Macon, Georgia - Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia : Containing Many Inter (part 4 of 8)

The Hon. Oliver Hillhouse Prince was born in Montville, Connecticut, in 1782. He moved to Washington, Wilkes county, Georgia, in his fourteenth year, and assisted his aunt, Mrs. Hillhouse, who was an extraordinary woman, to edit a newspaper. Upon the death of her husband she took charge of his paper, the Monitor and Impartial Observer^ and conducted it for several years. The Journal of the House of Representatives was printed in her office and sent to Louisville, then the seat of government. At the same time Mr. Prince studied law, and without help or patronage, became a prominent member of the Northern Circuit. Having been appointed by the Legislature the chief of the commissioners to lay off the metes and bounds of the county of Bibb and the town of Macon, he made the county his home. He settled in Howard District in 1822. It is to him that the city is indebted for its wide streets and avenues. He soon after opened a law office and practiced with his usual success. In 1824 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1829 he was appointed to the United States Senate. He presided over the first railroad convention in Georgia and became deeply interested in the railroad system, and was one of the first stockholders and directors in the Georgia Railroad Company. He was among the founders of the first educational and literary societies of Bibb county. He was remarkable for his genial wit and was the author of some of the " Georgia Scenes '' and other fugitive humorous articles. In 1832, he abandoned the practice of the law, and became the editor of the Georgia Journal, the leading print of one of the political parties in the State. In the conduct of this paper he exercised, during a period of unexampled party excitement, that dignified moderation which constitutes one of the three cardinal virtues of Georgia, and is as well a part of the motto of the State as it was of that paper. In 1835, he retired to Athens, Georgia, to devote the remainder of his life to the domestic circle and the education of his children. He left Athens in May, for Boston, to superintend the printing of a Digest of the Laws of Georgia, which he had recently compiled by authority of the Legislature, and having completed his I labors, was returning home with his charming wife when the awful accident occurred to the packet, and they both perished in the same wave.

In 1838, the country was favored again with a fine cotton crop. Up to May ist, one hundred and two thousand one hundred and seventy-four bags had been received and sold, extremes, six to nine cents, and in the fall the prices advanced to eleven to twelve and half cents.

Among the noted events of the year was the arrival, on the 20th of April, of one hundred tons of ice for summer comfort. Heretofore that luxury had been transported in blocks in the boot of the stages and sold at ten to twenty cents per pound. So scarce had been the article that in saloons where it was kept forbibblers, the block was seldom broken ; it was wrapped in stout blankets, and when the patron wanted " a little ice" in his, ^'with or without sugar," a jack-plane being always in proximity, the block was shaved and the snow-like shavings inserted into his " forty drops" or more, but never less.

The political excitement during the last year now revived, as the election for State officers was approaching, between the Democratic or Union party, and the State Rights, Republican or Anti-Van Buren party - the latter was called by three names,

' The evils practiced at exciting elections had been complained of by a recent grand jury, and a large number of citizens called a public meeting to consider the complaint and adopt some remedy. In June the meeting was held at the court-house, and largely attended by the most influential citizens of the county. Major Edward D. Tracy presided, and John J. Gresham acted as secretary. The chair stated the object of the meeting was to approve and enforce the recommendations of the late grand jury for the suppression of the alarming evil of electioneering by treating in spirituous liquors, public barbecues and bribery. The following resolutions were adopted :

Resolved, That we will support no candidate for the Legislature or other office in this county who will himself electioneer by treating in liquors of any kind, or by giving barbecues, or who will place money in the hands of others to do so for him.

Resolved fw'ther, That we will countenance no individual who will, either by false argument or by force, endeavor to induce another to vote contrary to that which his untrammelled conscience shall dictate to him.

Resolved, That we will subscribe a pledge to the foregoing effect, and that a committee of four from each Captain's District be appointed by the chair to obtain similar pledges from the citizens of their respective districts, and that the names of all such be published in the public gazettes of this city.

Resolved, That a central committee of three be appointed by the chairman of this meeting, to whom the district committees shall report on ro before the first day of August next."

The committees were appointed, and reported and published the names of over three hundred subscribers to the resolutions. The election in October passed off quietly, and resulted in the election of a State Rights Senator, Dr. Baber, and one State Rights Representative, Colonel H. G. Lamar, who ran without

On October 9th the first bar of iron was laid on the Monroe Railroad. The first locomotive arrived in November, and on the 2 2d was put in operation by the Master Machinist, Robert Findlay, by way of trial, and was run five miles. The name given the locomotive was ^^Ocmulgee." The first passenger car was placed on the road on December 3d, and drawn by the Ocmulgee to Section Seven. On December 9th the track was completed to Forsyth, and on the following day, the loth of December, 1838, the first train ran from Macon to Forsyth, conveying a large delegation of citizens from the former place to attend a public festival given by the citizens of the latter place in celebration of the completion of the road. The train was drawn by the locomotive "Ocmulgee," and its arrival was greeted by the cheers of the gentlemen, the waving of handkerchiefs and smiles of the ladies. After the usual reception speeches and responses, the company repaired to partake of a sumptuous banquet which had been prepared, at which many regular and volunteer toasts were delivered, a few of which are reproduced as a reminiscence of the railroad spirit of the day:

" The Monroe Railroad - Has the first finished link in the great chain that will connect the Western with the Atlantic waters. To its opponents we would say, are we not all Georgians ? " Macon - Our neighbor, and one in whose interest we feel identified. Her citizens will make her equal to any, and to be unsurpassed by none."

" To the Editors of the Georgia Messenger - The steadfast friends of social order and faithful advocates of useful internal improvement ; their persevering efforts in advancing these have placed their fellow-citizens under grateful obligations ; may they live long to enjoy the fruits of their labor."

" General Lewis L. Griffin - The practical patriot, who has erected for himself a monument that in Georgia will forever perpetuate his fame."

To the City of Macon - Central in the State, for beauty, commerce and enterprise, she stands without a rival in the South. Other cities, envied by some, and courted by others, she lacks nothing but the united efforts of her citizens to make her the seat of science, and place her commerce beyond the reach of opposing interest."

By the ladies - To Our Guests'. Honored by the first ride upon the Monroe Railroad, may they not rest satisfied until they extend their pleasure ride trips to the Tennessee river."

By John J. Gresham - " The Georgia Railroad : When her first locomotive reaches the main trunk may the puff of the ' Ocmulgee ' be there to greet her."

By the President of the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company - Daniel Griffin, Chief Engineer, L. N. Whittle, Assistant Engineer, and Robert Findlay, Principal Machinist : The ability and unprecedented perseverance with which these gentlemen have performed the duties assigned them in their several departments entitles them to the highest approbation of this company."

The year 1839 opened with bright prospects. The banks were solvent, and cotton was bringing fourteen to fifteen cents ; the lowest price for the lowest grade during the year was eight cents, and the highest grades frequently brought fiteen to sixteen and a half. The crop was large and trade very active until there was again another decline of cotton in the Fall.

On August 29th, the location of the route for the continuation of the Monroe Railroad was completed, and contracts made for its extension from Forsyth to the State Road end in DeKalb, now Fulton county. The survey of the State Road had been completed. The Georgia, Western and Atlantic and Monroe Railroads were to concentrate at a relay post on the Federal Stage Road known^as White Hall. At this point a town was started named Atlanta, which, in 1864, numbered twelve thou- sand inhabitants. It was pillaged and destroyed by fire on the 14th of November, 1864, by order of General Sherman, commander of that portion of the Federal army known throughout Georgia as the " fire and plunder division." The city has been rebuilt, has, for eleven years, been the capital of the State, and contains near forty thousand inhabitants. The other end of the Western and Atlantic Railroad was located at Ross' Landing on the Tennessee river, where another thriving and populous city was since founded called Chattanooga.

Chapter Vi

The two Harrison Freshets - Political Convention at MilledgeviLLE - The Great Harrison Convention at Macon - Alford, the War-horse of Troup, Log Cabins, Procession, Delegations, Speeches, Grand Barbecue and other Incidents - Central Railroad Depot - Fire - Exciting City Election - Whig Party - Statistics - Indian Relics - Celebration of the Completion of the Central Railroad - Freights - Visit of Henry Clay - Military Encampment - Fire - Democratic Convention - Jawbone Band - The City Bankrupt - Cotton two and a half cents - Tribute to Andrew Jackson - Sale of the Monroe Raii-road - Square Cotton Bales Introduced - Census - Supreme Court Organized - Annexation of Texas - Mexican War - Campaign of Macon Guards, and Col, Jackson's Regiment of Georgia Volunteers - Death and Burial of Isaac Holmes - Death of other Prominent Citizens - Trade Improving - The Macon and Western Railroad - Origin of the Southwestern Railroad - Macon Regulars in Mexico - The Magnetic Telegraph - Daguerreotypes - Deaths - Visit of President Polk - First Horticultural Society - Macon and Augusta Railroad Convention.

There were no events of interest in the early part of the year 1840, except that cotton continued on the decline, and sold in March at five to seven and a half cents, which was the ruling price throughout the year. Two memorable freshets occurred, one in March, and the other in the latter part of May. The freshet of May continued while the convention at Milledgeville that nominated General William H. Harrison for the Presidency, was in session, and it was, therefore, called by the people east of the Oconee river the Harrison freshet. In that portion of the country, and beyond the Savannah river and in Carolina, the rivers and streams were higher, and the overflow and destruc-

In the early part of March, 1841, after President Harrison's inauguration, the big fresh occurred west of the Oconee, and the Ocmulgee, Flint and Chattahoochee rivers, and all other smaller streams, contained more water and produced greater damage than ever known. In this section the last inundation was also called the Harrison freshet ; hence the confusion that arose many years afterwards in distinguishing which was the proper Harrison fresh. The discrimination was, however, distinctly recorded at the time of the occurrences. The fresh of May and June, 1840, while the convention was held at Milledgeville, was named by the Democrats, ^'The Nomination Freshet," and the fresh of March, 1841, was also named by the same "unterrified" authority "The Harrison Inauguration Freshet." An iron spike was driven into the westernlibutment of the city bridge by Mr. Albert G. Butts, denoting the* highest water' ever in the river down to that time, March, 1841. The spike still remains, and is inspected at every freshet in the Ocmulgee.

