USA > Virginia > City of Lynchburg > City of Lynchburg > Historic and heroic Lynchburg > Part 12
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On behalf of those who are bereft of the support and had the aid of the generous and the brave, I return their thanks to those to whom they are so justly and richly due; and myself largely the beneficiary of their gallant conduct, cannot I mingle my own grate- ful and cordial appreciation ! *
*Major Daniel's office was in the Virginian Building before the fire, but many of his books and papers were saved.
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The efforts so promptly and so stoutly made were early success- ful. The strong wind and the warm sun which combined to speed the progress of the flames, were opposed by strong hands and willing hearts; and from the thistle Danger was plucked the flower of Safety. In a few hours the rampant giant was curbed, and bound, and seldom has so great peril been so quickly arrested, and such little loss inflicted by such threatening and powerful an adversary, as yesterday's raging flames. And could the story end here, our hearts would be joyful and every face be full of light today. But alas! with heavy loss has the victory been achieved, and every heart is bowed.
Five brave men-not one of them a fireman-each but a citizen and a volunteer, under no prompting but that of a generous spirit and under no command but that of their own daring will, have yielded up their lives as a sacrifice; and when the evening came the scene of their brave endeavors had become their tomb,-the crumbled ruins and the dying flames their funeral pyre.
Amongst them was James A. Vaughan a native of Richmond, but who for seven or eight years had made his home amongst us. He was in the morning of his days, but thirty-three years of age, and his aged parents now mourn the fate of a noble son, and his two orphaned children know no more a tender father's care.
His employer, Mr. Robert Waldron, in whose service he had been long engaged said of him this morning that he was accommo- dating and courteous, willing to work, and devoted to his tasks, and that he was truthful and trusty. This is better than any studied eulogy, and a worthy tribute to a worthy man.
Another victim is Captain Wm. R. Moore, a native of Franklin County, a conductor by vocation in the service of the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company, and a resident of our town. He had just builded for himself a new home, but the vision of happiness which filled it, has vanished as a gilded chord, for his sun is set.
He had reached the meridian of his years of age-a man of fine stature, and presence, and of handsome pleasing face. As the flames seemed to be making dreadful headway, and a few fearless volunteers were about to make a daring venture within the walls of the burning Virginian building to stay them, he, conscious of the risk, turned to a friend and handed him his watch for preservation.
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And ere another hour had rolled around he had passed from time to eternity, and a charred and broken body was all that remained. His mother, and sister, and three children, now fatherless and motherless, weep for him whom they shall see no more. "He was a square man," said one today who knew him well. Then, with him all is well.
Yet another of the fallen is Felix Delbelvre, a native of Louisi- ana. He came to Virginia with the soldiers of that State in 1861 -a Confederate volunteer-to risk his life in battle for Virginia and the South. Spared by the bolts of war, he has realized that the son of man cometh like a thief in the night, at a time known not of. He was singularly amiable and kindly in his ways, and few will soon forget his cheerful greetings. He came a stranger here, but he will not rest in a strange land, for we will honor his memory and with friendly hands confide his dust to a hospitable grave.
James T. Clemins-a native of this city, where he had spent his life, is upon the roll of the dead-a good friend and a good husband, they say who knew him best, a faithful worker and a brave man. This day, had he lived to see it would have commem- orated his twenty-fifth year, for he was born on the thirty-first of May, 1858. Sad celebration is this of his birth anniversary; but the gates of the better land are ever ajar for those who die at duty's post, and let us hope, that while the widowed wife and sorrowing kind grieve for his loss, he has been born again where sorrow is unknown.
And Halsey Gouldman,-he who dared so often and so often was unscathed ;- he who was ever so ready to help when help was needed ;- he who seemed to find joy in perils which blanched the cheeks of the brave,-he too, alas! is dead.
None was better known than he. Boy and man, his face was familiar both to the gray haired man, and to the child at play, and all saw in it the kindness of a nature that was happy in render- ing generous service, and never happier than when that service elicited daring deeds.
The ancients gave highest honor to him who had saved the life of a fellow man. This he had done on one occasion at hazard of his own and if you could get together in one heap all of the
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property of the citizens of this town that he has plucked from the flames, in many exergencies in which he wrought to save, you would have reared to him a monument that would overtop your tallest spire.
