USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 7
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Clarke-" The Chancellor says we must go on."
Gregg-"Oh no! that will never do, Mr. Clarke. At what time does the old gentleman adjourn Court ?"
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Chancellor-" Tell him three o'clock."
Clarke-" The Chancellor says three o'clock."
Gregg-" And what is the time now ?"
Chancellor, (taking out his watch)-" Tell him half-past two !"
Gregg-"Oh, then, you see it is no use, because if he forces me, I don't expect to touch the case in that time ; so he will gain nothing."
(By this time, the dignity of the Court and Sheriff following the audience, began to give way, and the smiling to become audible.) "Look here, Mr. Clarke, (in Col. G.'s bland style,) now, you say it is only a half-hour before he goes to din- ner, and as I do not expect to go on, can't you or some one else, find something to amuse the old gentleman until then, as he won't adjourn now, which he ought to do." (Explo- sion from the audience.)
Chancellor-" Well, Mr. Clarke, as Mr. Gregg won't go on, tell him I will try and find some amusement until three o'clock."
Clarke-" He says, very well, he will do something else until three, and you can go on in the morning."
Col. Gregg's grave features relapsed into a smile, and laying his hands kindly on Mr. Clarke's shoulder, in the same con- fidential whisper, observed, " He did, did he? Well, that was clever in him. The fact is, Mr. Clarke, the old man is always accommodating if you manage him right," and walked to his seat with a gravity, which indicated his innocence of having given any information as to the subject of his late private conference with his associate. But the audience, and especially the Bar, yielded to the ludicrousness of the scene, and the Chancellor, finding the Court in no condition to go on-fifteen minutes more having elapsed-kindly observed, " Well, gentlemen, as we seem to have more of the amuse- ment than even Col. Gregg expected, we may as well adjourn at once. Mr. Sheriff, adjourn the Court until to-morrow morning, at ten o'clock."
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WARREN RANSOM DAVIS.
Solicitor Davis was born, as I believe, about May, 1793. He graduated in the South Carolina College in the Class of 1810. He studied law in Columbia, where his mother resided, and was admitted to the Bar in Charleston, in May, 1814, but received his license in Columbia, where he signed the roll of Attorneys.
He settled at Pendleton, to practice law, where Mr. McDuffie, at the same time also settled. Mr. Davis suc- ceeded and got business; Mr. McDuffie had none; and it was left to his partnership with Col. Simkins, at Edgefield, to in- troduce him to the splendid career which he afterwards ran.
In 1818, Mr. Davis succeeded Benjamin H. Saxon as Soli- citor. The duties of this office he admirably performed, and secured for him a large practice out of it, in the whole of his circuit-the Western.
Mr. Davis' ambition was not for distinction atthe Bar. It was in political life, that he wished to shine. He anxiously sought a seat in Congress. He was elected from Pendleton and Greenville, in 1824, and continued, by successive elec- tions, to his death, in 1834.
His life was a short, and I had almost said, a " merry one." Every company in which he mingled, experienced the joy of his wit. Indeed, humor was his nature, he rioted always in its wild luxuriance.
At the Bar he was a highly respectable lawyer. I have listened to his arguments, both on the circuit and in the Con- stitutional Court, with pleasure and instruction. The case of Young vs. The Commissioners of Roads for Edgefield, presented a new question, which he argued with great zeal and ability.
In Congress he did not win that high distinction, which his friend, Mr. McDuffie, seized at the instant when his foot crossed the threshold of Congress, and afterwards so well maintained. Mr. Davis' stand was very respectable, and he 6
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often did more to drive an adversary from the field, by his playful wit, than he could have done with all the thunders of McDuffie's eloquence. He died, as he wished to die, " grace- fully." He rests in the Congressional Cemetery. Neither wife nor child dropped a tear to his memory, for he died as he lived, a bachelor.
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JOHN SPEED JETER.
John Speed Jeter was born about seven miles south of Edgefield Court-House, 20th June, 1779. It is believed that he received his classical education at Dr. Waddell's school, and that he read law in the office of Abraham G. Dozier, Esq., at Cambridge, Abbeville District, South Carolina. He was admitted to the Bar in the fall or winter of 1811, at Columbia, and commenced practising law at Edgefield Court-House. He had little elocution, though he could, and did, make short, plain, and sensible speeches. He was a good collection law- yer-by which I mean that he collected the debts placed in his hands for suit, as soon as he could; and when collected, he paid over the same to the parties entitled to receive the same.
