GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION FROM
THE WESTERN METHODIST 1833-1834
Compiled by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2003

JANUARY-MARCH 1834

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January 3, 1834

The Carter's Valley, east Tennessee campground meeting was held September 6 and 7, 1833. On the evening of the second day a fire swept over these grounds. "In a few minutes the whole encampment — fifty camps — together with the shelter and very large wooden meeting house was on fire and soon consumed." No one was reported killed but about 700 persons were temporarily inconvenienced.

On Tuesday (as of December 21), a student named HARRIS, in the medical department of Morrison College, Lexington, Kentucky, shot and killed a fellow student, JAMES P. FENNER. [This was December 17, 1833. Harris was later acquitted of this homicide.]

Reverend GEORGE M. ANDERSON died December 7, 1833. See page 76.

 

January 10, 1834

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DEATH OF REV. THOMAS F. SARGEANT         We have the melancholy duty of announcing the sudden death of that estimable man and ornament of the Methodist church, the Rev. Thomas F. Sargeant, of Cincinnati, and late of Philadelphia. He died on the battle field in his master's cause and according to the suages of war should be wrapped in the standard sheet under which he fell. The particulars of his remarkable exit will be found in detail below:         Extract of a letter from the Rev. J. F. Wright to H. R. W. Hill, Esq. of this city [Nashville], dated Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 31, 1833.         Our church in this city has realized a severe shock as well as a great loss in the death of our worthy, beloved and much admired minister, Dr. Thos. F. Sargeant. He died of apoplexy on Sabbath evening [December 30, 1833]. He complained of some indisposition through the day but attended divine service and heard the sermon in the morning, took but little dinner, ate a light supper and went to Wesley Chapel to preach in the evening. He ascended the pulpit and appeared before a crowded audience in his usual dignified manner, was observed to read and pray with some dullness for him. He read for his text, "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation," &c. But had no advanced far in his introduction before the paralyzing touch of death arrested the power of utterance. Turning to brothers Finley and Elliot who sat in the pulpit at the same time, putting his hand on his head, said, "I feel very strange, cannot speak." They then took hold of him and helped him to his seat. He seemed from that time to be no more conscious of earthly objects. He was immediately removed from the house of Mr. William Neffs where medical aid was applied, but in vain. He expired in less than an hour. This morning at 9 o'clock his remains were taken to the same chapel, and the Rev. John Collins delivered a very impressive funeral discourse from 11 Tim. [Timothy] 4:6, 7, 8, to a very large, attentive and deeply affected congregation. On that the occasion may be sanctified. [unquote] thus has fallen our elegant and much and admired and heavenly brother. He fell in the pulpit, a place where he had triumphed. He heard his master's call and went upward.

 

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SOLOMON H. ARMOUR         Died, of pulmonary consumption, at his own residence in Paris, Ten., on Saturday, 21st December, Solomon H. Armour, in his thirty-fourth year. Brother Armour was born in Baltimore county, Md. and emigrated to Missouri in 1819 where he embraced the religion of Jesus Christ, notwithstanding the wilderness state of that country. Believing that climate too severe for his delicate constitution, he removed to Paris in 1826 where he lived beloved and respected by all who knew him. Shortly before his conversion, he attached himself to the Methodist Episcopal Church which church he honored much by his pious walk and godly conversation. He was truly a friend to the distressed and needy and loved our religious institutions, especially the sacred cause of Sabbath schools. Before there was a church built in Paris, he organized and taught a Sunday school in his own dwelling. Frequently, during his affliction, he spoke very feelingly of the Sunday school under his own superintendence, of the importance of our children being instructed in the doctrine of the great atonement by Jesus Christ, upon which foundation he declared he rested and was enabled to rejoice in hope of future felicity.         His disease was gradual, but rapid, until the lamp of life ceased to burn in his bosom. In all his affliction, he never [was] heard to complain or wish his sufferings less. A large collection of his friends and acquaintance, with the Sunday school children, met at his house Sabbath meeting to take a last look and long farewell of their departed friend and much beloved teacher. They then proceeded with the corpse in slow and solemn procession to, the church, where, in the presence of an immense congregation, his funeral sermon was preached. The tolling of the bells, the tears of the aged, the middle aged and the young, all tended to invest the scene with deep solemnity. Our brother now sleeps in Jesus, free from the care of sublunary things but a voice speaks from the dreamless mansion and tells us our brother shall rise again. Jesus said, "i am the resurrection and the life. " S. Gilliland Paris, Ten., Dec. 24, 1833

 

January 17, 1834

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ROBERT McFARLIN         Robert M'Farlin, the subject of the present notice, lately departed this life at Jackson, Alabama, aged about 52 years. About fifteen years since [ago] he embraced religion, joined the Methodist church, since which time he has been an acceptable and useful member and an ornament to his profession. His Christian life was a practical comment on 1 john 3: 9, He that is born of God doth not commit sin. Brother M'Farlin's loss is felt by many. His honest and upright deportment rendered him respectable in all the circles of his acquaintance; his skilful and laborious attention to the duties of family government, and the benign and gentle spirit by which all his acts were influenced, made him not only useful but peculiarly dear to his family. His fervent zeal, godly walk and holy conversation rendered him a burning and a shining light to the class of which he was a leader. Our loss, therefore, is truly great, but it is his infinite gain, for he now, no doubt, rests in Abraham's bosom.         When inquired of during his protracted and painful illness as to his prospects beyond the grave, he answered, "it is clear." Almost with his expiring breath, his voice was heard in trembling accents to speak the praises of god. Mark the perfect man! Edward Pearson

 

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GEORGE OLIVER         Departed this life on the 25th of December, 1833, Mr. George Oliver. Mr. Oliver was a native of North Carolina. He removed in early life, and was, for many years, a resident of Williamson county; Tennessee. In 1816, he removed and settled in this (Giles) county. In 1820, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in which he remained until he was removed, we fondly hope to the church above. He was a constant attendant at the house of God.         The day before his dissolution, he was inquired of relative to his future prospects; he replied, I have a strong hope. [unquote] His sufferings were great, but he bore them all with unusual fortitude. He has left an aged companion and four children to lament their loss. Six of his family died before him. S. B. H.

 

January 24, 1834

"The Bangor [Maine] COURIER makes an appeal to the Boston printers in behalf of Mr. PETER D. EDES, a Bostonian by birth, son of the ancient editor of the Boston GAZETTE, firm of Edes and Gill, who though now nearly 80 years old is in destitute circumstances, and has been lately working for his daily bread in the COURIER office, having lost five of his children as well as his wife. He suffered severely at the hands of the British during the Revolution and was at one time imprisoned in Boston, in June of '75 [1775], 107 days, 71 of which he was fed upon bread and water!" [How must many of our forebears, who lived into advanced age; have suffered need in a day when there were virtually no governmental entitlements for "senior citizens."]

Married, recently, in Boston, Mass., O. KIMBALL and HANNAH MARSHALL, both of whom were deaf and dumb.

 

January 31, 1834

Nothing of genealogical quality appeared in this issue.

 

February 7, 1834

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DEATH OF CECIL ASHMUN         This poor African boy, who had been rescued from pirates by the lamented Ashmun and brought to this country that he might be educated for usefulness among his countrymen, died in Washington City on the 26th ult. [January 26, 1834] for two or three years after his arrival in the United States, he attended the free school in New York where he acquired a tolerable English education. He was then placed with the publisher of this work, who afforded him every facility in qualifying himself to become printer in the colony; and it was expected that he would be capable in two years of managing a press in Liberia. Though his early habits of life had been very unfavorable to his moral character, the religious instruction which he received was not, it is believed, lost upon him; as there were times when he was deeply serious and concerned for his salvation. This was particularly the case, during his last illness, and near the close of life he manifested what was reasonably hoped to be a truly Christian spirit. No mother, sister, relative, watched by him in his dying hour, or wept over his grave. He was stolen in childhood from his home, rescued from cruel hands by a noble friend of his race, brought to a Christian country, to learn something of God, the Saviour and his own immortal destiny, and to die! How many African children experience a fate less tolerable than his. How few one so full of mercy and of hope. [from the] African Repository.

