Chapter IV: Part 4

This was the first school incorporated in Alabama. To the school the legislature of Alabama in 1824 deeded a half section of land. Though called an academy, the grade of the school was high and did advanced work. At that time Dr. Bestor was everywhere alluded to as the great educator, and his fame was spread throughout the state. Later, in 1830, the Methodist Conference of North Alabama, Middle Tennessee, and North Mississippi founded a school for young men in the village of LaGrange, which also became a famous institution. Three years later Dr. Bestor removed to Greensboro, taking with him as far as practicable all that pertained to LaFayette Academy, and in that chief town of the canebrake established another school and remained at its head for a number of years. Still later he removed to Sumter County, where for ten years he divided his time between preaching and planting.

It was while serving as a legislator from Greene County in 1837 that Dr. Bestor revealed the first vision of a comprehensive public school system for the state. His study and investigation of the subject led him to see that with prevailing conditions unchanged, Alabama could never emerge from its gloom of illiteracy. The scant facilities afforded by local or denominational interests were altogether inadequate to existing demands. Schools dotted the state over at favored points, but the ignorance in large areas of the state was little short of the dismal.

Stirred by conditions like these, Dr. Bestor sought to go to the legislature that he might acquaint the representatives of the people with the results of his disinterested investigation. His plan was that which actually came to prevail many years later, but after he had passed away.

In the legislature he threw his cultured being into the single cause of education, procuring for it a special committee, of which he was made the chairman. He prepared with great pains and labor an elaborate report and a bill to be offered, and in due time it was submitted. The measure met with stout opposition, especially at the hands of B. G. Shields, of Marengo, the chairman of the general committee on education, who resented the policy of a special committee as a reflection on himself and his committee. In the opposition Mr. Shields was supported by Judge Smith, of Madison. But general committees had never done anything, and for that reason Dr. Bestor asked for a special committee.

The occasion was made a memorable one on the floor of the house by the contest which it provoked. Dr. Bestor husbanded all his resources and skill in the conduct of the contest and proved himself a giant in debate, and, though met by much passion, he preserved his coolness and dignity throughout the debate. He failed in his effort at that time, though his labor was not in vain, for the array of facts presented respecting the illiteracy of the state awoke wide interest which gave an impulse to the educational spirit of the state which has not ceased to this time.

Coupled with all his immense work was that of an active pulpit ministry. He was a great leader in the Baptist denomination and rendered signal service in the thorough organization of the Baptist forces. With the exception of a few years spent in Mississippi, Dr. Bestor's career was confined to Alabama. He died at Mobile in 1869.

F. W. BOWDON

There is much more in unwritten history that affects the destiny of the race than there is in that which is recorded. Gray's "gem" in his Elegy, and his "flower" "born to blush unseen," illustrate the fundamentals of the history of the race, wherein the bulk of worth is frequently unmentioned, and, if so, often scarcely. While Franklin Welsh Bowdon was by no means unknown, and while his worth was not altogether unrecognized, who that knows him in retrospect today as one of the most matchless orators of southern history? Who knows of his clearness of demonstration in presenting the most tangled and abstruse of problems? Who today knows not alone of the power already alluded to, but who that knows that his ability before a jury has never been surpassed in the state, or that he was peerless as a popular speaker before a promiscuous audience? Who that has learned of his subtle force of illumination of difficult problems or of knotty questions, in speech that glittered in its own chaste delicacy and beauty of phraseology after having passed through the crucible of his brain?

The history of others is perhaps more iridescent, because the drift of the currents into which they auspiciously fell bore them into fuller and more applausive view before the public eye, in which event it is the condition, and not the man who happens to be its representative, that deserves consideration. The force inherent in Frank Bowdon, and his superior ability to wield the elements already named, really make him a prodigy among the men who have made famous the history of the state. He was not ambitious to be showy, nor sought he special occasion to flash his powerful gifts, but when occasion did logically and legitimately come, he was prodigious.

Many men fall just short of accorded greatness because of the needed stride across the boundary over which others bound and catch the loud plaudit of the crowd and are borne to the crest of eminence. Many another receives undue applause because he boldly thrusts himself on public attention and forces recognition, while others, far superior perhaps, stand in manly disdain of bald tawdriness and the impudence of ignorance of which certain competitors are the innocent victims. Gifted men are usually, though not always, men of delicate taste, which is itself an element of real greatness. It is the ripest and heaviest ear of corn that hangs lowest. Mr. Bowdon, with the consciousness of his own power, which every strong man has, eschewed the cheap clatter of the flatterer, and always appeared in public to advantage because he was summoned thither. This, at least in part, affords an explanation of the absence of the fame which was justly his because of the possession of the vast powers already named.

Frank W. Bowdon was a native of Chester district, South Carolina, and was brought by his father to Shelby County, Alabama, while his gifted son was still a child of only three years. On the farm of a thrifty planter and in a home of piety and of hospitality the youth was reared. It was one of those old-time southern homes where ease and elegance, culture and refinement were, and where children were reared free from over-exaction and with just sufficient freedom to develop real manliness.

