USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 33
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as a citizen always ready to exhibit his public spirit and patriotism in whatever can advance the prosperity of the country. He resists, however, all attempts to draw him into political life, where, without being a partizan, he would be firm in the support of democracy, and where an enlightened judgment would temper an impetuous and suasive elocution, in the cause of truth and conservatism.
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ROBERT CLENDENEN.
Tully, in his Orator, speaks of a middle species of oratory, which has neither the keenness of the utmost polish, nor the thunder of the most rough. Of this character was the elo- quence of Mr. Clendenen. It would be readily inferred by one observing him, for the first time, that he had not, in early life, possessed very great educational advantages. At the same time, he had received from nature much quickness of intelligence, and a sound judgment, which, by judicious ap- plication in youth, he had made most effective instruments to his success in after-life at the Bar. He had also a good per- son and agreeable manners; was pleasant and facetious, and master of that most desirable of accomplishments for a speaker, fine action. The great basis, however, of his success in life, was his integrity and stability of character; without which, the most brilliant capacity, and most striking accomplish- ments will not secure permanent success: for it is the nature of men, however little they may practice virtue, and however degraded they may become in life, to render an involuntary homage to the character whose course has been marked by an uniform and determined adherence to principle. Even the most vicious members of society find it to their interest to sustain the supremacy of that incorruptible conduct which checks the career of crime. Governed by this standard, Mr. Clendenen was not long in securing the public confidence. It displayed itself in a large and lucrative practice, and in his frequent elevation to political station. As a politician, he was prudent and conservative; as an advocate, cool, sagacious, and scrupulously exact. In person, he was inclined to be portly, his face, round and florid, and his eyes intensely black. In style of oratory, he had more care for ideas than for words; but his enunciation was agreeable, and in choice of words, he was judicious and correct. In criminal cases, he could be warm and impetuous, and exercise considerable
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influence over the passions, and yet be perspicuous, natural, and weighty. Mr. Clendenen's success did not cause him to relax his application : for he had opposed to him at the Bar, Thomas Williams, who possessed great powers of popular oratory; Robert G. Mills, a man of wonderful industry and energy; Job Johnson, who stood high in popularity, and had much ability; and others, who would soon have obscured any cotemporary, whose talents and diligence had not been of very high order.
Mr. Clendenen's place of residence was Yorkville; and he practiced at Union, Chester, Fairfield and Lancaster. By economy and good management in early life, he acquired a considerable fortune; and up to the time of his death, which occurred about 1832-3, he regularly rode the circuit, more to enjoy the conversation of his associates than for profit. He possessed one qualification, which, more than any other, shows the accomplished lawyer and true gentleman. He was the kind and indulgent protector of the younger members of the Bar, especially of those who, like himself, had had their opportunities circumscribed by poverty, and the absence of influential patronage.
Mr. Clendenen's career illustrated the necessity of industry and attention to business, and of an undeviating adherence to the substance not the mere name of honor. By such a course, he reached a position in life, which his talents alone could not have secured him. Had he lived, he might have risen to the highest dignities of the State. As it was, he gradually advanced in public estimation, and died warmly esteemed by all who knew him. It was admitted, with regret, that his habits were rather convivial; and that, led by his love of company, he too often worshiped the god
"Cingentam tempora viridi pampino."
Mr. Clendenen was, I think, in the beginning of life, a mer- chant. He studied law with Judge Smith, and was admitted to the Bar, in Charleston, on the 11th of January, 1813. Either before his admission, or soon after, a bitter quarrel took place between Judge Smith and himself, which resulted
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in an enmity never reconciled. Mr. Clendenen's voice very much resembled Judge Smith's, and in bitterness of sarcasm and denunciation, he was much like him. He was the Sen- ator from York for several years; probably for two or three terms. He married the eldest daughter of Colonel David Myers. Surrounded by affluence, and blest with a family, and attended by great popularity, one would have thought, that he had cause to live without any appeal to extraneous circumstances; but he was devoted to idle company, and ac- quired bad habits, which led to his death about the time mentioned. His widow and two daughters survived him.
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JAMES DELLET.
