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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION.
M-
VOIiUME XIV.
TUESDAY MOB
AUGUST 22. 1882.
PRICE 5 CENTS
BEN HILL DEAD.
The Last Moments of Georgia’s
Favorite Son. .
HOW HE MET DEATH.
The Scenes and Incidents About
the Dead Man's Bier.
HIS BIRTH; LIFE AND PUBLIC CAREER.
On the Hustings, at the Bar and
in Congress.
When be first began the use of the pad be
wrote very clearly and with a bold stroke.
About two weeks ago he wrote bis will, giv
ing direction to the way in which bis property
was to be disposed of and appointing Mr. B.
. Hill, Jr., bis executor.
The last thing that Senator Hill ever wrote
that was intelligible was addressed to bis wife.
They were discussing wbat should be done for
.him. He wrote on bis tablet:
“My Dearest—Any nourishment that the
doctors tiiink best, I will take.”
The wound on Senator Hill’s neck was a
most horrible one. The cruel cancer had
eaten into the throat and exposed to view the
windpipe and the elevation made by the ar
tery. The root of the tongue could be seen.
The cancer had eaten into the muscles on the
leftside of the month and (he muscles on the
right being strorger drew the lower jaw
around out of position and caused the lip to
protrude.
A SKETCH OF MR. HILL.
THE HISTORY OF HIS ILLNESS.
The Unavailing Operations and
Search for Relief.
How the Newt' is Received at Home and
Abroad—-The Funeral. .
After a season of anxious waiting, into
which not a single ray of hope lias entered,
the people of Georgia .must at lost hear the
sad uuuounccment that Senator Hill is dead.
The distinguished sufferer—grand in health
hut grainier still as lie approached the valley of
the shadow of death—has sunk to sleep and
is ut rest. For weeks each succeeding day
has left him weaker, while no earthly power
could stay the progress of the disease that was
carrying him to the grave. Three weeks ago
he ceased all efforts to speak and the tongue
that once thrilled tlio multitudes by its tire
and eloquence was hushed forever. The
grand form, majestic in its proportions and
dignity, became emaciated and helpless, and
on Thursday night last the great man, from
sheer exhaustion, was put to bed for the lost
time. His pulse was weak and his fingers
had'lost their strength so that the pad upon
which he lmd been accustomed to write his
thoughts '•ouUl no longer express his needs
nml Ills wishes. The tube through which the
fluid i. ' i.'htnent had been forced
...:o hib V— .t,«ch .".as abandoned a few
-day ago when his stomach refused to retain
the milk which furnished his usual meal.
His nourishment had to be supplied by ene-
roata. When this point was reached—which
occurred Monday—his friends knew that his
end was near and that his sufferings would
soon draw to a close. %
In this condition lie continued until Tues
■day, when it was believed that he was at
times unconscious. He slept most of the day,
but at times he would be aroused, and when
fully awakened gave evidences that he was
still conscious. Tuesday morning General
■Evans, pastor of the First Methodist church
-called on Mr. HilL The sick man recognized
liis visitor and postor, and feebly said: “Al
most Home," the only words ho has spoken
in nearly a month, aud the lost ho was des
tined to utter on earth! His weary eyes
closed again and he sank back to sleep.
The nourishment which was administered by
■cnemata was discharged,and thusall possibili
ty of supplying liis system with nourishment
was ended. He grew gradually weaker
until after midnight, when he began to
•sink rapidly. His breathing became heavy
.and labored. About 2 o’clock Wednesday
, morning he was considered at the point of
-death. He made a sign'that he desired a by-
pedemic injection of morphine, which was
-administered. He then went to sleep again!
but at times would open his "eyes. It is not
known whether or not his mind was clear, as
he coull not speak or make himself under
stood. Dr. Ridley and Mr. B. H. Hill, J
.and .other membersof the family, were watch
ing by the bedside of the dying senator. His
pulse was very weak and quick, and about
-daybreak the physicians saw that the
■end was near, and the members of
the family were summoned to the bedside.
There were present Mrs. Hill, wife of the
.-senator, Mr. B. H. Hill, Jr., and his wife, Dr.
^tidley and his wife, a daughter of Senator
.Hill, Mr. .Edgar Thompson and wife, a daugh
ter of Senator Hill, Mr. Charles Hill, son of
the senator, and Mr. Hill's two nephews, with
Dr. Wright. For two hours they watched
the labored breathing of the |ufferer. At
fifteen minutes past six Senator Hill opened
his eyes for a moment, then closed them
wearily. There was not a tremor of his frame
nor even a sigh or long-drawn breath as the
grand life went out—and Georgia’s Hill was
dead.
