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GOVERNOR J. S. BOYNTON.
James Stoddard Boynton was born in
Henry county, Ga., on the 7th day of
May, 1833. His father, Elijah S. Boyn
ton, was a native of the state of Ver
mont, who early came South, and was
one of the first settlers of Henry county.
He was of Scotch descent. Mr. Boyn
ton's mother, whose maiden name was
Elizabeth Moffet, came from a South
Carolina family, and was of French ex
traction. James was the seventh son
and eleventh child. His opportunities
as a boy w’ere of the most meagre de
scription. His parents, though in fair
circumstances, were never wealthy. His
only education was that derived from
the old field school, which was ket open
but a few months in each year, and the
curriculm of which embraced only an
elementary English education. During
the rest of the year young James worked
on the farm, following the plow, carry
ing corn to the old country mill, or per
chance, with gun or rod, pursuing the
pleasures as shooting or fishing amongst
the fields or along the banks of the beau
tiful stream of his native county. But
even amidst these peaceful events, his
active mind was not idle. Fired no doubt
by the heroic deeds of Southern valor in
the Mexican war, the warm, enthusias
tic heart of the spirited boy dreamed of
glory, and his practical mind, not con
tent with idle vision, planned for him
self a military career. Young Boynton
determined, if possible, to secure an ap
pointment to West Point. In order that
he might prepare himself for this life, in
1849 he was placed in the family of John
W. Crockett, and attended the school of
Rev. W. A. Rogers, a clergyman of the
Methodist church, a most competent
teacher, and one who has since attained
great prominence in the church as an
educator. Boynton was at this time
sixteen years of age, wholly ignorant of
the ways of the world, with so little
education that he had never looked into
a grammar, and knew of no higher
branch of mathematics than arithmetic;
warm hearted and confiding, in figure
angular, over six feet in height, weigh
ing only ninety pounds, ungainly, with
a palid, calorless face, and hair sandy to
whiteness, he seemed unable to keep
pace with those around him who had
had so many and great advantages, and
to them he seemed just the proper vic
tim for their glee and sports. But that
spirit which has made the man, shone
out clear and b.ight in
THE LONELY BOY.
The first attempt at a practical joke
was met with so prompt a resentment
and such a ready offer to fight the ag
gressor, that he was not troubled by any
similar attempt, while his pleasant and
genial disposition soon made him a fa
vorite with all the school. To the sur
’ prise of everybody, his indomitable will
and energy, coupled with his natural
quickness, enabled him not only to avoid
falling behind in the studies of his
classes, but won for him a reputation
for talent and scholarship among his
compeers. In November, 1849, he lost
his.father, who left him as his patrimo
ny one hundred acres of land and one
negro. Young Boynton, still intent on
carving out his fortune in a military ca
reer, determined on continuing his stud
ies. He chose for his guardian Wm.
Beck, Esq., who took young Boynton to
his house and treated him as one of his
family, aiding him to continue his stud
ies and encouraging him in his efforts to
attain the objects of his ambition, and
promising to furnish the means necessa
ry for its attainment. During a portion
of this time, in order to increase his lim
ited means, he taught one of the coun
try schools, still continuing, however,
his preparation for West Point Unfor
tunately for young Boynton, Mr. Beck
died in 1851, soon after he became his
guardian. This was a severe blow, and
destroyed all hopes of West Point, as
without Mr. Beck's aid, he could not
bear the expense, and he had no other
friend who would aid him; but nothing
daunted Boynton, with the consent of
Mr. John A, Smith, w’ho had taken Mr.
Beck s place as a guardian, sold his prop
erty and determined to apply for admis
sion into the Georgia Military Institute
at Marietta, Ga. In order to prepare
himself, he re-entered Mr. Roger's school,
which he had left in order to become a
teacher, but remained there only a short
time. Going to Marietta in the spring
of 1852, with his scanty supply of money,
all he had in the world, this brave boy
learned that his hopes of a military edu
cation must be forever abandoned; his
utmost means could, by the strictest
economy, support him but two years,
while three was the least number that
would suffice to enable him to graduate.
