USA > South Carolina > Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina, vol. II > Part 8
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I feel, Mr. President, that I am utterly disqualified for the purpose of justly describing his many endearing and radical virtues; still more for the set phrase of formal eulogy. I shall not attempt either one or the other. I will leave to other
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tongues and to other times whatever it may be becoming and proper to say. I cordially second the resolutions presented by the colleague of the deceased.
After a pause-
Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, moved that when the Senate ad- journs, it adjourn to meet to-morrow at eleven o'clock.
The motion was unanimously agreed to.
The resolutions offered by Mr. Butler were agreed to.
The Vice-President oppointed the following gentlemen the committee under the resolutions :
Messrs. Yulee, Clemens, Badger, Jones, Corwin and Norris. And the Senate then adjourned.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
FRIDAY, May 31, 1850.
The Journal was read and approved.
Mr. Jones .- In pursuance of the understanding of the House on Wednesday morning that we would on yesterday adjourn to Monday, I now move that when the House adjourns to- day, it adjourn to meet on Monday next.
The question being taken, the motion was agreed to.
A pause of a few moments ensued.
DEATH OF MR. ELMORE.
A message was received from the Senate, by the hands of Asbury Dickins, Esq., their Secretary, informing the House of the decease of Hon. F. H. Elmore, a Senator from the State of South Carolina, and communicating the proceedings of the Senate with respect thereto.
The message having been read-
Mr. Woodward rose and addressed the House as follows:
MR. SPEAKER-It is not only expected, but desired, by every one present, that we should spend a few moments in enliven- ing our remembrance of the distinguished person whose much-lamented and untimely death is the subject of the reso- lutions just received from the Senate. Not that the solemnities about to be entered upon can add anything to the reputation of the deceased, or increase the estimation in which he was,
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and is to be, held by the country. No eulogy of mine could add to a fame from which aspersion could never be able to detract. I have not risen, therefore, to do justice to the dead. The dead has done full justice to the dead. The death of Franklin H. Elmore holds no claim upon his life uncancelled. I rise to discharge a debt due to you, to ourselves, and the country-due to the proprieties growing out of the relations under which we stood to the deceased, when living, and the relations under which we stand to those, who, in his death, have suffered bereavement. It is not necessary that any one should here, on this occasion, bear testimony to his uncommon intellectual endowments, or his pure and elevated character. The knowledge of these, and the deep impression they have made on the public mind, will impart much greater interest to an unadorned narrative of his life, than any elaborate eulogium could possess.
Franklin Harper Elmore was born in the year 1799, in the District of Laurens, State of South Carolina. He was the second son of Gen. John Elmore, who served in the war of the Revolution, under Gen. Greene. He received his education in his native State, and was graduated at the South Carolina College, in the year 1819. In 1821, he was admitted to the Bar, and the year after was elected by the Legislature Solicitor, or State's-Attorney, for the judicial circuit, which included Columbia, the seat of government. The duties of this office he continued to discharge with ability and distinction for four- teen years, having been successively re-elected, at periods of four years. From this office he was, in December, 1836, transferred to the House of Representatives of the United States, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. James H. Hammond, subsequently a distinguished Governor of South Carolina. He was again chosen Represen- tative at the next regular election. The whole period of his service in this body was three years. He was here known and marked as the man of thought, and counsel, and action. He but seldom mingled in debate, though he was gifted with parliamentary powers. He was, however, destined to pass to a different sphere.
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In 1839, the Presidency of the Bank of the State of South Carolina became vacant. This bank, owning a large capital, and being the fiscal agent of the State, holds a responsible position relative to neighboring monetary institutions. The weight of this responsibility had been increased by the general crash and derangement of 1837-8. Circumstances made it peculiarly necessary to place at its head a man of deep and comprehensive mind, capable of discipline and system-of complex combinations, and full of circumspection and forecast. Col. Elmore was the individual fixed upon. For upwards of ten years he continued at the head of the institution, unceas- ing in assiduity, and indefatigable in labor. It was mainly during this period that he achieved his reputation as a financier and commercialist. And if results were not altogether as favorable as could have been desired, the explanation, doubt- less, will be found in the reflection that there are conditions which impose a limit upon possible success in all affairs, and no degree of human talent or effort is capable of transcending this limit. It is confidently believed that the laborious career just referred to undermined his constitution, disabling it to withstand the assaults of an accidental malady. He is believed to have died of erysipelas.
