title: Reminiscences of public men, by ex-Gov. B. F. Perry.
text: '<?• ,■?-' v^^ -■'^j- ,^^^ X'-; '^.- V* . x>^ =i^. x^-^ % ,,-)- .0- ,' e.^' ,^~^ ''e Sv .^^ '.-'o ^^ '^, ^^o \' sj. ^ '■ "/ > ,#■ V"r:":>^^^ #'%■= ^>\"-:^.. <-;. ^ A* ■.^^% ,0 o. ^.%'5'- .#■ ,o^^' .^^' % '^ oX'^ ' / C' \>. .#' « -"./ % \ ~ -i^' <-• -Cu , c '\: <> -^^ vV '/>. -.^" ■ lS << • 0' ^ o 0^ ^^z- .s^ "<^;< ^ "■^^^> ,^^^ ,0o aV- B. F. PERRY. TO m DEH^ (gi^i^NDOHILiDJ^EN: B. F. PERRY BEATTIE, EMILY EDGEWORTH BEATTIE, AND WM. BEATTIE PERRY, THIS YOLUME IS SFFECTIONSTELY DEDICITED BY THE AUTHOR. %^ (^^ ;y+fc PREFACE. Most of these Reminiscences were written and pub- lished several years since in various periodicals and news- papers of the day. It was thought by many of the author's friends that they were worthy of being preserved in a more permanent form. They are not biographies or eulogies, but simply a record of the author's intercourse with these public men, and their conversations and sug- gestions made at various times. The faults, as well as the virtues, of many who were near and dear to the author as friends are mentioned. Should this volume meet with public favor, a second series will be forth- coming, which have been written and also pubhshed, as these were at first ; and amongst them will be reminis- cences of Colonel Benton, Silas Wright, Chancellor Kent, Edward Everett, William Gaston, Chancellor De Ses- saure. Presidents Pierce and Fillmore, and many others whom the author has had the pleasure of knowing and conversing with. HEXT M. PERRY, M. D., Philada., June 14, 1883, 3501 Hamilton Street. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HON. BENJAMIN F. PERRY. The Hon. Benjamin Franklin Perry, a distinguished member of the South Carolina bar, and still more dis- tinguished for the ability and firmness with which he re- sisted the disunion movement in South Carolina, was born November 20, 1805, in the district of Pendleton. Benjamin Perry, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Massachusetts. His ancestors were English. There were three brothers who immi- grated to America in the early settlement of Massachu- setts. Two of them remained in the old Bay State, and the third moved to Rhode Island. From that brother has descended the family of Commodore Oliver H. Perry. At the early age of sixteen, Benjamin Perry volunteered his services in the army of the Revolution, and was in the attack on Rhode Island in 1778, made by the combined forces of General Sullivan and Count d'Estaing with the French fleet. Immediately after the close of the American Revolution, he entered a store in Boston as clerk, where he remained till his removal to Charleston, S. C, in 1784. Thence he came to Green- ville, where he married Anne Foster, daughter of John Foster, ol Virginia, w4io bore a Lieutenant's commission in the regular army of the Revolution. The mother of 8 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. Benjamin F. Perry , like the mothers of all distinguished men, was a woman of great vigor of intellect and char- acter. The childhood and youth of Benjamin F. Perry were spent amid hills and mountains, alternately going to school and working on the farm until he was sixteen years old. During that period he manifested a great passion for books, and read everything he could lay his hands on, even to the American Encyclopaedia! This early and strong manifestation for reading and learning induced his uncle, Robert S. C. Foster, to prevail on his parents to give him a classical education and a profession. He commenced the study of the languages at Asheville, N. C, where he met David L. Swain as a fellow-student, who was afterwards Governor of North Carolina and President of Chapel Hill University, between whom there sprang up an ardent friendship, which continued through life. The Latin grammar was put into his hands Tuesday morning, and such was his intense appli- cation, combined with remarkable fecility for learning, that he memorized the whole of it before the coming Sat- urday evening. In the course of ten months he read all the Latin and Greek books required to enter the junior class of the South Carolina College. In 1824, Mr. Perry entered the law-office of Judge Earle, and being only eighteen years old, he was enabled to furnish his mind with those rich stores of general in- formation and literature which have since enabled him to mingle with the labors of a large professional practice very many able articles to the periodical literature of the country. He varied his reading daily between law, his- tory, poetry, and novels. He finished his course of legal study in the office of that eminent la^vyer. Col. James Gregg, of Columbia, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. In commencing his profession at Greenville, he had more than the usual severe probation of young law}''ers, for there was very little business and an unusual number of eminent lawyers at the bar on the Western Circuit Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 9 which included Greenville. Mr. Perry has pursued the laborious study of his profession even more assiduously since than before his admission, and has realized, by a commanding practice on the circuit which he rides, the rich rewards of emoluments and reputation to which talents of a high order, great labor and study, high per- sonal character, and speaking talent of a high order, so well entitle him. In the exciting and memorable nullification