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HISTORY OF BANKING IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 

FROM 1712 TO 1900. 
BY QEO. W^. WILHAMS. 



Advice to Voung Men. 



SKETCH OF DANIEL HAND, 

BY PROFESSOR Q. S. DICKERMAN. 
New Haven, Connecticut, June, 1900. 



RELICS OF A FORGOTTEN RACE IN NACOOCHEE, QA., 
AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 



Sketch of the Life of Geo. W. WiUiams, 

IN THE CYCLOPEDIA OF THE REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF 
THE CAROLINAS. 



DECEMBER 1Q03. 



PRESS or 

Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co. 

Charleston, S. C. 

1903. 




Tm 



HE folio-wing; 



ADVICE TO YOIJNQ MEN 



embraces in part the business experience of an old Mer- 
chant and Banker, who deemed it a fit occasion on the 
sixtieth anniversary of 

GEO. W. WILLIAMS & CO., 

and the tiffi-enty-ninth anniversary of the 

CAROLINA SAVINGS BANK, 

and on his eighty-second birthday, to revise and re-pub- 
lish the advice, hoping; that its publication for g;ratuitous 
distribution may be useful to the young- men for -arhom 
he has al-srays felt a deep interest. To them it is 
respectfully dedicated. 

A series of letters from 

NACOOCHEE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 

is also added in remembrance of old Georgia friends 
Charleston, S.C, December''I9, 1902. 

GEO. ffi. WILLIAMS. 






HISTORY OF BANKING IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 

FROM 1712 TO 1900. 

BV GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 



Advice to Voung Men, 



SKETCH OF DANIEL HAND, 

BY PROFESSOR Q. S. DICKERMAN. 
New Haven, Connecticut, June, 1900. 



•RELICS OF A FORGOTTEN RACE IN NACOOCHEE, QA., 
AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 



Sketch of the Life of Geo. W. Williams, 

IN THE CYCLOPEDIA OF THE REPRESENTATIYE MEN OF 
THE CAROLINAS. 



DECEIVIBER 1Q03. 



PRESS OF 

Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co. 
Chableston, S. C. 



ESTON, b. C. 1'-^ 



History of Banking in South Carolina, 

BY GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 



The early colonists of Carolina were from Great Britain, 
rnany of them of the better class but in moderate circum- 
stances. The inducements to emigrate were so strong, that 
each brought new adventurers from every portion of 
Europe J and even from far-ofi China. To some of the emi- 
grants it was an easy mode of getting rid of home debts, and 
often of criminal prosecutions. The revocation of the Edict 
of TS'antes contributed considerably to the population by fur- 
Ijishing some of the best families to the new colony. Caro- 
lina became a general rendezvous of French Protestants. 
About the same time quite a colony came over from Ger- 
many. The Swiss also flocked to Carolina, consequently the 
population of the new colony was of a heterogeneous charac- 
ter. The early colonists found themselves surrounded by 
thousands of enraged Indians, who had been inhumanly 
treated by Spaniards who had come over from Cuba, and 
had turned loose Ihe Cuban bh^od hounds upon them, tearing 
to pieces women and children. In retaliation, the Indians 
mardered and scalped the colonists. The pirates from Cuba 
and the West Indies also committed great outrages upon the 
colonists. With such surroundings, an almost bankrupt peo- 
ple were not in condition to establish a bank. The irrespon- 
sible State Government flooded the country with an immense 
amount of almost worthless currency and bills of credit to 
carry on the Indian and Spanish Wars, and to meet the 
other exigencies of the colony. 

For more than half a century the colonists straggled along 
without a chartered bank. Great Britain had, from time to 



time, sent to the colony several cargoes of negroes from 
Africa, which were sold into slavery. These were employed 
mainly on the coast and sea islands in the cultivation of rice, 
indigo and vegetables. As there was scarcely any silver or 
gold coin, the purchase of the negroes had to be paid for 
mainly with rice, indigo, furs, skins and the like. A con- 
siderable amount of coin went to pay fur the imported slaves. 
A few years of peace enabled the planters to successfully cul- 
tivate rice, indigo, hemp and other products, with a profit- 
able business in skins, furs and Ush. 

The merchants and inhabitants greatly prospered. There 
was a large advance in the price of real estate in Charleston 
and on the islands around the city; also in the valae of 
slaves, which had become an article of merchandise saddled 
upon the colony by the mother country and the New Eng- 
land States. 

t 

LAND AND LOAN BANK OF THE CAEOLINAS ESTABLISHED. 

It was believed that the establishment of a bank would 
stimulate trade and other industries, and would also be an 
easy mode of obtaining money and supporting the wants of 
the State Government, as but a small income was derived 
from the people by direct taxation. The improved condition 
of things in the Carolinas suggested the feasibility of estab- 
lishing a bank. The first and only bank organized under 
the Proprietary Government was in 1712, located in Charles- 
ton, and known as the Land and Loan Bank of the Carolinas, 
with a perpetual charter granted by the State Legislature, 
with the privilege of issuing bills to be forever legal money 
of the country. Five hundred thousand dollars of currency 
was issued as fast as it could be printed and loaned out at 
ten per cent, to such of the inhabitants as could give land or 
other satisfactory security. This large emission of bank bills 
doubled the actual value of land, slaves and agricultural 
products. Bank bills became the circulating medium 



of the Carolinas. There w^'S a wide difference between the 
current bank bills and gold and silver coins. The latter 
never entered into circulation. The bank, however, with all 
of its abuses and defects, was a great convenience and power 
in the new, crude colony, furnishing for a period of sixty 
years current money receivable for all dues^ State and per- 
sonal. The bank lasted from 1712 to the end of the Eoyal 
Government in 1775, a period of sixty-three years. It was 
a great help to the people in building up the colony, but was 
destroyed by the Revolutionary War. 

In 1804 by the Act of the United States, the port of 
Charleston was opened for the importation of slaves. In 
fonr years 200 vessels entered Charleston with 40,000 
slaves. Old England and New England contributed the 
largest number of vessels and the largest number of slaves. 

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Charleston 
was one of the most important ports on the American 
Continent. 

The eight years' war of the Revolution left South Carolina 
in a demoralized condition. Political anarchy prevailed. 
The herculean effort to throw oft' the British yoke led her 
people to endure untold sacrifices. Society was disorganized, 
and unusual distress prevailed all over the State. The large 
amount of State and private debts and bank currency was 
nearly all lost. The law prohibited suits for recovery of 
debts. When the war was over. South Carolina was left 
witli her rich lands, good climate, a hardy race of men, with 
the profitable staples of cotton and rice to restore their wasted 
fortiines. So great was the political disturbance, it required 
nearly ten years to establish a stable State Government. 
Good crops stimulated tr^de, and the peo])le in a few years 
felt the necessity of banking facilities. l<Vom the beginning 
of the State Government only State Banks were chartered. 
The paper money consisted exclusively of the notes of banks 
organized under State Laws. 



beginjstijstg of the state banking system. 

The first era of banking in the new State of South 
Carohna was in 1Y92, when the Bank of South Carolina was 
chartered by the State Legislature. In the same year a 
branch of the Bank of the United States was established at 
Charleston. Five banks were chartered, viz: 

Years. Title of Bank. Capital. 

1792 Bank of South Carolina $1,000,000 

1803 State Bank 1,000,000 

1809 Union Bank 1,000,000 

1810 Planters' and Mechanics' Bank 1,000,000 

1812 Bank of the State 1,000,0(10 



Total $.5,000,000 

These banks were located in Charleston, which was at that 
time the capital of South Carolina. The banks were ably 
and honestly managed by the best merchants and bankers of 
Charleston. Of the large amount of money deposited in 
those banks, and the vast issues of currdncy, not a dollar 
was lost until the Civil War of isti]. 

THE STATE BASK OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

About ISOi the Legislature subscribed !j^300,000 to the 
bank called tlie State Bank of South Carolina, but subse- 
quently, in 1S12. to relieve the financial distress then prevail- 
ing, tlic Legislature chartered the Bank of tlie State of South 
Carolina. Tliis bank was to receive on deposit all stocks and 
bonds, and unexpended cash, and all taxes collebted in future. 
The title was vested in the President and Directors, and the 
faith of the State was pledged to styjport the bank and make- 
good all losses. The institution had power to make loans on ° 
both real and personal security at seven per cent, interest, 
payable in advance, the loans to i)e renewal )le for periods up 
to ten years. The bank was to pay the interest on the State 
debt, and its charter was to run until 1S36. The hank 



realized upon the assets turned over by the State, and its 
effective capital was in 1S19, 11,372,500. In 1830 the 
charter was renewed until 1856. In ],830 its available assets 
vrere 13,768,292, and at this time it had paid |215,000 of 
the principal of the State debt; which, however, had been 
largely increased by means advanced by the State for internal 
improvements. 

In 1 834 , by the apparently brilliant prospects opened by 
the completion of railroads and the rise in the price of cotton, 
the Legislature was induced to charter the Charleston, Louis- 
ville and Cincinnati Kailroad Company, with a capital limited 
to 136,000,000. The State took *800,000 in stock, and 
advanced $200,000 in cash, and endorsed the bonds (.f the 
Company for $2,000,000. In 1838 a great part of the City 
of Charleston was destroyed by fire, and an extra session of 
the Legislature was called, which authorized the Bank of the 
State to negotiate a loan of two millions of dollars for the 
benefit of the sufferers, and the Bank obtained the money in 
England. lu 1852 the charter was extended until 1871. 
The Civil War did not destroy the Bank, and in 1867 it still 
held a large amount of assets, some of which had been ren- 
dered of doubtful value, belonging to the State. In 1868 
the first llepublican (or negro) Legislature passed an Act to 
close the Bank, and in 1870 it was placed in the hands of 
lieceivers. 

In 1820 there were five Banks in the State: The Bank of 
Soutii Carolina, chartered in 1792, with capital of §1,000,000; 
the State Bank of South Carolina, chartered in 1802, with 
capital of $l,000,0u0; the Union Bank and the Planters' 
Bank, both chartered in ISiO, and each having a capital of 
$1,000,000; and finally, the Bank of the State of South 
Carolina, having at that time a capital of $1,123,157. This 
last Bank was the fiscal agent of the State. It received all 
taxes, paid all demands, negotiated all loans, and received all 
ihe assets of the State. There were in South Carolina, as in 
other States, two opinions about the expediency of conduct- 



8 

ing all the financial operations of the Siate through an insti- 
tution of this kind. No objection, however, seems to have 
been made to its copstitutionality before the Courts. The 
views of the opponents of thits institution are indicated in 
tho following quotation from Governor Seabrook's message, 
1849: 



" The Bank of the State of South Carolina is a dangerous institu- 
tion, anti-Republican in its character and tendency, and the evils 
inevitably arising from the connection of a moneyed corporation 
and the t^tate, increase and ramify the longer the rights and privi- 
leges of the former are extended. The political history of South Car- 
olina has so long presented the anomalous spectacle of its constituted 
authorities pertinaciously upholding a State corporation, while it 
denounced any union between a bank and the Federal Government, 
I also desire in this place to express my settled conviction that the 
Bank of the State was founded on a false and pernicious principle; 
that to grant to the members of a community almost exclusively 
devoted to rural pursuits, unusual facilities for commanding money, 
is to inflict on them and their posterity an unmitigated evil." 



On the other liand, we find in a work on South Carolina 
recently published by the State Board of Agriculture, the 
following summing np of the liistory of the Bank. Speak- 
ing of the closing of the Bank in 1870, the authors of the 
work remark: 



" Thus passed away a powerful institution, which fnr more than 
half a century had exercised e.sclusive control of the fiscal affairs of 
the State. Its friends claimed that it had saved, consolidated and 
made profitable the funds of the state, that it had furnished relief to 
many citizeus, and added to the general revenues of the State, im- 
proving and developing the towns of the interior. Its profits were 
employed in paying the interest and in reducingthe principal of the 
public debt. It preserved its capital entire, and its funds safe, main-* 
taining the character and the credit of the State in Europe and at 
home without blot or suspense. Its most violent opponents admitted 
the ability and integrity displayed in its management, and declared 
that the abiding confidence of the people in it was a high liut dan- 
gerous compliment to the purity of the public characters of the 
State." « 



The constitutionality of the paper issues of the Bank of 
the State of South Carolina cannot be questioned after the 
decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of 
Briseoe vs. The Bank of the Commonwealth of -Kentucky; 
but this question does not appear to have been raised in 
South Carolina. 

NOTABLE BANKS AND BANKERS OF THE STATE. 

Among the public men of South Carolina as Itegislator and 
banker^ none was better known than Langdon Cheves^ Judge 
of the South Carolina Supreme Court^ Member of Congress, 
Speaker of the House ^ and President of the United States 
Bank. During his Presidency of the United States Bank, a 
branch bank was in successf nl operation in Charleston, which 
did a profitable business in sterling and domestic exchange. 
Mr. Cheves' father lost everything by the war of the devo- 
lution. He apprenticed his son, Langdon, when only ten 
years of age, to a shipping merchant in Charleston, 

The large and wealthy private banking house of James 
Adger & Co., correspondents of Brown Bros. & Co., of 
Liverpool and London, did an extensive and successful busi- 
ness in sterling and domestic exchange. It was for half a 
century the leading private banking house in South Carolina. 
James Adger the senior partner of the firm, was one of the 
most successful business men that Charleston ever had. 
From a small beginning he amassed a large fortune. His 
three sons were his partners. 

At the close of the Branch Bank of tlie United States, 
there arose the necessity of a bank with a large capital to 
take its place. The old banks in Charleston had not accus- 
tomed themselves to handling, to any extent, foreign ex- 
change ; they were very conservative in their business. The 
great staples for Carolina of cotton ^ tobacco and rice were 
chieily sold for foreign exchange. 



10 



THE BANK OF OHABLESTON CHAETEBED. 

About this tiiJie Henry Gourdin was one of the leading 
merchants and bankers in Charleston. It was mainly 
through his influence that the Bank of Charleston was estab- 
lished. He was a Director in the Union Bank, of which 
Henry Eaveno.i was President. In 1834 Mr. Gourdin was 
elected a Member of the State Legislature. 

It was not known generally that a charter for a bank was 
to be applied for. There was great opposition to creating a 
new bank. Judge Colcock, then President of the Bank of 
the State, was violently opposed to chartering a i)ank with 
the proposed large capital. He contended that it would 
destroy the old banks, and have a monopoly of the banking 
i)usiness of Charleston and ol the State ; he propose! to 
increase the capital of the Bank of the State. An that bank 
was fast falling into the hands oi ring politicians, tiie propo- 
sition was rejected, and the Bank of Charleston was char- 
tered, with a capital of S3, 000, 000. The petitioners for its 
charter were Ker Boyce, L. M, Wiley, H. W Conner, 
Robt. Y. Hayne and Henry Gourdin, all leading merchants 
and bankers of Charleston. They bought the United States 
Bank building on Broad Street, and began business in 1835, 
with Gen. James Hamilton as President, and Arthur Pose 
as Cashier. With such ofRcers and a strono; Board (if 
Directors, the Bank of Charleston revolutionized the banking 
business in South Carolina. A close alliance was made with 
the Bank oi Liverpool, the relations of the two banks becom- 
ing most intimate and confidential. In a few years the Bank 
i)f Charleston ranked irj commercial circles of Europe among 
the foremost institutions of its kind in the United States. 
Samuel Smith was Manager of the Bank of Liverpool at that 
time. The Bank of Charleston succeeded to the large busi- 
ness of the Branch Bank of the United States, and with its 
lai-ge capital and good management, the bank enabled the 
merchants to build up the jobbing trade of Charleston, which 



11 

sooti extended to nearly all of the Southern States. The 
shipping business also greatly iuereased. 

When the war began in 1861, the Bank of Charleston 
was on the high road of success. Its bills passed currently 
in every State in the Union. Alas ! War leaves nothing 
but ruin in its ravages The Bank of Charleston paid all 
of its depositors and bill holders in full, and was one of the 
few banks in the South that survived the war. Only meagre 
and unsatisfactory bank reports were published in the State 
until after the panic of 1837. 

In 1813 there were five State banks, with an aggregate 
capital of $5,000,000, which was increased to 18,800,000 in 
1835, by the organization of (lie Bank of Charleston, with 
$3,000,000 capital, and the Southwestern Kailroad Bank, 
with i?800,000 capital. All these banks were located in 
Charleston. In 1839 there were twelve banks, with 
$11,600,000 capital, $5,000,000 in circulation, and 
$2,500,000 deposits, and by 1S59 the capital had increased 
to $15,000,000, the circulation to $12,000,000, and the 
deposits to $5,250,000. 

