild Scene .- The Culmination of Gov. Brown's Unpopularity .- Atlanta Jubilation .- The State Stirred .- Joshua Hill Elected Senator .- The Fanny Martin Slander .- The State Reconstructed .- Rufus E. Lester .- Sam Bard .- Ineligibility of Colored Members .- Hatred and Picturesque Discussion .- Bullock's Tart Message .- Rebuke of Gov. Bullock .- Bullock's Opportunity .- The Colored Members Ousted .- J. R. Saussy .- John Jones .- The Camilla Riot .- An Exciting Episode .- The Colored Convention .- Marion Bethune .- The Curious Effect of Democratic Opposition to Reconstruction.
THE Legislature assembled on the 4th day of July, 1868. The con- vening of this General Assembly was an important event in Georgia history, and its deliberations and acts were a symbolical epitome of the variegated Reconstruction that sired it. It was a strange blending of farce and melodrama. It was bizarre in the extreme, affording such an admixture of light and shade as few legislative bodies ever exhibited. There is nothing like it in the annals of Georgia. It swept out com- pletely men's customary notions of legislative conduct. It was at times the most roaring comedy of a day rich in the comical and the incongru- ous. It was again so tragical that it almost engendered revolution. Its elements were varied and racy. Its membership was attractively picturesque. It was an exquisite parody upon ordinary legislation, and a faithful photograph of the most novel episode of Georgia history. The chronicles of this legislature would make a volume of its own. There was in it a good sprinkling of very fine material.
The Senate showed such sterling spirits as C. B. Wootten, B. B. Hinton, E. D. Graham, A. D. Nunnally, M. A. Candler, W. T. Winn, A. W. Holcombe, C. J. Wellborn, J. T. Burns and J. C. Fain. Mr. Candler we have spoken of before. A. W. Holcombe was in the last Senate, and a public man of force. Col. C. J. Wellborn has long been
395
THE LEGISLATURE OF 1868.
a power in North-eastern Georgia; a gentleman of clear judgment and large influence, and now Judge of the North-eastern Circuit. Col. J. C. Fain has been continuously in public life, and is now Judge of the Cherokee Circuit, and a person of exceptional powers of political management.
In the House were some marked men: W. D. Anderson, J. C. Nisbet, R. W. Phillips, M. Rawls, Dunlap Scott, M. Ballenger, C. C. Duncan, W. P. Price, W. M. Butt, J. J. McArthur, W. M. Tumlin, J. A. Cobb, F. M. Harper, R. W. Flournoy and I. E. Shumate. Of these, Mr. Shumate of Whitfield was the most brilliant. A slender, dark-eyed, heavy-whiskered gentleman, with a clear, sweet, ringing voice of unusual compass, and a fluent flow of vivid language, he was then, and is to-day, a most charming orator, with few equals in the State. He became instantly a leader in the body, and was placed at the head of one of the most important committees, that on the "State of the Republic." M. Rawls went to Congress afterwards. W. P. Price became an efficient representative in Congress, and is now a member of the Legislature. He has been a very useful man to his section, being the main instrument in the establishment of the fine Agricultural College at Dalohnega. Mr. Tumlin has been an adventurous figure in Georgia politics, audacious and generally successful. A very active personality, for a long time, in the public strifes of that day was Col. Dunlap Scott, who held for years a rattling sort of leadership by his boldness.
The Senate stood twenty-six Republicans to eighteen Democrats, and elected Hon. Benjamin Conley, President. The complexion of the House was in doubt. Hon. W. P. Price and Hon. R. L. Mc Whorter ran for Speaker. The vote was taken. Mr. Price had stepped out and on returning was informed that Mr. Mc Whorter had voted for him, and he reciprocated the courtesy by voting for Mr. McWhorter. The vote stood then seventy-six for Mc Whorter, seventy-four for Price, and one for Holden .. Mr. Price, upon information that he had been deceived, and that Mr. Mcwhorter had not voted for him, asked permission to change his vote. The Atlanta Intelligencer says the permission was granted and the vote stood a tie. The Journal of the House states that the permission was refused. Both concur in the statement that Mr. Mc Whorter was declared the Speaker elect. Mr. Mark Hardin, a Democrat, was elected clerk.
The Constitution made by the Convention had been submitted to Congress for revision. Congress had approved the Constitution except two features, one giving relief from suits on claims except for slaves
396
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE OF 1868.
made before June 15, 1865, and the other to force settlement of such claims by the imposition of a tax not exceeding twenty-five per cent. after the 1st January, 1868. Congress passed an Act allowing Georgia representation in Congress when she should ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and give assent to the nullification of the relief clauses. Gen. Meade issued his order declaring who were elected to the legisla- ture, and also an order to Gov. Bullock to effect "such preliminary organization of both Houses of the legislature as will enable the same to enter upon the discharge of the duties assigned them by law." Gov. Bullock had already notified the body to convene on the 4th of July. The organization, in the language of the journals, was made by the " Governor elect as Chairman," Gen. Meade, Judge Erskine and J. R. Parrott aiding. Dunlap Scott began that system of badgering that made him so noted. He moved an adjournment in honor of the day, " that we should not desecrate it by wrangling over an organization." The "Chairman " refused to entertain any motion. Scott appealed to the House from the decision. Bullock said there was no appeal but to the military. Scott then appealed to the military. Bullock con- sulted with Gen. Meade and refused still to entertain the motion, and immediately after walked down the aisle and apologized for not putting the motion, as he was acting under military orders that he could not disobey.
