USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 18
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This sad event so distressed him, that he left Maryland, and came to South Carolina before 1800. On the 7th of February, 1800, he was admitted to the Bar in the City of Charleston.
He practiced law with eminent success in Columbia and the adjoining districts, but a misalliance, in 1807 or 1808, was a rock ahead to his promotion or happiness. He and Robert Stark, Esq., were for years the prominent lawyers of Columbia, and, I might add, of the Southern Circuit. He made money, and, as Col. Chappell says, "a good deal ;" "but exorbitant prices were paid by him for anything which he needed or fancied." He was extravagant in dress, and the result was, his money took to itself wings and fled away.
Under the Circuit Court Act of '99, on the occasion of Judge Grimké's sickness, Mr. Egan was appointed a Judge, ad interim, by the Governor, to hold the Circuit Court at Orangeburgh. He accordingly held the Court; and, as Col. Chappell says, delivered "an eloquent and learned address to the Grand Jury ;" but, entertaining doubts as to the consti- tutionality of that law, he refused to try any criminal cases." His doubts, it seems, were very well founded, for the law has since been adjudged to be unconstitutional.
About 1813, he removed to Charleston, where he and his partner, McCormick, did a large business for a time; but some rash remark in the Court House, uttered by Mr. Egan, so displeased McCormick, that the partnership was dissolved, and Egan returned to Columbia. His business thus failed him, and about 1817 or 1818, he died in great want, and was buried in a ground which had once belonged to him. No stone marks his place of sepulture.
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Yet this man of fine manners, who had been reared and educated as a gentleman, who was proverbially polite and urbane, whose ready wit made him the delight of every com- pany, whose legal learning and eloquence entitled him to stand at the head of his profession-was a driveller, and idled much of his time before his death. He was the boon com- panion of such men as Kennard and Merrett. This all came from irregular living: his habits were intemperate, and when not under the influence of spirituous liquor, he made use of opium.
He was a well-read lawyer, and of liberal education. "He possessed," says Col. Chappell, "learning and sagacity suffi- cient to enable him to perceive the strong and weak points of a case; but he wanted discrimination and judgment to ena- ble him to sieze and rely upon them, hence you found him disposed rather to skirmish than to meet at once the merits of a case. He was given to technicalities, and liked to take exceptions to proceedings, though not laborious enough to indulge much in special pleading. To non-suit his adver- sary, seemed to afford him as much pleasure as to obtain a verdict."
He was dignified in person, and had one of the most clear and musical voices which I ever heard. He either felt or affected great sensibility for all who were in difficulty or dis- tress. In one of my cases, at Newberry, Spring Term, 1816, he insisted on the plaintiff, a widow, in the case of Julian vs. Caldwell, (2 Con. Rep. by Mill. 294,) to cry, saying to her, as I was concluding her case to the Jury, "do, my dear madam, do cry, you can't tell how much good it will do!"
He will be remembered by all who ever saw him by his high receding forehead.
Col. Chappell says, "he was charitable to the full extent of his abilities. In many things he was an imprudent man, hence he lived and died poor. Nevertheless, he had many excellent traits of character." He provided amply, even in his poverty, for an adopted daughter, who was strangly spir- ited away from Columbia; and, many years after his death, she returned and received a part, if not all, of the negroes which by deed he had secured to her.
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JOHN DICK WITHERSPOON.
John Dick Witherspoon, Esq., was born 17th March, 1778, in Williamsburgh District. He was the son of Garvin and Elizabeth Witherspoon, who were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, having migrated from Ireland to Williamsburgh District in 1734.
His father, Garvin Witherspoon, was one of the fearless men, who, side by side with Marion, accomplished those daring feats of partizan warfare, which made the boldest and bravest of the English hosts turn pale, whenever Marion and his men were mentioned. He was one of that devoted band who chose the swamp for their resting place; and night after night, from Snow's Island, plunged their snorting steeds into the waste of waters, swam to land, and before the morning light, had struck a gallant blow for liberty, and were again in the covert of Snow's Island. His mother was Elizabeth Dick, of Sumter District.
