The wit and humor of Georgia stand by themselves. They have no
counterpart in any other section of the country. Many attempts have been
made to imitate them, but there is always something lacking. The flavor,
the "bouquet," the aroma, is gone. The sun, the soil, the air, and
even the spring water, seem to have something to do with it. Just what,
nobody knows. Wit and humor are elusive,--they are unsubstantial. On the
other hand, the Georgia watermelon is something solid. It may be handled
and felt. It may be "thumped" and "plugged" and tested. Those who know
what a watermelon is and should be, know that there is none to compare
with the melons that are grown in Georgia, no matter what the variety.
The same may be said of the wit and humor that belong to Georgia. An old
man--Uncle Tom Norris he was called, on account of his gray hairs--was
once heard to say (speaking professionally), "Let me clap a drop of
the low-wines to my tongue, and I'll tell you what branch the fire was
kindled on." He was a distiller, and knew his business. One need not
be an expert to say the same of Georgia humor. It is almost possible to
tell the very militia district in which it originated. It carries not
only the flavor, but the color.
For a hundred years Georgia has remained the most democratic part of the
country. The sons of the richest men were put in the fields to work
side by side with the negroes, and were thus taught to understand the
importance of individual effort that leads to personal independence.
It thus happened that there was a cordial, and even an affectionate,
understanding between the slaves and their owners, that perhaps had no
parallel elsewhere. The poorer whites had no reason to hold their heads
down because they had to work for their living. The richest slave owners
did not feel themselves above those who had few negroes or none. When
a man called his neighbor "Colonel," or "Judge," it was to show his
respect, nothing more. For the rest, the humblest held their heads as
high as the richest, and were as quick, perhaps quicker, in a quarrel.
The Virginians and North Carolinians who settled in the Broad River
region intermarried, and spread out over middle Georgia. Those who were
not akin were bound to each other by ties of long acquaintanceship; but
the homogeneousness of the people, complete and thorough as it was, was
not marked by any monotony. On the contrary, character and individuality
ran riot, appearing in such strange and attractive shapes as to puzzle
and bewilder even those who were familiar with the queer manifestations.
Every settlement had its peculiarities, and every neighborhood boasted
of its humorist,--its clown, whose pranks and jests were limited by
no license. Out of this has grown a literature which, in some of its
characteristics, is not matched elsewhere on the globe; but that which
has been preserved by printing is not comparable, either in volume or
merit, with the great body of humor that has perished because of the
lack of some one industrious enough to chronicle it.
One of the most perfect types of the Georgia humorist was the late John
M. Dooly. Judge Dooly was a remarkable man in other respects, but it is
his wonderful fund of humor that has made his name famous in Georgia and
throughout the country. It has been told in these pages how Colonel John
Dooly was dragged from his bed by the Tories and murdered. This Colonel
Dooly was the father of John M., who was hid under the bed when the
Tories dragged his father out and murdered him. It might be supposed
that such an event would have a tendency to give a boy a very serious
view of life. Judge Dooly's views were no doubt serious enough; but they
were overwhelmed and overpowered by a temperament which found cause for
laughter in almost every person and passing event, and was the cause of
innocent mirth in others.
Judge Dooly was born in what he called the "Dark Corner" of Lincoln
County, which had not then been cut off from Wilkes. After the murder of
his father, the family was left in poverty. When he went to Washington,
the county seat of Wilkes County, to read law with Mr. Matthews, the
clothes he wore were in such a condition that he was compelled to
confine himself to the office in the daytime. He was very poor and
very bright. Old people who knew him when a boy, described him to Judge
Garnett Andrews as "a sallow, piney-woods-looking lad." "Piney-woods
people" was the local name for the tackies, the clay eaters, the
no-accounts, that had settled about on the poorer lands in that section
of Georgia, and given themselves over to thriftlessness for good and
all. But young Dooly had that within him which made him superior to the
conditions and limitations of poverty. Apart from his remarkable gift of
humor, he had a native brilliancy of mind that gave him an easy mastery
over the principles of law that he found in the books. He was admitted
to the bar in 1798, and was immediately successful as a lawyer. His
education had been limited to that which he found in the "old field
schools," and in that day they were not of the best; but such a mind as
his needed only the rudiments, the rest came as by instinct.
