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PRBSIDEKTjW. S. UNCOCK.
His Aarrury. Karl) LH a<l Krrilrm.
General Hancock bears a family
name which long before his birth had
been made celebrated in revolutionary
annals. To this family belonged John
Hancock, of Massachusetts, the first
signer of the declaration ot independ
ence. In the great struggle for human
liberty and the deliverance of man from
the olfl thraktpm of jking* inoie 7 that}
oue ancestor of our subject, material
As well as paternal, took part." That
Winfield S. Hancock shouH be a lover
of his country is a matter of inherit
ance. That he is a man who, although
a soldier by profession, holds the law
and the constitution above the sword,
is an honorable and patriotic feature of
his character which is his own. His
name shines therefore with no reflec
ted lustre frouvtbe past.
General Hancock was born in Mont
gomery county, participated in the war
of 1812, and afterwards became a law
yer of prominence. The date of Gen.
Hancock’s birth was February 14, 1824.
Ilis early education was received in an
academy in Norristown, where he spent
the first years of his youth. He pos
sessed, as a schoollioy, those traits
which sometimes foretell future emi
nence. Studious and thoughtful, he
laid the foundations of a great career.
Entering West Point at 16, he grad
uated with credit to himself on the 30th
of June, 1844. The close of the Mex
ican war—in which he had distinguish
ed himself at Contreras, Cherubusco,
Mol ino del Hey and at the capture of
the City of Mexico —found him a sec
ond lieutentant of infantry. From
1848 to 1861 lie served in various ca
pacities in the military. 111 1861, when
the war between the United States and
the Confederate States broke out, he
was stationed at Los Angeles, Cal.
lie offered his services first to his na
tive State of Pennsylvania and then to
the federal government. The latter
accepted them. General Scott ordered
him to Washington and President Lin
coln commissioned him a brigadier
general of volunteers September 23d.
General Hancock's command was
composed of four regiments —from
Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and
Wisconsin respectively. With* these
troops he repaired with the army of the
Potomac to the Peninsula towards the
end of March, 1862, when General Me-'
Clellan began liis ineffectual campaign
against Richmond (torn that .direction.
His brigade too part in a number of
skirmishes and partial engagements
that preceded the battle of Williams
burg on the sth of May. It distin-
O W g
guished itself on that day, General
Hancock assuming personal command
and leading a charge. This sharing
the danger of his mpu was one o£ the
features of his military career; he
never was unwilling to lead on dfcca
sions when his presence was deeded to
encourage his troops, and both as brig
adier-general and major-general he gave
to his soldiers the inspiriting lesson of
example and emulation. But all Gen.
Hancock's courage and skill could not
alter the decrees of fate. He retired
with the rest of the army of the Poto
mac from the long-continued, bloody
and disastrous seven days’ fight, leav
ing Richmond in the hands of her val
iant defenders, but enjoying for him
self the enviable consciousness of hav
ing deserved well of his country. The
testimony to his devotion was shown
when, after the battle of Malvern Hill,
General McClellan recommended that
he be promoted to the rank of major
general of volunteers ; and at the same
time iiis services in this most active of
campaigns were further rewarded by
his obtaining the successive brevets of
major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel in
the regular army.
The months of August and Septem
ber, 1862, found General Hancock with
his brigade at Centreville, serving un
der Pope. He fought at South moun
tain and again, on September 17tb, at
Antietam. In this battle fell the gen
eral commanding the first division of
the second army corps. During the
progress of the battle General Hancock
was appointed to the command of the
division, and thus began his connection
with the second corps, of which, in the
course of time, he became the com
jnander.
He was commissioned major-general
of volunteers in the month of Novem
ber, and at the head of his division he
participated Jn the battle at Fredericks
burg on December 13th; here he was
slightly wounded. He shared in the
defeat of Hooker at Chan cel lorsville in
1863. and his division did effectual ser
vice in staying the ill-fortunesof the day
by protecting the rear of the retreating
The Haktwell Sun.
7T
By BENSON & McGILL.
VOL. IV—NO. 45.
union ■tfoops. f\n Udth of Jlue
of the same year he was assigned to
the command of the second army corps.