Poor Halsey! many an eye grows moist, and many a heart feels keenest pang of grief at mention of his name; and the mother who loved him, and whom he loved, and brothers and sisters, and little ones, who now mourn the son, brother and father, dead-know full well that a sorrowing people mingle tears with theirs.
And now we come to bury our dead. It were unfitting to fill the solemn hour with long-drawn praise.
Of their orphans we should think, for them we should act, for thus only can we do rightful honor to their fathers' memory.
For us their fathers gave their lives, and let them be the children of the people, and find in your remembrance all that man can do to substitute a loss which earth cannot repair, and only God can heal.
There are some beautiful thoughts in Addison's little essay in the "Spectator," called reflections on Westminster Abbey. Says he:
"When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compas- sion; when I see the tombstones of the parents themselves, I con- sider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow. When I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I con- sider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men who divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions and disputes of mankind.
"When I read the several dates of the tombs of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all be contemporaries and make our appear- ance together."
In somewhat similar train of thought, when I contemplate a brave man, falling at his post, while his heart beats high and warm with impulse, and his strong arm is striking courageous blows for the good of his fellowmen, methinks that life has found fitting and glorious close; and as his dauntless spirit makes its flight, without a pang, we bid it fond adieu. Human life has been likened to the track of an arrow through the air. A brave man's life fills with
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light the track it cleaves, and the arrow itself flies to a bright and skyward mark.
As brave men died those whom the people mourn today. We can now only invoke the balm of Heaven for the hearts that bleed, committing their dust to the earth from which they sprung, and their souls to God who gave.
To their memories honor! To their ashes peace!
The address of Major Daniel was an eloquent and merited tribute to the dead, and was spoken with an earnestness and feeling that excited the tender emotions of the audience, his gentle, touch- ing and feeling response in the "silent manliness of grief," and in the sobs and tears of sympathetic women. The voice of the speaker was at times tremulous with emotion, and the scene pre- sented during the delivery of his beautiful address was one that no pen can picture nor mortal tongue describe.
At the conclusion of the oration, the exercises were brought to a close with prayer by Rev. W. R. L. Smith and the benediction by Mr. Carson. The remains were then borne out of the hall to the hearses and the funeral cortege took up its solemn march through the streets to the Presbyterian Cemetery, following being the
ORDER OF PROCESSION
Fire Brigade Home Guard Band Light Artillery Blues
Hearses-with Pall Bearers on each side Hill City Guards Band Virginia Guards
Families Deceased
City Council Red Men St. Patrick's Society
Tobacco Association-on foot Cigar Makers' Union Citizens-mounted and on foot
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The line of march was up Main Street to Fifth; up Fifth to Court; down Court to Twelfth; out Twelfth to Grace and out Grace to the Presbyterian Cemetery.
The procession was by far the largest ever witnessed in this city, being nearly, if not quite, one mile in length. It was an awe- inspiring scene-a grand and impressive funeral pageant; and its progress was watched with interest and veneration by thousands of people. Arriving at the cemetery the bodies of Halsey Gouldman, James Vaughan, James Clemins and Felix Delbelvre were laid to rest, side by side, in the square specially provided to receive their honored remains, the body of Captain Wm. R. Moore, being interred, in compliance with his express wishes, beside that of his wife in Spring Hill Cemetery. Revs. J. H. Williams, R. R. Acree, and James M. Rawlings conducted the funeral exercises at the graves; and after the last formal rites had been performed the newly-made mounds were covered with beautiful flowers, and the sorrowing concourse turned sadly away, more sensibly than ever before impressed with the truism that: "Whate'er of earth is form'd to earth returns"; but at the same time encouraged in the happier reflection that-
. . the souls of those that die Are but sunbeams lifted higher."
And thus closed the last sad scene in a tragedy, the like of which never before startled this town, and the like of which, it is sincerely trusted, may never visit our community again. Peace to the ashes of the departed brave, and peace and consolation to the hearts of the surviving loved ones.