This year is noted as an epoch in the political annals of the country. The Anti- Van Buren party in Georgia assembled in convention at Milledgeville, and nominated General Harrison, the hero of the Tippecanoe and many other battles against the Western Indians, as their candidate for the Presidency, and John Tyjer, of Virginia, for Vice-President. Many Democrats joined in the convention and supported the nominees in preference to Mr. Van Buren, who had endorsed the overthrow of the United States bank policy of his predecessor, Andrew Jackson, and favored, during his administration, the hard money system, which his opponents stoutly proclaimed had aggravated the financial panic throughout the land, and brought distress upon the people. Mr. Van Buren was not an advocate of the peculiar Southern institutions. General Harrison, being a Southron, was in full accord with the Southern people. He had acquired considerable fame as a gallant, successful officer in the armies of his country, and while he made no pretensions to high literary accomplishments, he was awarded the credit of being a safe and sagacious statesman. When not engaged in the public service he lived upon his farm in his log cabin, cultivated his orchards and produced a great quantity of hard cider. His nomination was hailed with much enthusiasm by the Southern people.

Before the adjournment of the Milledgeville Convention, General Elias Beall, on the part of his constituents in Bibb, offered a resolution recommending that a grand convention be held in Macon on the 13th day of August, to ratify the nominations that had just been made, which was unanimously adopted. Tippecanoe Clubs were organized in every county in the State, aud arrangements were made by a large number of counties to send full delegations to Macon.

The delegations to the Great Harrison Convention began to arrive on the 12th of August. It was the largest gathering of the people, in numbers and in strength, that had ever asserribled in the State. There were but a few miles of railroad in the State, and delegations came from the extensive counties North, South, East and West in hundreds, on horseback or in vehicles. Some of the delegations built good sized log cabins, sufficient for a dozen men to sleep in, placed them on wheels, with mules or horses attached, and they were drawn fifty to eighty miles over the highways to Macon. On these cabins were cider barrels, representing chimneys, and strings of red pepper hanging on the door latches. The first delegation that arrived was from Troup and Coweta, amounting to three hundred men, well mounted, and riding two abreast, preceded by a log cabin and band of music, with Alford, the war-horse of Troup," ahead. The delegations were followed by fifty-four baggage wagons. The Bibb county delegation numbered five hundred and fifty, with three banners : First device, a Rattlesnake. Motto : ''General Harrison - the Rod of Aaron among the Magicians." Second device. Portrait of Harrison, encircled by a wreath of oak, with two American flags. Motto : " The Last Hope of the Re- public," Reverse motto: "A Southern Man, with Southern Feelings." Third device, a log cabin and eagle, with military emblems. Motto: Harrison and Tyler." Reverse: ''We will Teach Palace Slaves to Respect the Log Cabins" - (both presented and painted by Mrs. Dr. Wood, of Macon.) Badge : A Rattlesnake - " Harrison, the Rod of Aaron Among the Magicians."

The Houston delegation, five hundred delegates, bore a Log Cabin. Inscription : " Houston Tippecanoe Club." Reverse, an eagle bearing the American flag. They had six other banners, with inscriptions on each side. The first: "Purge the Public Offices." "Clear the Kitchen," was followed by twelve men with brooms, which closed the procession of that county, and excited much attention and amusement. These are fair specimens of the delegations that arrived. There were seventy-one counties represented by delegations in procession, thirty-eight of which bore attractive devices ; some log cabins and banners, others flags, revolutionary weapons, cider barrels, agricultural productions and implements, or some device typical of the life of old Tippecanoe, and many a caricature of the "Sly Fox of Kinderhook." The total number of delegates was four thousand two hundred and five. There were more present who were not delegates, and the number estimated in all was fourteen thousand five hundred to fifteen thousand. The trains of horses and every conceivable variety of vehicles were immense, and the wide streets of Macon have never been so crowded for the period of three days.

Colonel William B. Parker was Grand Marshal of the occasion, supported by twelve assistants. The arrival of each delegation was announced by the firing of the " old gun, ' and escorted by one of the Marshals to their quarters. Each delegation handed in a list of their members to the Marshal. On the 13th, the delegations assembled for conventional purposes, at, and in the vicinity of the warehouse of Hamilton & Reynolds, between seven and eight o'clock, a. m.

called the convention to order, and Hon. John M. Berrien was made permanent chairman. Prayer was offered by Rev. George | F. Pierce, after which Mr. Berrien made a brief and powerful \ address. At the conclusion, he introduced Hon. Mr. Preston, of South Carolina, ''when the shout of welcome from the assembled thousands that greeted his appearance on the stand; proclaimed the high estimation in which he was held by the people of Georgia. For two hours he enchained the multitude in breathless attention, and though the crowd was exposed at times to the inconvenience of sun and rain, none became weary."

The procession was then formed, the Grand Marshal in the lead with the President and twelve Vice-presidents, followed by the musicians, orators and clergy, soldiers of the revolution, delegates from other States, and delegations from most distant counties, first in order, each one having at its head the log cabins, banners, devices, etc. From the vastness of the multitude, the procession formed in columns extending the width of the street. It proceeded down Cherry to Bridge, down Bridge to the Court-house square, thence up Mulberry to Second street, and down that street to the warehouse of Hamilton & Hardeman, opposite academy square, where the dinner tables were spread. The tables were a few yards short of a half of a mile. They were arranged in four parallel lines, thirty-two in number, each one measuring eighty feet, containing in all two thousand five hundred and sixty plates. The bill of fare of the substantial consisted of three thousand pounds of baker's bread ; twenty-three hundred pounds of corn bread ; one hundred and fiftyfour hogs and sheep, averaging sixty pounds each - nine thousand two hundred and forty pounds ; sixteen beeves, averaging three hundred pounds each - four thousand eight hundred pounds ; twenty-five hundred pounds of bacon hams ; ten quarter casks of wine, etc., etc. Tables were also set in Wrigley & Hart's establishment, where five hundred female visitors dined. Extensive as the preparations were, a great part of the delegations brought provisions and all the culinary utensils.

with a bevy of orators, as it was impossible for the whole number to hear one speaker, and were addressed by Judge E. Y. Hill, of Jasper; Iverson L. Harris and A. H. Kenan, of Baldwin ; J. C. Alford, the war-horse of Troup ; Robert Toombs, of Wilkes ; Eli Warren, of Houston ; H. W. Hilliard, M. Hutchinson and Mr. Gunn, of Alabama; A. R. Moore, of Henry; Judge Law, and Frank Bartow, of Chatham ; A. J. Miller, of Richmond; Roger L. Gamble, of Jefferson ; Rev. J. H. Davis, of Coweta ; Wm. C. Preston, of South Carolina ; Judge Strong, A. H. Chappell, E. A. Nisbet, Washington Poe, A. S. Wingfield and S. R. Blake, of Bibb,

On Friday morning, the 14th, Mr. Preston addressed a large crowd from the portico of the Central Hotel for an hour and a half. A. H. Chappell, of Bibb, introduced a lengthy and forcible preamble and resolution, opposing the corruption and misrule of the administration of Mr. Van Buren, and advocating the election of Harrison and Tyler. The acts of the administration were fully set forth in the preamble, when it was, therefore Resolved, That it be recommended to the citizens of Georgia to lay aside, in the present alarming emergency of the country, all pre-existing party divisions, and to come to the examination of the issues involved in the existing contest, with minds unbiased, unprejudiced and determined to consult no end but their country's good, and its deliverance from the maladministration and misery with which it is now overwhelmed, etc.

The question being upon the adoption of the preamble and resolutions, Mr. Toombs, of Wilkes, offered the following amendment, which was carried by acclamation :

Resolved by this Convention, That while as State Rights Republicans we must ever repudiate and condemn the principles embraced in the Proclamation and Force Bill, yet we feel ourselves called upon as patriots to forego our peculiar opinions of the means to secure the great ends of State Rights, popular liberty and honest administration of the property of the Government of the People, and extend a cordial invitation to our countrymen of the Union party to unite with us in the deliverance of our common country from the hands of 'the spoilers.' In this great struggle we proclaim to the world that we stand upon the great platform of Popular Rights, which is wide enough, and long enough, and strong enough for every friend of his country to stand upon without any sacrifice, except Party to Country !"

The question then being upon the adoption of the resolutions with the amendment, the Hon. C. B. Strong, of Bibb, introduced the following additional amendment, which was by a unanimous vote superadded to the main resolution :

^'Resolved, That this Convention of the People approve of the able and patriotic conduct of the faithful Six of our Representatives in Congress, to-wit: Alford, Dawson, Habersham, Nisbet, King and Warren ; and will support them, with Foster, Gamble and Meriwether, and use all honorable means to promote their election."

The resolutions, with the amendments, were supported in able speeches by William Law, Robert Toombs, Andrew J. Miller and Henry W. Hilliard. The amended resolutions were unanimously adopted. Judge Berrien then delivered a closing address, and the Convention adjourned amidst the wildest enthusiasm.

