USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 17
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In the year 1832, he was elected President of the Bank of South Carolina-which office he filled until within a few months of his death, which took place on the 25th February, 1847, in the sixty-ninth year of his age.
In the midst of his most pressing business engagements, he always found time to devote to the pencil or the chisel, of which he was no mean disciple. He would often be up at the first streak of dawn, waiting, with pallette and brush in hand, for light sufficient to go to work; and scores of paint- ings (historical, portrait, landscape and fancy,) attest the ver- satility and proficiency of his genius, as well as his industry. The busts of Judges Bay and DeSaussure, Bishop England, and others of our noted citizens, (executed after their death,) show his skill in the other branch of art. He was also a firm patron of the arts-Washington Allston, Vanderlyn, Powers,
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and Sully, were his warm friends-and many a poor, but de- serving artist, has had reason to bless the day that he crossed my uncle's path. I should add, that he was entirely self- taught.
All the benevolent enterprises of the day found him a wil- ling advocate. He was one of the oldest and most active Com- missioners of the Orphan House. I have several addresses written by him for the children of that institution, which show the humble, child-like piety for which he was always distinguished. (He was a member and vestryman of St. Michael's Church.)
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JOSEPH GIST.
Joseph Gist was born the 12th January, 1775, near the mouth of Fairforest River, in Union District. He was thirteen years of age when he removed to Charleston, where he went to school. He finally graduated in the Charleston College, of which Bishop Smith was then the president. He studied law with that eminent attorney, Robert Goodloe Harper.
After his admission to the Bar, in 1799, he came into the country, and was married in the year 1800, to Sarah S. Mc- Daniel, and located himself at Pinckneyville, which was originally a point designated for the Circuit Court of Pinck- ney District, consisting then of Union, Spartanburgh, York, and Chester; and although the Court was soon abolished, and Courts appointed for each of the counties, which were after- wards called Districts, yet the central character of the location made it a very desirable one for the practice of the law.
Col. Gist served, as the Representative of Union, eighteen years, in the House. He participated largely in the passage of the general Suffrage Bill. He was the leading Member of the upper country. Indeed, when I first saw the House of Representatives, in 1811, I think, he and Caleb Clarke, Esq., were the only lawyers who were Members above Columbia. I remember his speech for Judge Grimké, and his vote against the impeachment. This was an unpopular vote in the upper country, and especially in Union, but I never heard that it had the slightest effect against Col. Gist. How he got the title of Colonel I am not apprised. I presume it was as an Aid to one of the Governors, when such an appointment was some distinction.
In December, 1809, he was elected a Member of the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina College, and was continued, by successive elections, until he either declined, in 1821, or had been elected to Congress. My recollection is, he was elected to that body in 1820, and took his seat in 1821. If
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this be so, he was a Member of the House of Representatives from 1802.
He was six years in Congress, and in consequence of ill- health declined any further service. He died on the 8th of May, 1836, in the sixty-first year of his age, leaving his widow and an only son, John, surviving him. His son William died before him. His son John, after a short life of benevolence and usefulness, also died suddenly, leaving no children. His widow, Sarah, and his mother, still survived him.
Joseph Gist, as a lawyer, had the singular good fortune to have a large practice, almost from his beginning, and to retain it to the last. His services were so much desired that they were often sought by both parties. An incident of two men of wealth and standing, in adjoining districts-after a hard run, meeting at his gate, to employ him-in an important case is remembered by his brother.
This is not wonderful, for he was, indeed, the lawyer of the four districts in which he practiced. His influence with the juries was almost irresistible, and was very great with the Judges. He was a good lawyer, and understood the few books of his day, and applied them well. His style of argument was plain and clear.
In the House of Representatives he was listened to with great attention. His speeches were short and to the point. He was a man of business, and discharged a great deal of duty on the different committees. In 1815, he could have been elected a Judge, but declined the office, and placed in nomi- nation a gentleman, then little known, David Johnson, and by his influence elected him. This was evidence of his high and just appreciation of an associate. For no man in the State ever filled the judicial office with more honor to himself, and benefit to the people, than David Johnson.
