USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 3
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Judge Temple was chairman of the agricultural committee until 1900. During this time the agricultural farm and the experiment station were particularly his province, and his direc- tion of them was truly a labor of love. He hoped to interest and inspire the young farmers by the practical lessons scientifically given on the experiment farm. He held that the proper policy of the university was to emphasize the work of the agricultural department, both in order to carry out the laws of congress as
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well as to fulfil the trust to the State. "His services to the univer- sity and to the cause of education of the State deserve to be remembered with gratitude by the people of the entire State. It is safe to say that he did more to build up the university, and especially the agricultural department, than any other man."* He accomplished the scattering of the trustees over the State, though when, on February 25, 1884, he first offered a resolution bearing on that point, in order to make the university in reality as in name a State institution, it was discussed, opposed, and not even seconded.
He never ceased to have an abounding pride in his own alma mater, Washington College. He always aided it with advice and in more substantial ways. Through his help several of his nephews and great-nephews were enabled to take the college course. He never turned a deaf ear to an ambitious boy nor to a needy working man or woman. His benefactions were numerous and as generous as his means permitted.
Judge Temple at all times manifested a deep concern in all public enterprises calculated to improve his State and his adopted city. His mind was always busy to effect some improve- ment. He took a particularly active part in fostering the build- ing of railroads. He was one of the originators of the Knox- ville and Ohio Railroad in 1854, now a part of the Southern sys- tem. He was an original stockholder, one of the first directors and the first secretary of the board. He was also a director, for two or three years soon after the war, of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, now the Southern, of which his brother, Major Temple, was the first civil engineer. He memorialized the legislature on good roads, and he himself built, giving largely both time and money, the first macadamized road in East Tennessee, the Kingston pike, and as president he person- ally superintended its construction.
He was a trustee in the Deaf and Dumb School before the war. He aided in the starting of a public library, and later was a trustee and president of the Lawson McGee Library. He was a trustee in the Second Presbyterian Church, in the tower of which to-day one of the memorial chimes rings forth in his memory.
He was a very active member of the Knoxville Industrial 'Association. An address that he delivered in 1869 before this
*Resolutions of the Knoxville Bar, in 1907, on the death of Judge Temple.
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body on the resources and possibilities of his section was pub- lished and widely circulated. He was a member of the Board of Trade and of the Chamber of Commerce. He was a State commissioner to the World's Fair in Chicago. He was colonel on the staff of Governor Neill S. Brown in 1847. In 1899 Judge Temple was honored by the Scotch-Irish Society of America by being made its president to succeed the late Robert Bonner of the New York Ledger.
In politics Judge Temple was a Whig before the war, a union man during the war, and later an unswerving Republican. While on the bench he declined to make political speeches or to take any part in political conventions. No judge ever kept clearer of politics. In 1865 he worked to defeat the plan of Governor Johnson for reorganizing the State government, be- lieving that a constitutional convention, made up of delegates duly elected, should have been called. He felt that a great deal of the discontent that followed in the State might have been pre- vented had a wisely selected constitutional convention been as- sembled.
Judge Temple gave his last days to authorship and to the conduct of his private business affairs. It is a remarkable fact that all his literary work was undertaken after he was seventy- five years old, when for a second time he had acquired a com- petency. He had lost his fortune in the panic of 1873.