contest of 1832, Mr. Perry took charge of the editorial department of a newspaper then published in the town of Greenville, where he resided. Nearly all of his friends — Judge Earle, Warren R. Davis, General Thompson, and others who would have been most likely to influence and convert his opinions, and would have influenced those of almost any other young man — were nullifiers. Most of the young men of the State were on the same side — as they are always apt to be on the side that seems to be that of honor and patriotism, because perhaps it is the side of action and danger. But the opinions of Mr. Perry were fixed and undeviating in favor of the Union — the result of much reading and reflection, not crude and hastily formed. The whole theory of nullification, as set forth by Mr. Calhoun in his various publications, w^as, in the judgment of Mr. Perry, at war with the fundamental principles of our Federal Government, and impracticable in its opera- tion. But it was a painful struggle for him to separate from cherished and honored friends, and from a large portion of the embodied chivalry and honor of the State. The crisis was one, however, which demanded the sacri- fice, and he made it, and firmly and resolutely did he pursue the path of duty as he regarded it, which is always the path of honor. The Mountaineer soon became a powerful and leading organ of the Union party, and all sorts of influences were exerted to bring over its talented young editor. Appeals to old and cherished friendsliips, to patriotism, courage, interest and honor, to go with his State and friends, were all made in vain. 10 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. A Convention of the Union party assembled in Col- umbia, August, 1832, for the purpose of adopting meas- ures to counteract the movement of the nullifiers. JNIr. Perry was a delegate to that Convention, which Avas composed of such men as the venerable revolutionary hero and patriot. Col. Thomas Taylor, Judge Huger, Cliief Justice O'Neall, Governor Johnson, Poinsett, Pettigrew, Governor Manning, Judge Richardson, Governor Mid- dleton. Judge King, and many others of the most dis- tinguished names of the State. The opposition of the Union party at home and the denunciations of President Jackson's proclamation seemed only to madden almost to fury a gallant and already excited people. In the ensuing fall, a regular Convention of the people of the State was convened, by order of the I^egisla- ture, in the capitol at Columbia. ^Ir. Perry was elected a member of this Convention from Greenville, at the head of the ticket. His colleagues were Governor Mid- dleton. Colonel Brockman, and Silas R. Whitten, Esq. In 1834, ]\Ir. Perry was put in nomination by the Union party for Congress, and was beaten only sixty votes in a poll of six or seven thousand, (and this in Mr. Calhoun's district) by that highly gifted and most popular man, Hon. Warren R. Davis. Mr. Davis died before taking his seat in Congress, to which he had been re- elected, and Mr. Perry was again brought forward as a candidate, opposed by General Thompson. He was soon after throAvn from his carriage and seriously injured ; was confined to his bed till after the election, and consequently General Thompson was elected by a large majority. ^Ir. Perry now withdrew from politics, as he had long previously done from the editorial chair, and de- voted himself exclusively to his profession and general literature. Few lawyers in the State have enjoyed a larger or more lucrative practice, and none have ex- hibited more learning and ability. In the fall of 1836, Mr. Perry was elected, without opposition, to a seat in the South Carolina Legislature. Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 11 He was placed on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Federal Relations. He strenuously op- posed the agitation of the slaveiy question, and made a speech on the annexation of Texas, eminently successful, which elicited a very high compliment from Mr. Petti- grew — " Laudat'i a laudato.^^ The Louisville and Cin- cinnati Railroad came up before the Legislature at this session, and Mr. Perry was its warm advocate and de- fender. He was re-elected to the Legislature in 1838 and placed at the head of the Committee on Claims, and in that position saved the State many thousands of dollars by his thorough and searching investigation of all matters presented to the House. In all the active business of the Legislature, and in all the discussions of the House, Mr. Perry took a decided and prominent part. He brought forward various measures of reform and improvement in our laws and State government of the highest importance. Among them was the establishment of a penitentiary sys- tem, the election of Governor by the people, and the election of Presidential electors by popular votes, the equal representation of the upper and lower country in the State Senate, the election of Judges for a term of years, and the blending of the courts of law and equity. He was opposed to all connection between bank and State, and, in connection with Col. Memminger, advo- cated the winding up of the State Bank. Mr. Perry was elected to a seat in the State Senate in 1844. He was there placed at the head of the Com- mittee on Finance and Banks. During the four years that he served in the Senate, no member of that body took a more active and prominent part in all the debates and proceedings of that body. He was in the Senate when Mr. Hoar was sent by Massachusetts to South Carolina, and was the only Senator who spoke and voted against the expulsion of that gentleman from the State. Although in a minority of one, he told the Senate that this carried no terrors to his mind while conscientiously discharging his duty as a Senator. 