The location of the depot for the Central Railroad was the local subject of excitement in the fall of this year. The Company desired to locate it on the west side of the river, to which many of the citizens objected, believing that a connection with the Monroe Road would be injurious to the interests of the city. At a meeting of the citizens and the officers of the road, it was finally determined to locate it in East Macon. On December 7th the contract for building the road between Macon and the Oconee was given to Messrs. Robert and Charles Collins, and Elam Alexander.

The year 1841 was marked by two disasters from opposing elements, water and fire. The Great Harrison Inauguration Freshet, in March, has already been referred to. On September 15th and 1 6th there was another freshet, and the Oconee

In October a very destructive fire occurred, destroying the entire northwestern block of the square on Cherry street, including the handsome building occupied by the Columbus Insurance Bank, and the Ocmulgee Bank, on Second street, and sixteen other buildings, principally wooden stores, outhouses, and two livery stables.

On New Year's Day of 1842 the annual election for city officers was held at the court-house, and for the first time in many years a serious disturbance occurred at the polls. A number of excited men, whose votes during the day had been challenged, just at the close of the election broke through the windows, seized the ballot box and destroyed it with the ballots. The offenders were afterwards arrested and made to suffer the penalties inflicted by the law.

The cotton receipts in 1841 and 1842 were over forty thousand bags short of 1839 and 1840, and the prices ranged at three to seven cents, averaging about five cents during the year. The effects of the panic of 1837 were more severely felt this year than at any previous date. There was a drag in commercial matters for several years, and the ruling price paid for cotton did not begin to improve until 1844 and 1845. The expansion of the city and its growth was gradual, but not marked with that vigor and rapidity of the preceding years. -

On the 7th of June the State Rights Convention assembled at Milledgeville, and continued two days. Hon. Wm. C. Dawson was elected Chairman, and Peterson Thweatt, Secretary. Among the delegates who addressed the Convention, were Dawson, Wilde, Nisbet, Toombs, Stephens, Billups and others. Henry Clay was nominated the choice of the Convention for the next Presidency. Afrer the adjournment of this Convention the name of Whig was then adopted, and for the first time by any party in Georgia.

affairs. Cotton was selling in the winter at three to five and a quarter cents. Country produce - butter, twelve to fifteen cents ; bacon, hog round, five and half to six cents ; lard, six to eight cents, and scarce ; beef, fresh, three to four cents ; corn, thirtyseven to forty cents ; corn meal, forty to forty-five cents, in demand and scarce ; eggs, six to ten cents ; flour, three to four dollars per barrel; fodder, sixty-two to seventy-two cents ; potatoes, thirty-seven to fifty cents.

On June 19th, the first Convention of the Whig party took place. It assembled at Milledgeville, and Hon. John M. Berrien was unanimously made the President. The Convention, by acclamation, nominated George W. Crawford as their candidate for Governor, A. H. Stephens, for Congress, and Mr. Berrien, their candidate for Vice-presidency.

The new cemetery was attracting universal admiration, as the committee in charge had laid off the walks, roads and lots. It was founded in May, 1840, and named by the City Council Rose Hill Cemetery, in honor of Simri Rose, whose plans for the burial grounds were adopted by that body.

The Central Railroad was now approaching completion to Macon. For several years, as the road advanced from Savannah, the route by the stages from Macon, was shortened. ' On August ist, the first passenger car arrived from Savannah, at McCall's Mill, two and a half miles from the city, where a temporary depot was established. In September and October, while Messrs. Collins and Alexander were cutting through the edge of the mounds near the city, for the road track, a number of Indian relics were exhumed, consisting of a large earthen pot, capable of holding eight gallons, in which was contained a considerable quantity of burnt corn which appeared to have been reduced to charcoal ; also, a number of skeletons and human bones ; a variety of spoons ; a singular formed stone, translucent, and resembling amber, and a stone axe ; also, five feet below the surface, a brass spoon in a bowl of Indian earthenware. At about thirty to forty feet below the surface was discerned the trunk of a tree, supposed to have been poplar, twelve inches in diameter.

It was encrusted with stone two inches thick, beneath which the wood appeared to be converted into hard coal, and was black and heavy. What was very singular, pieces of pine bark were found in the same locality that were sound and bore the distinct marks of an axe.

On the 13th of October, i243, a grand festival was given by the Company in honor of the surviving projectors of the great enterprise, many of whom arrived on the first train that passed over the entire length of the road, which, for many years, bore the historic fame of being f/ie longest railroad in the world built and owned by one company. Many congratulatory speeches were made. Highly complimentary letters were read by Hons. C. B. Strong and J. J. Gresham, the two chairmen of committees on reception. A handsome letter from Hon. Henry Schultz, of South Carolina, concluded with the following sentiment ;

'' The City of Macon : The Queen Inland City of the South. 'At the head of the longest railroad in the world, and to be ere long the key-stone of the roads grappling with the ocean at the East and with the waters beyond the mountains at the West.

' The Central Railroad Company,' whose name it bears at the city of Savannah, but was completed by a Collins and an Alexander, at the city of Macon ; a stupendous structure, a monument to the State of Georgia and its patriotic projectors, and will so remain until rivers and railroads are no more wanted."

The Georgia Messenger;- of Macon, which had been, since 1834, a steadfast and earnest advocate of the enterprise, commented on its completion as follows :

''It is strictly a Georgia road, projected by Georgians and carried through by Georgia enterprise and capital. The master spirit of the work was the lamented Gordon ; he was the life and soul of it ; his indomitable energy, persevering industry and untiring devotion overcame every obstacle, and triumphed over difficulties which would seem to ordinary minds insuperable. Embarrassments of every kind came thick and fast upon him, A panic in our monied affairs, unparalleled in the history of the country, popular odium, sectional jealousies, ignorance and prejudice, with all their fertile consequences ; the elements themselves at one time seemed to concentrate their powers to arrest the progress of the road ; but the genius that presided over its destinies and gave life and spirit and action to all its parts rose triumphantly above the disheartening and appalling obstacles.

" Honor, then, imperishable honor to the memory of William W. Gordon. His native State owes him a debt of gratitude which time can never cancel.

The admirable management of the Central Railroad and Banking Company has very materially facilitated the progress of the road. By the employment of the bank capital the resources of the company were judiciously invested and made auxiliary to the prosecution of the work ; and throughout the whole period of the existence of the company the bank has been made subsidiary to the main object, the completion of the road ; in this particular the end and design of the charter of the company have been faithfully fulfilled."

Before the completion of the road, and while the depot was at McCall's Mill, the first bale of new cotton received in Savannah that year arrived by cars on August 24th. It was raised in Houston county, and was a square bale. This season square bales were beginning to be adopted, and many planters were having screws built.

On the 4th of December the first seaboard shad of the season arrived in Macon by railroad, and salt-water fish and turtle soup were getting to be common luxuries in this market. An abundance of shad, however, had been caught in the Ocmulgee, above Macon, every year since its earliest settlement. Ice was now reduced to four. cents per pound.

The first of January, 1844, dawned with brighter prospects for the ensuing year. Cotton advanced from seven and a half to eight and three-quarter cents. Freights to Savannah by boats per bale, and forty cents per one hundred pounds by railroad; and in March freights were further reduced to ^1.25

The hospitalities of the city having been extended to Henry Clay, on his tour through the South, he arrived by railroad from Forsyth on a special train, accompanied by his son, John Clay, Hon. T. Butler King, a committee from Columbus, and a large number of citizens from Macon. A national salute of twentysix guns announced his arrival, when ^'The Man of the Age" was escorted by a large cavalcade of horsemen and citizens in carriages to rooms prepared for him at the Central Hotel, where the citizens were introduced until nightfall. Mr. Clay received his many visitors at the hotel, though he was the guest at the residence of his old friend in Congress, Hon. E. A. Nisbet. Sunday following his arrival he attended worship at the Presbyterian Church, and on Monday, the i8th, received the welcome of the vast assembly in a short and most felicitous address by Hon. Washington Poe ; to which the great orator responded in a speech which received the uninterrupted attention of the multitude for an hour and forty minutes. After the speaking, which took place from the rear portico of the court-house, he went to the hotel, and was introduced to many ladies and gentlemen, Locofocos, as well as Whigs.

A soiree and ball closed the evening where many bewitching smiles and pretty flowers were tendered and which the far-famed Sage of Ashland acknowledged with courtly compliments. The dancing was of the primitive order - the old cotillion sets, to which " the beauty and the chivalry" of the day seemed to be confined. The more progressive art of the polkas, redowas and other dizzy pirouettes, in which one of each sex engage by pairs, and gracefully whirl along the floor, encircled in fond embraces, was an unknown accomplishment at that time.

The Legislature of last year having granted twelve acres of ground on the southwestern portion of the reserve for che use of the volunteer corps of the city as a parade and camp ground, and the work of improving and clearing the same having been finished, an invitation was extended to the military of Savannah to visit their comrades in arms at this place. The invitation was accepted, and on the 29th of April, the Republican Blues, Phoenix Riflemen, Savannah Volunteer Guards and Chatham Artillery, arrived by the Central Road. They were welcomed by Mayor Nisbet, who was replied to by Frank S. Bartow, of the Blues ; after which, they joined the Macon Volunteers, Bibb Cavalry and Floyd Rifles and encamped upon the new grounds. The command of the battalion was tendered to Colonel White, of Savannah, and accepted. In the General Orders of the 30th, the name of the place of rendezvous was designated Camp Oglethorpe." The encampment lasted three days and was a brilliant and gala event. The Chatham Artillery dated its origin to 1786. Among its three pieces of brass ordnance one was the gift of Washington, which was captured with Cornwallis, at Yorktown ; the other two were presented by Lafayette, and were captured at the same time.

