USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 34
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In 1812, he aided in forming a company which was called into the United States' service, and, as an officer, he served for, I presume, six months, at Fort Moultrie, Sullivan's Island.
Mr. Hunt's talents attracted attention and favor, and the result was, that in 1818, he was elected to the House of Repre- sentatives, in the General Assembly of this State. Here, he probably served for several years. He was much distin- guished for business habits, and ability as a debater.
He was not, I think, returned at the general election for St. Philip's and St. Michael's, in October, 1824. In 1825, he was elected to fill a vacancy, and was continued in the suc- cessive elections, every two years, until he was overborne in the storm of Nullification, I presume, in 1832.
It ought to be remembered to Col. Hunt's honor, that while others yielded to the flood-tide of popularity in favor of that measure, he remained firm in his devotion to the union. He perhaps did as much as any man, in sustaining the Union
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party of Charleston through all the trials of '30, '31, '32, '33, and '34.
He rose through the successive grades of military command to that of Colonel of the 16th Regiment, which he attained in 1818, and which he retained for many years, discharging the duties remarkably well.
In the great case of The State, ex relatione McCrady vs. Hunt, the question was made and decided in May, 1834, and by the Court of Appeals, that the new oath of allegiance required by the Act of 1833 (commonly called the Test Oath), was unconstitutional .- 2d Hill's Report, 1. Thus, Col. Hunt's name is indissolubly connected with one of the chapters of Nullification.
After the angry feelings arising from that party contest died out, Col. Hunt was returned to the House of Representatives in the General Assembly of the State, and was there contin- ued by successive elections, for many years. His service was generally distinguished by talents and usefulness.
He was, I believe, the author of the Act, extending the bounds of the gaols to the limits of the respective districts. He, too, is entitled to the credit of remodelling the Represen- tative Hall in the old State House. So, too, is due to him the honor of leading the Legislature imperceptibly into the scheme of building a new State House. Whether this was a wise measure or not, it will, certainly, sooner or later, by a large expenditure of money, give to the State the most magnificent State House in the Union ; and Col. Hunt's name, as the pro- jector, ought to be placed on the front portico.
Col. Hunt, for more than forty years, had an extensive practice at the Bar. Many of the most difficult cases in Charleston and Georgetown passed through his hands, both in law and equity, in the Circuit and Appeal Courts. That he was adroit and confident, in every case, is generally believed ; that he often found fault with decisions against him, is also well known; but with an experience of nearly thirty years on the Bench of the Court of Appeals, I am not aware of any case in which he had not a full measure of justice. Before Juries he had, when young, great influence, and it may be,
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that there his success, in doubtful cases, in the early part of his life, led him, in his latter years, when his success was not so uniform, to think he had to contend against prejudices.
That he gained many difficult cases, and for large amounts, both before the Juries, and also the Law and Equity Courts, is true; but the author of the biographical notice in Living- ston's Magazine, has ascribed to him more honor than I think ought to be ascribed to any lawyer; for I believe the day, when Justice was blinded or hoodwinked by the art or talent of lawyers, has long passed away. I never yet have seen a case decided contrary to right, when the facts were properly brought out.
Col. Hunt's biographer manifestly thinks that prejudice, on the part of the Court, often decided against him. That that was his own feeling, I have, on more than one occasion, be- lieved. But my knowledge of the Courts, and the cases in which he was concerned, makes me give a most positive de- nial to any such assumption.
The criticism on Pell and Ball, (1 Rich., Chan. Reports, 361-419,) and the sweeping denunciation of two such distin- guished Judges and good men as Johnson and Harper, will be found, on examining the case, to be as unjust as it was unmanly. On reading the case at 361, and the subsequent pages, it will be seen that it was before, successively, Chan- cellors Dunkin, Johnston, Johnson and Harper. Chancellor Job Johnston first threw out the expression, that an appeal did not supersede a decree. That for the purposes of the case, as then before him, was a mere obiter ; for he decided that the circuit decree, ordering a sale, was, according to the power given by the Court of Appeals; and, of course, an appeal could not supersede such a decree. Chancellor David Johnson, subsequently simply concurred in Chancellor John- ston's view. Chancellor Harper, when the case came before him, ruled that according to the ancient and settled practice of the Court of Equity, land, whether belonging to infants or adults, might even against the will of the parties be ordered to be sold, in a proper case in partition, or otherwise.