We next hear of Hancock at the
great battle of Gettysburg which, by
some northern authorities, is held to
have been the pivotal conflict of the
war. The retreating union forces were
stayed at this point by his advice, and
here it was that General Meade, who
was in general gomijbndf determined
make a stand mgar<Rt General Lee’s
pursuing army. On the first day of
the battle, July Ist., he was in imme
diate command until the arrival of
Meade. On the second day his corps
did exceptional service and was en
gaged with General Longstreet’s corps.
Iffe had command of the left centre of
union army and before the close of the
day lie was
sidbratimr of hi? services in these bat.
ties congress voted him a resolution of
thanks.
It was not until the opening of the
campaign of 1864 that his wounds al
lowed him again to see active service.
Up to March of that year he was on
sick leave, and was engaged in recruit
ing the Second army corps. With the
opening of the campaign he was in the
field under General Grant, and in com
mand of this corps. He was present
at the battle of the Wilderness, Spott
sylvania courthouse. North Anna, and
the second battle of Cola-llartior. He
participated in the operation around
Petersburg until June 19th, when he
was once more compelled to retire from
service for awhile, owing to his wounds
breaking out anew.
General Hancock’s last military com
mand was an important one. He was
detached from the army of the Potomac
on the 26th of November and was or
dered to Washington. In a short while
he was placed at the head, of a corps
of veteransTmmber 30,0<00. Ilis head
quarters were at Winchester, Va., and
his entire command, Th which was in
cluded the arm}' of the Shenandoah,
numbered 100,000 me a". The surrender
at Appomattox, however, made further
service in the field unnecessary.
lie was still at Winchester when the
murder of President Lincoln occurred.
Summoned to Washington, which city
was included in his military division,
he was ordered to remain there by
President Johnson until order should
replace the excitement caused by the
assassination of the President. It was
in his capacity as military head of the
division that he was compelled to look
on and witness the murder of the un
fortunate Mrs. Surratt by order of a
military commision. But to his credit
be it said that he made every effort,
consistent with his position and duties,
to save the life of this victim convicted
under martial law. Mrs. Surratt and
her companions were executed on July
8, 1865. When Mrs. Surratt’s daugh
ter, at his suggestion, endeavored to
reach the ear of President Johnson to
intercede for her mother's life, General
Hancock assisted her to the extent of
his ability in carrying out her wishes.
But in vain. He hoped for a pardon
for Mrs. Surratt through the prayers of
the unfortunate woman’s daughter, and
on the day of the execution he station
ed mounted soldiers on the line from
the white house to the arsenal grounds,
where the execution was to take place,
so that if the granted even
at the last moment, he should know it
promptly and in time to save Mrs.
Surratt from the halter. No messenger
of merc3 r came, and the indelible dis
grace was attached to the government
of the United States of hanging a wo
man innocent of crime.
Later in July General Hancock was
transferred to the middle department.
His headquarters were at Baltimore.
He remained in command of this de
partment until July, 1866, when he was
put in command of the department of
Missouri. AJ)out the same time he
was made major-general in the regular
army, having already been Rreveted to
the same grade for “ gallant and meri
torious services at Spottsvlvania.”
While in the west he conducted several
campaigns against hostile Indians in
the Indian Territory, Kansas and Col
orado. His subsequent commands have
l>een those of Louisiana and Texas, of
Dakota and of the department of the
HARTWELL, GA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1880.
east—the last his ifresent clihlgjk wftl
headquarters on Governor's island.
We have shown aliovo the record that
General Hancock has made for himself
as a soldier, but it is not as a soldier
that the Presidency of the United
States will be conferred on him. The
eyes of thousands of his fellow-coun
trymen arc turned to him because,
being a soldier himself, he has stood
boldly forward in emergencies fn de
fenso.of the civil law when threatened
in time of peace by the military law.
While in command of the *• military
district of Louisiana and Texas, with
headquarters in New Orleans, in No
vember, 1867, lie- found himself met by
difficulties arising out of the results of
the war. With admirable tact and a
keen sense of Justice to the laws of
dim country as well as to the people of
Louisiana hnd Texas, he reconciled the
differences that had previously prevail
ed, and which had had their origin in
the abominable carpet-bag governments
that since the close of the Avar had
blighted those states. Instead of an
oppressor, the Louisianians and Texans
found in him a governor inspired by
motives of the purest patriotism and
of the highest justice. On assuming
command, November 29, 1867, he is
sued his well-known “ General Order v
No. 40/’ in which lie laid dow/i Ills pro
gramme as;' governor.; (k 4he
This document was a revelation to an
oppressed, robbed and humiliated peo
ple. In it he expressed his conviction
that the people of Louisiana and Texas
desired peace, and he declared his pur
pose to ensure it, by allowing the civil
authorities to carry out the civil laws.
