governor an unprecedented burden, attended with unique embarrassment of an
appalling nature. Questions of a complicated nature arose in consequence
of the haste necessary to meet the tide of hostilities bearing southward,
and in the excitement of the hour and the extremity of the period, the
people were divided on numerous important issues, and from the outset, the
administration of Governor Shorter was beset behind and before with most
perplexing entanglements. The strenuousness of the times imposed burdens
on him never before borne by a governor. The difficulty was enhanced by
the fact that on the governor reposed the settlement of all questions on
which public sentiment was divided. The most conflicting demands arose
from the turbulence of the times and the passion of the period, but the
serene man at the capitol sought tranquilly to do his duty, unswayed by
aught else than a supreme sense of public responsibility. His patriotic
and philanthropic disposition led him to seek to provide for the families
of soldiers on the field, but this produced adverse sentiment on the part
of many. With zeal and interest, he sought to protect by every possible
means the exposed borders of the state against a hostile army, and gave
special attention to the fortification of Mobile by garrisoning the
outposts of that city as strongly as possible.
As the war progressed and the demand for additional troops grew, it became
necessary to conscribe many who had failed to volunteer, and this became
the occasion of fresh difficulty, as it always does. In the execution of
the law enacted by the Confederate Congress relative to the tax in kind
for the support of the army, Governor Shorter had to stem a current of
popular opposition, and was held responsible by the masses for that which
he did in compliance with the laws of congress. Added to all this was the
necessity of the imposition of increased taxation for the support of the
state government, and for the redemption of its bonds. In the prosecution
of necessary tasks like these he became the victim of much popular wrath
and unjust abuse. But duty was clear, and without wavering the breadth of
a hair, or without chafing under the conditions, Governor Shorter met his
obligations with steadiness and firmness. To have done less than he did
would have made him recreant to his obligation, and everyone who did his
duty at that time, and under conditions so stressful, fell under the same
unreasonable public condemnation. A man of less nerve and less granite in
his soul would have been swept off his feet in a public ordeal like this.
On the expiration of his term, in 1863, he was a candidate for
re-election, opposed by Thomas H. Watts, then attorney general of the
Confederacy, and an opponent of Governor Shorter at the previous election.
Public sentiment had grown so morbid during the tempestuous times of the
former administration, that Governor Shorter failed of re-election. There
was a burst of ungrateful expression of popular feeling, but the result
was not unexpected. Governor Shorter had borne immense burdens in the face
of popular clamor, and naturally and logically he preferred the
indorsement of a people for whom he had done so much, while, on the other
hand, it was a relief to be unburdened at the end of two years.
After facing the odds, formidable and imposing, during the first two years
of the struggle, and after resisting the inertia of popular discontent at
every step, he retired from office with a stainless reputation, and,
viewed at this distance, his course during the trying period of his
administration is thoroughly vindicated, and in the galaxy of Alabama
governors none has ever been more patriotic, none more firm in the
prosecution of public duty, none calmer in a storm than John Gill Shorter.
With the same serene temper with which he had deported himself in office,
he retired to private life and resumed the practice of the law in the city
of Eufaula.
With this distinguished statesman the claims of religious obligation rose
supreme. His life was a living sermon. His honor was never questioned, nor
was his religious character impeached, nor his personal piety ever
challenged. In his character was the happiest blend of childlike
gentleness and robust manhood. In a period of doubt and storm he publicly
insisted that "there is a truth in religion; it is all true; and there is
a power in the atonement of Christ. It is a glorious reality. The
atonement of Christ will stand firm as the everlasting hills."
Governor Shorter died in the prime of manhood, being only fifty-four when
he passed away. At the time of his death there was no more popular man in
the state. An account of his triumphant death was broadly published
throughout the country and created a profound impression.
With faith unnerved by the presence of death, he closed his earthly career
with words quoted from an old and familiar hymn:
"To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie."
Having quoted this couplet, he said, "I want to be off"--and died.