12 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. South Carolina had been for many years a disunion State, and Mr. Perry had been consistently a Union man ever since he entered public life. This had effect- ually excluded him from all State honors and office. But he never aspired to any before the Legislature. On several occasions, his friends voted for him for Chan- cellor and President of the State Bank. When General Cass was the Democratic nominee for the Presidency, Mr. Perry was not in the Legislature, but was elected by that body as an Elector to represent the State at-large in that election. Governor Orr and himself had pre- viously been opposing candidates for Congress. They were both Democrats, but Governor Orr came out in favor of General Taylor, which secured him the Whig vote and he was elected. In the course of his life, Mr. Perry has been called on to make a great many public addresses before various literary societies. He has occasionally written for the Southern Review and other periodical and literary jour- nals. In The Magnolia, published in Savannah, he wrote a series of Revolutionary incidents, which were embodied by Dr. Johnson in his book on the traditions of the American Kevolution. He has always kept a journal of his life, in which he has recorded not only the incidents connected with himself, but the important conversations he has had with distinguished men, after the fashion of BoswelFs life of Dr. Johnson. He has written sketches and reminiscences of a great many public men. He always kept a file of all his letters, newspapers and pamphlets, which he has had substantially bound. In the investigation of cases for court, he preserved all his notes of authorities and arguments. This he found of great service in his future practice. In all public im23rovements of the country, Mr. Perry has taken an active part, and contributed most liberally from his purse. The Greenville and Columbia Railroad, the greatest enterprise of the upper country, owes its origin and success in a great measure to him. Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 13 In 1850 the secession and disunion feeling rose so high in South Carohna that it was said the State was a unit in breaking up the government and forming a new Confederacy. Mr. Perry, hoAvever, remained '^ faithful amongst the faithless/' and boldly j)roclaimed his oppo- sition to secession and disunion, as destructive of liberty and the very institutions of the South for the preservation of which the Union was to be dissolved. He suggested the propriety of establishing a Union paper at Green- ville after every newspaper in the State had gone over to secession and espoused the cause of disunion. He thought it would be a rallying point for the dismembered and broken Union party throughout the State, and perhaps be the means of checking disunion. Some of his per- sonal friends came to him and said if he persevered in establishing his newspaper, neither his life nor his prop- erty would be safe. His reply deserves being repeated. He said : "I will go on with the paper if it sinks my fortune and sacrifices my life T' The crowning glory of Mr. Perry's life is the more than Eoman courage with which he took this position. No one living out of the State can adequately appreciate the terrific excitement of the people at this dangerous crisis. Mr. Perry boldly assumed the editorial department of the paper. The difficult and dangerous path which was before him he trod with courage, patriotism, wisdom and high courtesy, which have won the respect and admiration of even his opponents. The Legislature met in November, and Mr. Perry and his colleagues from Greenville, Colonel Brockman and Mr. Duncan, were the only Union members in that as- sembly. When the question of Federal relations was discussed in the House, he opposed the action of the State in a speech of great length and ability, and boldly as- sumed that the Union was a blessing and not a curse, and that slavery would not survive its dissolution. After concluding his speech, he said to a friend; ^^I intend that my speech to-day shall be published to the world, 14 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. and will leave it as a legacy to my country and children." This speech was published, and has been republished throughout the Southern States. Ten thousand cojiies were struck off in Charleston, at the expense of two or three gentlemen, for distribution in South Carolina and Georgia. It was hailed in Washington and* IN^ew Or- leans as a ray of light from South Carolina, and was cer- tainly the first check which secession and disunion had received in the State. The State Convention met in 1851, and Mr. Perry was elected a member of it from Greenville. He Avas placed on the committee of twenty-one to prepare business for the Convention. Judge Cheves was chairman of the com- mittee, and made a report, asserting the right of secession, but declining to exercise it at that time. jNIr. Perry did not acquiesce in this report, and submitted one of his own, which was elaborately written, and attracted considerable attention. In 1837, Mr. Perry was married in the city of Charles- ton to a lady considerably younger than himself. Miss Elizabeth F. 