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THE UNION-EECOEDEH, KELLEDCEVILLE. GA.
Pioneer Days
That the footsteps of so great a
man as William Harris Crawford
would often grace the soil of the
capital of his state, it is quite natural
to suppose, but to find the clear, un
mistakable prints of them after so
many years is another and a most
fascinating matter. In old Milledge-
ville newspapers, alone, arc they
still visible.
By a "numerous and respectable
company” of Milledgevillc citizens,
he was given a "sumptuous” testi
monial dinner, November 15, 18125,
an old Georgia Journal records. Hines
Holt presided, assisted by Seaborn
/ones and John Rutherford. A full ac
count of the dinner, giving the toasts
which were drunk, and the letters
exchanged previous to the affair be
tween the committee and the great
Georgian, is included in the files of
the paper preserved in the G. S. C.
W. lib. ry.
A letter from this illustrious
statesman written in 1832. giving his
views on the tariff question and on
secession as a retaliatory measure,
is also found in these files. Another
interesting footprint is that of a testi
monial letter by a Hancock county
grand jury in 1827. after the famous
man had returned from his import
ant national posts to the office of
a circuit judge in Georgia. The
grand jurors’ names include oi
perhaps more of interest to Milledge-
ville citizens. That one is John Bin-
ion, great, great uncle of Dr. Rich
ard Binion, prominent physician of
There is also an account of a testi
monial dinner given to the great mai
when he was secertary of the treas
ury of the United States in 1820 by
the citizens of Oglethorpe county
There is evidence that these testi
monial diners were frequently given
for him and for others of the state’
distinguished citizens. He is also
listed as a member of an examining
board for Bethlehem Colleg<
Before giving fuller accounts of
these trejsured convergences, a brief
chronological outline of the career of
this noted son of Georgia will be
He was bom in Amherst county,
Virginia in 1772. His father moved
to Columbus county, Georgia, when
the boy was eleven years old. He
followed the plow until he was 21.
He taught school when his father
died, to suppoit his mother. At one
time he employed Dr. Waddell
as his teacher and was himself an
instructor in Richmond Academy,
Augusta. Making enough money at
teaching to study law, he was ad
mitted to the Georgia bar in 1798,
was elected to the state legislature
in 18P0. a Republican. He was ap
pointed to revise and prepare a di
gest of Georgia laws in 1800. In 1807
he was elected to the United States
Senate, in which he played a con
spicuous part from 1808 to 1813. In
1811. he was president of the sen
ate. pro tempoie, the youngest man
ever to be elected to the chair. In
1812. offered post of secretary of
war, he declined it. In 1813, sent as
minister to France, he made d pro
found impression on Napoleon. In
1813. made secretary cl war depart
ment he proved one of the best, se
curing an extensive system of coast
fortification. In 1816, Offered presi
dential candidacy, he declined, but
received 54 votes out of 119 in spite
of refusal. From 1816 to 1825, he was
one of the greatest secretaries of
the United States Treasury. In 1824,
he was nominated for president, suf
fered a stroke cl paralysis before
the election, received 41 electoral
votes. In 1824, he returned to Geor
gia and served as circuit judge until
1831. when he died from the results
of a bullet wound received in 1800
in a duel with John Clarke.
Powerful as he was in debate, Wil
liam Crawford’s greatest work
done on committees and in private
conferences. I* has been asserted that
he made many of his maiden efforts
in Milledgevillc, but since he
elected to Congress in 1807, and the
first meeting of the legislature
not held here until that year, his
first eforts must have centered else
where. He must have visited here
during his national incumbencies,
however, as he did in Oglethorpe
county on the occasion of his testi
monial dinner there in 1820, and he
have spoken here. also. He
the great and good friend of
Governor Troup, his party leader. In
his campaigning for Jefferson
1800, his speeches were so fiery, that
he incurred two duels. In the first
he “had the misfortune” to kill his
opponent. In the second with John
Clarke, he, himself, was wounded
t, because in his excitment
•he allowed his disengaged am
hang exposed.
At the dinner given him here, his
toast was to "Education, the frequ
ency and the freedom of elections, the
main pillars of constitutional govern
ment." Troup’s, very typical of him,
was: “The union of honest me
the support of the rights and ii
csts of the state.” The sixth toast
on the program was to "Our Honor
ed Guest—Reared in the school of
Republicanism—public employments
at home and abroad have net im
paired the purity and simplicity of
his character.”