 

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL WILLIAM CARROLL         William Carroll is a native of the "key state, "having been born near Pittsburg in Pennsylvania in the year 1788. His father was a native of Philadelphia and was one of that noble band of patriots who fought the battles and endured the hardships and privations of the revolutionary war. His mother was a native of new jersey but was brought up in Pennsylvania. Shortly after the termination of the Revolutionary War, the father of William Carroll settled on a good farm of his own near Pittsburg where he resided more than forty years, without reproach, beloved and esteemed by his neighbors.         William was the eldest of nine children and at an early period of his life his parents impressed upon his mind, that he had little to expect from them in the way of property. His education was limited, having been confined to an imperfect knowledge of grammar, book-keeping, surveying and some of the first principles of mathematics, besides the inferior branches of an English education with which he had a perfect acquaintance. Until his eighteenth year he remained with his parents, laboring industriously on the farm and imbibing those principles of economy, sobriety and industry which have ever since characterized his conduct. At this age he was placed with a highly respectable and intelligent merchant of Pittsburg with whom he remained four years. The habits of industry which he acquired on his father's farm enabled him, in a short time, to secure the affection and confidence of his patron. At the end of two years he was entrusted with the almost entire management of the mercantile establishment. During his engagement as a clerk his leisure time was strictly devoted to the improvement of his mind, whilst his intercourse with society in the transaction of his business, afforded him constant facilities for enlarging his acquaintance with human nature. His strict attention to his business, his known proficiency in the requisite qualifications of a clerk, together with his unexceptional deportment, induced more than one gentleman of capital to propose to advance him the means of commencing business on his own footing. In the spring of 1810 he accepted a proposition of this kind and left Pittsburg with the view of establishing a nail factory and domestic store in Nashville in Tennessee. At that time Nashville was an inconsiderable town but was surrounded by an extensive country of fertile lands, towards which the tide of emigration was then beginning to flow with great rapidity. The sequel proved that he was not mistaken in his calculations with respect to the subsequent growth and importance of Nashville. On the 29th march, 1810, he arrived at that place, an entire stranger in the land, without one solitary acquaintance in the state. How little thought he, that in the short space of four years he was to be the head of the brave troops of Tennessee, leading them on to victory and to glory; and that in the space of ten years, he was to preside, as chief magistrate over his adopted state.         An impression prevails, to some extent, that Gen. Carroll was a mechanic by trade and that he labored personally in the nail factory which he erected in Nashville. This impression is unfounded and is now referred to because it has frequently been adduced as proof that he must have been endowed, by nature, with superior talents or he never could have attained such an eminence. The truth is, that his early opportunities were not equal to those of some but were as good as fall to the lot of most young men of our country.         In the spring of 1811, when the prospect of war with Great Britain was increasing the young men of Nashville, actuated by that ardent zeal in the cause of freedom, which has always distinguished the citizens of Tennessee, determined to qualify themselves to act a conspicuous part in the threatened contest. They organized a uniform company of volunteers, and unanimously elected William Carroll their captain. This may be termed the commencement of his military career; his feelings were now enlisted and his heart burned for military honors. He was already a good tactician and by an assiduous attention to the improvement of his company he enabled them to attain a proficiency in the knowledge of their military duties which had been seldom equaled, even by regular troops.

 

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After the declaration of war, in 1812, a law was passed by congress authorizing the president to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers. Under that law twenty seven hundred of the patriotic sons of Tennessee enlisted under the banner of their country and requested General [Andrew] Jackson to inform the president that they would be ready at a moment's warning to march to any point of the union that might be attacked. Of this number, two thousand were called into service in December 1812. General Jackson was placed at their head with Gen. Carroll as brigade inspector. In this capacity he served five months in the lower country without seeing an enemy.         In the fall of 1813, when the Creek hostilities commenced, Gen. Carroll was appointed Inspector General of the army, the duties of which responsible office he discharged with signal ability during the whole of that active campaign. In justice to Gen. Carroll, the part that he bore in the several battles of that campaign ought to be particularly stated but the limits assigned to this sketch will not permit it. At the battle of Talladega, the advance was commanded by him and after the action, Gen. Jackson in his report, thus speaks, "too much praise cannot be bestowed on the advance, led by Col. Carroll, for the spirited manner in which they commenced and sustained the attack." At the second battle of Emuckfaw, the Indians "maintained the battle by quick and irregular firing, from behind logs, trees, shrubbery and whatever could afford concealment. After sustaining their fire for some time, a charge, to dislodge them from their position, was ordered; and the whole line under Col. Carroll, by a most brilliant and steady movement, broke in upon them, threw them into confusion and they fled precipitately away." In the battle of Enotichopco, Gen. Carroll commanded the centre column. Upon the first onset, the right and left columns gave way and nearly the whole of the centre column followed their example but, Gen. Carroll, sustained by a few, stood firm and opposed the violence of the assault until Gen. Jackson had succeeded in restoring order and moved to his assistance. Nothing but the determined bravery of a few prevented the most fatal consequences on this occasion. It is but sheer justice to Gen. Carroll, to say, that he is entitled to a large share of the honor of rendering that campaign glorious to our arms.         After the termination of the creek war, Gen. Jackson was promoted to the office of Brevet Major General in the United States service and at the same time, the office of Inspector General was tendered to Gen. Carroll. Under the impression that he could be elected Major General of militia he declined the office of Inspector General. In September 1814 he was elected Major General by a large majority of votes. Immediately after his election, a requisition was made, by the War Department, on the state of Tennessee, for five thousand militia to aid in the defense of the lower country [deep south]. Governor [Willie] Blount ordered two thousand of these troops to rendezvous at Knoxville and three thousand at Nashville and ordered Gen. Carroll to take command of the whole. Hitherto he had held high and responsible military offices but he always had a superior in command, now the responsibility rested solely on himself. He was scarcely twenty six years of age and was placed at the head of all the Tennessee troops. But Gen. Carroll had confidence in his own qualifications and (which was still more important) he was well apprised that he was destined to command brave and patriotic troops — men who felt that their own characters were identified with the reputation of their country; who were eager to revenge the injuries and insults offered to our countrymen by British subjects; and who were anxious to convince the hireling foe, that a free people cannot be insulted with impunity. Gen. Carroll entered upon his duties with energy and by the 13th of November, the time for rendezvous, he had made all the necessary preparations for transporting his troops down the [Cumberland] river.         Everything being in readiness to move down the river, Gen. Carroll only awaited the order for his departure when he received orders from Gen. Jackson to march to Natchez by land. After pointing out the rout [route] he was to pursue, Gen. Jackson remarked in his letter, "your best exertions are calculated on, and I know that I will not be disappointed. On your rapid movements, may depend, in a great measure, the safety of New Orleans," &c. The reception of this order placed Gen. Carroll in an extremely unpleasant dilemma — much depended upon the celerity of his movements and yet to pursue the course dictated by Gen. Jackson he was well satisfied, would greatly retard his arrival at the point of danger. His provisions were all ready, his boats were prepared and the Cumberland River in good condition to accelerate his progress. On the other hand, the recent rains had swollen all the intermediate streams and

 