Chafing under this disappointment and
chagrin, in an evil hour he fell in with
a sharper, who playing upon his feelings
and taking advantage of his youth and
inexperience, got him for the time in
his power, having induced young Boyn
ton to go with him to Rome, fleeced
him of most of his money and left him
“a stranger in a strange land.” By some
chance Boynton went thence to Cave
Springs, without any definite plans.
There he fell in with and made friends
of some of the boys of Hearne’s school at
that place. Wherever he was, and un
der whatever circumstances, Boynton
seemed to thirst for knowledge; his
active mind could not rest in idleness,
and we are not surprised to find him
next a student at Hearne’s School.
There he staid until his exhausted hoard
compelled him to lay aside his books and
seek for something which would furnish
food and clothing. Returning to Henry
county without plan for the future, an
offer from Colonel L. T. Doyal, a promi
nent lawyer of McDonough, determined
his future career, and accepting it, he
became a law student in Colonel Doyal's
office. About this time he met and
FELL IN LOVE
with Miss Fannie Loyal,’of Monticel
lo, Jasper county, Ga. His love was re
turned, and to his desire to become inde
pendent and to enter upon a career of
usefulness, was added the earnest desire
to be united in marriage to the object of
his affections. Spurred on by necessity,
ambition and love, he applied himself
with all earnestness of his ardent nature,
and with every talent of his vigorous
mind to master the principles of the law.
At the expiration of seven weeks he pre-
ATLANTA, GA., MARCH 11, 1883.
sented himself for admission to the bar
during the October term of Henry Supe
rior Court, and during the third week of
October, after a most rigid examination,
he was admitted by that able jurist,
Judge Jas. A. Stark, receiving the con
gratulations of the Judge and the entire
bar on the thoroughness of his prepara
tion and the credit with which he had
passed his examination. On November
15th, 1852, Mr. Boynton, then nineteen,
moved, with his library and all his
worldly goods (except a negro), which
were contained in a one-horse wagon, to
Monticello, Jasper county, Ga., and
opened a law office. Without friends,
without money, with only a limited and
irregular education, but with a brave
heart, an upright character and brilliant
mind he started the battle of life. In
the face of his difficulties, on the 2d of
December, 1852, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Fannie Loyal, and she, who,
with the devotion that only woman’s
love can produce, was willing to share
the fortunes and privations of this poor
young attorney, was to him through
life every help-meet, encouraging, Riding,
comforting every trial and shaping that
character of noble manhood which ena
bled her in after years to see, with feel
ings of joy and pride, her husband, the
honored and respected man among those
who had known him first only as the
struggling orphan boy. After his mar
riage Mr. Boynton lived in Monticello,
practicing his profession, until January,
1858, when he removed to Jackson,
Butts county, Ga., and entered into co
partnership with Col. Jas. R. Lyons.
Rising rapidly in his profession and
making many friends, in January, 1860,
he was elected Ordinary of Butts coun
ty. Ga., over a popular political oppo
nent whose party had a majority in the
c innty. His conduct of the office and
business of the Ordinary was most ex
cellent, and gave greyt satisfaction. Al
though this office exempted him, and
although he had been a conservative on
the question of secession, yet Mr. Boyn
ton, when the war came on, deemed it
his duty to leave office, friends, wife,
family and home, and he joined the
ranks of the
THIRTIETH GEORGIA REGIMENT
and served seven months as a private.
When the regiment was reorganized in
1862, so great was his popularity, Private
Boynton was elected Major of the regi
ment, and proved himself an efficient,
trusted and favorite officer. In Decem
ber, 1862, he became Lieutenant-Colonel.
