A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river, Part 26

Author: Lowry, Robert, 1830-1910; McCardle, William H
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Jackson, Miss. : R.H. Henry & Co.
Number of Pages: 674


USA > Mississippi > A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river > Part 26


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Armstrong, who left Nashville with him, Major Andrew J. Donaldson and General Thomas Hinds, to whom General Jackson had, prior to his leaving the Hermitage, written an urgent letter begging Hinds to join him at Natchez, and accompany him to New Orleans.


The people of Mississippi were aroused, and hastened to show all honor to their illustrious visitor. The people of Natchez, learning of the proposed visit of the ex-President to the capital of the State, had sent him an invitation to visit Natchez, and accept a public dinner on his voyage up the river, and this invitation had been accepted and the day appointed. When the steamer bearing the ex-President touched the landing, the entire population of the city seemed to be present, men, women and children, all anx- ious to render homage to the war-worn soldier. The com- mittee received the ex-President and placed him and his visiting friends in carriages, and accompanied him to the quarters provided for him at the Mercer House. The vol- unteer companies of the city furnished the military escort for the distinguished guest, and after his arrival at his quarters, the ex-President was welcomed in a very eloquent and appropriate speech by Colonel Adam L. Bingaman, a native of Adams county, a graduate of Harvard University, a soldier at the battle of New Orleans, and above all, a most eloquent and attractive speaker. The concluding words of the address of welcome to General Jackson were as follows, and must have touched the heart of the old chief deeply :


"Fortunate, fortunate old man ! Providence, kind alike to you and to us, has permitted you to enjoy, while living, that fame and glory which usually crowns the memories of the gallant benefactors of their country after honor has consigned them to the tomb. From you, still far, far dis- tant be that mournful day. Your deeds are among the most brilliant achievements on our national escutcheon. Your fame is of the treasures of the country. And when I look around me on the surrounding assemblage, glowing with admiration and enthusiasm on this happy occasion, I feel that I can with truth assure you that among us,


" The pedestal on which your greatness stands Is built of all our hearts and all our hands."


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" Welcome, then, thrice welcome, again and again wel- come, welcome to our shores."


At the conclusion of this address, the ex-President was conducted by the committee to the reception room of the distinguished and venerable guest, where he received the respectful salutations and homage of hundreds of ladies and gentlemen who were eager to do him honor. At a later hour, 3 o'clock p. m., a very large number of citizens partook of an elegant dinner tendered to the guests of the occasion, at which the mayor of the city presided, and in the evening the ex-President attended a ball, at which the beauty and chivalry of the city were present, and at a late hour the venerable chief returned to his boat and resumed his voyage to Vicksburg.


On arriving at the Vicksburg landing, the scene pre- sented at Natchez was repeated. The entire population of the town seemed to be present to welcome the old hero, and with the people came the civic authorities, with Mayor Miles C. Folkes at their head, who welcomed the illustrious visitor briefly, but in words of warmest good will and hos- pitality. The two crack military companies, the " Volun- unteers " and the "Southrons." who six years later made their mark at Monterey and Buena Vista, as a component portion of the famous First Mississippi regiment, were on hand, with gleaming bayonets, for escort duty. Having escorted the venerable chief to the elegant and commodious residence of the Hon. Wm. M. Gwin, where quarters for him had been prepared, a few hours later the house was thrown open for an elegant and elaborate reception in honor of the ex-President. To say that this reception was a brilliant success is not at all necessary to those who knew the genial and hospitable William M. Gwin or his accomplished wife. The beauty and fashion of the city was present in great force, and among the dashing cava- liers who were uttering soft nothings in the ears of their lovely partners, as they floated through the dance to the bewitching strains of entrancing music, were men who have since made their mark upon the times. The gray- haired grandmothers of the present day linger, with fond delight over the pleasures of that reception in honor of General Andrew Jackson, fifty-one years ago.