Mr. Bowdon was educationally prepared for entrance on the State University, which he in due time entered and from which he was graduated, and entered at once on the profession of the law. He was admitted to practice and settled at Talledega. His ability as a speaker was equally suited to the court room and the forum. During the years of 1844-5 he served as a representative in the legislature from Talledega County. His ability in debate and his power of oratory brought him promptly to the front. Nor was he ungifted in the manipulation of conditions by skillful management in the execution of his chosen purposes. He was easily the peer of the foremost of a legislative body graced by such choice spirits as Thomas H. Watts, John Gill Shorter, Thomas A. Walker, James A. Stallworth, W. O. Winston, Joseph W. Taylor, William S. Mudd, Thomas J. Judge, and others. His reigning trait was decisiveness of conviction, which when once possessed did not lack the underpropping courage of expression, and in turn this expression was not wanting in the most radiant demonstration and persuasion. No haughty spirit nor arrogant port entered into his forensics, but, on the other hand, there was a refreshing repose that lit up the whole with a confidence that was serene and assuring.

Two legislative sessions terminated his career in the general assembly of Alabama, and on the occasion of the untimely death of General McConnell, as the representative in congress from the seventh district, a special election was ordered, with Thomas A. Walker and Franklin W. Bowdon as the candidates for the vacancy. The result was the election of Mr. Bowdon. This was followed by his re-election over Honorable Samuel F. Rice for the term next succeeding, and over General Bradford for the next following term.

For five years he held his seat in congress, a giant among giants. In a wider sphere there was ampler scope for the play of his power, and it was duly exercised. Brewer states that an English peer was present on one of the occasions when Bowdon spoke, and the Englishman pronounced the effort the ablest to which he had ever listened, and he had heard the greatest of both English and American orators.

Nor was Mr. Bowdon's power confined to his oratory. It was abundantly illustrated in his law practice, and in the preparation of his briefs. Here were met, as elsewhere, the same logical incisiveness and clearness that distinguished his utterances while on his feet.

In his person he was most commanding. He was fully six feet high, of symmetrical build, and his handsome features, especially in the sweep of oratorical passion and fervor, were a study for the artist. Zealous in temperament, and confident of his footing in advance of any deliverance, he shrank not to meet in mental combat anyone who might desire to brook his views. He retired from congress voluntarily in 1851, and after a few years removed to Tyler, Texas, where he soon after died. Bowdon College, in Georgia, derived its name from this distinguished Alabamian.

ALEXANDER B. MEEK

For versatility, brilliancy, and general usefulness, few Alabamians have surpassed Judge Alexander B. Meek. His was an unusual combination of powers. He was a poet, author, orator, editor and jurist, and was inconspicuous in none. One of the earliest graduates from the University of Alabama, where he received the master's degree, he found full exercise for his varied gifts during a career which extended through thirty-two years.

Choosing the bar as a profession, Judge Meek entered on the practice of the law in 1835. During the following year, 1836, he enlisted along with others to serve against the Creek Indians in Florida, Mr. Meek going in the capacity of a non-commissioned officer.

On his return from the Florida campaign, Mr. Meek was appointed by Governor Clay attorney general for the state. At the expiration of his term of office as attorney general, Mr. Meek sought gratification of his literary tastes by creating a new local journal at Tuscaloosa, which he called "The Flag of the Union." Later he edited in the same town a literary journal called "The Southron."

The limited resources at his command compelled him to deflect his course into channels other than those purely literary, and in 1842 he was appointed county judge of Tuscaloosa, and during the same year published a supplement to the Digest of Alabama.

Being appointed law clerk to the solicitor of the treasury at Washington, he gained an insight into the life of the national capital, and perhaps his residence there had some connection with his being made United States attorney for the southern district of Alabama, which position he held for four years, living meanwhile in Mobile. From this position he went to the associate editorship of the Mobile Daily Register.

In 1853 we find Judge Meek representing Mobile County in the legislature, where, as chairman of the committee on education, he reported the bill to "establish and maintain a system of free public schools in the state of Alabama." The bill providing for the scheme, together with a voluminous and exhaustive report on education, excited profound interest in the legislature, and the documents were so appreciated that five thousand copies of the bill and ten thousand copies of the report were ordered to be printed.

This was the dawn of a new era in education in this state. Various attempts had before been made to gain the attention of the legislature and the people of the state on this transcendant matter, but they had proved of but slight avail till the work undertaken by Judge Meek. The astounding prevalence of illiteracy in the state as exhibited by his report did more than to arouse interest; it created astonishment, with not a slight degree of apprehension. The work done by Judge Meek in this connection gave a strong propulsion to educational work in the state and the interest deepened and grew in intensity till checked by the Civil War.

Being elected judge of the city court of Mobile, Judge Meek found sufficient time, amidst the exactions of his official duty on the bench, to gratify, to some degree, his taste for literary pursuits. It was during this period that he found time to write the three rare works which established his literary fame. These are "The Red Eagle," "Romantic Passages in Southwestern History," and "Songs and Poems of the South." Some of these were a collection of fugitive contributions which he had previously made to magazines and newspapers, and some of them were prepared at the time specially for embodied publication.