Both Mr. Conley and Mr. McWhorter have been bitter Republican partisans, and enjoyed a large share of public odium for many years on account of their course. Both are men of personal integrity, while Mr. McWhorter had and stiff has strong local influence. "Both stand well now as citizens. Among the prominent Republicans in the body were, H. M. Turner, J. W. Adkins, Ephraim Tweedy, J. E. Bryant, A. A. Brad- ley, Tunis G. Campbell, F. O. Welch, T. J. Speer, and Jos. Adkins. Bradley and Campbell were colored men, and vicious ones. There were . twenty-eight negroes in the body. The most picturesque figure on the Republican side, perhaps, was J. E. Bryant. IIe has been an unexam- pled manipulator of the black element for years, until in 1880 he was completely unhorsed. He has played a highly-colored part in all of the shifting episodes of reconstruction. No man has ever joined to the deftest pen and glibbest tongue in presenting the humanitarian aspects of reconstruction, a keener clutch of the more practical instrumentalities that govern the untutored colored intelligence. He has been both a subtle and a bold leader of the dark element of suffrage.
The Assembly was engaged until the 22d of July in testing the eligi-
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GOVERNOR BULLOCK'S INAUGURATION.
bility of members under the Fourteenth Amendment. There were ma- jority and minority reports and much spicy sparring over the matter. Mr. Shumate made much reputation by his able report and brilliant speech, taking and maintaining successfully the ground that all of the members were eligible. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified and assent given to the congressional elimination of relief from our State Constitution, and on Wednesday, the 22nd day of July, 1868, Gov. Bullock was inaugurated, Gen. Meade and Staff attending, as the Executive of Georgia. The inaugural address was a short one, in which the main point was an encomium upon "that patriotic body-the Union Republican party." Mr. Conley declared Bullock Governor for four years. The Intelligencer, describing the scene, says:
" Some slight applause hailed the announcement, after which a voice from the end of the chamber was heard to rise high above everything else with the exclamation, 'Go it Niggers !' This expression created a great sensation."
The incident illustrates the embittered satirical feeling of the people. It looked as if rehabilitation had indeed come, but the manner and instru- ments of its coming were so repulsive that the public gazed on in sullen dissatisfaction, and reverted with a grim irony to the deposed Jenkins in exile with his family in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Gov. Bullock's message was a plain business document. The body proceeded regularly to business. Perhaps the most exciting episode of the session was the election of United States Senators. Gov. Brown had been urged by influential men out of the State in addition to many in it to run for the Senate, on the ground that owing to his peculiar attitude he could do the State more good than any other individual in the commonwealth. While unflinching in his adhesion to his unpop- ular course, he felt keenly the odium that his former friends and admirers were placing upon him. In a position of such power as he would have had in the United States Senate, he could have served Georgia so beneficially, that the people would have recognized his patriotic devotion to her interest, and the purity of his inspiration in that remarkable reconstruction drama. The writer has always deemed the act of allowing his name to be used for office in that day by Gov. Brown as the cardinal mistake of his course. It gave to his policy the aspect of interest. It lowered him from the high vantage ground he really held, and for which he would have soon gained full credit in the public mind. Sternly rejecting office, the argument for his disinterest- edness would have been irresistible. Accepting office, he carried for long years a heavy burden of misconception. He really did not wish
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398 GOV. BROWN DEFEATED FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
place. He was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for twelve years, yet soon laid it down. He did himself the injustice of seeming to profit by his course, when he genuinely sought the public good. He would have been far earlier in winning the public recognition of his purposes, had he have wisely declined position.
The election took place on the 28th and 29th of July, and was an occasion of unparalleled excitement. The Democratic object was to defeat Gov. Brown at any cost. The general white element of the State had focalized an appalling intensity of detestation upon his head. Almost the single, strong old leader prop of Republicanism in the State, the popular abhorrence of reconstruction was concentrated upon him. Gov. Brown in that fierce day was the focus of a people's hatred. The savageness of the obloquy burning upon him is incapable of description. He was the vicarious recipient of the unsparing wrath of a great com- monwealth. They would have shriveled him to ashes if they could have done so, in the pitiless intensity of their anger. It was a strange ferocity of passion, and constitutes the most remarkable experience in Gov. Brown's varied life. Few men could stand such an experience. It is equally extraordinary that it should be lived down.
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