At nine years of age, John D. was sent to school to Thomas Reese, of Sumter District, a Presbyterian preacher, and a scholar of some celebrity. He remained at this school five years, and thence went to Long Bluff, (now Society Hill,) to Thomas Park, (afterwards Dr. Park,) Professor of Latin and Greek, in the South Carolina College .* In 1795, he entered
* Thomas Park, L. L. D., mentioned above, was, I think, a graduate of Brown University, and a native of Rhode Island. He was the intimate friend of Dr. Maxcy; and, after teaching many years at St. David's Academy, Society Hill, South Carolina, he was elected, in 1806, Professor of the Latin and Greek languages in the South Carolina College, and was so continued until the necessity of reform was apparent, in 1834; and when the College started again, with a new aspect, he, in 1835, was made adjunct Professor of Greek and Roman Literature. With his office of Professor of Greek and Latin, he was made Librarian, in 1806; this place he held until 1823. In 1834, it, with increased pay, was conferred upon him ; and, in 1839, he became Treasurer and Librarian, and continued till 1844, when he soon after died. For more than forty years he was intimately connected with the College. He saw it grow up, flourish, and decay, and then again spring
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Brown University, Rhode Island. He graduated in 1797. In November, 1797, he entered Mr. Rothmaler's office, as a law student, at Georgetown, South Carolina. In December, 1800, he was examined and admitted to the Bar, at Columbia, in a class with Abram Blanding, James Ervin, and Charles Motte Lide.
After his admission, lie lived in Marion District, for four years, at the residence of his father, (who, after the war, lived in the District, called in honor of his chief,) and practiced law. He removed to Society Hill, in 1805, and on the 5th May, 1808, married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Boykin, of Cam- den, by whom he has had six children, two sons and four daughters.
From 1805 to 1820, he pursued his profession with great diligence and success, in the Districts of Marion, Darlington, Chesterfield, Marlborough, and Kershaw.
In 1809, he was one of the able counsel, who in vain en- deavored to turn aside the sword of justice from Hey and Rochelle for the murder of Minter. (2 Brev. 338.)
In 1818, he was elected to the House of Representatives and, after a lapse of four years, was again elected in 1824. It 1825, he performed the troublesome duty of reducing into one Act, all the Acts, and clauses of Acts, relating to the powers and duties of the Commissioners of Roads. He was elected to the Senate in 1828.
He was the intimate friend and associate of that great and good man, Judge Wilde, and succeeded him in his practice after his election to the Bench. His known ability, and honesty, and his impulsive, generous disposition, which made him throw his whole soul into his cases, rendered him a very successful advocate and Jury lawyer.
He inherits that stern integrity which distinguishes the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian ; and, by his character and conduct in Court, won the enviable title of the Honest Lawyer. Honest
up to usefulness. In all the stages of its existence, no man contributed more to its honor and stability. His gray hairs and virtues were looked to with honor and respect by all who ever had a place there. When he was more than seventy years of age he followed his Saviour, in baptism, and rose to newness of life.
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Jack Witherspoon, was the soubriquet by which he was known during his professional career.
When I was admitted, Mr. Witherspoon examined me in Equity. He so managed my examination as to place me in the most favorable light before their Honors, the Chancellors, and to cause my admission, as it were, by acclamation. This kindness, I always have, and still do, remember. I met him from 1814 to 1820, at the Court of Appeals, in Columbia, and afterwards in the Legislature, and I always found him, as a professional man and gentleman, entitled to the most profound respect. In 1820, he retired from the Bar; and after serving his term in the Senate he abandoned public life, and as a country gentleman filled all those kind offices of hospitality and social intercourse, for which he was so well fitted.
He was born in 1778, and his infancy was therefore in the midst of that partizan warfare which his gallant father, with Marion and his men, by night and day, waged against the enemies of their country. His memory is filled with the hair- breadth escapes and daring attacks which his father used to pour into his youthful ears. These, combined with his accu- rate knowledge of the political and social history of the country, render him a most interesting companion.
His father's house was burned, and his mother, while he was yet a mere infant, driven into the woods, by Major Wemys, in his memorable campaign. Such an incident was not likely to be forgotten by any child, and his heart burned with that same inextinguishable hatred of tyranny and cruelty which sent his father into the swamps of the Pee Dee in de- fence of liberty.
Mr. Witherspoon, as husband, parent, master, and friend, has won the respect and love of all who knew him. He still lives, in his eighty-second year, and long may he be spared the honored patriarch of Society Hill.