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had rendered travelling by land not only difficult but almost impracticable.         But to disobey the order of the commander in chief would not only be unmilitary but actually perilous in the extreme. In this dilemma, Gen. Carroll applied to the governor and represented the difficulty of his situation and the manifest advantages held out by transportation down the river. He then requested the governor to issue an order, directing him to transport his troops down the river, hoping thereby to avoid the dangerous responsibility of disobeying the order of his commander but the governor refused to comply with his request, whereupon gen. Carroll informed him, that he would disobey the order. The governor demanded of him if he was prepared for arrest; he replied, that he was, but that no man should arrest him until the troops under his command had reached their destination.         Under ordinary circumstances, the course pursued by Gen. Carroll would be highly censurable and deserving the severest rigors of the law; yet there are occasions when a subordinate officer may, with the highest commendation, disobey the orders of his superior in command. But when a subordinate ventures to assume this perilous responsibility he ought to be well satisfied that his disobedience will result in the advancement of his country's honor and interest. Had Gen. Carroll adheared [sic] literally to the orders of Gen. Jackson, and attempted to pass by land to Natchez, from the extraordinary rains and the consequent high condition of the numerous streams intersecting his rout [route], it would have been utterly impossible for him, within any reasonable period to have reached New Orleans. The city must have been taken by the British and Gen. Carroll would have arrived in good time and good condition to surrender his grave but exhausted soldiers, as victims to a proud enemy, already elated and flushed with victory. By pursuing the river rout [route], however, he arrived in time to rescue the city of New Orleans from the danger which threatened it and to insure to the American army a most signal victory. No blame was imputable to the commander in chief for giving the order for moving to the low country by land because a tide in the western waters at that season of the year is very uncommon and therefore, ought not to have been calculated upon and Gen. Carroll from his knowledge of Gen. Jackson felt perfectly satisfied, that if he had been present under the circumstances, the order would have been changed to the rout [route] to be pursued.         On the 24th of November Gen. Carroll left Nashville with the west Tennessee [at that time, actually middle Tennessee] troops on board of forty-seven flat bottom boats. That his troops might be well prepared for the expected engagement with the veterans of Britain, he issued an order from which the following is an extract, "in a short time, fellow soldiers, we shall meet and be associated with our brothers in arms, from other sections of the union. The reputation of our state in a military point of view will cause the eyes of every corps to be turned upon you. The Kentuckians will be ambitious of the first honors and the highest distinctions. Your general hopes that the good name you have acquired will be maintained at every hazard." In the same order, he directed that the companies should be drilled in squads on the boats and awarded a premium to be given to the best trained company on their arrival at New Orleans; the artificers were required to keep constantly employed in repairing the arms of the detachment until there was not a musket or rifle which was unfit for use; he also caused fifty thousand cartridges to be made, each containing a musket ball and three buckshot; these were the cartridges which were fired by Gen. Carroll's men with such fatal aim on the morning of the glorious 8th of January.         Upon his arrival at Natchez, he received no intelligence of gen. Jackson, but despatched a letter from that place, informing him that he would be able to join him at New Orleans in a few days. This letter reached Gen. Jackson in good season; it was the first news he had received from him and the hope of being reinforced by three thousand Tennesseans inspired his army and the whole city with fresh confidence. After remaining at Natchez one day he again proceeded upon his rout [route] and as he was passing by St. Francisville, information was received that the enemy had possession of the lakes. He immediately communicated the intelligence to his troops in an order in which he directed that the transports should be accelerated in their progress as much as possible and that during the night vigilant steersmen and active rowers should be appointed by the officers commanding the boats. His progress was greatly impeded by a storm which continued to blow with much fury for several days but on the 20th he effected a landing four miles above the city. He was there met by gen. Jackson who expressed himself highly gratified at his timely arrival.

 

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In transporting his troops down the river gen. Carroll had disobeyed the orders of Gen. Jackson and Gov. Blount, the consequences of which disobedience were anxiously dreaded by his friends. But Gen. Carroll was better acquainted with Gen. Jackson than most of his friends; he knew that though he was prompt, severe and decisive, amounting in the estimation of some to rashness, yet that he was controlled in his actions by cool and dispassionate reason. The true character of Gen. Jackson is strongly illustrated in this occurrence; he had Gen. Carroll in his power and for his disobedience could have disgraced him forever but he was too well apprized of his meritorious services as an officer and he was too clearly convinced of the propriety of his conduct in descending the river, to take any notice of his disobedience. [The river in this instance being the Mississippi river.]         About 2 o' clock on the afternoon of the 23d December, a messenger arrived at the camp of Gen. Carroll informing him that the enemy had landed a few miles below the city. He immediately put his troops under arms and marched into the city to receive orders.         The enemy had gained the bank of the Mississippi by a small bayou leading from Lake Borgue. Gen. Jackson had considered Chef Monteur, a short distance further up the lake, a more vulnerable point and was apprehensive that a landing would have taken place there also. Accordingly, he determined, with Gen. Coffee's brigade. The volunteers and regulars, to move out and attack the enemy below the city and directed Gen. Carroll to push a thousand of his men along the road leading to Chef Monteur and with the remainder to continue in the city to act as circumstances might require. Some time after dark the battle commenced and very soon afterwards Gen. Carroll received an order to march to Gen. Jackson's relief with all possible despatch. When he arrived at the battleground the action was over altho he had marched eight miles in an hour and a half. He arrived about midnight and found the two armies within six hundred yards of each other, with the battleground between them. He formed his men in front of the troops which had been engaged and stood under arms until 5 o'clock when the whole army fell back to the position which they continued afterwards to occupy. A very general impression prevails, that in this position the breastwork of the American army was constituted of cotton bales; this impression is erroneous, the only use made of cotton bales was to form embrasures for the cannon in the line.         The events that occurred from the action of the 23d of December until the decisive battle of the 8th of January are so familiar to the people of America that they need not be here repeated. In the battle of the 8th of January, which has shed a bright halo of glory around the American name, Gen. Carroll commanded the centre and performed a conspicuous part in securing that signal victory. Throughout the whole action and indeed throughout his whole military career, he distinguished himself as a brave and gallant officer, possessing an energy of character, a firmness of purpose and a celerity in the execution of his views that eminently qualified him for the high station he occupied and was well calculated to inspire in those under his command the most unlimited confidence. To speak of his conduct on that occasion would require a detailed account of that remarkable battle and that signal victory.         On the left bank of the Mississippi, in the battle of the 8th, our arms were completely successful but it was to be regretted that on the right bank, the detachment under Gen. Morgan was defeated and driven from the position they had occupied. Gen. Jackson was extremely desirous to repossess the position abandoned by Gen. Morgan. To effect this purpose, Gen. Jackson ordered Gen. Carroll, on the morning of the 9th of January, to cross over the Mississippi opposite New Orleans and take command of Gen. Morgan's scattered forces. He found them in great disorder but immediately formed them into column and having inspired them with fresh confidence by an address, he was gratified to find that the British had deserted the position; whereupon he immediately surrendered the command to Gen. Morgan and returned to his own troops.         The enemy having abandoned the mad project of subduing our country and having embarked for their return, Gen. Carroll took his position at his former encampment. He there continued until about the middle of March when the official news of peace was received and the militia were ordered to be marched to their respective states and disbanded. The interval betwixt the termination of the war and the news of peace was employed by Gen. Carroll in having his sick soldiers conveyed in steam boats to Natchez and from thence advanced to a healthy situation on the road: in making arrangements to have a supply of provisions deposited at the

 