Judge Temple was a scholar. He was exceedingly fond of books and literature, and his eager, active mind was stored with information. He was a close and careful observer; his judg- ment was discriminating; his spirit broad; his wisdom ripe. He was a profound thinker; his mind was clear, incisive and accurate. Because of his fine spirit and kindly temper, his study of events was dispassionate and calmly philosophical. His training as a lawyer and as a judge gave a judicial value to his conclusions. He calmly weighed in the balance the evidence on each side. He wielded a facile pen. He thus possessed in an unusual degree the qualities that make an accurate and success- ful historian, and he was regarded as an authority on the his- tory of Tennessee. He was the author of "The Covenanter, the Cavalier and the Puritan," 1897, and of "East Tennessee and the Civil War," 1899, both masterly contributions to history. In the latter he showed himself free from all partisan bitter- ness-a generous, unbiased critic of the events in which he him-
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self had taken a leading part. A lecture on the "Scotch-Irish of Tennessee" and many other lectures he delivered frequently. A sketch of "John Sevier," written for the dedication of the Sevier monument, in the building of which he was one of the fore- most spirits, was published in 1910 by his daughter. It is said to be the best article ever written about Tennessee's first gov- ernor. Judge Temple was indefatigable in his literary labors, painstaking, industrious, persevering. He enjoyed the mental stimulus and exhilaration. He took great pleasure in the work, and even after an accident rendered him a great sufferer, his writing, though interrupted, was not entirely laid aside.
In the early and middle portion of his life Judge Temple was rather a delicate man, and he was constantly handicapped by eyes that were not strong. He was always extremely careful and abstemious, and after his seventieth year he gradually grew into perfect health; at seventy-five he was alert, active and as straight as an arrow in his stately and dignified carriage. He was apparently in his prime, and he had his hands full of both private and public business. These latter years of Judge Tem- ple's life were rich in unexpected tokens of regard. His birth- days were occasions for felicitations on the part of friends at home and throughout the land-letters, telegrams, visits and remembrances bore to him the love and good wishes of the many admirers that he had in every station of life. The papers wrote of him as "The Grand Old Man of Tennessee," and in vigor of body and mind he bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Gladstone, the "Grand Old Man" of England. Until 1904 his perfect physical condition and his wonderful vigor of mind made him a marvel-the perfect fruition of a life generously spent ; unselfish motives, honesty and high principles had been its mainspring. He was pure in heart. In July, 1904, he became seriously ill, and he lingered between life and death for weeks. Though he recovered, he was never quite strong again. The following June he had a fall, which left him with a fractured hip. For nearly three and a half years from the time of his first breakdown until his passing away his patience and his endurance were heroic. He was bright and hopeful, despite almost insupportable suffer- ing, seeing his friends, recounting bits of history, or even giving expressions to an outburst of humor, which was always one of his greatest joys. Occasionally he wrote letters, or even at times worked on his "Union Leaders," his unfinished book,
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which he was eager to finish and publish. His spirit rose supe- rior to physical pain ; whenever possible, on his sick couch, he labored to complete his manuscript, his mind clear, alert, incisive and his memory perfect-a brave fight worthy the emulation of younger persons. It is the men that have accomplished at so advanced an age such feats as did Judge Temple that stand out as luminous landmarks.
Whatever harsh traits Judge Temple may have had were softened in his later years. While the virility, manliness and forcefulness that he was so splendidly endowed with were strengthened by the passing years, yet they were mellowed and enriched by time. His Christian faith was strong, and fre- quently he said, "I am ready, I am waiting." Judge Temple had always a high reverence for religion and for the Presbyte- rian church. He, his wife and his daughter belonged to that denomination, as his ancestors for generations before him had done. Reverence was one of his strongest traits. His tempera- ment was deeply poetic, imaginative and artistic, yet in contrast was extremely practical and somewhat austere in its exactions upon himself and upon others. He loved perfection in all things, whether of one of nature's marvelous scenes or of art's most exquisite fashioning of fabric or color. His own dress was not only immaculate, but always elegant. He was always noticeable in appearance, his walk brisk, his head high and his carriage graceful, while his cordiality, his repose of manner, his fine poise made him the type of the old-time southern gentlemen.
The hospitality of Judge Temple and Mrs. Temple was far- famed, and later his daughter kept up the reputation of the Temple home as a social center. Judge Temple delighted to have his friends about him and to welcome them to his historic old home .*
*The first Union general to enter Knoxville in the sixties was Gen. John W. Foster, secretary of state under President Harrison, and the greatest diplomat and international lawyer of our country to-day. Upon his arrival in Knoxville, General Foster sent for Judge Temple to ask his advice. This friendship was continued with mutual high regard. One of the most pleasant incidents of Judge Temple's long illness was a visit, in March, 1906, from General Foster and Mrs. Foster, who were en route to Nashville, in a private car, in company with Sir Mortimer Durand, the British ambassador to the United States, Miss Durand, and Commissioner McFarland of the District of Columbia. They all stopped to see Judge Temple. He found great pleasure in welcoming them to his sick room, and in knowing that they were gathered around his hospitable table with a brilliant company to meet them.