The invitation to the dinner was
signed by Hines Holt, J. S. Calhoun.
William H. Torrance, Lucius Q. C.
Lamar, and William Y. Hansell. It
was as follows:
“William H. Crawford, Esq.
“Sir:
“The citizens of the town of Mil-
Icdgeville, not less disposed to hon
or and respect virtue, than those of
any other town, state or country,
have, influenced by a degree of
proper regard for the well earned
merits of a distinguished citizen of
Georgia, determined to pay you that
attention which in their opinion is
appropriately due you .... and they
have therefore resolved to manifest
to you and their.country their esteem
for your public and private worth,
by giving yod a public entertain
ment during your stay among them,
and have in pursuance thereof, di
rected the undersigned to notify you
of the same, and give unto you the
invitation so determined on by our
citizens, and from them to know of
>u when it will be convenient for
“With considerations of high re
gard, we have the honor to be. sir,
ir obedient servants, respectfully.
'Hines Holt. J. S. Calhoun. Wm.
H. Torrance, Lucius Q. C. Lamar,
and Wm. Y. Hansell.”
The reply dated, Milledgevillc.
Nov. 4. 1825, was:
“Gentlemen—Your friendly letter
of this date inviting me to a public
has been just received. I ac
cept the invitation with great pleas-
'. under a conviction that testi
monials of this nature may operate
las a stimulus to virtuous exercise,
and therefore may be useful to the
republic. For your kind expression
in relation to myself, be pleased to
accept my most grateful thanks, both
individually and collectively.
“I am, gentlemen, with sentiments
of high consideration, your most
obedient servant and fellow citizen.
"WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD.”
With “a numerous and respect
able company” attending, "a
sumptuous dinner” was served Nov.
15, 1825, by Mrs. Allen. After the
cloth was removed, a great many
toasts were drunk, in the midst 'of
which Mr. Crawford and Governor
Troup had to retire tc attend a meet
ing of the “Senatus Academicus,'
which was evidently a sort of board
of regents for the state school,
it was reported in another edition
of the Journal to have passed
a matter relating to Franklin Col
lege. which was at the time "the'
state school. Among the toasts wen
the following:
“2. The State of Georgia—Ever
ready to shed her best blood in the
cause of the Union, the charge of
disaffection merits only her Con
tempt.”
"4. Lafayette —The million ..
bayonets which guard the blessings
we enjoy, will stand between him
and the tyrants of Europe."
“9. G. M. Troup, Governor of
Georgia—The first choice by th.
people, the ab’e advocate of States
Rights and the rights of the state,''
There were 18 volunteer toasts,
given by the guests, among which
“John II. Howard-^-Our Indian
relations—Let the rights of the
in regard to them no longer be post
poned by the rivalry of party feel-
“C. J. Payne—The family at La-
Grange—May they meet in health
and safety the Three Travellers.
"L. Q. C. Lamar—Par*y intoli
ance—"A monster of such frightful
mien, that to be hated needs but to
be seen." May it soon be destroyed
by the people, and may those who
have basely ministered to its voraci-
us appetite be punished with Hie
:orn of the public.
"I. L. Harris—Party—The cant
ord of those in power. A thing
'ithout heart, for it has no si
bility—without sight for it does not
perceive its end. and destitute of
mind, as it will not elect merit and
probity, because it can, ignorance
and corruption.
"M. B. Lamar-—My native stab
Apostate Georgians who would
sacrifice her sovereignty and dignity
at the shrine of ambitious faction,
iy they be sacrificed to the indign-
t denunciation of an injured and
offended people.
"Wm. Y. Hansell—The Hon. Rob
ert Raymond Reid—“The stone which
the builders have rejected, may the
me become the head of the comer.''
These toasts arc interesting both
for the subject matter and for the
icrsons involved.
John Howard was one of the first
ettlers and was a Revolutionary
soldier whose grave was found and
ked by the Milledgeville D. A. R.
■us Q. C. and Mirabeau Buona
parte Lamar, famous brothers from
Putnam county, have relatives 1’ving
here now. M. B. Lamar came here
secretary to Governor Troup, was
randidate for comptroller general
1827. according to an old Geor
gia Joumrl of that year, establish
ed the Columbus Enquirer, then
? his political battles emigrat
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Has the finest fleet of rapid Express trucks in Milledgeville. Our years of ex
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C. A. PENNINGTON, Mgr.