This gentleman was born in Ireland, and, though young when his parents migrated to South Carolina, could not have been very youthful when he connected himself with the South Carolina College, in which institution he graduated with the first honor of the class of 1810, and was assistant librarian to Prof. Park. He studied law in Columbia, and was admit- ted to the Bar in 1813. He was also Commissioner in Equity. In Columbia, he married Miss Willison, the niece of Robert Stark-a lady of fine mind and attractive person, who, by a very close attention to the duties of a wife and mother, contributed greatly to his prosperity and happiness. As early as 1817 he removed to Alabama, and settled in Claiborne, Monroe County-at that period a very promising town, and of considerable commercial importance. There Mr. Dellet commenced the practice of law, and such was his industry, perseverance and attention to business, that he soon took the lead of the Bar, which he maintained with constantly increasing reputation till his death. Having the advantage of an early removal to a new country, he selected a body of valuable land, on the Alabama River, which, increasing in worth as the country became settled, was the foundation of a considerable fortune. He accumulated, too, a vast amount of money by his profession ; for such was his punctuality and diligence, that he secured the principal part of the then large collecting business of that section of coun- try. His talents so soon developed his capacity for political station, that he was, at an early period, invited to accept office, which he did, on important occasions, to the extent of a seat in the Legislature. There he was distinguished as an effective and eloquent debater, and as a man of unbending resolution and integrity ; the ardent supporter of public im- provement; the firm opposer of all demagoguism, and of all mere electioneering policy. He usually filled the post of
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Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and, by his good sense and speaking ability, did much to keep in check that flood of ignorant innovation which usually overflows the legislation of a new country.
Though a man of fine judgment and brilliant imagination, Mr. Dellet did not rely upon these as a lawyer. He studied books effectively, and became as familiar with cases as he was with principles. Like most eminent speakers, he was not always equally happy as an orator. Sometimes, but very rarely, he was an indifferent, at other times, a most powerful and effective elocutionist.
In 1835, he met with a calamity in his family circle, from which he never recovered. Three, out of four children, the eldest, died of malignant fever, in the space of a few weeks. This event was followed by the death of his wife, and his own sudden decline in health.
Towards the close of his life, he was elected to Congress from the district previously represented by Dixon H. Lewis. He was opposed by the late Judge Henry Goldthwaite, a man of fine abilities, and great astuteness as a politician. The canvass was a contest between the Whigs and Democrats, and was one as brilliant as ever distinguished the history of party. In this position, though in declining health, he more than sustained his reputation. Few men had been more consistent. In the contest between Mr. Adams and General Jackson, he was a warm supporter of the former. His vene- ration for Mr. Clay was unlimited, and the elevation of that great statesman to the Presidency was the most ardent wish of his life. In the Nullification and Union controversy, he sided with the latter, taking the field with alacrity, and can- vassing with all his ability against the theory of Nullification. He was the advocate of a Tariff and of internal improve- ment, but a not very moderate opposer of the measures of Jackson, which he took every opportunity of assailing. The principles of the Proclamation and Force Bill, and Jackson's course in the Florida war, especially met his disapproval.
During the administration of Mr. Adams, a Judge for the Federal Court for Alabama had to be appointed. The names
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of Mr. Dellet and Judge Crawford were before the Cabinet, and the latter received the appointment, on the ground that Crawford was the most likely of the two to remain firm against the torrent of Jackson's popularity. Crawford, how- ever, went over to Jackson as soon as he got his commission in his pocket, and Dellet remained firm to the day of his death. In 1844, Mr. Clay told the writer of this sketch, that Mr. Adams and himself had never been more grossly deceiv- ed, and for once, at least, had been mistaken in their friends.
In person, Mr. Dellet was stout, thick-set, and rather ungainly in form. To strangers he was taciturn, and to the masses anything but dependent or conciliating. His own ideas of independence and sincerity forbade every species of decep- tion ; and he scorned to solicit the good opinion of men, except by honorable actions openly performed. To those, however, with whom he could not be suspected of making court for merely interested purposes, and especially to ladies, he was one of the most elegant and engaging of men. His face was round and florid, his features small and well shaped, and his eyes remarkably keen and sparkling.
On the circuit, Mr. Dellet was the soul of the Bar. Pos- ยท sessed of fine conversational powers, of extensive stores from reading, of a vast fund of anecdote, and of a humor truly Irish, he was a most agreeable companion.