'McCall, daughter of Hext McCall, Esq., a niece of Governor Robert Y. Hayne, a lovely and accom- plished woman. He has had seven children, and only four, one daughter and three sons, are now survi^Hing. Mr. Perry has always lived like a gentleman, in a style happily combining elegance and frugality, and only ex- travagant in the purchase of books. He has the most extensive library in the upper country. He has saved a competency, and has a handsome income from his pro- fession. His })erson is tall and commanding, with a face more than ordinarily intellectual. His manners are at the same time dignitied, cordial and refined. His nature is frank, confiding, generous and impulsive — more quick to forgive and forget than to take offence. In all the domestic re- lations of life, he is without fault and without blemish ; as a lawyer able and learned, in public offices, as firm as Cato and as just as Aristides. Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 15 The above sketch of the life and character of Governor Perry was written Ijy the late General Wacldy Thompson, in 1852, and is so fnll that very little space is left for a continuation. In 1852, Governor Perry was employed by General Thompson to go with him to Washington and assist in the defence of Dr. Gardiner, who was indicted in the dis- trict for perjury in presenting a false claim against the Mexican government. After spending five or six weeks in the investigation of the case in court, he became satis- fied of the guilt of Dr. Gardiner, and returned home. In the spring of 1860, Governor Perry was appointed a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Charleston. When the South Carolina delegates with- drew from that Convention, Governor Perry refused to go with them, and remained in the Convention, voting for Hunter, of Virginia. He was hissed by the gallery every time he rose to cast a vote. When he rose to make a speech, the hissing was so loud and continued so long that the chairman, General Cushing, ordered the galleries cleared. Governor Perry begged that the order might not be enforced, for he wished them to hear what he had to say. He thought the salvation of the Kepublic de- pended uj)on the preservation of the great National Dem- ocratic party. In this, all now admit that he was correct. It is said that a great man, thoroughly conscientious, is apt to pass much of his life in minorities. Like Lord Mansfield, he never *^ mistakes the shouts of a mob for the trumpet of fame.'^ In 1860, an election was ordered again for members of a State Convention to dissolve the Union because Abraham Lincoln had been elected President of the United States ! Governor Periy contended that this was no cause for breaking up the Government, and that the Southern people still had a majority in both Houses of Congress and in the Supreme Court of the United States. He also urged that the Presidential vote showed that a majority of the people were opposed to Lincoln's election, 16 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. and he was elected only by the divisions in the Demo- cratic party. He warned the people, too, that they were about to plunge the country into a bloody civil war, which would result in the defeat of the South and the loss of their slave property. But such was the temper of the times that he was nowhere heeded. Even in Greenville, where he had never failed, in thirty years, to secure a majority of votes in any election where he was a candi- date, he was beaten for the Convention, in company with Chief Justice O'Neall and the Rev. Dr. James P. Boyce. "When the States seceded. Governor ]\Ieans came to Governor Perry and wished to know what his course w^ould be. He replied : " I have been trying to prevent this sad issue for the last thirty years. You are all now going to the devil, and I will go with you. Honor and patriotism require me to stand by my State, right or wrong. And I acknowledge the great principle pro- claimed in the Declaration of American Independence, that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them, and institute new govern- ments.'' He consequently urged his Union friends to stand by the State and volunteer in her defence. His son, William H. Perry, and all his young friends did so, and remained in the Confederate army until they were killed, or until the surrender of Generals Johnston and Lee. As the war progressed, the people of Greenville began to regret their action in the election of members of the Convention, and elected Governor Perry a member of the Legislature without his being a candidate, and almost unanimously. During the war, he was appointed com- missioner under the Confederate government to regulate prices, etc. He also received the appointment of District Attorney and District Judge under the Confederacy. After the close of the war, he was appointed Provisional Governor by President Johnson, without any solicitation or knowledge on his part or on the part of his friends. Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 17 About the time of his appointment, he made a veiy strong; Southern speech at a pubKc meeting in Greenville, which was very severely criticised at the North, and was the subject of a cabinet meeting. It was thought strange for a Provisional Governor to express such sentiments. The conduct of Governor Periy as Provisional Governor re- flects the highest credit on his character as a man and a statesman. It is a monument of the magnanimity of his nature and unselfish patriotism. There was no effort at mere personal ends. He seemed inspired only by the noble ambition of restoring to a ruined commonwealth order, prosperity and contentment. He sought to build no party for himself, to punish no old political enemies nor to reward any partisans. He restored to office all who were in office at the close of the war, without in- quiring what their politics had been. When Governor Perry called to see President Johnson, he gave so favorable an account of South Carolina, that the President requested him to go and repeat the same conversation to Seward, Secretary of State. On his return from Washington, the mails brought him, from all parts of the State, letters of congratulation on his appointment. He said, good humoredly, to his friends, that it seemed he had all at once become the most popular man in South Carolina, from having been the most unpopular, and that he was forcibly reminded of a remark of Charles the Second of England, on his restoration to the throne. He had been so warmly greeted by the people everywhere, that he began to think it was his own fault that he was not recalled sooner ; so Governor Perry said that it would seem to have been his own fault that he was not made Governor of South Carolina sooner. The Provisional Governorship of South Carolina was remarkable in one respect — Governor Perry's administra- tion neither received nor paid out one dollar ! He was authorized to levy a tax and sell public property, but he declined to do either, as the whole State was poverty- stricken. He met General Meade, commanding the At- 18 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. lautic States, and had a stop put to the military authori- ties trying civil and criminal cases, except where negroes were concerned. He had to act on all pardons and ap- pointments. Xo pardon was refused where the applicant took the oath of allegiance. Governor Perry had the satisfaction of seeing all his political measures which he had been contending for throughout his political life, adopted by the State during his Provisional Governor- ship — the destruction of the Parish system, the election ol Governor by the people, the election by the people ol Presidential Electors, the establishment of a Penitentiary system, the amalgamation of the courts of Law and Equity, the election of the Judiciary for a term of years, and the separation of the State from all banking and banks. Whilst the Fourteenth Amendment was before the Legislature of South Carolina, and Governor Perry was still holding his Provisional office, he wrote to William H. Seward, then Secretary of State, that the Legislature objected to the amendment on the ground that Congress might claim, under the second section, the power to legis- late for the negro at some future period, Mr. Seward wrote in reply that the objection was querulous and unreasona- ble, and said the second section, instead of increasing re- strained the power of Congress. This construction ot Mr. Seward, Governor Perry has often remarked, should be known and remembered, as Congress has since claimed, under the second section of the 15th Amendment, the power of legislating for the negro in any and every way. The two sections are precisely the same in both amendments. In 1867, Governor Perry was a delegate from South Carolina to the Philadelphia Convention, and in 1868 Avas a delegate to the Democratic Convention which met in New York and nominated Seymour and Blair as can- didates for President and Vice-President. Also, a dele- gate to the St. Louis Convention in 1876, which nomi- nated Tilden and Hendricks. Although constantly en- gaged in the troublesome affairs of his own State, and taking an interest in the struggles of the Democratic Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. 19 party, he still diligently pursued the practice of law till he became disgusted with the character of the Judiciary of the State after the negro government was forced upon the people by Congressional reconstruction. He has now in a great measure withdrawn from the law — he moved several years ago to his valuable farm near Greenville; his name, however, remains associated with his son in the practice, and he may be seen in his old office part of his time nearly every day. For years past he has entertained the public and amused himself, by writing reminiscences of public men, and personal reminiscences, which have been extensively circulated in the newspapers, and are valuable contributions to historical and biographical liter- ature. He is never idle as a student and Avriter, scarcely a Aveek now passes that some article from his pen does not appear before the public, but not always over his signa- ture. One of the most elaborate and finished productions that Governor Perry has put forth is an address delivered in the sj^ring of 1876, before the Medical College of Charleston, at the request of the faculty. He had been for many years a member of the Board of Trustees of this College. The subject of the address was, "The Past Glory, the Present Degradation and the Future. Hope of South Carolina." The subject was treated in a very able manner, and the address has received high encomiums from the Charlestonians and from various other quarters. He introduced in part of the address many interesting facts in medical