USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. I > Part 29
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"Sacred to the memory of the Hon. Geo. Bryan Eckhard, who was born in this city, September 22d, 1794; died Feb- ruary 18th, 1845, in the fifty-first year of his age.
"As a citizen, he evidenced a devoted attachment to the best interests of his country, discharged with great fidelity the duties of many responsible offices entrusted to him by the confidence of the public, and at the time of his death was Recorder of Charleston and Judge of the City Court.
" He was a man of unsullied integrity; as a friend, sincere and faithful; as a brother and son, devoted and affectionate. A believer in the Christian faith, he was consoled by its promises, and died supported by its consolations.
" This monument is erected by his aged mother and affec- tionate sister.".
On the tombstone of John Jacob Eckhard, Esq., father of the Hon. Geo. B. Eckhard, is found the following:
"This marble marks the spot containing the remains of John Jacob Eckhard. He was born in Eschwege, in Hesse Cassel, and arrived in Charleston in 1786. He was for twenty-four years organist of the German Lutheran church in this city, and afterwards, up to the time of his death, offi- ciated as such for St. Michael's. He discharged the duties of treasurer to the German Friendly Society, for nearly thirty- three years, with unexampled fidelity. In every department of life he was conspicuous for a rigid adherence to every principle of honor and integrity, 'walking humbly before his God,' and being just and charitable to all mankind. He died on the 10th of November, 1833, in the seventy-sixth year of his age."
"The Hon. Geo. B. Eckhard was elected City Attorney on the 12th of July, 1836, having succeeded Judge Axson."
Council Journal, No. 21.
"Elected City Recorder, March 25th, 1844."
City Ordinances.
22
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JACOB AXSON.
Recorder Jacob Axson was born in the City of Charleston on the 27th of June, 1794. He lost his father when young. His paternal uncle took charge of him, and, as far as he could, supplied a father's place. His education was committed to the care of the Rev. Dr. Felix Gallagher, whose reputation as a teacher is even yet well known. Young Axson never had the benefit of a collegiate education. His pecuniary resources were very slender : he was thus forced to rely upon himself.
He studied law, and was admitted to the Bar on the 3d of May, 1817. He immediately commenced the practice, and, like one of the old French Marshals, who, when a foot sol- dier, determined to be a Marshal, Axson determined to suc- ceed as a lawyer, and he did succeed.
Mr. Axson, when young, was called to the command of a military corps, and his friend, Wm. H. Inglesby, Esq., says, " that so thoroughly had he, through the inherent force of his character, gained the affections of his men and their confi- dence, that, had occasion offered, his presence and words would have made his men, without stopping, do all that brave men and faithful soldiers could be expected to do."
He was a Member of the House of Representatives, possibly from 1824-in 1826 I know he was a member. His fine tem- per and social manners made him a favorite with every one. I have good reason to know he was an excellent member : for, as Speaker, in 1826, I made him the Chairman of the Com- mittee of Claims. He continued a member of the House for many years.
He was a member of the City Council. On the 16th of October, 1826, he was elected City Attorney, and continued in that office until he was elected Recorder-for, in February, 1831, and March, 1832, he was acting as City Attorney, as appears in the cases of the City Council vs. Patterson, 1 Bail, 165, and the State Bank et al vs. the City Council, 3 Bail, 393. In 1832, on the vacation by Mr. Legare of the office of Attor-
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ney General, Mr. Axson was a candidate, and very probably would have been elected had it not been for the excited state of party feeling. He was a prominent Nullifier, and in some way had so offended a prominent and worthy Union man, that he threw the whole weight of his influence against him, and in favor of one who was an ultra-Nullifier then and has been an ultra Secessionist since.
It is due to Mr. Axson's memory, as a lawyer, that I should say, from '32 to '36, I was constantly in the habit of hearing him. It seemed to me he always argued his cases with great fairness and ability. His arguments were generally short, but clear as crystal. His perfect good humor and love of truth made him a great favorite with the Bench.