A large and destructive fire occurred on the 19th of August, between twelve and one o'clock, commencing in the block, corner of Mulberry and Third streets. The whole of the block was consumed, and extended to the adjoining block on Mulberry street, where it was checked by the fire-proof building now occupied by Thomas Wood who then occupied the same. None of the buildings were insured except the Darien Bank. Twelve buildings were destroyed, and a number of outbuildings. At the fire a worthy citizen, James Willingham, who was at that time the foreman of the Macon Telegraph, lost his life in pulling down a parapet of a wooden building which fell over him. The city erected a monument over his grave in Rose Hill, as a tribute to his noble efforts to save the property of his fellowcitizens, by which he lost his life.

A great Democratic mass meeting took place on August 2 2d. Forty to fifty counties were represented with banners. There was a considerable delegation from South Carolina. A procession was formed at the court-house at eight o'clock, a. m., un- der Major James W. Armstrong, Grand Marshal, and fourteen assistants. The inscriptions and mottoes on the banners were expressive of the subjects and carricatures of the day, such as Young Hickory, Dallas and Victory, Hickory Trees, Polk, Dallas and Texas, A Lone Star, Texas and Oregon, a Lone Star and Annexation. Texas and Oregon carried on a young hickory tree and thousands of poke-berries staining the innumerable coon skins.

The procession proceeded to Campbell & Moultrie's warehouse where they were called to order by Col. D. C. Campbell. Hon. Charles J. McDonald was elected Permanent President, and twenty-six Vice-presidents were appointed. The President made a brief address, and closed by calling on Rev. Dr. Leland, of South Carolina, to open the proceedings with prayer. The Convention was addressed by Wm. F. Samford, William Alston Hayne, General James Hamilton and James Smith Rhett, of South Carolina. Adjourning for dinner, they reassembled at half past three o'clock, and were addressed by Wm. D. Porter and Robert W. Seymour, of Charleston, and A. H. Chappell, of Bibb. The venerable Thomas Spalding then presented the prize banner to Green county, it having the largest delegation ; after which Henry R. Jackson and Walter T. Colquitt delivered spirited speeches. A dozen other speeches were made in various parts of the city, and at night, at the various encampments, speeches were made by H. V. Johnson, R. W. Flournoy, Colonel Salford, Geo. W. Towns, H. L. Penning, and Mr. Hall, of Bibb. The nomination of Polk and Dallas was ratified by the Convention. The Texas and Oregon question was principally discussed by the orators, and the annexation of the "Lone Star Republic" enthusiastically recommended.

The political excitement between both parties was kept up until the Presidential election in November. Both parties held conventions in various portions of the State, and candidates and politicians of opposite parties frequently met in public debate, during which all the virtues and every evil of each party, or its candidate, as is usually the case, was the burden of the speeches.

At Macon, a Locofoco Club was organized. One of its adjuncts was the noted " Jawbone Band " formed by a dozen amateurs in the eity. Their instruments were principally jawbones and ribs of animals, with a few string and brass pieces. Many of the campaign songs were set to the favorite air, Old Dan Tucker," which had just been introduced. Every meeting of the club was opened, interspersed and closed with music from the Jawbone Band. At every gathering of the party throughout the district, the band was sent for to enliven the people by rendering the ''concord of sweet sounds " from the rattle of dry bones.

The City Bankrupt

The Mayor, James A. Nisbet, on the ist of July published a lengthy statement of the debts of the city ; its revenue and all expenses. The indebtedness was $287,842. The annual expenses of the city government amounted to $7,700; annual interest account $23,000; the resources were $17,000. The Mayor attributed the financial embarrassment to the heavy investment made by the city in the construction of railroads, and no dividends derived therefrom. The Council authorized an agent to be sent to New York to borrow $75,000, and hypothecate the railroad stocks or other property the city owned. The Mayor pronounced the city bankrupt.

"The debt has been reduced $35,278.15, which had been accomplished by economy in city expenses, and the settled policy of Council in appropriating assets of every description belonging to the city that could be made available in paying debts. The negotiations made last summer had not been consummated. There was an entire willingness on the part of the bondholders, with one exception, to accede to the liberal propositions made them. The refusal of that individual defeated the arrangement and it remained for the successors of the board to prosecute the settlement of the large public debt. He indulges the hope that the recent improvement in Central Railroad stock, with a pru- dential management of city finances, will, at no distant day, extricate Macon from embarrassments which a short time since seemed overwhelming. The change bills issued by the city have constituted an annoying obstacle in the administration of its affairs, but it will not much longer exist, for during the last and present year there have been redeemed and burnt $27,110.- 75 of them. Those out will gradually come in, and can be met without great embarrassment."

The country had not entirely recovered from the old panic; which by this time had assumed a chronic state. The national patients, the State Banks, to which the deposits had been re - moved, had been bled entirely too freely, and left the circulation too thin for the body politic. Much money taken from the State Banks was never returned. The productions of the country were rapidly increasing and the cause of stagnation in commerce, low prices and many failures, was the want of sufficient circulating medium in the country to meet the demands of commerce. Cotton drooped again at four and five cents. The bonds of the city were given for its subscription to stock in the construction of railroads, and the interest had to be met. Since 1836 the interest on the bonds for the two thousand five hundred shares of Central Railroad, and five hundred shares in the Monroe Railroad stocks was at the rate of $23,000 per annum. Seven years had elapsed before the road was completed, and no dividends paid after its operation. By selling the Central Railroad stock at a greatly reduced rate, and the exercise of most rigid economy in the city expenses, the debt of the city was in a few years much reduced.

The year 1845 was signalized with a further decline in cotton, which sold in January at two and a half to four cents. The debt of the State was published on the ist to be $1,640,138.72. The topics of the new year were the low price of cotton ;«and politically, the Texas and the Oregon question. In February the National House of Representatives passed the bill for the annexation of Texas, and a war with Santa Anna was apprehended on the Texas frontier.

On the 3ist of June a large meeting was held at the courthouse to make the preliminary arrangements for an extensive public demonstration to the memory of the late Andrew Jackson, who died at his Hermitage on the 8th instant. Several speeches were made, and resolutions appropriate to the occasion were adopted. A committee of twenty-seven were appointed to select an orator to deliver a eulogy upon the character and eminent services of the distinguished hero and statesman.

On the 15th the ceremonies took place. A national salute was fired at sunrise. At nine a. m. all the bells of the city commenced tolling as the procession formed, and continued until it arrived at Cowles' Warehouse, where the platform was draped in mourning. The procession formed with a band of music in the lead, followed by the Bibb Cavalry, Volunteers, Rifles, Generals of Division and- Brigade with their respective Staffs, the Colonel and his Staff, the Orator of the day and Clergy ; an urn enveloped in a canopy of crape, botrrne on a bier drawn by four horses, and attended by eight pall-bearers in crape ; a horse, properly caparisoned, and led by two grooms ; soldiers who had served under General Jackson ; Mayor and Council of the City ; Judges of the Superior and Inferior Courts, Masonic and Odd Fellows' Lodges and citizens generally.

The eulogy was pronounced by David C. Campbell, and'was a faithful review of the public life and high character of one of the most remarkable and successful men the world had ever produced.

Sale Of The Monroe Road

, By virtue of a decree of the special jury in relation to the bankruptcy of the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company, a sale of all the effects of the Company, from Macon to White Hall, in DeKalb county, including both the part thereof which had been completed and in operation and the part in an unfinished condition, was made on the first Tuesday in August. The Company was declared insolvent and wfliolly unable to pay its debts, and from its many embarrassments were unable to complete the road and keep it in operation. The superstructure had been completed on the whole road, except four and a half miles, and trains were running to Jonesboro, eighty miles from Macon. The cost of the road with its equipment was $2,000,000.00.

On May 2d a convention of the stockholders was held in Macon. L. N. Whittle, the President of the Company, submitted a report showing the indebtedness of the Company to be $847,- 409-35> while the assets were only $323,677,33 - one half of which were valueless. Again, it would require all the income of the road for three years to complete it to the junction with the State and Georgia Roads, and upon those portions already requiring rebuilding. The interest on the debt was at the rate of $75,000.00 per annum. The stockholders had paid in very near $1,500,000.00 on their subscription, and were unable to advance any more. There were judgments against the Company for $130,000.00. There was no alternative except to sell the road for the benefit of the creditors. The stockholders despaired of the most remote hope of ever benefitting themselves. The debt of $800,000.00 was an appalling obstacle which they could not surmount. William B. Parker was appointed by the special jury, trustee in charge of the road from. May 29th, the date of the decree, until the 6th of August, the day of sale.

The sale had been advertised for two months and it was apprehended that a company of capitalists would purchase the property and divert its course towards a lower point on the Georgia Road, to the injury of both Macon and Savannah. The enterprising managers of the Georgia Road, and some representatives from Charleston, were among the spirited bidders. They went as high as $153,000. The whole road and equipments was knocked off to Jerre Cowles, who was representing a Northern party, for $155,100, which with the redemption of liens on the road to the amount of $50,000, made the sum realized by the creditors $205,100 ; and for this sum the new company received property which cost over $2,000,000, located through one of the best sections of country in the State for a railroad, and most easily kept in order. The road was one hundred and

The receipts of the cotton year to September ist, amounted to one hundred and thirty-four thousand bales and bags, a great portion of which was packed in square bales. The price of cotton in square packages were one quarter of a cent more than that in round bags, and the planters were now induced to abandon the old system of packing in round bags. The receipts were the largest ever recorded in Macon as to the number of bales and bags.

