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* wr ~. fK 1 11 |l|uMn ' Jt&f ***“■— r--r^ vnTTm^'in ‘ il (sCTlib’rary) /40E588 ■X'ifck \ ~ . A VOLUME ONE. N U MTB EE SEVEN. “One morn they missed him on the ’customed hill, Along the heath, and near his favorite tree Another came; nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood, was he.” G EORGIA, and in fact the whole South, may well be proud to have claimed such a galaxy of intellectual giants as Rob ert Toombs, Alexander Stephens, Ben- jamin Hill and H. W. Grady, but not eclipsed by any of these was our beloved “Bill Arp,” whose rich humor and fine philosophy entertained his readers throughout - - - the Union for over fifty years. It is said that great minds come to any coun try only at long intervals, and are of Provi dential, rather than human, ordering; verify in the truth that “God sends teachers to every age, to every clime, and every race of men, with knowledge best suited to their tastes.” Indeed, it seems, when we recall the names and deeds of the above mentioned, that the Old South was hoarding fine intellectual material to meet the conditions which followed the firing on Fort Sumpter. * 'Charles Henry Smith, eldest son of Caroline Ann Maguire and Asahel Reid Smith, was born at Lawrenceville, Ga., June 15, 1826. His education was begun in a country school, where manual labor was a requirement, and completed at Franklin College, at present the State University, located at Athens. On the maternal side, he was of Scotch- Irish parentage. His grandparents fled from Ireland during the Robert Emmett Insurrec tion of 1798, and settled at Charleston, S. C. Mr. Smith was married in 1849 to Miss Oc tavia Hutchins, daughter of an influential lawyer of Lawrenceville. In speaking of her to a friend, years afterward, he said: “When I told her the sweet old story, she was a bru nette beauty of sweet sixteen, with a strain of Indian blood in her veins, which came straight down from Pocahontas, through the Randolphs of Virginia, and you see I argued the case with her this way: if that Indian maiden of centuries ago loved John Smith to a degree that she threw herself between him and the death-dealing war-club, why couldn’t this par ticular Indian maiden love Chas. H. Smith? My plea was successful, and many happy years, and a large family have blessed our union. She w-as one of ten, I was one of ten; we have ten, and they have twenty, making in all fifty w’ith whom we have to mingle. ’ ’ Origin of “Bill Arp” as a Pen Name. In 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation ordering the dispersion of all military opposition Maj. Chas. H. Smith, ("‘Bill Mrp”) By MRS. J. F. MILLER ATLANTA, GA., APRIL 5, 1906. to the Union within the next thirty days. Mr. Smith, then a young Southern lawyer of promi nence, and of intensely patriotic feeling, consid ered the time propitious for putting these feelings into words. He therefore determined to write to Mr. Lincoln a letter which should fitly express the strong Southern sentiment engendered by the time and conditions. Before sending this letter, how ever, Mr. Smith took it to the office of his countv "S', ’ ■' ' A". ‘ I z sc - . z ■ A V MAJ. CHAS. H. SMITH (“BILL ARP") judge and read it aloud, in order to have the judi cial opinion regarding a communication which meant so much to the South. While reading, he noticed an uncouth country man standing near the door, who seemed deeply interested in the contents of the letter, and who when he finished, ventured to ask:— “Say, Mister, air you gwine ter print that?” “I am thinking of it; why?” “Well, sir, if you is, and don’t want ter sign yer own name, jest sign mine, fer them’s my senti- ments, and my name is Bill Arp.” Impressed by the earnest simplicity of that unlettered Georgian, the name was signed, and for forty-odd years its very sound was a delightful passport to something worth reading. In the war between the States, Mr. Smith served in the Army of Northern Virginia, the first year as major on the staff of General Bar tow, killed at Manassas, after which he was trans- ferred to Gen. G. T. (“Tige”) Anderson’s staff. In 1863 he was sent by President Davis to Macon to assist in the organization of a military court, for the purpose of trying pris oners charged with treason to the Confed eracy. He accompanied Davis on his humiliating flight from Millen to Macon, and when Wil son’s raid made matters too warm for them at the latter place, he made a short visit to his wife and children, then with her father at Lawrenceville. Fearing the court records would fall into the hands of the enemy, he bound them in a bundle, with a strong cord, to which he at tached a rock, and threw the package into Yellow river. During these exciting times in the South, a paper known as “The Southern Confed eracy,” was being published at Atlanta, and through its columns Major Smith’s talent as a writer became widely known, “The Roman Runagee,” written May 22, 1864, being a fine sample of his feelings at that time. It was in this famous letter that he ex claimed: “Those everlasting Yankees, may they live always, when the devil gets them!” For several years following the Civil War, he practiced law at Rome, Ga., doing much literary work between times. A few years before his death his charming, home-like letters were being published in weekly periodicals all over the country, and he was also engaged in preparing several books which should contain a compilation of his best letters heretofore published. In the suburbs of Cartersville, a small town in North Georgia, may be seen the old South ern mansion, “The Shadows,” the home of “Bill Arp,” named by his son, Victor Smith, of The Xew York Press’ staff, on account of the shadows from the grand red oaks scattered over the front lawn. His children, six sons and four daughters, are scattered over several States. In March, 1899, Major and Mrs. Smith cele brated-their golden w’edding, at which all their chil dren were present, save their youngest son, Carl, who was in Mexico. During this occasion he said to a friend: “Fifty years is a long time, and (Concluded on next page) TWO DOLL AES A YEAR. EIVE CENTS A \ '