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The next move of the illustrious guest of the State, was to the capital, to which he was conducted by a large escort, both civil and military. On his arrival at Jackson he was met by an immense concourse of people from nearly every county in the State, and to an on-looker it seemed as if the entire population of Mississippi had been assembled to do honor to the hero of New Orleans, and to offer him the homage of their affectionate gratitude, bubbling fresh and warm from their hearts. No such outpouring of admira- tion and affection has been witnessed since that day. The throng of people filled every foot of available space from the railroad depot to the capitol, and the surging mass of humanity overflowed into the side streets. The ex-Presi- dent was greeted by an immense multitude of people whose shouts of welcome made the welkin ring. The cor- tege, headed by the grand marshal of the occasion, passed through a perfect sea of people, and made its way to the capitol, where the illustrious guest was received by Governor McNutt, after which he was conducted to the quarters provided for him at the Eagle Hotel.


Every one, including both ladies and gentlemen, called to offer their respectful homage on the day of the general recep- tion of the distinguished guest, and he was offered many touching testimonials of the gratitude of an entire people.


The Legislature in joint session received the honored guest. Governor McNutt and ex-Governor Runnels each entertained the ex-President, and a grand ball at the large theatre, which Jackson then boasted, was given in his honor. The ball was an immeasurable success, and the crowd in attendance was immense, but as the parquette of the theatre had been floored over, the space for dancing and promenading was ample, and no crush was apparent. Having been shown all honor by the people of Mississippi, General Jackson regretfully, returned to Vicksburg to re- sume his journey homeward. The old hero was well aware that when he left the State he would never again behold it, and having led the sons of Mississippi to battle and to victory many times, it is not unnatural that his final parting with the State and its people should have been tinged with sadness and regret.


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An amusing and humorous incident connected with the visit of General Jackson to the capital of Mississippi, is thus described by a looker on upon that memorable occa- sion.


The tenacity of memory of faces and things imputed to distinguished rulers of men, was possessed by General Jackson in a remarkable degree. This was tested in the case of an obscure man of Rankin county. Gilbert Simp- son was known by his neighbors as one who pretended to have seen much of the General in his Indian campaign.


He professed to have been one of the General's body guard, and to have been constantly about his person, and to have heard much of his talk. Especially did Gilbert recount an interview or parley between Jackson and the Indian Chief, Weatherford, which by his description must have resembled the talk of two bullies with their backers at a general military muster.


He related conversations between the General and him- self, "says the General to me, says he, Gilbert, etc., etc." It came about at last that these narratives became so mul- tiplied and extravagant that his neighbors discredited the whole, and they went so far as to say that Simpson had probably never seen General Jackson.


When the intended visit of the General to Jackson became known, it was resolved that Simpson should pre- sent himself to the General. Accordingly two or three gentlemen brought him over and conducted him into the great hall of the Eagle Hotel, where the General was receiv- ing the people. It had been contrived that no hint should be conveyed to General Jackson of the project. Simpson was led forward, and as he approached one of the party said, "General, do you know this man ?" Jackson gave a quick glance at Simpson, "Gilbert Simpson, as I live ! Why Gilbert, who would have thought it? So you have come to see your old General." It was the triumph of Simpson's life. After that he issued a new and greatly enlarged edi- tion of his reminiscences and expanded beyond the narrow sphere of his neighborhood. He attended all the great gatherings of the county, and if at any political meeting at which he was present any mention was made of the


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deeds and sayings of the hero of "Horeshoe, Talladega and New Orleans," he would cry out, "that's so." Indeed, he became quite an aggressive and overbearing man.


This writer regards Governor McNutt as one of the ablest men intellectually that the State has ever known. He often differed with that gentleman, but this did not make him blind to the genuine merits of the man. Alex. G. McNutt was "no orator as Brutus is," but he was forcible, logical and analytical in argument, while as a writer his pen gave evidence that he possessed a brilliant wit and a genuine sense of humor. That he was an incorruptible patriot is unquestionable, while his personal integrity was never doubted. His personal courage was frequently doubted, but that he possessed the highest moral courage admits of no question. For many years he had been in the habit of looking into the wine cup when it was red. but he determined to abandon all intoxicants, and from that day to the hour of his death, about five years later, nothing in the nature of intoxicating drinks ever passed his lips. Another intense evidence of his high moral cour- age, was his course on the question of repudiation. No one knew better than himself the stream of obloquy that his advocacy of that question would bring down upon him. Yet the storm, however wildly it raged, had no terrors for him. Conscious of his own rectitude he went forward on his course unmoved. On one occasion he was heard to declare that the only epitaph he desired were the simple words, "here lies Alexander G. McNutt, the repudiator." In 1847 he was defeated for a seat in the Senate of the United States by Henry S. Foote. The ex Governor was a democrat of the firmest faith, and he followed unfalteringly the expositions laid down by Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. He was personally amiable, genial, frank and generous.