He was elected Recorder of the City immediately after the death of Judge Prioleau, on the 2d of July, 1836, and contin- ued in the faithful and laborious discharge of its duties until 1842, when he was struck down by paralysis. In December following, the Legislature, by an Act, (11 Stat., 238,) author- ized the City Council to elect an Assistant Recorder, provided " that he should be allowed to plead and practice law, and that he should not receive any compensation." This unpaid office the Hon. Mitchell King accepted, and discharged its duties, leaving to Judge Axson and his family the receipt of his salary. This most generous act on the part of Judge King soothed the last days of a declining and finally a dying man. Such merciful charity ought not to be forgotten, here, and I am sure will not be, in that everlasting world to which we are all hastening.
Judge Axson died 25th August, 1843, leaving a large fam- ily of orphan children.
He had married early in life. "His wife, to whom he was most fondly attached-and" as his friend Inglesby remarks, " well he might be, for her loving and loveable character fully entitled her to his whole heart-was called away from this earthly abode before his summons came; and he was left in charge of this large and motherless family of children, among whom were several of very tender years." "So deeply did he feel his responsibility, that he withdrew himself entirely
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from the society which he so much loved, and devoted him- self entirely to his professional duties, and to a ceaseless care, of his little ones. Elastic, and buoyant, and hopeful, as was his natural temperament, he never got over the loss of his wife ; it preyed upon him, and like a canker that corrodes and destroys the body, so this affliction gradually consumed him until a paralysis ensued, and this finished the work of de- struction."
Judge Axson, though not a member, was, from my first acquaintance, an attendant on the worship in the First Bap- tist Church of Charleston ; and Dr. Curtis-the venerable and excellent minister of the Cross, who lately so unfortunately perished in the burning of the steamer North Carolina-in his funeral discourse on 26th of August, 1843, when speaking of his intercourse with him, during his last illness, said : “ He struck me as possessing, on the whole, at that time, a particu- larly grateful and humble mind. Its best features throughout were a penitent and earnest desire to be fully reconciled to the will of God, and to enjoy that perfect peace with him, by the faith of the Gospel, which he confessed he needed. He practiced private prayer; spoke of looking to the Cross of Christ, with occasional peace; exhibited steadily that im- ploring and thirsty state of mind for religious comfort- which God, as I believe, sooner or later ever gratifies-and became, as on these grounds, I trust, though a feeble, yet a sincere believer."
Thus have I sketched, as well as the memoranda before me enabled me to do, the life of Jacob Axson. He was a much loved friend in one service of the State-as Representative. His good-humored facetiousness and perfect honesty made me there, as well as everywhere else, " a friend, who sticketh closer than a brother."
Our subsequent official stations were such as seldom brought us together. Yet shortly before his death, in company with a common friend, I visited him at his own house, and mourned over the desolation within and around him. The sketch now made may save his name from being forgotten. If so, I shall be much gratified. Would that he had some one-and it may
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be he has-to whom I could say, in the language of the in- spired Psalmist, the King of Israel, " Be strong and of good courage ; dread not, and be not dismayed ;" and then I would add show thyself worthy of thy father, and like him thou wilt be useful and honored !
The subjoined extracts from the Mercury, Southern Pat- riot and Courier, will show the sense of the Bench, Bar, City Council of Charleston, and the community, of the great worth of Judge Axson, and their sympathy with his doubly orphan children :
[Charleston Mercury, August 25th, 1843.] DEATH OF JUDGE AXSON.
" The Hon. Jacob Axson, Judge of the City Court, died this morning after a lingering illness of some months. The de- ceased, in all his public and private relations, was a model of a good citizen and virtuous man. As he had passed through life without a blemish on his name, so has he won love and admiration by his amiable deportment and courteous man- ners. The city has lost a valuable magistrate, the regret for his loss being accompanied by deep and sincere sympathy for his protracted sufferings.
" In the Court of Equity, assembled this morning for a special occasion, Chancellor Dunkin, on motion of Judge King, after some feeling remarks of that gentleman, announc- ing the death of Judge Axson, adjourned the Court until Monday, as a mark of respect to the memory of the de- ceased."
At a meeting of Council it was, on motion of Alderman Inglesby,
" Resolved, That Council accept the invitation to attend the funeral of the late Hon. Jacob Axson, and that the city officers be invited to attend.
" August 25th, 1843."