In style of oratory Mr. Dellet had, in his time, few equals. His language was pure, and his diction elevated and natural, though occasionally florid and ornamental. His voice was finely toned, and he had the power of controlling it by the most agreeable modulations. He always spoke with vehe- mence, and with an action at once correct, lively, and graceful. He possessed striking powers of sarcasm, which, however, he never exerted, except to lash vice, or to oppose the factious madness of abandoned demagogues. So generally acknow- ledged was the strength and dignity of his language, his wit, and the elegance of his address, that when he spoke the forum was filled with hearers, either spell-bound by his pathos, or hurried into successive bursts of laughter.
Mr. Dellet loved to expose every attempt to minister to the
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passions of the mob, by exciting prejudices against official persons. On one occasion he was associated in the Legisla- ture of Alabama with a very ignorant man, the result of excitement on the county-site question. The latter, to render himself famous, on the principle of burning down the temple, introduced a bill to lessen the salaries of the Judges. He supported this measure by a speech, in which he said, " that there were many good men who would perform the duties of Judges for a much smaller salary than two thousand dollars. That he (the speaker) would be willing to take the office for five hundred dollars a year." Here Mr. Dellet interrupted him with some vehemence of manner, and said: "If the Member desires to control the question by that kind of argu- ment, I can furnish him my overseer, who is as capable as the gentleman of playing an incumbent of the woolsack, and who will do it for one hundred dollars a year." This killed off all attempts upon the Judiciary that session.
But Mr. Dellet's ability as a lawyer, the uncommon merit of his elocution, the pleasant mixture of wit and pathos, his clear and distinct reasoning, were not his chief claims to repu- tation. The great foundation of his fame was his incorrupti- ble integrity, his unflinching firmness in the cause of right. He was peculiarly one of the few " who would not have flattered Neptune for his trident." Without the affectation of liberality, he was charitable whenever charity could be well bestowed without parade and publicity. He was the friend and supporter of young men when they deserved patronage. But he possessed nice discrimination as to men's characters and abilities, and was reserved and discouraging to all who had not fully exhibited their self-denial and self-reliance. Of him it could, with great justice, be said, with Horace of Quin- tilius, when will purity, and the sister of justice, uncorrupted faith, and naked truth, find any equal to him ?
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JAMES GREGG.
The distinguished man, whose name is above, was born on the 4th of July, 1787, in that part of Marion District which lies west of the great Pee Dee River.
He received the most of his academic education from Dr. Thomas Park, at St. David's Academy, Long Bluff, after- wards Society Hill. At the commencement of 1806, Mr. Gregg entered the Junior Class of the South Carolina College. His name in the catalogue of the Clariosophic Society of 1806, is put down as James Gregg, in the class of 1808, at their graduation, as James R. Gregg. The "R." it seems, he adopted to distinguish him from some other of the same name. He dropped it when it ceased to serve that purpose.
He graduated on the first Monday of December, 1808, in a class of thirty-one members with the first honor. Among his classmates are some justly celebrated names, Rev. Dr. William Brantly, Judge Josiah J. Evans, Chancellor William Harper, Governor Stephen D. Miller, Governor John Murphy, Charles Stevens, Esq., Rev. Charles Strong, Judge Nathaniel A. Ware. To be ranked first, among such men, at his graduation, evi- denced what might be expected of the future man, and he fully met that expectation. He was a tutor in the South Car- olina College, when I entered it in February, 1811, and he most probably was elected to that office immediately after his graduation. In the spring of 1811, Paul H. Perault, Profes- sor of Mathematics, ceased to be such, and Mr. Gregg filled his chair pro tem., until November, 1811, when Professor Blackburn was elected. Mr. Gregg remained a tutor until 1813, when he resigned.
In January, 1813, he married Cornelia Maxcy, the eldest daughter of President Maxcy.
He was admitted to the Bar, in Columbia, as an attorney- at-law, 22d April, 1813, and as Solicitor in Equity, 27th April, 1814, and as attorney, solicitor, and proctor, in the Circuit
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Court of the United States, 22d April, 1822. Mr. Gregg, soon after his admission, rode the Western Circuit. He attended Newberry, then on the Southern Circuit, for seve- ral terms. Business came slowly, year after year; he was to be seen, daily in his office, on Richardson street, just below Faust's corner, with few cases; but patience and persevering industry overcame all obstacles. He succeeded in a great land case between Colonel Myers and Lieut. Gov. John Hopkins, and business flowed in apace. He was soon among the first, and after a few years he was the acknowledged leader of the Columbia Bar.