In 1848 he was a candidate on the democratic electoral ticket for the State-at-large, and died rather suddenly, October 22d of that year, at Cockrum's Cross-Roads, in De Soto county, at the early age of forty six. He left a widow but he died childless.


CHAPTER XIV.


THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR TUCKER.


T TILGHMAN M. TUCKER, a native of North Carolina, was the ninth Governor of the State of Mississippi, and the fourth chosen by the people under the Constitution of 1832.


Mr. Tucker came to the State at an early period in its history, and located in Monroe county. He studied law and was regularly admitted to the bar, but upon the for- mation of Lowndes, which was taken from the territory originally comprised in Monroe county, he located himself at Columbus, the seat of justice of the new county. Here he continued the practice of his profession, and his law firm of Tucker and Butterworth, the latter a bright and educated gentleman from the State of New York, was for a num- ber of years constantly engaged in an extensive and lucra- tive practice. Mr. Tucker was regarded by his professional associates as a sound, industrious and painstaking lawyer. Not at all brilliant or showy, but with a strong sense of grim humor.


He was an amiable, kind-hearted man, loyal to his friends, and a gentleman of unquestioned honor and integ- rity. His genial character made him popular with the people, and for several years he represented Lowndes county in the State Senate, and always to the entire satis- faction of his constituents. He was serving as a Senator from Lowndes when nominated for Governor to supply the vacancy occasioned by the abandonment of the ticket as well as of the State, by Mr. Hanson Allsberry, who was his predecessor as the nominee of the Democratic party for the position of Governor. Mr. Tucker entered rather reluc- tantly upon the canvass, but after a very bitter and excit- ing contest he was elected over his Whig and bond-paying competitor, Judge David O. Shattuck.


The only memorable public event connected with the administration of Governor Tucker was the defalcation of


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Richard S. Graves, the Treasurer of the State, for a large sum of money for that day. Graves had been elected by the people at the general election which resulted in the choice of the anti-bond paying ticket in 1841.


The story of the defalcation and flight of the Treasurer may be briefly stated. In the autumn of 1842, Richard S. Graves received from Hon. Walter Forward, then Secretary of the Treasury Department of the United States, a draft on the Treasurer of the United States for the two and three per cent. fund due the State of Mississippi, amounting to $165,079. This draft was made payable in U. S. Treasury notes, at a future day with interest, and to Richard S. Graves, in his individual capacity, and not as State Treas- urer.


Of this amount, $144,214 was paid him October 6th, 1842. This large sum was received in the treasury with- out pay warrant or certificate from the Auditor of Public Accounts. This fact, however, did not come to the knowl- edge of Governor Tucker until the 5th day of January, 1843, when he was advised by a letter from Hon. Jacob Thompson that Graves had drawn the whole amount of the two per cent. fund, which constituted the greater part due the State by the general government. The letter of Mr. Thompson caused Governor Tucker to investigate the power of the Executive, by the laws of the State, over the State Treasurer, as well as the contents in the treasury. After a careful examination, Governor Tucker reached the conclusion, in which he was supported by the Attorney General and employed counsel, that the State Treasurer could only be removed by impeachment.


There was as that time no statute authorizing the Gov- ernor to suspend the State Treasurer, or to remove the funds from his custody. The investigation, however, led to the arrest of Graves, at the instance of the Governor, in March, 1843, charged with the offense of embezzlement. He was arraigned before Chief Justice Sharkey, of the High Court of Errors and Appeals, who presided over the committing court.