At tlie beginning of the War in 186], there were t\venty- 
two State banks in South Carolina, with an aggregate capital 
of $18,000,000 ; circulation, $10,000,000 ; deposits. 
i^l2,000,000. The banks were so carefully and successfully 
, managed, tliat there has not been a failure of a bank in South 
Carolina since the close of the Revolutionary War, in 1783. 

Enrly in the War of 1861, C. G. Memmingei', Secretary 
of the Confederate Treasury, a Charleston banker, called 
upon the banks for $10,000,000 of their bills, which were 
to be returned as soon as the Confederate notes could be 
printed. The writer of this sketch was a director iu the 
Bank of South Carolina, the first bank tliat was chartered 
after the War of the Revolution by the State Legislature. 

He had bought $100,000 of the stock of the Bank of 
South Carolina, with a eiew of taking the Presidency^ as 
Mr. William Birnie was nearly eighty years old, and was 



12 

desirous of retiring as President. The bank had a circulation 
of less than $100,000. Mr. Williams told the Board of 
Directors that instead of issuing one million in bank notes, 
to invest $500,000 of the assets of the bank in sterling 
exchange at about par, and issue no more bank notes; that 
the bills of the bank, which were considered better than 
Confederate notes, -.yould be hoarded. A majority of the 
Directors, however, voted for the issue, which resulted in 
the destruction of the hank. 

SOUNDNESS OF THE STATE BANKS. 

The State tiaiik system in the Southern States before the 
war was popular, and as perfect as anything could be outside 
of National Banks. The laws regulating banks in South 
Carolina gave satisfaction throughout the country affording, 
MS they did, a sound currency and ample accommodation to 
the people. A bank of Charleston note was current from 
Maine to Texas, and even circulated in England and on the 
Continent of Europe. Bank capital in South Carolina was 
exempt from taxation by State or municipal authorities. 
This enabled them to declare satisfactory dividends, and make 
loans at lo^v rates of interest. The majority of the banks in 
South Carolina were located in Charleston. They were banks 
of issue, and all specie-paying. 

DESTRUCTION WKOUGHT BY THE CIVIL WAR. 

The disastrous War of 1861-65 was a political earthquake 
tiiat shook the Southern States from centre to circumference, 
resulting in loss of lives and property beyond computation. 

The slaves alone of the South represented a money value 
of three thotisand millions of dollars. As many more millions 
in currency, bank capital, bonds and miscellaneous debts 
were destroyed by the surrender of Lee. In 1861 a terrible 
fire swept over Charleston, from Ashley to Cooper Rivers, 
and destroyed six million dollars worth of property. 



13 



Columbia,, the State capital, was literally destroyed hj tire in 
1865, when Sherman's army visited that city. 

As the war began in Charleston, her trade and commerce 
were the first to sufEer its effects, from which it has never 
fully recovered. When the Confederate authorities evacuated 
Charleston in 1865, a small force of mounted men was left to 
burn the cotton, gunboats, provisions, and other Confederate 
property. The burning of the cotton at the Northeastern 
Depot resulted in a terrible calamity. A large quantity of 
powder was stored there, which ignited and blew up the 
depot, burying in the ruins two hundred men, women and 
children, who were at the depot to get the provisions stored 
there. The fire spread across the city, destroying millions of 
dollars worth of property. The shelling from the Federal 
gunboats prevented any one living below Calhoun street. In 
this crisis the Mayor appointed Alderman George "W. "Wil- 
liams and W. H . Gilliland to be the bearers to Morris Island 
of the following communication: 

"To the General Commanding the Army of the United States at 
Morris Island : 

Sir — The military authorities of the Confederate States have evacu- 
ated this city. I have remained to enforce law and preserve order 
until you take such steps as you may think best. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

CHARLES MACBETH, Mayor. 
Charleston, S. C, February 17, 1865." 

The Aldermen met General Bennett and delivered the 
Mayor's letter. The services of the Federal troops were 
secured in extinguishing the fires in various parts of the city. 
Provisions enough were saved from the flames to feed 20, 000 
people, whites and blacks, for four months. 

As soon as the war was over, the firm of George W. Wil- 
liams & Co resumed business, and without delay erected 
fifteen large brick warehouses in ihe burnt districts for the 
storage of cotton, merchandise and fertilizers, at a cost of 
$100,000. They rebuilt the Charleston Iron "Works, that 



14 

gave employment to 200 men and a large cotton press, 
which has compressed millions of bales of cotton. They also 
re-established the banking house which at once made arrange- 
ments with Drexel, Morgan & Co. , New York; Brown Bros. 
& Co., of London; Bank cf Liverpool; and Drexel, Harjes 
& Co., Paris, to handle their sterling exchange, which 
amouQted to five million dollars per annum. They also did 
a large business in domestic exchange. So carefully was 
business done in Charleston, that of the large amount of 
sterling exchange bought, there was not a dollar lost. 

Soon after the war cotton, which \^as the great Southern 
staple, was shipped to Charleston and sold at fifty cents per 
pound. This stimulated trade and created a heavy demand 
for currency. This was needed to move the cotton. Only 
National Banks could furnish currency. Geo. W. Williams 
& Co. decided to establish a National Bank, with a capital 
of $500,000. They had bought sterling exchange in 1861 
with Confederate money at 103, and sold it in 1865 at 225. 
Their New York bankers sold six hundred thousand sterling 
exchange for ihem, and invested in Government seven per 
cent, bonds at less than par. 

As there was not a Bank in South Carolina, Geo. "VV. Wil- 
liams & Co. arranged at Washington to establish the J^irst 
National Bank of Charleston, with a capital of $500,000; 
their senior partner was to be President. There was, how- 
ever, such a demand tor his time and services in the mercan- 
tik business, that he could not accept the office, but became 
Vice-President. Mr. Andrew Simonds was elected Presi- 
dent. It has been a most successful institution. 

In December, 1865, the People's National Bank was 
chartered, with a capital of $500,000, afterwards increased 
to $1,000,000. 

In 1872 the Bank of Charleston was reorganized as the 
Bank of Charleston National Banking Association, with a 
capital of $600,000. The capital has been reduced to 
$300,000, but the Bank still has the largest capital and busi- 



15 

ness of any Bank in the State. The three National Banks 
in Charleston have all heen successful. 

In 1875, ten years after the war, there were three National 
Banks in Charleston, with combined capital of $2,100,000, 
and a few old State banks winding np, not having capital 
enough to continue business. The capital of new State banks 
chartered from 1865 to 1876 was less than one million dollars. 

In 1874 Geo. W. Wilhams & Co. established the Carolina 
Savings Bank at Charleston, with an authorized capital of 
$500,000. 

The low rate of interest on Government bonds is causing a 
reduction of National banks. After the premium paid, they 
will not yield more than 2^ per cent, interest. The constantly 
increasing number of trust companies are also serious rivals 
of the banks. ' 

South Carolina has for the past 100 years been distin- 
guished for sound banking. As has been stated, from 1783 
to 1861 there was not the failure of a bank chartered by the 
State. From 1865 to 1898 there have been comparatively 
few bank failures. Perhaps no State bank in the Union has a 
better record for sound banking. 

In 1898 the sixteen National institutions had an aggregate 
capital of $1,943,000, and the eighty-seven State banks 
(including Savings banks) a capital of $3,501,000. The 
surplus of these banks was $2,668,000, and the deposits 
$26,335,150. Fonrteen of the State banks and three of the 
National banks were located in Charleston. 

The writer of this sketch has bad an experience in banking 
embracing a period of more than half a century, and has 
passed through numerous wars and panics. He lias never 
found it more difficult to use money pruiital.ly than at this 
time. The Savings banks have found it necessary to reduce 
the rate of interest paid depositors in consequence of the 
difficulty in making satisfactory investments and loans. Rates 
of interest on approved securities generally approximate to 
those charged by the New York banks. 

December 19th, 1900. GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 




GEOEGE W. WILLIAMS. 

SENIOE MEMBER OF THE BANKING HOUSE OF 

GEO. W. WILLIAMS * CO., 

AND 

president of the carolina savings bank. 
Ohaeleston, S. 0., December 19th, 1903. 



ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN 

AND A SKETCH OF 

NACOOCHEE, QEORQIA, AND ITS SURROUNDINGS, 

BY 
GEO. W. WILrLrlAMS, 

OF CHARLESTON. S. C. 



8UC0E8S DESIRED BY ALL, 



I desire to give to the young men of the South, in a sseries 
of short talks, some of nay hard-earned business experience. 
I say hard-earned^ for 1 began business in Augusta, Ga. , in 
1842, in a financial crisis, and have since that day passed 
through many commercial storms and frightful panics, which 
not only tried men's pockets, but their honesty and integrity 
too. 

To the young, just beginning life, there is no question of 
greater importance to them than 

HOW TO SUCCEED. 

Success is an object of almost universal desire, and can only 
be attained by the exercise of good judgment and well-di- 
rected energy, combined with habits of industry, economy, 
skill accuracy and perseverance. Determine to succeed, 
and let nothing discourage you, but use your best efforts. 
There is no glory like the glory of success. 
2 



18 

The problem of "success" has been to me a life-time study 
I have read the biographies and studied the characters of 
many of the most successful men of the Old and JSTew World , 
and have gone to the wisest man of ancient times to receive 
his testimony. 

It has been my custom in life to use my eyes and my ears, 
and to observe closely the conduct of those with whom I have 
transactions, and I have watched with no small degree of 
interest, the causes which led to failures of so many, hoping 
thereby to avoid the rocks on which they were wrecked. 
Strive by a prudent and well regulated life to preserve your 
health, for health gives you strength to meet the ills and 
disappointments of life, and is one of the greatest earthly 
blessings, and is essential to success. A correct life is con- 
ducive of health. Life without health is scarcely worth the 
living. By a wise attention to the laws of nature there is no 
reason wliy you should not live in the enjoyment of health 
and activiry until you have reached your three score and ten. 
Bat the belles and the beaux, in this fast age, starl out on 
their nightly dissipations at eleven o'clock, and frequently 
dance in crowded and close heated rooms all night. Is it any 
wonder that many young women are nervous and hysterical 
at twenty ? or that young men are feeble dyspeptics ? This 
reversing the order of things ruins many a constitution. But 
what will not the fair sex endure to be in the fashion ? The 
men, of course, are but their slaves. "A sound mind in a 
sound body" is of inestimable value in the way to success. 
Dr. Hall says: Health, wealth and religion are the three 
grand duties of life. 

Apart from an attack of yellow fever, in 1852, I have not 
lost by sickness one month from business since I left my Na- 
coochee home in 1838. 

During that long time of eighty-two years my life has 
been one of activity, work, toil and struggle. My friends 
insist that I am killing myself by "overwork." Work sel- 
dom kills people ; it is worry and idleness that do the mis- 



19 

chief. It is infinitely better to wear out than rust out. Let 
me say to the boys by way of encouragement, who desire 
health, happiness and independence, that the writer never 
spent an idle day, never took a chew of tobacco, never smoked 
a cigar, never danced, or played a game of cards or billiards, 
he joined the Washington Temperance Society, and the 
Methodist Church in his fourteenth year. 

When urged to ''retire from business," his reply is, that 
an ''idle brain is the workshop of tlie devil." 1 am sure we 
are all happier for having a pursuit that will actively employ 
both mind and body ; many a young man owes his success to 
his conflicts with difficulties. An easy, luxurious life does 
not elevate a man morally, mentally, or physically. 

No man will succeed unless he possesses resolution and an 
earnest desire to excel, whether he be in pursuit of wealth, 
knowledge or lame. Never rely upon chance to give you 
wealth or position ; rather be the architect of your own for- 
tune. 

A writer has compared the way to fortune to the milky 
way in the sky, which is a meeting of myriads of small stars, 
not seen asunder, but giving light together; so are there a 
number of little and scarcely visible virtues, or traits and 
habits, which make the successful man. It is common for 
the world to ascribe good or bad luck tO' Providence. I ad- 
mit that the heavens and earth are governed by an overruling 
and all-wise Providence, but the young man who habitually 
neglects his duty and relies upon Providence to do for him 
what he should do for himself, will not succeed. Life is full 
of troubles, trials, disappointments and JifBculties; you must 
learn to fight its battles bravely, energetically and manfully — 
from the cradle to the grave. 

SUCCESS THE EBSULT OF WOEK AND SAVING. 

In speaking of success, I do not wish it to be understood 
as advancing the idea that the only success in life to be 



20 

coveted, is to make money and get gain. Many of the most 
successful lawyers, divines, statesmen, physicians, authors and 
warriors, in ancient and modern times lived and died poor. 
But I do say, very few men- succeed in any pursuit or pro- 
fession who do not work, toil and struggle for success. You 
should noi be satisfied with being a mere anima*!, but strive 
to be a man among men. Yon are made in the image of 
God, with brains and intellect; if you have but one talent 
use it to the best of your ability; be not like the slothful 
servant who dug a hole in the ground and buried his talent 
because he was not blessed with two or more. 

While upon the subject of saving and making I wish to say 
to young men that there is no royal road to success. Success 
is attaired through a multitude of difficulties. Those who 
make a daily saving, however small, can rarely come to want. 
All should learn to save when young, that they may have 
money to spend when they are old. Be a willing worker. 
If a young man looks upon every service that de-volves upon 
him as a biiior to be submitted to rather than a duty to be 
cheerfully performed, he will drag in his work and will hot 
be advanced in the estimation of his employer. Let all the 
interests and duties entrusted to you be as sacredly performed 
as if they were wholly your own. The father of the lichest 
man in America began life without money or family influence, 
but by making and saving he accumulated a fortune of fifty 
millions of dollars, besides making liberal gifts to colleges 
and churches. Let an honorable ambition stimulate you to 
use the talents God has given you to the fullest extent. It is 
true all men are not equally qualified for getting and saving 
money, but I think if the young men will examine carefully 
the little sums they spend unnecessarily, they will see wasted 
in tobacco, cigars and the like, an amount sufiicieTit to make 
a respectable deposit in a savings bank, or to aid an aged 
father or sick mother, who may be struggling in poverty, or 
a sister who is striving for an education. 

Saving at first may be irksome, but by practice it becomes 



a 



21 

a pleasure. An important lesson of life is to learn to mve ; 
begin by small savings, rather than not begin at all; and 
begin at once. You will not be likely to make your way 
from poverty to riches unless you learn to economize in small 
things. One of the happiest days of my life was when I had 
saved my first dollar, and when hj perseverence, industry 
and economy I had accumulated ten dollars, I felt I was on 
the road to success. Let me urge you to keep an account of 
your receipts and expenditures, however small, and at the 
close of each day, see wliat you have spent that could have 
been avoided. Acquire the habit of making and saving and 
it will be a wonderful help in the journey of life. It is as 
important for parents of wealth to teach their children habits 
of economy as it is for those of moderate moans, for if the 
young do not learn the value and use of money when they 
get it either by work or inheritance, it will slip through 
their lingers liki^ water through a sieve. Obey the advice of 
the great founde'- of Methodism: " Make all you can, save 
all you can, and give all you can." 

The human family is ever in search of happiness. Idleness 
is not happiness. [Neither is it perfect rest. 

Success when accompauied by wealth brings with it cares 
and responsibilities that few can realize. It is more difficult 
to use money wisely than it is to make it. Too frequently 
it is the custom of men of wealth to hide away their gold, as 
it were, with the delusive hope of making benevolent uses of 
it when about to enter the cold stream of Jordan, forgetting 
that it is more difficult for a man "who trusts in riches" to 
enter the kingdom of Heaven "than for a camel to pass 
through the eye of a needle." 

Money, however, possesses a magnetic power, and stirs 
tlie world from centre to circumference, influencing as it does 
the destinies of nations as well as that of individuals. 

It is the object which has engrossed the mind and affections 
of all ages, and has and ever will give an impulse to trade, 
commerce and manufactures. 



23 

You should cultivate habits of attention, and be on the 
alert for opportunities. Do not fold your hands like 
Micawber, and always be waiting for something to turn up. 
If you have no business, make it. Idleness is the parent of 
poverty, want and sin. Work is an essential element in 
happiness and success. If you accomplish anything, it will 
be by industry and patient thought. Help thyself and 
Heaven will help thee is a promise worthy to be cherished 
and remembered. 

Those who work with their hands or brains are far happier 
than the idle, for sweet is the bread earned by the sweat of 
the brow. Industry and enterprise are more important to 
success than brilliant talents. 

It is surprising how much one of comparatively moderate 
talents can accomplish by persistent efforts, and patient, 
perseveriag energy. Honest success is salutary not only to 
individuals, but to tb.e whole country. If you possess energy 
of character, it will often excite and encourage energy in 
others. 