The case of Denton and Wife vs. English-2 N. and McC., 581-November Term, 1820, was a striking evidence of his power as a lawyer. On referring to the case it will be seen that the verdict was against him, with the full concurrence of the presiding Judge, Mr. Justice Colcock. "The defence was, that the bill of sale was founded on a consideration, "contra bonds mores." Major Clifton's argument had failed to pro- duce any impression on the Judges; they had declined to hear the opposite attorney, Colonel Blanding. Mr. Gregg, who was accidentally absent at the argument, asked to be heard. He was accordingly heard. Colonel Blanding was directed to answer him, and a majority of the Judges granted the motion for a new trial. This was unusual honor and success.
It is impossible to refer to the numerous cases argued in the Constitutional Court, or Court of Appeals, by Mr. Gregg. I propose to notice a few. Before I do so I will remark, that he prepared his cases with great care, both on the circuit and in the Appeal Court. He reduced every matter of law to writing, and came into Court armed at every point with his authorities. His arguments, both on law and fact, were re- markable for their plain, straightforward truthfulness. Judge . Huger once remarked to me, before I was on the Bench, " whatever Gregg states, whether it relates to law or fact, I can always rely on, for I know he would state nothing untruly." This was high praise from such a man as Judge Huger, who highly appreciated truth.
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The case of Myers vs. Myers, decided first by the Court of Appeals in Equity, in 1827, 2 McC. C. R. 214, and again in 1830, Bail. Eq. 23, and Hall vs. Hall, 2 McC. C. R. 269, fur- nished fine opportunities for the display of Mr. Gregg's legal learning and forensic powers. His arguments will be found, 2 McC. C. R. 241, '2, '3, '4, '5, '6; and 283, '4,'5,'6,'7,'8,'9.
In the Court of Law the following cases may be referred to, in some of which some traces of Mr. Gregg's arguments may be found; but in general they are so slight that no judgment can be formed. In all of them, I very well know, that he argued the cases well, and I regret that I have no means of giving his arguments. The cases are as follow: Nixon vs. Bynum, 1 Bail. 148; Guphill vs. Isbell, 1 Bail. 250, 2 Bail. 349; Jones vs. McNeill, 1 Bail. 235, 2 Id. 466, 1 Hill 84; Westbrook vs. McMillan, 1 Bail. 259, 1 Hill 317; Richardson vs. Croft, 1 Bail. 264; Hall vs. Moye, 2 Bail. 9; Johnson vs. Lemons, Id. 393; Treasury vs. 'Taylor, Id. 524; Anonymous, 1 Hill 251; Lee vs. Ward, Id. 313; McDaniel vs. Cornwall, Id. 428; Moore vs. Aiken, 2 Hill 403; Carey vs. Lyles, Id. 404; Cleverly vs. Mccullough, Id. 445; Brown vs. Hilligas, Id. 447; The State vs. Chatward, Id. 459; Means vs. Brickill, Id. 657. Many other cases in succeeding years have occurred, but it is useless to refer to them. Like the preceding, they will furnish little more than that Mr. Gregg was concerned in them.
On the 3d of April, 1816, Mr. Gregg was elected Intendant of the town of Columbia for that year.
In 1822 or 1823, Mr. Gregg was waited on by a military company, of light infantry, called the Columbia Volunteers, of which he was not a member, to inform him that they had elected him their captain. Such an honor he could not, and did not decline. He held this commission until his election, 14th November, 1823, to the command of the Upper Battalion, Twenty-third Regiment, South Carolina Militia, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In March, 1825, he was part of the brigade, under my command, which received Gen. LaFayette, on his visit to Columbia. He became Colonel of the Twenty- third Regiment, 18th November, 1829. When the military
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commissions throughout the State were vacated, by that unwise Act of December, 1833, he was re-elected and held his commission until the spring or summer of 1835, when he resigned.