It would hardly seem appropriate to detail the circum- stances, so recently commemorated, under which he appeared amongst us as a Senator from his native State. I cannot, however, refrain from remarking, how striking and impres- sive is the thought, that, having been called so unexpectedly to take the post of his great predecessor, he should also have been called so speedily to follow his footsteps to the grave ; as if drawn by some strong affinity for the one who had gone before him; as though he had been beckoned still onward to a happier state by the friendly spirit of a just man made per- fect. I believe that Mr. Elmore's voice was heard but once in the Senate, and that was, in answering to his name when called by the Secretary.
The intellectual endowments of Col. Elmore, his mental culture and acquirements, his elevated character, the purity of his morals, his unexceptionable good breeding, and the per-
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fection of his social qualities, all conspired to bind his fellow- man to him ; some by one law of human sympathy, some by another.
Not unfrequently engaged in the honorable competitions of life, he was, of course, sometimes the object of those irritations of feeling which rivalries are apt to engender. These heart- burnings, however, could scarcely ever survive a social inter- change of ten minutes, or even a transitory greeting upon the street. And, strange as the verbal contradiction may seem, I speak with perfect sincerity when I say, that his enemies-if he had an enemy-were also his friends. And yet his popu- larity was not of an intense character: it was too universal to be intense. It did not meet with sufficient resistance to give it the highest degree of compactness. It seemed to exist, or rather live by a gentle law of nervous connection with the community ; and there is no portion of the community, whose sensibilities will not be touched by his death.
Upon the nearer socialities that have been broken, I choose not to make any remarks. The disconsolate heart shrinks from the gaze of the world; and what our eyes may not look at, let our lips forbear to mention.
Mr. W., at the close of his remarks, submitted the follow- ing resolutions :
" Resolved, That this House has heard with deep sensibility the announcement of the death of the Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, a Senator in Congress, from the State of South Carolina.
" Resolved, That, as a testimony of respect for the memory of the deceased, the Members and officers of this House will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
" Resolved, That the proceedings of this House in relation to the death of the Hon. Franklin H Elmore, be communicated to the family of the deceased by the Clerk.
" Resolved, That this House will, as a body, forthwith repair to the Senate Chamber, to attend the funeral of the deceased."
The resolutions were unanimously adopted.
After a pause-
The Speaker stated, that in compliance with the resolutions
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just adopted, the House would now proceed to the Senate Chamber.
And thereupon, the Members of the House, preceded by their Speaker and Clerk, repaired to the Senate Chamber, to attend the funeral proceedings.
After having deposited the corpse in the Congressional burying-ground, the officers and Members returned to the House.
And then the House adjourned to Monday.
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PHILIP EDWARD PEARSON.
Philip Edward Pearson was born in Fairfield District, near Montecello, in 1786. His father, Philip Pearson, was an eminent surveyor. He was educated at the Rev. James Rogers's Academy, Montecello, and studied law at Columbia, Newberry, and Winnsboro'. He was in the office of Thomas Henry Egan, in Columbia, probably in 1803. I recollect seeing him, and his brother, William, often, at Newberry, in 1804, and was told they were studying law with Samuel Thee, Esq. He finished, I presume, his reading with Caleb Clarke, Esq., at Winnsboro', in 1805 and 1806, and was admitted to the Bar, at Columbia, in 1807.
He settled and practiced law, at Winnsboro', as soon as he was admitted. In 1809, he married Miss Rachel Yongue, the daughter of the Rev. S. W. Yongue.
He was elected to the Legislature both before 1824 and after 1832. In 1824, he was elected Solicitor of the Middle Circuit, in the place of Mr. Solicitor Clarke, for four years ; and, in 1832, he was elected again for another term.
In 1830, he was elected, by the Board of Trustees, a Trustee of the South Carolina College; and, in 1833, he was elected, by the Legislature, a Trustee for four years.
In 1814, just before the declaration of peace, Mr. Pearson was appointed Aid to Major-General William Strother, with the rank of Major. Mr. Caleb Clarke, at the same time, was appointed Aid to General Starke. Pearson, after receiving his commission, came up to a crowd, cursing England, and boasting of his appointment. Capt. Clarke, who was present, said, "Major Pearson, do you know the reason peace was declared? The Prince Regent, hearing that we had received military commissions, became alarmed, and concluded peace hastily."
