the demands occasioned by the deficiency of his education were never
abandoned. He was doggedly persistent in mastering every detail of a
subject, and seems to have acquired a passion for routine fractional work.
He took nothing for granted, never assuming that it was true, till he had
satisfied himself from the authorities. This gave a critical cast to his
mind which, in turn, resolved itself into the utmost exactness with
respect to each minute particular on any subject which would absorb his
attention. With painstaking exactness he would con over a minute point for
hours, in order to bring it into exact adjustment. His arguments were
perfectly mortised, no matter how much time was necessary to effect this
end. His labors in his office were assiduous, and a case entrusted to his
care never suffered the slightest negligence or inattention. Others might
find time for the chase or on the stream, but Judge Stone was usually
found in his office, at his desk, hammering out his cases. His studies
were varied, as he would now and then unbend from his law books to delve
into choice literature, of which he was quite fond. His literary taste was
the highest, and occasionally he would give rein to his Pegasus and dash
off a bit of fugitive poetry. This was done by way of diversion, as he
never sought publication for such productions. His concentration was
remarkable, and he could husband his resources with great readiness, ease,
and skill.
The devotion of Judge Stone to his library prevented his attention to
social intercourse, and, like most students, he was somewhat austere in
his bearing. The glitter and clatter of the social circle had no charms
for the man whose thoughts moved on serious and solid lines. His
companionship was largely his books, of which he had a choice selection.
In life, he was prized as an attorney for his rigid attention to cases
entrusted to his care; as a judge, for the accuracy and minuteness of his
opinions, as well as for his unquestioned fairness, and as a private
citizen, for his solid and substantial worth. No condition could swerve
him from a course of conscientious judgment, and no temptation was
sufficient to betray him into a course the least doubtful. Behind all this
was a manly courage and conviction to sustain the serenity of his
judgment.
Thus lived and died this distinguished Alabamian, as much admired for his
private virtues as for his official service. In most respects a model man
and citizen, he was a typical official of the other days when men loved
honor more than gain, and prized integrity above the price of rubies.
To all this was added Judge Stone's devotion to the cause of religion. He
was a devout Presbyterian of the old school, and never suffered his
religious convictions to be trenched on by the plausible pretexts of
worldly maxim. In this he was as firm and stern as he was in all other
relations in life. No juggling of politics for temporary advantage, no
suggestion from the high plane of right could deflect him from a course of
rigid scruple. His standard was honor, not applause; integrity, not gain;
uprightness in all things, not momentary success.
This was the life lived by this eminent jurist, and this the bequest given
as an example to those who should come after him. The passing of a man
like this was the occasion of profound sorrow throughout the state that he
had so long served with distinction.
JOEL EARLY MATTHEWS
To present the merited claims of a typical southern planter of the olden
days is the purpose of this sketch. Than these princely planters of the
old South in the golden age of cotton, no more honorable, cultured,
dignified, or hospitable class ever existed. None is more worthy to
represent the great planting class of the South, and especially of
Alabama, than Joel Early Matthews, who died at Selma, May 11, 1874.
Mr. Matthews sprang from Revolutionary sires. His grandfather, General
George Matthews, was a distinguished soldier in Washington's army. After
the close of the Revolution, General Matthews removed from Virginia to
Georgia, and became one of the three representatives sent by the state of
Georgia to congress. In addition to this honor, he was made governor of
Georgia for two terms. The father of the subject of the present sketch was
Colonel C. L. Matthews, who found great pride in the education of his son
in the leading colleges of the South, he having taken a course at the
University of Georgia, supplemented by another at the University of
Virginia. His first ambition was the bar, but he eventually abandoned that
and adopted planting. In those early days planting and the bar were
regarded the two most eminent vocations in the South.
Purchasing a plantation in the heart of the black belt, near Cahaba, on
the Alabama River, Mr. Matthews spent his life there. His broad acres of
fabulous fertility were his constant pride and care, and his palatial
home was one of the most splendid in the South. Nothing like the sumptuous
hospitality of the old-time southern planter was ever before equaled, and
the conditions which entered into these superb abodes of elegance, ease
and courtliness will never be again. Immensely wealthy, the elegant
mansion of Mr. Matthews rivaled in all its appointments the palace of an
English lord. There was nothing lacking to contribute to ease, comfort,
pleasure, and culture.
Like others of his great class in the South, Mr. Matthews did not content
himself with the mere enjoyment of that afforded by the wealth of his vast
estate.
He was an exceedingly busy man, not only in the successful direction of
his own interests and in dispensing rare hospitality, but he directed his
energies as well to the promotion of the well-being of society, and the
enhancement and development of the resources of the state. To him the
advancement of education and religion were matters of as serious concern
as were his own private affairs. His plethoric purse was always available
to the demands of needs, and nothing was of light esteem to this generous
patriot and planter.