* J % r
There was everything in {his “ Oader
to produce a profound sense of grati
tude in the hearts of those to whom it
addressed. Following it came for
V Hpi ■
awhile tire blessings of peace and pros
perity, aiid but facihe fact that the ad
ministration at Washington removed
General Hancock from his sphere of
just and beneficent government the
period of misrble in Louisiana and
Texas would have come to an end years
ago. How honestly, how impartially,
and how prudently he conducted the
affairs of those two states is shown in
the case of his controversy with the
carpet-bag so-called Governor reuse of
Texas. This individual had abitrarily
removed the judges and county officers
whom he found in office and had ap
pointed his own creatures to fill their
places.
General Hancock’s first act on as
suming command was to redress the
injustice that had been done to the peo
ple of Texas, and in his “ General Or
der No. 40” lie repaired the wrong that
Pease had committed. He declared
that “ the right of trial by jury, the
habeas corpus, the liberty of the press,
the freedom of speech, the natural
rights of persons, and the rights of
property, should be respected ” —noble
sentiments that have never been for
goten by the American people. Again,
in a letter to Pease, he said that, “On
them (the laws of Texas and Louisi
ana). as on a foundation of rock, re
poses almost the entire structure of so
cial order in these two states. * *
Power may destroy the forms but not
the principles of justice; these will
live in spite of the sword.”
The just course of General Hancock
in the south offended the carpet-baggers
and their Radical friends in Congress
endeavored by hostile legislation, di
rected against him. either to have him
retired from the military service or
make his position as commander of the
fifth military district irksome and em
barrassing. Finally the issue of obey
ing a wrong or resigning his governor
ship was presented to him. He chose
the latter course, and in a letter to a
friend, in which he spoke of his diffi
culties, he said : “Nothing can intimi
date me from doing what I believe to be
honest and right.” He made applica
tion to be relieved from his command on
February 27, 1868, a victim of Radical
partisanship, whose name had become
a tower of strength in the land.
General Hancock was brought out in
1868 as a candidate for the Democratic
nomination for the Presidency. In the
national convention of that year he re
ceived 144| votes. Again, in 1876, he
! received at the St. Louis convention
Devoted to Hart County.
votes for the same nomi
nation. It will be seen, therefore, that,
he has a presidential recorii which does
not lack Site important element of the
confidence of hundreds of thousands
of his fellow-citizens in his availability
as the man to lead the Democracy to
victory. It may be remarked, in con
clusion, that he has a large following
throughout the country, and that he
was the choice of Louisiana and Tex
as ami of several other districts in
other Southern states for President.
THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
Ailiilili-il lit the t'lni'lia mi 11 t'oiiveiittou.
Mr. Wattersou, from the committee
on resolutions, reported tlio following
platform which was adopted unanimous
]y:
The Democrats of the United States
in Convention assembled, declare—
First. We pledge ourselves to the
Constitutional doctrines and traditions
of tin- Democratic party, as illustrated
by tliii teaching and example of a long
line of Democratic statesmen and patri
ots, and embodied in the platform of the
last national convention of the party.
Second. Opposition to centrilizatiou
and to that dangerous spirit of encroach
ment which tends to consolidate the
powers of all .the departments in one,
and tluis to create, whatever 1)6 (Reform
of government, a real despotism ; no
sumptuary laws; separation of church
and state for the good of each ; com
mon schools fostered and protected.
Third. Home rule, honest money, the
strict maintenance of the public faith,
consisting of gold and silver, and paper
.cpiivcftible into *9Olll on demand ; a
strict maintenance of the public faith,
state and national ; and a tariff for rcv :
enue only.
Fourth. The subordination of the
militaiy to the civil power, and a gen
eral and thorough reform of the civil
service.
Fifth. The fight to a free ballot is
the right preservative of all rights, and
must and shall be maintained in every
one of the United States.
Sixth. The existing administration is
the representative of a conspiracy only,
and its claim of aright to surround the
ballot-boxes with troops and deputy
marshals, to intimidate and obstruct
elections, and the unprecedented use of
the veto to maintain its corrupt and des
potic power, insults the people and im
perils their institutions.