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"Among Judge Temple's many distinguished traits of char- acter which marked him as a man of force was his keen percep- tion of moral truth and an exemplification of it in every sphere of life. His personal honesty was proverbial. His industry and energy were of the highest order and were only equaled by his fidelity to friends and devotion to principle. The same rule of conduct marked his connection with public trusts, which was ascribed to his personal character. He was possessed of a large amount of what men call 'soul.' He was sympathetic and kind. He was always popular, as was shown by his success with An- drew Johnson in 1847. His popularity begun, grew into mag- nificent proportions on account of this giant-like battle up to the war."*
His great hold on the people from the highest to the lowest came from the fact that they had absolute confidence in him; they knew that they could rely upon what he said as true and upon what he did as honest.
With a Puritan's scrupulousness, truthfulness and honor, inherited from his English ancestors, Judge Temple united a quiet Scotch humor and love of a joke that made him a genial companion. He intimately knew the spirit that ruled the masses as well as the reasons that prompted their actions in critical times. "In the first two years of the civil war, when Johnson and Maynard were fugitives and Nelson in a Richmond prison, Temple's good temper and diplomatic skill enabled him to re- main at home and sometimes to soften the rigors of Confederate rule over his fellow-citizens. When in 1863 Knoxville was occu- pied by the federal army, his influence with the authorities at Washington was again active, and he had a part in everything that concerned his region."t
Judge Temple as a boy was shrinking and timid. Later when he took the lead and assumed an aggressive attitude, it was be- cause he felt the supreme need of carrying forward some vital principle. He was one of the best and most popular speakers in the State before he was thirty-five, his manner pleasing, his voice exceptionally good and his gesticulation dramatic. His facts were clear, his reasoning was logical; his arguments were sim- ple, yet they were combined with power of imagination. He was
*Speer.
+Speer.
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not only an orator, but also a debater. He never failed to im- press his hearers, and generally won his cause. When it was known that he would speak, people would travel miles to hear him. "Long before the sixties he was among the foremost law- yers at the Knoxville bar, which was always strong, but never stronger than during that period. He was particularly effective before a jury, and rarely lost a criminal case. Subsequent to the war his judicial career was noted."*
Judge William A. Henderson writes of Judge Temple: "His universal kindness, aid, protection and instruction to the younger members of the bar who practiced before him, or whom he met socially, were remarkable. He would protect a sparrow hawk against the unjust attack of an eagle. Most of the mem- bers of the bar were young men when he was on the bench, and they all revere his memory."
Chief Justice Beard of the supreme court of Tennessee-one of his closest friends-in a letter on Judge Temple's eighty- second birthday, wrote: "Few attain your number of years and retain your wonderful interest in the general affairs of life. I wish that you may be spared many years of useful citizenship, and may continue to be a guide to your friends in all that you consider noble and uplifting."
The late Senator Bate, July 21, 1903, wrote: "I look back with pleasure to my two visits to your hospitable and historic home. It is so rare that one of your age is left with strength and health and retention of faculties that a casual visit to you in itself is of interest, even were it not associated with the lawyer, the chancellor and the author. Your green old age demonstrates the goodness of nature to those whose habits and taste in life have been those of the Christian philosopher, and . . when I left you I felt like quoting the Prince of Denmark: 'I shall not look upon his like again.' "
Judge Temple was a man to be remembered with reverence and gratitude by his inmost circle of friends, as well as by those in the humbler walks of life that knew him.