Col. Gist took pleasure in advancing the interests of young lawyers. Of those who studied with him (and they were many) all experienced, in a greater or less degree, his kind- ness. Many of them were his partners. Of that number was Nathaniel R. Eaves, Esq., of Chester. I had occasion, more than once, to experience his favorable notice. In 1819, he
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caused me to be employed in the great Equity case of Reid vs. Moorman; and in 1820, induced his friend, Col. Chalmers, to employ me in the contested election for St. Andrews, be- tween Colonel Cattell and himself. It was a fine trait in his character, that he envied no one in the legal race for emi- nence.
He was a member of the Baptist Church, for several years before his death; and adorned his profession by a walk and conversation, which showed to all men that "he had passed from death unto life."
I regret that this notice of a good and great lawyer, and of an useful, good man, should be so meagre ; but few memorials of the past are kept by relatives or friends. The dead are mourned for a time, and then their lives (with a few prominent incidents excepted) are forgotten. The only records, especially in the country, are the short inscriptions on the stones placed over their graves. This is sad! but it is the fulfillment of the Scripture, that "the place which once knew them shall know them no more, forever."
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EDMUND BACON.
Edmund Bacon was born in Augusta, Georgia, on the 17th of April, A. D. 1776. He was of a Virginia family, his father having removed from that State to Georgia, before the Revo- lutionary struggle. His education was judiciously commenced and wisely directed. At an early age, he was placed in one of the best schools of Georgia, and afterwards, at the first academy in the City of Augusta, with positive orders and instructions from his guardian-(Mr. Bacon had been early left an orphan)-that he should be schooled after the severest manner. His preference for, and progress in, the dead lan- guages, soon became apparent in obtaining the prize for the best translation of the " Ars Poetica." Indeed, so devoted was he to the pursuit of the ancient classics, as to have ex- hibited an utter repugnance to the idea of choosing a profes- sion. General Glascock, brother-in-law and guardian of Mr Bacon, who was, naturally, inclined to the same pursuits, encouraged his ward in this regard. The difference, however, between the guardian and ward, as Mr. Bacon afterwards said, was, that the one, being a gentleman of great wealth and literary tastes, could afford to indulge his inclinations, while the latter, not so fortunate in his inheritance, could only hope to do so. Circumstances did for Mr. Bacon, however, that which, perhaps, neither he nor General Glascock would have agreed upon. About this time, it was announced that General Washington would pass through Augusta, and the city col- lected " her beauty and her chivalry" to welcome and fête him. Among other ceremonies, Mr. Bacon was chosen by the academy, of which he was a member, to receive the hero in an appropriate manner. This delicate and honorable task he accomplished, in an address so fortunate as to have attracted, not only the attention of that great man, but to have procured from him, for the orator, a present of several law books. Mr. Bacon had already entertained the idea of choosing the law
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as his profession, but this present decided at once his future calling. Though still very young, he resolved, with the con- sent of his guardian, to enter the celebrated law school at Litchfield, where he applied himself with great assiduity, and was graduated with full honors. On his return, Mr. Bacon settled in Savannah, with a view to the practice of his pro- fession. He succeeded eminently at the Bar of that city, and before the Circuit Courts of Georgia. His health, however, began to fail, and he was advised to seek another and higher climate. This advice he had already made arrangements to follow, when he was urgently solicited to assist in the settle- ment and management of the estate of the celebrated General Greene. The labor consequent upon his accepting this offer, was exceedingly onerous, and the dispatch and application with which the business was effected, left him in a state of health still more impaired, but fortunately, with sufficient means to enable him to retire from his profession. With this view, he purchased a plantation in Beech Island, on Savannah River, where he hoped to renew his health and cultivate his tastes for the classics and belles lettres. He soon awoke, however, from this pleasant dream, to find his house destroyed by fire, his farming interests entirely neglected, and his overseer the only gainer. Shortly after this, Mr. Bacon visited Edge- field village, where he was hospitably entertained by Mr. George Butler. It was during the session of Court, and the eloquence, professional skill and learning displayed in the forensic encounters of that Bar, by such men as Wilde, Harper and Gantt, McDuffie and Petigru, Simkins and Butler, together with their accomplished and fascinating deportment, impressed Mr. Bacon so forcibly as to cause him to entertain the idea of joining himself to that brilliant galaxy. Mr. Butler imme- diately, and with all that frankness and hospitality so pecu- liarly his own, urged Mr. Bacon to carry this intention into effect, and even insisted that he should take possession in- stanter of one of his (Mr. Butler's) houses, then vacant, until better arrangements could be made. Mr. Bacon did so, hav- ing first given orders for the erection of a dwelling house of his own, which was completed in a short time, and in which
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himself and family were scarcely lodged, when a second fire left him worth even less than the preceding one ; for, on this oc- casion, the flames were so devouring as to have endangered the life of his infant and consumed his entire library, containing among others, the books so honorably presented by Wash- ington, the loss of which he ever afterwards bitterly lamented.