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Choctaw and Chickasaw agencies and in engaging schooners to convey his troops across Lake Pontchartrain and procuring supplies for his troops until they reached the Choctaw agency. In making these precautions and arrangements he evinced his attachment to his soldiers and his anxiety to return them to the bosoms of their friends and families. On leaving the lake, he commanded the field and staff officers to surrender up their horses to the sick. Gen. Carroll was not to be surpassed in acts of generous kindness. He also gave up his own horse to the sick and marched on his way on foot. By these means, many a brave. Soldier was enabled to return to his home who might otherwise have found a grave in the wilderness.         On his return march an incident occurred which is strongly illustrative of Gen. Carroll's energy and prompt attention to the wants of his troops. Upon his arrival in the neighborhood of the Choctaw agency he was informed by express that his supplies had not arrived from Natchez and that "starvation seemed to be inevitable." In this distressing situation he set out with two of his officers to meet the supplies at 3 o'clock in the evening he met the wagons, having rode thirty-five miles in five hours. He instantly took the whip from the foremost wagon and drove the team himself, informing the other drivers that he would hang everyone of them if they failed to keep up with him. He drove all night and entered the camp the next morning with eleven wagons of flour and bacon. By these energetic means he relieved his troops from the distressed condition to which they were reduced by hunger.         On the 15th of April he reached the state of Tennessee, when it became necessary for him to dissolve the connexions which had existed between him and his soldiers. During the night preceding their separation he wrote an address, on his knee, by fire light, which he delivered to his troops on the next day. The following was the concluding paragraph, "you are now about to lay aside the implements of war and to resume those of husbandry [farmers]. You have reaped a rich harvest of glory abroad. When you return from the labors of the day, your firesides will be enlivened by the anecdotes of this campaign and your progeny at the recital of your exploits will burn to emulate the glory of their sires; and from the story of your privations will learn the duty of patience under the hardships of war. My friends, farewell! May that god, who shielded you in battle, protect and prosper you. The pain which your general feels at parting with troops, who have served their country so honorably and so gloriously, is mingled with sensations the most delightful, at being able to restore so meritorious a body of men to their relatives and friends and to all the enjoyments of peaceful life."         In the year 1821 Gen. Carroll was elected Governor of the state of Tennessee by a very large majority of votes over his competitor, Col. Ward, who is justly esteemed one of the most talented men in the state. At the end of his term of two years he was again elected and continued to be re-elected until by the constitution of the state, he was ineligible. In 1829 he was again elected Governor of Tennessee and at the elections in 1831 and 1833 was again re-elected; and is at the present time executing the duties of chief magistrate of the state. He has been elected Governor of Tennessee at six different elections; and at the end of his present term will have served twelve years in that office. During his administration of the state government, he has attached himself to no party; he has had but one object steadily in view and that was the advancement of the best interests of his country. By the wisdom of his administration and the justness of his policy, he has contributed greatly to elevate the character of his adopted state. By his valor in the field and his wise and just policy as a statesman he has afforded to the American people the highest evidences of patriotic devotion and eminent usefulness. Such is the satisfaction which he has rendered as chief magistrate of Tennessee and such is his great popularity in that state, that, since his first election he has been re-elected five times without opposition.         Notwithstanding Gen. Carroll's limited education and his restricted opportunities when young, there are now very few men better acquainted with general literature. He writes with uncommon ease and accuracy and his style is plain, simple and energetic. As a historian and biographer he has few equals and in the sciences of government and of human nature he is as deeply skilled as any individual of our times.

 

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The station which Gen. Carroll has occupied for the last ten years has not required of him the public expression of his political sentiments; on all the important questions, however, which have agitated the country, his opinions have been freely expressed and are well understood among his personal acquaintances. He differs in one essential point from most of the prominent politicians of the day; he has never enlisted under the banner of any party with such blind zeal as to be willing to sacrifice his principles, to advance his party. Whilst he has ever entertained those doctrines which constitute a Republican [a Democrat], he has not followed blindly in the wake of those leading men who claim to be the exclusive Republicans of the country. He has been consistent in his devotion to principles and has not been found abandoning or bending his principles to keep within the shadow of any great leader. He is for preserving the republican form and principles of our constitution and cleaving to the salutary distribution of powers which that instrument has established for the limitation of both the general and state government. He cherishes the rights reserved to the states as the bulwark against consolidation and he is equally opposed to resorting to metaphysical subtleties to enlarge the powers of the one or diminish the rights of the other. In other words, he is opposed to the doctrine of nullification on the one hand and of consolidation on the other. Take his political principles together, he may be styled, strictly, a Republican. From the Nashville Republican

 

From APPLETON'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, edited by James G. Wilson and John Fiske, New York, 1891, volume l, page 539:

CARROLL, William, soldier, b. in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1788; d. in Nashville, Tenn., 22 March, 1844. He was engaged in the hardware business in Pittsburg, whence, in 1810, he went to Nashville, and attracted the attention of Jackson, by whom he was made a captain and brigade inspector in his division, 20 Feb., 1813, and advanced to colonel and inspector-general in September, 1813. In 1813 he fought a duel with Jesse, brother of Thomas H. Benton. He distinguished himself at Enotochopco, and was wounded in the battle of the Horse-shoe Bend of Tallapoosa river, 27 March, 1814. He became major-general of Tennessee militia on 13 Nov., 1814, and won distinction in the defense of New Orleans, especially in the battle of 8 Jan., 1815. He was governor of Tennessee from 1821 till 1827, and again from 1829 till 1835.

 

[Governor Carroll served as Tennessee's chief executive until 1835. The state's constitution was revised during the latter part of his last term in office. He died March 22, 1844; buried in Old City Cemetery, Nashville. See, MESSAGES OF THE GOVERNORS OF TENNESSEE, 1825-1835, edited by Robert H. White, volume 2, 1952, pages 76-78.]

 

February 14, 1834

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ALBERT GALLATIN McINTOSH         Died in this city [Nashville], on the 28th of January, 1834, Albert Gallatin M'Intosh, aged six years, seven months and eighteen days [May 10, 1827], the only son of Mr. Daniel and Mrs. Mary M'Intosh. The cause of his death was a hemorrhage of the nose, produced by scarlet fever and a complication of diseases. He was sick eleven days, never murmuring and scarcely complaining under his sufferings, which induced his friends and physician to think less of his sickness than they otherwise would have done, until the bleeding at the nose commenced, three days before his death. Albert was in many respects an extraordinary and gifted child, or rather a "little man." He was a pupil in Mr. and Mrs. Howard's school, generally at the head of his class, interesting the good will and sympathies of all who knew him. His thirst for knowledge was very great and he would frequently ask questions about divine things, his creator and the works of creation which were difficult even for adults to answer. The prevailing bias of his mind seemed, for a child, to be remarkably religious as the little bud was swiftly preparing to open its most precious blossoms, not in this world of sorrow but in a better clime.         Two nights before his death when he knew his sister was writing to his absent father of his sickness, he told her to tell him to come home as if he had presentiment of his approaching transition from time to eternity. When the last agony came on he cried out to his mother, repeating her name several times, folded his arms round her neck and then went to the bosom of his God.

 

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His funeral service was attended by the Rev. Mr. Fanning and his memory still lingers behind in the minds of his little class-mates and is doubtless embalmed forever in the hearts of his family. He has ascended to a region where eternal light blazes around those subjects on which his little mind sought information while here below. He is where no sickness can invade his frame. He has a tenderer bosom than even his mother's to repose upon until his earthly friends shall meet him in heaven.

 

Married. BENJAMIN H. HUBBARD married MARY RICHARDSON, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Richardson, all of Gibson County, Tennessee, January 30, 1834 before the Reverend G. W. D Harris.