The case at 419, before the Court of Errors, was heard on
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a motion to strike the case from the docket, as improperly docketted. This motion the Court granted, and laid down rules for the future government of the clerk, and the parties concerned in docketting cases in that Court.
The annotator on Col. Hunt's life, in Livingston's Maga- zine, No. 2, vol. iii., p. 416, could not have read the case.
In 1842, we are told Col. Hunt retired from the Committee on Federal Relations, in the House of Representatives of the State, and became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which, with the exception of a single term, he retained as long as he continued a member.
That this position was due to his age and experience, is true ; that he rendered good and faithful service, is also true ; for no one who knew him could question either his ability or attention. That he was often misled, by visionary notions of amending the Judiciary system ; that he often indulged in them, and pursued mischievous amendments with all his usual zeal and pertinacity, is also true; that it required all the ability and watchful care of his colleague, Col. Memmin- ger, to counteract these efforts, is well known in South Caro- lina.
In the year 1853 Colonel Hunt lost his wife, the daughter of William Mathews, Esq. The father of his wife was a wealthy man, who, whether unjustly or not, thought proper to place his estates, as " far as Colonel Hunt's wife and children were concerned," in such a way that he had no control of it. This involved him in an angry litigation with the gentleman to whom Mr. Mathews chose to confide the management of his estate as executor.
The excitement to which Colonel Hunt gave way in this matter operating upon his constitution, already much weak- ened by lapse of time and other circumstances, cut short the term of life. I last saw Colonel Hunt in 1855 or 1856, in Broad-street, Charleston, on the eve of his departure for New York. It was to me most manifest that he would no more return ; and with that belief on his own mind he bade me fare- well. He was the mere wreck of what he once was. I felt that to him the time had come, when the strong man was bowed
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down, when the " grasshopper was a burden ;" and if a sin- cere sympathy with him, as a dying man, could have been any benefit to him, he had it, on my part. He never did return, but died in a few months after, in New York, (5th of December, 1854.) His three sons and a daughter survived him.
Colonel Hunt was an able advocate. I never regarded him as a safe legal adviser. He seemed to me to be rash and over- confident in his legal conclusions ; yet I have often heard him argue a legal point remarkably well.
He possessed a fine elocution-often have I been struck with his powers of declamation ; he was often eloquent. His person, in early manhood, was a fine one-this, associated with great fluency, force of expression, and boldness of asser- tion, gave great weight to his political speeches, and his argu- ments before Juries.
A friend, who had ample opportunities to know Colonel Hunt as a lawyer, says : " He, so far as my knowledge extends, never availed himself of any quibble, inadvertence, or omis- sion in mere matters of form, or pleading, to defeat a suit, or injure an opposing lawyer. In this respect he was liberal. He was bold, daring, unceremonious and aggressive-but it was manly and open-often presumptuous, reckless aggres- sion. He never seemed to me to employ trickery or cunning, or to take petty little advantages of his antagonist. Perhaps he was indulgent to others in his practice because he was ex- ceedingly loose and irregular in his own."
On the whole, it may be said with truth, that Colonel Hunt, if there was right in his cases, was sure to bring it out ; for he exhausted every possible remedy before he yielded. He relied more upon perseverance than an early ascertainment of the means of justice.
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ANGUS PATTERSON.