[Illustration: Judge Dooly 250]
Judge Dooly was not a student while practicing at the bar. He had
thoroughly mastered the principles, the groundwork, of the law; and his
mind, as logical as it was brilliant, fitted these principles to every
case he had charge of. His love of humor, and his fondness for the
society of those who preferred fun and frolic, placed many temptations
in his way, and some of these he did not always resist; but the faults
he had were the faults of the time in which he lived, the faults of the
society in which he was brought up and by which he was surrounded. Judge
Dooly has been described by a contemporary as having a large head,
with a bold, high forehead, heavy eyebrows, prominent nose, a small
compressed mouth, and large, vivid, sparkling eyes, which, when the
spirit of humor had possession of him, illuminated his countenance as if
an electric battery were in play.
On one occasion, Judge Dooly had been challenged by Judge Tait,--the
same Judge Tait who had made himself so obnoxious to General John
Clarke. Judge Tait had a wooden leg; and Judge Dooly, in replying to the
challenge, referred to this fact, and said he did not think they could
fight on equal terms. He hoped his refusal would not be interpreted as a
reflection on the misfortunes of Judge Tait. This reply made Judge Tait
more indignant than ever. He wrote a severe reply, suggesting to Judge
Dooly that his refusal to fight was the result of cowardice rather than
a desire not to shed the blood of an unfortunate cripple. In answer to
this insinuation, Judge Dooly declared boldly that he was ready to fight
his adversary on anything like equal terms. He announced that he would
meet Judge Tait anywhere, on any day, and exchange a shot with him,
provided he (Judge Dooly) was allowed to stand on the field of honor
with one leg in a bee-gum! The bee-gums of that day were made of
sections of hollow trees. Naturally this remarkable proposition made
Judge Tait madder than ever, and he wrote to Judge Dooly that he
intended to publish him as a coward. Judge Dooly calmly informed Judge
Tait by letter that he had no sort of objection to the publication,
provided it was at Tait's expense. He declared, that, for his part, he
would rather fill a dozen newspapers than one coffin. These unexpected
strokes of humor disarmed the anger of Judge Tait, and set the whole
State in a roar. They did more: they cleared the political atmosphere,
and took the edge off of party rancor, which was at that time very
fierce and keen.
Once, when dining at a public table, Dooly said something or did
something to irritate Major Freeman Walker. The latter, remarking that
he had borne with the liberties taken by Judge Dooly quite long enough,
said he proposed to resent them then and there. The attack on his
feelings had been made in public, and he proposed to resent it in
public. Seizing a chair, he advanced on Judge Dooly. The judge seized a
carving knife, and braced himself for defense. Several gentlemen caught
hold of the judge to prevent him from using the knife, while only one
held Major Walker. Surveying the scene, Judge Dooly calmly remarked,
"Gentlemen, one of you will be sufficient to prevent me from doing any
mischief. The rest of you had better hold Walker." The explosion that
this remark created put even Major Walker in good humor, and he and the
judge settled their differences in the most amiable and rational manner.
When the Legislature passed severe laws against gaming, Judge Dooly
enforced them rigidly. Some of the gamblers were brought to trial and
fined, and others were only saved from arrest by the fact that they kept
out of the way when court was in session.
But one night in Washington, Wilkes County, after the judge had been
holding court all the week and had closed the term, he went to his room
in the hotel and made all preparations to retire. He had barely settled
himself in bed, when he heard a noise in an adjoining room, and soon
discovered that a game of faro was going on. The noise disturbed him so,
that he dressed himself, went to the room, and told the players, that,
having tried all legal methods to break them up, and failed, he was
now determined to try another plan. He thereupon seated himself at the
table, and before the night was spent broke the bank. He then told the
gamblers to clear out, and be more careful in future how they interfered
with the court.
Once when sitting up late at night, trying a very complicated case, the
sheriff voluntarily placed on the bench beside the judge a small pitcher
half filled with toddy. When he had finished the toddy, the judge called
to the officer, "Mr. Sheriff, fetch in some more water out of the same
spring." A murder case was once tried before him. The point in the case
was whether the prisoner had shot in self-defense. There was a good deal
said by the lawyers about the right to shoot. The jury, intending to
justify the prisoner, brought in this verdict: "The prisoner has a right
to shoot." When this verdict was read to the court, the judge held up
his hands in pretended alarm, and cried out, "Mr. Sheriff, don't let him
shoot this way!"