From the NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, June 30, 1853, page four:

You will allow me space in your columns to record the death of our much loved and lamented brother, Rev. Benjamin Harrison Hubbard, D.D., who after a violent illness of some ten days, departed this life at the Memphis Conference Female Institute in this place [Jackson, Tennessee], May 2, 1853, as it is believed in the 42nd year of his age.         My acquaintance commenced with brother Hubbard in Williamson county, Tenn. in the fall of 1829 when he was quite a young man and profitably employed as a school teacher at old Bethesda camp ground. He was the distinguished for his steady habits, his unaffected piety and his intense application to reading and study. In the fall of 1832 he removed to Gibson county in western Tennessee and again established himself in the laudable business of teaching for which he had a remarkable talent, pursuing, at the same time, with intense assiduity, his theological studies in view of the labors and responsibilities of Christian ministry. On the 30th January, 1834, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. M. Richardson, who in feeble health and with a stricken heart, survives him. In the fall of 1835, he was regularly licensed to preach and the same fall was admitted into the traveling connection in the Tennessee conference and received his first appointment on the Hatchie circuit, having for his colleague the lamented Dixon C. McLeod who has long since preceded him in the kingdom.         On this circuit he made many friends and was eminently useful. The succeeding year he was stationed in Gallatin and Cairo and again acquitted himself with great acceptability. In 1838, he was returned to the Hatchie circuit, having for his colleague the sweet-spirited and now sainted John C. Mitchell. His labors this year were crowned with unusual success. In 1839, he was stationed in Huntsville, Ala.; in 1840, at Columbia, Tenn.; in 1841, at Trenton; in 1842-1843, at Jackson; in 1844, at the Sommerville station from which place he was transferred to the Tennessee conference and in 1845 was stationed in Athens, Ala. filling at the same time a professorship in the Female Institute at that place. Soon after he was elected to the presidency of said institute where he continued up to 1852 at which time he was again, at his own request, transferred back to the Memphis Conference and in 1853 was stationed in Jackson, Tenn., filling at the same time a professorship in the Jackson Female Institute [Memphis Conference Female Institute]. This was his last appointment where his dignified bearing, his easy suavity of manners and superior skill as a teacher, in connection with his deep piety and commendable zeal as a preacher, won for him golden opinions. His disease, which was pneumonia in its most violent and malignant form was brought on, as is believed by undue amount of attention given to one of his small children that was afflicted. . . . He leaves behind him almost inconsolable widow and six children to mourn his loss. . . . The funeral of the Rev. Benjamin H. Hubbard was preached by the Rev. G. W. D. Harris on Sabbath the 6th inst., in the Methodist Church, Jackson, Tenn. [obituary written by the Reverend G. W. D. Harris]

 

It has at least once been carelessly remarked ("A HISTORY OF LAMBUTH COLLEGE" by Judge W. W. Herron, WEST TENNESSEE PAPERS, volume 10, 1956, page 24) that Reverend Hubbard served as president of the Jackson female school, 1850-1853. As the above article makes plain his was "a professorship" there.

 

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Buried in Riverside Cemetery, Jackson, Tennessee:

Rev. B. H. HUBBARD, DD
Died May 2, 1853
Asleep in Jesus

MARY JANE MARTIN,
wife of Rev. B. H. HUBBARD
Born Dec. 19, 1809
Died Mar. 23, 1887

In Robert H. Cartmell's Diary, volume 1, under date of May 2, 1853, he wrote that he had heard, that day, of the death of Reverend B. H. Hubbard and praises his memory. Under May 3, "Went to town to attend the burial of Mr. Hubbard but got in too late. Thought to be the largest procession ever witnessed in the place [Jackson] of such an occasion." [Cartmell was a resident of Jackson, Tennessee; his diaries are now in the manuscript division of the Tennessee State Library and Archives.]

From the NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, October 1, 1847:
Died. Mrs. ELIZABETH HUBBARD, consort of Joseph Hubbard, Esq. of DeSoto Co., Miss., mother of Rev. B. H. Hubbard; she was born Feb. 7, 1786, Person Co., N. C.; married Dec. l, 1807; died August 13, 1847.

 

February 21, 1834

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MRS. LOUISA AUGUSTA SUMNER         Died. On the morning of the 3rd inst. (February 3, 1834], at her father's, Mrs. Louisa Augusta Sumner consort of the late Thos. J. Sumner of Huntsville, and daughter of the Rev. William Lanier of Madison, Ala. Mrs. Sumner was born in Anson county, N. Carolina on the 28th Nov. 1806. Her pious parents early dedicated her to god in holy baptism and spared no exertions "to bring her up in the discipline and admonition of the lord." Although piously raised and "taught betimes to approach her God in prayer" it was not until the autumn of '23 that she felt the plague of an unrenewed nature. Hitherto she had seemed to think that, having been raised to the observance of the strictest morality and to attend to the external forms of religious worship there was no necessity for her to seek the pardoning mercy of god, but now under the awakening influence of the holy ghost, she felt and saw that she must be renewed in the spirit of her mind, or never see the face of God in peace. She sought most earnestly and incessantly that mercy which she now felt she so much needed and at the camp-meeting at Glade Spring, Lawrence county [Alabama], after struggling and praying for several days and nights, she joyfully found him whom her soul desired to love. Then could she with holy rapture sing of her savior's name, Tis love! Tis love! Thou died'st for me; I hear thy whisper in my heart; The morning breaks, the shadows flee, Pure universal love thou art To me, to all; thy bowels move. Thy nature and thy name is love.         From this time she was indeed "a new creature," and continued, during her subsequent life one of the brightest ornaments of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Though naturally very cheerful and fond of pleasantry, her cheerfulness was of a description in which angels might have mingled. Amiable, modest, courteous and ardently pious, she could but be both beloved and esteemed by all who knew her. In may, 1830, she was married to Mr. Sumner, who in two years left her a heart-broken widow, with an interesting little boy. She was much devoted to Mr. S. and never recovered from this truly afflicting visitation. Subsequent occurrences still more deeply wounded a heart already overwhelmed with insupportable sorrow. Her constitution, always very feeble, sunk under the accumulation of heart rending ills and notwithstanding every thing that affection and kindness could dictate was most promptly done, it was discovered that she was gradually sinking under a pulmonary consumption. Amid all her bereavements and throughout her distressing illness she maintained the most unshaken confidence in God, and had the most soul-cheering evidence of her acceptance with him. Frequently during her protracted suffering was her soul raised in holy contemplation to heaven, her future home, and she would elevate her feeble voice to the highest

 

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possible pitch in praise of Him, whose goodness had followed her "all the days of her life." O! It was indescribably sweet and solemn to see an amiable and dearly beloved relative commend her little William to the providence of God and the guardianship of her friends and then turn her dying eyes overflowing with tears of gratitude towards her future home and rejoice, yea triumph in the very jaws of death. J. W. A. From the Huntsville [Alabama] Democrat

 

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LORENZO DOW         Died. In Georgetown, D.C. on the 2nd instant [February 2, 1834], Lorenzo Dow, a well known itinerant preacher. He was one of the most remarkable men of his age for his zeal and labors in the cause of religion. He was a native of Coventry, Connecticut and in early life became deeply impressed in the truths of religion and felt urged, by motives, irresistible, to devote his life to the preaching of the gospel in various parts of the world. His eccentric dress and style of preaching attracted great attention; while his shrewdness and quick discernment of character gave him no inconsiderable influence over the multitudes that attended on his ministry. He travelled extensively, in England and Ireland and repeatedly visited almost every portion of the U. States. He had been a public preacher for more than thirty years and it is probable that more persons have heard the gospel from his lips than from those of any other individual since the days of Whitfield. He wrote several books, particular [sic] a history of his own life, so singularly eventful and full of vicissitude. His purity of purpose and integrity and benevolence of character can hardly be questioned. He was a Methodist in principle and though not in connection with that society was held in esteem by many of that body. A wanderer through life, it is believed he was a sincere Christian pilgrim, seeking a heavenly country and that he now rests in the city of God. G. From the National Intelligencer [Washington, D.C.]

 

 

From APPLETON'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, edited by James G. Wilson and John Fiske, New York, 1891, volume 2, page 218:

Dow, Lorenzo, clergyman, b. in Coventry; Conn., 16 Oct., 1777; d. in Georgetown, D.C., 2 Feb., 1834. In his youth he was disturbed by religious speculations until he accepted Methodist doctrines, and determined, in opposition to the wishes of his family, to become a preacher of that denomination, though his education was very limited. In 1796 he made an unsuccessful application for admission into the Connecticut conference; but two years later he was received, and in 1799 was appointed to the Cambridge Circuit, N.Y. During the year he was transferred to Pittsfield, Mass., and afterward to Essex, Vt., but remained there only a brief time, as he believed he had a divine call to preach to the Catholics of Ireland. He made two visits to Ireland and England, in 1799 and 1805, and by his eccentric manners and attractive eloquence drew after him immense crowds who sometimes indulged in a spirit of bitter persecution. He introduced camp-meetings into England, and the controversy about them resulted in the organization of the Primitive Methodists. In 1802 he preached in the Albany district, N.Y. "against atheism, deism, Calvinism, and Universalism." He passed the years 1803 and 1804 in Alabama, delivering the first Protestant sermon within the bounds of that state. In 1807 he extended his labors into Louisiana, and followed the settlers to the extreme borders of civilization. After 1799 he had no official relation to the ministry of the Methodist church; but continued to adhere to and to preach the prominent doctrines of that communion till his death. During his later years his efforts were more specially directed against the Jesuits, whom he regarded as dangerous enemies to pure religion and to republican government.