SINCE Ills RETURN HOKE.
Since Senator Hill's return from Eureka
Springs he has had the most constant and un
remitting attention. Never since the first
operation has Dr. Wright left hkn, and since
liis return from Eureka he has slept in an ad
joining room to Mr. Hill’s private bed room.
In another adjoining room, always used by
Senator Hill as an office, two members of the
family have sat up at night by turns. Two of
Mr. Hill’s nephews, Mr. W. P. Hill and Mr.
.Pinckney Hill, of near West Point, have been
unremitting in their attention. The imme
diate members of the family have watched by
the bedside, doing all in their' power for the
sufferer. Senator Hill has notbad many visi
tors lately. The people seemed to realize
that they could do no good and possibly
harm by calling and hence retrained. Mr.
Hill, however, always insisted on seeing all
who called. He received many letters of con
dolence, among them letters from all classes
BY HENRY W. GRADY. , -
To write of Ben Hill dead!
What a sorrow Is that—and In spite of the dull
forebodings of the past year, what a surprise!
Inscrutable indeed are the ways of a Providence
that demanded a life so richly endowed as bis, and
stilled forever a tongue so eloquent. To the very
last. In spite of all reason, there was a hope that by
some miracle of mercy the great senator would be
spared to his people. Against the inexorable logic
of Nature there was a hope that his life, so poten
tial in oil thiugs else, and so grandly calm in tnls,
would stand unmoved against the assaults of
death itself. Therefore it is that the end so
definitely foretold brings a strange sense of sur
prise.
In the disquiet that always comes with death,
emphasized by the shock that comes with this death
against which all finite reason rebels, I am to writs
of his life. I would dishonor the emotion that fills
my heart In this sad hour if I attempted any study
of a life that has just closed so solemnly or any
analysis of a character that Is idolized by universal
grief, I shall write as one who loved him living
aud who mourns him dead, and as I took
back over the years through* which he has passed
and in which I knew him so’wcll, I feel as one who
has seen the sun move down the western sky, and
after it has gone, stands gazing on the banks of
clouds still luminous with its glory, and finds that It
lives in the quivering afterglow, even after It has
passed into the infinite!
MR. HILL’S BiKTH AND BOYHOOD.
Benjamin Ilarvey Hill was bom in Jasper county
on September 1-1,1623. His father was John Hill,
a sturdy, intelligent man of slender education.but
strong views. He was, I believe, a North Carolinian.
presumo he had lived in Jasper a long time, as
lUlbb i^o, tho village at which lie lived, was iiidiim
for him. He was a man of remarkable force aud
will-power, and though he has been dead for over
twenty years Is still alluded to In Troup as a man
who never allowed himself to bo beaten.
He married a Miss Parham, of Washington coun
ty, a most estimable* lady. Young Hill took his
earnest temperament aud gentleness from his
mother, and to her careful and loviug training was
indebted for the ba?is of what was best in his char
acter. Sije was a deeply religious woman, charitable
and reflective, an^ to the last day of his life he held
her memory very dear. .Just before he died Mrs.
Mitchell, a friend of his mother's, balled to see him.
He talked with her about the old days, and then
asked her if she had seen his last portrait of her.
Ho insisted on hobbling with her to where it was
hung. As he looked upat it, the tears come to his
eyes, and he said: “I shall soon be with her again.’
There came to Troup county from Uillshoro four
boys, each of whom mado fame and fortuhe after
ward. These were R.A. T. Ridley, alterwardsa dis
tinguished physician and leader, John F. Moreland
a fine physician and man of wealth and character,
William P. Beasley, a rich planter and a representa
tive, a member of the secession convention and
always a force In. affairs. These boys were devoted
friends, and their attachment strengthening with
constant comradeship, lasted until death. Of the
four only Mr. Beasley is now liviug. Young Hill
and Moreland settled at Long Cane—the others near
LaGrange. When Moreland went to Corinth ia
Heard county, to practice medicine. Hill went with
him and lived in his bouse. Here he received his
schooling at the hands of the Rev. Mr. Corbin,
minister who had graduated at Princeton. Mr.
Corbin said frequently that young Hill could mas-
ter six tasks while an average boy was engaged with
one, and it was his frequent prediction that his
young scholar would bo “president of the United
States.'
Mr. Hill had five brothers and three sisters. The
brothers were Madison, Wm. Pinckney, LaFayettc,
John and Allen—he being next to the youngest.