On the 8th September, 1814, he married Sabra Simkins, the daughter of John Simkins, Esq. He was a staff officer in the militia, and thus obtained the title of Major.
In December, 1820, he was elected solicitor of the Southern Circuit, over the head of the Revolutionary soldier, Robert Stark, who had been solicitor from 1806, first under a com- mission "quamdiu bene se gesserit." In 1812, the tenure of the office was changed, by Act, to four years. Mr. Stark was elected in 1816, and in 1820 his office, according to the Act of 1812, terminated.
Mr. Stark contended that he was still in office, under his commission of 1816, and sued out a rule against Mr. Jeter, to show cause why, an information in the nature of a quo war- ranto, should not be filed to ascertain by what authority he exercised the office of Solicitor? On the circuit the rule was made absolute. In the Constitutional Court the circuit deci- sion was reversed, and Mr. Jeter confirmed in his office, (1st McC. 233.) In 1824, he was re-elected. In December, 1828, the State was divided into five, instead of six circuits, and Edgefield and Newberry, of the Southern Circuit, were thrown into the Western, Mr. Solicitor Earle's circuit; and
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Mr. Jeter, was thus legislatively deprived of the chance of being any longer Solicitor.
Mr. Jeter, I think, performed the duties of Solicitor very well. He was prompt in his business, and tried his cases in the shortest possible time. He indulged in no parade, made use of no unnecessary words, and the result was that the criminal business, under his rule, was speedily dispatched.
Mr. Jeter was, I think, a Member of the House of Repre- sentatives, when he was elected Solicitor. He was elected Senator for Edgefield, in 1838, and was again re-elected in 1841. In 1846, he was not a candidate. N. L. Griffin, Esq., succeeded him in office.
Mr. Jeter was partially blind for some time. He died 14th April, 1847, leaving two daughters surviving him-Sarah, the wife of Mr. Harris, and Caroline, the wife of the Rev. Mr. Walker.
Mr. Jeter was a kind-hearted, companionable man. He was honest, faithful, and firm in all the relations of life. There may have been, and may be many greater men than John S. Jeter, yet there have been, and will be few who have been, and will be, more respected for purity of intention.
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FRANKLIN H. ELMORE.
Colonel Elmore was born in Laurens District, about 1799. He was the second son of General John A. Elmore, a soldier of the Revolution. After the usual academic education, he entered the South Carolina College, where he graduated in the Class of 1819. He studied law at Laurens Court House. He was elected the Captain of a beautiful Light Infantry Company, and soon afterwards became involved in a sharp controversy with Col. Turner Richardson, as to the right of his company to the right of the line. This being refused, he marched his company off the ground, at a regimental review. For this, he was arrested and tried in August, 1821, by a Gen- eral Court Martial, who sustained his right, and acquitted him.
In the Fall of 1821, he was admitted to the Bar, and settled at Walterborough. In December, 1822, he was elected Soli- citor of the South-eastern Circuit, which, in 1828, was changed to the Southern. In 1824, he was appointed by Governor Manning, one of his aids, with the rank of Colonel. He was part of the Governor's brilliant cortege, which received Gen. LaFayette, in March, 1825, and escorted him through the State. He married, in Columbia, Harriet Taylor, the second daughter of General Taylor. In 1825, he was elected a Trustee of the South Carolina College. He was re-elected in 1829 and 1833. He continued to be the Solicitor until, I pre- sume, 1834, when, in October, he was elected to Congress, and took his seat in December, 1835. He remained in Con- gress until he was elected, in December, 1839, President of the Bank of the State of South Carolina, in the place of Judge Colcock, who had died the January preceding. To this office he was annually elected until May, 1850, when he was ap- pointed by Governor Seabrook, Senator in Congress, in place of Mr. Calhoun. In a very short time after he reached Wash- ington, in May or June, 1850, he closed his useful and honored life, leaving his widow and several children, who still survive.
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Col. Elmore was a singular instance of uninterrupted popu- larity, beginning early and never deserting him till his death. He was a man of undoubted, though not showy talents. He was an excellent lawyer, and had a fine practice, at Walter- borough, and on his entire circuit. He argued his cases with good sense and great legal acumen.