 

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February 28, 1834

Letter from the Reverend SAMUEL KINGSTON, Florence, Alabama, to the editors, dated February 12, 1834. "On this circuit we have large and respectable congregations [Methodists]. A good feeling prevails in the church and we are looking to the Lord for the conversion of sinners. Father [Joab] Watson is my colleague; a man full of faith and prayer. He has been in the ministry upwards of fifty years and is a revolutionary solider."

Fatal accident. A workman named Claude Vorish, in the straw paper mill of G. A. Shryock and Co.; Chambersburgh, met his death in a fearful manner, in that establishment, one day last week. While at work over a steam tub, containing about 2000 gallons of boiling liquid, the unfortunate man fell into the vessel! He was taken out immediately but was dreadfully scalded from the neck down and after enduring life in that situation for 12 hours, death came to his relief. — Baltimore Patriot.

 

March 7, 1834

Announcement, from the University of Nashville [Tennessee], encouraging aspiring students to enroll for their collegiate studies there; the cost of board and tuition was $120 per annum; there were at the time 120 alumni. Young men who planned to enter the Christian ministry were admitted "at one half of the ordinary charges." The faculty were PHILIP LINDSLEY, DD, president; Dr. GERARD TROOST, professor of chemistry, geology and mineralogy; JAMES HAMILTON, MA, professor of math, astronomy, natural philosophy [natural-science]; N. S. PARMANTIER, esq., professor of French language and literature; GEORGE ELY, AB, and ABEDNEGO STEPHENS, BA, tutors of Greek and Latin languages.

 

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Extract of a letter dated Frankfort [Kentucky], Feb. 22 [1834]:

Gov. Breathitt died at Frankfort on the 21st and was buried on the following day with every demonstration of respect for his personal and official character. Lieut. Gov. [James T.] Morehead will be acting governor until the expiration of the term for which Gov. Breathitt was elected. On Saturday, Mr. [James] Guthrie, of this city, was elected speaker of the senate in the room of Lieut. Gov. Morehead.

 

From BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYLOPAEDIA OF KENTUCKY, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1878, page 474:

BREATHITT, GOV. JOHN, Lawyer, and one of the Governors of Kentucky, was born September 9, 1786, near New London, Virginia. His father settled in Logan County, Kentucky, in 1800, where he followed agricultural pursuits, and reared a family of five sons and four daughters. John Breathitt received a fair education, and made himself a good surveyor, serving as a deputy in surveying public lands in Illinois Territory. He taught school; accumulated some property; studied law under Judge Wallace; and was admitted to the bar in 1810. He rose rapidly into public favor, and soon established a large and lucrative practice. In 1811, he was elected to represent Logan County in the Legislature; was several times re-elected; in 1828, was elected Lieutenant-Governor under Gov. Metcalfe, filling the position with distinguished ability for four years; and, in 1832, was elected Governor, but died before the expiration of his term, at the Governor's House, in Frankfort, February 21, 1834; and over his remains a monument was erected, by order of the State Legislature. Gov. Breathitt was twice married: first, to the daughter of William Whitaker, of Logan County, Kentucky; and, subsequently, to Susan M. Harris, daughter of Richard Harris, of Chesterfield County, Virginia. He left three children --a son and daughter by his first marriage, and a daughter by his last. In politics, he was a Democrat, and stood in great favor with his party. He accumulated a considerable estate, and was one of the most popular and able men of his day.

 

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March 14, 1834

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MRS. JANE HOLLAND         Died in her residence in Williamson county [Tennessee] on the 27th Dec. last, Mrs. Jane Holland in the sixty-third year of her age.         The subject of this short notice had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for about forty-one years, in the early settlement of this country, amidst the perils that surrounded the families who settled at any early time in the neighborhood of Nashville, whilst the minds of the mass of the people were awfully obscured on the important doctrines of the direct witness of the spirit and the knowledge of sins forgiven. She was made the happy subject of renewing grace and stood a living witness that the gospel was the power of god to salvation. The heavenly influences of the gospel, consoled her heart in the midst of the toils and afflictions of life and her deportment evinced to others that she held constant communion with god, for it was ever the joy of her heart to run with cheerful steps in the way of god's commandments.         For the last fifteen years of her life she was emphatically a child of affliction, laboring under a pulmonary affection and as her affliction strengthened, her faith waxed strong and stronger in god, which enabled her to sustain her affliction with cheerful resignation. With the greatest composure, she looked to the grave, she deliberately and calmly spoke of dying, arranged her business in view of death with as much composure as though death endured but for a night. She selected the spot where her flesh should rest in hope (by the side of her husband who had been sleeping in death upwards of nine years) she gave directions about her coffin, grave clothes and funeral services and after having finished her work, she waited with patience to hear her lord say it is enough, rest from thy labors that thy works may follow thee. Her faith was strong and triumphant, her heart as pure as the hallowed altar from whence its fires were kindled, her soul was calmly stayed on god and his promises, her heart was cheerful and her spirit joyous in god; through the power of victorious faith she thus fell asleep in the arms of Jesus, and her spirit relinquishing her claims to earth ascended to the possession of the incorruptible inheritance at the right hand of the majesty on high. O that I may die the death of the righteous, that my last end may be like his. Amen. H.

 

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WILLIAM WIRT         The mail of Thursday brought us the afflicting intelligence of the death of the eminent orator, patriot and Christian, the Hon. William Wirt, late Attorney General of the United States. He died at his lodgings in Washington on Tuesday, at the age of about 62 years, of inflammation in the brain, after an illness of a few days. At a meeting of members of the bar, convened on notice of his death, at the court room in the Capitol, the Hon. B. F. Butler in the chair and the Hon. John Sergeant, Secretary, Mr. [Daniel] Webster rose and addressed the chair as follows:         It is announced to us that one of the oldest, one of the ablest, one of the most distinguished members of this bar, has departed this mortal life. William Wirt is no more! He has this day closed a professional career, among the longest and most brilliant which the distinguished of the profession in the United States have at any time accomplished. Unsullied in every thing which regards professional honor and patient of labor, and rich in those stores of learning which are the reward of patient labor and patient labor only, and if equaled, yet certainly allowed not to be excelled in fervent, animated and persuasive eloquence, he has left an example which those who seek to raise themselves to great heights of professional eminence will hereafter, emulously study. Fortunate, indeed, will be the few who shall imitate it successfully.         As a public man, it is not our peculiar duty to speak of Mr. Wirt here. His character in that respect, belongs to his country. And sir, if we were to speak of him in his private life and in his social relations, all we could possibly say of his urbanity his kindness, the faithfulness of his friendships and the warmth of his affections, would hardly seem sufficiently strong and glowing to do him justice in the feeling

 

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and judgment of those who, separated now forever, from his embraces, can only enshrine his memory in their bleeding hearts. Nor may we, Sir, more than allude to that other relation, which belonged to him, and belongs to us all, that high and paramount relation, which connects man with maker! It may be permitted us, however, to have the pleasure of recording his name, as one who felt a deep sense of religious duty, and who placed all his hopes of the future in the truth and in the doctrines of Christianity.         But our particular ties to him were the ties of our profession. He was our brother and he was our friend. With talents, powerful enough to excite the strength of the strongest, with a kindness both of heart and manner capable of warming and winning the coldest of his brethren, he has now completed the term of his professional life and of his earthly existence in the enjoyment of the high respect and cordial affections of us all. Let us, then, sir, hasten to pay to his memory the well deserved tribute of our regard. Let us lose no time in testifying our sense of our loss and expressing our grief, that one great light of our profession is extinguished forever Mr. Webster concluded, by submitting the resolutions usual on such occasions, which were unanimously adopted.           Mr. Southard was requested to pronounce a discourse, before the bar, upon the professional character and virtues of Mr. Wirt, during the present term.