In 1838, Mr. Pearson removed to Alabama, and, after some years, to the neighborhood of Matagorda, Texas, where he
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died, a few years ago; leaving his wife and three children- Dr. Adolphus Pearson, Texas, Mrs. John Woodward, and Mrs. Samuel F. Price, of Alabama.
Mr. Pearson was a man of various acquirements; more by his own industry than by education. He was fond of anti- quarian researches, and preserving legendary lore. He wrote the article in Mills's Statistics on Fairfield, and a letter on witchcraft, published in first Statistics. Before his death, he was preparing, as he informed me by letter, an account of the Broad River Section of Fairfield District. I hope he lived to complete it, and that it will yet see the light.
He was a pleasant, companionable man-abounding in anecdote. He was a good lawyer -- preparing and arguing his cases well. His arguments were generally clear and to the point; never very long, which was, then and is now, most commendable.
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THOMPSON T. PLAYER.
Thompson T. Player, was the son of Major Joshua Player, of Fairfield. He was his son by his first wife, and graduated in the South Carolina College, in the Class of 1822. He studied law, at Newberry, in the office of Judge O'Neall, for perhaps, two years, then visited Litchfield, Connecticut, to attend the law school there. He soon became dissatisfied, and wrote to Judge O'Neall, requesting to resume his place in his office, which was granted with pleasure. He returned, and there finished his course. In 1827, he was admitted to the Bar, and settled at Winnsboro'. He was elected to the House of Representatives, in the General Assembly, in 1830, and again in 1832. He married the youngest daughter of General Hampton, who died in, perhaps, a year after mar- riage. He was elected Solicitor of the Middle Circuit in 1833, and was continued until 1841. In 1833 and 1837, Mr. Player was elected a Trustee of the South Carolina College. In 1841 Mr. Thomas M. Dawkins succeeded Mr. Player as Solicitor. The latter, after he ceased to be Solicitor, devoted himself to the acquisition of wealth, first, at New Orleans, and subsequently, he married a fair lady in Tennessee, by whom I have understood, he acquired an estate. He lived in Nashville, where he died, within the last five or six years.
Mr. Player was a gentleman, of good education and soft manners. He had respectable talents, spoke well, except when he resorted to art. He was, however, too artificial, and too much of a copyist, to be an orator. He was a good lawyer, and when he left my office, he was better prepared for success at the Bar, than any one, out of more than twenty students, who had passed out of it.
In his Solicitorship he did his duty well. In the case against Fleming, for the murder of Barkley Shipp, of Fair- field, notwithstanding he was opposed by Col. Preston, he so managed and argued the case, that no advantage was obtained over him. His argument in the case, ex parte McCrady vs. Hunt, 2 Hill, 1, can be read in the report of that case, and an opinion can be formed of him as a lawyer.
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JOHN D. EDWARDS.
This gentleman was born, as I believe, in 1797. He was in the sophomore class of the South Carolina College, when I was Senior, in the year 1812; he was then a mere boy. He graduated in the class of 1814, of which Hugh S. Legaré was the leading member. I did not see Mr. Edwards after my graduation, until 1824, when I was Speaker of the House of Representatives. He then stood before me, with a head white as snow. Twelve years had raised him to manhood. An unfortunate event had blanched his locks, and had made such an alteration in his appearance, that I should never have known him, had he not said, " I was in college with you, I am John D. Edwards."
He studied law, was admitted to the Bar, in the City of Charleston, on the 7th May, 1818. He settled first at Walter- boro', and practiced with William Singleton, as his partner. After the death of his partner, he removed to Barnwell, where he lived and practiced law several years. He returned then to Walterboro', and was the partner of Franklin H. Elmore, both before and after 1829. He was several times a Member of the House of Representatives of this State.
On the election of Mr. Elmore, to Congress, in 1836, Mr. Edwards was elected Solicitor of the Southern Circuit, and was continued, by successive elections, to 1848, when he was superseded by the Honorable M. L. Bonham.