He was regarded as a first-rate politician, and was an inti- mate friend of President Polk, who, it is said, offered to him a foreign mission.
As President of the Bank, he sustained it, in its most diffi- cult and trying times. He encountered successfully, all the attacks of his eminent classmate, Christopher Gustavus Mem- minger. He published a most triumphant defence of the bank in the winter of 1849.
Col. Elmore was an excellent man, true and faithful to his friends. He was a kind husband and father, and was a faithful unswerving public officer.
His death was universally lamented, both at Washington and in this State. A new career of usefulness was just open- ing to him, when death cut short his life.
His body was conducted, by Congressional Committees, to Columbia, and there deposited in the Presbyterian Church- yard.
We append the proceedings in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, on the announcement of his death :
Obituary Addresses delivered on the occasion of the death of the Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. May 30 and 31, 1850.
OBITUARY ADDRESSES. In Senate, Thursday, May 30th, 1850.
On motion by Mr. Hunter, the reading of the Journal was dispensed with.
DEATH OF HON. F. H. ELMORE.
Mr. Butler rose, and said: Mr. President, my heart sinks under the melancholy duty which misfortune and affliction have imposed upon it.
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Within less than three years, it has fallen to my lot to an- nounce the deaths of two colleagues of the other House; and it was but the other day, that I communicated to the Senate the death of the lamented Calhoun. We have scarcely di- vested ourselves of the badges of mourning to his memory, before we are called on to replace them on the occasion of his successor's death, whose place in the Senate was but as a transit to a common tomb. Such is human existence! It is as a shadow that fleeth, and continueth not!
My friend and colleague, the late Franklin Harper Elmore, breathed his last at his lodgings, in this city, last night, at half-past eight o'clock. For several years, the state of his health has been a source of solicitude and anxiety to his friends. His mind had been tasked by many cares and responsibilities; and it was thought, that even a change of excitement and employment would afford him relief. It was with reluctance that he accepted the distinguished compli- ment implied in the appointment that was tendered him by the Governor of South Carolina, to fill, for a time, the vacancy in the Senate occasioned by the death of his illustrious pre- decessor. He took his seat in this body on the 6th of this month, and, for a week or ten days, the hearts of his family and friends were gladdened by the prospects and hopes of returning health. These delusive hopes were excited only to make disappointment the more poignant and afflictive. A new form of disease-a neuralgia that pervaded the whole system-was as the hand of death upon him. His sufferings were very great, and from the time of his attack were inces- sant. It is a source of consolation that he retained his mind until the actual invasion of death. His physicians, distin- guished for their skill and knowledge, gave his case uncom- mon attention, and did all in their power to afford him relief. It was his happiness to have with him a being-the nearest to him by all the ties of this earth, the partner of his bosom, and the mother of his children-a devoted wife, who poured out upon him all that an affectionate heart could bestow. There were alleviations and sources of solace in an hour of awful trial; but they could not arrest the demands of the in- exorable messenger.
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In witnessing my friend's exit from this earth, I hope I have not had a lesson without its mournful instruction.
Mr. Elmore, from the time he entered upon the arena of life till his death, has acted no ordinary part in public affairs. He has filled many employments and trusts of honor and respon- sibility ; and the confidence of his fellow-citizens, to the last, was an honorable commentary on the manner in which he discharged these duties.
Mr. Elmore was a native of Laurens District, South Caro- lina, and died in the fifty-first year of his age. His father, General Elmore, was a native of Virginia, and was an active soldier of the Revolution, serving under General Greene, in his celebrated Southern campaign of 1781. His mother was a Miss Saxon, a name distinguished in the partisan war of the Revolution. After passing through the ordinary academ- ical course, my friend entered the South Carolina College, in November, 1817, and graduated, two years afterwards, with honor, and with a reputation that at once presented him to the favorable consideration of the public. He read law in my office, in the Town of Columbia, and in 1821 was admitted to the Bar.
Such was the impression that he had already made on society, that in the year 1822, the year after his admission to practice, he had conferred on him one of the highest honors of his profession. He was elected Solicitor (a public prose- cuting officer) of the Southern Circuit-an office that involved high responsibility and important public duties. His energy, industry, and ability, soon confirmed the sanguine expecta- tions of his friends.