 

From APPLETON'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, edited by James G. Wilson and John Fiske, New York, 1891, volume 12, pages 578-579:

WIRT, William, lawyer, b. in Bladensburg, Md., 8 Nov., 1772; d. in Washington, D.C., 18 Feb., 1884. His father was a Swiss, his mother a German. Both parents having died before he was eight years old, Jasper Wirt, his uncle, became his guardian. Between his seventh and his eleventh year the boy was sent to several classical schools, and finally to one kept by the, Rev. James Hunt, in Montgomery county, where, under an accomplished and sympathetic teacher, he received during four years, the chief part of his education. For two years he boarded with Mr. Hunt, in whose library he spent much of his time, reading with a keen and indiscriminate appetite. In his fifteenth year the school was disbanded, and his patrimony nearly exhausted. Among his fellow-pupils was Ninian Edwards (afterward governor, of Illinois), whose father, Benjamin Edwards (afterward member of congress from Maryland), discovering, as he thought, in young Wirt signs of more than ordinary natural ability, invited him to reside in his family as tutor to Ninian and two nephews, and offered him also the use of his library for the prosecution of his own studies, an invitation which was joyfully accepted. Under Mr. Edwards's roof Wirt stayed twenty months, spending his time in teaching, in classical and historical studies, in writing, and in preparation for the bar, which he had chosen as his future profession. With the advantages of a vigorous constitution and a good person and carriage, but with the drawbacks of a meagre legal equipment, a constitutional shyness and timidity, and an over-rapid, brusque, and indistinct utterance, he began his legal career, at Culpeper Court-House, Va. In 1795 he married Mildred, daughter of Dr. George Gilmer, and removed to Pen Park, the seat of that gentleman, near Charlottesville. This change introduced him to the acquaintance of many persons of eminence, including Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. The boundless hospitality of the country gentlemen and the convivial habits of the members of the bar at that time had for a season a dangerous fascination for Wirt, who was regarded by his legal, brethren rather as a bon vivant, and gay, fascinating companion, than as an ambitious lawyer. Fortunately he saw his, peril, and with quick resolve forsook the seductive path he was treading. In 1799 his wife died, and he removed to Richmond, where he became clerk of the house of delegates. Three years later, at the early age of thirty, he was elected chancellor of the eastern district of Virginia, which office he resigned after performing its duties for six months. In the winter of 1803-'4 Wirt removed to Norfolk, but in 1806, wishing for a wider field of practice, returned to Richmond, where he speedily took rank with the leaders of the bar. In 1807 he was retained to aid the U.S. attorney in the prosecution of Aaron Burr for treason. His principal speech, occupying four hours, and which was characterized by eloquent appeal, polished wit, and logical reasoning, greatly extended his fame. The passage in which he depicted in glowing colors the home of Harman Blennerhassett, and " the wife of his bosom, whom he lately permitted not the winds of summer 'to visit too roughly,'"as "shivering at midnight on the wintry banks of the Ohio, and mingling her tears with the torrents that froze as they fell," was for many years a favorite piece for academic declamation; and the fact that, though worn to shreds by continual repetition, it still has power to charm the reader, is proof of its real though somewhat florid beauty. In 1808 Wirt was elected to the Virginia house of delegates, the only time he consented to serve the state as a legislator. In 1816 he was appointed a district attorney, and in 1817 he became attorney-general, of the United States. He soon afterward removed to Washington. After twelve years, during which he was often pitted with signal honor against the most eminent counsel in the land, he resigned his office and removed to Baltimore. In 1832 Wirt accepted a nomination by the anti-Masons as their candidate for the presidency of the United States, and in the election that followed he received the seven electoral votes of Vermont, and a popular vote of 33,108. He died at Washington of erysipelas, after an illness of two days caused by a severe cold.         The most striking characteristic of Mr. Wirt was his devotion to his profession. From the beginning to the end of his legal career he kept before him a lofty ideal, which, except for a brief interval, he strained every nerve to attain. To this end all his studies, literary, historical, and scientific, as well as legal, were made to converge. In his early legal addresses he was tempted to aim less at argumentative strength than at the quali-

 

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ties that captivate the multitude. The reputation that he thus acquired for excelling in the ornate rather than in the severe qualities of oratory adhered to him long after it had ceased to be well founded. The consciousness of his early fault appears to have haunted him during a large part of his career, for we find him not only perpetually denouncing "the florid and Asiatic style of oratory" in his letters, and characterizing wit and fancy as " dangerous allies," but laboring with indefatigable perseverance to attain a better reputation for himself. That he succeeded is well known. While he never ceased to relieve the stress and weariness of argument with playful sallies of humor, it was in logical power — the faculty of close, cogent reasoning — that he mainly excelled. His power of analysis was remarkable and his discrimination keen. He excelled in clearness of statement, in discernment of vital points, and in the vigorous presentation of principles. Bestowing great labor on his cases, he often anticipated and answered his opponent's arguments, and swept the whole field of discussion, so as to leave little for his associates to glean. In meeting the unforeseen points that come up suddenly for discussion he was remarkably prompt and effective. His ablest arguments were those he delivered on the trial of Aaron Burr, in the case of McCulloch vs. the State of Maryland, in the Dartmouth college case (see WHEELOCK, JOHN, and WEBSTER, DANIEL), in the great New York steamboat case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, in the Cherokee case, and especially in the defence of Judge Peck, impeached before the U. S. senate. Mr. Wirt was conspicuous for his personal beauty, both in youth and manhood. His manly, striking figure, intellectual face, clear, musical voice, and graceful gesture won the favor of his hearer in advance. In his public addresses he was usually calm, self-possessed, and deliberate. His memory was very retentive, and he excelled in felicity of quotation, sometimes retorting upon an adversary with telling effect a passage inaptly cited by him from an English or Latin poet. A pocket edition of Horace was often thumbed in his journeys; but Seneca was his favorite classic author. Wirt's conversation, enriched by multifarious reading, yet easy, playful, and sparkling with wit and humor, was full of interest and charm. Similar qualities pervade his letters. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and in his last years took great interest in missionary societies, and was president of the Maryland Bible society.         Wirt's earliest work was the noted "Letters of the British Spy," which he first contributed to the Richmond "Argus" in 1803, and which won immediate popularity. They are chiefly studies of eloquence and eloquent men, are written in a vivid and luxuriant style, and may be regarded, in spite of the exceptional excellence of "The Blind Preacher," as rather a prophecy of literary skill than its fulfillment. They were soon afterward issued in book-form (Richmond, 1803; 10th ed., with a biographical sketch of the author by Peter H. Cruse, New York, 1832). In 1808 Wirt wrote for the Richmond "Enquirer" essays entitled "The Rainbow," and in 1810, with Dabney Carr, George Tucker, and others, a series of didactic and ethical essays, entitled "'The Old Bachelor," which, collected, passed through several editions (2 vols., 1812). These papers were modeled after those of the " Spectator," and treat of female education, Virginian manners, the fine arts, and especially oratory-a favorite theme of the author. The best of the essays, that on the " Eloquence of the Pulpit," is a vigorous and passionate protest against the coldness that so often reigns there. In October, 1826, he delivered before the citizens of Washington a discourse on the lives and characters of the ex-presidents, Adams and Jefferson, who had died on 4 July of the same year (Washington, 1826), which the London "Quarterly Review," in a paper on American oratory, several years afterward, pronounced "the best which this remarkable coincidence has called forth." In 1830 Wirt delivered an address to the literary societies of Rutgers college, which, after its publication by the students (New Brunswick, 1830), was republished in England, and translated into French and German. His other publications are "The Two Principal Arguments in the Trial of Aaron Burr" (Richmond, 1808); "Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry," which has been severely criticised both for its hero-worship and its style, the subject of the biography having been regarded by many as a creation of the rhetorician rather than an actual personage (Philadelphia, 1817); "Address on the Triumph of Liberty in France" (Baltimore, 1830); and "Letters by John Q. Adams and William Wirt to the Anti-Masonic Committee for York County" (Boston, 1831). Wirt's " Life " has been written by John Pendleton Kennedy (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1849).         His second wife, Elizabeth Washington, b. in Richmond, Va., 30 Jan., 1784; d. in Annapolis, Md., 24 Jan., 1857, was the daughter of Col. Robert Gamble, of Richmond, Va. She was carefully educated in her native city and in 1802 married Mr. Wirt. She published an illustrated quarto volume entitled "Flora's Dictionary," which was the first book of its kind in this country, and is described as "at once a course of botany, a complete flower letter-writer, and a dictionary of quotations " (Baltimore, 1829).