I have long since learned, that anything worth having is 
worth working for. Spurgeon says: He that has work to do 
has, less temptation to doubt, that the man tliat is idle and 
has nothing else to do but to doubt. Idleness is just as 
injurious to women as it is to the men. 

Work that brings honest accumulation is honorable. 

We should all work while we live and make a diligent use 
of life while any power remains. How distressing it is to 
see in an age of progress, and in a land that yields so readily 
to the hand of the industrious, so much poverty, distress, and 
want. Even the anf "which hath no guide, overseer, or 
ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her 
food in the harvest." To be a successful merchant, banker 
or farmer you must be industrious and economical in 
beginning life. 

A great many troubles and wants of life arise from a 
careless discharge of your duties, and a wasteful expenditure 
of money. 



23 

It is indeed bad for a man who has a large family to be 
poor and not understand the value of time and money. A 
good fellow they call him, but alas he does not know how to 
provide for his wife and children, poverty is a depressing 
thing. 

We must begin our work with the morning sun; the day 
was made for work and the night for rest and sleep. One of 
the first things that drew my attention to Charleston, as a 
business place, was the late hours at which the merchants 
began their day's work. I concluded if they could make a 
living beginning the day's work at 9 o'clock, I could make 
more than a living by starting some hours earlier. 

As important as a college education may be to young men, 
and I admit the importance of parents besi owing the best 
possible education upon their children, yet it may not be 
a misfortune in the present condition of the country that the 
counting-house should be the boys' college, and the domestic 
duties of home the girls' seminary, for there they are taught 
the useful, if not the ornamental branches of education. 
All brain work does nor pay; the physical must be cultivated 
as well as the mental. In the school of toil and industry 
they learn a knowledge of the world, the value of time, of 
money and character. 

The young man whose salary is one thousand dollars per 
annum, and saves one-tenth of that sum, is on the road to 
wealth, while be who receives double that amount and spends 
twenty-one hundred dollars, is sure to fail. An important 
lesson of life is to learn to save ; begin by small savings, 
rather than not begin at all, put your weekly net earnings in 
a savings bank, where it will draw interest and be ready for 
a rainy day. Never have an idle hour or an idle dollar. 
Let the young of both sexes lay up the amount they are in 
the habit of spending in superfluities, and they will be happier 
and more independent for so doing. If you cannot grow 
rich, there is no reason why you should not make yourself at 
least comfortable. 



2i 



OHAEACTEE THE COENEE-STONE OF SUCCESS. 

la a country like ours, where the road to wealth is open 
to all, it is not titrange that the love of money, and money 
making should be predominating traits. But money, with 
all of its uses, power, and influence, is as naught when com- 
pared to Character. 

A sure means of building up character is to practice the 
virtues of honesty, temperance and frugality. Wealth is a 
blessing or curse as it is used for good or evil. Yoii should 
combine with uprightness of character a determination, to 
succeed, and a disposition to do right under all circumstances. 
Character is not an inheritance, it is not an estate to which 
one is born heir to, but requires almost superhuman efforts to 
fully establish it, and to keep it. Character forms the 
groundwork of a happy, useful and successful life. 

Let me impress upon you the priceless value of character. 
It is one of the noblest possessions a maa can have. Build 
upon it, for it carries with it a power and influence that al- 
ways tells. No money can measure its value, and no man 
can rob you of it without your own consent. Success, in its 
general acceptation, is almost valueless without character. I 
esteem the spotless character bequeathed to me by my hon- 
ored parents more than if they had left me great wealth; 
houses and lands may be lost, but character lives after mar- 
ble monuments crumble with time. A good name is one of 
the heritages of character ^ and is more to be desired than 
riches. Then strive to make for yourself a name free from 
reproach ; if you value a good name and the respect of the 
virtuous, avoid bad company. "Enter not into the path of 
the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men." Character 
tells in all relations of life. A man of bad character has a 
debasing influence upon his companions. ''That which is 
born of evil begets evil;" so shun the bad and vicious as you 
would a serpent. 

Young men should see to it that they sow good seed. 



25 

"tVLatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap."' If 
you sow tares you will reap tares. If the young would but 
consider how much their parents and friends are interested 
in their welfare and happiness, they would be stimulated to 
live correct lives, and to make for themselves Character 
above reproach. 

The humblest person in the land has father, mother, sister, 
or some one who feels an interest in his or her welfare. 
Have an ambition to do right, and you will be respected and 
honored by the good and virtuous. 

Remember, young man, that in all of your wanderings, 
the eye of God is constantly upon you; remember, also, that 
your actions, whether good or l)ad, are scrutinized by those 
from whom you seek employment. A youth who is seen 
with the idle and dissolute of either sex, will not find favor 
with business men of correct principles. Remember men are 
known and estimated by the company they keep. A sober 
youth can not associate with the intemperate and dissolute 
without becoming contaminated. I have known some noble 
boys who were ruined by wicked, intemperate associates. 
Alas! our cities and towns are filled with such characters; 
few young men can withstand the temptations of city life. 
Intemperance has long been the curse of the land. No man 
who habitually gets drunk cau be trusted with important in- 
terests, for in the time of greatest need he will utterly fail; 
his intentions may be good, and he may strive to do right, 
but if he drinks to intoxication he loses self-control, and is 
on the broad road to ruin. There is little or no hope of re- 
forming him. The habit of drinking, when formed in youth, 
is one that is almost incurable. Then, ''look not upon the 
wine when it is red ; at the last it biteth like a serpent and 
stinsreth like an adder." Remember that the hand of the 
diligeut maketh rich, but the glutton and drunkard shall 
come to poverty. 

"We scarcely take up a newspaper without being shocked 
with accounts of deadly conflicts, often between friends, 
originating in drinking and gambling saloons. 



26 

A writer in speaking of the effects of intemperance, pays: 
"It shall visit your limbs with palsy; it shall extinguish the 
pride of man; it shall make the husband hateful to the wife; 
and the wife loathsome to the husband; it shall annihilate 
the love of offspring. It shall disgrace the Judge upon the 
bench, the minister in his sacred desk, and the senator in his 
exalted seat. It shall make your food tasteless, your mouth 
to burn as with a fever, and your stomach to tremble as if 
with disease. It shall cause the besotted mother to overlay 
her new-born, unconscious that it dies beneath the pressure 
of her weight. The son shall hide his face, that he may not 
behold his father's depravity; and the father shall see the 
object of his fondest hopes turn to a foul and bloated car- 
cass, that hurries to the grave. It shall turn the children of 
men into raving maniacs; and the broken ties of blood and 
affection shall find no relief but in the friendly coming of 
Death. 

Of all the evils in tlie world whiskey drinking is probably 
the greatest. 

We read of men crazed by liquor, who return to their 
homes and brutally murder their wives and innocent children. 
Young men do not require stimulants, but it is not difficult 
for them to imagine that the addition of brandy to water 
improves its quality. In this way, habits of intemperance 
are imperceptibly formed, and the youth becomes a confirmed 
drunkard before ho is aware of it. _brom a bright young 
man, once the pride of his family, he becomes a drvmken sot, 
and a nuisance in society. Temptations to dissipation are 
always increased by idleness; no brain can stand total stag- 
nation; the body and mind must he employed to be healthy 
and happy. Too frequently the idle resort to tobacco, 
opium, or whiskey. Thus fearful, pernicious habits are 
formed. 1 have long been of the opinion that the use of 
tobacco, considered by many so harmless, is the first step to 
dissipation. It is said that the dryness of the mouth caused 
by smoking, excites an artificial thirst which requires frequent 



27 



draughts of liquid. Water becomes insipid, and brandy is 
added. In this way dissipation often begins, which ends in 
ruin both to soul and body. This warning is intended as 
much for the minister of the Gospel who smokes and chews, 
as for the youth just beginning life. I do not consider any 
man innocent who makes himself a slave to tobacco or 
whiskey. , 

ECONOMY . 

Economy, which is so important to the human family, 
seems a hard lesson for our people to learn. 

I do aot mean that economy which only looks to a saving 
of money, but economy which includes a prudent manage- 
ment of all the means bv which property is saved or accumu- 
lated and more especially to a saving of time. Remember 
that economy is the parent of honesty, of independence, and 
of contentment. 

In my visits to the Old World , I made careful observations 
of the manners, customs and habits of the people, both in 
Groat Britain and on the Continent. I was impressed with 
the economy, order and system practiced, not only in the 
commercial and banking houses, but by the people in all 
pursuits of life. 

With our young men the temptation to sjicnd is unfortu- 
nately greater than the inclination to save; this is one of the 
reasons why we see so much misery and poverty. It requires 
more force oi character to save money than it does to 
make it. 

In the public houses of Europe you order and pay for 
what you want, while at our live dollar hotels you pay more 
for what you waste than for what you eat. As an evidence 
of the economy with which business is conducted in Europe, 
I would state, that our firm kept a large account with a 
banking house in Liverpool. By an oversight a three cent 
instead of a six cent postage stamp was placed on a letter. 



2S 

The omission was called to our attention, and the three cents 
postage was charged to our account. These same bankers had 
a messenger at Queenstown to look after our baggage, and 
pass it through the custom liouse^ making no charge for the 
services renaered. That was civility, while the postage 
stamp was strictly business, such as is practiced by Ihe best 
bankers in Europe. On the strength of this experience — 
whichj to the prodigal American^ looked like a srnall trans- 
action — I had a postage account opened, and we were all 
surprised to see how soon items of one, two aud three cents 
swelled into dollars by the thousands. 

The inhabitants of the Old World do not forget that if 
you take care of the shillings the pounds will take care of 
themselves. It is the petty items wasted that often consume 
the profits of the store, the farm, and the income of the 
professional man. He who wantonly wastes his own fortune, 
will not be careful of the fortune of others. 

The frugal Germans and French will live comfortably on 
what we prodigal Americans waste. 

Avoid extravagance, or living beyond your means for the 
sake of show. If you do not your life will be a perpetaal 
struggle, and you will find a short road to disgrace and 
ruin . 

Making money is one thing, but the secret of saving when 
made is what you must learn. Perhaps the strangest problem 
in my business experience is to see some men exhibit extra- 
ordinary talents in making money but somehow, they 
utterly fail in keeping the fortunes made. 

A young man's business habits and chances of success are 
improved by marrying young, provided he makes a judicious 
selection of a wife; a good wife and health are a man's true 
wealth. Very much of your success in life depends upon 
the kind of a wife you get; a pritdent wife considers the 
comfort of her husband and cliildren. Do not take the 
responsibility of a family until you have reasonable prospects 
of making an adequate support. When you do marry, let 



29 

me beseech, you to have the moral courage to iuform your 
family that you can not live in the same style that some of 
your neighbors do, without incurring debt or being dishonest. 
Far better never marry, than to bring disgrace upon your 
wife and children by extravagant living, which often leads 
to spending money that does not belong to you. 

I am sure that the majority of our self-sacriticiiig women 
will do their part faithfully in supporting a family. The 
spirit of industry and economy which we have seen practiced 
by them since the war^ is worthy of the emuialion of the 
most resolute men. 1 have seen delicate ladies of education 
and refinement, who in other days were accustomed to ease 
and luxury, teaching negro schools, nnd cheerfully perform- 
ing the most menial duties rather than eat the bread of de- 
pendence. There is, indeed, hope of a country that furnishes 
such women as are to be found all over these Southern lands. 
God bless them! They will truly be helpmates. I have a 
tender spot in my heai-t'for women who are struggling to earn 
their living. I have been pained to see delicate women try- 
ing to support lazj^, vagabond husbands. 

PUNCTUALITY. 

Young men who are desirous of establishing correct busi- 
ness habits should be punctual. Nothing begets confidence in 
a young man sooner than habits of punctuality, sobriety and 
accuracy. No one who is habitually dilatory and inaccurate 
will be tolerated in a well regulated counting-house. Accu- 
racy is a mark of good training. Let me urge the young to 
concentrate their efforts and not waste their time by engaging 
in a varietv of pursuits, mnking themselves as it were "Jack 
of all trades and good at none. " Find out what you are 
fitted for and having chosen a business, however humble it 
may be, stick to it, and go to work with a will and deter- 
mination to succeed. Some people are always resolving, but 
fail to put. their resolutions into execntiun. I will do it to- 



30 

morrow, never accomplishes much. Decision of character is 
of the utmost importance; to be constantly changing your 
plans is evidence of a weak, vaseillating mind. Learn to 
iiuish well and promptly whatever you undertake. 

Punctuality is an important business habit; a punctual man 
always regards the time of others. Punctuality should be 
made a point of conscience, as well as duty. 

Some good men have their names associated with various 
boards, but give very little attention to the trusts assumed. 

Diligence is said to be the mother of good luck, and is an 
important business trait; it is the active employment of mind 
and body, and often brings to the possessor knowledge, wealth 
and fame. 

When a thing is to be done the puactual man does not 
hesitate, but goes to work and accomplishes it. The Spartan 
youth that told his mother his sword was too short, was 
ordered to add a step to it. If we feel that our talents are 
insufficient we must add to them by industry and diligence. 
You should not only be punctual, accurate and industrious, 
but you must also be prudent. "A prudent man looketh 
well to his going;" he wil^ not involve himself in debt until 
he has carefully considered the means of discharging the 
same. 

Speaking of punctuality ^ my friends will pardon me in this 
connection for saying, that in varied business transactions, 
amounting to more than two hundred million dollars, our 
house has never failed to meet, to the hour, every pecuniary 
obligation, whether written or verbal, except fur a short 
period during the war, when their remittances were inter- 
cepted, but were paid in full when the war was over. 

Do not be allured from your legitimate work and engage 
in business enterprises in which you have had no previous 
experience. Better let well enough alone. Never leave tor 
to-morrow what should be done to-day; nor for another to do 
what might be done by yourself. 



31 



POLITENESS. 



1 feel that I cannot too earnestly impress upon the young 
the importance of cultivating habits of politeness. Good 
address and courteous manners are liigh recommendations to 
the young man seeking employment or starting in business. 
They are almost as important as the possession of capital. 
Americans are not distinguished for politeness and reverence. 

The young should always be attentive and respectful to the 
aged. 

When some of us old boys were lads, if we were permitted 
to sit at the table with our seniors, we did not, as many of 
the youth of the present day, monopolize the conversation. 

If we vrt3re satisfied in unr own minds that we knew much 
more than oar parents, for prudential reasons, we took good 
care to keep the information to ourselves. I will not deny 
that this generation is wiser than that which preceded it, but 
we have been taught that modesty is a virtue, and that good 
manners should be carried to tlie festive board, house of 
divine worship, and into the domestic cirtle. The indecent 
practice that many thoughtless young men have fallen into, 
of placing themselves in lines and groups on the walks lead- 
ing to and from churches and public promenades, making 
jesting remarks, and gazing at the ladies as they pass, cannot 
be too much condemned. While upon the subject of polite- 
ness I have a word to say to the young girls, who crowd 
gray-haired men out of their seats, and see them stand for 
hours, without offering in return the slightest thanks. These 
same young ladies too frequently conduct themselves in pub- 
lic places in a manner to elicit unfavorable remarks. The 
young should conduct themselves, at all times and in all 
places, whether at home or abroad, with modesty and pro- 
priety, if the humblest person does you a favor, it is your 
duty in some way to acknowledge it. Washington, when 
questioned about returning the salute of a colored man, re- 
plied that he could afford to be as polite as a servant. 



32 

Pleasing manners and good address have laid the founda- 
tion of many a young man's success in life. The art of 
pleasing is certainly a gift-to be prized. Politeness is said 
to be benevolence in small things, is sunshine, in darkness, 
and is an embodiment of the golden rule, do unto others as 
they would be done by. Politeness and civility are essential 
to success. The toils and struggles of many a youth have 
been made the lighter by encouraging words and little atten- 
tions from his employer. Business men should always mani- 
fest an interest in their clerks; and, in return, clerks should 
study their own interest, not merely doing what they are 
obliged to do, but they should also be watchful in promoting 
the interest of their employers. From the day that I began 
business in Augusta, Ga. , in 1842, it has been my pleasure 
to reward the clerks with the best possible salaries, and to 
advance them to positions of trust and partnerships whenever 
opportunity oEEered. Politeness has helped scores of young 
men in my emploj' to lucrative positions. In large estab- 
lishments, numerous clerks are required, all differing as 
much in character^ address and disposition, as in their like- 
ness to each other. 1 have often been pained to see exhib- 
ited, even in well regulated establishments, petty jealousies 
and dislikes among the clerks, frequently without any real 
cause; also an indisposition to lend a helping hand when it 
could be done without interfering with their own work. I 
know there are trying and irritating circumstances arising 
almost daily in all pursuits, and that east winds will blow 
upon feeble and dyspeptic constitutions, but there is such a 
thing as yielding to ill temper, sour looks, and an unaccom- 
modating disposition, until nearly all the sweets are taken out 
of life, and until we are no comfort to ourselves or others. 
A polite, kind, accommodating disposition, coupled with pa- 
tient and serene manner and temper, are virtues which go a 
long way in smoothing the rugged pathway through life. 1 
am sorry to say that llie counting house and workshops 
are not the only places where you do not find perpetual sun- 



33 

shine. In the domestic circle, around tho family fireside, 
ah! even among brothers and sisters, and, shall I add, be- 
tween husbands and wives, are sometimes to be found bick- 
erings, jealousies, contentions, ill-temper, misundertanding 
and strife. 