This gentleman was the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Patterson, who were of Scotch extraction. They belonged to a colony of Highlanders, who emigrated to North Carolina, before the Revolution, and settled in the Counties of Cumber- land, Moore, Richmond, and Robeson. Angus was born in the latter, on the 5th day of December, 1790. His parents were as well educated as the times and the then state of the country admitted ; they were, in common with most of their neighbors and countrymen, poor, but moral, religions, con- tented, industrious, economical, and anxious for the educa- tion and advancement of their children. They could, though they did not, generally speak the Gaelic language, which at that time was the common dialect of the elder inhabitants of the Scotch settlement. They were, as were all their country- men, rigid Presbyterians, and a branch of the Kirk of Scot- land. No clergyman was allowed to preach, permanently at least, in their churches, who was not sent out and recom- mended by the Kirk-the ability to preach in Gaelic, being an indispensable qualification. His paternal grand-parents were Daniel and Mary Patterson ; the maiden-name of the latter was McMillan ; they emigrated twelve or fifteen years before the Revolution, and first settled in Cumberland, but soon re- moved to the Raft Swamp, in Robeson County, where a few of their descendants still reside. His maternal grand-parents were John and Isabel Patterson. They lived and died at a very advanced age, in Moore County, near the head of Rock- fish, a tributary of the Cape Fear. John Patterson was sixteen years of age, when he came to America, and must have been among the first emigrants, as he had acquired considerable property, and had several children grown at the commence- ment of the Revolutionary war. His maternal grandmother, whose maiden name was McDuffie, spoke Gaelic imperfectly, and was born in America; her family, or rather her brother,
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Archibald McDuffie, the only portion of her family we ever heard of, lived in Cumberland, near Fayetteville. The family is now extinct, or removed to parts unknown. His father was too young to take part in the Revolutionary war, and both his grandfathers were, as were most native Scotchmen, neutral. A brother of his mother, served in the American Army at Guilford, and probably in other engagements. His father's and mother's maiden-name were pronounced alike, but the families were not connected, and, besides, they spelled the names differently-one with one t and the other with two. His grand-parents, on both sides, left a numerous offspring, who have generally removed to the west, south, and south- west, and are to be found in every State, from the Cape Fear to the Rio Grande. His father, as far back as he can recol- lect, worked with one or two slaves on his farm, in summer; and for two years, in winter, taught a small school, a little more than a mile from his residence. To this school our subject was carried, sometimes by his father, and sometimes by a servant. He must have been young, and could have learned but little.
About 1803, or 1804, several young Scotchmen, having ac- quired a classical education, became Presbyterian ministers, and opened several academies in the Scotch settlement. To one of these, located at Solemn Grove, in Moore County, in charge of the Rev. Murdoch McMillan, Mr. Patterson was sent, where he remained nearly two years, boarding gratui- tously in the family of a maternal uncle, who lived in the neighborhood. There he made some progress in Latin, and reviewed English Grammar.
About this time he became sensible that he would have to shift for himself; that for further progress in obtaining an edu- cation, he would have to rely on his own exertions. Though his father had increased his property a little, he had a number of children, by three marriages, of whom Angus was the oldest. He saw that he could expect no material pecuniary aid from him. When he left Solemn Grove, he was invited by his kinsman, Kenneth Black, to act as his assistant in the Lumberton Academy, of which he had charge. Mr. Patterson
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instructed the lower classes, during school hours, for which he received a small salary, scarcely sufficient to pay for board and clothing, and had the privilege of joining a class. Mr. Black was a pretty accurate classical scholar, and afforded his pupils every facility he could. Mr. Patterson read portions of Ovid, Virgil, Horace, and Cicero's Orations, and managed to keep up with his class, but it may be supposed he did not in- dulge in much sleep. He could understand Horace best, and he was his favorite author. He made a little, and but little, progress in Greek. Here Mr. Patterson resolved to direct all his efforts to the acquisition of a collegiate education. His plan was to obtain the necessary funds by teaching school ; and, accordingly, in December, 1808, failing to get employ- ment nearer home, he came to South Carolina, and succeeded in obtaining a school in Colleton District, near Patterson's Bridge. He had Virgil and Horace, and spent most of his time