history, and concluded with some admirable suggestions to the students upon the morals that should govern the medical profession. .Ever since 1860, Governor Perry has enjoyed the un- divided confidence of the entire body of the honest, intelh- gent citizens of South Carolina. His reputation has been co-extensive with the country. He has for nearly half a century distinguished himself for his active participation in all the important measures that have been agitated in South Carolina, on one side or the other. He was the real leader of the Union party in the State for nearly thirty 20 Hon. Benjamin F. Perry. years, although he did not himself lay claim to the position, notwithstanding that party included such men as Judge Huger, Judge O'Neall, Legare, Poinsett, Judge David Johnson, Pettigrew, anci other conspicuous and able men. He made more speeches, wrote more for the newspapers, compiled more statistics and information, and with the masses of that party had more popularity and influence, than any of them. These old contests are terminated in South Carolina, Governor Perry is the only survivor amongst the leaders of his old party, and will take rank in history as the most efficient of his compeers, as Mr. Calhoun has undoubtedly taken the first place among the hosts of able men of his own school of politics. Having declined to be a candidate for Governor, the Legislature elected him, almost unanimously. United States Senator for six years. But like all Southern Sen- ators, Governor Perry was not allowed to take his seat in the Senate of the United States. "VYhen the second reconstruction of the States was ordered. Governor Perry opposed it in a series of articles, which were published throughout the Southern States. He thought it better to remain under a military govern- ment than be governed by negroes, carpet-baggers and scallaw^ags. Governor Perry preserves the dignity and courtesy of manner always ascribed to him. He is remarkably familiar with his friends, and accessible to all. He is a capital talker, and at the same time a good listener. The stores of reading, observation and anecdotes w^hich he possesses are freely dispensed, and embrace a wide range in science, literature and politics. He retains still much vigor pf constitution, and his firm tread and elastic step would in- dicate that he is a much younger man than he is. Of large and commanding person, with striking intellectuality of face, he readily impresses every one as being far above the mediocrity of men, and one of nature's true noblemen. l^EMINI^OENOE^ OF PUBLIC MEN JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. In the summer of 1846, I had the pleasure of an in- troduction to John Quincy Adams, in the City of Wash- ington. He was then a member of Congress, and had been President of the United States. I had through life entertained a profound respect for the character and public services of his father, John Adams, the successor of Washing-ton in the Presidential diair. He was one of the boldest and most uncompromising patriots of the revolution. Mr. Jefferson, in the latter part of his life, after a long estrangement with Mr. Adams, spoke of his honesty, purity and patriotism as above reproach. The father of John Adams was a small farmer and shoe- maker in Massachusetts. In his writings, edited by his grandson, John Adams mentions his being a laborer on his father\s farm in early life. He graduated at Cam- bridge, and intended to devote himself to the ministry, but afterwards read law, and practiced his profession till the breaking out of the American revolution. He mar- ried Miss Smith, the daughter of a clergyman, who was the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a woman of remarkable endowments, and was strongly suspected 22 John Quincy Adams. of having an undne influence over the mind of her hus- band whilst he was President of the United States. There was at one period of their lives a strong friendship between her and Thomas Jefferson, w^hich Mr. Jefferson attempted to revive after his retirement from public life, V)ut she would not be reconciled to him though her hus- l^and was. I was introduced to John Q. Adams by ^Ir. Grinell, a member of Congress from Massachusetts. ^Ir. Adams was the representative of the township of Sherbarn, the ancestral home of my father, and his ancestors for two centuries past. My father moved to South Carolina in 1784, and I w^as anxious to know if any of the family were still living there. Mr. Adams invited me to call at his house in Washington the next morning, and he would show me a list of all the military officers in his congressional district, and give me all the information he could in reference to my kindred in Sherbarn. I called at ten o'clock and found the family at breakfast. Avery genteel looking negro boy met me at the door, and in- vited me into the parlor. Knowing, as I did, the strong and bitter abolition feelings of Mr. Adams, I was some- what surprised to find a negro in a menial capacity at his house. In a few minutes Mr. Adams made his ap- pearance in a round-about osnaburg coat or jacket. He received me very graciously, and asked me to excuse his dress. The book was produced and I found that there w^ere several of my name still living in the township of Sherbarn. I spent some time in conversation with him. He informed me that he had, in the preceding summer, made the same tour through Canada ; which I contem- plated, after visiting Boston. In his manners Mr. Adams was very plain and simple, without any preten- sions or assumption whatever. He w^as mild and gentle, but there was nothing cordial or captivating about him. I did not think him, however, austere or morose. He was courteous, quiet and calm in his manners. In stature he was short, but well built. His face and countenance John Quincy Adams. 