He received his name from his mother’s side of the
family, being called after a brother-in-law of her’;
Until ho left home for college he was called “Har
vey,” by which name the older folks of LaGrange
still love to call him. Mr. Hill’s father lived plainly
bnt plentifully. He believed in bard work and
kept his sons well between thfe plow handles. His
eldest son Pinckney was an ex
ceedingly brilliant youngster, (I have
heard Senator Hill say he was the most
gifted momberof the family.) and he took great
pride in him. • Ho sent him to college, and not see
ing immediate results after his graduation, was
discouraged with higher education. One night
the family sat about the humble board discussing
what “portion” of the estate each child would get.
Ben said he would take all of his Interest In an
education. His father remarked that he didn’t be
lieve he would send any more boys to college. Mis.
Tucker, who was an aunt of Mrs. Hill, (Ben’s great
aunt.) and lived near the family, with some means,
offered to pay his way through college. Hismotber
accepted the offer, aud helped “Aunt Tucker” in
her scheme—and tho boy was off to the university.
Of Mr. mil’s sisters none survived him. Of bis
brothers only one is living. Pinckney Hill .died
few .years ago at his home in Athens, having
achieved distinction in the southwest. Dr. John S.
Hill who lived at the old homestead In Long Cane,
and who served with distinction in the house and
senate of the legislature, died about two years sfnee.
As a boy Mr. Hill was robust and healthy, but
never very lively. He enjoyed hunting in a quiet
way. ind I have heard him tell of the sport he had
following a ’possum trail, or sitting amid the ensp
leaves of an autumn forest, snll-huntlng for squir
rels. After he had been through the stifle and dust
of politics he seemed to have idealized the happy
farm life of his youth, when he lived in the green
woods, and hnnted along the babbling streams, br
buildcd up honest ambitions on the sunny side of
’ a com pile—and nothing gave him more pleasure
than to talk of that halcyon time. I doubt little that
virions of the old farm house and the red hills, and
the sweet scene* of his boyhood came to him
hi j, e lay upon a martyr’s couch, aud his
homestead, climbing those red hill3 and working
or playing among the scenes then fading from his
sight, he eould see an honest, gentle and affection
ate boy—a healthful young life, unmoved by a an
gle vice, disturbed by no mean emotions—a truant
from no duty, full of manliness and vigor—reach
lug out steadily, but without violence, to a great
destiny. In response to an ambition that inspired
but did not disquiet him—growing into manhood,
peacefully and happily, amid friends who loved
him and neighbors who trusted him. Such was the
boyhood of our dead senator. Happy is the man
who, when the ashes of life are smouldering in his
heart, aud his lips are parched with the fever of
death, can fill his soul with the virions of such a
boyhood—as clear as the breezes that fanned his
young check, as fresh and sweet as the breath of
tho forests in which he rambled, as limpid as the
spring in which he slaked his thirst.
years old. This record Is without parallel, the
nearest approach pubably being Henry Ward
Beecher who as lecturer, preacher and writer is
said to hare made Sl.000,000 up to his 61th year.
Equal to what Mr. Hill made in
one profession up to his 3Qth year.
When we consider that Mr. Hill spent ten of those
years at best principally in politics while Mr.
Beecher gave all of his to professional work, the dif
ference Is the more striking.
It seems incredible that Mr. Hill should have
spent all of this princely Income—and yet he dies
a poor man. The explanation is easy. He never
made a good investment in his life, and never
cared to. His first investment in LaGrange was
3350 in a patent washing machine, which he lost.
He never Invested in property that gave
him an iucome. He spent lavishly, bought lavish
ly, made easily and gave freely. He never denied
his family, or any member of it, the slightest
whim or caprice. His home in , La
Grange was a princely one. It was built on the
Haralson-estate.on which Mrs. J.B.Gordon wosborn.
When he bought It the old Haralson
house had been destroyed and the grounds, em
bracing 100 acres, were ia bad condition. About
the only thing of value remaining was a massive
wall around the front of the place, ou which oue
negro mason belonging to Mr. Haralson had
worked for years. Mr. Hill built a splendid resi
dence, furnished it handsomely and made granite
walks and avenues about the grounds. He had ail
artificial lake and bathing house, and a bronze or
iron gate for the carriage way that alone is said to
have costSl.SOO. This gate is fronted by a! square
of solid gtauite auda wide pavement of granite for
carriages aud pedestrians leads up to the
house. He must have spent" 840,000 on
this place. Here he lived for years, dispensing a
lavish but quiet hospitality. He left Li Grange
and went to Athens to educate his children. He
purchased there the residence of foha T.Grant,pay
ing for it S20.000. This he furnished handsomely,
and as always entertained freely. . Upon leaving
Athens he came to Atlanta, and ^bought the
residence of Mr. E<1. Platt for $20,000, expending
perhaps 310.000 in fitting it up and enlarging it. He
also bought an elegant home here for his dau 'liter,
Mrs. Edgar Thompson. It is a notable fact that
his La Graugc home sold the other day for less than
85,000, and his Athens home for $6,000.