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ABRAM BLANDING.
Col. Abram Blanding is a name which carries with it the recollection of the person of an able lawyer, a virtuous man, an ardent citizen in whatever would advance his country's interests, and a philanthropist " whose works do follow him."
He was born in the village of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, on the 18th of November, 1776, and was descended, both on the part of his father and mother, from the Pilgrims, who landed from the Mayflower, at Plymouth Rock. His mother was an Ormsbee. He entered Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1796,* and remained there three years until he obtained the degree of A. B. He taught, during his collegiate course, at night, a mathematical class, to assist in defraying his expenses. Dr. Maxcy was then President of Brown University. His classmates were Fisher Ames, who took the first honor; Obadiah Jones, (an eccentric pedestrian,) afterwards a Judge in Ohio; Wm. Grant, Esq .; David R. Williams, of Society Hill, S. C., afterwards a Representative in Congress, a General in the United States army, and Gov- ernor of South Carolina, was his room-mate. He it was who induced him to seek his fortune, and make his home in South Carolina. It is thought that Col. Blanding took the second honor of his class; it may be, that there is some mistake in this; it is certain, however, that he took a high distinction. Virgil Maxcy and Dr. Benjamin Simons, of Charleston, were also his associates.
Immediately after his graduation, in '97, he removed to South Carolina, and fixed his location first at Columbia. He
* The statement furnished by his son, Col. James Blanding, made his entry at College in '96. This could not have been, as he remained there three years before graduation, which would have carried him to '99; he studied law, accord- ing to the Act then existing, for three years; he was admitted in 1800. This comparison of dates has induced me to fix his entry into College at '94, and his graduation at '97.
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there taught school two years, and studied law with John Taylor, Esq., afterwards Governor of the State. Some of his pupils, Col. John J. Chappell, Col. James Gregg, and Col. Wade Hampton, are remembered. Col. Chappell says, the first time he ever heard of " parsing," was when Col. Blanding taught one of Major Clifton's scholars, at the Academy, to parse a sentence. He removed to Camden the latter part of 1799, and studied law under the direction of Judge Brevard. He was admitted to the Bar, after thus studying law three years, in 1802, and instantly entered upon a large and lucra- tive practice.
In a memoir furnished by his son, Col. James Blanding, of Sumter, it is stated, that Col. Blanding was elected a Re- presentative to the South Carolina Legislature, from Kershaw, in 1805, and served seven years. It is certain that he was a member in 1806 and 1807; for with him originated the amend- ments of the third, seventh and ninth sections of the First Article of the Constitution, (1 Stat. 193,) and which placed representation in the House of Representatives on the basis of taxation and population combined. In 1809, he, with Col. Chappell, and others, voted against the amendment of the fourth section of the First Article of the Constitution, commonly called the General Suffrage Bill. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of this vote, the confidence of the people of Kershaw, in the talents and integrity of Col. Blanding were such, that they returned him again in 1810, and he again repeated his vote against that measure.
He educated his brother William, who became a distin- guished physician, settled at Camden, and afterwards removed to Indiana.
On the 14th of April, 1805, one David Clinton was mur- dered in Kershaw District. It turned out that he was shot by one Jenkins, who fled the State, that Jesse Key was pre- sent and aided and abetted the murder, and that Lovick Rochelle was an accessory before the fact. Col. Blanding was employed to bring the offenders to justice; this, after four years delay, he accomplished. The indictment was the first precedent of that kind in which the principal, in the first
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degree, was stated to have shot the deceased; that Key, the principal in the second degree, was also charged as having committed the murder, and that Rochelle was an accessory before the fact. The prisoners Key and Rochelle, were tried, convicted and executed. The indictment and Col. Blanding's able argument, at April Term, 1809, of the Constitutional Court, at Columbia, will be found in 2d Brev. Rep. 238. The precedent of that case has been followed in subsequent cases.