28 indicated kindness and benevolence; and I could not, whilst looking at him and talking to him, realize the fact that he had manifested so much passion and bitter- ness as he had done in his speeches in Congress on the subject of the South and her institutions. How true it is that men appear very different in different stations and under different circumstances ! Some men have two dif- ferent characters in public and private life. The most disagreeable judge I ever practiced before at the bar, was, in private, one of the most pleasant gentlemen I ever knew. In early life I had great regard for John Q. Adams as a statesman and patriot, and in the canvass of 1824 I preferred him for President to General Jackson or Mr. Clay. I thought his long public services, his great ex- perience at home and abroad, with his talents and attain- ments ought to have given him a preference over his opponents. His administration of the government for four years, was a wise, just and most economical one, and if he had then retired from public life it would have been fortunate for his fame and reputation as a man and a statesman. A day or two after this interview with Mr. Adams, I met him again on the public ground fronting the Presi- dential mansion. There was a large concourse of persons — ladies and gentlemen — strolling over the grounds in the cool of the evening, listening to the music of a mag- nificent band in the pay of the Government. Mr. Adams was walking entirely alone, and seemed to pass through the crowd unnoticed and noticing no one. As he came up General Thompson and myself spoke to him. The General made some remark about the occupant of the Wlute House always having an unpleasant and unhappy life, amidst the cares and disturbances which constantly beset him. He replied that he had not found it so. He had occupied the House for four years, and they were the most pleasant, agreeable years of his life. 24 John Quincy Adams. I did not have the pleasure of hearing Mr. Adams speak in the House of Representatives. It was said that he always spoke well, and commanded the attention of the House. The members drew near to him and hud- dled around him whenever he commenced speaking. This was owing in part, no doubt, to his reputation as a statesman and the high places he had filled in the Re- public. And perhaps, also, to the bitter partisan and sectional feelings which always characterized his remarks. I noticed that he was never out of his seat when the House was in session. He took great pride in sitting there all night on one or two occasions. He died in the House of Representatives, and I have no doubt it was the wish of his heart to die there. In all human characters there are always blended good and evil. No one is perfect, no not one, says Holy Writ. With equal truth it may be said that there is no one without his virtues. The experience of every man is, I think, that he never knew any one intimately who had not some redeeming traits of character. It often happens that the highest virtues are linked with great feults. John Quincy Adams had high qualities, with great faults, as a public man. He was truthful, honest and patriotic, but selfish, ambitious and fanatical. He was a man of wonderful attainments and great ability. He discharged with great credit to himself and his country, all the high offices which he had filled, including that of the Presi- dency. He then lent the great powers of his mind to a sectional and fanatical party, which ultimately overthrew our republican institutions, and established a military despotism over one-third of the country, for the purpose of establishing negro supremacy in the Southern States. What the final result will be, of this folly and madness, no one can tell. ANDREW JACKSON. In 1833 or ^34 I was passing through the lower part of Anderson District^ South Carolina, called the " Dark Corner," lying on the Savannah River where I heard of " old Mrs. Stinson," a Revolutionary matron who had been the schoolmate of General Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States. I determined to pay the lady a visit and learn all I could from her about the early history of the hero of New Orleans. "Eaton's Life of Jackson," the only biography of him that I had then read, was very brief in regard to his family and early history. I found "old Mrs. Stinson," who spelt her name Stephenson, a plain uneducated, though good-looking and intelligent old lady. She was veiy much respected by her neighbors, and had around her a large family of sons and daughters, who were grown up and most of them married. All were respectable, though all were poor. The husband of " old Mrs. Stinson" had been dead some years before my visit. Mrs. Stinson seemed pleased at the object of my visit, and said she would most cheerfully tell me all she knew about the early history of "Andrew;" she had never known or called him by any other name. She said they were both born in the "Waxhaw neighborhood," Lan- caster District, South Carolina. Their parents lived very near each other, and were very intimate. She and "An- drew," were