JUDGE JAMES GARLAND
ACCOUNT OF THE BANQUET GIVEN HIM BY THE BAR OF LYNCHBURG ON HIS 90TH BIRTH- DAY (JUNE 6, 1882), AS REPORTED IN "THE LYNCHBURG GAZETTE" OF JUNE 11, 1882
The 90th birthday of the Hon. James Garland, present Judge of the Corporation Court of Lynchburg, was fittingly celebrated at the Norvell House by the Bar of the city on Tuesday evening last. It was an occasion the like of which has never been seen, and probably will never occur again.
At nine o'clock the Bar, with a few invited guests, assembled in the parlors, and a half-hour later Judge Garland himself arrived, receiving and acknowledging the hearty congratulations of the company as he entered the room.
About ten o'clock the company, comprising the following named gentlemen, repaired to the Banquet Hall and took seats at the table-Hon. T. J. Kirkpatrick first invoking the Divine blessing:
Honorable James Garland, Judge of the Corporation Court.
Members of the Bar-Hon. R. G. H. Kean, Wm. T. Yancey, Robert J. Davis, Edward S. Brown, Hon. T. J. Kirkpatrick, Robert Craighill, Chas. A. Slaughter, Wm. H. Dudley, Randolph Harrison, Col. L. S. Marye, N. C. Manson, Jr., T. N. Williams, Robert Yancey, R. P. W. Morris, Capt. Chas. M. Blackford, W. H. H. Harris, J. W. Mitchell, Thos. Preston, A. H. Bur- roughs, Jno. H. Christian, Hon. Jno. W. Daniel, John H. Lewis, Hon. J. Singleton Diggs, A. Christian, Commonwealth's Attorney, Hon. Stephen Adams, John M. Payne, Wm. V. Wilson, Jr., L. M. Kean, R. E. Manson, Hon. Thos. Whitehead, Editor Advance.
Invited Guests-Hon. S. G. Wingfield, Mayor of the City; Hon. Chas. W. Button, Editor Virginian; Alexander McDonald, Editor News; Louis D. Button, Editor Gazette; Mr. L. F. Brown, Special Reporter for the Gazette; Dr. H. Gray Latham, and Mr. Michael Connell. Several members of the Bar were unavoidably absent.
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MENU
Coffee, Tea, Chocolate. Clam Chowder, Broiled Bluefish, Baked Sheephead a la Boudro, Spots. Spring Chicken (Broiled), Salmi of Duck with Mushrooms, Stuffed Young Pig (Roast), Saddle of Lamb (with Tomatoes), Tongue, Boned Capon, Smith- field Ham (Baked), Pate de Foie Gras. Deviled Crabs, Chicken Salad, Ragout of Lobster a la Provincale, Sardines, Heindon Salad, Soft Crabs. Pickles, French Mustard, Tomato Catsup, Anchovy Worcestershire Sauce, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Edam Cheese. French Twist, Cinnamon Buns, Rolls, Biscuit Duchesse, Cream Crackers. Almond Drops, English Macaroons, Jolly Diamonds, Cream Kisses (Assorted), Vienna Steeples, Atlantic Cable Cake, Fruit Cakes Glacé. Maraschino Jelly, Strawberry Cream, Madeira Wine Jelly, Vanilla Cream. Bananas, Oranges, Apples, Straw- berries, Peaches - English Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Filberts. Sherry (Duff Gordon), Madeira (1865), Champagnes (Mumm's and Heidsick's). Cigars (La Belle Senora, El Montero).
After the company had partaken of the above sumptuous repast, served with Mr. Terry's usual elegance and efficiency, and in- terspersed with those sallies of wit and wisdom which are always characteristic of Bar gatherings, the Hon. R. G. H. Kean, Chair- man, arose and said eloquently :
I remember of hearing, many years ago, a remark from a gentleman in Philadelphia, who was himself a striking illustration of the truth of his own saying, that "men will rust out far sooner than they will wear out." The legal profession is eminently one of industry. The truth of this saying has been historically illustrated in all the ages. In our own time we have seen a number of oc- togenarian judges, on both sides of the Atlantic, among the English speaking people. There was Eldon, and Kenyon, and Brougham, and others across the water, and Kent, who lived beyond the age of 80, and others on this side. But I remember to have read or to have heard of none anywhere who, at the age of four score years and ten, remained with the ermine still upon their shoulders. That is reserved for the first Constitutional judge of the Corporation Court of Lynchburg. (Great applause.) We meet here tonight to do ourselves honor in doing honor to this veteran.