Mr. W. B. Lenoir, of the opposite political party from Judge Temple, wrote: "I admired Judge Temple when I was a boy, I think, because he was an aristocrat. I did not attempt to define the word to myself at the time, but give a definition now in its
*Speer.
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true sense as being one who is too intelligent and honest and too proud of himself, of his family and of his country ever to do a mean or unworthy thing. . . I am as proud, perhaps more so, of O. P. Temple for what he did not do as for what he did do. He did not use his great influence to persecute those of opposite political sentiments after the civil war, but to protect them ; he did not drag the ermine in the mire of partisan politics or let political prejudice weigh the balance, but dealt out even-handed justice. He was the just judge, the upright citizen, the graceful speaker, the polished southern gentleman."
A life-long admirer says: "He was the very ideal of a high- minded and courteous gentleman, the soul of honor as a man, and as a jurist an ornament to that noble profession of which he was an acknowledged leader. He left to his daughter a precious legacy in the memory of his home life, of his devotion to her mother and to herself, and in his long life and splendid record in the community as a lawyer, an author, a public ser- vant and a Christian gentleman." Of his character it can well be said that he was a zealous and devoted patriot, pure and noble in his ideals, honest in all his dealings, truthful and sincere in all his utterances, and a worker who never stayed his hand, though he was over eighty-seven years old, until death com- manded him to cease. He had set an example that even the worthiest would be honored by following.
Judge Temple died at his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, No- vember 2, 1907, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, mourned by his community and by his State. He was the last of the great union leaders, his contemporaries having all gone before. His well-rounded old age was a crown of glory.
M. B. T.
Knoxville, Tenn.,
March 12, 1912.
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE FROM 1833 TO 1875
THEIR TIMES AND THEIR CONTEMPORARIES
Three Remarkable Facts-November, 1860, to February Election, 1861- South Carolina Secedes, December 26, 1860-Grave Questions in Border States-Bewildering Uncertainty as to Interest and Duty-Ambitious Leaders in Cotton States - Vague Fear of the Abolitionists - Wide- spread Secession Movement-Attitude Toward Slavery-First Union Speech-Knoxville Streets Full of Secessionists-November 26, Public Meetings Adjourned Without Decisive Vote-December 8, Secession Resolutions Defeated, Victory for Union Overwhelming-Meetings in Other Counties-Author Reluctantly Assumed Leadership-Brownlow's Paper Plays an Important Part-Johnson's Part-Local Leaders- Third Crisis-Emancipation-Brownlow's Quarrel with Johnson- Alexander Stephens at Milledgeville - Firing on Sumter - Lincoln's Inaugural.
THREE remarkable facts mark the history and give interest to the people of East Tennessee. The first was the formation by them of the "Watauga Association" in 1774, composed of the infant settlements of the Watauga, the Holston, the Noli- chucky, and the one in Carter's Valley. The articles of "asso- ciation" united these settlements and the people thereof into a government, with a written constitution, republican in form and spirit, under which they lived and governed themselves for years. This was the first written constitution adopted west of the Alleghanies, as well as the first free and independent govern- ment established by men of American birth on the continent .* Remote from the older settlements of North Carolina, neglected and apparently forgotten, without the protection of laws or courts, these brave and intelligent men, guided by the instinct of self-preservation and a natural genius for government, volun- tarily came together, organized themselves into a little confed- eracy, adopted laws, selected agents to administer the laws, and bound themselves to obey the legal and executive authorities, and thus established in the wilderness their little self-constituted
*Ramsey's "Annals of Tennessee," p. 107. Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," Vol. I, pp. 163, 164, and notes on pages 162, 163.
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government, and sent it forward upon its peaceful career of order and prosperity.