The leisure afforded by his wealth was devoted to reading and study. His
library was stocked with the choicest standard works of ancient and modern
learning, and his library table was always laden with the leading
periodicals of the time. In these rural mansions of the old South were
often met some of the most profound and thoughtful of men, of whom Mr.
Matthews was a type. He had a passion for the study of the science of
government, but his studies were not confined to that particular branch of
thought. His fund of information was comprehensive, and his learning
versatile. He found peculiar delight in the study of Shakespeare, the
histories of Gibbon and Hume, the works of Bacon, Addison, Macaulay, and
others. With the study of these came a passion for the study of the
Scriptures, and the science of government as expounded by Jefferson and
Calhoun, the interpretations of the limitations and powers of the federal
constitution of whom he accepted.
Mr. Matthews had crossed the boundary of a half century of his life when
hostilities between the North and the South began. Though deeply
interested in the principle of secession and thrilled by the patriotism
which swayed the country during the exciting days of the early sixties, he
felt that he was too old to share in the actual fray, but pledged his
fealty and fortune to Alabama in the pending crisis. In token of this he
sent his check for fifteen thousand dollars in gold to Governor Moore, to
be used by him at his discretion for the defense of the state, which was
acknowledged in the following letter:
"Executive Department,
"Montgomery, Ala.,
"January 28, 1861.
"Mr. Joel E. Matthews, Cahaba, Ala.
"Dear Sir:--Your munificence for the protection of the state is
accepted and the evidence of it placed upon record in this office. The
praise of one man, although he speaks as one having authority, is but
a small part of the reward which your patriotism deserves and will
receive. When the present time shall have become historic, this
donation will be an heirloom to your posterity and the example which
you have set will be a source of power to your state compared to both
of which the liberal sum of money which you have given will be as
nothing. As chief executive of the state, and acting under a deep
sense of responsibility, I have been compelled to do all in my power
to strengthen the sense of resistance in the southern mind and to
deepen the current flowing toward the independence of the state in
defense of her constitutional rights. What I have been compelled to do
by conviction of duty, you have done voluntarily, and to that extent
deserve more freely of the gratitude of your fellow citizens. Trusting
that an approving conscience and the gratitude of your state may be
your ample reward, and commending you and the state to the protecting
goodness of Providence, I remain, very respectfully your obedient
servant,
"A. B. MOORE,
"Governor of Alabama."
The patriotic sentiments of Mr. Matthews did not cease with this donation,
for he uniformed and equipped several military companies at his own
expense and was generous in the relief of the widows and orphans of those
killed in battle. Sharing in the gloom occasioned by the result of the
war, he was tempted to remove to Brazil in order to produce cotton in that
empire. On visiting the country he was cordially greeted by the emperor
and urged to become a subject, but he gave up the idea. When Emperor Dom
Pedro visited America in 1876 he made diligent inquiry of Mr. Matthews,
with whom he was greatly impressed.
The life and career of Joel Early Matthews was a distinct contribution to
the weal of Alabama. Though wealthy, he was modest and devoid of
arrogance; though unusually well informed, he had respect unto the
lowliest. He was an ornament to the citizenship of the state, and when he
passed away his loss was universally mourned.
E. S. DARGAN
No one of more marked individuality ever appeared among the public men of
Alabama than Judge Edmund S. Dargan. He had peculiar characteristics
which, so far from concealing, he seemed to cherish them. These
peculiarities were quite out of the ordinary, and not infrequently excited
much merriment. Still Judge Dargan was a man of distinguished ability.
Springing from an Irish ancestry in North Carolina, where Judge Dargan was
born in 1805, he was gifted with those sinewy physical qualities which had
been borne by his forbears across the seas from the bogs and fens of the
Emerald Isle. Left an orphan boy by the death of his father, who was a
Baptist minister, when the son was but a boy, he showed genuine pluck by
joining in the rough encounters of the world in an effort to procure an
education. In his younger years no ambition above that of a plodding
country farmer seems to have possessed him, for he was a common laborer
till he was twenty-three years old, though his mental activity led him to
a diligent study of the classics, to which he devoted every spare hour.
He seemed suddenly to have been inspired by a rare vision of life, for he
abruptly left his farm work and entered on the study of the law in the
neighboring village of Wadesboro, N. C. A year later, he removed to the
young state of Alabama, which was in 1829, just ten years after the state
had been admitted into the Union. Locating in Autauga County, he taught a
private school for a period of three months.
On making application for admission to practice law it was found that Mr.
Dargan was duly qualified by past study, and he entered at once on the
practice in the courts, after settling at Washington, in Autauga County.