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On the 6th of June, 1792, in the County of Albemarle, a few miles west of the county, about as far away as the place where Jefferson was born on the other side on the east, Judge Garland saw the light ninety years ago. Over what a tract of time does this one life take us! Think of it a moment. (Here the speaker alluded to Lords Thurlow and Kenyon, Scott and Eldon, and the positions they held at that time, and to Fox and Burke as the then statesmen of the British Parliament.) It was ten years after that before a steamboat existed; forty years before a railroad existed, and fifty years before a telegraph was ever heard of; Louis 16th and Maria Antoinette wore the Kingly and Queenly crown of France. The States' General were sitting then, and on the day when Judge Garland was two weeks old the Parisian mob burst into the Tuileries and compelled Louis the 16th to present himself with the cap of liberty upon his head. A youth, just from the military school at Briennes, witnessing this spectacle, observed with scorn, "The wretches! A discharge of grape would kill five hundred, and the rest would run away." The first census of the United States, taken just two years before, showed a total population of 4,901,000, and it was the commencement of the third year of Washington's first term. Where then was a vast stretch of wilderness, a thousand cities have now their surging populations. And in those early days Judge Garland gave his uncommon powers to our profession, before even he reached his legal majority. I will not undertake to give you an account of how, all his life time, he was engaged in measuring with other the sword which he wielded with Titanic power, how he measured that sword with the great ones of the days gone by at the Virginia Bar, and how in after years in the fullness of his own developed powers, he was called by his people to serve them in the Witenagamot of the nation, and how, at a time of life that few men ever reach at all, he was called by the General Assembly of this State to don the robes of ermine an octogenarian judge. And now, here he is, still with us in wonderful possession of his faculties. I propose the following sentiment :
Our Venerable Guest-Hon. James Garland, Judge of the Corporation Court of Lynchburg. At four score and ten years, his intellect and character, like generous wine, own the touch of time only in being mellowed and enriched.
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To this, the "Old Man Eloquent" responded with apparent emotion but yet with clearness and vigor, identically as follows:
Mr. President and members of the Lynchburg legal profession, and to any others who may be present on this occasion: I should be unjust in my own feelings, unjust to the Lynchburg Bar, truly unjust to the people of Lynchburg, if I did not here experience emotions which no tongue can describe, and feel a pride which I have never felt upon any other occasion.
I came to Lynchburg in 1841, and this occasion is rather dark- ened by one recollection, and one only. But a single member of the Lynchburg Bar is here now who was here then, and that dis- tinguished gentleman (indicating Mr. Yancey) is here tonight. Daniel has gone; Edley has gone; Dabney has, and Mosby has gone-all of them men who were here then. But, thank God! I see a scene rising now before me, and all through my long legal experience up to the present time, I have seen men rising around me, men of talent, with intelligence, with integrity, with industry, with honor, and all the qualities to fill their places. And during that forty-one years I have been known to you all. For twenty years your Commonwealth's Attorney, and for twelve years the Judge of your Corporation Court, and now this testimony offered by those who have known me all this time, and some of them from their very birth to the present hour, overcomes me, and would be worse than stoical if I did not feel that this hour was the brightest hour of my life. (Applause.) I would be unjust to my feelings if I did not feel that this endorsement by such men as compose the Lynchburg Bar is an endorsement which is worth all the treasures of the world, an endorsement which would give consolation and comfort to me, even in the dying hour. (Applause. ) Why, friends, I have known many, very many Bars in Virginia. I remember them well. I have met with the ablest and the best-the purest and the most patriotic men among them, and yet, permit me here to pro- claim in the honest sincerity of my heart, that for their numbers, the Lynchburg Bar is exceeded by none in this great State of Vir- ginia, or anywhere else in any place within my knowledge.
