USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
By long dependence on the people Mr. Maynard learned in a tolerable manner how to mix with them-how to win their per- sonal esteem. But there always remained traces of his early stiffness and apparent coldness. I cannot say whether he was really cold and indifferent or not. I once thought in his younger days than he was. In the latter part of his life I saw so much that was sunshiny in him that I doubted the correctness of my former judgment. He was capable of acts of rare kindness, but always in a quiet, unostentatious way.
Mr. Maynard died in his sixty-eighth year, when he appar- ently had many years of usefulness before him. At the time of his death he was the most eminent citizen of the State, and the leading Republican of the South. He had outlived the preju- dice which once existed against him, and had become the idol of his party. Travel anywhere through the State, and always a sen- timent of deep attachment, or of sincere admiration was found to exist for him. At his name, the eyes of the Republicans sparkled, and their hearts swelled with pride and enthusiasm; while it called forth from Democrats words of praise for his
148
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
great ability, his many virtues, and the exalted purity of his life. There was not, in fact, a black spot, or a serious blemish on his character. And as time goes on, I predict that his name and his fame will not die out, in this State, but will grow brighter. The people will remember with something of romantic interest the young New Englander who came among them to identify his fortune with theirs, and who, unaided and alone, and by his conspicuous integrity, energy, and superior abilities, rose to be one of the most honored citizens that ever lived in the State.
Mr. Maynard's life showed that a man could be a successful politician without losing his honesty or his religion, or be- coming a demagogue. His influence was always healthful; his example and teachings helpful. Young men learned from him constant lessons of virtue and goodness, and an inspiration to an effort after a better and a brighter life.
All through Mr. Maynard's active public life, he was the object, beyond that of most public men, of malignant abuse on the part of his political enemies. Nothing was too bitter or too mean to be said of him. During much of his political life he lived in an atmosphere of storms and darkness-his life a veritable tempest. But as time went on, so much that was pure, so much that was honest and of good report was seen in him, that these clouds of slander and abuse cleared away. His own demeanor also had been becoming milder and gentler, and his opinions broader and higher, until at last he stood for the highest type of a pure and exalted citizen and sincere Christian. The contrast between the apparent coldness and the storms of his early life, and the gentle warmth and the soft calm of his later days, gave perhaps especial emphasis to the tranquillity and the sweetness of this last period.
I remember a total eclipse of the sun which occurred away back in the 'seventies. Awe-inspiring darkness gradually crept over the earth until it seemed that night had come. After awhile the sun came out from its obscuration in its full splendor, and again poured its light on the earth. The day was the very perfection of softness and beauty; the air balmy and serene. Not a leaf stirred. It was like those soft, bewitching, dreamy days that are often seen in the winter in California or Southern Texas. When evening came on, the sun sank beneath the west- ern horizon in a sea of gold. Then, there shot up behind it
149
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
a flood of purple and golden light, that filled all the western sky .*
Thus it was with Mr. Maynard. In his early political life he had his eclipse. There was almost total darkness. But this passed away and his evening came on; peaceful, cloud- less, beautiful. And as he sank to rest, there was left behind the memory of a well-spent day and the light of a serene and beautiful sunset.
*This figure comes to my mind from the fact that a son of Horace Maynard, Washburn Maynard, then a young naval officer, now a Com- mander in the United States Navy, was at my house, which stood on an eminence, during this eclipse, making observations, perhaps for the use of the government. He has since become famous by reason of his learn- ing, but especially because he fired the first shot in the late Spanish- American War.
JOHN McGAUGHEY.
Exponent of Justice and Goodness-Arrested near Athens-Provost Mar- shal-Raised Union Regiment.
THE sketches of the Union leaders of East Tennessee would be incomplete without a notice of the venerable and lamented John McGaughey of McMinn County, who was known by character all over East Tennessee, and by public men through- out the State. He was distinguished wherever he was known for purity of life and unstained integrity. In his own county his name was connected with every enterprise for the upbuild- ing of her people, in moral, intellectual, and material advance- ment, and he stood as the highest and foremost exponent of all things just and good and worthy.