He continued to be successively elected to this office, until he was called, by his fellow-citizens, to fill a new sphere of action, and one for which I have always thought him emi- nently qualified, both from taste and ambition. He took his seat in the House of Representatives, in December, 1836, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of General Ham- mond; he was again elected, and served throughout the twenty- fifth Congress. During this time, he won a high reputation for parliamentary address and ability. The impression which he made on his colleagues and cotemporaries was such as to
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flatter the pride and gratify the ambition of any public man.
In December, 1839, Mr. Elmore was elected President of the Bank of the State of South Carolina. This was a posi- tion of real difficulty, that required financial talents of a high order. Its labors and responsibilities were great, and almost overwhelming. My friend continued to be elected to this office until his late nomination to the Senate. Such testimo- nials of merit are higher and more abiding than verbal eulogy.
Shortly after Mr. Polk came into office, he tendered to Col. Elmore the most distinguished mission in his gift-a mission to the Court of St. James. His own modest distrust of his qualifications to equal public expectation, as well as his duties and obligations at home, induced him to decline the honor. Mr. Polk's opinion had been formed of Mr. Elmore whilst they were Members of Congress, and was a flattering tribute to his character.
As a public man, Colonel Elmore showed great sagacity in his opinions of men. Whilst he was prudent in taking his course, he showed great tenacity of purpose, and exhibited uncommon perseverance in the attainment of contemplated ends. His private relations presented his life in a view that his friends may well love to look upon. His habits were temperate, his deportment modest, and his disposition amia- ble. As a husband and father, he loved, and was loved, with deep and tender affection. Although this place would not seem to allow of such an indulgence, I hope my friend- ship for their venerable and venerated grandmother's family will be a pardon for saying a word, that may be of service to the bereaved children of a deceased friend. You have a father's example to guide you, and a father's reputation to preserve. These, with an affectionate mother's care, may in- culcate on you the virtues that will carry you through the temptations of life to honor and respect. God grant, that a friend's remark may have a beneficial influence on your future destiny !
Mr. President, I offer the following resolutions:
"Resolved, unanimously, That a committee be appointed
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by the Vice-President, to take orders for superintending the funeral of the Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, which will take place, to-morrow, at twelve o'clock, meridian, and that the Senate will attend the same.
" Resolved, unanimously, That the members of the Senate, from a sincere desire of showing every mark of respect due to the memory of the Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, deceased, late a Member thereof, will go into mourning for him one month, by the usual mode of wearing crape on the left arm.
"Resolved, unanimously, That, as an additional mark of respect for the memory of the Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, the Senate do now adjourn."
Mr. Hunter .- I cannot permit the occasion to pass, with- out offering my tribute of respect to the memory of the dead. I, too, knew him, and knew him as a friend. We entered Congress together, and for the first time, as I had supposed, in 1837, when there was, perhaps, more bitterness in party divisions, than I have known before or since. I have coun- selled with him, I have acted with him, and can truly say, that I found him wise in counsel, firm and energetic in action. I have seen him under circumstances, and exposed to trials, which test most severely the qualities of the head and the heart; and, under all circumstances, and in all emergencies, he so bore himself as to win the confidence of friends and the respect of adversaries. I say adversaries, because if he had an enemy, I did not know or see him. His was the high capacity and rare excellence of pursuing his own ends with ability and firmness; but in a manner so kindly, so gentle and persuasive, as to disarm political opposition of all perso- nal bitterness.
Mr. President, I speak not in the extravagance of eulogy, but from observation and experience, when I say, that his was, indeed, a rare and beautiful character, in which the stronger and gentler elements were mingled in the happiest proportions. He could command your confidence by the means which won your love. When I heard he was to be sent to this place, Mr. President, there was no man who rejoiced more in the prospect of his coming than myself. I
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thought he was the very man to be useful in the troubled scene upon which he was about to enter. His wisdom, his firmness, his known moderation and patriotism, all fitted him for the time and the place; and I anticipated, with pleasure, the display of his powers here in all the fullness of their matu- rity. I had heard that he was sick, but I did not know that the hand of death was upon him, and had hoped that a change of scene and circumstances would restore him, and that long and useful years were before him. Alas, sir, how delusive was that hope; and, indeed, of how many human hopes may not the same be said ? The hopes-nay,
"The glories of our mortal state Are shadows, not substantial things."