[Southern Patriot, August 30th, 1843.]
"PROCEEDINGS OF COUNCIL.
"Tuesday, August 29th, 1843.
"Present-The Mayor, Aldermen Ripley, Inglesby, Hun-
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ter, McDonald, Furman, Stocker, Simons, Kinloch, Hopkins, and Buist."
Alderman Inglesby presented the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :
" To say that Judge Axson, as Recorder of the City, was a valuable public officer, that as a Judge he had a clear, dis- criminating, practical mind, that he had legal acquirements, that he was diligent, just and impartial, would not be saying enough ; he had concentrated upon himself the confidence and affection of a whole community, and not through the qualities we have just enumerated. Independently of his un- blemished character-and we are not aware of a single spot upon his fair fame-of his frankness and manliness of man- ners-and this was his in an eminent degree-his peculiar characteristic was kindness of feeling. He delighted in the conciliatory and social qualities of our nature. There was something in his manner that endeared him to all : he had a kind word for every one. During a period of embittered po- litical excitement, although his opinions were always ex- pressed with the utmost frankness-and he, like every one else in our community, was obliged to take sides-yet he never failed to convince that he was acting under the prin- ciple of duty. As a minister of justice he was often times called upon to mete out retributive justice to an offender. Even here he had the happy faculty of impressing such an one with the fact as it really was : he was in the performance of his duty, painful as it might be.
" This trait in the character of Judge Axson was the secret of his power over the affections of all with whom he came in contact ; and while his other qualities entitled him to the respect, it was his kindness that gained him the affection S of all.
" Resolved, That, in the death of Judge Axson the City of Charleston has lost a faithful public servant, an upright ma- gistrate and a useful citizen.
" Resolved, That while we most sincerely condole with the numerous and youthful family of the deceased, in their irre- parable loss, we join with them in gratulation that their father
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has left for their benefit, and the benefit of others, the rich legacy of an untarnished name."
[Charleston Courier, August 26th, 1843 .. ] " DEATH OF JUDGE AXSON.
" With sincere regret we announce the decease of the Hon. Jacob Axson, Recorder of the City and Judge of the City Court of Charleston, in the forty-ninth year of his age, after a period of protracted sufferings. The melancholy event took place yesterday, at eight o'clock, A. M., on Sullivan's Island, where the deceased had been passing the summer. Judge Axson was born and bred in our community, and won his way to distinction by native talent, industry and worth. He was a man of amiable disposition and affable manners, and marked by those social virtues which never fail to surround their possessor with a circle of attached friends. In the va- rious public stations he was called to fill, he was distin- guished by a prompt, energetic and faithful discharge of duty, and ever possessed and deserved the public confidence. He served for many years as an Alderman of the city and a Member of the Legislature. As City Attorney, and finally as Recorder and Judge of the City Court, to which office he was elected in the year 1836, he was possessed of a clear mind and strong judgment, and discharged the judicial office with ability, dignity and impartiality, and to the entire satisfaction of the Bar and the community. A little more than a year since, while in the midst of health, strength and usefulness, he was suddenly prostrated by a stroke of the palsy, from which he never recovered, and under which he suffered until the time of his death. The misfortune which then befel him, aggravated by his entire dependence on his official emolu- ment for the support of himself and his family, enlisted the sympathy and good feeling of our entire community, and an arrangement was made by which, although disabled from duty, he continued to receive his salary in full to the day of his decease. It having been ascertained that the Hon. Mitchell King, in a spirit of noble charity and disinterestedness, was willing to discharge the duties of City Recorder and Judge,
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without compensation, with the express view that the disabled and esteemed incumbent might still be provided for in sick- ness and suffering, the office of Assistant Recorder was created and accordingly filled by Judge King. We know of nothing that could mark more strongly than this incident, the high esteem in which Judge Axson was held by his fellow-citizens, and it must be a great consolation to them, as well as to him- whose generosity thus enabled them to do an act of benefi- cence to an individual without prejudice to the public inter- est-that the declining life and last moments of so worthy a man were thus shielded from the bitterness of pecuniary pri- vation. In the death of Judge Axson, it is but justice to say that the Bar have lost an esteemed friend and beloved com- panion, and the community an able and upright Judge and useful officer ; and we feel a deep and heartfelt sympathy with the large, young and helpless family who have now lost their parent and protector."