The most unlucky investment ever made by Mr.
Hill, however, was in cotton plantations just niter
the war. He bought four immense plantations—
Mud Creek, Hickory Level, Beech Grove and tho
Tumlln place—averaging about 4,000 acres each
He paid enormous prices for these, and made pre
parations to run them on the most extensive scale.
of citizens, front the highest to the lowest. The u/ c ebbed away In a strange land. If so, they
sympathy for hint seemed to be universal. 1 brought no bitter memories. For IIring In that old
MR. HILL'S COLLEGE LIFE.
When Ben Hill entered the state university in
1S11 lie was an immature, plainly-dressed country
boy with none of tho persmal beauty that so dis
tinguished him afterward. Most of the students of
(hat day wr•-■ ■ from the sir illi- *<>wns or - "1 Vtfc
duels, the city boys seeking Princeton or Harvard.
Many of them come to college in farm wagons,
bringing their beds and bedding with them. Even
among such hoys as these, young Hill was remarked
for Ills shy, earnest and awkward manner. In a
letter wrl .ten by Wm. Lundy and printed In the
life of Linton Stephens, the writer describes three
promising hoys that ho saw at Athens while on a
visit there—Linton Stephens, Ben Hill and GusOrr.
They were all dressed in jeans, Hill’s suit being of
gray, with an unusually long coat and scanty pants,
Orr’s of blue, and Stephens of brown. “He was,"
Colonel P. W. Alexander said to me once, "a tow-
headed boy that had grown up without filling into
proportion. He had none of the light and blithe
some habit that is usual to boys.but was thoughtful
and quiet. Even then he carried his head bent to
one side, and when walking-appeared to be com
pletely absorbed in thought He visited very little,
calling only on the family into which he nfterward
married, Dr. Moore’s family and one or two others.”
In the same conversation which I recall in sub
stance, Colonel Alexander said:
“He did not impress us readily with the idea of
being a boy of extraordinary ability. I think
even when he graduated his class mates did not
consider him their most promising mau—ihough
the faculty undoubtedly did. I remember the first
time I appreciated properly his wonderful gifts as
an orator was when he made his graduating speech.
I delivered the Latin salutatory—he followed with
the valedictory. Mr. Preston, of South Carolina, and
fudge Berrien, of our own state, two of the most
accomplished orators the south ever produced, were
ou the stage—and by the way followed the Latin
text of the salutatory appreciatively. Hill’s vale
dictory was a superb piece of eloquence from begin
ning to end and held the audience entranced, as
he approached the close he faced the faculty and
his peroration was a tribute to Dr. Church, the
tb rilling tones cf which ring in my ears yet. It was
magnificent, and when he finished there was en
thusiastic applause, which Mr. Preston and Judge
Berrien led. That speech stamped the young ora
tor as a man of wonderful powers, and had the
newspapers then given the same attention to de
tails they now do, It would have at once made him
famous over the state.” Even after hearing his
valedictory speech. Hill’s class-mates were many of
them not prepared to see him' become great so
quickly. Colonel Alexander told me that for some
time he thought the glowing reports of Hill, of
Troup, were meant for E. Y. Hill, and was aston
ished to find that they were meant for Ben Hill.
He first learned it as follows: Hon. Walter T.
Colquitt was announced to speak at LaGrange. For
some -reason or other E. Y. Hill and none of the
older whigs, could reply to him. At length one of
them said • Let’s put up our little ‘bud’ to meet
him." They did so, and the youngster held his
own. Colonel Alexander then learned for the first
time that it was his class-mate who had become re
nowned.