Yes, sir, the light of that eye is quenched, which I have so often seen kindled under the influence of high and generous emotion. Those lips are sealed, that tongue is mute, from which I have heard the words of wisdom, of eloquence, and truth. But the loss is ours more than his. It is the loss of the country which he would have served so faithfully-of the family which mourns him so deeply.
Mr. President, into the sacred circle of that domestic grief, I do not venture to intrude. These are blows which none can heal but He who dealt them. But, sir, it is a satisfaction to his friends to know that he has left a name which will be long cherished and respected, and an example whose light, living and radiant above even the darkness of the tomb, will shed a guiding ray upon those who may succeed him.
Mr. Yulee .- Much attached to him whose worth has just been faithfully told, I ask to offer a tribute to his memory. Gentle and benevolent, generous and frank, affectionate and true, were the emotions of his heart. A clear and well-poised mind, and firm and well-ordered principles of action, made him wise in judgment and just in purpose. The high quali- ties that composed his noble character, gave him, through all his life, a leading influence in the social and political concerns of the community he belonged to, and would probably have placed him very soon, if spared to act in the present juncture of public affairs, among the distinguished few who, by notable
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wisdom, integrity, patriotism, and usefulness, attract the espe- cial regards of their country, and mark their memory in its history.
Mr. Webster .- Mr. President, I sincerely sympathize with the honorable Member from South Carolina, whose painful duty it has been, within so short a period, to announce the death of another colleague. I sympathize, sir, with all the people of South Carolina, by whom, as I know, the gentleman now deceased was greatly respected and loved. I sympathize with that domestic circle to whom his death will be a loss never to be repaired. And, sir, I feel that the Senate may well be the object of condolence on the death of a gentleman so well known in the other branch of the Legislature, of so much experience in the various duties of public and official life in his own State, and who has so recently come into this body with every qualification to render here important public service, and with every prospect of a usefulness-except so far as that prospect may have been dimined by serious apprehen- sions in regard to his health.
Sir, I had the good fortune to become acquainted with Mr. Elmore ten or twelve years ago, when he was a Member, and I may say a leading Member of the House of Representatives. I had formed a very favorable opinion of his character as a man of integrity and uprightness, of great respectability, and great talent. I regretted his departure from the councils of the nation, because a person with his qualifications, and with his habits of business, grows every day more useful in our politi- cal circles, so long as he remains in the possession of his faculties, and in the active performance of his duties. It hap- pened to me, sir, some years afterwards, and not now many years since, to form a personal and more private acquaintance with the deceased. I had the pleasure of seeing him among his own friends, of cultivating his acquaintance in the midst of those circles of social life in which he was regarded as a treasure and an ornament. I owe, sir, to him, whatever is due for kindness and hospitality, for generous welcome, and for an extension of the civilities and courtesies of life.
I shall cherish his memory with sincere regard as a valua-
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ble and able public man, and a gentleman entitled to high estimation in all the relations of life.
Mr. Davis, of Mississippi .- Mr. President, the close personal . friendship, subsisting between myself and the deceased, con- stitutes at once a disqualification on my part for speaking of him, and an impelling power which will not permit me to remain in silence. My acquaintance with him commenced some twelve years ago; during a part of that time I have been on intimate terms with him, and may be permitted to express my concurrence in what has been said of him on this occasion. He has been truly portrayed as one in whose character was blended firmness and gentleness, wisdom and modesty. These were his characteristics; and above all, directing and control- ling all, there was that stern devotion to duty, that single appliance to whatever was the task before him, which consti- tutes one of the great elements of every public character, distinguished for virtue and public usefulness. It was this devotion to duty in the sphere alluded to by his colleague which, no doubt, shattered his constitution, and thus terminated his life. On the bed from which he never rose, when wasted by disease and racked by pain, that principle which caused him to devote head and heart to his duty still ruled supreme over physical suffering and exhaustion. I saw him but a short time before his death. His first words to me then were those which pointed to the current business of the Senate, and to those interests of which he felt himself to be more imme- diately the representative, and of which we know he was so true, so able, and so faithful an advocate. The country loses much in losing such a citizen; the Senate loses much in losing such a Member; his State loses much in losing such a Repre- sentative. But there is a deeper grief, a greater loss, a darker pall spread over his bereaved family. The veil which excludes that sacred grief from public contemplation, yet permits us to offer our hearts' best sympathy with the mourners' affliction.
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