During the progress of the trial Graves was in the cus- tody of the sheriff of Hinds county, and under guard at


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his own residence, when Mrs. Graves appeared at the door of the room in which her husband was held a prisoner and requested to see him. She was granted the privilege, and in less than one hour a person supposed to be Mrs. Graves came out of the room and passed the guard going to her own apartments. The guard, after considerable time, hearing no noise, looked into the room, and saw, as they supposed, Graves in bed. A nearer approach to the sleeper developed the fact that the occupant of the bed was Mrs. Graves, and that it was the defaulting Treasurer who passed the guards dressed in his wife's apparel. The next heard from Graves he was in Canada, where his wife subsequently joined him.


Soon after his escape, Mrs. Graves requested an inter- view with Governor Tucker. When the Governor called she delivered to him $69,232.68 in Mississippi treasury warrants, $92,000 in United States treasury notes, and $2.749.68 in foreign gold.


On the 31st of March, 1843, Governor Tucker appointed Hon. Wm. Clarke, Treasurer of the State to fill the unex- pired term of R. S. Graves. When the newly appointed Treasurer had qualified and given hond, the Governor paid into the treasury the funds received by him from Mrs. Graves.


The defalcation of the State Treasurer, together with other reasons, induced the Governor to call a special session of the Legislature which assembled on July 10th, 1843.


On the second day after the convening of the Legisla- ture, Treasurer Clarke submitted a report showing the defalcation of his predecessor to be $44,838.46.


Graves' dishonesty, betrayal of friends and unfaithful- ness brought misery and suffering to many. He was still living four or five years ago.


Suit was brought and judgment was obtained against Elijah Graves, Thomas Hogg, William Perry, H. P. Barnes, Maybray Barfield, R. W. Graves, James Bond, John Middleton, Valentine Hamer and Edward Wil- liams, as sureties on the bond of R. S. Graves, for the sum of $51,865. The Legislature passed an act, approved


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the 3d day of March, 1848, which authorized the Gov- ernor and the Attorney-General to compromise with the sureties on such terms as they could effect.


Some seven or eight years after the passage of the act just referred to, authorizing a compromise with the sureties of the defaulting Treasurer, his wife appeared at Jackson during the session of the Legislature. Mrs. Graves made a pathetic and affecting appeal to the Legislature for an act of amnesty. She begged hard and piteously for per- mission for the return of her husband. She alleged that he was growing old, was in feeble health, and his only wish was to return to Mississippi to spend the remaining years of his life with the friends of his earlier and happier days, and when the summons came to him, as it must come to all, he desired to be buried in the soil of the State he had so wronged, and to be followed to the grave by the friends to whom he had been so faithless. She repre- sented him as being truly penitent for the wrong he had committed ; she alleged that his only hope this side of the grave was to return and spend the remainder of his days surrounded by the friends and the scenes of his early life. She represented him as a broken, care-worn, grief-laden old man, sorrowing over his past misdeeds, and with the ever-present, heart-sickening yearning for the home he had dishonored. The appeal of the wife for the dishon- ored husband touched the heart of every member of the Legislature, and though it was ably seconded by several influential journals of the day, the members of the Legis- lature deemed it their inflexible duty to deny her request.


With an additional load of sorrow benumbing her ener- gies and breaking her heart, this devoted wife, after spend- ing a few days at the home of her childhood, sadly and wearily returned to the frigid region where she had left her husband, an exile in the land of strangers. Mrs. Graves was the daughter of a reputable citizen of Carroll county, and her connections were most respectable. She doubt- less has realized, in the past forty-eight years of her life, the truth of the scriptural quotation, "the way of the trans- gressor is hard," and many a time and oft, the lines of Moore, while gazing at her gray-haired, feeble husband,


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have leaped into her woman's heart, if not uttered in spoken words :


"I know not, I ask not, if guilt's in thy heart,


I know that I love thee whatever thou art."


It is not known certainly whether Richard S. Graves, or his devoted wife, are yet in the land of the living. If so, Graves must be an old, white-haired man, bending under the weight of many winters ; and if Mrs. Graves is still a sojourner in this land of sorrow, it may be accepted as a verity, that "her step has lost its lightness," her eyes are now dim with years and tears, and the rosy hue of early youth on her cheeks has been succeeded by white hair and wrinkles.