Alas! that such things should be. There is, however, a 
great deal of the Adamic nature left in man even in this 
advanced period of the Christian era. Eemembcr that bind 
words. and kind acts live after one is dead. 

Some men are as polite, smiling and courteous as Chester- 
field in company, but are real porcupines in their own homes. 

''Home, Sweet Home," is the place of all places in the 
world where the courtesies of life should be practiced. 

HONESTY. 

My advice to the young is to let all of their transactions 
be fair, just and honorable. If you would succeed in life 
adhere scrupulously to the truth; cultivate truth and honesty, 
and always be upright in your dealings. ''Lying lips are an 
abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly are His 
delight." Dare to do right, for it is said fortune favors the 
brave. It pays to be honest, truthful and upright. 

I am convinced from long and careful observation, of the 
truth of the old maxim, that ''Jionesty is the best policy," 
even it your aims are no higher than to make money and get 
gain.. Should your accouutability not extend beyond the 
grave, still you should be honest and faithful in all accepted 
trusts. Defraud not the orphan or the widow. An honest 
man is truthful and reliable. A writer has said that of the 
qualities that combine to form a good character, there is not 
one of more importance than reliability. The word itself 
embraces both truth and honesty. The reliable man must be 
truthful and honest; he is a man of good judgment, not 
frivolous, but is careful, prudent and thoughtful. What he 
says may be relied on. You feel safe with your property or 
■ 3 ■ 



34r 

the administration of your a£Eairs in his hands. When quit- 
ting this world your last hours are made more peaceful at the 
thought of leaving wife, children and money to the care of 
an honest, reliable man. Pope says : "An honest man is 
the noblest work of God." It is not honest to take the 
advantage of another, or to be careless or negligent in 
matters of trust. Strive as near as poor human nature will 
allow "to do unto others as jou would have them do unto 
you. ' ' 

Establish a reputation for uprightness, promptness and fair 
dealing, and you are in the road to success. Strive to bo 
true and honest in all the relations of life. Let all of your 
transactions be based on integrity, and make your word as 
jfood as your bond. "He that is faithful in that which is 
least, is faithful also in much." It is better to be honest 
than rich. 

The young man who leaves his home, and goes out into 
the world in search of a fortune, encounters many trials, 
temptations and difGculties. Remember there is much in 
making a right beginning. One false step often mars the 
prospects of many a young man for life. Whatsoever duty 
may be assigned you, if it be sweeping the office, let the 
work be well done. Yonr salary is a small part of your 
compensation. In well conducted houses in Europe, parents 
often pay for situations furnished their sons. Let your aim 
be to inspire confidence; confidence is a plant of slow growth ; 
to make it grow, it requires toil and sunshine. A single 
adverse breath may destroy it forever. Many persons do not 
succeed in life because they lack honesty, pluck and energy. 

If you wish to succeed, you must be honest, and do your 
duty faithfully to God and man. 

ALL MUST WORK WHITE AND BLACK. 

If we do not succeed in the South, it will be our own 
fault. Of course the disorganization of our entire labor 
system has, and will for many years, retard our prosperity 



35 

but I have felt sure that not only tne ireedman will worK, 
but the whites also. Immediately after the late war, 1 began 
to build warehouses for the storage of cotton and merchan- 
dise. My friends thought I was doing a very unwise thing. 
They predicted that cotton could not be produce by white 
labor, and that the negroes would not work. I did not 
believe any such doctrine. I have found that a dozen ware- 
hou«es would not accommodate the cotton receipts of one 
Charleston firm. Another source of considerable wealth to 
the South has arisen from the discovery of immense beds of 
phosphate rock and fossil bone in South Carolina. These 
remarkable deposits, both on land and in the navigable 
streams, attracted the attention of geologists more than a 
century ago; but strange to say, their commercial value was 
not known until after the close of the war. These immense 
deposits, which will last for ages, have added greatly to the 
commerce of South Carolina. Thousand of cargoes are 
annually shipped from Charleston and Beaufort to foreign 
and domestic ports. The manufacture of fertilizers from 
these rocks and fossils has added much to the wealth and 
trade oi Charleston. The capital now employed in mining 
phosphate rock and manufacturing fertilizers exceeds the 
whole banking capital of the State. Land which was con- 
sidered almost worthless, has been brought to the highest 
state of productiveness by the use of chemical fertilizers. Is 
it possible that these rocks and fossil remains which have 
been found so important to the fertility and fruitfulness of 
the earth, were deposited on the banks and in the streams of 
the Ashley and Cooper Elvers many centuries ago by chance? 
Let us rather believe that they were placed there by our 
Heavenly Father, who&e love and providential care is ever 
over His children in their time of greatest need. 

CAUSE OF FAILUEES AND THEIE REMEDIES. 

Failures often arise from a want of tact, application, enter- 
prise and business talent. Not one man in a thousand is 



36 

what you call a "born merchant." Overtrading, endorsing 
and running in debt are fruitful sources of failures; the 
practice of endorsing is liable to great abuse, and too fre- 
quently leads to ruin. Want of system, neglect of business, 
and trusting too much to others, often lead to failures. 
Many do not succeed for the want of health, and a want of 
health is often caused by our own imprudences, and over- 
indulgence in eating and drinking. 

Those who generally succeed make themselves merchants 
or business men by unceasing application and toil. "What- 
soever their hands find to do, they do it with all their might. " 
It is a lamentable fact that not ten per cent, of tliose who 
engage in commerce succeed. 

The wonder is, when wo see so many shipwrecked in 
mercantile pursuits, that there are any so bold as to venture 
. in trade* The new methods of business are not improvements 
upoQ tbe old ways; trickery and adulteration is the curse of 
the land; nearly every article of merchandise is adulterated, 
and nearly every business is run into colossal trusts. 

Most of the beginners are unwilling to follow in the slow 
road of toil and struggle which leads to fortiine. 

By some fortunate speculation they hope to step from the 
bottom round to the top of the ladder. 

I have a directory of Augusta, Ga. , published about the 
time I began business in that city. In the long list of firms, 
, banks and insurance companies that were in existence in 
] 842, I do not believe one survived the war. 

Yery few of the merchants retired with fortunes, and only 
a limited number with even a competence. 

As distasteful as it is to the majority of our people, it 
may be necessary, as well as advantageous, for our young 
men to go back to first principles, and devote themselves to 
agriculture. 

When our first parent was driven from the Garden of 
Eden, he was commanded to till the ground, and earn his 
bread by the sweat of his brow. Now, when we consider 



37 

that tlie fruits of the eartli have been, and ever will be, the 
source of all v^ealth, then why do not more of our young 
men cultivate the soil instead of flocking to towns and over- 
crowded cities to engage in pursuits which scarcely give them 
an humble subsistence ? 

God made the earth to be cultivated, and not to be choked 
with thistles, for want of laborers. 

There is no life so independent as that of a farmer; and it 
is astonishing to see how soon an industrious young man, 
blessed with a thrifty wife, can, on a small farm, surround 
himself with the comforts of life; for, after all, our wants 
are more imaginary than real. Many vainly think that to be 
happy, we must have great wealth; it is true that money, 
wisely used, is a good thing, and brings with it comforts and 
independence; but the farmer, who has his green pastures, 
flocks and herds of sheep, cattle and horses, and nis barns* 
filled with the product of the land, such a man is truly one of 
the lords of the soil. But, should he bo lazy, and have an 
extravagant, gad-about wife, the home will soon be in the 
hands of the sheriff, and his children in rags. 

The Greeks and Romans placed agriculture among the 
divinities of their religion. I do not ask so much for it, but 
I do ask that it be considered as one of the respectable occu- 
pations of life, to be a farmer. While I regard the pursuit 
of agriculture as the safest and surest road to success, yet I 
consider the merchant, banker, and the artisan as active 
co-laborers, and almost indispensable to the tillers of tlie 
soil; for without the aid of the merchant, much of the 
surplus products of the farm would go to waste in the hand- 
ling of them. 

The feverish excitement of a commercial life makes me 
enjoy all the more the few months 1 spend each summer 
amidst the green pastures and fertile fields of my quiet 
Nacoochee home. 



38 



ENVY. 



' If you would succeed and be happy, crush out the s jirit 
of envy. There is scarcely a trait in the human heart more 
to he detested than that of envy. It is the parent of malice, 
revenge and hatred. "We are told that "a sound heart is the 
life of the flesh, but envy is the rottenness of the bonss." 
The eye of envy never sleeps, but gazes with demoniacal 
malignity upon a rival. An envious man has a tongue as 
poisonous as a serpent; he takes yoa into his coniidence only 
to sting you like an adder. He is never happy so long as a 
Mordecai sits at the king's gate. Envy magnifies your fail- 
ings, depreciates your virtues, and seeks every opportunity of 
slandering and defaming your good name. Such a character 
receives, indeed, small dividends for the wrongs he inflicts. 

It wa^ through envy that sin and death entered the world, 
and it was the same satauic spirit that caused Cain to slay his 
innocent, but more favored brother. An envious man is in 
pain on occasions which should give him pleasure. He is 
not only incapable of being happy in another's success, but 
exults over his misfortunes. This pernicious passion, if long 
indulged in, becomes an incurable disease. Unhappily it has 
an abiding place in too many hearts, and too many h^mes. 
™ Then how important it is that parents should carefully 
guard against this odious and sinful disposition in their 
children. Youth is the period for cultivating humane and 
benevolent affections. The young should let a sense of right 
and justice guide them io all their intercourse with men, and 
never regard with envy the honestly attained success or 
advancement of another. If you or I succeed by honest 
efforts, the whole community will share in our prosperity. 
It is evidence of a contracted mind that looks with envy upon 
the honest success of a neighbor or competitor. The best 
thing in the world is a tongue that speaks no evil, and the 
worst thing in the world is a slanderous, tattling, envious 
tongue. It is full of a deadly poison. 



39 

Eovy tends to make men hard-hearted, selfish and cruel; 
to destroy even natural affections, and to awaken the most 
malignant passions. 

HEAR WHAT SAM JONES SAYS ABOUT A SLANDEEOUS TONGUE : 

"Many a woman will stand by the side of her husband 
when he is dead, and with a bleeding heart ask the Lord to 
forgive evei-y unkind word she had ever spoken to him. I 
have myself spoken unkindly to my wife, and I am sorry for 
it. She said it was my dyspepsia but it was my own down- 
right meanness. 

Never say a thing, unless you know it is true. Nevei- saj 
anything unkindly of any one. Never say anything behind 
any one's back you would not say to their face. If you do, 
you are a slanderer. The man that steals my m^ney is a 
gentleman and a Christian beside the one who, with a slan- 
derous tongue, smirches the character of some one. Let us 
watch this tongue business. We talk too much. I wish we 
could get our tongues like that of Christ. He had a word of 
comfort for every one. Wl'ong no man with your tongue. 
The best way to keep from wronging any one is to keep 
your mouth shut. Husband, when you see your wife's 
dander is rising, just keep your mouth shut. It'll nearly 
kill her, but it is the best thing you can do. The worst 
gossipers in the city are not women, by any means. They 
are men. Say amen, sisters. [A loud and hearty amen 
shook the tent.] Sisters, never say a word on earth, that 
yon can't say in heaven. There are a dozen ladies in a 
parlor, and when they go home their cheeks are burning. 
They have said something they are sorry for. They wish 
'now they had not said it. Sister, let's never do anything 
that you would not have your children do. I'll tell you the 
kind of a mother that's a fine example. The mother that 
goes to the theater; and another who loves the yellow back 
novels better than she loves her husband; and another who 



40 

is on the street all^ the time. They are pretty examples for 
mothers. ' ' 

I commend to you the sentiments contained in the follow- 
ing beautiful lines -: 

"Nay, speak no ill: a kindly word 

Can never leave a sting behind ; 
And oh. to breathe each tale we've heard, 

Is far beneath a noble mind ; 
For oft a bettei seed is sown, 

Sy choosing thus a kinder plan; 
For if but little good we know, 

Let's speak of all the good we can." 

Let the above lines be indelibly impressed upon your 
hearts, and make it a rule of your life to speak of all the 
best you can. 



I feel that I cannot too earnestly impress upon the young 
the value of time, and the folly of misspending it. Tour 
success in life will very much depend upon a proper use of 
time. It is one of the first lessons a young man starting in 
life has to learn. Gather up the fragments of time, so that 
nothing can be lost. Time, patience and industry will con- 
quer the world. There is literally not a single moment in 
life that we can afford to lose. Youth is the period for un- 
wearied application. As fortunes are wasted in numerous 
small expenses, even so is precious time, by failing to econo- 
mize minutes and hours. The inclination is so great to, post- 
pone from day to day, and week to week, waiting for a more 
convenient season to do what should be done at once. Time 
must be usefully employed if we hope to succeed, and tliereby 
reap the fruits of our labor. The value we set on time is 
shown by the use we make of it. It should be employed not 
only for our own good, but also for the good of others. True 
happiness consists in doing our duty to God aud to man. Life 
is a struggle with most men, and fortunate are they who. sue- 



41 

ceed in procnring, from year to year, food and raiment for 
their households. I am conTinced from careful observation that 
the majority of the human family make but a bare support) 
even if they toil early and late. A portion of each day should 
be employed in the improvement of the mind with useful 
knowledge. Read the most useful books, not overlooking the 
Bible. It is the best book ever published, aside from its 
Divine teachings. Ignorance and idleness are the parents of 
much of the vice and immorality which abound in the world. 
Men engaged in commerce, agriculture, or the arts, must not 
forget that knowledge is power. By devoting an hour each 
day to careful reading, study and self-culture, you will im- 
prove the mind, and thereby become well informed on most 
important subjects. Make good use of the minutes and the 
days will take care of themselves. 

. Young men should waste neither time nor money. Remem- 
ber that "time and tide wait for no man." Time is your 
estate; an estate, however of little value without cultivation 
and improvement. 

Many young men waste valuable time at billiard saloons, 
clubs, and at the gaming table; time that should be devoted 
to work or the improvement of their minds. It is as impor- 
tant to learn the lesson of economizing time as it is to save 
money; for if you lose your money, you may regain it by 
industry, but golden hours lost arc gone forever. 

Thirty minutes to-day, an hour to-morrow, and two hours 
next week saved, will enable the studious and industrious 
youth to lay the foundation of a good education. 

LABOK. 

Labor, either with the hands or the brains, the application 
of our gifts to some beneficial result, is the basis of improve- 
ment and happiness, and the means of subsistence. "If a 
man will not work, neither shall he eat," is one of the im- 
mutable "laws. Labor is both honorable and helpful; the 



42 

man who by his labor makes two blades of grass grow where 
only one grew before, is a benefactor. Talents are of little 
use if we have aot the energy and ambition to put them into 
practice. Many persons seem willing enough to work^ but 
are lamentably deficient in method and system. Nothing is 
done at the proper time or in the proper way. Perseverance 
and energy, combined with moderate ability will show better 
results than great talents combined with laziness and indiffer- 
ence. Indolence is often taken for pa+ienee. It is better to 
have a wife that will scold fret and work, than one who does 
nothing but hold her idle hands. If you would gather fame, 
riches and honor, you must labor, toil and work; "for the 
diligent hand waxeth strong and mighty," In youth habits 
of industry are most easily acquired. Man, if he would be 
happy, must have some useful object to look forward to 
something to aspire after. I have been convinced that there 
is no resting place this side of eternity, and that it is our duty 
to be actively employed as long as we are blessed with health 
and strength to labor. One of the great benefits of employ- 
ment is that it acts as a cheek upon the temptations which 
beset on every side an unoccupied man or woman. Work 
purifies our fallen nature. If cleanliness is next to godli- 
ness, industry is closely allied to religion. Carlyle says:* 
"Show me a people energetically busy, heaving, struggling, 
all shoulders to the wheel, and I will show you a people to 
whom all manner of good is certain, if their energy endure.'" 