Mr. McGaughey was an ardent old-line Whig, a noted type of those grand men, of whom there were so many of wealth and intelligence in East Tennessee, representing the best thought, the highest culture, and the broadest patriotism. When the Civil War came on, by education as well as by tradition he naturally preferred the glory of a broad nationalism to a nar- row and bitter sectionalism based upon undying hatred of the North. He was, therefore, an unflinching friend of the Union. He was opposed to dividing a country naturally one, united by a common glory, a common interest, and by a common destiny.
Tall, grave, and dignified, he was a noted man wherever he appeared. Whenever he opened his lips, he spoke words of wisdom and truth. Seldom has any community been blessed with a better citizen or a nobler model of a man.
Yet, so bitter was the spirit that inspired the South, or rather I would say the baser sort of Southern men (for there were examples of mercy and magnanimity among the better class even here in East Tennessee, and very many from a distance), that a gang of outlaws, in 1863 or 1864, arrested this good and harmless man, in or near Athens, in McMinn County, and carried him off, inhumanely treating him, and then murdered him in the mountains at Hiwassee Gap. This was
150
151
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
one of the saddest incidents in the Civil War in East Tennessee, being only one of hundreds that marked the suffering, the cruelties, and, in may instances, the barbarities, that befell Union men. I do not either directly or by implication charge this crime on the Confederate authorities, but expressly exon- erate them from it, for the facts are, as I understand, that this inhuman deed was done by a lawless gang of Confederate guerrillas ; but the spirit which inspired it, I regret to say, en- couraged the bitterness of secession.
Mr. McGaughey was Provost Marshal at Athens, with the rank of Lieutenant, at the time of his arrest. He was engaged in raising a regiment for service in the Federal Army. The force which arrested him was under the command of a man named Graham-a thousand strong, it was said-from the State of Georgia.
On returning from Athens the force divided, and a part of it went to Madisonville, where it arrested Mr. Joseph Devine, and took him off into the neighboring mountains, where he also was cruelly murdered. Mr. Devine had taken shelter on the approach of the enemy in the cellar of Dr. Upton's house, and finding difficulty in getting him out, he was promised the treatment of a prisoner of war if he would surrender. There- upon he accepted the terms offered him. He was also a Provost Marshal, with the rank of Lieutenant in the Federal Army, and was also engaged in recruiting a regiment for the Federal Army.
SAM MILLIGAN.
College Career-Physique-Influence with Pupils-Elected to Legislature in 1841-Re-elected in 1845-Read Law in Interval-Quartermaster in Mexican War in 1846-Greeneville Spy-In 1857 Defeated for Con- gress-In 1861 Aggressive for Union-In 1865 Appointed to Supreme Court of Tennessee-Appointed to Court of Claims in 1868-Influence Over Andrew Johnson-Personality.
SAM MILLIGAN, as he always signed his name, was my col- lege mate and lifelong friend. I shall therefore speak of him with affectionate regard and possibly with undue partiality. He was born in Greene County, of humble but upright parent- age, about the year 1814. At the age of sixteen he became a schoolteacher. Soon after that time, perhaps about 1834 or 1835, he entered old Greeneville College, then under the Presi- dency of that estimable man and accomplished scholar, Mr. Henry Hoss. By what chance the subject of our sketch con- ceived the idea of acquiring an education is altogether un- known. He lived in a very obscure part of the county, where there were at that time only occasional schools. Some unknown cause must have fixed his young mind with the ambition of becoming something above the conditions then surrounding him. The most trivial circumstances often determine the calling and the destiny of men .*
While at this college, Sam Milligan pursued his studies with assiduous devotion. The tall, pale, intellectual student soon at- tracted the attention of the president and of his fellow students. It was at once seen that he was no ordinary young man. The students were startled one day when the president announced that he would not be surprised if young Milligan should some day become a member of Congress-an honor at that time bestowed only on men of worth and ability. The news went
*I well remember, in my own case, that the accidental possession and reading of a small abridged edition of Locke's "On the Human Under- standing" while I was in camp as a soldier in the Cherokee Nation, in 1838, amid the dissipations of camp life, led me to the settled conclusion of entering upon a regular college course as soon as I should return home, and of studying law, which purpose I unswervingly carried out until I had a law license in my pocket in 1846.