He married a beautiful and accomplished lady, Miss Abigail Swift, in the City of Charleston. He was utterly ruined by an imprudent indorsement for a friend. His lovely wife died shortly before, or soon after, leaving an interesting family of two daughters and three sons. The kindness of a brother lawyer, who never saw want without sharing his loaf with it, provided the means whereby a home was secured to him and his children. Mr. Edwards, in his past kindness to an orphan, was richly entitled to the sympathizing friendship of friends. He died about 1857.
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As a lawyer, he was zealous and indefatigable. His im- pulsive disposition made him sometimes overshoot the mark.
As Solicitor, he was diligent, attentive, and persevering, and although not a profound lawyer, yet he rarely failed to attain the ends of justice.
He spoke easily and fluently, and had many of the graces of oratory, in style and manner; yet, he never could be called an orator.
Col. Edwards was one of the kindest, and most attached, and devoted husbands and fathers with whom I was acquainted.
He was hospitable to a fault; for his kindness, in this re- spect, trenched deeply on his limited means.
He was a nephew of Chancellor DeSaussure, and like him, he cultivated hospitality and kindness, as a household virtue.
He was a gentleman of the old school. His faults, what- ever they were, are buried with him. Let his virtues be re- membered, and let his children never want a friend to protect them, as he did Richard W. Singleton.
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ALEXANDER MARKLAND MCIVER.
Alexander Markland McIver was born 21st February, 1799, in Darlington District. His mother was the sister of General David R. Williams. She was, therefore, of Welsh descent. His father, judging from the name, was descended from the great family of McIver, in the Highlands of Scotland, so much distinguished by Flora McIver, who succeeded in securing the escape of the Pretender in his flight from Scotland.
He graduated in the class 1817, in the South Carolina Col- lege, and studied law with Judge Evans, then at the Bar, and was admitted to the Bar of the Law Court, 27th April, 1820, and to that of the Court of Equity, 17th January, 1828. He was married to Mary Hanford, the eldest daughter of Enoch Hanford, Esq., 23d January, 1822.
He was a Member of the House of Representatives of South Carolina, between 1830 and 1833. He was elected Solicitor of the Northern, now the Eastern Circuit, in the place of Thomas J. Withers, now Judge Withers, on the 13th of December, 1841. He was thrice elected, and died in his third term, on the 10th of July, 1850. His friend, General Hanna, succeeded him. His early death, in October, 1853, opened the way to Mr. McIver's son, Henry McIver, who was appointed by the Governor pro tem., and who was, in December succeeding, elected, and has most worthily since fulfilled the duties of this great law office.
Alexander M. McIver left at his death, surviving him, his widow, six sons and three daughters. Mr. McIver was a member of the Baptist Church. He was an excellent man, devoted to his family. He possessed very good talents, and a fine elocution; and if he had improved the powers with which God had endowed him, he must have been eminent in any walk of life. But he felt not that necessity which makes a man use his mind, as a means of living. The re- sult was, that he never rose above mediocrity in his profes- sion, which, it seemed to me, he never liked.
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WILLIAM J. HANNA.
This gentlemen I first met at Chesterfield, in October, 1830, when I was exceedingly sick, and from him I then received such attentions as endeared him to me in all his subsequent life. He was admitted to the Bar in 1829, and had not long been a resident at Chesterfield. He was born on the 13th December, 1806, in York District. He was the son of James Hanna, and was called after his grand-father, Col. William Hanna, of the Revolution. His mother was Violet Barry, the niece of Gen. Thos. Moore, and sister of Andrew Barry, of Spartanburgh District. He began practice at Chesterfield, as the partner of his relation, Minor Clinton, Esq.
He had an academic education. Soon after settling at Chesterfield, he married Dorothy, the daughter of John Craig, Esq., very much against the wishes of her father; but she, fortunately, though acting against her father's wishes, made a better match for herself than her father could have done for her. The old gentleman was afterwards not only recon- ciled, but also gloried in his son-in-law as an honor to him and his household.
Gen. Hanna was a remarkable man : he was self-made. As a lawyer, he was well informed ; his preparation of his busi- ness and cases was admirable: everything was in order. Every matter, in his cases, he knew, and knew how to bring it out properly and in its proper place. His statements and ar- guments were as clear as a sun-beam. The consequence was that he was never tedious, and most generally successful. As a Member of the Legislature, he was always in his place, prompt, and ready, and useful in business. He was a pure patriot ; very possibly, however, like many other good men in Carolina, he was mistaken in his politics.