LOSSES BY THE LATE WAR. 

It does seem as if our people will never fully recover from 
the effects of the late war, which Avas a political earthquake 
that shook the Southern States from centre to circumference. 
It is seldom a people experience such a reverse of fortune as 
befell the Southern States. The slaves alone of the South 
represented a money value of three thousand millions of 
dollars, and as many milhons of dollars in currency, banking 



43 

capital, bonds and the like were swept out of existence at the 
surrender of Lee. . In 1860 the banks all suspended specie 
payments. Their bills, however, were regarded better than 
Confederate notes, and were consequently hoarded, but not 
to much profit. The merchants and others who had their 
lifetime earnings in gold obligations were compelled to receive 
in payment Confederate money, or to be regarded as disloyal 
to the Confederacy. This currency, from year to year, 
became from bad to worse, until it was of no more value tlian 
cart loads of waste paper. 

Let me advise those starting out in life to put forth their 
very best efforts. If a young man's talents are good, indus- 
try will improve them. If only moderate, then he must 
work the harder, and be content with le?s of this world's 
goods. We must all be prepared to meet with difficulties 
and losses, and disappointments. Never grieve oxer what 
can not be helped. It is the common lot of man to fall 
short of his desires and expectations; but whatever troubles 
we encounter, must be met with unflinching fortitude. My 
experience is that the school of adversity turns out the most 
successful men. I have known many clever boys injured by 
too much indulgence, too much money, and by too many 
advantages. Many men are poor all their lives because they 
do not begin to save when they are young. Avoid specula- 
tion, and do not be impatient to be rich. Yon are not swre 
whether you would be a happier or better man if you had the 
wealth of an Astor. The richest man in the land receives 
only his clothes and board for the toils, anxieties and worry 
of mind. You hear of Stewart, Vanderbilt, Astor, and 
other rich men leaving almost countless millions, but you do 
not hear of their taking when they die, one dollar with them. 
Many of them, I fear, do not save their own souls, which is 
to them of more importance than all the money in the world. 
Then do not complain because you have not riches and 
prosperity. If misfortunes did not now and then befall us, 
we would be exposed to evils that we little dream of. Instead 



u 

of repining, we should all be thankful for the manifold 
blessings God has bestowed upon us fror« childhood to the 
present hour. 

Immediatelj after the war the South was flooded with 
adventurers from all sections, known as ' ' carpet baggers. ' ' 
Many of these men had but little more character or reputa- 
tion in their own homes than the " tramps" of the present 
dav. They were mere political adventurers, and took as 
partners in their profession, the most corrupt and ignorant 
class of the freedmen. These men came into our homes and 
told our former servants that they would not be "loyal" if 
tliey remained with their old masters, even if they were com- 
pensated for so doing. Thus it was that the life-time rela- 
tion between the white and colored races became hostile and 
unsatisfactory. These political emissaries taught the freed- 
men that all those who in any way favored the rebellion, had 
forfeited their homes and their fortunes, and to take from 
the "rebels" was not stealing; but, as loyal citizens, it was 
their duty to do so. These Jacobin teachers managed not 
only to rob the Municipal and State Governments, but also 
to rob the too credulous colored people. The Freedmen's 
Bank, established apparently under the protection of the^ 
United States Government, was a huge machine for robbing 
the poor negroes of their hard-earned savings. These de- 
luded people should be reimbursed by the United States Gov- 
ernment. 1 am happy to say that the relation between the 
whites and their former slaves have greatlj^ improved ; the 
colored people are learning that their old masters are their 
best friends. They are also learning to save money, and to 
provide homes for their families. Several of the freedmen 
are making handsome deposits in Savings Banks, and are so- 
licitous for the education of their children. The public 
schools for the colored people in Charleston are regarded the 
best in tlie South. We owe the freedmen a de'jt of grati- 
tude for their humane consideration of the wives and children 
of our soldiers diiring the late war, who were left mainly to 



45 



their mercy. Their subsequent conduct has been equally 
creditable, especially when you consider their sudden eleva- 
tion from ignorant slaves to enfranchised citizens. For our 
cotton, rice and sugar estates, there is no labor equal to that 
of the freedman. I do not think that we shall get a more 
quiet and law-abiding labor for domestic service than the 
negro. I am pleased to know that the ill feeling which was 
at one time so bitter between the Worth and South no longer 
exists. Their unbounded^liberality to the cities afflicted with 
the yellow fever scourge and distressing earthquakes can 
never be forgotten. 

Immediately after the war there was such an overturning 
of society, that I was not sure the South would be a desirable 
place in which to live. The welfare of my children was, of 
course, paramount to every other consideration. As you are 
aware, I travelled extensively in the Old and New World, 
making the tour of Europe twice, and extending my travels 
North, and in the far West to the Rocky Mountains. After 
a careful survey of the different portions of the country that 
I have visited, my convictions are that the section embraced 
in the "Confederate States" is tbe most desirable portion of 
the habitable globe! and that the most abused State in the 
Union, in spite of bad legislation and disorganized society, is, 
in many respects the '■'■Eden'^ of the South; and were ray 
life-time earnings in gold dollars, I would unhesitatingly 
convert them into just such securities, real and personal, as 
we now possess, and cast my lot with her people. I am con- 
vinced that there is more in the man than in the place. If 
I had a dozen sons, it would be my desire that they should 
always make the South their home. 

The Southern States have a future that is beyond computa- 
tion, embracing as they do an area of nearly one million 
square miles, or more than six hundred millions of acres of 
land, with a population greater than that of the United States 
when I was a boy. The natural resources of the South are 
equal to those of any other portion of the globe, while the 



4:6 

climate is unsurpassed. Just oue product of the soil, the 
past j-ear, will yield nearly three hundred%iillions of dollars; 
and the day is not far distant when the production of cotton 
in the Southern States will amount to ten million bales, worth 
Hve hundred millions of dollars, and our sons will live to see 
more of this great staple manufactured into yarns and cloth in 
the Southern States than is now consumed in North America. 

The South possesses all the natural resources for her true 
independence. Alas! onr people ^have ranch to learn and 
endure before they will break the shackles which have bound 
them so long to the North and West. If we keep our corn 
cribs in Ohio, our smoke houses in Illinois, our hay stacks in 
Maine, and our machine shops in Lowell, we may dream of 
freedom, but will never realize it. 

God has given us rich lands on which we should raise 
everything we eat, whether it be of animal or vegetable origin. 

The lemon, orange, sugar cane, rice, and the famous sea 
island cotton, flourish. Our forests are almost exhaiistless — 
valuable not only for timber, but also for tar, pitch and tur- 
pentine. We have also a broad extent of territory valuable 
for upland cotton, grain, grasses and cereals, while our min- 
eral resources, especially in coal and iron ore, startle the, 
imagination. Then why should we despoud ? "There is 
life in the old lana yet." Indeed there is. 

My heart is in the cause of immigration — and no one will 
welcome more heartily than I a steady influx of the right 
kind of immigrants — either from our own or foreign lands. 
We want brains as well as muscle — capital as well as mechan- 
ical skill. We want a cessation of political agitation, peace 
at home, and peace abroad. My closing advice to the young 
men is to stand by their native South. 

EFFECTS OF THE WAK. 

The late war left the South in an impoverished condition. 
Wealth and capital perished in the desolating track of our 
terrible domestic strife. 



47 

The business interests of onr entire country have been, for 
many jears, passilig through a transformation; new rules, 
new laws and customs are forcing themselves upon our peo- 
ple, old channels of trade are broken up by new railroads. 
Cities are fighting with each other for the monopoly and 
control of trade. The South, however, has her rich soil left, 
and inexhaustless mines of iron, coal, and her seven millions 
of emancipated slaves are working far better than we had a 
right to expect. Now, ,that the system of labor is changed 
in the late slave States, the people should adapt themselves 
to the new state of things. The large landed estates should 
be divided into small farms, as in many, parts of Europe, and 
immigration from all quarters invited. I am convinced that 
ill the strictly cotton, sugar and rice sections of the South, 
there is no labor equal to that of the descendants of Ham. 
The negroes' habits are simple, economical and cheap; they 
are adapted to our climate, and should be encouraged to 
remain with us. It is for their interest, and for our interest, 
that they should abandon the idea of emigrating to Liberia, 
or to any other country. Kind treatment, with proper care 
and oversight, is what tbey require, and what they should 
receive at our hands, as well for past as for future services. 
Their education must not be neglected; give them a chance to 
show what they can do for themselves, morally, mentally 
and physically. I have faith in their future, and of their 
great value to the South. I cannot believe, as many do, 
that education will hurt the negro, any more than it does tlie 
laboring white man, but will elevate him, and make him 
more useful to the country, even as laborers. Let them 
substitute labor for political agitation, and find their better 
pleasure and profit in making potatoes that Presidents. This 
done, and wo shall once more become a more prosperous 
Nation. Politics, as now administered, are too degrading, 
even for the negroes to indulge in. The South has ever 
been, and ever will be, a power behind the throne; her soil 
and climate furnish the choicest productions known to man. 



48 

In addition to her rich and cheap lands, she has splendid 
harbors, not only to receive and export her own products, 
but also for the agricultural staples of the great West, which 
must iind the shortest outlets to Europe through Southern 
ports, by means of railroads and steamships. It cannot bo 
disguised that the South has suffered greatly in her com- 
merce, in consequence of railroad discriminations in favor of 
the North. Water must find its level. If we do our duty, 
trade will, sooner or later, be restored to the Southern States 
and Southern cities. The South must control more railroads. 
The war destroyed nearly all of our banks. For a number 
of years there was a demand for money at 12 and 15 per 
cent. J!^o business could long stand such high rates as were 
charged, mainly in consequence of the hazard in loaning, 
and uncertainty of repayments. 

Soon after the war cotton, which is the great Southern 
staple, sold at fifty cents per pound. People from all sec- 
tions saw a golden harvest in its production. Capital and 
labor which had been otherwise employed, were applied to 
the cultivation of cotton, resulting in over production. The. 
returns of the farmer are only annual. There must, there- 
fore, be heavy outlays before anything is realized from the 
crops; and as many of the planters were stripped of their 
property by the war, they had to begin life without means, 
and were compelled to contract debts. Poorly cultivated 
crops, unfavorable seasons and low prices have, in too many 
instances, embarrassed both planter and merchant. If our 
people are ever to succeed, they must learn to economize, 
both in farm and household expenses. 

It was told me in London that the distingnished philan- 
thropist, Greorge Peabody, would walk two squares to save a 
penny. If Peabody had not learned to save and economizg 
to such a degree as to be called by some "'mean" and 
"stingy," he never would have been able to make the 
munificent donation of two and a half million dollars to the 
poor of London, or to give for education in the South twc 



49 

million dollars. "Would that we had more economical men 
like George Peabody to help the struggling poor. 

HARD TIMES. 

Commercial despondency seems to liave taken possession of 
our people, and the cry of Hard Times has become a stereo- 
typed lament. It is on the lips of nearly every man. woman 
and child. Let us look into this important subject, in which 
the welfare of so many is involved, and see if we can ascer- 
tain the causes which have produced the hard times so much 
complained of. 

Our people have been reading — perhaps not without cause 
— the Book of Lamentations, and crying wolf! wolf! until 
the hungry animal has appeared, alas! at too many doors. 
That there are scores of individuals and families in all the 
towns and cities who are witliout employment, cannot be 
denied, and that the competition for places in commercial, 
mechanical and professional pursuits is so great as to leave 
but a scant remuneration even to those who are so fortunate 
as to tind work. Wages must still decline, as few concerns 
are more than makmg expenses. Some writers are of the 
opinion that in consequence of the great improvement in 
macinery, that the production of goods far exceeds the wants 
of the world, thereby reducing the prices of manufactured 
commodities, and also the price of labor, hence the suffering 
and hard times among the working classes. Men and women 
are worked to the verge ot endurance, and far beyond it, so 
far as health is concerned, in order to keep soul and body 
together. 

The question may reasonably be asked, why, then, do so 
many flock to the cities ;ind towns, almost to perish, when 
tliere is to he had so mucti cheap and uncultivated land ? 

Perhaps when our people fully understand chat all human 

wants are supplied from the soil, then, and not till then, will 

they turn their attention to agriculture, the first and best 

employment of man. Before the late Civil War, the planters 

4 



50 

of the Southern States, as a class, were both prosperous and 
happy. Alas! how many homes have been made desolate, 
and families reduced to poverty, by that cruel war. In the 
footprints of war are scattered the seeds of famine, pestilence 
and death. War in all ages has not only been a source of 
misery, but also of crime. The very ground seems cursed 
by war, and ''brings forth thorns and thistles." Man's 
brief life on earth is at best a sorrowful one; often beset 
with'troubles from the cradle to the grave, and these troubles 
are intensified by war. One way to overcome troubles and 
"hard times" is to meet them with a resolute will and un- 
tiring perseverance. 

1 was in Europe in 1866, during the terrible conflict 
between the Prussians and Austrians, and passed through the 
lines of the two armies during the armistice, numbering a 
million and a half of men. In a few months two hundred 
thousand Austrians and Prussians were killed in battle, or 
died from disease. As I rode in ambulances through the 
battle-field of Konigratz, the roadside was strewn with the 
dead, and the houses were filled with the sick and the 
wounded of both armies. Forty thousand brave soldiers fell 
on the battle-field of Konigratz. Long trenches were dug, 
into which were thrown, indiscriminately, men and horses. 
I saw hundreds of women working in the fields, and repair- 
ing the railroads which had just been torn up by the con- 
tending armies. 

Thus it is that war not only drives the women into the 
fields to cultivate the soil, but also into the workshops to fill 
the places of the men who are engaged as soldiers in the 
armies. 

If any one has a doubt of the depravity of fallen nature, 
let him visit a battle-field, where myriads of his fellowr 
creatures have been slain by their neighbors and relatives. 
Xo wonder the Crown Prince of Germany exclaimed : 
"What an awful sight! How dreadful war is, after all! " 
when he saw the poor wounded soldiers by the thousand crawl- 
ing to the brook to drink water and die. 



51 



Five years later I witnessed the disastrous defeat of the 
French by the Prussians. King William was crowned 
Emperor of G-ermany in the great capital of the French 
nation. We had to get permission from the German com- 
mander to enter the sacked city of Paris. The Royal Palace 
and other public buildings were still smouldering from the 
destructive fires kindled by the infuriated Communists. 

Oh, the horrors of war! Who can measure its baneful 
effects ? It robs nations of their wealth, and parents of their 
sons. I am convinced that most of the troubles of life, and 
the hard times we endure, are caused by wars and intemper- 
ance. Then, if we would have success, let us cultivate 
peace, temperance and unity. 

WHBEE THEEE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAT. 

Most of my young friends have seen or heard of Charles- 
ton, the "City by the Sea;" but few have looked upon 
Venice, the "City in the Sea." Let me tull them of an 
adventurous friend of mine who, in his eighteenth year, 
became restless in his pent-up Nacoochee Valley home, and 
resolved in his own mind to visit Venice, Florence and 
Rome. But how was this long and expensive journey to be 
performed by a mountain boy, with only ten dollars in his 
pocket ? The lad firmly believed that ' ' where there is a 
will, there is a way," and that almost anything can be 
accomplished by perseverance and well directed energy. He 
knew that Italy was far, far away, but he did not slop to 
count the cost, or to grow weary before he had encountered 
the fatigues of the journey; neither did the lions on the 
highway frighten him. His rule in life was not to cross a 
bridge until he came to it; his father possessed horses, bug- 
gies, money, and a beautiful farm, but as his adventurous 
son was leaving home in his teens, he concluded not to offer 
him any facilities, imagining that he would return the sooner 
to the paternal roof. 



52 

When he started out on this long and perilous journey, 
there was only ten miles of railroad iu the State of Georgia, 
and but a few hundred in the whole South, Had there been 
thousands, they would have been of no avail to him. He, 
however, adopted the best plan for one with a capital of ten 
dollars, who has resolved on sueing Italy. He began his 
journey on his two sta'ong feet, propelled by a resolute will 
and untiring perseverance. To lessen his expenses, he made 
a bargain 'with a kind-hearted man, who was going with his 
wagon one hundred and fifty miles, to A.ugusta, Ga., on the 
road to Italy. The boy was to assist the old man in cooking 
and scotching, for his board. The fare, of course, was 
rpugh, and the lodgings at night on the ground; but this 
out-door life developed the muscles, if not the brains of the 
youth, and was an important training to one who had to 
cross the Atlantic and climb the Alps before he could look 
upon f:Lir Italy., 

One liniidred and fifty miles of the journey was performed 
at an expense of only one dollar! It will b* seen that our 
friend's original capital was uearly whole when he had 
accomplished that much of his journey. He was now among 
strangers, and could not proceed further until his means 
were increased; but Italy he was determined to see. He 
herefore went to work witli Mr. Hand, at a salarv of liftv 
dollars per annum. This was, indeed, a microscopic view 
of the Italian skies and lakes. But his efforts were in the 
right direction. Years rolled on, and our friend continued 
to cherish the desires of his childhood. 