152
153
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
round among the boys, and from that time Milligan was re- garded by them as an extraordinary person. From time to time, he assisted the president in teaching, or taught a short term school in the country to raise means to defray his ex- penses. I remember two such schools it was my good fortune to attend, one a class in arithmetic, another a three months' school in the neighborhood.+
Mr. Milligan was in Greeneville College perhaps three or four years, until the College finally went down about 1838, the presi- dent, Mr. Hoss, having died a year or two previously. So popular was Milligan as a teacher that the three months' school above referred to was largely attended, the best young men of the country for miles around coming to it on foot and on horseback. On the termination of that school in November, 1838, Mr. Milligan and four or five of his pupils, among whom was myself, went to Tusculum College, now Greeneville and Tusculum College, a few miles away, to renew their studies under Samuel W. Doak, D. D. Here Milligan continued his studies until 1841, when the unexampled honor of being nomi-
¡I venture to give an account of the schoolhouse known as George Linty's, two miles from Greeneville College, in which the latter school was taught. The house was made of hewn logs, instead of round logs, as was usual in those days. The singular part of the house was its interior arrangements. It literally had a hanging chimney in the center of the room. By some means long beams were fastened to the joists and the rafters, extending a few feet above the roof and down to within four or five feet of the fireplace. These beams widened out from the roof toward the floor like a funnel. Across the beams laths were nailed. Then the chimney was stuccoed, not with lime plaster, but with red clay mud. This chimney was altogether unique. It was supposed theoretically and scientifically that the smoke from the fireplace, which was immediately under the chimney, would ascend and escape at its mouth on top, upon the principal suction. That theory held good so long as there was no disturbing element, but when there was a breeze or current from the door, the smoke refused to obey the laws supposed to govern it, and went out into the room, entering the eyes, throats, and nostrils of the pupils. Then what a scene of sneezing, coughing, and wiping of eyes took place ! The seats, made of slabs, or puncheons, were ranged around the fireplace, which was immediately below the chimney, facing inward. There was another peculiar feature in this schoolhouse. On three sides of it a log was cut out, leaving an opening of about one foot in width. Instead of filling this opening with sash and glass, sheets of white writing paper, well greased on both sides to facilitate the admission of light, were pasted over the opening, and through this aperture the schoolhouse received its light. And, after all, it was not such a very bad light. Was there ever such a schoolhouse in the interior as this? Now, let it not be supposed from this description that this schoolhouse was in the wilderness, for it was situated in one of the best neighborhoods in Greene County that had been settled sixty years before.
154
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
nated as a candidate for the Legislature while still a student, was conferred upon him. Perhaps no such occurrence can be found in the history of the colleges of the country. He was easily elected, because the Democratic party, which had nomi- nated him, was in a decided majority in his district. After serving in the Legislature as the colleague of Andrew Johnson, he returned to his studies and was graduated in 1843.
Sam Milligan was in College at least eight or nine years. This is partly explained by the fact that he had engaged in teaching school, and had lost one year or more in canvassing for the Legislature and in attending its sessions. But he was a deliberate man, never in a hurry about anything. His mind did not gather knowledge rapidly. He was, however, so thorough in all he did and in all he acquired that he never lost what he had once gained.