Mr Hill was not considered a first honor man
lc his class- It was conceded on all sides that Gus-
tavus J. Orr, an olderand riper scholar than the rest,
would hold the first place unchallenged. Before
graduation, however, Mr. Orr was sent away from
college. There had been a difficulty between some of
the boys la which Professor MeCoy was struck in the
mouth. While young Orr was not engaged in the
fracas, he knew the boys who were. When brought
before the faculty he refused to inform upon his
friends. The faculty gave him his choice of telling
or leaving college. He very properly left college
It was then conceded that the struggle lor the
“honor” lay between P. W. Alexander, of Elbert,
and Dick W*lker, of Monroe. Just here It seems to
have occurred to Ben Hill to go In for the honor
himself. He did so, giving himself entirely up to
his studies. It was a terrible fight, but he whipped
it, carrying off the undivided fust honor. The
second was divided between Alexander and Walker,
So unexpected was the triumph of Hill in going to
the first place by this “spurt" that the boys held a
Trtfeting and voted that Alexander—perhaps the
best scholar la the class, hut devoted to literature
and society—deserved it and onght to have it.
H Mr. Hill did not at first show for his worth with
lil* ilamatr* he very soon demonstrated to his
y aaociatM that he had unusual power. He
pnc his best work into the college debates and was
en Jiusiastic on all society matters. In those-days
thu debates were prolonged throughout the entire
day and often carried over. The leaders on either
side studied every phase of the qnestion under dis
cu-sion, and Profeasor Orr told me a year ago that
on many leading topics his opinions formed when
a lebatei; in college had remained unchanged. , _ .. .. .P, , ....
in .. i. _ Cotton was then selling at thirty cents, the impres
ts the’ Demosthenean, "when young Hill entered . ,, ,, . . T , ,
it. here were Sam Hall, Gustavus J. Orr, A. C.Gar- rf °“ ^ “ uW " 0t b ® m "f
sr Hun - . Jr ” :•
di. d early’. Hope Hull. Jaines J^^nTwimam hlS \ prt0C3 'verebankrupted.
V- Haris, three practiced debaters who. though 1 Mr ' HlU l0St ln ‘ hU VentUr ° "«**"***
gn iuates,lived In Athens and participated in their
sot iety discussions. These men were all strong and
sti dious, and offered powerful competition to the
yo ng country boy who, from his first debate,
m; le for the foremost rank. He never missed
an opportunity to speak and always spoke forcibly
lit soon became the strongest debater'in his society
an - was noted for the close study of his question
$200,000. The property depreciated, as alt other
plantations did, until they were worth hardly one-
tenth of what he had paid for them. He has only
ond of the four left and ltls mortgaged for perhaps
its full value.
Mr. Hill gave a great deal of money to charity.
I doubt if any appeal was ever turned away from
im. When in the embarrassment occasioned
is planting operations, he frequently gave h:
K a . ' ersariai1 of , llis soe ety ’ ing cash to give them. He was charitable and gen«
sgainst G. J-Orr,-who leaving college before ln publlo and privat0 . He Kave . without quesi
.ecttqu gavo-him a walk-over.
■ - y, \ , . — | to all who asked. , He indorsed paper freely and
The speech thal he then made-or if not then, lost heavily by his indiscretion. In one cate he
..erfaiuly at his junior commencement-indicates pald over securlt y debts for one man.
emperamen and tendency. His theme was I From, all these causes, combined with a nature
•ot ? ile. Love and Madness of Torquato Tasso.” thoroughly unfitted for business and as princely In
Biqrnrd Henry Wilde, lately-returned from Europe, its investments as in its endowments. Mr. IIlll found
had written a book on Tasso and revived Interest in himgelfat the end of a career In which over one
this unhappy poet Mr. Hills speech was chaste, million has come to him as net earning?, a poos-
“j y antl *J ut lmnlnphg throughout mau . ne has given each of his children a piece of
wit hhis natural fire and eloquence. Hill’s most property, either a home or a plantation, and to
ultimate friend during his college course was SOD io of them much more. He has an insurance
Chandler Holt, who went into the Mexican war I policy for $10,000, and little else to leave his family,
and died soon after his return to this country. Prof. His wife has the Peachtree street house, which at
Orr once said to me of Mr. Hill: her death goes to his daughter, Mrs. Ridley. He
• He was a pure and exalted boy through my leaves four children. Mrs. Edgar Thompson,.'the
college acquaintance.with him. There was not the I eiaest, owns her home. Mr. B. H. Hill, Jr. t has a
slightest shadow of immorality on his character. I snU g property, and a more than independent in-
He was loyal, quiet, studious, and acquired in that I come. Mr. C. D. Hill, his second son, has a good
period of application much of the fluency and in- I property, and his wife Ls rich. Dr. Ridley, who
formation that afterwards enaoled him to do with I married his youngest daughter, has a lucrative and
less study. I knew that ho would be a great man. I growing practice, aud is one of the finest physicians
When I first saw him after college, he showed me j 0 f the city.