N. H. COBBS
Of a meek and unpretentious mold, Bishop N. H. Cobbs never failed to
impress the public with his deep piety and exalted character. Rising from
an humble station in life, and ascending by dint of merit to the highest
place within the gift of his church, there was nothing in his bearing to
indicate his consciousness of the honor attaching to his position. There
was a total absence from his manner of that self-assertion and sense of
self-importance so often attaching to those as highly honored as was
Bishop Cobbs.
Conjoined to this was a cordiality of spirit which loosened all restraint
and made everyone whom he met, feel that he had met a friend. A placid
smile as natural as sunshine mantled his face and lent an additional charm
to his personality.
The individual merit of Bishop Cobbs was shown by the fact that, with the
scantiest educational advantages in early life, he turned his stock of
information to the greatest use by teaching school in the rural districts
of Virginia. With him, to teach was to learn, for in order to give
effective instruction he had to prepare the way in advance by assiduous
nightly study. After all, this is the most effective way of procuring a
solid education, provided one knows how and what to study. Mr. Cobbs
always brought to his rustic classes the enthusiasm derived from knowledge
newly found, and the enthusiasm was contagious, as it always is under
conditions like these.
By such methods as these the young man came to widen and deepen his
capacity, and thus became qualified to grapple with the profounder studies
which still lay ahead. He was neither superficial nor artificial, but
always solidly practical, because he had already learned to be sure of his
footing by reason of the conditions attendant on his early struggles.
Naturally modest, he won self-confidence by closeness of application, and
from this happy blend came that rotundity of character which made him the
man he was.
His heart was already fixed on the ministry, and up to the age of
twenty-eight, during his career as a country school teacher, he was
prosecuting his theological studies. At the time already indicated, when
he had arrived at the age of twenty-eight, he was ordained deacon in
Trinity Church, Staunton, Va., and a year later, was made priest in
Richmond. He became pastor in Bedford County, Virginia, and in conjunction
with his pastoral work he officiated as chaplain in the University of
Virginia, being the first minister to serve within the walls of that
famous institution. From 1826 to 1841 he served in the general convention
of his church as one of the clerical deputies from the diocese of
Virginia.
In 1841 Rev. Cobbs was nominated bishop of Texas by the house of bishops,
but the clerical and lay deputies declined, from motives of policy, to
sanction the action. The honorary title of doctor of divinity was given
him by Hobart College in 1843 and during the same year he became the
rector of St. Paul's Church, in Cincinnati. Another step was taken to
raise him to the bishopric by the clergy of Indiana, but the laity,
assuming, for some reason, that if elected he would not accept, did not
ratify the action. However, in 1844 the clergy and laity of Alabama
invited him to the episcopate and late during that year he entered on his
new sphere and for seventeen years, the ripest period of his life, he
served in Alabama.
On the assumption of the charge of his diocese he found but few
Episcopalians in Alabama, the number scarcely reaching as many as five
hundred. He set himself at work without delay to effect a thorough
organization of the scattered few, and before the close of his life had
multiplied the numbers many times over. In grappling with the difficulties
of a new field, the resourcefulness acquired in his early life stood him
well in hand. He brought to his difficult task not only an administrative
equipment gained by hard experience, but an economical ability which he
had acquired in his earlier years. He was just the man temperamentally and
otherwise fitted for a pioneer work such as he undertook in Alabama.
One possessing the gifts which Bishop Cobbs had, might have shone more
resplendently, but he was shrinkingly modest, and by this was much kept
from public recognition. He was an indefatigable worker and was as quiet
as he was effective in the execution of his plans. Without effort he won
popularity, and to his quiet demeanor and humility is his church in
Alabama most indebted. Under his auspices a diocesan school was founded,
an orphanage established, and a system of missions maintained, and through
these agencies vast good was effected.
Bishop Cobbs had none of the striking elements of the popular pulpit
orator. He was terse and condensed in statement, and yet projectile in
force. Behind his utterances lay a dynamic conviction which was imparted
and impressed. His preaching was more to the heart than to the mind. He
believed, therefore he spoke.