The census of the county and city was taken in October. Population of the county ten thousand five hundred and fiftyeight, of the city four thousand one hundred and eighty.

On December 19th, the election for Judges of the Supreme Court, by the Legislature, resulted in the choice of Joseph Henry Lumpkin, of Oglethorpe, for six years ; Hiram Warner, of Meriwether, for four years, and Eugenius A. Nisbet, of Bibb, for two years, which established the first organization of that high tribunal. Its second term was held in Macon on the 9th and loth of the next month, January, 1846. No case was brought up. The Court was engaged in admitting attorneys and establishing the rules of practice.

The annexation of Texas, in 1846, brought forth, as had been predicted, a war with Mexico. The proclamation from the War Department at Washington, calling on Georgia for her quota of troops to enlist in the American army on the Rio Grande, was promptly responded to. The Macon Volunteers, under. Captain Holmes, offered their services for six months, and were making preparations to leave for that length of enlistment ; the Floyd Rifles also tendered their services but they were declined. In the meantime, there were large numbers of young men who were connected with no military organization that were ambitious to serve in the army. In reply to the tender of his company, Captain Holmes was informed that the War Department had determined not to receive troops for less than a year's service, unless the war closed prior to the expiration of that time. He then immediately commenced the organization of an independent company which was named the Macon Guards, and over which he was unanimously chosen Captain. In three days one hundred men were enlisted in the company and their services accepted. Before their departure, on the 4th of June, they were presented with a standard by the ladies, through J. T. Hardeman, who delivered it in a handsome address, which was followed by a soul-stirring speech from Hon. A. H. Chappell, which was reponded to briefly and most feelingly by that universally beloved and gallant soldier. Captain Isaac Holmes.

The Guards were escorted out of the city by the Macon Volunteers and Floyd Rifles, and encamped that night near Bibb Camp Ground, where Judge Bailey had prepared for them a bountiful repast. At that place a sword was presented to Captain Holmes by a number of his admiring friends, and a streamer, with the inscription, "Macon Guards - Remember the Alamo," was also presented to the company in an appropriate speech by Samuel R. Blake. The citizens raised for the company, eight hundred dollars, and the Council donated two hundred more.

On the 5th, the Guards proceeded to Columbus, where they remained for a short time with other corps for the formation of a regiment. On the 20th, ten companies met and organized the " Georgia Regiment of Volunteers " by the election of officers ; the vote being: For Colonel, Captain Henry R. Jackson, three hundred and ten votes ; Captain Isaac Holmes, two hundred and ninety-eight ; James S. Calhoun, two hundred and sixty-four ; Colonel J. J. Hoxey, thifty-six ; scattering two - total, nine hunhundred and ten votes.

The regiment marched from Columbus to Chehaw, Alabama, where they were transported by railroad to Montgomery, thence by steamer down the Alabama river to Mobile. In passing the wharf at Selma the pilot gave a blast from the steamer's whistle, the sound of which a company aboard from Cherokee county had never before heard. They instantly concluded that the boiler had exploded, and, in their fright, a number jumped overboard, several of whom were drowned. As they approached Mobile, on the Fourth of July, and while the boats were in motion, an improviso celebration of the day took place. A spirited address was delivered by Lieutenant Phinizy, of the Augusta company. The honor was awarded the regiment of having introduced the first celebration, on the w^aters of the Alabama, of the nation's natal day of freedom.

The regiment remained in Mobile two days, disposing of the ^40.00 allowance which had been paid to each member for clothing, blankets, and other necessaries, when they embarked on the steamer Joseph Day, for Brazos Island, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. One night after twelve o'clock, during the voyage on the Gulf of Mexico, private Robert Bridges, of the Augusta Blues, who had been asleep on the wheel-house, rolled off and fell into the Gulf. The steamer had proceeded half a mile before it was discovered that a member had, as was supposed, accidentally evacuated his roost on the wheelhouse. The boat was halted and slowly returned, while the life-boats were lowered into the water and sent in search of the missing man, William King, of the Macon Guards, was in one of the yawls, and heard the sound of a familiar voice at some distance; he headed for that direction, when he soon discovered his missing comrade, who had been swimming more than an hour upon the briny deep. Upon being rescued and delivered aboard the steamer. Bridges sought the Captain of the vessel and politely apologized for having delayed his boat on its important mission.

After arriving at Brazos Island the regiment encamped about two weeks and then marched to Camp Belknap, up the Rio Grande, where they were encamped several weeks. They then proceeded to Camargo; a portion on foot and others by the first steamboat that ascended the Rio Grande to that point. There were no landings with supplies of fuel along the river, and when the supply for the boilers was exhausted the boat would tie up until the troops could cut wood from the forests. On arrival at Camargo a most unfortunate emeute occurred between a portion of an Illinois regiment and the Irish Jasper Greens, of Savannah, which arose from a mistake in the interpretation of an order. Five of the Illinois Regiment were killed, and one member of the Georgia Regiment, Sergeant Whalan, of the Greens. The officers of the regiment soon quelled the riot and all differences were satisfactorily settled.

During the encampment at Camargo, which was a very unhealthy place, there was much sickness in the regiment, and many died. A new supply of guns were received here and the boxes containing them were used as coffins for the dead. The regiment marched to Monterey, guarding a money train containing ^200,000, under Colonel Taylor. A letter from Major Charles J. Williams, dated, Georgia Regiment, Camp Monterey, October nth, 1846, was published, in which he wrote: "The ranks of our regiment have been terribly thinned. We marched across the Chattahoochee river with nine hundred and ten men and officers, and to-day the regiment, all told, barely numbers six hundred. Though we have discharged many from sickness and disability, still we have deposited nearly seventy beneath the Chaparral, all in the short space of four months. We have now arrived at a healthy place, and health blooms on every cheek, though seven thousand soldiers, from every part of the United States are here, encamped within the short space of two miles."

On December ist, there was sorrow and weeping throughout the regiment. After an illness of eleven days. Captain Isaac Holmes died in Camp Monterey. He had been for many years a member of the Macon Volunteers, and served with them through their campaign in the Florida war, and on the resignation of Captain Seymour, succeeded him as commander of the company. He had been an officer in the State Bank in Macon, and was Mayor of the city when he engaged in the war against Mexico. There was no man that possessed more of the people's af- fections than Captain Holmes. His kind, genial nature, noble bearing and chivalrous character won for him hosts of friends wherever he went. He was by nature a soldier, and was one of the few officers who could command discipline without austerity. He was as much beloved in Florida, and in the service on foreign grounds in Mexico, among the officers of the armies, as he was in own command at home.

His remains were sent to Macon under the escort of private George Robinson, of the Guards. In passing through Columbus, a detachment from the Columbus Light Guards, Columbian and Oglethorpe Lodges, and Muscogee Lodge of Odd Fellows, joined their escort to Macon. They reached here on the i8th of January, 1847, were taken in charge by the Macon Volunteers, and under a military escort conveyed to the Town Hall which was tastefully decorated with mourning paraphernalia for their reception. Detachments, with officers commanding, from the Chatham Artillery, Savannah Volunteer Guards, Republican Blues, Phoenix Riflemen and German Volunteers, under Colonel William Bowen, arrived, to attend the funeral. All of the Military, Societies and Orders of Macon, and the escort from Columbus, formed in the procession. The remains were placed upon a funeral car dressed in crape and plumes, drawn by four black horses, flanked by twelve pall-bearers, four each from the Volunteers, Masons and Odd Fellows, and on the 21st were interred in Rose Hill Cemetery.

Of the tribute paid by his fellow-citizens and soldiers at the burial, the Messenger said : " Nothing was wanting to impress the deep solemnity of the scene upon the mind of the beholder. The waving plumes of the richly finished car which contained his mortal remains, displaying the habiliments of the soldier in which he had so often appeared, the measured tread of the many footsteps moving to the low and dirge-like music of the military band, and the heavy beating of the muffled drum, the slow-tolling bell, and the startling minute-guns, whose echoes struck upon the heart, all spoke the language of homage to the departed, and of regret for his early doom."

The regiment remained on guard duty at Monterey until March, frequently detailed for service in guarding trains and other service. They were sent to Tampico, and on a voyage to Vera Cruz came near being lost in a tempest at sea.

^^The Victory - The Georgia Regiment. - While the people of Georgia are heartily rejoicing over the brilliant victory of Cerro Gordo, they cannot but regret the sad fate of the Georgia Regiment, in not being able to reach the ground before the rout of the Mexicans. The brave Georgians have been peculiarly unfortunate. After having traversed one-half of Mexico, endured" all the rigors of the climate, and obtained the reputation of being one of the best drilled regiments in the service, it appears to be their luck to be always hard-by, but never in a fight. When Taylor took Monterey they were advancing from Camargo - owing to adverse winds they were thrown into the second line at Vera Cruz, and only a handful of them had an opportunity to 'smell powder,' Scott allowed them to march to Alvarado, especially for a fight, when the cowardly Mexicans ran away before a gun was fired. Returning to Vera Cruz the command to which they were attached was delayed by the landing of the horses of the Tennessee Cavalry, and they were again thrown into the rear and probably did not reach Cerro Gordo until the fight was over. This was no fault of theirs, nor of their gallant officers, because a braver set of men or men more anxious for distinction are not to be found. We would not be surprised if the regiment, under such circumstances, were to resolve, regardless of the expiration of their time of service, to pay at least a passing visit to the 'Halls of the Montezumas ' before returning to Georgia."