when not in school, in reading them. Not liking the manners of the neighborhood, he gave up his school at the end of the first quarter, and obtained employment as a private tutor, in the family of Mr. John Witsell, in the same district, near Jacksonborough, then the seat of justice of Colleton Dis- trict. There he remained a year, in charge of three boys, who improved but little under his instruction. He attended the Court of Common Pleas, as a spectator, and became acquainted with one or two lawyers, who suggested the idea of giving up going to college, and to read law. Having conceived a fond- ness for forensic proceedings, he readily adopted this sugges- tion, and borrowing a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries, read it through, and portions several times, while living in the family of Mr. Witsell. Near the end of his engagement with Mr. Witsell, he received an offer from the late Johnson Hagood, Esq., of Barnwell District, to understand the nature of which, it is necessary to premise, that Mr. Hagood had been a lawyer of considerable practice, but having become a planter, was withdrawing from the profession. He had a good library, both law and miscellaneous. The proposal was to instruct a few children certain hours, for a small pecuniary compensa- tion, and the use of the library and office. This situation was
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well adapted to his views. Mr. Hagood still had some pro- fessional business, which he soon left almost entirely to Mr. Patterson's management, visiting the office occasionally, when Mr. Patterson requested his advice. He issued writs, drew declarations, and prepared cases for trial, by noting the facts and looking up the law. He had ample time, and took no step without consulting every book in the office, treating of the matter under investigation. In this way he became pretty well acquainted with the rules of pleading and evidence. Special pleading, in those days, was countenanced, if not en- couraged, by the Bench and the Bar, though it is quite dif- ferent now : the declaration is seldom looked into, and a spe- cial demurrer is regarded with little favor. Besides books of practice, he read Burlamaqui on Natural Law, Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, Vattel on International Law, Fearne on Con- tingent Remainders, Foublanque's Equity, and some history, biography, and poetry.
He was advised by most persons whom he consulted, as to the proper course of reading, to study Coke on Littleton atten- tively. He accordingly commenced the task several times, but never could get more than half through the book. He began with Mr. Hagood in July, 1810, and in November, 1812, he went to Charleston and entered the office of the late John S. Richardson, then Attorney-General of the State, and for many years subsequently, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He now bid adieu to the business of school-master, having succeeded in it but poorly. To him it was a labor of neces- sity, and not of love. His principal employment in the office of Mr. Richardson was drawing indictments and declarations, but he made shift to look into many of the then modern cases, such as are reported in Burrows, Douglas, &c. For the prin- ciples established in the old reports he relied on Comyn's Digest, and Viner's and Bacon's Abridgments. Here he first resorted to the practice of acquiring a general knowledge of the contents of a book without reading it, which proved of much advantage to him when pressed for time, in subsequent life. While in Charleston, he attended a session of the Circuit and Appeal Courts, and was complimented by the late Judge
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Colcock for his attention. From that time that able Judge, and amiable man, as long as he lived, was his personal friend. In May, 1813, he was admitted, by the Court of Appeals, in Columbia, to practice in the Courts of law. He forthwith opened an office in the village of Barnwell, and Mr. Hagood having died, in the mean time, he purchased his law library, and fell heir to some of his cases and clients. Mr. Patterson had but little local competition. The late Hon. William D. Martin had studied law in Barnwell, where he had respect- able connections, and was, deservedly, personally popular. He had been admitted some months, perhaps a year, before Mr. Patterson, and settled in the adjoining District of Beau- fort, but, through a partnership, had an extensive and increas- ing practice in Barnwell. With that gentleman Mr. Patter- son practiced long and pleasantly. The transient Bar was numerous, considering the quantity of business, and formid- able for talents. The principal members were-Robert Stark, Solicitor of the Circuit, Richard Gantt, afterwards Judge Gantt, Edmund Bacon, John Joel Chappell, Eldred Simpkins, and John M. Felder. The three last named have since been Members of Congress and of the State Legislature. By these gentlemen he was treated with marked kindness, particularly by Mr. Stark, who not only gave Mr. Patterson his counte- nance and advice, but aid. All these gentlemen, except Colonel Chappell, have "shuffled off this mortal coil."