The only other notable incident during the administra- tion of Governor Tucker was of a more pleasing character. When he was installed as Governor, the executive man- sion had just been completed and handsomely furnished, and Tilghman M. Tucker was the first occupant of that pleasant home provided by the people for the residence of their Chief Executive.


Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, a former Vice- President of the United States, a distinguished soldier, one of the heroes of the battle of the Thames, and the alleged slayer of the celebrated Indian warrior, the famous Chief Tecumseh, was a visitor to the capital of Mississip- pi. Thus a visitor, it became the duty and the pleasure of Governor Tucker to extend all hospitality and courtesy to a distinguished gentleman who had won honor on the field of battle, ard achieved civic distinction in the council- chamber of the nation. Governor Tucker promptly called on the ex-Vice President, and tendered him an invitation to dine at the Executive Mansion, at a day suiting the con- venience of the illustrious stranger. The invitation was accepted for a day fixed, and at the time appointed Col. Johnson sat down to a very elaborate and elegant din- ner at the Executive Mansion, where the Governor had invited the Judges of the High Court of Errors and Ap- peals, with sundry prominent gentlemen, to meet the old warrior and former Vice-President. It may well be con- ceived that the dining was a most pleasant one, and as


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the company separated, each of the guests felt grateful to the Governor for the opportunity of meeting and dining with the distinguished soldier from Kentucky.


Before he retired from the Executive office, the people elected Governor Tucker a Representative in the twenty- eighth Congress, where he served from some time in Janu- ary, 1844, to March, 1845.


This closed the political career of Tighlman M. Tucker, and he never held any official position after his retirement from Congress. He lived some fourteen years after he re- tired from public life, and maintained to the last the high reputation he had always enjoyed, that of being a kind. genial gentleman of unquestioned integrity. He died in Alabama, April 30, 1859. His descendants are quite nu- merous in the persons of his grand and great-grand chil- dren, all of whom are bearing honored names in the rec- ords of Mississippi history.


THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BROWN.


ALBERT GALLATIN BROWN, born in Chester District, South Carolina, May 31, 1813, and brought to the State when a mere boy by his father, Mr. Joseph Brown, who settled in the county of Copiah, was the tenth Governor of Missis- sippi, and the fifth chosen by the people under the Con- stitution of 1832. Young Albert Brown received an aca- demical education, and it is believed that, for a time, at least, he received instruction at Jefferson College, near the village of Washington, in Adams county, the first institu- tion of learning ever established in Mississippi. He entered the House of Representatives in the State Legislature be- fore he had reached the age of twenty-two, and in the next two years he was elected Speaker of the House. He con- tinued to serve as a Representative from that county until the close of the session of 1839, when he was nominated by the Democratic party as a candidate for Congress, the State then being entitled to only two Representatives. Af- ter a very thorough canvass among the people, Mr. Brown was elected by a handsome majority, as was his "running mate," Mr. Jacob Thompson.


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Mr. Brown served only one term in Congress, and at its termination, March 4th, 1841, declined a re-election, but instead became a candidate for Judge in his circuit. He was easily elected, and served for two years, when he was nominated by his party as a candidate for Governor. He was elected to this office, also, and in 1845 he was re-elected. In the first year of his second term the war with Mexico commenced, and as the first regiment of Mississippi was sent to Mexico during the administration of Governor Brown, and he had much to do with the assembling of that gallant regiment, it is deemed proper to embody the record made by that famous body of soldiers in a notice of his administration.


The war with Mexico commenced in the year 1846. Col- onel Zachary Taylor, recently brevetted to the rank of Brigadier-General for long, meritorious and faithful ser- vices, was at that period in command of all the United States troops on the Mexican frontier of Texas. The com- mand of General Taylor was insignificant in point of num- bers, but its officers constituted the elite of the army of the United States. The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma were fought in the month of May, 1846, the former on the 8th day of the month, and the latter a few days later. Both of these battles resulted in signal victories for the American arms.




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