With returning health, came returning spirits. Mr. Bacon caused to be erected, near the site of the dwelling lately destroyed, a handsome mansion, resumed the practice of his profession, and in a very short time became one of the brightest ornaments of the Edgefield Bar. He possessed the power of oratory in a high degree, spoke ore rotundo, with grace and ease ; and it is even now traditional among the older inhabitants of the district, that his eloquent appeals in capital cases, sel- dom failed to move the Jury to tears. It was at the festive board, and in social, convivial intercourse, however, that Mr. Bacon shone preeminent. On such occasions he was, indeed, " the star of the goodly company;" and such occasions fre- quently offered themselves at that time in Edgefield, particu- larly at the house of Col. Edward Simkins, whose position and estate enabled him to dispense a real hospitality, and to gratify the dictates of a true and genuine taste. Here, as also at the house of Mr. Bacon himself, were wont to assemble the great names above mentioned. Even among such spirits, Mr. Bacon was the acknowledged autocrat of the table, insomuch that on a certain occasion, when the famous Dr. Maxcy, of South Carolina College, was added to the list; no sooner had Mr. Bacon left the room, than he, (Dr. M.,) enthusiastically exclaimed : " A perfect Garrick, sir, a living, breathing, acting Garrick !" On another occasion, Judge Harper invited his brother Gantt to dine with him, saying : "Come, we shall be five, and you shall not lack of good cheer." The dinner was served to three, only, Mr. Bacon making the third. Upon Judge Gantt enquiring for the absent guests, his host replied : " I said we should be five-all are here. Behold !" pointing at the same time to Mr. Bacon, " behold Messrs. Gantt and Harper sitting with Jocus, Love and Comus." Years before this, however, the extraordinary wit and humor of Mr. Bacon
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along the circuit of the Georgia Bar, had given birth, un- der the magic pen of the well-known Judge Longstreet, (now the able and beloved President of South Carolina Col- lege,) in the famous "Georgia Scenes," to the creation of a char- acter, rejoicing in the sobriquet of "Ned Brace," the orig- nal of which conception found no equal save in the unique- ness of its action. Mr. Bacon was the original. Mr. Bacon was an accurate linguist, and so familiar with the ancient poets and satirists, particularly Juvenal and Horace, as to be able to finish almost any sentence one might select. During one of the Bar dinners, at that time so regularly given in Edgefield, the health of Mr. Bacon having been proposed, a famous school-master of the day, and one of the guests, added : " Yes, in a full bumper, and occupet postremum scabies"- " Extremum," cried out Mr. Bacon ; " you may, perhaps, tor- ture postremum into meaning the posteriors, but never the hindmost." Indeed, his love for such allusions sometimes rendered him apparently pedantic. On his piano he caused to be engraved the Horatian line so universally true to nature : " Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inler amicos ut nun- quam inducant animum cantare rogate ; injussi nunquam desistant." "Not," said he, " that I suppose the performers will understand a word of it, but inasmuch as they are generally ladies, I well know the natural curiosity of the sex will incite them to inquire the meaning." On another occasion, he is said to have met a favorite associate, from whom circumstances had estranged him, with the exclama- tion-" Non amo te, Vabidi, nec possum dicere quare." The gentleman in question being a scholar and critic, immediately extended his hand, saying at the same time " mutato nomine, de me fabula narratur." They were ever after cordial friends. His knowledge of the English classics was equally correct. It was the custom in that day to deck the dining-table with a profusion of flowers, and on a certain occasion Mr. Bacon's was almost literally covered. One of the guests expressed his surprise and admiration of the beautiful custom, when Mr. Bacon replied : "Perhaps, sir, it may be unusual with you, but ' I, who am to the manner born,' deem it well nigh indis-