His regiment served at Savannah, Char
leston, Wilmington, Pocotaligo and
Jacksonville, but in May, 1863, was or
dered to Jackson, Miss., and, went
through the arduous campaign "which
ensued in that State, and finally joined
the army in Tennessee, a few weeks be
fore the battle of Chickamauga. During
this campaign Col. Boynton earned a
high reputation for courage and ability,
and on the evening before the evacua
tion of Jackson, his Colonel, Manghum,
and Lieutenant-Colonel Boynton were by
general order issued by General Walker,
specially mentioned for galantry dis
played. His regiment was in the thick
est of the fight, losing in one and a half
hours 55 per cent, of its men; and those
that were present bear witness that
where the fight was the thickest and the
danger greatest, there was ever the gal
lant Boynton cheering on and encour
aging his men, with a splendid coolness
and courage that set death at defiance.
Col. T. W. Manghum, a most gallant
soldier, being seriously and permanently
wounded in this battle, Lieutenant-Col.
Boynton became Colonel of the regiment.
From that time on, the regiment fol
lowed the fortunes of the Western army.
At Missionary Ridge, at Dalton, during
the seventy-two days retreat to Atlanta,
and in the battles around Atlanta, the
Thirtieth Georgia bore its full share of
danger and toil, and never did the Thir
tieth Georgia go into action, so long as
he commanded it, except under the lead
ership of Col. Boynton. He was no car
pet knight, he only asked his men to fol
low where he led. The writer has been
informed by a friend of Col. Boynton that
just before the retreat from Dalton to
Atlanta commenced he was detailed tosit
on a court-martial which would last two
or three months, in Atlanta. As soon as
he heard of it he applied in most urgent
terms to be relieved from that duty and
to be allowed to remain with his regi
ment. The request was granted, and he
never left them until stricken down by
the enemy while forty yards in front of
his men, leading them on to the charge
in the battle near Decatur, on the 22d of
July, 1864. His wound detained Col.
Boynton from his regiment until Janu
uary, 1865, but at that time, although
an invalid from his wound, which has
kept him in bad health until the last
three or four years, and although una
ble tomove without his crutches,
A MERE SKELETON,
He juried his command and remained
with them until they were disbanded.
During the war, in 1863, Col. Boynton
had moved his family to Griffin, and
there, after the war, he resumed the
of law. In the summer of 1866
he waS elected over Col. A. D. Nunnally,
an old and popular citizen of the coun
ty, Judge of the County Court. This
position he filled with marked ability
until the court was abolished. Judga
Boynton, it is believed, was the first
Judge to hold the Stay Laws of 1865 un
constitutional From 1869 to 1872 Col.
Boynton was Mayor of Griffin. In 1877
he lost his devoted wife, so long the
sharer of his joys and woes. He has not
since married. His family consists of
his two sons, the only children he ever
had. From 1870 to 1880 Col. Boynton
devoted himself to his profession; but in
1880 he was called by the people of the
Twenty-sixth Senatorial district from
his retirement and unanimously elected
to the Senate. On the assembling of
that Lwdy he was" unanimously chosen
President of the Senate, the only in
stance we believe on record where a new
member, serving his first term in the
Legislature, has ever, without opposi
tion, been called to preside over the Sen
ate of Georgia and become ex-officio
Lieutenant-Governor of the Common
wealth. Such is a brief sketch of this
self-made man, who, by his genius and
goodness, has fought his way from ob
scurity to the proud eminence on which
he stands. Os
HIS RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS
We can say that he is an earnest and
consistent member of the Missionary
Baptist Church. Os him as a soldier,
his record speaks in lodes louder than
meY<4»»'oms to tell of hl? gallantry, abil
ity and fidelity. Os his capacity for pub
lic office, the records of those he has
filled are his most fitting witness, and
are volumes which tell of his capacity.