about the same age, and went to school to- gether. She did not know the father of General Jackson. He died before her recollection of him. He and his wife were both from Ireland. They had three children, al 26 Andrew Jackson. sonSj and Andrew was the youngest. Andrew^ was going to a grammar school kept in the Waxhaw Church, when the Revohitionary war broke out in South Carohna. As the contest grew warm, the school was abandoned and the school-house burnt down. In the mean time one of Andrew's brothers died, and the other entered the ser- vice of his country. During the war this brother died with the small-pox. At one period the Waxhaw settle- ment became the seat of war in South Carolina and was laid desolate and left without inhabitants. It was during this distressing period that Andrew himself, then a youth of fourteen or fifteen years, had joined the American army. His services were unknown to Mrs. Stinson. She had understood that he was taken a prisoner by the British and had received a blow with a sword, from a British officer, for not performing some menial office. There were two cousins of Andrew, in the army ^^ith him. One of them was killed and the other was taken a prisoner and carried to Charleston. He was taken sick and Mrs. Jackson lost her life in attempting to visit him ; she fell a victim to the climate and season, and her nephew soon followed her. This left Andrew without a relation in the w^orld known to him, a stranger, not more than fifteen or sixteen years, in a newly settled country. What little property his family had possessed was all taken or destroyed by the enemy. AYhen peace was re- stored to the country he found himself alone in the world, without home or kindred, money or the means of supporting himself. One would naturally have supposed, seeing him at this time, that he stood very little chance of being the President of the United States. The Earl of Mansfield says, when a boy, he rode up to London on a bobtail pony to seek his fortune in that great city, and if one had met him it would never have entered his im- agination that he was meeting the future Lord Chan- cello ^ England or Chief Justice. So it would have been with one meeting Andrew Jackson, at this time. Andrew Jackson. 27 At the close of the war, Andrew made the house of a Mr. White, an uncle of Mrs. Stinson, his home. White was a saddler, and Andrew Avorked with him at his trade for twelve or eighteen months. This fact I had never heard before, and was not mentioned in any life or sketch of General Jackson, then published. I asked Mrs. Stinson, if she was certain of the truth of her state- ment. She said she was, for she herself had seen him at work often at her uncle's, making saddles. I was then writing "Revolutionary Incidents," and wrote one on General Jackson in which I mentioned this fact. It was republished in a great many of the newspapers. Some time afterwards, I saw the first number of a life of An- drew Jackson, written by Amos SiH*dall, Postmaster- General, under President Jackson, in which it was stated by authority of General Jackson, that he did work for some time at the saddler's trade, after the close of the Pevolutionary w^ar. It is to be regretted that this life of Jackson, by JS»^idall, was never completed, and I do not know that more than one number of it w^as ever pub- lished. Parton's life of General Jackson, one of the most interesting biographies that I ever read, and pub- lished since his death, also mentions the fact of his work- ing at the saddler's trade. Strange it may appear to the royalty and aristocracy of Europe, that three of the Presidents, of this great Pepublic worked at mechanical trades. Jackson, a saddler, Johnson, a tailor, and Grant, a tanner ! I believe President Fillmore, too, worked at some mechanical trade, and President Lincoln, was a common laborer splitting rails in early youth. I inquired of IMrs. Stinson, if there was anything peculiar about Andrew Jackson, in his boyhood, and whether he displayed any extraordinary talents or genius. She replied that she herself was very young and not ca- pable of judging of his talents. She did not remember that there were any peculiar traits in his charac. ,'or that he was difterent from other boys of his age. She said that she liked him very much, and so did all of her /te 28 Andrew Jackson. family. He was cordial and warm-hearted. He quit the saddler's trade and went to Salisbury^ North Caro- lina, to read law. She never saw him afterwards, or heard of him till the war of 1814, when he was fiolitino^ the Creek Indians. The old lady said if she were now to meet him she should still be inclined to call him An- drew. Mrs. Stinson had nothing to say about his being wild or frolicsome in his youth. Parton does tell a good many of his frolics at Salisbury, and I have heard that in pulling down some old house, which had been a retail shop in that town, an old day-book kept by the retailer, was discovered between the ceilings and weather-board- ing, in which Andrew Jackson, w^as charged with a goodly number of half-pints. * A man who displayed such turbulent passions in man- hood as General Jackson did, must have had a great deal of fire and recklessness in youth, wdiich either escaped the observation of a young girl like Mrs. Stinson, or passed out of her memory in old ao^e. Judaic Cheves mentioned to me how quickly the countenance of General Jackson could change from benign gentleness to terrific wrath. 