In a few years, he became the leading lawyer at Ches- terfield, and occupied a commanding position on the cir- cuit. His wife died on 23d June, 1841, leaving three children.
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He was regularly promoted through all the military grades to that of Brigadier-General, and I have often heard him commended as an excellent officer. He was three times elected to the State Senate-first, in 1842, and again in 1846 and '50. On the 16th February, 1842, he married his second wife, Eliza A. Chapman, who died in April, 1843, leaving one child, who still survives. In 1844, he married Margaret C. Chapman, the cousin of his first wife. He succeeded Alexander McIver, as Solicitor of the Northern, now the Eastern Circuit, in 1850, which position, however, he held but for a short time for, on 22d March, 1853, he died, and was succeeded in office by Henry, the son of his friend, the late Alexander McIver, leaving a widow and three children, who still survive him.
He presented an example of purity, and lived a life, of which his descendants should be proud. In every relation of life he was without reproach, and the tears of love and affection of all who knew him, fell upon his early but hon- ored grave.
CHARLESTON, S. C., 21st September, 1859.
Dear Sir,-Yours of the 9th inst., relative to the late Gen. Hanna, was duly received.
I have only delayed replying until I could see some of the family to get definite information.
William Jefferson Hanna, was born 13th December, 1806, in York District, South Carolina. He never received a colle- giate education. He was admitted to practice in the Courts of Law 25th November, 1829, and in the Court of Equity 3d December, 1836. He was married to Dorothy C. Craig, 21st March, 1833; she died 23d June, 1841, leaving three children, who still survive. He was married a second time to Eliza A. Chapman, 16th February, 1842; she died 15th April, 1843, leaving one child who is still living.
He was married a third time to Margaret C. Chapman, 24th July, 1844, who bore him three children, all of whom, with the widow, still survive.
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He was commissioned Brigadier-General 9th May, 1839, which office he held until about the last of September, 1845. He was elected to the Senate of South Carolina in 1842, 1846, and 1850. He never was a Member of the House of Representatives. He was elected Solicitor in December, 1850, and died at Chesterfield Court House, 22d March, 1853.
So far from regarding your letters as troublesome, I can assure you that it gives me great pleasure to be of any ser- vice to you, and shall be glad for you to call on me whenever you may think I can be of service.
Yours, very respectfully,
Hon. JOHN BELTON O'NEALL, Newberry, S. C.
HENRY MCIVER.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
THOMAS PINCKNEY.
General Thomas Pinckney, the second son of Chief Justice Charles Pinckney, and Eliza Lucas, the daughter of Col. Lucas, the Governor of Antigua, was born 23d October, 1750, and in 1753, was carried with his brother, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, by their father, to England, to be educated. In 1758, Chief Justice Pinckney, in consequence of the French war, returned to South Carolina, and soon after died. His will directed that his sons should receive the best education, "were it even necessary to sell part of his estate for that purpose."
Thomas Pinckney was educated at Westminster and Ox- ford, studied law at the Temple, and was admitted as a Bar- rister.
When he returned to Charleston, about the year 1772 or 1773, the dispute between the mother country and colonies, was drawing rapidly to a head.
On the 7th June, 1775, Thomas Pinckney was appointed Ist Lieutenant of one of the regiments ordered to be raised by South Carolina.
I see it is stated in Lieber's American Encyclopedia, that " Thomas Pinckney rose to the rank of Major." This may be so, in the continual change of officers in those regiments before and after they were placed on the Continental estab- lishment.
It seems that he was the aid of General Lincoln, who took the command of the Southern Army, 7th December, 1778, and that he acted in that capacity, with Count DeEstaing, in the siege and disastrous attack on the town of Savannah, 9th October, 1779.
Whether Thomas Pinckney was present and surrendered at Charleston, on the 12th of May, 1780, I am unable to say. It is possible he was, and that, with General Lincoln, as a part
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of his suite, went to Philadelphia, in a vessel which was there furnished. If so, he must have been exchanged, for he was the aid of General Gates, in his unfortunate defeat at Gum Swamp, near Camden, in August, 1780. In that affair he bore a gallant part. He was wounded and taken prisoner, and was sent, as a prisoner of war, to Philadelphia. He had, I presume, no further opportunity of service in the Revo- lution.
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