It appears, by the roll of Attorneys remaining in the office, that " Jacob Axson, Jr., signed the roll the 3d May, 1817.''
[For the Courier.] "AUGUST 26th, 1343.
" Our citizens are called upon to deplore the loss occasioned by the death of Judge Jacob Axson yesterday. The deceased was a native of this city, and educated and brought up in South Carolina. For years he had occupied some of the most honorable posts that his fellow-citizens could confer upon him. He had often served as a member of the Council of this city, as Representative in the State Legislature, was for several years City Attorney, and died holding the honorable office of City Recorder and Judge. In all these offices he discharged his duties with ability and faithfulness. Early in life he commenced the practice of law, and always maintained an excellent standing at our Bar. The capabilities of his mind, though not of the first order, were always regarded much beyond the common standard. His knowledge of the law was correct, and he possessed that industry and perse-
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verance which, amounting almost to enthusiasm, caused him to be regarded, in whatever case he was engaged, as no infor- midable opponent. His pride was to reduce every principle of law to that of common sense-a faculty in which he always evinced great success. Before a Jury, where the ques- tion was peculiarly one for their decision, few lawyers at our Bar were masters of more ingenuity. But what rendered him particularly successful was the complete earnestness with which he threw himself into his client's case. It rarely hap- pened a Jury could be brought to believe that one who spoke so heart-going and looked so sincerely, could be supplied from any other than a fountain of truth. The same truthfulness of feeling and directness of purpose entered into everything he did. In politics he was decided and unwavering, cautious indeed in forming his opinion, but once his mind was made up, pertinacious in maintaining his convictions, and not easily led from them by sophistries. For this reason he was regarded, by the political party to which he belonged, as one of the truest and most unwavering exponents of its principles.
As a Judge, he was fast winning that approbation of the Bar which had been anticipated for him. Generally correct in his views of the law, he rendered himself beloved by his professional brethren for the uniform urbanity with which he treated every one with whom he associated, and by the ad- mirably good humor and fidelity with which he discharged the duties of his office, while health permitted. It was, how- ever, as the citizen and gentleman, that Judge Axson shone most enviously. No one knew him but to love him. Alike courteous to all, there were none of his fellow-citizens who did not esteem him as the gentleman and regard him as a friend. In his intercourse with his immediate acquaintances, of which he numbered, perhaps, as many as any other man, his temper was uniformly good, and his humor and wit so unfailing and hearty as always to insure cheerfulness and good feeling. It has been often said, as characteristic of him, that if he could only see two acquaintances at daggers point at different corners, he would manage, some how or other, to
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make them laugh and shake hands with each other across the way. This was his true character. His heart was made up of faith and hope, which were encircled by the most ex- tended benevolence and charity. To those who knew him, it were a vain task to attempt retracing these recollections of him which he has so lastingly impressed upon their hearts ; while to those who enjoyed not the delightful privilege of his acquaintance, our grief for his loss is too fresh to permit us to present other than this imperfect tribute to his memory. If ever the privilege was granted to any man to live without having lost a friend, the general sorrow for Judge Axson's death will ascribe such an epitaph on his tomb.
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MITCHELL KING.
Recorder King, long an active and successful member of the Bar of Charleston, was born in Crail, one of the royal boroughs of Fifeshire, Scotland, on the 8th of June, 1783, on a spot of ground occupied by his ancestors, in direct descent, for some three hundred years. The Christian name of the male seniors of the family had been James for many gene- rations. The infant-the eldest son of the eldest son-was intended to bear the usual name. An old gentleman, named James Mitchell-a distant relation of the family-and his wife, both well stricken in years, and childless, proposed to adopt the new-comer if he received their name. To this a ready assent was given, and his parents intended to have him baptized James. But his aged friends alleged that then the Mitchell, in his name, would be omitted, and the family name, James, only used. So, he was baptized. Mitchell, and on their death he, by their will, became the owner of all their property He spent his youth partly in Crail, with his grandfather, and in Alloa and Kincardine-considerable towns in Scotland-in which his father and mother successively resided. In Crail he attended the school of Mr. McMinn, who had a high reputation as a scholar. In Alloa he went first to a private and select school, with a limited number of pupils, and then to the high school of that place; and, afterwards, in Kincar- dine, pursued his classical and mathematical studies, in an academy sustained by special subscription, under the instruc- tion of the Rev. Alexander Davison, a gentleman of approved scholarship, a clergyman of the Established Church.