After long years of toil and struggle, he took a portion of 
his family and resumed his journey, crossing the boisterous 
Atlantic Ocean, and climbing the snow-clad Alps. This 
time he did not cease to travel until he was safely landed on 
the banks of the Grand Canal in beautifQl Venice. We saw 
him as he triumphantly stepped into a gondola. A few 
moments more and he was sailing up the Grand Canal, amid 
splendid palaces and towering old churches, and now he is 



53 

safely landed at the Royal Hotel Daneili. Hei-e we will let 
him, after his long and fatiguing jouTney, rest. 

IN VENICE. 

We left our friend at the Royal Hotel, but he is not yet at 
the end of his journey, and it is not his habit to tarry long, 
even at first-class hotels. We next see him in the historic 
halls of the Palace of the Doges ; he ' peeps into the deep, 
dark dungeons, and then at the Bridge of Sighs, and now he 
enters the renowoed Cathedral of St. Mark, which is one of 
the richest churches in the world. As it is his custom to 
investigate the numerous objects of interest thoroughly, he 
stops and looks with wonder and admiration upon historic 
illustrations, the work of many centuries ago. Here we will 
leave our friend, for we think after so long a journey, and so 
many years of toil and struggle, he is richly entitled to 
remain amidst these blissful scenes, and realize the dream of 
his childhood. 

I have giveti this sketch of the mountain boy to encourage 
the young, and to teach them that where there is a will, there 
is a way, they must learn that to succeed in anything of 
importance, perseverance and self-denial are necessary. If 
they are poor, and desire to travel and gain information, 
they must work hard, and begin early to add a little each 
year to their means. It is not important, or even expected 
that all should look upon Italy, but there are beautiful scenes 
in our own sunny land to be visited, and domestic homes to 
be made comfortable, wliich requires both money and per- 
sonal effort. 

Life is a journey and pilgrimage. Very few starting out 
realize the trials and temptations that lie in their pathway. 
Much of the success of life depends upon one's own exertions. 
Young man, whatever may be your position, your purposes 
or pursuit, aim to act well your part, for "therein the honor 
lies." Make up your mind promptly what should be done, 



54 

and what yoa are titted for, and then do your part faithfully, 
to God and man. Vacillating and hesitating men rarely 
succeed. 

EEOEOSSING IHE ALPS. 

Our adventurous youth recrossed the Alps, and visited 
Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Glasgow, London, and Liver- 
pool, before returning to his Charleston home. He is now 
82 years old, in perfect health, living in his advanced ago an 
active, happy, useful and contented life, surrounded by his 
children, and eighteen grand-children. 

As he still feels a deep interest in the young, he revises 
and republishes "Letters to Young Mea" — hoping that the 
publication at this time for gratuitous distribution may be 
helpful, both to the young men and young women. During 
his long life lie has always felt an interest in the young, 
knowing from experience how hard the most of them are' 
compelled to struggle for a living. 




DANIEL HAND. 
OLD PAETNEE OF GEORGE W. WILLIAMS. 



SKETCH OF DANIEL HAND, 

Founder of the Daniel Hand Educational Fund ($1,500,000) for Colored People 
Old Partner of Geo. W. Williams. 



THE DAOTEL HAND EDUCATIONAL FUND AND 
ITS OEIGIN. 



By Professor G. S. Diokerman, New Haven, Conn., June, 1900. 

It is nearly twelve years since an October day in 1888 
when the friends of education were made glad by the news 
that a gentleman of wealth had given a million dollars for a 
fund to maintain common schools among the colored people 
of the South ; and it is over eight years since the further 
announcement was made that this gentleman had added half 
a million more to this fund by bequests of his will. The 
gratification caused by these announcements was enhanced, 
as many will remember, by an account of the way in which 
the estate had been accumulated and secured to the donor of 
the fund; and here the name of another gentleman was 
heard, whose fine sense of commercial honor in the care of a 
business trust called forth expressions of universal admiration. 

In view of the fresh and widely extending interest now 
shown -in the practical education of the colored people, it 
seems an opportune time to review the story of the Haad 
Fund, and observe how the proceeds of this great charity are 
applied to the people for vyhom it was established. The 
story is of a property made in the South, by Southern busi- 
ness men, in the exercise of business sagacity, and finally 
devised to go back to the South in such a way as it was hoped 
would best promote the interests of the whole Southern 
people. 



56 

"'" Daniel Hand was the son of a New England farmer. He 
was born in Madison, Connecticut, July 16, 1801, and grew 
up on the farm till he was sixteen years of age. He then 
went to Augusta, Georgia, in the year 1818, and became a 
clerk in the store of his uncle, Daniel Meigs, who was an old 
merchant of that place, and of Savannah". Augusta was then 
a small place of about 1,500 inhabitants, but afEording the 
special business advantages of a thriving center in a new and 
fast developing region. The young man made the most of 
his position, and in due time succeeded to his uncle's busi- 
ness. For a number of years he was in partnership with 
Erastus C. Scranton who also came from Madison^ and 
afterward returned to CJonnecticut where he was the Mayor 
of New Haven in 1865. 

It was during tiiis partnership, and in the fall of 1838, 
that a boy of seventeen made his appearance at the store in 
Augusta, Ga. , and asked for employment. He had come on 
foot a hundred and tlfty miles, from his Naeoochee home in 
the mountains of Northern Georgia, had been seven days on 
the road, and had spent less than one dollar of the ten with 
which he had started. Such boys usually get the place they 
are after, and he did. This was George SiV^alton Williams who 
was henceforth to be associated with Mr. Hand in a personal 
intimacy that was to continue for over fifty years. 

Mr. Williams was born in Burke County, North Carolina, 
December 19th, 1820. His father. Major Edward Williams, 
was a native of Easton, Massachusetts, where he grew up to 
the business of a farmer, but, "becoming tired of the cold cli- 
mate," went in 1799, at the age of twenty, to Charleston, 
South Carolina. Two years later he removed to the mountains 
of Western North Carolina, and went into business there with 
Mr. Daniel. Brown, a Pennsylvania Quaker, whose wife was 
a Virginian. Soon afterwards he married Mary Brown, his 
partner's daughter, and of their children, George W. was 
the fourth and youngest son. In 1822 the family removed 
to Georgia, where Major Williams purchased an extensive 



fertile farm in the beautiful valley of Nachoochee, Georgia, 
and this was the home from which the son went to Augusta. 

Mr. Williams was a clerk for four years, till he reached 
the age of twenty-one, when he bought Mr. Scranton's inter- 
est, and the firm became Hand & Williams. At this junc- 
ture the young partner became convinced that the sale of 
intoxicating liquors, a lucrative part of the business, was 
wrong, and ought to be given up. Mr. Hand thought that 
such a step would be very hazardous, but after considerable 
discussion assented to it, and the sale was abandoned. So 
far from losing by this cliange, the profits steadily increased, 
and continued to do so for ten years. Then, witli the sur- 
plus of capital at their disposal, it was decided, in 1852, to 
open a house in Charleston, under the name of George W. 
Williams & Co. This was the first wholesale grocery busi 
ness established in Charleston upon temperance principles. 

Mr. Hand now lived in the North, and attended to those 
transactions which needed to be carried on in New* York, 
while Mr. Williams remained in the South, and had the 
direct management of the Cliarleston business. 

This was the situation in the years immediately preceding 
the War between the States. As that event drew on, Mr. 
Hand, being opposed to secession, and sfraid of the results 
of the war, decided to remain in New York, and in 1861 
withdrew from the firm. His life-time earnings, however, 
were in Charleston, and had to take the chances of the war. 

With the progress of hostilities, gold debts due the firm 
by the million went into Confederate money. The Seques" 
tration Act was passed, and, as Mr. Hand was no longer a 
citizen of the Sonth, measures were taken by the authorities 
in power to sequestrate his interest in the firm of George W. 
Williams & Co. It was Mr. Williams' problem to guard 
the fortune of his old partner, which had been left in his 
care. With cliaracteristic sagacity and promptness he put 
Mr. Hand back into the firm, and proceeded with the busi- 
ness on the old basis ; then he despatched a messenger to the 
North, urging Mr. Hand to come to the South without delay. 
The summons was obeyed. Failing to get through the lines 



58 

at Baltimore, Mr. Hand took the "Western route, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching New Orleans. 

There he was arrested and imprisoned as a "Lincoln spy." 
Mr. Williams telegraphed the Louisiana Governor as follows : 

Chaelbston, November 14, 1861. 
Governor Moore, New Orlecms, La. : 

Deae Sie — Mr. Trenholm's dispatch was based on a conver- 
sation Mr. Hand had with another party ; he has not seen him 
for years. I feel sure that T can satisfy you that Mr. Hand 
is not a Lincoln spy or black Republican. See that he has 
every comfort and protection. I am a native Southerner. 

Geo. "W. Williams. 

Mr. Hand was allowed to go, under promises to report at 
the headquarters of the Confederacy in Richmond. On the 
way there he stopped at Augusta to spend a night, when a 
mob was raised about the hotel, and the Mayor, who was his 
friend, took him to jail for safety. This brought Mr. Wil- 
liams up from Charleston to share the jail with him till a re- 
lease could be effected. Arriving at Richmond he was con- 
fined in Libby Prison for nearly a month to await his trial as 
a spy, and finally having received a fair hearing, he was set 
free, with the one only condition that he would not go beyond 
the lines of the Confederacy. 

Meanwhile a suit was entered upon in Charleston to seques- 
trate Mr. Hand's interest in the firm of George W. "Williams & 
Co. The best counsel was employed by Mr. Williams for 
the defence, and after a sharp contest, which lasted several 
days, the case was decided in Mr. Hand's favor, thus saving 
his property from confiscation. 

A.S South Carolina at that time did not afford a congenial 
atmosphere for a man of Union sentiments, it was thought 
best for Mr. Hand to go to the mountains of Western North 
Carolina to await the movement of events. Mr. Williams 
divided with him what gold he had, and Mr. Hand gave over 
to Mr. Williams all his personal property, as well as his real 
estate, to be held, managed and considered as if it were his 



59 

own. The senior partner tlieri went to Asheville, and lived 
there in seclusion till the end of the war. 

With this retirement of Mr. Hand to the mountains, the 
whole responsibility for the business passed to Mr. Williams, 
and this for that long war period of trying exigencies. 
During the early stages of the war, JSTorthern and Western 
houses sent to the firm large quantities of goods, with full 
knowledge that the laws of the Confederacy were against 
collecting such debts. They relied entirely upon tlie honor 
of the firm. Two cargoes of coffee were imported from 
South America by the firm, one of which succeeded in 
ruuniug the blockade, though chased by Federal gunboats to 
the gates of the city. Mr. Williams drew one check on the 
Bank of Liverpool for fifty thousand dollars in gold, to buy 
clothing for the soldiers of the South, and was paid in 
Confederate currency. He also distributed provisions to the 
soldiers furnished for a period of five years. 

Upon the surrender of Charleston to the Federal Troops, 
Mr. Hand immediately went down from Asheville to confer 
with Mr. Williams, and then, leaving everything to his care, 
departed for the North, where he passed the remainder of 
his life. He never returned to the South again, even for a 
visit, but his thoughts wete there constantly, and he watched 
the movement of events with untiring interest in the welfare 
of the Southern people. As an effort was made to break 
his will, his correspondence with Mr. Williams from 1866 to 
1889 was sent to Gov. Morris, Mr. Hand's attorney. 

Mr. Hand's surrender of his business interests to Mr. 
Williams was most complete. In a letter to Mr. Williams, 
of December 10, 1866, he writes: "I am entirely content to 
place my interests in your individual charge and protection; 
do for me as you do for yourself, and as if I were your 
brother." 

Again, in the January following, he says: "You are so 
much better acquainted with our affairs, and all that pertains 
to them, than I am or ever can be, it would be folly for me 



60 

to pretend to advise. I know jo\i will use your best 
judgment. ' ' 

Similar expressions occur often in a correspondence of 
twentj-five years, which bears on every page the proof of 
mutual confidence and unvarying personal esteem. When- 
ever 'Ar. Hand wished for f nnds, either for his own use, or 
for the many generous expenditures tie continually made in 
behalf of others, he wrote for Ihe sums required, and they 
were at once sent, but the bulk of what he had originally left 
in Charleston remained absorbed in the business, and in 
investments of uncertain value. 

The close bond of friendship between these two business 
men may be explained perhaps in part by the fact that Mr. 
Haad was bereft of his wife and only surviving child at very 
near the time when young Williams entered his employ. It 
was quite natural in his loneliness that he shonld have turned 
to the attractive young man for companionship, and that this 
attachment should have ripened with the vicissitudes of 
later years. 

A letter of March 29, 1881, intimates the desirability of 
a division of their property, as follows : "In rtigard to the 
business suggestions in my last letter^ they were chiefly made 
on your account, rather than my own. As I view it, the 
whole matter is practically with you alone. No one else can 
form any adequate or just estimate or opinion in the case, 
not excepting myself. Were all the statements and items in 
your books before me, I could make no use of them, to any 
good purpose. So I wish you to continue to do at present 
and in future as in the past; act for me as you do for vour- 
self, and as you deem best in all cases, that I may receive 
in due time what you regard as fairly coming to me from 
our joint assets. At your convenience will you give me 
your own irresponsible estimate of the probable outcome 
in the future ? This need not embrace any catalogue of the 
ityms. as I cannot judge of those. I shall be happy to wel- 
come you here at any and all times, as may consist with your 



61 

business leisure and convenience. As regards iny health I 
do not realize any dangerous disease, but my powers are 
lowered, weakened, and in a large measure have left me; 
especially my legs and feet, my head, ears and ej es ; my 
deafness separates me from society almost entirely." 

A few weeks after receiving this letter, Mr. Williams was 
in Guilford to show his account. It was nearly forty years 
after the partnership was formed in Augusta^ when the 
eortibined fortunes of the two merchants were less than 
$5,000. It was twenty years since the breaking out of the 
war, the resumption of the divided partnership, the suit in 
Court, and ^'he committal of the senior partner's affairs to 
the younger partner. And now this merchant of the South 
stood before his old employer to make a settlement. He 
showed between a million and a half and two million dollars 
in solid securities standing to Mr. Hand's account. 

'Mr. Hand was amazed. An eye witness describes the 
sceae. The call of Mr. Williams happened to be at the time 
of a family gathering. The two friends greeted one another 
at the porch, and conversed together for a while, and then 
the old gentleman came in to tell the family circle what he 
had heard. Reverting to the war times, he exclaimed : ''I 
never expected to receive a cent. I always knew Mr. Wil- 
liams would do the best he could, but this is the most extra- 
ordinary thing I ever heard of." 

Previous to this interview, Mr. Hand knew of course that 
he would receive a considerable estate from his investment, 
'but he had no idea of the amount. He had made a will in 
1872, bequeathing sums amounting in the aggregate to some 
$600,000, of which $100,000 was uncertain. This indicates 
his estimate of the estate at that time. Probably this esti- 
mate was not greatly changed till the interview with Mr. 
WUliams. The reinstating Mr. Hand in the firm of Geo. 
W. Williams & Co., showiag in the profits, made a difference 
in Mr: Hand's estate of more than a quarter million dollars, 
besides saving his entire fortune from conliscatiou. 



62* ^ 

The original will was altered from time to time by the 
addition of codicils to the number of fourteen, the last of 
which was written January 12, 1899. The document, there- 
fore, covers a period of over sixteen years, and enables us to 
trace the development of Mr. Hand's purpose as finally 
embodied in his philanthropic bequest. 

His habit of mind was that of a political student, and his 
daily companion to the close of his life was the New York 
Tribune. His letters show as already intimated, that he 
was intensely interested in the progress of the South. He 
writes, December 23, 1883 : "The great common interest 
of the South is a vast and engrossing subject, and also the 
reasonable probabilities of the colored people there for the 
future. I do not see that either party has any plan or policy 
on the subject. Yet there is no subject of more importance 
before the American people. The Government, having 
made them citizens, will protect and guide them as such. 
The late decision of the United States Court, limiting their 
supposed rights, is of the utmost importance to both sides, 
and especially to them. They are wholly dependent upon 
the white people of the States where they are, and must 
continue su for a long time to come ; and there is no real 
conflict of interests. They are to remain the peasantry of 
the South, and are invaluable as such. A few will rise above 
that, but not many." 