a gold watch that he said was his first fee.' He was J This may not be a brilliant record in the eyes of
then just beginning to be famous. Through all his I some men. There have been men who, on less op-
life and through all criticism, I have thought of 1 portunity, hoarded thousands aud died rich. But
him as the pure, earnest boy that I knew at Athens, this man was moulded differently and leaves his
and I hare loved him and believed iuhim always.” family, better and sweeter legacy than millions
could have been, the consciousness that he had
MR. HILL’S BUSINESS LIFE. lived honorably and had done good—that his pleas-
I once heard a lawyer of judgment assert that I uirehad beoji to make them happy aud to hold
Mr. Hill made more money by the practice of his ] nothing too dear that contributed to their comfort-
profession, considering the years he was engaged
in the practice, than any other lawyer in America.
He cited the case of Judge Curtis, of
the supreme court, who was held to
have the most lucrative practice, and who made
S40O.COO in ten years. Mr. Hill himself told me that
he made over $20,030 a year for the first fifteen
years of his practice. Judge Sam Harris says he has
that with ungrudging hand to them and to the
world he had given freely and had found joy in
the giving!
MR. HILL’S POLITICAL LIFE.
In 1657, when Mr. Hill was 26 years old, he was
sent to the lower house of the legislature. From
that time ferward there has never been a day when
authority for saying that Mr. Hill made S4SO.OOO at he was not a prominent factor,and usually an Issue,
the law up to 1S60. As this allowed him fourteen n Georgia politics. To summarize by periods, he
years of practice, the average was about $31,000 a I was from 1S50 to 1860 the champion of the union
year. During that time he made a canvass for con- j cause ia Georgia—opposed to slavery agitation or
gress, for governor, twice as elector, and served tyro j secessiou. From I860 to 1865 ht was the leader In
terms in the legislature. Treasurer Dan Speer the confederate senate of the admlnlstation party,
knew Mr. Hill intimately all his life. There was and the most determined opponent of reunion,
no bank in LaGrange in the old days and Mr. Hill From 1865 to 1870—the most brilliant period per
used to deposit his fees In the safe in Dr.Moreland's haps of his life—he was the fearless and uncompro-
office, where Mr. Speer was. He says that his In- mising foe of the infamous reconstruction policy,
come from fees as shown by his deposits was enor- ] and by his eloquence roused the people of the south
mous, and that the ensh on hand was frequently in a frenzy of resistance to every measure proposed
very large. Mr.Hill was in-every important case in I by despots or bretted by bayonets. From 1870 to
western Georgia, and later In nearly every big case 1872 he was out of public life, having ad
in the state. He named his own fees. He bought vised the peaceable acceptance of the situation after
negroes and lands with his surplus aud always had I reconstruction had been forcibly accomplished,
more than he could possibly use. He lost his ne- j From 1872 to 1874 he was the advocate of nation-
groes and much other property by the war, and yet 1 *’ * i, * , **“" ,h “
to his audience by George IV. Adair. He created
immense enthusiasm wherever he spoke, and soon •
become the idol of his party. Judge Warner met
his eloquence with impassive, inexorable logic, but
the brilliant youngster reduced the majority of over
2,000 to 24, and to this day Colenel Adairswears that
this slim major/ty was made by democratic miners
who were smuggled across the Alabama line from
Oklchobcegold mines.
• It was in this campaign that Mr. Hill received
the sobriquet of "Our Ben.” The circumstances
were these, as I heard them from non. Gus Bacon:
big American rally was held at Newnan.
Dr. Miller, Ben Hill aud others spoke, and
there was a great crowd. Mr. Tom Bacon, who was
a clever artist and an enthusiastic “American,”
drew a cartoon which was mounted on white linen
and hung from a pole. It was the toast of the day.
It represented a big Shanghai rooster in a deplora
bly upset and clumsy state, while a trim Georgia
game cock fluttered over him in triumph. Of
course the Shanghai stood for Judge Warner with
his foreign predilictious, while the native game
cock represented HilL Underneath the picture were
these lines, from which the shiboleth of “Our Ben”
was taken :
“When Shanghais meet our “native’’ bird
They’re sure to get a licking:
Old Hiram Shanghai tried “our Ben,"
And there he lies a kicking!”