The second striking fact in the early history of these people was the formation, in 1784, of the State of Franklin, and its secession from the parent State of North Carolina. This seces- sion was not an act of rebellion nor hostile revolution. By the Cession Act North Carolina transferred all of her territory west of the mountains, now forming the State of Tennessee, to the Congress of the Confederation, leaving the people of that territory a second time without the protection of laws or courts, or any means of defense against hostile Indians except their own stout arms. In this dilemma the people came together, through delegates duly chosen, as the settlements had done in 1772, and declared their independence, formed a government, and launched the State of Franklin on its stormy but short and ill-fated career. In both of these cases it was the impulse of freedom and the instinct of self-preservation that inspired these brave men to establish governments. This was not lawlessness. On the contrary, the people were animated by the purest love of law, order, security, and liberty .* It is a remarkable fact that these people were self-governed during nearly the entire period from the first settlement on the Watauga, in 1769 or 1770, until the organization of the "Territory South of the Ohio River," in 1790.
The third striking fact in reference to the people of East Tennessee is that in February, 1861, when the other grand divi- sions of the State, by a majority of nearly ninety thousand, voted to secede from the Union, they decided to adhere to the government of their fathers by a vote of about two and one-half to one. And this was done, too, amid the storm and tempest of war, when almost the whole South was shaking and rocking in the violent convulsion of revolutionary secession. In the midst of all this uproar and upheaval these people determinedly, hero- ically, stood by their convictions and their country.
After this brief reference to early history I shall attempt to point out and sketch the leaders of this people in the last and the supreme crisis of our government, in the dark and stormy days of 1861.
The period from November, 1860, to the February election,
*It is singular that the above should be written on December 31, 1900- the last day of the year and the last day of the nineteenth century.
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1861, was by far the most critical in the history of the Union cause. It was the formative period-the time when public senti- ment was crystallizing around new theories ; the period of doubt, alarm, change. New conditions had come into being; new questions had arisen; old political elements were dissolving; old party organizations were melting away. A new and power- ful sectional party-the Republicans and Abolitionists-had come into power and controlled Congress. The peculiar insti- tutions of the South were supposed to be in danger, and great and perilous events were impending.
The announcement of the election of Mr. Lincoln was received nearly everywhere in the South with gloomy forebodings. South Carolina immediately commenced making preparations for with- drawal from the Union. On the 26th of December, with solemn pomp and ceremony, the ancient bonds of the Union, cemented by the blood of the Revolution, were broken, and that proud old State, so full of glorious deeds and memories, declared her inde- pendence, and assumed her position as a sovereign power. Other States were ready to follow her example. Already the sound of martial music and the mustering of troops were heard. Uni- versal alarm and uncertainty prevailed. Men began to ask them- selves : What will the end be?
In the Southern States, and especially in Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, other questions of grave import arose in the minds of men. What will my State do? Will it join in the movement to break up the Union? Is the institution of slavery in serious danger? Will the North respect or trample upon the constitutional rights of the slave States? Where shall I go; with the Abolitionists of the North to main- tain the Union, or the Secessionists of the South, to dissolve it?
Thus, in the early stages of the development of the gigantic scheme to establish a Confederacy of the Southern States, the minds of perhaps a majority of people in these States were in a state of bewildering uncertainty as to their interest and duty.
With the exception of the ambitious leaders in the cotton States and with the exception of those who had imbibed the virus of secession from rabid leaders, a majority of the people-in spite of a greater or less degree of prejudice against the people of the North-still loved the Union. It was difficult for them to entertain the idea of severing the connection. Fifty years of peace had made them dread war, especially a civil war, a war
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among their own countrymen. Nor was anyone sufficiently gifted with prescience to be able to predict the results of either war or peace.
The best friends of the Union in the South had a vague fear of the Abolitionists, as the dominant party in the North was popularly called. These had been depicted in such dark colors, their purposes had been denounced as so infamous, so diabolical, by the friends of disunion, that in the course of time they came to be regarded as something to be feared, as well as hated and loathed, by nearly every Southern man and woman. It is true that intelligent men, who were free from the dominant prejudice, knew the difference between the Abolitionists proper and the Free Soilers-the infinitely larger party who constituted the real strength of the triumphant party which had elected Mr. Lincoln-but with perhaps an overwhelming majority of the people this difference was unknown, and both were regarded as Abolitionists and as enemies of the South.
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