Seventh. The great fraud of 1876-77,
by which, upon a false count of the
electoral votes of two states, the candi
dates defeated at the polls was declared
to be president, and for the first time in
American history the will of the people
svas set aside under a threat of military
violence, struck a deadly blow at our
system of representative government.
The Democratic party, to preserve the
country from civil war, submitted for
the time with firm and patriotic faith,
that the people would punish this crime
in 1880. Tills issue proceeds and dwarfs
j every other. It imposes a more sacred
1 duty upon the people of the Union than
! ever addressed the conscience of a na-
I tion of freemen.
Eighth. We execrate the course of
this administration in making the places
in the civil service a reward for politi
cal crime, and demand a reform by
statute, which shall make it forever im
possible for a defeated candidate to bribe
his way to the seat of a usurper by bil
litting the villains upon the people.
[This was read again in response to de
mands and was received with applause.]
Ninth. The resolution of Samuel J.
Tilden not to be a candidate for the ex
alted place to which he was elected by
a majority of his countrymen, and from
which he was excluded by the leaders of
the Republican party, is received by the
Democrats of the United States with
sensibilities and they declare their con
fidence in his wisdom, patriotism and in
tegrity, unshaken by the assaults of a
common enemy, and they further as
sure him that he is followed into the re
tirement which, he baa choseq for him
self by the sympathies and respect of bis
fellow citizens, who ragard him as one
who, by elevating the standard of pub
lic morality and adorning and purifying
the public service, merits the lasting
gratitude of his country and his party.
81.50 Per Annum.
WHOLE NO. 201.
Tenth. Free ships and a living chance
for American commerce on the seas; on
the land no discrimination in favor of
transportation lines, corporations i r
tnouo|H)Ue|.
Eleventh. Amendment to the Bur
lingnmc treaty j no more Chinese immi
gration except tor travel, education and
foreign commerce, and therein carefully
guarded.
Twelfth. I’uklic money nud public
credit are for public purposes solely and
public land for actual settlers.
Thirteenth. The Democratic pnrty is
the friend of labor and the laboring
man, and pledges itself to protect him
alike against lhe cormorants nud the
commune.
Fourtoeth. We congratulate the coun
try upon the honesty and thrift of the
Democratic Congress, which has reduced
the public expenditure $40,000,000 a
year; upon the continuation of prosper
ity at homo and national honor abroad,
and above all, Wpon the promise of such
a change in the administration ot the
government as shall insure us a genuine
and lasting reform in every department
of the public service.
(Georgia fountles.
Some pains-taking person has been ex
amining the Georgia records and sub
mits the following summary in the
Washington Post:
Counties having Courts and Judges - 45
Abolished - - - - -16
Counties without Courts - - 76
Total Counties in State - - 137
Counties having Boards of Revenue
aud Board Commissioners - - 80
Counties without such Boards - - 53
Counties having only one Commis
sioner 4
Total counties in State - - 137
In Georgia, the next lower division
than the county is called the militia
district, and over it presides the Justice
of the Peace and Notary Public, who
in his way, is a sort of Justice of the
Peace, and unlike the simple Commer
cial Notary of the North. Instead of
Assessors, they have vvluit is called Tax
Receivers, or what might more appro
priately be termed "Tax List Receiv
ers,” since no money comes into their
hands.
The duty of this officer is to receive
the sworn statement of the good people
of Georgia relating to the property own
ed by them, and upon which returns
their appointment of the tax is made
out. All counties in common have an
Ordinary, Sheriff, Tax Receiver, Tax-
Collector, Surveyor and Coroner. The
Ordinary’s duties,as I have before hint
ed, are of the most varied character.
At one time we see him tho autocrat of
toe i— tin- to ve, and dis
bursing the funds, making roads, con
structing bridges and dispensing sweet
charity to the poor. At another, lie
has sunk into the insignificance of a
probator of wills. My impression is,
there are too many countit* in Georgia.
Counties in this State are created by act
of the General Assembly, in very much
the same way as incorporated villages
are in the other States, and the laws
creating invariably prescribe the man
ner and lbrm-of government. Kach
county is a law unto itself.
The late Dr. Guthrie, of Scotland,
was a strong temper mice man. On
one occasion he expressed his opinion
of whisky in these words : “ Whisky
is good in its place. There is nothing
like whisky in this world lor preserving
a man when he is dead. But it is one
of the worst things in the world for
preserving a man when lie is living.