Of the literary merit of his productions there is no doubt. They are intensely southern in their flavor and represent the spirit which animated what has come to be called "The Old South." An agricultural people, we of the South gave but little attention, prior to the Civil War, to literary pursuits. There were those like Judge Meek who wrote and wrote well, and thousands of others could have done so, but there was but slight encouragement, so that the literary culture of the South was largely unknown and unrecognized by others. The genuine spirit of the people and of the times is embalmed in the rare literary products such as we have from the pen of this Alabamian.

That which has already been said affords a slight view of the stirring scenes through which Judge Meek passed the major part of his life. Possessing varied gifts, he sought to give vent in some measure to each, but it is in his literary productions that his real fame abides. That literature was his passion is shown by the fact that, whatever else he did, he could not abandon the pen. But the market for his literary wares was so limited that without ample means he was unable to prosecute that alone. The two indispensable requisites of literary success--time and leisure--were not his to command, and he was compelled to scuffle for the expression of his charming thought as best he could.

The literary productions of Judge A. B. Meek have been more eagerly sought by the later generations than by his contemporaries. The edition of each was limited, his books have therefore become rare, highly prized by all lovers of literature, but difficult to find. Certainly as much as any other southern writer Judge Meek has immortalized the spirit and genius of the South of a former period, which is now only a pleasing recollection. More than any other, perhaps, he has embodied in enduring form the peculiar elements which entered into our southern life. The mocking bird, the magnolia, the long trailing moss of our southern swamps, the honeysuckle, the traits and remnants of the vanished tribes of the Red Men, and other elements peculiarly southern are embodied and embalmed in the prose and poetry of A. B. Meek.

Without the weirdness of Poe, Meek surpassed him in deftness of touch and daintiness of expression. There is an indefinable delicacy and a subtleness of force and suggestiveness in many of Meek's passages which have never been surpassed. Nothing can excel the beauty and color of some of his verse. In one instance, while describing an Indian maiden, he says:

"And her eyes flashing wildly when with gladness they shine,
Have the dark liquid flow of the ripe muscadine."

His responsive spirit absorbed the soft, bland atmosphere of his own sunny region.

BASIL MANLY, SR.

Dr. Basil Manly was equally a patriot, an educator, and a preacher. He had the prescience and sagacity of a statesman, and devoted much thought to all matters that affected the state or nation, and as occasion would require he would not hesitate to express his views. With him the question was one of principle and not one of reserved silence because of his position as an educator and minister. Though exceedingly reserved and modest, there were reserved powers of aggressiveness in his nature which were withheld, subject to the demand of principle. He was not of the maudlin type who sought refuge in his ministry as a means of escape from duty as a citizen and patriot. His views were always stated with such calmness, wisdom and moderation as to carry force.

There were the balance and poise of elements in his constitution that made him the successful college president that he was. His judgment was never obscured by the mist of sudden passion, nor was he betrayed into warmth of feeling that occasioned subsequent regret. A man of like passions with others, his sterner expressions were held in restraint under the mastery of a granite will, and were brought into action only as occasion required. Firm as a mountain on its base, he was unmoved by suddenness of impulse or storm of passion. His equable temper made him accessible to all, but in his conduct he was swayed alone by principle. This left clear his sense of discrimination and unobscured his judgment, which was never hastily expended, and not till he was convinced of a cause.

Those superior traits gave to Dr. Manly a power with men, young and old, and his influence was as wide as he was known. A knowledge of these facts led to his being called, in 1837, to the presidency of the University of Alabama. At the time of his election he was the pastor of an important church in Charleston, S. C.

Dr. Manly was one of a distinguished family in North Carolina. Two brothers of his were men of eminence, one of whom was Judge Mathias E. Manly, of the old North state, while the other, Governor Charles Manly, was the chief executive of North Carolina. The family has been distinguished in the annals of the South for a number of generations.

Without demonstration, Dr. Manly took charge of the University of Alabama, and with the beginning of his official incumbency began a new era of prosperity in the history of the institution. For eighteen years he presided over the institution, which never had eighteen brighter years in its history. He was quietly identified with all the interests of the state, and soon came to be known and prized as one of its foremost citizens.

When Dr. Manly assumed control, the institution was still young, and was in great need of increased equipment, but under his wise management the needed facilities came, and within a few years he brought it to a pitch of prominence that gave it wide reputation throughout the country. Indeed no state institution in the South had a wider reputation, from 1837 till the outbreak of the Civil War, than the University of Alabama. Young men from other states, attracted by its standard of scholarship, sought its classical halls for superior instruction. During the presidency of Dr. Manly thousands of young men throughout the state were fitted for life's rough encounters.