Mr. Gregg was elected to the House of Representatives, in the General Assembly of this State, in 1822, and served in that House until 1830. In 1824, when I first took the Speak- er's Chair, Mr. Gregg became the Chairman of the Committee of Elections. In 1826, he was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. From 1822, until 1828, I can speak from my personal notice and observation, and I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Gregg discharged every duty devolving upon him, as a legislator, admirably well.
In 1830, he was elected to the Senate, and continued a member for 16 years. In 1846, his deafness, he thought, made it proper that he should decline being a candidate. For the unusual period of 24 years, he was in the Legislature of South Carolina, representing the District (Richland) in which the Capitol is situated, and therefore, constantly under the eyes of his constituents ; and yet, he was always returned without difficulty, and often without opposition. Such facts show his capability and virtue, and the great confidence of the people.
In December, 1821, Mr. Gregg was elected one of the Trustees of his Alma Mater, the South Carolina College, and was continued as such by successive elections, until 1849, when he declined further service in that capacity.
On the 24th day of October, 1852, this good and great man closed his useful life. He left surviving him his excellent and amiable wife, and four children, to wit: Col. Maxcy Gregg, Edward F., Julia de B. and Cornelia M.
This sketch of the life of James Gregg, shows with what unerring propriety he must have lived. For our people are unusually jealous of their public functionaries, and any man who is a legislator for 24 years, without interruption, must be very wise and very good, or very fortunate. Mr. Gregg held many public appointments as long as he chose.
He very well merited these evidences of confidence, for he
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intended to do right; and if he was in error, as I have no doubt he sometimes was, sure am I, it was the error of the head, and not of the heart.
In 1852, immediately after his death, I gave the following sketch of his character. I do not think I can improve upon it, and therefore make it a part of this sketch :
"As a speaker, Colonel Gregg relied not upon ornament. His mind, like his body, was plain, straight, strong and un- yielding. His arguments, whether in the Legislature, or at the Bar, were remarkable for being clear, plain, and direct to the subject in hand. He was always listened to with the feeling that truth was before him, and that he was searching for it with all the light which he could obtain. Few lawyers did more business, or met more success than he had.
Colonel Gregg delighted in order; his books, papers, and every matter of which he had charge, were in their proper places. His business was always ready at the moment when it should be done. His life was regulated by rule; he took exercise and diet according to established laws which he had made for himself.
His life was one of undeviating honesty and purity. To society and his friends, he brought all the powers of his mind and body to do good. To his relations he was kindness, in every sense of the word. To his father-in-law, the great and good Dr. Maxcy, he was more than a son : he was a friend always. To Dr. Park, his early preceptor and friend, he showed an attachment, pure as it was just, on all occasions.
Husband, father, master, were relations in which Colonel Gregg was without fault. He will live in the sacred circle of home as long as its inhabitants remain.
Col. Gregg was not, as the writer believes, the member of any religious sect ; but he knows that he was a Christian, and that he could have said, with great truth : " I know that my Redeemer liveth." He was in principle a tetotaller; and the last dinner which he gave to his friends, the Judges, was without wine. Cold water was the only beverage drank.
Colonel Gregg was more than six feet high; he was straight as an arrow, scrupulously exact in his dress. No one ever
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saw him otherwise than neat. His features were plain, but regular, and betokened great firmness; his eyes were blue, and his hair dark; his nose and mouth large, and his teeth good. Never shall we look upon a more faultless and proper man."
" His youth and age, his life and death, combined, As in some great and regular design, All of a piece, throughout, and all divine ; Still nearer Heaven his virtues shone more bright, Like rising flames, expanding in the night."
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BENJAMIN FANEUIL HUNT.
Col. Hunt, as shown from a sketch in Livingston's Biogra- phical Magazine, was born 20th February, 1792, at Water- town, Massachusetts. His father died in 1804. He completed his education at Harvard University, his mother defraying the expenses of his education, both at the Academy and the University.
He graduated in 1810. His attending physician, on ac- count of the delicacy of his health, recommended a removal to a Southern climate. Accordingly, he left the soil of his nativity, and selected South Carolina as his future home. He arrived in Charleston Ist November, 1810, and entered the office of Keating Lewis Simons, Esq., as a student of law, and on the 6th May, 1813, was admitted to the Bar, and soon dis- tinguished himself as a young man of talents, and gave assur- ance of becoming a prominent lawyer.
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