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pensable." "A most charming custom, certainly," replied the former, " but one may be to the manor born, and yet know nothing of it; for I think you too well acquainted with the English terms, and with Coke and Littleton, to suppose that Shakspeare used or intended the word manner." Mr. Bacon joined issue, saying that " his honorable friend was certainly mistaken," and adding, that " it was such a mistake as a law- yer would be apt to make." The question was mooted, and as the guests were nearly all of the legal profession, they, (with the exception of Judge Butler, then fresh from the schools, and just on the threshold of his future bright and honorable career,) unhesitatingly pronounced against Mr. Bacon. A vol- ume of Shakspeare, however, soon decided the correctness of the Messrs. B., senior and junior. Mr. Bacon then related an anecdote of a still more striking mistake, made by one of the first and best-read men in the country: " We were seated one evening in the theatre, in breathless expectation of the celebra- ted Kean as Richard the Third. At length the curtain rose, the famous tragedian appeared, and in the opening soliloquy-
' Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this son of York,'
-made a very proper and graceful gesture toward the heavens. ' My hat !' cried my friend, ' I must go ; this great humbug has already marred the beauty of the play by mistaking the son of York for the sun of heaven.' " Mr. Bacon was as remarkable for his humor, before the populace and at the electioneering hustings, as for his wit before the Bar and at the table. Wit- ness the woolly steed, and the various pranks of Ned in the " Georgia Scenes." Indeed, his proneness to the indulgence of his humor, often led him into extremes, and on more than one occasion endangered his personal security. Certainty a very remarkable coincidence in the life of Mr. Bacon was, that he should have had the honor and gratification to con- sult the very law books presented him by General Washington, in assisting in the management of the estate of his great com- patriot and brother officer, General Greene. " The moment I opened one of those books for that purpose," said Mr. Bacon, " was certainly the proudest if not the happiest of my life."
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Mr. Bacon died on the 2d February, A. D. 1826, aged fifty. His remains rest in his family burial place in Edgefield.
The foregoing is from the pen of the talented Secretary of Legation, at St. Petersburgh, John E. Bacon, the grand-son of Edmund Bacon, Esq. Having, through a friend, the promise of Judge Longstreet, to give a sketch of Mr. Bacon, I have delayed the completion of this sketch as long as I could ; but it has so happened that he who knew Mr. Bacon best, has failed to furnish his knowledge of him on this occasion. In this sketch there are inaccuracies in some slight particulars. Mr. Bacon never knew his grandfather, and he had, therefore, to speak of him from information derived from others. Edward Bacon, Esq., from the facts obtained through his grandson James, came to South Carolina in 1809, and must, very soon afterwards, have come to Edgefield Court House, and there settled as a lawyer. I first saw Mr. Bacon at Edge- field Spring term, 1825. Judge Martin who studied law with him at Edgefield, and whom he assisted in his education at Litchfield, was then his partner, and they had a large and lucrative practice.
Major George Butler, who is stated to have entertained Mr. Bacon, and furnished to him a house when he first came to Edgefield, graduated in the South Carolina College, in the class of 1809, at Columbia. I know he was studying law in Columbia in 1811, that he entered the United States army as a captain in 1812, and that he remained in the army until the peace of 1815 was proclaimed. He finished his study of the law at Newberry, and was admitted to the Bar in Novem- ber, 1815. He could not, therefore, have been the person who entertained and furnished Mr. Bacon with a house. His uncle, Stanmore Butler, who was the Clerk of Edgefield Court, where, I presume, Bacon came, might have been the man.
Neither Wilde, Petigru, Harper, McDuffie, or Butler prac- ticed law at Edgefield, when Mr. Bacon came. Wilde came to the Edgefield Bar, from Georgia, to attend to the Augusta Bridge case, after Mr. Bacon's death. Mr. Petigru never practiced regularly at Edgefield ; since Mr. Bacon's death, he
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has visited it occasionally. Judge Harper could not have practiced at Edgefield sooner than 1812 or 1813, and Mr. McDuffie came to Edgefield, as the partner of Col. Simkins, in December, 1814, or the beginning of 1815, when Mr. Bacon had a most commanding practice.