Another evidence is that in no race be
fere the people has Col. Boynton ever
been defeated. As a lawyer, learned,
clear, with a perfect equipoise, with a
dexterity in the management of cases,
rarely met; as a speaker, logical, perspic
uous, easy, often rising into eloquence,
and with a power of invective whenever
roused that sweeps all before, he stands
the equal of any man to-day at the bar
of Georgia. Perhaps his highest tribute
is that the unlearned, untutored boy of
nineteen, who, on seven weeks prepara
tion, entered the ranks of the profession,
stands a leader of the bar of that same
circuit in which he was admitted, and
which numbers among its members some
of the ablest lawyers in the State. As a
legislator Col. Boynton was noted for
his courtesy to his colleagues, his clear
ness of insight into any measure pend
ing, and the soundness of his views aud
measures. In the session of five months
no appeal from the decision of their new
member and presiding officer was ever
sustained. Entering the Senate of Geor
gia at its last session, and glancing
around to see the distinguished looking
men of that body, the eye of every vis
itor naturally fell upon the President
standing six feet and three inches in
height, with broad and ample shoulders,
a figure not too heavy, his clear blue
eyes looking out from a face that blend
ed benevolence with firmness and decis
ion, his ample brow shaded now with
locks no longer sandy to whiteness, but
light brown, with health in every linea
ment and intellect stamped on every
feature, such is the picture presented by
Jas. S. Boynton.
ATLANTA SMARTNESS.
A JONESBORO FIGHTER.
He was no Christian looking man, as
he came swaggering out of a bar on Ala
bama street, and proclaimed to a group
of awe stricken men that he was from
Jonesboro, and not arfaid of anything
mortal or otherwise.
“Why,” said he, fixing his glittering
black eyes on a small man in the crowd,
“I kin lick this street full o’men; taint
never Saturday es I don't have three er
four rows an’ chaw of somebody’s year.”
“Oh, shut up, blabby,”Jcame from the
small man, “you’re no good!”
“Great Jerusalem! did I hear right, er
did my eyes deceive me. You talk to me
that way; you little dried up skunk, talk
to the best man in Clayton county
thusly?” and he approached the young
one threateningly, who, to the surprise
of all, stood his ground.
On came the hero of Jonesboro waving
his fist around.
As he reached the to be victim, he was
met by a resounding whack from a stick
and he fell over like a shot dog, with
the little man on top, clawing and
I ll' 1
i
'43 Iwi® BR
X-> a I
ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS.
IN MEMORIAM—BY SAM W. SMALL, ‘’OLD SI.” •
A Great, Good man ! Amen 1
Full-orb’d in years !—Full-crown’d with Fame !
A weakling tho’ thou wer’t in frame—
A quiv’ring Atlas ’neath a name
With broader reach and slighter blame
Than most e’er borne by men 1—
Thou art at last in that brief trance
That intercepts the final glance
From earth to Heaven 1
Oh, Great, Good man ! Vale !
Oh, Heart so brave, so tender still 1
Oh, eyes so bright, yet quick to fill
With these rich sympathies that thrill
scratching like a cat. After a few sec
onds he was allowed to get up, and as
he regained his feet, the little man made
another dive for him, shouting, “do you
want some more?”
“No, gul darn ye, I dont,” answered
the conquered chief, as he got as far be
hind the hitching post as possible, “I
ain't no hog, I knows when I’se got er
nough.”
ECONOMICAL.
He had a shrewd business way about
him, as he stepped into an Alabama
street store to price some groceries, but
everything was too good for his trade.
“I want something off,” he remarked,
“something old, musty and rotten.”
He was shown some cheese that had
age and life enough about them to walk
off, but nothing could be found to suit
him, and at last he said :
“Give me a chaw of terbakker.”
The clerk produced a piece of Lucy
Hinton, but he shook his head and said:
“Have you nothing commoner than
that ? ’
‘‘l thought you’d like something good, ”
the clerk said, as a peice of old navy ap
peared, and the man grabbed it.
“No, it’s too high for me, I takes the
cheap stuff so I won’t cultervate a taste
fer the good, because I’m not able to buy
the good.”
A NEW STREET CAR.
As policeman Crim was walking his
beat, a few nights ago, he heard some
one growling and cursing on the corner
of Whitehall and Alabama streets. Hur
rying up there he found a man, rather
off, sitting on the stepping stones near
the street lamp, and hugging the post
tightly, while he muttered : “Bern this
system ’o street cars; say driver, why
donsher drive on, hey? Oh, dassa fac’;
I fergot, I must pay fare, ’fi don’t, off I
go, see ?” and he dropped a coin into the
letter-box.