His settlement in this rural village was a brief one, for he soon removed
to Montgomery. His quiet and studious habits and his habituation to hard
work served him well in his new environments, for naturally such a young
man would excite attention and win confidence. His practice steadily grew
and his reputation for close and rigid attention to business and ability
to transact it, rapidly raised him above the man of plodding mediocrity
and won for him a place of public esteem. Yielding to the solicitations of
friends, he offered for the legislature from Montgomery County, but was
defeated. A year later, however, when he was thirty-six years old, he was
elected by the legislature to the circuit of the Montgomery district. He
retained the office but one year, when he resigned and removed to Mobile
and entered on the practice of the law.
In 1844 Judge Dargan was elected to the state senate from Mobile, which
position he held just a year, when he resigned to enter into a
congressional race against Honorable William D. Dunn, one of the most
popular and polished men of the district. In their combats on the stump
the difference between the two candidates was most novel. Dunn was neat
and tidy of dress, polished in manner, and elegant of diction, while
Dargan was indifferent alike to all these, and rather prided himself on
their absence from his being. The advantage lay on the side of Dargan from
the fact that in spite of his rough and uncouth exterior he was a forceful
speaker, and commanded the attention and confidence of the most
thoughtful, while his disregard for dress and apparent contempt for polish
won the plaudits of the rustic population. In debate he was Dunn's equal,
if not his superior, while the difference between them otherwise made him
the successful competitor.
One session in the National Congress seemed to gratify his ambition, for
at its expiration he declined a renomination. Soon after his retirement
from congress he was elected by the legislature to the supreme bench of
the state, and two years later, on the retirement of Judge Collier from
the chief justiceship, Judge Dargan was elected to succeed him. After
serving three years in this function he resigned and resumed private
practice of the law in Mobile.
Here Judge Dargan was profitably engaged in the practice of the law when
the war began, and in 1861 he was chosen to represent Mobile in the
constitutional convention. No sphere could have been better suited to his
taste and qualifications, and he was ranked one of the foremost members of
that body.
Judge Dargan's career in the public service closed with his membership in
the Confederate Congress, where he served for two years only, and declined
further service in that capacity. It was while he was a member of the
Congress of the Confederacy that Governor Foote of Tennessee, a member of
the same body, took occasion to reflect seriously on Judge Dargan in the
course of some remarks on the floor, when Dargan promptly sprang to his
feet, seized Foote in the collar, with his right hand upraised, as though
he would strike him. But before violence was demonstrated, the matter was
adjusted and the incident closed. This led to an animadversion on the part
of E. A. Pollard, in one of his works on the Civil War, on Judge Dargan,
whom Pollard accused of raising a bowie knife with the view of stabbing
Governor Foote. This reckless writer was descanting at length on the
inferior type of manhood in the Confederate Congress, and made the
statement just given in substantiation of his charge. The truth is that
Judge Dargan was at his desk writing when Governor Foote assailed him in
the speech, and when he arose he still held the pen in his fingers.
Numerous anecdotes are still related of Judge Dargan, especially with
respect to his garb. His shoes were sometimes of the cheapest styles, and
he preferred leather strings to any others. Members of the bar used to
relate how careful he was sometimes to mar his appearance before appearing
before a jury in an important case, how careful he was to untie his shoes
before leaving his office, so that they might gape the wider, and how
often his hair was unbrushed and his shirt collar was thrown open.
When unengaged, the position of Judge Dargan was that of drowsiness. Under
this condition he wore an expression of indifference and unconcern. But
when he would arise to speak he was suddenly transformed. His eyes would
dilate and glitter, his nostrils grow thin under the intensity of
animation, and the dullness of his face would give way to a radiance that
would inspire. In the sweep and current of discussion he was a giant, and
in the clearness and forcefulness of presentation he had but few
superiors.
PETER BRYCE
In 1849 a woman philanthropist, Miss D. L. Dix, of New York, a sister of
General John A. Dix of that city, visited Alabama with the end in view of
establishing a hospital for the insane of this state. She was actuated to
undertake the task of visiting all the states in which there were not such
institutions, by a singular experience which had come into her life. A
cherished friend of hers had become insane, and it had fallen to her lot
to nurse that friend till death. It was no ordinary task which she
assumed, particularly at that time, when the country was ringing with the
heated politics growing out of the discussion of abolitionism, and when
there was a special antipathy for northern people in the states of the
South. But she so impressed everyone with the intensity of her spirit and
her loyalty to the distressed, that nothing was thought of but the angel
of mercy that she was, moving quietly over the land and pleading for the
sufferers from idiocy, epilepsy and insanity, defraying her own expenses,
for she was amply able to do this, and quietly giving her life for others,
and they who were afflicted with the malady of insanity. Nor were her
labors confined exclusively to this class, but she inspected the prisons
of the country, the jails and penitentiaries, and sought to mitigate the
sufferings of the prisoners. Before taking formal action with the
authorities of the state, Miss Dix traveled over the state and acquainted
herself with the conditions especially of the insane. She found at least
seven hundred sufferers from idiocy, epilepsy, and insanity. Equipped with
these facts, she was prepared to make her appeal.