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ed to Texas and became second pr*.si
dent of the Republic of Texas and
a very noted man in the develop
ment of that state. L. Q. C. Lamar
was the father of the noted Congress
man. diplomat, teacher, secretary of
the interior, and Supreme Courf jus
tice.
Judge Iverson Lewis Harris, of
which more will be found elsewhere
in this paper, was the grandfather
ol Louis Clarence Hall and Dr. Thom
as Hartley Hall, and has great and
great-great grandchildren here.
The subject matter of the toasts
shows the trena of the times, Geor
gia's sensitiveness to charges of dis
loyalty to the Union on the Indian
question, her jealously of her rights
as a state, the fierceness of party
feeling, and the use of the comer
stone quotation long before Alexan
der Stephens’ famous “corner stone
Mr. Crawford's opinion on the
tariff question and on secession was
given in response to an invitation
from a committee at Alford's Cross
Roads to a testimonial dinner, and
a request for his “views on the mea
sures to be pursued in the present
crisis.” He refused the invitation
very graciously, “on account of his
official duties.” but gave a lengthy
exposition of his views as requested.
He was not in favor of a Soulhesp
Convention as a first measure, but
rather 'favored a General Convention
called by the anti-tariff states," to
revise the Federal Constitution. He
wished the anti-tariff advocates to
keep strictly to the constitution.
“Any measure oi resistances
whether nullificatio nor secession, Ls
fraught with awful consequences,”
he was wise to warn them. “One of
the most marked descriptions »r the
wicked in the Scriptures,’’ he ad
vised them, moreover, “is 'that their
feet are swift to shed blood’.”
He preferred a Southern Conven
tion to nullification, however.
“If the number and population of
the states disposed to secede and
form a new confederacy is not suffi
cient for self protection, I should
deem it unwise to secede,” was his
advice. It would be better to
submit to the evils of the tariff than
form a connection with a pow
erful foreign state, (meaning Spain?)
he opined: and the tariff states might
consent to modification in a con
vention even though they would not
in legislative bodies.
Curiously enough, in 1827, a testi
monial dinner was offered by citi
zens of Milledgeville to G(^crnor
Troup. W. Y. Hansell was chair
man: Thos. F. Green was secretary:
and the committee was Calhoun.
Williams. Fame. Hines and Orme.
Invitations were in charge of Ca-
mak, Boykin, and Lamar. Toasts
were to be prepared by Lamar, Ful
ton, Wm. Rutherford. William Greer.,
and Dr. Chas. Williamson. Gover
nor Troup declined, saying it was
“enough that they were pleased to
consider him worthy," and that such
a testimonial would “only increase
my regrets at parting." One wonders.
After Mr. Crawford’s presidential
defeat, and his return to Qeorgi
and the judgeship, the Georgia
Journal of Oct. 22, 1827 carries a
tribute to him from the Baltimore
Republican, in which are these
'ords, which are probably grt.'.!y
prejudiced concerning both men. but
which arc merited flattery to Geor
gia's distinguished son: “Who had
not rather be Judge Crawford than
President Adams, though one has re
tired from the service of his coun
try poor, while the other has lived
in offices and fattened on her Treas
ury.”
Domestic
A slant on domestic dififcultios
of 1825 is given in this notice ap
pearing in a Milledgeville paper:
’“Whereas my wife, Jennit. has
left my bed and board without just
provocation. I therefore forewarn all
persons from harboring her or credit-*
ing her on my account, as I am de
termined to pay no debts of her con
tracting from this date.”
What a charming name for bo
faithless a wife! Tne man’s name was
Angus Shaw, a tight-Lstcd Scotch
man, we’ll be bound!
Coldest Weather
1832-35
What is the coldest weather ever
experienced in Milledgeville? We are
not able to find any to equal that
recorded in Sherwood’s Gazetteer of
1837, as follows:
1835, "February 8. Mercury . . .
8 degrees below zero in open air in
Milledgevillc."
1832. “We have rarely, if ever,
had such weather in Georgia. On
the 26th day of January, the ther
mometer stood at 7 degrees obove
zero, or 25 below freezing point. . .
On Friday last, thermometer was at
6 degrees above zero. The novel
scene of skating parties was exhibit
ed in the vicinity of the town.”
(Milledgeville papers.)
Isn’t it a wonder it ever has
warmed up?
JBW
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