While very young, Mr. King became passionately fond of reading, and devoured everything readable that came within his reach. His pocket-money invariably found its way to the bookseller's shop, and he very soon established such relations with the friendly booksellers that when his ready money fell short of the price of a book that he wanted, they never failed
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to credit him for the deficiency, which he never failed to pay. Books of mere amusement did not long satisfy him. His reading was not confined to such works as are usually put into the hands of young students, but extended to everything in classical literature, and in moral, metaphysical and mathe- matical science, which excited his eager spirit of inquiry. In Alloa, his chosen companions and friends were George Strathie and George Walker, both somewhat older than him- self, students, and subsequently doctors of medicine. While certainly unprepared for such an undertaking, these three young gentlemen, under the name of the Spy, by Jacob Trim- merpouch, wrote a series of essays, in imitation of the Spectator. Strathie and King were the only contributors. Walker wrote a complete copy of all the essays for each of the partners. These and similar associations in Kincardine, turned our young student's mind to think of medicine as a profession. His father encouraged him, and called, with his son, on Dr. Meldrum, a distinguished physician, who had practiced in his family, to propose to the doctor to take his son as an apprentice to the profession. They were courteously received. The father stated to the doctor the purpose of his visit. The proposition was kindly entertained. The amount of the apprentice fee to be given with the student was discussed, and no difficulty seemed to exist to entering into an engage- ment, when the doctor incidentally remarked that he did not need or wish an apprentice, and that the fee to be paid with him was much more an object than the apprentice. This remark startled the youth, and he begged his father to take some further time to consider the matter. The negotiation with Dr. Meldrum was not renewed.
The youth returned to his former studies. His devotion to them kept him fully occupied. A friend of his family, Mr. William Bruce, a merchant, who was about to settle at Memel, in Prussia, found him thus engaged, and, after a full conver- sation with him, and forming an estimate of the extent of his information, advised him to seek employment for such attain- ments as he had made where there was more demand for them than in the overstocked market of Scotland. The advice
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met the wishes and received the warm thanks of the student. He ceased to think of medicine, and turned his attention to commerce and the very extensive literature and important inquiries that form the intelligent merchant.
Mr. Bruce settled in Memel, and invited his young friend to pay him a visit. He accepted the invitation, and remained there for some months. But he was soon dissatisfied with the country. The kind exertions of his friend failed to procure him a situation agreeable to him. He returned home, and occupied himself with his accustomed studies and adding to his general information. In the spring of 1804, tired of inac- tivity, he determined to go to London, and to take his passage for the East Indies, in the hope of finding there acceptable employment. At that time the trade of England with India was principally carried on by large fleets of merchantmen, protected by a competent convoy. The sea was swarming with swift-sailing French privateers; and single merchantmen, unless well armed, could seldom make the voyage in safety. One fleet of merchantmen generally sailed from England in May, and another in the fall. Letters of introduction and recommendation were procured for Mr. King, and early in April, 1804, he took his passage for London, with the full assurance that he would reach London in time for the May fleet. He had a long and boisterous passage, and, on his arrival, found, to his great disappointment, that this fleet had sailed, and another would not set out until next fall. His friends in London encouraged him with the hope of obtaining satisfactory occupation there until that time. In this hope he was again disappointed. But his time was usefully and agreeably employed. He studied French with an able teacher, and, to correct his provincial Scotch accent, he, under a highly recommended master, took lessons in reading and pronoun- cing English. London presents innumerable objects of liberal curiosity, and his spirit of inquiry was insatiable. While he thus occupied himself, one of his friends spoke of him and his intentions to a Captain Anderson, commanding a large ship- the Castle of Hull-then lying in the Thames, chartered as a transport by the British Government, to carry military offi-
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