Dr. Manly not only possessed the high qualities already named, but he had the power of impressing them on the rising youth that came under his direction and discipline. His undoubted sincerity, as transparent as it appeared, his genuine manliness, the quiet balance of genuine qualities of worth, all of which were sobered and tempered by a piety which no one questioned, and all admired, gave him an opportunity for the wield of an influence which was used to the greatest advantage.

While the superiority of his intellectuality excited admiration, the gentleness of his religious spirit begot the most respectful reverence. A superior preacher, he was in constant demand in this and in other states, to occupy pulpits on extraordinary occasions, all of which served to reflect the distinguished institution of which he was the head.

One remarkable fact about Dr. Manly was that of his extensiveness and variety of scholarship. His learning was varied, rather than profound. Not that he was a mere smatterer, for no one despised more the pedantic and superficial than he, but his research in different and distant fields of thought was remarkable. He had devoted unusual attention on all subjects then taught in the most advanced schools of learning, and was thereby enabled to assist students in the various departments by timely advice, not only, but was able to assist intelligently the direction of the several departments in the great institution over which he presided. His fame as a college president widened to the utmost limits of the states of the South, and even beyond.

Wherever young men touched Dr. Manly, no matter how, whether in the classroom, by social contact, by discipline, or by hearing him preach or lecture, there was resultant benefit. His vast range of information imparted in simplicity and yet always with dignity; his unusual method of reaching young men, not by any fixed standard, but by means suggested at the particular time, and his ability without effort to impart the influence needed to guide and direct, never failed of impressing those under his care.

The uniformity of his bearing was among the first impressions made on the youth under his guidance. His manner was always the same. This was true even of his manner of address. He was chaste without being gaudy; clear without the slightest effort; earnest and zealous without exuberance, and pathetic and sympathetic without cant. These gave him a grip on young men.

No one caught him off his guard. There was always the possession of a self collection that produced ease in his presence and that left an impression for good.

The influence of a spirit like that at the head of an institution of learning in a great state is incalculable. The permanent good wrought by a man like this through successive generations is beyond calculation.

ALEXANDER BOWIE

The Bowie family is of Scotch origin. In a large volume devoted to the family history, the genealogists of the name have traced the lineage backward even to the days of the old Vikings. Certain traits of worth and of distinction have characterized the stock through the centuries. Solidity of character, firmness, robust conviction, courage, and fidelity of purpose are among the traits most conspicuous.

A notable instance of these traits is given here because of the familiarity of the public with the subject named. The heroism of Col. James Bowie on the occasion of the fall of the Alamo is familiar to every boy and girl who is conversant of American history. Prostrated by typhoid fever in the ill-starred fortress at San Antonio, he was one of the devoted 185 who withstood the siege of Santa Anna at the head of an army variously estimated to have numbered from 2,000 to 4,000. When the commander, Colonel Travis, saw the inevitable fate of the brave little garrison he called his men about him, plainly presented the coming doom, and, after saying he was determined to die at his post, he drew a line across the floor and asked that all who would remain with him should come within the boundary thus marked. If others desired to cut their way through or otherwise seek to escape, they were at liberty to do so.

With emaciated frame, Colonel Bowie, now rapidly approaching death, which came a few hours before the fall, unable to stand, ordered his men to bear his sick couch within the mark drawn by the commander. This is indicative of the sturdy Scotch pluck and the firmness of character of those bearing the name.

It will be seen from the present sketch that Chancellor Alexander Bowie possessed to an eminent degree these conspicuous traits. He was a distinguished citizen of Alabama for a period of thirty-one years. His native place was Abbeville, S. C., where he was born December 14, 1789. His father was a major in Washington's army, and his mother, a Miss Reid, from which family, on the maternal side, came Honorable Whitelaw Reid, of New York.

Choosing the bar as a profession, Mr. Bowie was a successful barrister at Abbeville, S. C., for a period of years. His relations with John C. Calhoun were the most intimate, and letters received by Mr. Bowie from Mr. Calhoun are still preserved among the heirlooms of the family. They illustrate the cordiality and freedom of the relations between these two eminent men.

During the war of 1812 Mr. Bowie was the colonel of the eighth regiment of South Carolina militia, and was later commander of the Abbeville nullifiers. For a number of terms he served as a legislator in his native state, and removed to Talladega, Ala., in 1835. Four years later, he was elected by the Alabama legislature to the chancellorship of the northern division, which position he held with great distinction for a period of six years.

In response to the interest shown by him in the general affairs of the state of his adoption, and in recognition of his ability, he was summoned to a number of important stations, among which may be mentioned that of the choice of himself as the first president of the state historical society. In further recognition of his scholarship and profound interest in education, he was chosen one of the trustees of the state university, and was one of the foremost friends of that institution in the days when it was among the leading colleges of the South.