“Now, I shpose the old cart’ll move
on,” and his weary head bent affection
ately toward the post.
The old cart however, remained still,
but he moved off with Crim as conduc
tor, to a place where little boxes are un
known, and where locks and keys pre
vail.
A TARIFF REFORMER.
One of our most influential Georgia
Grangers was superintending affairs at
his cotton-press the other day when he
was accosted by a neighbor:
“I see, Colonel, that the tariff bill has
passed ? ”
“Is that so ! How about cotton-ties ? ”
“Still thirty-five cent ad valorem ! ”
“Well, here, you boys, thar! sift an
other shovel o’ sand in the middle of
that bale—l can’t afford to reform until
tlie tariff does !”
And the sifting was strictly attended
to.
WHAT WILL THE RADICALS DO.
A lady residing on Formwait street is
the happy possessor of a bright and pre
cocious boy of five years. The little fel
low has heard everything from tea table
chat to political topics discussed, and has
PRICE 5 CENTS.
To joyful scenes, or sights of ill,
For thee, we weep and pray I
For years will come and men depart
Ere we shall know thy counterpart
In this poor clay !
Oh, Great, Good man ! Farewell!
Thy deeds shall live I—Thy honors bloom I
Thy well-earned fame survive the gloom—
Thy precepts over-reach the tomb—
And find in patriot hearts full room
To work their richest spell;
And generations yet to be
Guard well that fame which History
And Truth shall tell 1
March 6th. 1883.
’ evinced considerable interest. His mother
3 read him an account of the death of Gov.
3 Stephens, and he insisted that she should
1 take him to the mansion to view the ro
maine. After looking intently at? the
* body, he asked :
“Mama, is that Gov. Stephens?”
“Yes, my son.”
1 “He can’t pardon any more convicts,
can he, mama?”
“No, my son, Gov. Stephens is dead.”
“Well, mama, if he cant pardon any
t more what will the radical party do
a now ?”
t The little boy was led qnietly away
without a definite answer to his ques
tion.
9
1
SAD DEATH OF A PUNSTER.
t He did not seem to have much bus
iness on his mind, as he passed in front
of Walt Wood’s stove and baby carriage
T emporium, but a bright idea seemed to
. strike him and he waltzed boldly in.
j “I want to see the proprietor,” he
blandly said to the clerk who came hur-
’ riedly forward and courteously squirted
. some tobacco juice on the stranger’s
shining shoes, as he replied: “Not in,
, somethin' I can do fer you ?”
> “Where is he ? I want to see him es
r pecially.”
“At home.”
“What’s the matter with him, ‘Stove’
up?” and an angelic look came over his
face. As soon as he rec ivered from the
1 shock, that extended through the whole
! establishment, the clerk answered sadly:
“No, sir.”
I “I didn't know,” continued the
stranger, “I thought he looked a little
‘Pail’ the la time I was here.”
Another shock.
“Pretty well off, ainthe?”
“Well, not exactly as well off as some
folks, but mighty solid.”
“Oh, I imagined he was rather
wealthy, seeing so much ‘Tin’ lying
around.”
This time the clerk dropped him with
a slew-footed andiron.
After he crawled up he asked:
“What does ‘Tin-Ware?”
Another whack, but from the confus
ed, bleeding mass came these words, “Is
that a very ‘Coal-Stove’ over yonder ?’*
This was too much for even a stove
man to endure, and he was dragged to
the rear, and now sleeps in a nameless
grave.
All persons are hereby warned, that
such talk as the above, will nbt ‘Pan out'
on Whitehall street.
ATLANTA SMARTNESS.
“Why are you and I like the driver of
a vehicle for carrying passengers ? ’ asked
a young Peachtree husband, of his wife,
after they had gone through the kissing
act for the eighth time.
“I don’t know,” was the reply.
“Because we’re always on the Bus.”
The attending physicians have hopes
of his recovery.
“You should not be so chairitable to
wards your neighbor,” remarked Mrs.
Muskedine, to her husband, after he had
nearly brained Smith with a niece nf
J household furniture. P °