The regiment had been reduced by deaths and discharge from sickness, from nine hundred and ten men to less than five hundred. After the battle of Cerro Gordo, on the march to the City of Mexico, - their term of service expired, and they were dismissed. On returning to New Orleans, there were only four

On the departure of the regiment from the banks of the Chattahoochee, it was presented with a United States flag by Miss Mary Ann Howard, of Columbus, Georgia. The name of this patriotic, talented and most estimable woman will again appear in this volume.

The survivors of the Guards in the Mexican war are : Elisha S. Shelton, John B. Cumming, John A. McGregor, Albert B. Ross, Wilson J. Aderhold, Isaac Domingoes, Robert Milton, Sebastian Shaw, Robert T. Walker, Timothy D. Wood, and William A. Harris.

A company of Regulars - one hundred men - under the command of Captain Alexander Scott, was raised in Bibb county, and left for the Mexican war under Second Lieutenant Oliver H. Prince, on the 20th of June. The company was organized in Macon, by the election of Alexander Scott as Captain, Joseph A. White, First Lieutenant, and Oliver H. Prince, Second Lieutenant. These officers were taken severely sick and were compelled to resign ; we have no record of their successors, though the company served in Mexico under Captain Duncan L. Clinch until the close of the war.

The community was afflicted with the loss of one of its oldest citizens during this year. On March ist Dr. Ambrose Baber died suddenly from an overdose of physic, which he had prescribed for a patient, who being warned of the inaccuracy in the quantity declined to take it until the next visit of his physician. When Dr. Baber repeated his visit the patient notified him of the fact ; but so certain was the Doctor of the correctness of the quantity prescribed that he swallowed it himself, and suddenly expired from its effects. The prescription was a dose of cyanide of potassium, compounded by Majendies' Recipe, as published in the Seventh edition of Ellis' Formulary.

Dr. Baber came to Macon within a year after its settlement, in 1823, and was the leading physician in this section of the country for many years, and ever commanded the most extended practice. He had been a soldier in the war of 1812, and in the Indian war he was a Surgeon in the army under General Jackson. He represented Bibb county with distinguished credit in the Senate of 1826, 1831, 1835 and 1836, and was the author of many important acts that passed the Legislature through his energy and influence. In 1841 he was appointed by President Tyler Charge d' Affaires to Sardinia. In compliment to his long services, both in a professional and civic capacity, previous to his departure the citizens gave him a public dinner, at which they appropriately expressed their appreciation of the loss they were about to sustain in his absence. He returned in 1844, and resumed the practice of his profession. His health began again to decline. In a sketch of his life by Dr. C. B. Nottingham, that eminent physician said: From a postmortem examination of the body of Dr. Baber he could not have lived longer than a month, even if he had not taken the unfortunate prescription." He was devoted to the sciences, literature and politics. He was deeply interested in the prosperity of the young place in which he had settled, and was ranked among its most enterprising and public-spirited citizens. He was the earliest advocate of the building of railroads to Macon, and among the first projectors of the Central Railroad. He was the founder of Macon Lodge, No. 32, (now No. 5,) and of Constantine Chapter, No. 4, and served for many years as Worshipful Master of the one and High Priest of the other. In 1831 he was elevated to the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia. A marble monument, erected by the Masonic brotherhood, marks the spot of his repose in Rose Hill Cemetery.

The year 1847 entered with a bright prospect of the return of the prosperous times at the beginning of the past decade. The effects of the panic of 1837 lasted nine years, and the cloud that hung over the commercial world was vanishing before the J dawn of a new era. Cotton was selling in January at from eight and a half to ten and a quarter cents. The lowest price during the year was seven cents and the highest eleven cents. The merchants had generally recovered from the great pecuniary revulsions of the period between 1837 and 1843, 'vere sound in credit, and had a surplus of funds to invest in improvements, while the farmers were gladdened at the permanent increased advance in the sales of the staple, and King Cotton being '' himself again." To add to the increase of business a new tributary had been opened. On the ist of January, 1846, the new railroad company, for which Jere Cowles had purchased the Monroe Road, commenced its work of rebuilding and completing the road to Atlanta, under the name of the Macon and Western Railroad Company, with Daniel Tyler as President. Heavy new iron rails were laid over the whole road, an entire new outfit of engines and cars furnished, and the road open for freights and passengers on the first day of October of that year. In nine months this immense work was performed, and over ^600,- 000.00 in cash, including the purchase money, was expended in that short period. The total cost of the road to the new company was $627,091.25. At the close of the business season, in May, 1847, statistics showed that the freight on goods sold in Macon and shipped beyond Atlanta, from October ist, 1846, to May ist, 1847, amounted to more than one-half as much as the freight on goods from New York, Savannah and Charleston by the river and the Central Railroad.

Macon was now preparing by another railroad for the trade in Southwestern Georgia, and to connect with the waters flowing into the Gulf. To this end Jerre Cowles, the irrepressible Railroad ^'Man of the Age," had called a public meeting in the summer of 1845, some action upon the matter. The meeting was to take place at the Council Chamber. The night was dark and the rain falling rapidly. Mr. Cowles attended and found no one in the hall except Mr. Freeman, the Clerk and Treasurer of Council, whom he requested to remain and keep the hall lighted up while he would go out and summons attendants. The night being so inclement, he found no one who would accompany him until he met Simri Rose, in his printing office, who agreed to go with him to the ''Public Railroad Meeting." The trio mentioned were the only^persons in attendance. They soon determined upon a programme, and drew up a preamble, with the usual resolves. Mr. Cowles was unanimously elected Chairman, and Mr. Freeman Secretary of the meeting. On the part of the audience, Mr. Rose presented the business for the meeting, which was already prepared, and the resolutions were adopted amid much enthusiasm, without a dissenting voice !

The ensuing Legislature in December granted a charter for the building of the road. The charter was placed under the control of six commissioners, of which Elam Alexander was made chairman. The duty of the commissioners was to have subscribed a certain amount of stock and a portion of each share paid in. In the meantime funds were furnished by the Central Railroad and Banking Company to defray the expenses of the survey which was made in 1846 and 1847 t)y F. P. Holcombe, Chief Engineer. The Central Railroad and Banking Company and the City Council of Savannah each subscribed $250,000.00 to the stock of the Southwestern Railroad Company, which was the name in the charter, payable as soon as the completion of the road was placed beyond contingency. An amendment to the charter was granted in 1847, allowing the commissioners to organize the Company as soon as $200,000.00 could be obtained. The requisite amount being obtained, a meeting of the subscribers was called and the Company organized on the loth of February, 1847, when Elam Alexander was elected the first President, and Henry L. Jewett, Secretary and Treasurer.

During the year 1848 the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph was introduced into Augusta and Savannah, and through the public spirit of'Elam Alexander and Dr. Robert Collins, the main line was brought to Macon, and through the enterprise of Daniel Griffin, of Columbus, it was conducted to that place on the route from Washington to New Orleans.

The distance of the contemplated line from Washington to New Orleans, was, at that time, seventeen hundred and sixteen miles. The contract for raising the money from Southern subscribers, and for building the line, was given to John D. Haley, of New York, who, in some instances, sub-let contracts and appointed agents. The stock being raised as far as Augusta, efforts were made to secure subscribers in Macon without success. The necessary amount had been subscribed from Montgomery to New Orleans. Mr. Haley, who had failed to get any subscriptions in Macon, was about to establish his line on the upper route, via Atlanta and West Point to Montgomery. At this time the Chamber of Commerce, of Savannah, agreed to take ^15,000 of the stock. Mr. Alexander was then on a visit to Savannah and liberally proposed to take the whole subscription alone from the Chamber of Commerce if the line was brought to Macon. $10,000 of the stock was transferred to Mr. Alexander, who at once saw Mr. Haley and subscribed for $7,500 more, of which amount, on his return to Macon, Robert Collins took from him $2,250. The citizens in Savannah, and the Central Railroad Company increased their stock list to over $25,000. Daniel Griffin, of Columbus, tOLk $6,500, which induced other citizens to take $4,000 more.

It is a remarkable coincidence that Messrs. Collins and Alexander, who were so prominently identified in the construction of "the longest railroad in the world," and were builders of thirty miles of that road, nearest to Macon, should have been the only subscribers to the stock, in the same city, of the longest Tel- Line^ built by one company, at that time, in the world.

The line was completed to Macon and the office opened in the second story of the Floyd House, on the corner of the alley, ^ on Third street, on the 8th of April, by David M. Ring, of Charleston, the operator in charge, with Master J. C. Butler, clerk and office boy, who, in three months, became assistant operator.

The first meeting of the stockholders was held in Washington City in September, and the " Washington and New Orleans Telegraph Company " organized by the election of Daniel Griffin, of Columbus, Georgia, President ; Amos Kendall, of Washington, Treasurer, and George Wood, of Washington, Secretary. Alfred Vail, of Washington, and Charles S. Bulkley, of New York, were appointed Superintendents. In July, 1849, Elam Alexander was elected President, Mr. Kendall, Treasurer, and Henry L. Jewett, Secretary. Mr. Jewett resigned in a few months, and Daniel F. Clarke was appointed Secretary. This administration continued four years, with Charles S. Bulkley, General Superintendent, who resigned during the fourth year, and was succeeded by Thomas R. Hopkins, of Virginia. In July, 1853, Mr. Hopkins resigning, J. C. Butler was Acting Superintendent. In 1854, Amos Kendall was elected President, and the system of management was changed. Heretofore the line had been kept up by contractors, under forfeit, for a certain amount, every hour it went down on their respective sections. Mr. Kendall abolished the contract system, and divided the entire line into four sections, and appointed four Superintendents : J. R. Dowell, over the first section, embracing Virginia and a portion of North Carolina; W. H. Heiss, over the second, a portion of North and South Carolina; J. C. Butler, over the third, Georgia and a portion of Alabama, and J. K. Mingle, over a portion of Alabama and Louisiana, which was the fourth section. Mr. Mingle resigning shortly afterwards, the fourth section was merged into the superintendency of the third. Mr. Kendall continued President until July, 1856, when the lines were leased for ten years to the Magnetic Telegraph Company, located between Washington and New York. Under the contract, the lessees were to pay annually to the lessors four per cent, dividend on their stock, rebuild their line whenever necessary, with the most improved and substantial materials, and to transfer the route along-side of railroads so soon as they were built.**

In 1859 the Magnetic Company transferred the lease, together with their own property, to the American Telegraph Company, who retained the Washington and New Orleans line under their title until the war between the States.