Politically, Chancellor Bowie was a Democrat of the democrats, a firm adherent to the Calhoun school, and therefore a stanch believer in the principle of states' rights. His voice, pen, and influence were lent to that cause in all the struggles through which Alabama passed from the time of his removal to the state till his death. Never vehement or passionate of utterance, he always wrote and spoke with a calmness and deliberation that bore conviction. He took to his public functions the same solidity of influential force and the self-mastery which won him quiet distinction in the ordinary walks of life. The impression made by him was invariable, whether as a neighbor, a private Christian, a political advocate, or a representative of the judiciary, that of stable conviction, calm determination, and withal a gentleness of spirit that instinctively shrank from producing the slightest pain to any one. His silent life reinforced his public acts and declarations, and gave to him an unusual power with men of every grade and degree. That which he did and said was of a character that took hold on the deeper conviction of men, rather than on surface sentiment. A strong and vigorous speaker, he was frequently before the public, and his utterances gained additional weight from the fact that men knew that every word that fell from his lips sprang from a source of profound sincerity and from a conviction as deep as his soul. His scrupulosity of conscience was proverbial, and men listened to Chancellor Bowie not merely for entertainment, for he was an attractive speaker, but they listened believing. Back of his utterances lay a life of unvarying integrity derived from a spirit of piety, which none dared gainsay, and the lineaments of his classic face bore a conviction which was itself convincing. When the life of a man is so pitched that the most obstinate opponent is made to respect his views, such a man is an engine of power in public life. This fairly represents Chancellor Bowie in his multitudinous relations, private and public, and such a model of manhood was he to the young men of his time. This reputation he steadfastly maintained through more than three decades in Alabama, for a good that transcends the pale of estimation not only to his contemporaries, but which projects itself into the years of the future.

One principle alone dominated him in all his conduct and that was the settlement of each question or cause on the basis of right. This was so clearly demonstrated throughout his life and career that any decision or opinion from the bench was unquestioned, and so profoundly did he impress the public with this fact that he came to be called "the great chancellor." All his wealth of learning, his garnered wisdom, and his rich experience were laid on the altar of Right. Thus lived Chancellor Bowie and thus he died, leaving a heritage of illustrious integrity to those who were to come after him. The career of an eminent citizen like this is an abiding benediction to any state. Chancellor Bowie passed to his reward on December 30, 1866, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years.

JOHN J. ORMOND

The name of Judge John J. Ormond is inseparable from the judicial history of Alabama. He was recognized on all hands as a jurist of superior ability. The mold of his mind was singularly judicial, and his career as a public servant shines through his jurisprudential service.

A native of England, Judge Ormond was brought by his father to America while yet an infant, his parents making their home first at Charlottesville, Va. Left an orphan in early youth, Judge Ormond's future course was dependent on the kindness of others, but he was liberally provided for, and means were found for enabling the youth to obtain more than an ordinary education.

After his removal to Alabama, we find him first as a state senator, to which position he was chosen in the early part of his professional career. In 1837 he was chosen as one of the justices of the supreme bench. Here he found a most congenial orbit, for his tastes were aversive to the rough and tumble of political strife. In the seclusion of a law library among the musty tomes of legal lore, or a seat on the bench of the court, met the gratification of this giant jurist.

His studious habits served to impart a reservation of disposition, though he was free from coldness and was not wanting in the elements of companionship. His was the thoughtfulness of the student and the quietness of the scholar. A voracious reader, he reveled in the masterpieces of literature, the results of his close study of which showing themselves in the beauty and charm of his style, both of which found expression in his decision and opinions. Without apparent effort, his sentences have a limpid flow in well-balanced form, while the purity and elegance of his diction fascinates. The dignity of his diction is an inspiration, while his thought, like the sun, shines, by its own light.

For twelve years Judge Ormond occupied a seat on the supreme bench, an honor and an ornament. His decisions were the profoundest, though they were garbed in the striking simplicity of our tongue. His long retention on the bench is an evidence of the general confidence in his integrity of character. This fact becomes more pronounced when it is recalled that Judge Ormond was a whig in politics, yet such was the appreciation of his worth both as a man and as a jurist, that he failed not to command the esteem and votes of the dominant democratic party. By dint of merit alone he compelled not only its recognition but its appreciation. No one ever suspected Judge Ormond of taking an unfair advantage as a judicial officer or as a man. The sincerity of his political convictions were conceded, and all who knew him never thought of him as a partisan. With him political creed was one thing, and judicial scrupulosity another.

Writing of Judge Ormond's death, a contemporary says: "He occupies a page in the Alabama law reports that will pass down to future times, and be cited as authority in the adjudication of human rights as long as the common law maintains a footing among civilized nations." Though small and thin with a visage somewhat drawn, his bearing was characterized by a perpetual dignity which elicited the esteem of all.

There was a democratic simplicity in his intercourse with others which was perennially refreshing. An utter absence of self-consciousness marked his bearing, though he was universally recognized as one unsurpassed in his judgment of the law, as well as a ripe and finished scholar. So far from being ostentatious, Judge Ormond was disposed to shyness and taciturnity. His conversation was marked by the finished diction of which he was a complete master. Besides all this, he was self-contained and collected, never allowing himself to be betrayed into undue warmth of expression, no matter what the provocation was. He equalled the conception of the proverb, a soft answer turneth away wrath. The combination of qualities so rare, was the occasion of much comment among the lawyers of the time. His opinions did not escape challenge, nor did his position always go without criticism.