In 1845 he was re-elected to the Legislature. In the mean- time he had been reading law, nominally in the office of Robert J. Mckinney. In this year (1845), probably while at Nash- ville, he obtained a license to practice law, and after the ad- journment of the Legislature returned to Greeneville, where he located. When the Mexican War broke out in 1846 he was appointed by President Polk a quartermaster in the army, with the rank of Major, and served first at Vera Cruz and after- ward at Jalapa. Returning home at the end of the war, he resumed his professional life in Greeneville. In 1849, he married Miss Elizabeth Howard, an accomplished young lady of an old and excellent family of Greeneville. Some time after this he became the editor of a Democratic newspaper called the Greeneville Spy. Some years later he was appointed by the Governor or the Legislature a Commissioner on the part of Tennessee, to settle an old dispute as to the boundary line between the State of Tennessee and the State of Virginia, which duty he efficiently discharged. In the year 1857 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in the first district, the conditions then existing not being favorable to his election, not- withstanding his great popularity. In the intervals, he pursued his profession with the greatest industry and with high success, considering that the dockets were not then crowded with busi- ness. In every case in which he was employed, he was con- scientious and unsparing in the use of all honorable means in the discharge of his duty to his clients.
155
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
When the war broke out between the States in 1861, with the full concurrence of his judgment, he followed the leadership of his lifelong friend, Andrew Johnson, and gave a warm and earnest support to the cause of the Union. He was appointed by the Legislature in 1861 a delegate to the Peace Congress, which assembled in Washington, the object of which was, as its name implies, to preserve the peace of the country. In the preliminary struggles in the State of Tennessee over the ques- tion of secession, Mr. Milligan exerted all his influence, both in private and on the stump, in behalf of the preservation of the Union. His ability, his high character, and his great popu- larity were potent factors in preserving or creating a loyal sentiment in the minds of the people where he resided.
Mr. Lincoln, soon after his inauguration, appointed Mr. Milligan an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Nebraska, which office he declined.
In the election of 1861, Mr. Milligan was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention proposed by the Legislature, but which was negatived by the people in the February election. After the time had arrived when it was unsafe for Union men to express their sentiments, Mr. Milligan, like most of the other leaders, became quiet and ceased to make opposition to the Confederate Government. And yet there was never an hour during the period intervening between June, 1861, and Sep- tember, 1863, when his heart did not turn fondly to the old government. In 1865, when the war was drawing to a close and Tennessee was virtually redeemed from the domination of the Confederate Government, he was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Tennessee under the newly organized State. It should be stated, however, that in the so-called Con- stitutional Convention which assembled in Nashville in the winter of 1865, Mr. Milligan took a leading part, and largely drafted the amendments to the Constitution. He held his posi- tion on the Supreme bench until 1868, when, without any solicitation on his part, he was appointed by President John- son a member of the Court of Claims, at Washington, which position he held until his death, April 20, 1874.
In the beginning of the political career of Andrew Johnson, Mr. Milligan was his warm supporter and admirer, and as they were associated together afterward in legislative duties, and in many a hot political contest, they became warm friends. Finally
156
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
Mr. Milligan became the confidential adviser of Mr. Johnson, and this relation continued for twenty or twenty-five years. He was undoubtedly during all this time the most intimate friend to whom Mr. Johnson gave his confidence. No two men could have been more unlike than they were in every element of char- acter. And yet Mr. Milligan possessed the very qualities and qualifications that Mr. Johnson needed. He was educated, trustworthy, and discreet. His judgment was sound, his infor- mation extensive, and his fidelity unquestioned. He was con- sulted by Mr. Johnson upon all new and grave questions, and no doubt he often changed the views and purposes of his great leader. He had the frankness and the manliness to speak the truth and to give honest advice. Among those who knew them well in their own county, it was always understood that either Mr. Milligan prepared or revised all the important documents coming from Mr. Johnson's pen. It has often been asserted that he prepared the first message of President Johnson to Con- gress, but from an intimate knowledge of both men I incline to the opinion that this is true only in part, and possibly not true at all. It is unquestionably true, however, that during the long and stormy political career of Mr. Johnson, he leaned with confidence upon Mr. Milligan for advice and assistance. Johnson had one other confidential friend, mentioned elsewhere, John Jones, residing in Greene County, who was sometimes taken into their confidential consultations.