He shared deeply in the sentiment awakened by the issues that shook the
country in the early sixties, and predicted a bloody fratricidal war, but
he was spared a participation in its horrors. On January 11, 1861, while
the secession convention was assembled in Montgomery, and while the pulse
of excitement beat strong, and just prior to the adoption of the ordinance
of secession, Bishop Nicholas Hamner Cobbs passed to his reward.
LEROY P. WALKER
Of one of the earliest families to remove to the state, and one of the
most distinguished, Honorable Leroy P. Walker was among the most eminent
of her citizens. His father, Honorable John Williams Walker, was a
distinguished citizen, having been one of Alabama's primitive statesman,
in recognition of which one of the counties of Alabama was named for him.
But the son, Honorable Leroy P. Walker, attained to national eminence. A
profound scholar, a great lawyer, a distinguished statesman, he is justly
ranked among the first of Alabamians.
In early manhood he was made a brigadier general of militia, but his first
appearance as a public servant was in 1843, when he represented Lawrence
County in the state legislature. He was modest and retiring during his
first term, being of a calm and studious disposition, but in 1844 he was
drawn into more active life and took a deep interest in legislative
matters.
Subsequently removing from Lawrence to Lauderdale County, he appeared, in
1847, as a representative from that county. In 1849 he was honored with
the speakership of the house, and in the approaching session was again
given that distinction. This repeated election carried with it great
significance, as the legislature at that particular period was adorned by
a number of the most distinguished citizens of the state. He won much
esteem from the membership of the house by his dignity, impartiality and
ability.
The distinction thus won, coupled with his recognized ability as a jurist,
led to his election to the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit in
1850. Three years later he resigned his position on the bench and was
induced to return to the legislature. Ripened by years of experience in
public life, he at once became recognized as one of the leading men of the
body, and was conspicuous in the absorbing question then before the
country, that of internal development. In the light of the present, the
sagacity of Judge Walker may be seen in the following resolution submitted
by himself to the legislature of Alabama:
"Resolved, That the committee on internal improvement be instructed to
inquire into the expediency of affording state aid to a railroad company
connecting the navigable waters of the Mobile Bay and the Tennessee River,
and report, should it be deemed expedient, some plan, by bill or
otherwise, having this object in view; but in no event is the community to
designate the termini of the road."
This initial measure, at that early day, coupled with the notable speech
which he delivered in support of the resolution, indicates a sagacity
which makes Judge Walker a pioneer of the development of the marvelous
resources of the state. Among the participants in the discussion of that
initial question were such men as Percy Walker, Thomas J. Judge, John
Cochran, J. L. M. Curry, Joshua L. Martin, and A. B. Meek.
After this notable session of the legislature, Judge Walker retired to
private life, resuming the practice of the law, and did not reappear till
called out by the stirring scenes of 1860. An intense adherent of what
was called the southern movement, Judge Walker supported Breckinridge and
Lane. He was an ardent secessionist, and was one of the commissioners to
Tennessee to confer with the state authorities concerning the best policy
to be adopted by the slave-holding states.
On the occasion of the creation of the Confederate government, Judge
Walker was named for the secretaryship of war in the Davis cabinet. While
Fort Sumter was being bombarded Judge Walker and General Beauregard were
in constant communication by wire concerning the progress of the attack.
When the news was flashed to Montgomery that Fort Sumter had fallen,
Montgomery, the new capital of the Confederacy, became a scene of
intoxicated joy. The city was filled with excited crowds, torch-light
processions, and speaking was galore. Among others, Judge Walker was
called on to speak, and, sharing in the exuberance of joy, declared that
the Confederate flag would float over the dome of the capitol at
Washington, over Independence Hall, and even over Faneuil Hall, Boston,
before our armies would retire from the field.
This enthusiastic outburst was regarded as ill-timed and unwise, as its
logical effect would be to weld northern sentiment against the new-fledged
Confederacy, whereas up to this time this sentiment in the North was
divided. Emanating from so high a source, it was construed as representing
the sentiment of the people of the South, and then began the solid South
against the solid North. Edward Everett and Stephen A. Douglas, both of
whom had held in check the popular passions of the North with the hope of
some amicable adjustment, now advised the people to take up arms in
self-preservation since their homes were threatened by a determined
invasion. For an utterance which was pronounced untimely, Judge Walker was
blamed by Union men, both North and South, and was charged with the
responsibility of precipitating the war and of making more compact the
sections one against the other.