 

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MISS ELIZABETH THOMPSON         Miss Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of William and Dorcas Thompson, was born in the state of Georgia, Washington county. In 1809, her father moved to the state of Tennessee. In 1818, accompanied by some of the family, she attended a camp meeting held at McGee's camp ground, Madison county, Alabama, and having been under deep conviction for more than twelve months, she there found the Lord is the pardon of her sins and shortly after joined the Methodist Episcopal Church of which she remained a member during life.         For eight or nine years she was sorely afflicted; so that she was almost entirely deprived of the use of her limbs. Sometime last summer she was taken with a violent cough which terminated in a pulmonary consumption; and after suffering much with patience and resignation, without ever murmuring or complaining, she died triumphantly, without a struggle or a groan, on the 12th February, 1834. G. M. W.

 

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Mrs. Dorcas Thompson, a faithful soldier of the cross, departed this life in glorious triumph on the __ [left blank] of July, 1833, at her residence near Winchester, Ten. She was born of reputable parentage in North Carolina, 1769.         About the sixteenth year of her age she was united in holy matrimony with Mr. William Thompson, who had been an officer in our revolutionary struggle. At an early period of Methodism in that country, she, with her husband, attached herself, to the Methodist Episcopal Church as a mourning penitent in Zion and shortly after was made the happy subject of pardoning grace which she retained during life. She was a firm believer in and a warm advocate of, the doctrines and discipline of that church to which she belonged. She delighted much in the company and conversation of the preachers. Her home was their welcome home for about forty years and great part of that time a regular preaching place.         She always found the ministry of the word, together with all the ordinances of God's house, profitable to her soul and upon all these ordinances she was a constant attendant when her health would admit of it.         Throughout her pilgrimage she was a woman of much affliction which she considered as a great blessing to her. She was often heard to say, "it is good for me to be afflicted." In her most severe afflictions, she was happiest in God, often expressing her willingness and desire to depart and be with Christ.         For about eight months previous to her exit from this vale of tears she was confined to her room and mostly to her bed; she suffered much and suffered patiently. She lived to raise eight children and had the happiness to see the most of them converted to god. But when on her death bed, her youngest son, unconverted, was a subject of much concern to her. She most feelingly and affectionately exhorted him to seek the lord while he might be found and prepare to meet her in heaven. When the closing scene drew near, her speech failed and Mrs. Morris, one of her daughters, requested her if she felt that all was well, to let it be known by some sign. Immediately she raised her dying hand towards heaven and at that instant her tongue was loosed and she shouted aloud the high praise's of god; she then affectionately embraced and took her leave of her family and friends and continued to sing redemption's sweet song until her breath was lost in death; and doubtless she now swells the number of the redeemed around the throne on high and sings in a nobler strain. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. G. W. M.

 

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JAMES HERVEY WALLACE         Died in this city, after a short illness, Mr. James Hervey Wallace, in the twenty fifth year of his age. The deceased was a native of Kentucky, but for several years a resident of this city [Nashville]. He was a highly respected member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and died in the unwavering belief and with the blessed hope of a Christian. A numerous circle of friends sincerely lament the loss of one so worthy, so early taken from them.

He walked abroad in manly strength
amongst his fellowmen.
His prospects bright and good his health
Benevolent his mien -

A few, short, fleeting days were spent,
How chang'd the scene I saw
The soul had left its tenement
His form in death laid low.

His parting moments were serene,
So calm, so free from fear,
That those who view'd the dying scene
Felt that Heaven was near.

A Christian, he clung not to earth,
His God was ever nigh,
His dying hour was but the birth
Of a bless'd saint on high.

 

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I saw the burning, gushing tears
Roll down his belov'd ones face,
A mourning father's grief in tears,
A sister's last sad gaze.

Brothers in whose manly cheeks
Tears of deep feeling fell
And many a moistened eve bespeaks
In truth, all lov'd him well.

What need for exercise of art
To show them where he lies
His likeness grav'd on each fond heart
Affection never dies.

No painter's skill or sculptured stone
Can memory keep alive
Like kind and noble actions done
And his will long survive.

 

March 28, 1834

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MRS. SARAH ELLIS       Mrs. Sarah Ellis (the subject of this memoir) was born January 11th 1791 and died the 17th March, 1834. For more than 20 years she professed religion and I have no doubt enjoyed its benefits. In consequence of sore persecution she was prevented from attaching herself to any religious body till the year 1832 when she joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in which she maintained an honorable standing till the day of her death. Sister Ellis was the subject of deep affliction, for persecution followed her to the very gate of death. Still her mind was peaceful and happy. She could praise god aloud while with flowing tears and uplifted hands she testified of his goodness to the last. I have no doubt she rests in Abraham's bosom. Pursued by fiends she fought her way Through clouds and storms to endless day; Surrounded by the hosts of hell, She fought and conquer'd though she fell, And now has gained the happy shore, Where wars and conflicts are no more. N. G. Berryman Bowling Green, Ky., 24th March 1834

 

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MRS. NANCY MARTIN         Died in Robertson county, Ten. on the 11th inst. [March 11, 1834], Mrs. Nancy Martin, consort of the Rev. Thomas m. Martin, in the forty-eighth year of her age. My dear aunt was born on the 4th of May, 1786, in the state of Virginia, and emigrated to the western country with her widowed mother, Ann Carter, who was one among the early settlers in what was then a frontier country. Being brought up by a pious parent, she was taught the necessity of religion and the importance of seeking it in the days of her youth. Sometime in the year of 1802, under the labours of that indefatigable pioneer of western Methodism, Jesse Walker, she was brought to see her undone situation by nature and was encouraged to look to Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour. From that time until her death, she adorned the doctrine of Christ her Saviour by a pious walk and a life deeply devoted to God and his service. She was a loving wife, an affectionate mother, and a shining ornament to the M. E. Church. Kind and affable in her disposition, she was esteemed by numerous friends and a large circle of acquaintances. But she is gone. Death has shot his dart at her mortal body and laid it low in the cold and cheerless grave. But we sorrow not as those who have no hope. During a protracted illness

 

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of about four months close confinement she murmured not at the afflicting rod but bore it with a holy resignation and was perfectly resigned whether life or death. Some short time previous to her departure, she triumphantly shouted aloud the praises of God. All the family, except two sons, stood around her dying bed. After commending them in the care and keeping of her Saviour and requesting them to meet her in heaven, she left the shores of time and launched her weather-beaten barque into the bold waves of Jordan and I have no doubt she is now beholding the unsullied glories that beam around the throne of God and enjoying the smiles of her Saviour. A. H. Martin March 18th, 1834

 

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