The yield of the Southern lines was a vast tributary to the treasury of the American Company, and they were loth to part with it when the many interests in the sovereign States under the aegis of E Fluribus Unum became no longer " many as the billows, and one as the sea."

In 1861 the Confederate Congress, at Montgomery, for the protection of the privacy of official dispatches and the operations of the Confederate Departments generally, passed the telegraphic oath, which all officers and employees on the lines were required to take or leave the Southern country ; and the lines became a portion of the War Department, and the employees subject to be detailed for such telegraphic service in military operations as might be required of them to perform. There were none others than the professional telegrapher who could perform such service ; hence they were enrolled as an indispensable adjunct to the War Department. Mr. Lincoln's Government adopted the same course. The fall of Sumter and the hoisting of the standard of the young Confederacy over the ramparts of that Fort was announced to the Northern people over Southern wires. It is probable the intelligence was not acceptable to Mr. Lincoln, and he concluded to cut further telegraphic acquaintance with the South; for shortly after the reduction of Sumter he ordered all of the wires crossing the Potomac and leading into the Confederate Domain to be severed. In order to retain control of the lease of the Southern line, the American Company made a bogus contract with a party in Virginia who owned stock in the Northern, but none in the Southern lines, to establish themselves as a new company ostensibly, but were virtually only secret agents. For the security of confidence among the credulous and unsuspicious Southerners, the new organization assumed, without a charter, the popular title of "The Southern Telegraph Company." The Confederate

War Department, however, during the whole war exercised, for military purposes, a partial control over the lines. After the close of the war "The Southern Telegraph Company," socalled, as naturally as at night-fall "young chickens go home to roost " repaired to the office of their masters, on Wall street, and rendered a report of their faithful stewardship for the four preceding years. The remarkable and anomalous spectacle was now unfolded to the world of a corporation whose only executive office and whose entire energies and sympathies were upon the Northern side, should, during the very heat of war, furnish their opponents with the only rapid medium of communication for army purposes, and which was so indispensable an adjunct to the operations of their War Department. It was a skillful act of diplomatic wire-working, and was executed in all the expectations of its projectors with dexterous magnetic management. After the close of the war the United States military extended their surveillance over the offices of the Southern lines, though all reports and deposits were sent to the treasury of the American Company.

The last extension of the Morse patent expired during the war, and the Federal Congress refused to grant a renewal. -The excitement in speculations incident to the superabundance of Greenbacks and bonds which had been issued, and the necessity for military purposes produced a greater demand for telegraphs at the North ; and as the expense for the patent right was extinguished, many new companies were formed and lines built. Previous to the war the Western Union Company had been established, and had become one of the leading companies in the North and West. They were buying out the new companies and were looking towards the South as a territory for more business. The great competition between the large companies crowded out the smaller ones, who were forced to sell out to them. In 1866 the American company amalgamated with the Western Union, under the title of the latter, which forced several others to follow the same policy, and within the last ten years their lines have extended almost as thick as mail routes

The first nation to award Professor Morse a national tribute was the Ottoman Empire, twenty-three years ago. The tribute was a compliment from' the Sultan in return for his view of the telegraph. It consisted of a decoration in diamonds of a Turkish Order of Honor ; such as was given to Pachas of two tails, and was accompanied with the Royal Diploma. Since that time the Morse patent has been adopted throughout every populous part of the civilized world.

Professor Morse was formerly a portrait painter. In 1838 he visited Europe in the interest of his telegraphic invention, and early in the spring of 1839, he made the acquaintance of M. Daguerre, of Paris, whose discovery of fixing the image of the camera obscura was creating a great sensation in the scientific world. At the same time Morse's telegraph was exciting a similar sensation. Daguerre exhibited his first experiment at his diorama where he had his laboratory, to Professor Morse. Three hours afterwards, while Morse was exhibiting his telegraph to Daguerre, the diorama, laboratory and all of the results were destroyed by fire. Daguerre had applied to the French Chamber of Deputies for a pension, on condition the process was given to the public; he abstained from any publicity to his results until his pension was secured. He promised Professor Morse so soon as he received the pension to send him a copy of his work, and in the summer of 1839, the first copy was sent to Morse, in New York. From this copy the Professor made the necessary apparatus, which was the first introduced in the United States. The first picture taken was that of the Church of the Messiah on Broadway, from the back window of the New York City University. Professor Morse practiced the art for many months and formed a class of pupils, among whom was Mr. Broadbent, who became famous in the art, and during a Southern tour established the first Daguerrean gallery in Macon, in 1842 and 1843.

most part, by his intimate friends, at the request of Stephen F. Miller, to be published in his work - " The Bench and Bar of Georgia." Unfortunately, it was received by Mr. Miller too late for publication. Judge Tracy was one of the fathers of Macon, and this tribute to his memory is now reproduced with peculiar appropriateness :

Edward Dorr Tracy was born at Norwich Connecticut, March 23d, 1791. He was the second son of Dr. Philemon Tracy, a physician of that place, distinguished for his professional attainments andextensive and successful practice. His father's ancestors were among the original purchasers, from the Mohegan Indians, of that tract of country, a part of which now constitutes the town of Norwich, Connecticut, and were lineally descended from the Tracys of Gloucestershire, England, a family not unknown in history.

"The subject of this memoir was peculiar, even in childhood, for his quick perceptions and intellectual vivacity. His opportunities for scholastic acquirements were limited to a free public school, where only the common branches of an English education were taught, and far more imperfectly than at this day.

" Before Edward had reached the age of fourteen, he was considered competent to do something for his own support, and was placed with a trader who rejoiced under a sign of ' Dry Goods and Groceries,' to learn the art and mystery of retailing. He remained here about two years, during which time he began to develope that peculiar tact and address for which afterwards he was distinguished, and which, even in his boyish days, attracted notice, and probably induced his employment in a more extensive concern owned by a Mr. Huntington, an accurate, sagacious and energetic merchant, with whom he remained near four years.

" During this period, notwithstanding his labors were constant, and often excessive, such was the energy of his spirit, and his desire for knowledge, that he continued, in addition to a large extent of general reading, particularly history, to make considerable advance in Latin, and to acquire such knowledge of French, that afterwards, with some further opportunity, he read, wrote and spoke it with uncommon fluency and accuracy. He also, at this time, commenced the study of Spanish, which afterwards he attained so as to speak it like a native.

"In i8ii, being anxious to enlarge the sphere of his mercantile knowledge, he was recommended to the employment of Perritt & Lathrop, of New York, then one of the most extensive commission and shipping houses in the city. Here he remained about two years, having in that time perfected himself in bookkeeping, and acquired thorough knowledge of the business in which he was engaged.

" It being now the period of the war with Great Britain, and the port of New York being strictly blockaded, the commercial house to which he was attached decided to establish a branch at New London, for the purpose, particularly, of conducting a trade in Spanish bottoms, which was becoming a lucrative business. The charge of the business at New London was committed to Edward, who repaired to that place with every prospect of speedily realizing a fortune. But unfortunatrly for these prospects, not long after his removal to New London, Commodore Decatur, with his fleet, in attempting to get to sea from New York, was chased by a much superior British fleet into New London, and there closely blockaded, and all ingress to neutral vessels denied. Still, the business for which he went there, although greatly embarrassed, was not utterly destroyed, and he continued at New London till nearly the close of the war. It was, while at this place, that he formed intimate personal relations with Decatur, Jones and other naval heroes, who all seemed to regard him with personal esteem.

" From New London, he returned to New York, and became a partner in a shipping house, doing a very large business. In the cotirse of this relation, he visited Novia Scotia, New Brunswick and the West India Islands. The business in which he was engaged, although prosecuted with energy, not promising favorble results, he withdrew from it, fully determined not longer to devote himself to pursuits so hazardous and uncertain, but to di- rect his attention to a profession where less was committed to chance, and more could be hoped for from effort. Accordingly, having satisfactorily made disposition of his commercial interests, he returned to his father's house in the winter of i8i8 and 1819, and soon after commenced the study of the law, which he pursued afterwards at Windham, in a celebrated law school taught by Chief Justice Swift, then regarded the most learned jurist of Connecticut. After having completed his legal studies, and at the same time having made a great addition to his knowledge of the Latin, Spanish and Italian languages, he was duly admitted to the bar of New London county, and shortly afterwards removed to Georgia, where he settled in the town of Macon, in 1824."

In 1825, he was appointed on the committee to receive General Lafayette on his visit to Macon. He conversed with the distinguished visitor in French and Spanish. Lafayette was surprised to find so accomplished a linguist in a recently settled town, which but three years before had been a wilderness and the abode of Indians. Having learned a few words of the language of the Red Men, Mr. Tracy facetiously repeated them to Lafayette, who replied : "You are the only Anglo American that I have met with who could speak the true American vernacular."