The character of the man as well as the clearness of his judicial judgment may be seen from a single extract from a decision written by himself in a celebrated case which came before the court during his incumbency of the supreme bench. In that learned decision he says: "We have been admonished by the plaintiff in error, that, notwithstanding the state is the party interested as defendant, on this record, the true interest of the people will be promoted by declaring the contract void. It required no admonition to impress us with the conviction that the high trust reposed in us by the people imperiously demanded of us to preserve pure the fountains of justice. Nor will we profess an insensibility which we do not feel to the approbation of the enlightened and virtuous; although all experience shows that such is not always the meed of upright conduct. Our station imposes on us the necessity of deciding the cases brought before us according to our opinion of the law; it is a duty which we cannot avoid. If left to our choice, it is not probable we would have selected this question for adjudication; and as, in our judgment, the law is for the state, such must be our decision, be the consequences to us what they may, and although the judgment may subject us to the imputation of the bias which the argument of the counsel supposes."

This extract affords a fair index to the character of the man, while it equally furnishes a specimen of the lucidity of his expression. There was never the absence of dignity from his expression, no matter what the occasion. He was not without sensitiveness, but it was not the sensitiveness of inflammation. When necessary, he could wither with an overmastering diction, but it was always with the preservation of a dignity which could not fail of success. The last service rendered by Judge Ormond was that of his association with Messrs. Clay and Bagby in the codification of the statutes of the state of Alabama.

ALBERT J. PICKETT

Alabama's historian, Albert J. Pickett, was a native of North Carolina, and removed to Alabama about one year before it was made a state. In his early years he mingled much with the Indians, learned their character and disposition, and became profoundly interested in their destiny.

The first purpose in life of Mr. Pickett was to fit himself for the bar, and he entered the office of an elder brother, William D. Pickett, to fit himself for that profession, but on discovering that he had no aptitude for the law he gave it up and entered on planting, to which he devoted his life.

His interest in the Indians led him into an investigation of their history, and this, in turn, to the events which had occurred in connection with the invasion of their primitive domains by the whites. The investigation proved a fascination and led to his preparation of the "History of Alabama and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi from the earliest period."

Considering the paucity of material and the difficulty of obtaining it, the undertaking was a colossal one, but Mr. Pickett gave himself to it with a zeal worthy the enterprise, traveled much, wrote many letters, and spent a large sum of money in the interest of the preparation of the history. For years together, he was patiently and assiduously engaged in the accumulation of data, the sifting of facts, and the preparation of the two volumes. The most painstaking care was exercised with respect to accuracy of statement, and this made the undertaking a most plodding one. But in 1851 the author was enabled to issue the two volumes in neat and attractive form.

So comprehensive was the work, so minute in detail, and so careful were the citations that on its appearance it was greeted with great favor not alone in Alabama, but elsewhere. Had the conditions of authorship been as favorable as they now are, the work would doubtless have been more happily arranged, but as it is, it is a monument of labor, skill, industry and fidelity. It was an unusual occurrence that the history should have been favorably mentioned in a message to the legislature by Governor Collier and with such favor.

The style of the book is simple and easy, the statement of fact clear and devoid of ornament or speculation, and throughout it is entirely free of bias. The obvious intention of the author was to state fact as he saw it, nor was a statement made by him that was not supported by undisputed fact. No book was ever more scrupulously written as is shown by the care with which each statement is made.

While in the light of subsequent events the unity of the work is somewhat impaired and disjointed, still taken altogether, and the conditions attending its preparation, it is a marvelous accomplishment. Pickett provided a mine of fact into which all future historians of Alabama can dig, certainly with respect to the history antedating the occupation of Alabama by the whites.

The history extends no further than to the period of the attainment of statehood of Alabama, and yet the author was able to bring it up to the close of the middle of the nineteenth century. It is unfortunate that this was not done, but he was averse to deal with the political aspects presented by the different periods of the state's history. But in doing that which he accomplished he has furnished a basis for all future historians. That Mr. Pickett should have done so much, and done it so well, makes him worthy of the perpetual gratitude of the people of Alabama.

A gentleman of wide and varied information, his mind was a compendium of valuable stores of knowledge. He was an animated converser, fluent and entertaining, and a most exemplary citizen. His popularity, greatly enhanced by his valuable history, his universally recognized integrity of character, and his unquestioned ability, led to the mention of his name in 1853 for the governorship of Alabama.

But when the matter was brought with some degree of seriousness to his attention, he frankly declined to be considered for this exalted station, saying that he was engaged in the preparation of another work of greater comprehensiveness than that of the History of Alabama, which he indicated as the History of the Southwest. Unfortunately he died before the completion of the proposed work and it was never published. Alabama sustained a great loss when Colonel Pickett died at the early age of forty-eight. Besides his history, he wrote much for the press and always with entertainment and profit.