I have been upon your Bench for twelve years. I entered upon the duties of that position at seventy-eight years of age, reelected
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at eighty-four, and now at ninety I still sit upon that Bench. My heart, my whole soul, has been open to your inspection-open to your examination. And while sometimes I have had to decide in every case adversely to one and favorably to another, this unanimous sentiment, this endorsement as to my integrity, as to my impartiality, and to my efforts to give scope to the truth will be remembered until I shall reach past my grave, aye, will be carried with me to the eternal world, if my memory can look back to such an event, and it will be a legacy to my children and to my grandchildren, that they shall cherish forever the memory of this disinterested tes- timonial of such men as compose the Lynchburg Bar. I have passed through many troubles and through many consolations, but there is no compliment which I have so appreciated as this. I have had compliments, I have had a public dinner or two given to me, but never have I felt so much consolation, so much pride, and so much gratitude, as I feel on this occasion. Look at the work which we have done! And now, my friends, don't misunderstand me! I do not see and cannot find, in my whole career, professional or judicial, what it is that entitles me to the high compliment which you have paid me through your President. And yet, there is one thing I can know with certainty, and that is, upon all occasions I have been impartial, I have tried to reach the truth, and to adminis- ter perfect justice according to the rights of the parties, and not under the influences of any venal power, any prepossession, or even any fear of death. (Applause.) I turn to the record, and don't misunderstand me, I don't claim that it is what I have done that meets with the approbation of this enlightened and intelligent Bar. I claim no credit for my ability or my learning, because I have been guided by the arguments and the learning and the ability of the counsel. Why, I have found myself often taking erroneous views of questions, and when this was the case I have been turned away by their arguments, and I say now, that it has been the counsel, and not myself, who are entitled to the honor. All I claim is the integrity of my motives. I have never permitted the ermine to be soiled, or violated the confidence or the love of my native State, which placed the burden of the Judgeship upon my shoulders. I have never been influenced by party politics, never permitted any one to persuade me by any party consideration in anything that I
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have ever said or done; and I can say that whenever and wherever I have been thus charged it has been false.
I look to the records of this Court, my friends and fellow- citizens of the Bar, to testify to one thing-that no court has been better sustained by the confidence of the Bar, and by the aid which they have given to the court than I have been; and in no Corpora- tion Court of the State of Virginia has more courtesy been shown. And I state with gratification that there has been a mass of public trials and of criminal trials, many of which have been sought to be carried to the Court of Appeals, and of those only one has ever been reversed, and substantially but two of any of the civil cases have ever been reversed; because the Bar of Lynchburg has led me in the right path. And now, permit me to say, and to close all I have to say, by the remark that I feel proud, that I feel honored above men when I reflect that seventy years ago I started to the first court outside of the county riding a borrowed horse and with a ninepence in my pocket, and that was to the court of Nelson County, and shortly after I commenced the profession I was called into the public military service, and after I had served six months, I resumed my profession, followed it up, and I leave others to testify with what success. And now, fellow-citizens, I find myself here in this City of Lynchburg from which I have never resided more than thirty-five miles, I find myself honored by a Bar which for honor, integrity and ability, in proportion to its numbers, stands at the side of any Bar in the country. I find myself endorsed and complimented, and humbly thank God that I have lived to this hour, and thank God that it has come when my lamp of life and tenure of office are about to expire together; when I have no favors to bestow, when I have nothing to entice or attract; but it is the honest testimony of men whom I love. And now, permit me to say, ere I quit, to one and all, that there is no lingering feeling of prejudice or unkindness in my bosom to anyone of you. You have been courteous, and I here give the thanks which I feel are due for those courtesies. I shall lay down my life and my all; soon I shall pass over the deep water; soon I shall be gathered to my fathers, and I leave in your hands my reputation as a Judge and as a man, knowing that it will be protected and taken care of, and to all and each of you I pray Almighty God to bestow all the
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blessings of life, liberty, prosperity, and happiness, and when you shall end as you must and close your career on earth, I pray that you may be honored and respected by all, and you shall pass where I am about to pass, into the regions of the eternal world, that those blessings of Almighty God may be with you until eternity itself shall end. I thank you, my friends, I thank you kindly, for this compliment and this testimonial.
The applause which followed was hearty and prolonged. When it had ceased the Chairman further said:
In the olden days and monarchical governments, public justice was called the king's justice, the courts the king's courts, and the administration of the law was reckoned the loftiest of the preroga- tives. In modern days, and with us, the courts stood to administer the justice of the State.
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