For thirty years Alabama had been a state, but her people were so
engrossed with the affairs personal and public, wrestling with the giant
difficulties incidental to a new state, that institutions of mercy had
been largely if not altogether neglected. For the unfortunate lunatics no
provision had ever been made. Miss Dix found them confined as criminals in
prison, with environments to distract and make incurable rather than
otherwise, or else they were confined in friendly homes and closely
guarded, while a fraction of the number was sent to insane hospitals in
other states.
Arriving finally at Montgomery, this gifted woman presented the claims of
her mission to the governor and most influential members of the
legislature, and by means of a memorial addressed to the legislature, she
aroused action which culminated in the appropriation of two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for the erection and equipment of a hospital for
the insane of the state. The law was not enacted, however, till 1852, and
the institution was not built and ready for inmates till July, 1861. It
was of supreme importance in the inception of an enterprise of this
character that a thoroughly equipped physician, qualified for this special
work, be procured. Ample time was taken to find this man, and when found
he proved to be Dr. Peter Bryce, of South Carolina.
At the time of his election to this important post Dr. Bryce was only
twenty-six years old, but his previous training and experience had given
him the amplest equipment for a position so responsible, and time proved
that a more fortunate selection could not have been made. Trained in the
medical department of New York, after quitting which he had become
assistant physician in the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane, none
could have been better qualified for the superintendency of the new insane
hospital of Alabama.
Dr. Bryce at once impressed everyone with his fitness on his arrival and
on his assumption of his important station. Quiet and unassuming in
manner, gentle and persuasive, and withal sympathetic and tender, his
natural gifts were supplemented by a thorough knowledge of the most
advanced scientific treatment of the insane. He entered on his important
mission and held it to the close of his life.
His task was herculean from the outset. Besides superior qualifications
for the station to which he had been called, he must have administrative
force. Thorough organization was necessary before the work proper could
even be begun. The adjustment of means to an end in all the minute
ramifications of the hospital must be secured. The institution must not
only be set agoing, but when once begun, must be without relaxation or
cessation. More than all that, there must be prospective provision made
for an increased and increasing dependency of the unfortunate, for the
population of the state was rapidly growing, and of course there would be
an increasing demand for occupants yet to come. The responsibility was
onerous, the duty exacting, the supervision minute, and skillful
treatment in each case absolutely necessary.
His service gave universal satisfaction. The praises of the young
superintendent resounded throughout the state, and even beyond. Hundreds
who came and were restored whole, left with blessings on the head of the
young and lovable superintendent. In his retreat of benevolence he labored
on year by year, was rarely before the public, and his tremendous work was
known only to a limited few. Confidence in him grew to be supreme, and his
fame went abroad to other states, and the hospital for the insane in
Alabama was noted among similar institutions throughout the country.
Dr. Bryce took a position in the most advanced of the medical fraternity
of Alabama. The learned papers presented by him before the medical
convention of Alabama, from time to time, with special reference to the
disorders of the mind, were regarded as being those of the highest value.
He was a devotee to his profession, and his fame grew with the expansion
of the institution committed to his care.
In addition to all this, Dr. Bryce was a great favorite in the social
circles of cultured Tuskaloosa. His quite dignity, pleasing demeanor, and
his learning and culture, won for him a place in the most elevated circle,
while his perennial sunshine of heart made him an idol to the unfortunate
inmates of the hospital. He became one of the first citizens of the state,
and by dint of sheer merit, he held this position to the close of his
useful life.
JOHN GILL SHORTER
No man of more exalted personal character ever entered public life in
Alabama than Governor John Gill Shorter. He had all the virtues of a
Christian statesman. Gentle, refined, highly cultured, modest, he was yet
a firm and faithful official. His presence produced an atmosphere of
purity and awoke the profoundest respect.
A graduate from the University of Georgia in the class of '37, for Georgia
was his native state, he removed with his father, General Reuben C.
Shorter, to Eufaula, then called Irwinton, and after a course of study
entered on the practice of the law. Six years afterward he was appointed
by Governor Fitzpatrick solicitor of the judicial district in which he
resided. In 1845 Mr. Shorter was elected senator from Barbour County, the
first from that county after it was formed from Russell County. His
bearing and service at once attracted attention, his ability was promptly
recognized, and when Honorable George Goldthwaite was promoted to the
supreme bench, Mr. Shorter succeeded him as the judge of the judicial
circuit, in which capacity he served for nine years, being elected from
time to time without opposition.
When the question of withdrawal from the Union was before the secession
convention of Georgia, Judge Shorter was sent as one of the commissioners
from Alabama. He later became a member of the provisional congress of the
Confederacy, and soon became a candidate for governor of the state in
response to a popular demand. In 1861 he was elected governor.