In 1859 General C. M. Jackson wrote a biographical sketch of Colonel Albert J. Pickett, which sketch was embodied in pamphlet form. In one place General Jackson says of him: "He outlived his entire family--father, mother, brother and sister--and his offspring now constitutes a new generation, without a single living link to connect it with a former one. He left a devoted wife, several affectionate children, and many friends to deplore his untimely death; besides the proper appreciation by the public of what may be deemed a great calamity--that of the loss of one who had so largely contributed to the general welfare. His remains were followed by a large concourse of relatives and friends and interred in the burial ground at the old family residence in Autauga County, which Colonel Pickett had inherited--where are also the graves of father, mother and other members of this family."

Unselfishly he lived and labored, and peacefully he died--one of the most useful and distinguished citizens of the state.

HENRY TUTWILER

Of an entirely different mold from any of those already noted in these sketches was Henry Tutwiler, LL.D., Alabama's first great and distinguished educator. Reared in Virginia, Dr. Tutwiler was among the first great graduates of the famous university of that state, bearing away the highest degree which could be conferred by that eminent institution, that of Master of Arts. Possessing a readily receptive and capacious mind, Dr. Tutwiler was the peer in point of scholarship of any man in the South when he issued from the university of Virginia. He was the first to receive the degree of Master of Arts from that eminent school.

His equipment of scholarship would have fitted him for any chair in any American school of learning, but he conceived the idea of founding a model school of his own where he might put into execution his ideas of education. This was not done at once on graduation, but toward this he was moving in the consummation of his plans.

Dr. Tutwiler became to Alabama that which Dr. Arnold of the famous Rugby school was to England. He was not only a typical gentleman of the old school of the South, but a ripe scholar, a teacher of rare ability, and a model of manhood to youth. Simple and unpretentious in manner and in life, he was a pattern in character to the young men who came under his instruction. His culture was unsurpassed, his scholarship profound and comprehensive, and his character throughout life vastly above reproach. Few men have left a profounder impression on his students than Dr. Henry Tutwiler. There was in his bearing the utter absence of the consciousness of his greatness, while there was always the demonstration of the gentleman of a pure democracy. Simple and easy of manner, affable, gentle and readily communicative, he was easily adjustable to all circles without the slightest hint of constraint, and by a contagious touch, indefinable but effectual, he made all others at ease in his presence.

After his graduation from the University of Virginia he remained for two years at the institution in the pursuit of special studies, after which he established a high school in the neighborhood of Charlottesville, where he taught for a time. He was induced to remove to Alabama by being offered the chair of ancient languages in the university of the state on the establishment of that institution in 1831. This position he occupied for six years. He was induced from this position to accept the chair of mathematics and philosophy in Marion college in Perry County, and two years later went to the chair of mathematics and chemistry in LaGrange college, where he taught for eight years more.

But a subordinate position was ill suited to one of capabilities so varied, and in 1847 he left LaGrange and founded a private school at Green Springs in this state, where he could put into execution a long cherished desire to fit young men for the rough encounters of the world, not only by training the mind, but by molding and directing the character.

No one was better fitted for a position like this than Dr. Tutwiler. Himself a ripe scholar and a gentleman of superior culture, backed by a natural impressiveness, his sway of influence was both salutary and elevating. In a quiet retreat, far from the madding crowd and the din and tumult of a busy world, with nothing to detract and all to concentrate and stimulate, he was a character-builder as well as a developer of the brain.

The experience of former years as a teacher brought to his work on this independent scale served Dr. Tutwiler admirably. He had learned the defectiveness of a system in which the raw youth with total unpreparedness would often stride over much that was fundamental and leave behind him breaches never to be filled, possibly, in his eager outreach for a diploma which when gotten could not be read by the possessor. Every observant educator is impressed by the divers irregularities with which most young men enter college. Symmetry and uniformity are lacking, and often the defects in fundamental work are too far passed to be overcome and corrected in the higher departments for which the youth has been unwisely persuaded that he is prepared. Happily for these later times, this has been corrected by an admirable public school system with its trained instructors, but this was not true in the early days when Dr. Tutwiler opened his school at Green Springs.

To establish a school of logical graduation with every department under his direct supervision, in which school the student would be thoroughly grounded from the elementary upward, so as to have a more solid basis for building, and an idea of correctness and symmetry in all affairs, was the aim of this skilled educator. Schools of this particular character had dotted the South ever since the years of recuperation following the Revolution, and fortunately for the country that this was so.

In 1850 there were in eleven of the southern states at least 2,000 academies of varying grades, with more than 3,200 instructors, and more than 70,000 pupils. On the highest level of these valuable schools of learning were the Concord academy and the Hanover academy in Virginia; Caldwell's and Bingham's schools in North Carolina; Mount Zion and Waddell's school in South Carolina; the academy of Richmond County and Sunbury academy in Georgia; Green Springs school in Alabama, and Elizabeth academy in Mississippi. All these had become noted in the educational system of the South by the middle of the nineteenth century. Among them none was more famous than the one presided over by Dr. Tutwiler.