There is nothing a young man remembers so long or so gratefully as the courtesies of his senior brethren. Mr. P. came to the Bar a stranger-an inexperienced youth, without money, and with no friends except a few whose confidence he had gained in the office of Mr. Hagood. These adhered to him as long as they lived, and he has had the pleasure of rendering important professional service to some of their descendants. Before his admission he lived very retired, avoiding rather than seeking society; and was bashful to an unreasonable degree. Conscious of having made all the pre- paration he could, he did not lack confidence in himself; yet he was so timid, excitable and nervous, that, after an argu- ment, he could scarcely recollect a word uttered. Nothing
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but necessity enabled him to overcome this timidity. His business increased rapidly, and by 1818 he was in full prac- tice. From 1820, as long as he continued an active member of the Bar, he had as much, and sometimes more, business than he could do justice to. In 1818, he first appeared as counsel in the Court of Appeals.
He early commenced investing a portion of his income. He first became a farmer. In 1827 he began to plant with a moderate capital, which was increased from time to time. In common with most professional men, at least of the South, he was passionately fond of agricultural pursuits, but never per- mitted them to interfere with his professional engagements, and, therefore, had to divide the proceeds of his planting in- terest with agents and managers.
In 1818, he was elected to the House of Representatives, re-elected in 1820, and after serving four years in that House, was elected to the Senate in 1822, and re-elected every four years until he retired in 1850. The sessions of the Legisla- ture of South Carolina are so short-never more than twenty days-that a seat in it does not interfere with professional duty. While on the floor of the Senate he acted as chairman of one of the working committees, at the same time serving as a member on several others. At the session of 1832 he was appointed Chairman of the Special Committee, to which the ordinance of nullification was referred, and of which the Hon. A. P. Butler and the Hon. James Gregg were members. A similar committee was raised in the House of Represen- tatives, of which the Hon. B. F. Dunkin, now Chancellor Dunkin, was chairman, and the Hon. Wm. C. Preston, and other gentlemen since distinguished, were members. In the nullification contest, party spirit ran high, and was, in some instances, bitter. Though his political course was decided, he retained throughout the contest, many personal friends in the ranks of political opponents. While in the Senate, he had the happiness to be associated with many of the most distinguished men who appeared on the political stage in the State during the present century. They have now, with a few exceptions, passed away. In December, 1838, he was
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elected President of the Senate, and being re-elected every two years, occupied that office while he continued a member of that body. On the adjournment of the session of 1849, he became engaged in preparing for the Court of Chancery, which was to sit early in February. About the middle of January his health suddenly gave way. In a few days he became so feeble as to be scarcely able to walk, had a troublesome cough, and lost his voice almost entirely. As advised, he went di- rectly to East Florida. By this movement he escaped the cold of February, March and April, and his health improved a little, more probably from the repose enjoyed, and which he stood much in need of, than from any other cause. It is doubted whether the climate was favorable to his case. On returning home he purchased a residence in the town of Aiken, which he made his principal place of abode. His health gradually improved, his voice was, in some measure, restored, but the disease-consumption-still maintained its hold upon him. From that time, 1850, he may be said to have retired from his profession, except occasionally, he was seldom seen in the Court House. He died 24th May, 1854.
In 1819, he married a daughter of the late Francis Trotti. His wife is of Italian, Greek and Irish descent. Their union was one of uninterrupted happiness. Of eleven children, two died in early infancy. A third, his second daughter, married Dr. Adolphus Nott, of New Orleans, and died, leaving a son, Angus, now a promising boy. The remaining eight children, three sons and five daughters, survive him.
Mr. Patterson was not an eloquent, but he was a remarka- bly sound lawyer. I knew him well, as a lawyer, from 1829 to 1854 ; he managed and argued his cases well, being gen- erally eminently successful before a Barnwell Jury. The peo- ple thought he knew the law, and that he was honest. He, therefore, generally had the ear of the Jury; and, though the style of his speaking was slow, halting and repeating, yet, like Sergeant Scarlet, he hammered his ideas into the heads of the Jury. He was, however, by no means a tedious speaker. I think I never listened to him impatiently.
I have been, when in the separate Court of Appeals, often
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instructed by his arguments. His argument in Stallings vs. Foreman, (2 Hill's Chan. Rep., 401,) brought the whole Court to the conclusion, that an administratrix, selling under the order of the Ordinary, if he sold fairly and paid the full value, might purchase at his own sale. His argument has not been preserved, but his leading views are very much followed, and enforced in the opinion delivered by myself. (Idem 405.)
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