If you want to keep a dead man, put
him in whisky; if you want to kill a
living man, put whisky into him.”
Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, after
contemplating the events of the past
weeks with his eagle eye, says: “It
is the first serious mistake I have known
the Republican party to make in sixteen
years. It marks anew epoch in the
history of the party. The Republicans
have repudiated the man who saved
their country and their party, and the
act cannot fail to bring defeat down up
on their beads.”
Gen. Hancock is a twin. His twin
brother, Hilary Hancock, is a lawyer at
Minneapolis, Minn.
LETTER FROM RICHMOND CO.
M ijsmhs. Editou: Would a few notes
from this part of Georgia be accepta
ble to you f If so, yon may publisk.
t hem with pleasure; and, as many of
your reader* are fanners, I shall gfYe
you some farm items.
This county contains some of the
poorest sandy ridges in the State, which,
grow only blackjacks, and at the same
time has some of the richest river bot
toms. Extremes hero meet, and wliafc
is termed the “ latv of compensation ”
finds an illustration. Between these
extremes, however, there is, especially
in the southern portion of the county,
much medium land, which produces
surprisingly well. About tlio.first im
pression a stranger receives, in coming
from the up-country, where the lands
are clayey, fresh ami good, is to won
der how these people ever make a liv
ing on these thin sandy lands; yet no
class of farmers do'better than they.
While there is a scarcity of corn raised
on the uplands, the Savannah river
bottoms yield bountifully enough to
supply half the county. Many farm
ers rent land in the swamp, and make
their com, and on their farms at home
raise everything else. They rent from
four or five acres to a plantation. These
bottom lands bring $5 per acre, or one
fourth they produce. One farmer 1
know rents four acres, and expects to
make 75 bushels of corn to the acre,
which will pay him very well, as well
as the owner of the land. River
swamp planting is attended, however,
with great risk, the dangers from fresh
ets being great.
Considerable cotton is here raised,
by the assistance of home-made ma
nures and commercial fertilizers. This
is true of farming in general, as well
cotton-raising: that t hose who raise
most home-made manures succeed best.
I have hi my mind two farmers who
make a specialty of this, while at the
same time they invest in commercial
fertilizers, and they are thrifty and suc
ceeding well. They act on the policy
that it pays better in the long run to
employ their hands and team in haul
ing straw and making manure than to
send them to town with a load of wood.
Speaking of cotton, I want to say
that the crop this year is as good and
piomiaos as well as any year in tho
past. Asa general rule, the staud D
good, and the lato fains have caused ft
to grow off well. Blooms and bolls are
plentiful. The plan of many is 'to
make a small amount Of land produce
a great deal, instead of cultivating su
perficially a large territory and making
nothing thereon.
This count}', as you arc aware, is
the great watermelon-raising section of
Georgia. Some of the finest in which
mortal man ever stuck a tooth are
here grown. Much money has been
made by farmers in the past on this
crop. It lias become to be a large bus
iness—thousands of them being bought
up and shipped to other and Northern
cities. This year, however, the crop
will be cut short by what is termed the
“ watermelon disease,” an affection
which causes the vines to die when
several weeks old. Some farmers li™
lost three-fourths of their crop, and on
tile r.vr.„ ~r one gentleman tlie destruc
tion of vines lias been so great that he
ploughed up his patches and planted
them in something else. This “dis
ease ” made its appearance a few years
ago near Augusta, and has been spread
ing, until now it lias reached about
every section of the country. The
first indication is*seen in the wilting of
the vine, and in 24 hours it is dead.
Some claim that it is a bug, which sucks
the roots, while others say they see no
sign either of the bug or his mark on
the vine. In a few cases where tho
roots of the dead vines were examined,
there was a murk which indicated that
some insect or worm had sucked it.
This year the destruction has been
greater than ever, and steps will be
taken to have the matter investigated
by the Commissioner of Agriculture of
the State, which he has stated he will
do when communicated with. One
thing is certain, it is a great calamity
to the farmers of this section, and if a
remedy can be discovered, it will be
money in their pockets.
The wheat and oat crops were poor
with us. One farmer planted five
bushels of wheat and made four; an
other made about the same. These,
however, are exceptional cases. I
might say a half-crop of wheat was
made, while the oat crop is nothing to
brag over.
The fruit crop is a failure.
Sly.
The hand that wins—a hand with a
[rooster in it [Hancock.]