A story is told of Judge Dooly and Tom Peter Carnes, another rare
humorist, that fairly illustrates the statement made in the beginning
of this chapter in regard to the plain and democratic character of the
people who settled Middle Georgia. Dooly and his friend Carnes were
traveling to court, having gone without breakfast in order to be up and
on their way at an early hour. At last they reached the place where they
were to get breakfast, and called for it with some show of impatience.
The lady of the house, however, was in no hurry. She said that they
should have breakfast the moment Charles came. So she called for
Charles, blew the horn for Charles, and finally sent for Charles. When
Charles put in an appearance, the two travelers found that he was a big
negro, so black and fat that he fairly glistened when the sun shone on
him. Naturally Dooly and Carnes were surprised. They were still more
surprised when the negro's mistress said in a coaxing tone, "Now,
Charles, I do wish you would sit down and let the gentlemen eat, as they
are in a hurry to go to court." Charles didn't like so much company;
but he finally sat down to the table, on which there was a big bowl of
clabber, three "hunks" of corn bread, and three pewter spoons. "Now,
Charles," said the woman, "do eat, and then the gentlemen will begin."
Making the best of the situation, and somewhat enjoying the humor of it,
Dooly and Carnes sat down at the table and began to eat. Carnes shook
his big spoon at the negro, and cried out, "Now, Charles, you must
spoony on your own side;" and he kept on warning him, "Spoony on your
own side, Charles, spoony on your own side." The two lawyers ate until
Charles's spoon began to make raids on their side of the bowl, and then
they abandoned the feast to him and went on their way.
A landlord of a hotel, having heard some of the lawyers, among them
Judge Dooly, bragging about the toothsomeness of a baked pig they had
tasted, probably at Milledgeville during the session of the Legislature,
concluded that he would surprise and please them by having something in
that line himself.
He was either ignorant or ill-advised; for, instead of baking a suckling
pig, he roasted a half-grown pig, stuffed him, put an apple in his
mouth, and stood him upon his stumps in a dish. In those days the seat
of honor at the head of the hotel table was reserved for the judge of
the court At the head of the table Mr. Pig was placed, facing Judge
Dooly's seat. The judge and the lawyers came in, sat down, and ate
dinner in comparative silence. They were overawed by Mr. Pig. Though
the carving knife lay handy, and the landlord and his wife were watching
with impatience and uneasiness to see what the lawyers would say when
they had tasted this particular roast pig, no one dared to touch it. At
supper Mr. Pig was still standing defiantly in his place. He presided at
every meal during the day following. On the morning of the second day,
when Judge Dooly came to the table, Mr. Pig was in his old position.
Thereupon the judge bowed to him gravely. "Good-morning, sir!" he said.
"I am afraid you have lost your appetite, seeing you have not eaten that
apple yet. I presume you are tired attending court.--Mr. Sheriff, you
may discharge him on his own recognizance, until court in course, seeing
we shall have no further use for him at this session, and return him the
thanks of the court for his prompt and faithful attendance."
[Illustration: The Roast Pig 255]
Judge Dooly was a member of the Clarke party; but on one occasion,
when he was a candidate for reëlection to the judgeship of the northern
circuit, some of the Clarke men declared that Governor Troup's warlike
message was an evidence that he was mad. Judge Dooly made the comment,
"If he is mad, I wish the same mad dog that bit him would bite me." This
happy remark came to the ears of the Troup men in the Legislature, and
it so pleased them that they put an end to all opposition to the judge
in the election.
Judge Dooly was one of the most charitable of men. He once refused to
give alms to an unfortunate woman in Savannah, and the refusal haunted
him all his life He declared that it taught him never to let Satan cheat
him out of another opportunity to help the unfortunate; that he had
determined to err on the safe side ever after.
Just before he died, a friend called to ask after his condition. His
reply was that he had a bad cold without any cough to suit it. And so,
humor bubbling from his lips to the last, there passed away, on the 26th
of May, 1827, the rarest humorist that Georgia, the especial mother
of humorists, has ever produced. Judge Dooly had a humor that was as
illuminating as it was enlivening. It stirred to laughter or it moved to
tears, according as this wonderful man chose to direct it.
A great deal of the humor that originated in Georgia has been printed
in books. We find it in Judge Long-street's "Georgia Scenes," in Major
Jones's "Travels," in Colonel Richard Malcolm Johnston's "Stories
of Georgia Life," and in other volumes that have attracted public
attention. But the best of it has been lost. It originated when the
lawyers were riding about on horseback or in buggies from court to
court, and tradition has only preserved a small part of it.