Again he writes in 1889, the year following his gift of the 
Fund : '"My interests in the South, and my attachment to 
the Southern people, are inseparable from my life I was 
there in trying times, but not an unkind or injurious word 
was spoken to me in all those dreadful years, I see it stated 
that Georgia has recently doubled its common school term 
from three to six months, and that it applies to all whicli is 
above all praise and all price. The color question will solve 
itself slowly, but surely, and to the advantage of all. Its 
security is in the Christian religion and the humanity of the 
people to all, for all." 



» 63 

This is the language of Mr. Hand's last letter to Mr. 
Williams. 

The will as first drawn contained charitable bequests to the 
amount of $450,000 or more, to fonnd six scholarships, to 
be called after his name; one assigned to the Presbyterian 
Church, to educate young men for the Ministry, three to as 
many New England Colleges for a like purpose, and the 
others to two institutions in the South, to train colored pupils 
to become "Public Teachers." Two years later these be- 
quests were greatly modified, and the new feature was intro- 
duced of a fund in support of primary or common school 
education for the colored people of the Southern States. 
Finally, all of the whole property, excepting certain incon- 
siderable legacies to members of his family, passed to the 
fund last named. 

The original intention was for the North to share in the 
beneficence more than the South, and white students more 
than colored, while the aid was specifically for students in 
advanced courses. But in the end, the whole was given for 
the colored race, and was defined as for elementary educa- 
tion. We can easily believe that Mr. Hand was led to these 
changes by the feeling that a property secured to him in such 
a way should be returned to the South, and that it would do 
the most good there, if employed in the manner proposed. 
An endowment like this is of value in more ways than one. 
Its pecuniary value to the cause of education is manifest, 
but it has a moral value reaching to all phases of human life. 
It tells of what wealth can do, but it tells of a manhood that 
is above wealth, that uses wealth as a tool, and casts it aside 
in a moment rather than suffer a shadow to fall upon the 
glistening raiment of personal integrity. In a country like 
ours, and in a period of engrossing material pursuits, no 
lesson is more needed than this, and it is beyond all price 
that this fund, in its perpetual ministry of instruction, is to 
stand as a memorial of the relations for half a century of these 
two business men, Daniel Hand and George W\ Williams. 



64 , 

The administration of the Hand Fund is by the Execntive 
Officers of the American Missionary Association, a Board 
elected by Congregational Christians, who meet each October 
in an annual meeting. It is a suggestive fact that while Mr. 
Hand was a member of a church belonging to the Southern 
Presbyterian Body in Augusta, Ga., and Mr. Williams was, and 
is still, a member of a Southern Methodist Church in Charles- 
ton, the custody of this fund is given prautically to a body 
of churches whose m(imbership is almost wholly in the North. 

Under such circumstances there is no little danger that 
appropriations- may be made in ways which are not the wisest 
or most effective for the accomplishment of the ends in view. 

People whose whole life has been passed in the .North, 
cannot be the best judges of how to promote general edu- 
cation in the South, especially among the negroes. The 
knowledge which comes from having lived in the South is 
indispensable; and in every Southern community there are 
high-minded men and women who are quite as deeply inter- 
ested in the welfare of their colored neighbors as the best 
people of the North. Their interest is deeper, because it is 
personal, not theoretic and far away. They have been facing 
the facts in the case all their life, and they have been doing 
their best to deal with them in a common sense way, and in 
a Christian way. Northern people who wish to do the best 
possible service for the negroes, cannot wisely proceed with- 
out the counsel and. participation of such companions as these 
in their work. 

This is especially true in the employment of such a trust 
as the Hand Fund involves. If it is possible to conceive of 
conditions inhering in a trust which should carry the pro- 
foundest moral obligations of absolute confidence in the 
integrity and sound judgment of Southern Christian men, 
those conditions all meet in this case. It was by a re-estab- 
Ushment of formal partnership that Mr. Hand's estate in 
Charleston was saved to him by the Southern merchant ; and 
can this fund, proceeding directly from such a source, be 



•65 

returned in the wisest beneficences to the Southern people 
with no intimations ever being received from George W. 
Williams and men like him as to, how it may be most jadi- 
cioasly applied ? 

The language of Mr. Hand's letters to Mr. Williams may 
be wisely recalled as offering a suggestion of perpetual signifi- 
cance to the holders of this trust. "I am entirely content 
to place my interests in your individual charge and protec- 
tion; do for me as you do for yourself, and as if I were your 
brother. " " You are so much better acquainted with all our 
affairs, and all that pertaiup to them than I am', or ever can 
be, it would bo folly for me to pretend to advise. I know 
you will use your best Judgment. ' ' 

The event shows that Mr. Hand's confidence in Mr. Wil- 
liams was not misplaced. Can the executors of his bequest 
do better than to heed his example ? There are some who 
believe that such a partnership in beneficent work for the 
colored people would increase its effectiveness a hundred fold. 



THE VALE OF NACOOCHEE. 



Some of the Chaems oe Georgia's Happy Valley. 



MENT — OONVEETING AND COUETING THE HEATHEN. 

Naooochee, Ga-.-, August. 

Some sixtj years ago tlie Hon. Henry R. Jaekson Minis-, 
ter to Mexico, visited Nacoochee with his beautiful bride. 
It was their first visit to these mountain wilds. Oh that 
occasion he wrote the following poem: 

*THE VALE OF NACOOCHEE. 

Wh^re Yonah lifts his bald and reverend head. 

The humbler Alleghany peaks above ■ 
Beneath its shadows, pleasantly is spread 

Nacoochee's Vale — sweet as a dream of love. 
Cradle of peace! mild, gentle as the dove, 

Whose tender accents from yon woodlands swell. 
Must she have been who thus has interwove 

Her name with thee, and thy soft, holy spell, 
And all of peace which on this troubled globe may dwell. 

Naooochee— in tradition, thy sweet queen — 

Has vanished with her maidens; not again 
Along thy meadows shall their forms be seen; 

The mountain echoes catch no more the strain 
Of their wild Indian lays at evening's wane; 

No more where rustling branches intertwine. 
They pluck the jasmine flowers, or break the cane 

Beside the marshy stream, or from the vine 
Shade down, in purple showers, the luscious muscadine. 

Yet round thee hangs the same sweet spirit still ! 

Thou art among these hills a sacred spot. 
As if shut out from all the clouds of ill 

That gloom so darkly o'er the human lot 
On thy green breast the world I quite forgot^ ^ 

♦Nacoochee signifies, in the expressive Jangaage of tlie fndlan, "The Evening 
Star." 



67' 

Its stern contentions— its dark grief and care— 
And I breathed freer, deeper, and blushed not 

At old emotions long, long stifled there, 
Which sfjrang once more to life in thy calm, loving air. 

I saw the last bright gleam' of sunset play- 
On Yonah's lofty head ; all quiet grew 

Thy bosom which beneath the shadows lay 
Of the surrounding mountains; deeper blue 

Fell on their miehty summits; evening threw 
Her veil o'er all, and on her azure brow 

A bright star shone; a trusting form I drew 
Yet closer to my side ; above, below, 

Within were peace and hope, life may not often know. 

Thou loveliest of earth's valleys! fare thee well! 

Nor is this parting pangless to my soul. 
Youth, hope and happiness with thee shall dwell. 

Unsullied nature hold o'er thee control, 
And years still leave thee beauteous as they roll. 

Oh! could I linger with thee! yet this spell 
Must break e'en as upon my heart it stole. 

And found a weakness there I may not tell — 
And anxious life, a troubled future claim me! 
Fare thee well! 

Heney R. Jackson. 



Yonah is one of the grand natural curiosities of Georgia, 
and is made famous by legend and traditional associations. 
Amid this world of mountains old YonaU maintains its isolated 
grandeur — this stupendous pile of granite, many times larger 
than Stone Mountain, and equal to the famous Winnsboro 
granite for buildings and monuments. 

Under the shadows of old Yonah, which is the centre of 
the gold belt, De Soto, the Spanish General, established the 
headquarters of his array. There he enjoyed the finest climate 
and most beautiful scenery in the world. The much coveted 
gold fields being discovered, active preparations for working 
them on a large scale was begun. In the meantime the strict- 
est discipline was kept up. To impress the natives with the 
superiority of the white man, a sham battle was fought. The 
roar of the cannon echoed from mountain to mountain, and 
the charge of the c'avalry, mounted as they were on their 



68 

spirited Cuban horses, filled the natives with awe and wonder. 
The news of the arrival of the marvellous people spread far 
and wide. Thousands and thousands of the natives flocked 
here to see them. De Soto and Wahoo were on the most 
friendly terms. The army was bountifully supplied by the 
Indian Chief with provisions and game. 

There were in De Soto's army a number of self-denying 
Christians, who had volunteered as missionaries to labor 
among the heathen. Prayers and thanksgiving were offered 
for their deliverance and great success in finding a land of 
health and plenty. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, in 
accordance with the custom of the Roman Catholic Church, 
was participated in by the soldiers, and by a number of 
natives who had received baptism, and become converts to the 
Christian religion. Echoee being one of the most enthusiastic 
and devoted of the number, gave much of her time and means 
to religion which promised so much. She also had her four 
children baptized, and they were faithfully instructed by the 
priests in their Christian duties. Wahoo, while he did not 
object to Echoee's new religion, and while he had the utmost 
confidence in her virtue and faithfulness to him, yet he did 
not approve of the marked attention of the Spanish ofBcers to 
his wife. He had it whispered to him that these white men 
were a very unreliable and treacherous people. As polygamy 
was practiced among the natives, they readily consented to the 
selection of fifty of their handsomest women — whether mar- 
ried or unmarried — to be the wives of the Spaniards. The 
officers highest in rank, having the first choice, presents were, 
given to the husbands or parents for the women thus obtained. 
The Indian Queen, being of remarkable beauty, of high char- 
acter, and having by hereditary usage' the custody of the 
treasures of the nation, it was not surprising that she should 
be the particular attraction of Lorenzo, a brave officer but a 
man who had deserted a wife in Spain, two in Cuba, and 
robbed a chief of his wife in Tallahassee. Lorenzo fell desper- 
ately in love with this young Indian Queen, and was not spar- 
i"_g of his, presents and of his attentions to Echoee. 



[To the Charleston News and Courier.] 
RELICS OF A FORGOTTEN RACE. 



THE SPANISH GENERAL DE SOTO ARRIVES AT NACOOOHEE "oLD 

town" with his AEMT ME. GEORGE W. WILLIAMS 

TOUCHES UPON THE TRADITIONS OF THE PAST THE 

MOUND BUILDERS IN NORTHERN GEORGIA 

A BURIED TOWN AND A WALLED SEPUL- 
CHRE, WITH A FLOOR OF POLISHED 

STONES THE ADVENTURES OF 

DE SOTO AND HIS WIDE 
DOMINION. 

Nacoochee has a history as thrilling in interest as the tales 
of, the Arabian Nights. This valley, which was walled in by 
the Blue Ridge, Yonah, Sail's and Lynch's Mountain, was 
doubtless for ages one vast lake. The fretful waters of the 
Chattahoochee, Duke's Creek and Sautee finally cut a channel 
through the rocks at the east end of the valley, and the great 
lake was drained, leaving a beautiful and fertile valley some 
seven miles in length, and in width, including Sautee, three 
miles ; with the Chattahoochee River winding through its 
green meadows. The valley is irregular ; a portion of it is 
shut in by precipitous mountains to a few yards in width, 
giving it. great natural advantages against the invasion of an 
enemy. The red man, who have been mercilessly treated by 
the white man was, for many ages, monarch of these fertile 
valleys and lofty mountains. The Cherokees, one of the most 
powerful and warlike of the aboriginal tribes, selected this 
quiet and safe retreat for the capital of a populous nation. 
''Nacoochee Old Town," as it was originally called, became 
the chief and largest town in the Cherokees nation, being sit- 
uated in the best hunting grounds of the New World, and in 
the richest gold fields in the South. 

At one time it must have been the centre of ancient civili- 



70 

zatioD. Here the, Cherokees or some other warlike race, 
surrounded themselves with long lines of fortifications, ex- 
tending through ISTacoochee Yalley, froni mountain to moun- 
tain, with here and there huge mounds thrown up, and the 
tops of the high hills levelled so as to strengthen their military 
lines of defence. On the summit of those hills, which afforded 
much more space than the mounds, the chiefs securely resided, 
surrounded by as brave knights as ever cast a lance. Many 
relics have been for the past seventy-five years found in this 
valley, and there are evidences of hard fought battles, where 
shot and shell were used. When the writer was a bo}', his 
father, who was one of the original settlers here about the 
time the Indians were driven away, owned a large portion of 
Nacoochee Valley, taught his sons the science of farming ; 
they ploughed up gunlocks, swords, broken shells, bullets, 
tomahawks, arrows, human bones and the like. 

In 183i, when the miners were digging a canal for the 
purpose of washing the beds of the streams for gold, a sub- 
terranean village was discovered, containing some forty houses 
in number. These were buried ten feet in depth. The logs 
were hewn and notched as in the present day. This village 
was covered by a heavy growth of timber, denoting its great 
antiquity and a powerful flood which submerged it. There 
was also found near this buried village under a tree fifteen 
feet in circumference, which must have been five hundred 
years old, a double mortar, ten inches in diameter, perfectly 
polished. It was made of quartz, partly transparent. Some 
of the mounds contain human bones and implements of war. 
This subterranean village was doubtless built by De Soto in 
1539. More recently a discovery was made in Nacoochee 
Valley that interested me very much. A ploughshare, near 
an Indian mound, struck a hard substance. On examination 
it proved to be a portion of regularly walled sepulchre ; the 
bottom was paved with polished stones ; the tomb contained 
many skeletons, one of immense size, also conch shells, pipes, 
and many curious pieces of workmanship, also a piece of 
inwrought copper. As the natives were ignorant of the art of 
working in copper, and never buried in walled sepulchres the 



n 

question naturally arises when these huge men lived. A 
learned historian of Copenhagen says that America was dis- 
covered in the year 985 by Biaske Horjuefsen. It is also said 
a colony from Wales settled in this country in the tenth cen- 
tury. It is more than probable that those early European 
adventurers were exterminated by the vast tribes of Indians. 
I'heir history comes to us mainly by tradition. The walled 
sepulchre was probably built by the Welsh colony from Wales 
in the tenth century. 

Perhaps "Nacoochee Old Town" was in its primitive glory 
when the adventurous Spaniards, Ponce de Leon and De 
Soto, were planning their adventures to Florida. De Soto 
was of royal blood, in the prime of manhood, just wedded to 
the beautiful Donna Isabel, the petted daughter of an earl, 
whose father made her husband for life Captain General of 
Cuba, the fairest land on earth. A time for quitting home 
and native land was fixed, a bright spring day in April, 1538. 
Amid the sound of trumpets and the roar of cannon, and the 
shouts of the multitude, De Soto, with his young bride, and 
a thousand gay knights, with seven ships, set sail for Cuba. 
Less than a month later they arrived in the Queen of the 
Antilles. De Soto spent a year in Cuba organizing the gov- 
ernment, and preparing'for further and more hazardous ad- 
ventures. 

But when did the lust for fame, power and gold satisfy 
man? Even the possession fails to do so. Being the Governor 
of Cuba, rt'as almost enough to gratify any man's ambition. 
But for more glory De Soto was ready to give up his lovely 
Isabel. Making her Queen and Governess of Cuba, the dar- 
ing De Soto bid a last and final farewell to the young bride ; 
with his braves he sailed for Florida. In May, 1539, he 
landed at Tampa Bay. It will be remembered that Florida 
at that time extended west to Mexico, and north to New 
foundland. It embraced the whole of the present United 
States and Canada. De Soto was now Governor of Cuba and 
Florida. What vast possessions ! There were landed at 
Tampa Bay 1.200 knights and soldiers, 24 priests and monks, 
many workers in wood, iron miners and assayers, 400 thor- 



72 

oughbred Cuban horses, 500 hogs, droves of cattle, and a 
score of bloodhounds to hunt the natives. This was the mot- 
ley crew who were to teach the poor Indians the Christian 
religion. 

As will be seen, De Soto did not find Florida a bed of roses. 
No sooner had he landed, than he encountered five thousand 
enraged Indians. He did not find a day's peaceful rest until 
he reached the rich gold fields of "Nacoochee Old Town." 