This campaigu made Mr. Hill’S name a household
throughout the country, for he treated local ques
tions curtly, aqd spoke with the breadth and com- .
prehension ot a statesman. In lS56he canvassed the
state as a Fillmore elector, rallying immense crowds
everywhere, exciting the greatest enthusiasm, as
he spoke like one inspired from his text for that de.
cade, “the constitution inviolate, and the union
as Its best defense.” N
In 1857 he was nomfbated for govern
or by the Americans, and entered upon one
of the most notable campaigns of Georgia history.
Mr. Hill entered this race with the odds fearfully
against him. The whig party, strong in pure ma
terial, and rich in high character, had few active
workers. Among its leaders- were Charles J.
Jenkins. Andrew J. Miller, who died about that
time, Asbury Hull, E. a. Nisbet, and such men, of
lofty reputation and spotless integrity, but ill-fitted
by taste or training for the rough jousts of politics.
Opposed to these leaders aud their impetuous young
standard bearer, was Howell Cobb, active and elo
quent, Linton Stephens, a brainier man than his
brother, Aleck Stephens and Bob Toombs, working
with the zeal of converts in a cause
they had lately joined the Colquitt?,
father and son, the one a terror to the opposition
aud the other a positive Inspiration in his fresh and
manly beauty—John H. Lumpkin and the elder
Underwood, sturdy leaders of the sturdy hosts or m
Cherokee—the Lamars,. Gardner and Clarke, all .
skilled and powerful politicians—Seward who had
by bisstalwart methods already beaten the chivalric
Bartow aud was the war-horseof the southwest—Joe
Brown himself even then striking the chords of kin
ship that bound him to the people—Martin J. Craw
ford, James Jackson, Gartrell, Warner, H. V. John
son, W. H. Stiles, H. R. Jackson, A. R. Wright,
Trammell, Pottle and a host of leaders not less ac
tive if less csnspicuoiis.
Mr. nill was then 34 years of age. He threw him
self into the contest with enthusiasm, and really in
estige and reputation had the advantage of his
petitor. He was backed by a tfgtermtned
’lowing. Dr. Miller, then a marvel of eloquence,
d known as the Demosthenes of the mountains,
anse Wright, Judge Trippe, r. W. Alexander, Cin-
ci iniatus Peeples, Tom Hardeman, Jas. L. Johnson,
G. G. Cabaniss, *Frank Bartow and Hilliard were
among the most active of his supporters. The cam -
paign opened brilliantly. Monster mass meetings
were held in Atlanta and elsewhere. Mr. Hill
sought to sweep everything before him by the
poWer of his eloquence. He assaulted the Buchanan
administration with a bitterness that drove the
Cobbs and Lumpkins, smarting under their defeat
in the convention, into active support of Brown
The two candidates met only six times, separating
then by mutual agreement Governor Brown told
me that Mr. Hill was unequalled for enthusing his
party friends and keeping their ranks unbroken.
He would rouse them to the highest pitch by an in
trepid and and audacious eloquence, that while it
made nlm the idol of bis own people, embittered
the opposition and solidified its ranks. In other
words, that, while unequalled in his power of
holding a minority steady, he had little tact for se
ducing converts from the enemy. At the end of
the campaign Mr. Hill found himself the idol of
his party, the wonder of all Georgians, defeated by
10,000 votes, but the foremost man of his years in
the country.
In 1853 Mr. HlU, stiU the leader of his part}’,
though Warren Aken bore its standard, consented
to serve in the state senate. He accepted the nomi
nation for the express purpose of averting secessiou
and saving the union he had championed so elo
quently. He canvassed the state as a Bell elector,
and just befure the election made a final appeal for
peace In a letter urging that the three anti-republi
can tickets be ’ fused. This was de
clined. Lincoln was elected and ' then
came the last struggle to save the union Into this
Mr. HU1 threw himself, with thorough devotion,
eloquence and fearlessness. It Is a miracle'
tc the student of the history of that day, that any
human power could have withstood the storm of
passion in which the secession of Georgia was con
ceived and consummated, and so nearly defeated it
ait last. Mr. Toombs had telegraphed from Wash-
was worth about $200,000 when he left LaGrange in
1860.
Since that time Mr. HU1 has never given his
whole time to the practice, but he has made an
enormous amount of money. He made in 1863 one
al reconciliation, leading the Greely
movement in Georgia to the eud.