But it was idle to conjure thus with words. Judge Walker bespoke the
regnant sentiment of the South. The war was inevitable and honest as were
the sentiments and efforts on the part of some to avert it, the people
thirsted for blood, and nothing short of war would satisfy. The sentiment
cherished by the South was reciprocated by the North and the expression of
Judge Walker, while it might not have been fastidiously diplomatic, was
sheer honesty. To have used a single expression of a man as an occasion
for concentration of northern sentiment, was the convenience of a pretext.
In due time the result would have been that which came, whether Judge
Walker had ever used the expression or not. Men often toy with words and
use them, as Talleyrand suggests, to conceal ideas.
For more than a year Judge Walker remained in the Confederate cabinet,
when he retired and was commissioned as a brigadier general in the active
service. He had organized and equipped the armies of the Confederacy, and
had supervised the original movements on the field. Assigned to an
inactive command at Mobile, he requested more active service on the
field, and for some reason this was denied him, when he resigned from the
army, was appointed a military judge, and held that position throughout
the war.
During the dark period of reconstruction Judge Walker was as conspicuous
as any in assisting in guiding the state through this perilous time, and
closed his life as one of the most distinguished of Alabama citizens.
WILLIAM L. YANCEY
The name of William L. Yancey is generally associated with two chief
facts, namely, that of secession and that of his brilliant oratory. The
beginning of Mr. Yancey's life was clouded by an unfortunate circumstance,
that of killing Dr. Earle, of Greenville, S. C., for which he was
sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine, but was pardoned by
Governor Noble, after about three months. In the light of subsequent
events and after all passion had subsided, this unfortunate occurrence was
popularly adjudged a deed of self-defense.
There was something remarkable in the career of Mr. Yancey in that his
friends neither in the opening period of his life, nor for some years
afterwards, ever suspected him of the qualities either of leadership or of
oratory which he developed, and until conditions prevailed by means of
which these elements were called into exercise, did Mr. Yancey himself
come to discover himself.
First, he was a planter near Greenville, S. C., and later in Dallas
County, Ala. This was followed by the editorship of the Cahaba Democrat,
and later of the Argus, a democratic paper published at Wetumpka. He had
previously studied law at Sparta, Ga., and Greenville, S. C., but had
never applied for license to practice.
His advent into public life was when he represented Coosa County in the
legislature, which was during the early stages of his professional career.
Later he became a state senator from the district composed of the two
counties of Coosa and Autauga.
Mr. Yancey's entrance into national politics was in 1844 when he was
elected to Congress to succeed Dickson H. Lewis, who had been promoted to
a seat in the National Senate. In his maiden speech on the floor of
Congress, Mr. Yancey became the recipient of a great distinction. Though
the youngest member of the party, he was chosen to defend the Southern
democrats against a furious assault made on them by Mr. Clingman, a whig
member from North Carolina. John C. Calhoun, then secretary of state, sent
for Mr. Yancey the evening before he was to speak, and advised him not to
do his best in his first encounter.
This first effort in Congress gave Yancey national fame. It awoke comment
throughout the country. The Baltimore Sun, speaking of the effort, said,
among other things: "He is comparable to no predecessor, because no one
ever united so many qualities of the orator." Mr. Clingham's speech was
too well answered at every point for the reply of Mr. Yancey to be
satisfactory to him. While himself severe, he was offended at the severity
of Mr. Yancey's arraignment, and according to the custom of that time,
challenged the Alabamian to a duel. Both Clingman and Yancey repaired to
Baltimore to settle the difficulty on what was then esteemed "the field of
honor," Clingham being the aggressor throughout, but they were interrupted
by a civil process, and both returned to Washington, satisfied with the
result.