Col. Blanding was a Federalist, and opposed to the war of 1812; but that did not turn him aside from the path of duty. He was, at the commencement of the war, the Captain of a fine troop of cavalry ; he voluntered, with his troop, for the defence of Charleston; they were never called for; he rose before 1814 to the rank of Major; for in that rank he was one of the Court organized, as is stated in the memoir of Robert Stark, for the trial of Col. Tucker. He afterwards became the the Colonel of the cavalry regiment, which was once com- manded by Col. Hutchinson. It seems his popularity, in Kershaw, received a severe check froin the bitterness of his constant sarcasms against Mr. Madison and his Cabinet, for running away from Washington, when the British were ap- proaching to capture it, and his derisive commentaries upon the affair of Bladensburgh ! A letter from him to his future brother-in-law, Wm. F. DeSaussure, Esq., dated 21st August, 1815, will be found appended, and will show the bitterness of his feelings towards the fallen French Emperor, the Demo- crats, and Mr. Jefferson.
He married in December, 1815, Caroline, the daughter of Chancellor DeSaussure. In that year, he was elected a Trus- tee of the South Carolina College, and, in 1817, he was re-elected by the Legislature for four years. In 1837, he was elected a Trustee for the term of four years.
He was the mover of the Public Library at Camden, and aided the Orphan School in that town; he removed to Columbia in 1819.
In 1817, the internal improvement scheme, which looked primarily to the improvement of the navigation of the rivers began.
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An Act was passed to create the office of Civil and Military Engineer, and John Wilson was appointed to that office, and $50,000 was directed to be annually appropriated for the in- ternal improvement of the State: he was, by resolution, "to commence opening as early as circumstances will permit, Broad and Saluda Rivers, and to remove all such obstruc- tions as may have been accumulated in the Congaree River." By the appropriation Act of that year, $50,000 was appro- priated, and the work began by making a canal around Beard's Falls, on Saluda River. Public opinion, by the fall of 1818, in favor of internal improvement, had become overwhelming, and the Legislature, as is too often the case, plunged wildly into the scheme, and appropriated, or rather pledged the State to appropriate, $250,000 annually for four years, to be laid out and expended in improving the navigation of the rivers, and other water courses of the State, in opening and con- structing turnpike roads, in cutting canals, and in such other works as will facilitate the transportation of the productions of the soil to market; and the appropriation of $250,000 was made, and then began that shameful waste of the public money, which gave contractors a premium on all which they could expend. The next year, (1819,) was passed an Act which created a Board of Public Works, to consist of five Commissioners, to be elected by the Legislature, and to con- tinue in office one year; two of their body were to be ap- pointed as acting Commissioners, and the office of Civil and Military Engineer was abolished. The Board consisted of Gen. Davies, Joel R. Poinsett, Abram Blanding, and two others. Mr. Poinsett and Col. Blanding were appointed the acting Commissioners, and the work of internal improvement commenced on the Catawba, at Lunsford; at Rocky Mount, on Broad River; at Lockhart's Shoals, on Saluda River; and at Beard's Falls, the Saluda Mountain Road, and the State Road from Columbia to Charleston. Mr. Poinsett was mainly instrumental in constructing the Saluda Mountain Road in 1820, and the spring called Poinsett's Spring, in the heart of the mountain, constructed at his private expense, will, like Absalom's pillar, be to him in the place of sons and daugh-
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ters ; and, each traveler, as he drinks from the gushing foun- tain, will, I hope, remember Joel R. Poinsett, as one of the purest and best sons of Carolina. I think Mr. Poinsett did not act after 1820, Col. Blanding was an acting Commissioner for 1820, 1821 and 1822, and did every thing which a man could do to carry out successfully the work of internal im- provement. In 1822, the Board of Public Works was abol- ished, and Col. Blanding appointed Superintendant of Public Works, and continued as such until 1827, when he ceased to act and returned to the Bar.
In the period from 1819 to 1827, hie faithfully and ably directed those public works: the State Road, Elliott and Wappoo Cuts, the works on the Santee, Congaree, Wateree, Catawba and Broad Rivers. If all had been finished, they would have been enduring monuments of his skill, industry and perseverance. The works on the rivers have been gen- erally abandoned, and are now in ruins; the Saluda Moun- tain Road, the State Road, now superseded by the Rail-road, and some minor works, are all which remain of any value to the State for the immense sums lavished for internal improve- ments. But Col. Blanding is not to be blamed for this ex- penditure: he came into the work after it had been begun, and directed it with consummate skill towards the end intended. From 1822 to 1827, the writer, as a member of the Legisla- ture, witnessed with admiration the patience and intelligence with which he explained to the Committees on Internal Im- provement of the General Assembly, the progress of the pub- lic work, and obviated the objections put forward by ignorance, or subserviency to popularity. But all was in vain, the scheme at last failed, and the well-meant labors of Col. Blanding, for eight years, were almost profitless to the State and himself.