A certificate from a school like this and from so skilled an expert, meant much to a youth as he entered a school of more advanced learning to prosecute his final studies. The assurance of a firm footing and familiarity with subjects which led logically to more advanced studies, gave to a student the thoroughness of equipment which would save him from the haphazard to which he would be otherwise exposed.

From the walls of the Green Springs school went forth young men by the hundreds with initial equipment which not only made the mastery of a college course more easy and pleasant, but which served to lift them into future prominence. Passing from under the tutelage of Dr. Tutwiler and bearing a certificate with his name on it, was a guarantee worth the having by any young man. From this rural retreat this skilled man of letters sent into the swelling ranks of usefulness in this and adjoining states, hundreds of young men who have helped to make their commonwealths resplendent. It was not a demonstrative work, in the sense of showiness, but it was demonstrative as it found expression in richness of result and in exalted citizenship. Thus labored for many years this sage teacher and mellow scholar, and far more than can be computed is Alabama indebted to Henry Tutwiler.

DANIEL PRATT

Genuine worth is frequently overlooked because it does not appear in the glare and rush of demonstration, and because it may modestly shrink from the spectacular. The solid distinction reached by many is due to conditions which lie out of sight and without which many who reach positions of prominence would not have been heard of beyond their native horizons.

Impelled by ambition, many see and seize the opportune moment presented, fall into the current created by others, and are borne to eminence. Lying back of that which the world esteems greatness are causes created of which many avail themselves to ride to popular spectacularity, and yet these may be only the superficial and surface effects.

In what are usually esteemed the humbler walks of life are oftentimes giants who set in motion the tides of influence which make great communities and even states, and yet whose worthy claims are never heralded to the world as are the deeds of those who reach the popular heights toward which the eyes of the public are accustomed to turn.

To this worthy class in the quieter walks of life belong numbers of the best men of every generation whose vocations are such as to hide them from the popular view, and yet without whom the greatness and the prosperity of a commonwealth could not be.

Belonging to this class was Daniel Pratt, a native of New Hampshire, a carpenter by trade, and a man in whose capacious brain were great enterprises. Utterly without pretention, he was at first a common laborer, working at his trade in different cities in Georgia for a period of about fifteen years, in the early part of the century.

At that time the question of cotton as a staple had assumed new proportions in view of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney about fifty years previously, and in view of the capabilities of the soils of the South to produce the staple. The struggles of Whitney to maintain his rights as the inventor of the gin had been prolonged through a protracted period of years, leaving him barren honor alone, but his suggestion had found its way to the inventive genius and mechanical aptitude of others, among whom was Daniel Pratt. He removed to Montgomery in 1833, for the purpose of establishing a gin factory in that town. At that time the manufacture of cotton gins was quite limited, but the sagacious carpenter saw in the future the possibility of a means of vast commerce in the manufacture of machines that would reduce the indispensable staple to marketable conditions, and while conditions in Alabama were at that time still new, Pratt discerned an opportunity both for the gin and the production of cotton.

Lands were of fabulous fertility; population was pouring southward; the advocacy of slavery had been hushed by the prospective productiveness of southern lands, and Alabama was destined to become the center of an expansive region for the production of cotton.

At that time capital was not so abundant, cotton was not so pregnant a factor in commerce, and the manufacture of gins was rather a novelty among the industries. But this sturdy, quiet man of business was controlled by the conditions then prevailing as he was by the possibilities of the future. Being a pioneer in an important branch of industry meant much, and he had the pluck and faith to venture. Pratt believed in himself and no man succeeds who does not; he believed in the future of the country, and was resolved to begin the manufacture of gins. He was not encouraged to locate at Montgomery, as he would have been glad to do, and most fortunate for that city would it have been, could he have done so. Mr. Pratt went to Autauga County, and on the plantation of General Elmore manufactured a few gins. This was only a tentative venture and one preparatory for greater things toward which he was gradually moving.

On Autauga Creek, near McNeil's mill, there was abundant water power with which to operate his primitive machinery, and leasing the use of this power for a nominal sum, he was enabled finally to begin the manufacture of gins. Both faith and grit were needed to meet the demand of the occasion, but these Mr. Pratt had. Guided by the same sagacity which had led him thus far, he was finally in condition to purchase land farther up on Autauga Creek, where he built his first factory and founded a town which he named Prattville.

The manufacture of gins in the South and the production of cotton acted and reacted on each other with wonderful effect. Mr. Pratt was compelled to enlarge his facilities for the manufacture of gins, so that by 1860 he was building not less than 1,500 each year. The Pratt gin became famous throughout the South, and to the beginning of the Civil War the sales continued to grow. From that little industrial center in the woods of Autauga were going forth the means of energy and stimulation which were gradually transforming the agricultural conditions of the entire South.

Through the years this quiet but enterprising genius was prosecuting his work unseen and largely unknown for a long time, save by means of his gin, and yet his quiet retreat was a center from which there was emanating motive power for the promotion of prosperity.