In the discharge of his duties as a lawyer Mr. Milligan was faithful and laborious. His cases were always thoroughly prepared. His arguments before the courts were clear and learned. While he was not so elaborate and forcible in these arguments as Mr. Nelson, nor so exact and exhaustive as Robert J. Mckinney, he was as clear and pointed as either of them. He possessed in an eminent degree a legal mind, capable of the nicest distinctions, and the clearest apprehen- sion of the principles involved in his cases. As a judge he was eminently just and impartial, as he saw the law and the facts. His opinions have stamped him as an able jurist.
It is not, however, in the capacity of a politician, a lawyer, or a jurist that he presents his highest and most admirable traits of character. His public life was more open and more dazzling, but it was his splendid personality that gave to him his highest attractiveness. As a student, a lawyer, and a private
157
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
citizen, it was the conspicuous virtues of the man that made him altogether unlike his fellows. In college he was always the pet of his teachers, and the favorite, if not the idol, of his school- mates. He was so gentle, so patient, so amiable and so oblig- ing that everyone loved him. If the younger scholars needed assistance in working an example in arithmetic, or a problem in algebra, or help in the construction or translation of a sentence in Latin or Greek they went to him. He was kind in aiding them,-cheerfully stopping from his own studies for this purpose. The older scholars found in him a genial com- panion, an intelligent adviser, and an example of all that was commendable. His superiority was ungrudgingly acknowledged without the slightest mixture of jealousy. When we add to this his kindliness, his warm, sunshiny disposition, his help- fulness, and his unchanging sweet temper, it need not occasion surprise that he was such a favorite. During the five or six years that I was in college with him, and on the most intimate terms, I can recall no occasion when he was angry, or when he spoke an unkind word. He certainly possessed human passions and human prejudices, but they were kept in perfect restraint. Nothing could disturb his ever-present serenity.
In after life, however high or exalted his position, he ex- emplified constantly the same winning, noble qualities that dis- tinguished him at school. He was unpretentious in manner and conversation.
Mr. Milligan was not a great orator, but was a very im- pressive speaker, earnest, lucid, and persuasive, possessing some fancy, which he held in such complete subjection to his intellect that it seldom appeared in his speeches. His mind was eminently logical and philosophical. He was a thinker. His high intellectual head indicated thought, rather than im- agination. He was a classical scholar, and well read in the great works of prose and poetry which add so much to the power of a public speaker. He had decided taste for all works of beauty and thought, and yet at all times he was devoted to his profession, and indulged in these only for recrea- tion.
In demeanor, Judge Milligan was grave, sedate, and retiring, with a quiet, thoughtful, and contemplative air. His modesty and humility were so excessive that he seemed to be always shrinking from observation, yet in private there was a strong
158
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
undercurrent of fun and merriment bubbling up in playful good humor. In college he took no part in the sports and games of the students, yet in private, his ear and heart were open to their joys and their griefs, to the tales of their sports and their amusements. All sought him, all followed him, all de- lighted to be with him. By a sort of magical power, he drew all persons to him who came within the influence of this spell. Now, what was the secret of this? He was, not showy, not brilliant, not dazzling, not effusive, not demonstrative. A single word will explain it all-it was goodness! Tennyson has ex- pressed it in these lines :
"Howe'er it be, it seems to me 'Tis only noble to be good ; Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood."
Sam Milligan's life was one long round of modesty, humility, gentleness, and peacefulness. He uttered no harsh words, gave no wounds, was guilty of no questionable acts. His conduct in all things was upright and noble. He absolutely had no enemies. He was a peacemaker, "Blessed are the peacemakers." He came out of all his political contests, however heated, with the good will, the esteem, and admiration even, of his political opponents. He was just and honorable in all things. He might have stood up before all the world and said, as Samuel of old did to the assembly of Israel: "Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Whom have I wronged?" and no one could have answered his challenge. Altogether I think he was the best man I have ever known-he had fewer faults and more virtues. He was indeed a beautiful character. Would that I could paint his life as a picture, and show it to the world, just as he lived it. How pure, how fresh, how dewy- like a garden of flowers in the early morning.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.