The Lunatic Asylum, at Columbia, is indebted to him for the trees which surround it; so also Blanding-street, in Co- lumbia, rejoices in the beautiful trees planted in its centre by Col. Blanding.
In 1824 he commenced, and, after years of toil and experi- ence, he successfully completed the water-works for the town of Columbia, at an expense from his private funds of $75,000.
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This proved an unfortunate investment for him, but a great blessing to the town. After many years, (in 1835,) he sold out to the Town Council for less than one-third of the origi- nal cost, $24,000 in stock, bearing interest at five per cent., redeemable at the pleasure of the Town Council.
The City of Columbia owes to Col. Blanding's widow and children a debt of gratitude, which is badly paid by refusing to redeem the water-works' stock.
The Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Columbia, is indebted to Col. Blanding for its foundation in 1830.
In December, 1830, he, with B. F. Dunkin and Job John- ston, were candidates for the office of Chancellor. The latter was elected.
In 1831, the Commercial Bank, Columbia, was organized, and Col. Blanding was elected the first President, and put it in motion, and gave it that character for safety, profit, and usefulness, which it has ever since maintained.
In 1836 began the project of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Rail-road. E. S. Thomas and Dr. Drake were those who first suggested it. The suggestion was received with almost universal favor by South Carolina, Georgia, Ten- nessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Western Virginia, and North Caro- lina. In July of that year, was witnessed the assemblage of this Convention at Knoxville, from all the States which I have mentioned. Col. Blanding, Gen. Hayne, Mr. Poinsett, and Chancellor Dunkin, with many others from South Carolina, attended. The dispute between E. S. Thomas and Dr. Drake, as to the paternity of the measure, was often intruded on the Convention. Gen. Coombs, of Kentucky, after listening to one of their contests, said to one of his companions, " take notice, I suggest the building of a Rail-road to the Pacific Ocean, and I shall, hereafter, claim the paternity of that mea- sure. He little dreamed, that before his head was under the clods of the valley, in less than forty years, that which was jest then, would be reality. But marvellous has been the growth of our country, and still more marvellous the enter- prize of her citizens. Although the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Rail-road failed, from the magnificence of the
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attempted execution, and dwindled down into the branch road from Branchville to Columbia, on the purchase of the Hamburgh road, which, consolidated, became the South Caro- lina Rail-road Company ; yet Col. Blanding and Gen. Hayne did all which men could do to give it effect. Gen. Hayne closed his valuable life in its service.
"In December, 1838, Col. Blanding was elected President of the South-Western Rail-road Bank, which was a part of the scheme for the building of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Rail-road, and as such he felt it to be his duty to accept. He accordingly gave up his office as President of the Commercial Bank, and removed to Charleston. That winter, he made explorations of the neighboring country and streams, for the purpose of supplying the City of Charleston with water, and reported in favor of a supply from the Edisto River. He organized the Bank, and put it in successful mo- tion ; but, sad to say, although having used the precaution of a summer retreat on Sullivan's Island, he was attacked with yellow fever, and died on the 20th day of September, 1839. Speaking of this to his sister, the Honorable Wm. F. DeSaussure says, with an eloquence and feeling which ought to be preserved, "the fatal result and the date you too well know. I was for many years associated with him in busi- ness, and had for him the devoted affection of a younger brother. I loved him for his devotedness to duty, his perfect integrity, his generous heart, his pure patriotism, his knowl- edge, his clear intellect: my unhidden tears flow while I write."
It remains that we should turn back over his life, and con- sider him as a lawyer. He was conceded to be first in his profession for fully twenty years. He is one of the few men who, after devoting themselves to other distracting pursuits, could and did return to a successful pursuit of the law.
Col. Blanding was remarkable for his careful preparation for the argument of his cases, and for the clear, logical, and learned presentation of his views. His arguments were never long or wearisome; what he said was to the point, and he added nothing superfluous. It is impossible to refer to the
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