In 1846 Mr. Yancey, having served two years in Congress, resigned his
seat from the necessity of repairing his fortune, and entered successfully
on the practice of law in Montgomery. Without losing interest in public
affairs, he continued rigidly devoted to his profession for about ten
years.
In 1848 Mr. Yancey's relations to the democratic party became impaired
because of his withdrawal from the national convention at Baltimore, which
convention nominated General Cass for the presidency. His action was based
on the refusal of the Baltimore convention to incorporate into the
national platform certain resolutions adopted by the Alabama convention,
in the event of the rejection by the national convention of which, the
Alabama delegation was instructed to withdraw. Only one other and himself
withdrew from the convention at Baltimore, and during the succeeding
campaign he remained quiet. For all this he was subjected to much censure.
With a period of ebbs and flows which come now and then to a political
party, the elements had calmed by 1858, when, at the head of the electoral
ticket of Alabama, Mr. Yancey carried the state for Buchanan. Being of
decided and pronounced views, and one who did not believe that principle
was divisible, Mr. Yancey won the unenviable distinction of being a "fire
eater," but he followed duty as he saw it, and encountered the penalty
always accorded to one of stern and fixed adherence to principle.
Meanwhile the drift of the country was toward conflict. A states' rights
democrat, Mr. Yancey insisted on the maintenance of this principle as the
only hope of safeguarding the constitution. Accordingly in the Alabama
convention held in 1859, to select delegates to the national convention to
be held at Charleston, Mr. Yancey procured the adoption of a platform
suited to his views. At the head of the Alabama delegation he attended the
Charleston convention which declined to adopt the views presented in the
platform of the Alabama convention, and as is well known, a disruption of
the party followed. The subsequent results of that event are too well
known to be repeated here.
The election of Mr. Lincoln in the quadrangular presidential contest,
precipitated the crisis. Secession followed with William L. Yancey as its
chief apostle. His vast powers now at their zenith, were brought into full
exercise, and the country rang throughout with his fearless declaration of
states' rights. In the creation of the new Confederacy, Mr. Yancey bore a
conspicuous part, and President Davis left to his choice any position
which he might accept, and he chose the mission to Great Britain.
In England he employed every honorable means to induce the recognition of
the Southern Confederacy, as an independent power, but his efforts were
unavailing. At the end of a year he returned to America and announced that
if the South should win her independence it would be the result of her own
effort. During his absence abroad Mr. Yancey was chosen as senator to the
Confederate congress, but his leadership in that body was obscured by the
diversion of public thought to the armies on the field.
Mr. Yancey died near Montgomery in July, 1863. Had the Southern
Confederacy succeeded, and had Yancey lived, his popularity would have
been boundless, but with the "lost cause" was linked in the minds of many,
the diminution of the fame of the splendid and brilliant leader of the
cause of secession in the states of the South.
HENRY W. HILLIARD
Among others who have contributed to the greatness of the commonwealth of
Alabama should be named Gen. Henry W. Hilliard, whose career was both
eventful and remarkable. His early life was distinguished by a precocity
which showed itself in his graduation with distinction from South Carolina
College, in its palmiest period, at the early age of eighteen.
At twenty-three Mr. Hilliard was chosen a professor in the University of
Alabama, in which position he not only sustained his earlier reputation as
a scholar, but was quite a favorite in the best circles of Tuscaloosa
society because of his rare social qualities. At twenty-four he was
selected by the legislature of Alabama to deliver an address on the
occasion of the death of Charles Carroll, the last of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Though notified of his choice for this
function but a few days before the oration was to be delivered, Hilliard
acquitted himself with merit, and at once established his fame for
scholarship and oratory in Alabama. The address was published by the
legislature of the state and popularly read.
Having been admitted to the bar at Athens, Ga., where he practiced two
years before removing to Alabama, he resigned his professorship after
three years, removed to Montgomery, and resumed his law practice. Being a
licensed minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he would now and
then preach. He soon entered on a good practice in Montgomery, and became
a favorite in the most intelligent social circles of the capital city,
where his graces were much admired.