From 1874 to the day of his death he represented
Georgia In, the house or senate—being distinguished
forhis superb defease of southern honor or southern
institutions whenever they were assailed, and by a
feejn a case in East Tennessee of $100,000 inconfed- burning and quenchless lojjp of the constitution
erate money equal to about $60,000 in gold. In 1865 and the union.
he had a fee of S120.000 in the famous Metcalf case. I can lea™ very little of Mr. Hill’s service in the
hut only collected about 860,000. The balance he I legislature in 1851. He was then* considerably
failed to sue tojudgment. Mr. Metcalf dying he uuder thirty years of age. but must have already
faded to get his balance .when other judgments made considerable character as he was elected as a
against the estate were paid.- being barred by limi- union man and accepted the election simply to give
tation. Hisf.-ein the Western and Atlantic lease I his influence d confirming the compromise of 1S50
case was a share in th£ lease and lease
bondsthatp&id him about S125.000. He received 1
share of the lease as his originally. He bought with
Mr. Nutting 1 other share, each taking half. He
took one more share from Mr. Kimblll as a fee, pay-
He was unquestionably a brilliant member as he
was offered a re-election undone year later was
tendered the nomination for congress. He de
clined both of these, desiring to confine himself to
his practice. In 1855. however, he determined to
ing off a urn nil mortgage on it. This gave him 2>d ran for congress in opposition to slavery agitation
shares. On these he drew $100,000 of income bonds, addin favor of the union. The know-notalng ex-
they being issued at the rate of $10,000 to each share, citement was then atits height, and the whigs
Shortlv afterwards he sold the shares for $50,000 to were generally given over to It. Mr. Hill
Mr. Walters. He. thereforedrew$150,000fromlease was opposed to certain forms of the Beeiet
shares. The expenses on the Kimball shares and order and had never joined a lodge. His party as-
tne one he bought with Nutting, amounted to I sociatei. however, were committed to it, and he re
about $25,000, leaving him net $125,000. | lied mainly upon the “know-nothings” lorsupport.
ington of the failure of the Crittenden committee,
His fee in the Kimball house
cas> was an interest in the hotel, which he sold,
after deriving considerable rent, for $25.0X1. George
Adair and Mrs. Kimball buying it. He drew o.ie
fee of 312,500 from the lease company and another
of $10,000 that I know ot A case In New York paid
him $10,000, and he had many $>,000 fees. II is cer
tainly safe to say that he has made 31,000,000 by his
He printed his platform and announced himself a
candidate. Judge Hiram Warner was put upas
the . democratic candidate. The district
had usually given abont 2,000 demo
cratic majority. In opening this can
vass Sir. Hill made his real entry into the politics of
the country. He was then 32 years old, of splendid
appearance and matchless in his oratory. His first
tongue and brain as feea by the time he was fifty I speech was made ln Atlanta, and he was Introduced
and had added: “1 tell you, upon the faith of a
true man, all further looking to the north for se
curity or your rights should be abandoned V How
ell Cobb had said: “The hour of Georgia’s inde
pendence in the union, ought to be the hour of her
Independence out of the union.” His brother.
Tom Cobb, never surpassed ln Nurnlng and impas
sioned uralory, deeply religious and fervid, had
thrown himself into the seoession crusade with
such absorbing earnestness, that he had revived
the memory of “Peter, the Hermit.” Minute-men
had been organized, in every c^ity of the state;
the volunteer companies of the state had met In
convention, and declared that Georgia could not
in honor remain longer in the union; Car
olina had seceded, and war had actually
begyn; other states had followed her, and
their ambassadors thronged our halls, pleading
with Georgians to make common cause with them
against a c.mtnon enemy. Governor Brown, an
ardent secessionist, had already seized the federal
forts and arsenals at Augusta and Savannah—
Sumter had been fired on—the extrem
ists of the north answered hack the extrem
ists of the south and thus fed the excitement—the
people we aioused, indignant and frenzied, and
accident no less than inexorable design seem to
favor the disunionists. In the midst of all this
fury and madness—unawed and undismayed Mr.
Hill stood the Incarnation of sev
enty years of national peace and glory-
under the unlon>nd the constitution—the spirit of
Banker Hill and Yorktown, pleading for the per
petuity of the republic bom of that revolution to
which his people had furnished the voice in Pat
rick Henry, the pen In Jefferson and the sword
in Washington. In the senate, on the
hustings.in the convention—everywhere and under
all circumstances he was for the union and the
constitution—speaking like one Inspired, and
planted impregnably on the platform of Stephens,
who, combining the rage and the reason of that
momentous time into one sentence,had said: “The
point of resistance should be the point of aggres
sion!” .
The secession convention was'the ablest body that
ever ssrernhlrd In Georgia. 'The passion, the im-
INDISTINCT PRINT