I make these corrections, so that there may be no error in this interesting memoir of one of the most accomplished lawyers that ever figured at the Edgefield Bar.
Mr. Bacon married Eliza Fox, at Augusta, Georgia, 29th January, 1799. This amiable and intelligent lady still sur- vives, adorning old age by her happy and cheerful disposition, which is a blessing to all around her. He left at his death four children, John, Edmund, Sarah and Thomas, of whom Edmund, Sarah, (or now Mrs. Wigfall,) and Thomas remain.
My friend, Dr. Laborde, a Profsssor in South Carolina Col- lege, says : " Between the years 1822 and 1825, I was a law- student, in the office of Messrs. Simkins & McDuffie ; and Mr. Bacon being there, in the practice of his profession, it was my fortune to witness the happiest efforts which he made during this period, at the Bar of Edgefield. It is not for me to speak of the amount of his legal learning-to compare him in this respect with others ; but I am not afraid to declare, that his language was chaste and elegant, and his elocution of a very high order. His natural endowments were extraordinary. His person was commanding, his face and head uncommonly fine, his voice chorded musical, aud of wonderful power. His style of speaking was highly finished, and I think I am justi- fied in saying that, as a model of graceful and eloquent elocu- tion, the Edgefield Bar cannot present another entitled to equal praise. Let it not be supposed, however, that his merit was that of the mere rhetorician; that he won applause because of this artistic skill, which was exhibited, and exerted none of that higher influence, which appeals to the heart and com- mands the affections. When the occasion demanded it, no one exhibited a livelier sensibility or a deeper feeling, or was more apt to awaken a sympathetic emotion in the bosoms of others.
" I remember when quite a boy, that I was much moved by
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a speech from him, in behalf of a man who was on trial for his life. His whole soul seemed melted by compassion-the tears were flowing freely down his face, and he urged the acquittal of the unfortunate man, with a natural earnestness and eloquence which touched every heart. His appeals to the sympathies of the Jury, were those of a man who was plead- ing for his own life; and when, after sketching most touch- ingly, the picture of human passion and infirmity, the sad heritage of man-he called upon every member of the Jury to adopt for himself the sentiment of the Universal Prayer :
' Teach me to feel another's woe, To hide the fault I see, That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.'
" The effect was electric, and all could see that the prisoner was soon to be restored to his family and friends. In his social character, Mr. Bacon possessed extraordinary attractions. His house was distinguished for hospitality ; and at the social meetings of the gentlemen of Edgefield, none contributed more to innocent pleasure and enjoyment. As the presiding officer of an old-fashioned dinner party, he was without an equal. Abounding in story and anecdote, dealing them out with most generous prodigality, and in a way, too, which none of his cotemporaries could imitate, it is not saying too much, perhaps, to add, that his presence alone was almost sufficient to mitigate every woe, and drive sorrow from every breast."
The foregoing is high, and I have no doubt, deserved praise. My acquaintance with Mr. Bacon was slight ; yet, I have seen and heard him in Court, and I have no hesitation in saying, that he was one of the finest declaimers to whom I ever listened. His voice was equal to that of Judge Gantt, which I have always believed was never surpassed.
The following epitaph, written by Judge Longstreet and inscribed on his tomb, is in poetic lines-a just portraiture of Edmund Bacon, Esq. :
" Within this grave, wrapped in his last long sleep; Lies one whose doom a wife and children weep,
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Whose many friends with anxious sighs regret The loss of virtues they can ne'er forget : The loss of virtues ! No, the human form, May waste below and feed the hungry worm : The heart that kindly felt for others' woe ; The voice of eloquence, wit's joyous flow May fade away, or rest within the gloom Of Death's dominion-this cold narrow tomb ? But the bright mind on wings of bliss shall rise, To dwell immortal in its native skies."
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THOMAS HENRY EGAN.
He was a native of Maryland, read law in the office of Philip Barton Key, Esq., and practiced in his native State for a few years.
He married in Maryland, but had the misfortune to see the wife of his youth sicken and die soon after his nuptials.
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