In 1826, Mr. Tracy was chosen Intendant of Macon, and during the same year he became associated with Major Oliver H. Prince in the practice of the law. This firm was dissolved in 1828, and David B. Butler became a partner with Mr. Tracy. In 1835 Butler retired, and was succeeded by John. J. Gresham. The firm of Tracy & Gresham continued until 1841, when Mr. Tracy was elected, for four years. Judge of the Superior Court of the Flint Circuit. In 1838, he was elected by the county of Bibb to the State Legislature. On the expiration of his term as Judge, in 1845, returned to the bar and resumed his former partnership with Mr. Gresham, which continued until his death. His predominant characteristic was his indescribable wit ; in this particular he was not excelled by that famous jurist. Judge Dooly. He ranked as the leading commercial lawyer of his circuit, and as such was not surpassed in the State, Much of his success at the bar was attributed to the thorough mercantile education attained in his youth. After his retirement from the Bench, his successor reversed nineteen of his decisions. They were taken up to the Supreme Court, which in every instance, sustained the decisions of Judge Tracy, which was the highest compliment that could be paid to his judicial acumen.

A. H. Chappell announced to the meeting the death of Hon. Edward D. Tracy, which had occurred on that day. Six members were, on motion, appointed by the chair to report suitable resolutions upon the opening of the court the following day. On the 2ist, the Honorable the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia, met pursuant to adjournment; present, their Honors Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Hiram Warner and Eugenius A. Nisbet. Judges. Colonel Chappell, Chairman of the Committee, made the report, from which the following from the several resolutions, is extracted :

Resolved, That the members of the court and of the bar, assembled at the Supreme Court in Macon, deeply feel the loss * they have sustained in the death of their brother, Edward D. Tracy, and now record for him their appreciation as a lawyer of high attainments, a gentleman of warm heart and refined feelings, the chosen and refined friend of his constituency, the upright and profound Judge ; whether in his private or public capacity, still the same true hearted, energetic, honorable man."

Ex-President James K. Polk, his wife and two nieces. Miss Rucker and Miss Hays, and Mr. Walker, ex-Secretary of the Treasury, and his wife, on invitation from the citizens and city authorities, arrived in Macon by the Central Railroad on the , evening of the 12th of March. A committee from Macon met the distinguished visitors at the ninety mile station to escort them to the city. An immense crowd greeted them at the East Macon depot, and the military, with a large concourse of citizens, on horseback, in carriages and on foot, formed a procession and escorted the party to the Floyd House, where lodgings had been prepared for their reception. On the passage of the procession the ex-President and suite received every demonstration of respect and applause ; and without regard to former differences of political opinion, every one essayed to do honor to the city's guests.

On the following day at ii o'clock, the Mayor and Council called on the President and party, and the Mayor, George M. Logan, welcomed them to the hospitalities of the city. Mr. Polk and Walker, accompanied by the Mayor and Council, proceeded to the balcony in front of the hotel, where they were again welcomed to the city in a glowing speech by Hon. A. H. Chappell, to which both the President and Mr. Walker replied. The party returned to the parlors and were visited by the ladies and gentlemen of the city. In the afternoon Mr. Polk, his nieces and others visited the Female College, and were introduced by the President and Professors to the young ladies of the institution. In the evening a ^^complimentary fete" given to the party, which Mr. Polk and his accomplished nieces attended until a late hour. The party left the city the next morning, amidst the roar of cannon and the cheers of the many hundreds who had gathered at the depot to witness their departure.

The first exhibition of the Central Horticultural Society was held at the store of Charles Day & Co., on July 9th and loth. The display of fruits, flowers and vegetables was far better and more extensive than was expected. Among the premiums awarded, the recipients were : Mrs. Shivers and Joseph Bond for peaches ; Simri Rose, for apples; Iverson L. Harris, for pears ; Dr. H. K. Green, for grapes ; Miss Mary E. Rose, for the most beautiful bouquet ; Robert Nelson, for variety of flowers ; Mrs. Wm. Gray and Charles Collins for green house plants, etc.

consider the building of a Railroad direct to Augusta from Macon. There were delegates from Charleston, Augusta, and all of the intervening counties. Committees were appointed to canvass for subscriptions to the stock.

General Clinch died in this city, November 27th. His remains were escorted to Savannah under a guard of honor from the Macon Volunteers and Floyd Rifles.

Chapter Vii

Sale of Lots in Oglethorpe - Destructive Fire - Death of Calhoun AND Taylor - Remington Bridges and Plank Roads - The Lanier House - General Lopez - Heated Term - Census - Grand Lodge - Important Political Events - Southern Rights Mass Meeting, AND Distinguished Orators Present - Clay's Omnibus Bili. - Proclamation OF Governor Towns - The Union Party - Southern Rights Party - Cobb and Stephens - Election in Bibb - Union Party Triumphant - Milledgeville Convention and Celebrated Report OF THE Committee of 33 - Prosperity - City Finances - Vineville Tragedy - Academy for the Blind - St. Patrick's Day - Judge Strong - A. H. Stephens - Planters Convention and Georgia Agricultural Fair - Interesting Reminiscence - Cold Weather - Fires - Episcopal Church - Death of Clay and Webster - E. Mc- Call - Commercial, Gas Works, etc - Opposition to Railroad Consolidation - President Fillmore - Yellow Fever in Savannah - Governor Towns - Passenger Depot and Brown House Built - Fires - Cold Weather - Thackeray's Lectures - Mrs. Hentz - Conventions - State Military Encampment - Railroad Officers - Memphis Visitors - Panic of 1857 - Banks - Governor Brown's Veto - Concerts and Theatricals - Religious Services - Distinguished Railroad Officers - Little Mary Marsh - Macon and Brunswick Railroad - The Bond Cotton Crop - Census - Macon and Western Railroad - Jackson Artillery - The Belgian Minister - Flag of Fifteen Stars - New Railroads - The Belgian Fair - Visit of the Governor and Legislature - Cotton Planters' Fair, etc., etc.

On January 17th, 1850, the sale of lots in Oglethorpe for the purpose of building a city, took place. The sale was largely attended. There were many purchasers from Macon.

of the buildings ; also, a number on Triangular Block. The loss was over |ioo,ooo.oo, of which ;^3o,ooo.oo was recovered by insurance. The buildings were of wood and not very valuable. The work of rebuilding commenced in the Spring, and the erection of the handsome new brick stores was a great improvement to the city.

On March 12th, the death of John C. Calhoun was announced. On the 4th of July, after the exercises of the Sabbathschools were over, by appointment, the Rev. Dr. Ellison delivered a eulogy, at the Methodist Church, upon the life of the Great Carolinian - the military companies, societies, and a large concourse of citizens attending.

On the loth of July, the wires announced the death of President Taylor, at Washington, which occurred at thirty-five minutes after ten o'clock, p. m. At a public meeting of the citizens a preamble and resolutions were adopted in regard to his melancholy death, and a committee appointed to select an orator to deliver a eulogy and make other arrangements for a public demonstration. On October 1st, an imposing display of the mill, tary and several societies were made ; the citizens joining in the procession, which proceeded to the Presbyterian Church, where Judge E. A. Nisbet delivered an admirable eulogy in honor of the lamented hero and President.

The weather during July and August was very warm ; the thermometer ranging from ninety-five to one hundred, and as high as one hundred and four during the afternoon. The important subject, "Union or Disunion," increased the animal heat. The press and politicians throughout the whole country were deeply agitated.

The Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons closed its Annual Communication, October 31st, after a session of three days. In the absence of Grand Master William C. Dawson, Deputy Grand Master, John Hunter, presided. The meeting was well attended. There were three hundred members in the procession. The address was delivered by A. G. Mackey, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina.

Political

The year 1850 is memorable in the history of the whole country. The result of the war with Mexico was the acquirement, by purchase, of a vast and rich extent of territory westward, embracing all of New Mexico and Upper California, and several important privileges. The slavery agitation was again revived in the Thirtieth Congress, in 1848, by an effort to organize territorial governments for Oregon, California, New Mexico and Utah. A bill was passed for Oregon with slavery restrictions, but all efforts failed as to the other territories. The anti-slavery party insisted on the enactment of the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which excluded " slavery or involuntary servitude in any territory which should be hereafter acquired or be annexed to the United States, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, where- of the parties shall have been convicted." The pro-slavery party were willing to compromise on the old proposition of 1820, known as the " Missouri Compromise," which excluded slavery in all of the territory lying north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes ; but it was rejected by the abolitionists.

The Thirty-first Congress commenced its first session on December ist, 1849. It was the longest and most excited Congress that had ever before convened. Again was in the Senate the renowned ^^trio of statesmen," Calhoun, Webster and Clay. Repeated offers were made by the South for the adoption of the Missouri Compromise line, which was as often rejected. The South maintained that she had an equal right to the new territory, having contributed in blood and treasure as much as the North. While the discussions were pending, the whole country was agitated to an alarming extent, and the safety of the Union was imperiled. Mr. Clay again brought forward a series of compromise measures in what was known as the " Omnibus Bill," which embraced the five disturbing subjects before Congress, and which he denominated the Five Bleeding Wounds." As there seemed to be no hope for a reconciliation in Congress, the Legislature of Georgia had authorized its Governor to call a Convention to consider the state of the country, and, if necessary, to act in her sovereign capacity. The excitement throughout the State was intense. Two parties were formed - the Southern Rights and the Union party ; the first were called by their opponents Fire-eaters," and the latter, in turn, were called by the former, Submissionists."