THE STORY OF NACOOCHEE. 



De Soto's Discovert of the Garden Spot of Georgia. 



ME. GEORGE W. WILLIAMS TELLS OE THE CHARACTER AND CON- 
QUESTS OF DE SOTO THE FATE OF PONCE DE LEON — FIGHT- 
ING IN FLORIDA FOUR HUNDRED TEARS AGO THE FIRST 

MARCH TH: 
SOANDAL- 

The excitement that prevailed in Europe upon the discovery 
of America by Columbus nearly four hundred years ago, can 
at this day scarcely be realized. New life, energy and enter- 
prise were infused into the life of the Spanish race. Avarice, 
ambition, religious zeal, and a love of adventure and conquest, 
took possession of the Spanish nation. So restless was the 
spirit .of adventure, it is said, that it was difficult to restrain 
the more ignorant from jumping into the sea that they might 
swim to the New World. The Spanish nation was literally 
Florida mad. De Soto, a man of great wealth and worth, 
before appearing at the Court of (Charles the Fifth, had 
attained distinction and success by his conquests in Peru. 
Two hundred thousand golden crowns was his share of the 
plundered treasures. Tall, commanding in appearance, hand- 
some, and brave as a lion, he looked as if he were born to 
command ; he was full of missionary zeal. 

What a queer compound is poor human nature. There was 
De Soto, a favorite at Court, rich in' treasures and olive plan- 
tations, with a lovely bride to preside at his palace at Seville. 
One would think with all these he should have been content 
to reign at a Spanish Court. Not so. He had gained glory 
and renown in the army of Pizarro. His ambition was fired, 
and a troop of gallant knights, who had fought under his ban- 
iier in Peru and shared in the rich spoils of that country, were 



u 

ready to follow him to success or death. All were animated 
by the enthusiasm which glowed in the bosom of their brave 
leader and ready to iight under the banner of the Cross. 

in my last letter I spoke of Ponce de Leon, who preceded 
De Soto to Florida. It was this brave old warrior who gave 
the name — Florida, Land of Flowers— to this new' country. 
Ponce de Leon, bowed down with age, covered with scars and 
wounds received ou many a hard fought battlefield, left Cuba 
in search of the crystal waters which he vainly hoped would 
give him renewed youth, riches and life eternal. Poor Ponce 
de Leon was shot by an Indian with a poisoned arrow. The 
old man returned to Cuba after great suffering and died of his 
wounds. His career in Florida was short and inglorious, fully 
realizing in his checkered life " that a man born of woman 
hath but a short time to live and is full of misery." Strange 
to say, the finest hotel in America has been built at St. Augns- 
tine, and will perpetuate the name of the old Spanish hero. 

De Soto, on landing at Tampa Bay, found himself sur- 
rounded ,by thousands of enraged Indians. The inhuman 
Narvaez was, perhaps, the most barbarous of the Spaniards 
who preceded De Soto. After professing great friendship for 
the natives he ordered the fierce Cuban bloodhounds to be 
turned loose upon them, and upon the mother of a chief, and 
the dogs soon tore her to pieces. He then commanded the 
nose of the chief to be cut off. N"o wonder the Indians had 
learned to associate the Spaniards with cruelty and barbarism. 
Those of them who were not killed in battle, or in cold lalood^ 
were sent to the West Indies and made slaves. De Soto was 
a different sort of man; noble, generous and high spirited, 
and from his standpoint, dealt generously with the Indians. 
The natives having been so frequently' deceived by the Span- 
iards were suspicious of the whole Spanish race. De Soto, 
after months of fighting, his men often in water up to their 
waists, decided to quit the dismal swamps of Florida, which 
neither furnished him bread, health nor gold. The army spent 
the winter in Tallahassee, where a number died of fever. 
Here he was joined by forty Spaniards of former expeditions, 
who had wandered into the mountains of the Blue Ridge and 



75 

had there intermarried with the natives. These men being 
well acquainted with the country were gladly received by De 
Soto as gnides and interpreters. They informed De Soto that 
twenty days march would bring them to a land of health and 
plenty, filled with buffaloes, deer and wild game in abund- 
ance; where there were also pearls, gold, copper and other 
precious metals. 

The army was now further strengthened by 3,000 friendly 
Indians who joined it, and 4,000 natives, who had been cap- 
tured, and forced to carry the forage and baggage. Weary 
and worn, they stopped a few days on the banks of the 
Savannah River, near where Augusta now stands. Ten days 
they marched through a muel* improved country, inhabited 
by tribes of comparatively friendly Indians, for these had not 
been slaughtered by the Spaniards, and torn to pieces by 
fierce bloodhounds as were those who lived further South. 
The army, enfeebled by the inhospitable climate of Florida, 
hungry and dispirited, now reached tlfb high lands around 
"]S"acoochee Old Town," where a goodly land is found. 
Here De Soto and his wearied soldiers rested, for they greatly 
needed it. Shut in on three sides by mountain walls, some 
of them towering 5,000 feet in the air, in quiet and peaceful 
repose, lies 

NACOOCHEB. 

"Child of the Chattahoochee ! 

Hid in the hills afar ! 
Beautiful Kacoochee, 

Vale of the Evening Star." 

"Hushed in the mountain shadows, 
With the May dew on her breast ; 

Her breath Is the breath of meadows, 
And her very name sighs 'rest !' " 

"The voice of a loved one calling 
The feet that have wandered far ; 

Come, for the night is falling ! 
aest ! with the Evening Star." 



76 

De Soto now looked with admiration upon the beautiful, 
plentiful and peaceful N"acoochee. Although the capital of 
a warlike nation, there were no evidences of anything but 
peace and quiets As was the custom of the Cherokees, the 
gates or entrances to their capital were closed. No stranger, 
however distinguished, was permitted to enter without a 
permit from the ruling chief. De Soto now caused an im- 
mense cross to be erected on a hill overlooking the "sweet 
vale of Naeoochee." Morning and night prayers were offered 
up to the one invisible God, the Creator and Ruler of the 
Universe. The showy dresses of the priests, the images of 
Christ and the Virgin, made a deep impression upon the sav- 
ages, especially upon the womfe. De Soto was particularly 
desirous of making friends and Christians of the Cherokees, 
as they possessed such wealth, power and influence over the 
neighboring tribes. He enjoined upon his men not only to 
refrain from acts of hostility, but to win them, if possible, to 
iiis cause. Unfortunttely, there was in this Garden of Eden 
an "Eve." Echoee, the beautiful and virtuous wife of Wahoo, 
King of the Cherokees, became a zealous and an enthusiastic 
convert to the new religion, as it was taught by the Spaniards. 
Like Mother Eve, Echoee was sorely tempted. Of this temp- 
tation and of the Naeoochee gold mines, in my next. 



TROUBLE IN THE VALLEY. 



A Spanish Seepent in the Indian Eden. 

*_ 

DE SOTO FINDS GOLD AND FOUNDS A TOWN THE WICKED LOEENZO 

AND HIS CUNNING ADVISEE — A DEEP-LAID PLOT 

AND A LECTUEE ON MAEEIAGE WAHOO 

PUTS ON HI8» WAE PAINT. 

Echoee, the innocent young Nacoochee Princess, was a mere 
child in the hands of the libertine Lorenzo. But her intuitive 
powers of right and tlie religious impressions recently made 
upon her, restrained her from doing wrong. Of course, she 
would be pleased with a present, as a child would with a toy. 
Among the presents most prized by Echoee, was a iine Cuban 
horse and Spanish ponies for her little daughters, Eola and 
Nacoochee. The Indian Queen gracefully rode on her spirited 
steed boy-fashion through the Valley, with Eola and Nacoo- 
chee following on their ponies. It was their habit to make 
frequent visits to Yonah. They could be seen winding their 
way to the mountain, stopping at the base of an almost per- 
pendicular cliff. Dismounting and following a narrow, dan- 
gerous and almost perpendicular path, Echoee and her daugh- 
ters are soon lost sight of in a dark cavern in Ifce side of 
Yonah Mountain, and are now in the very bowels of the 
earth; going for some distance between rocks just wide 
enough to admit one person at a time, then opening into a 
court sufficiently large to accommodate an army. Turning 
abruptly to the west a stone is removed under an overhanging 
rock and the sunlight and air streams in upon them. Below 
is a perpendicular wall of one thousand feet. From this win- 
dow in the heavens a beautiful scene is spread out before 
them. Beneath is Ijie peaceful, lovely valley of Nacoochee 
g,nd the picturesque Sautee Valley ; there is tlie populous 



78 

capital of the Cherokee nation, with its myriads of inhabitants; 
beyond are mountains piled upon mountains until the loftiest 
are almost hid in the blue sky. In a hidden recess in this 
mountain cavern Echoee cautiously removes another stone, a 
hasty look, and Echoee is assurpd that the treasures are all 
right. Carefully replacing the stone, Echoee and her little 
daughters retrace their steps, and again mounting their horses, 
after an hour's gallop they are safely at the guarded palace of 
Wahoo. Lorenzo again and again makes love and costly 
presents to Echoee but to little purpose. She remains faith- 
ful to her marriage vows. 

As rain drops will make an impression upon the hardest 
granite, the attentions of a handsome Spanish officer will 
sooner or later gain upon the affections of an untutored Indian 
Queen, unless sustained by an Omnipotent power. De Soto, 
finding the mines in ISTacoochee very rich in gold, built houses 
and began to lay out a town known as De Soto. Several thou- 
sand natives and Spaniards were employed in mining. As his 
health improved and now being prosperous his thoughts very 
naturally returned to his Queen in Cuba; his love for Isabel 
was as fresh as the day he sailed for Florida. De Soto, unlike 
Cortez and other Spanish officers, refused to take an Indian 
wife ; he submitted reluctantly to his officers and men who 
had wives in Spain marrying the natives. De Soto now began 
to make arrangements for bringing to this part of the New 
World his faithful wife and son, born a few months after he, 
sailed from Cuba. 

Wlio to#rust with this important matter was a serious ques- 
tioa. One-half of his array would gladly have volunteered- 
for this service. One hundred tried soldiers and two thousand 
friendly Indians were to form the expedition, among them 
Lorenzo. A man who will rob even a savage of his wife is- 
not to be trusted. Lorenzo had a boon companion, a subtle, 
cunning, deceitful man, who had deserted his wife in Spain 
and married a native in Nacoochee. He had lived here many 
years before the arrival of De Soto, and was well acquainted 
with the habits and customs of the natiffes. He had all the 
cunning of the Indians and knavery of a depraved Spaniard. 



79 

This fellow secretly informed Lorenzo that there was hid away 
in the deep caverns of Yonah Mountain vast quantities of 
pearls, diamonds, copper, gold and other precious metals, the 
spoils of wars and accumulations for ages of the wealth of the 
Cherokees, and that these vast treasures were, in accordance 
with hereditary custom, in charge of the wife of the reigning 
chief. To possess Echoee would give Lorenzo this vast wealth. 
This corhpanion in crime was to share in the spoils. Echoee 
was to be won by fair means if possible but was to be possessed 
at all hazards. Garillo, for that was the assumed name of 
Lorenzo's friend, informed Echoee that her refusal to become 
the wife of Lorenzo had greatly disti-essed him and had dis- 
pleased the Great Spirit. He further told her that Lorenzo 
was so much grieved that lie had determined to quit ISacoo- 
chee never to return. Echoee now began to realize how much 
of her life and happiness depended on having Lorenzo remain 
here; she could not bear the thought of losing one who had 
lavished upon her both his affections and gifts. Garillo, the 
serpent in the garden, further told Echoee that if she would 
cro with Lorenzo and take with her all of the treasures that she 
would be made a great queen in a most beautiful country and 
that her daughters, Eola and Nacoochee, would be educated 
and when grown up would marry kings and be made queens. 
Of course this fine story quite turned the head of Echoee but 
before eating" the forbidden fruit she had an interview with 
her spiritual advisers. Echoee was told by them of Adam and 
Eve, who" were placed in the Garden of Eden, more beautiful 
even than her home in Nacoochee Yalley; and of Bre's temp- 
tations, just such as she, Echoee, was exposed to» at this time, 
and of Eve's fall, and of the sin and misery broiiight upon her 
and upon mankind by the disobedience of our iirst parents; 
and of the wickedness of man since that daj ; and that we are 
all tempted and prone.to do evil, and that continually, even 
when we know that it will prove our destruction, if we do not 
repent of our sins. Echoee innocently asked if Lorenzo was 
in the Garden of Eden! She did not comprehend time or dis- 
tance; her heart was»touched with the story of the cross. It 
was. impressed. upon. .Echoee that marriage is a union for life 



80 

between one man and witli one wonaan. This was a new 
revelation to the Indian Princess, who had been accustomed 
to the idea of a plurality of wives. Echoee lost no time in 
telling her husband of Adam and Eve; of their disobedience 
and fall; of Christ, who was born of a Virgin, suffered on 
the cross, was crucified, and died for our sins. Wahoo 
listened patiently, answering only with a savage, guttural 
grunt; but when Echoee told him of Garillo's proposition, 
for Lorenzo to take her and their beautiful children to a 
beautiful country, <£lled with great cities, whose streets were 
paved with pure gold, with gates of pearl, and that she, and 
Eola. and JSTacoochee were to be made queens, Wahoo imme- 
diately put on his war cap, summoned one hundred of his 
brave chiefs, and retired with his cabinet into a deep cavern 
under Yonah Mountain. 

HOW THE SPANIAEDS ATTEMPTED TO STEAL THE CHBEOKEE 

TREASUEES AND THE QUEEN EOHOEE THE FIEECE 

CLASH BETWEEN THE INDIANS AND 
THE SPANIARDS. 

Wahoo's council of war resulted in a powerful alliance 
with the various tribes of Indians from the seacoast to the 
Mississippi Eiver. The harsh and cruel treatment of the 
natives by the Spaniards, who preceded De Soto, embittered 
them against the white man. They were glad of an oppor- 
tunity of iiniting with so powerful a nation as the Oherokees, 
to exterminate the hated Spaniards. They regarded the 
Spaniards as robbers, murderers, and despoilers of their 
families and homes. When this alliance was consummated, 
one hundred thousand brave men were ready to fight at 
the tap of Wahoo's war drum. Wahoo was not only the 
ruling chigf of the Cherokees, but was complete master of 
numerous tribes of Indians. In his day the Cherokee nation 
covered a vast and populous territory. Wahoo was a war- 
rior, patriot and hero. He and his wife, Echoee, sprang 
from a race of kings and queens. When De Soto reached 



8t 

Nacoochee, ."Wahoo was in the prime of manhood, tall and 
commanding in appearance, and looted ae if he was born to 
rule. He possessed almost magic power over his people, 
and was known, respected and feared from the seacoast to 
the mountains. No other chief possessed such a beautiful 
capital, or one so fortified by Nature, as was "Nacoochee 
Old Town." 

nature's grand castles. 

• There still stands the great Appalachian chain of moun- 
tains, rising three to five thousand feet, forming an amphi- 
theatre some twenty miles in circumference, capable of hold- 
ing an army of half a million of soldiers, with only here and 
there openings, which were easily fortified and defended. 
In the centre of this chain of mountains is the Valley of 
Nacoochee, of irregular proportions, from a mile in width to 
seven in length, with foot hills rising above the valleys from 
one hundred to five hundred feet, a£Eordiiig beantiful sites for 
homes, being sheltered from the cold northern winds by the 
lofty mountains that surround them. It was the custom of 
the Indians to level many of these hill tops to make secure 
and pleasant homes for their chiefs. Wahoo's soil was pro- 
ductive, a7id his hnnting grounds, almost boundless, teemed 
with the buffalo, deer, elk, bears, panthers, and with game 
of nearly every description; wilh a climate unsurpassed for 
health and comfort, and cold springs of water gushing from 
nearly every hill and raountaiu^^side. No wonder Wahoo 
felt proud of his home, of his unconquered warriors, and of 
his beautiful Queen and lovely children. His valleys and 
plains, all beautifal with flowers, fruits and maize, and a 
territory embracing many of the present States, rich in mines 
of gold, copper, iron and coal. All these he and his mighty 
hosts were ready to defend to the last extremity. , 

THE INDIAN QUEEN. 

™' Echoes looked like a Spanish Queen. She was tall and 
well proportioned; her long, waving hair falling to her feet; 
6 . 



82 

her complexion was bright, and somewhat of the olive cast; 
her eyes sparkled, and were of -Italian blackness. The homes 
of the Cherokees were mainly in the Appalachian Mountains, 
extending from Yirginia to the Mississippi Eiver. Their 
whole country was the most beautiful and romantic in the 
world. The men were brave, tall and robust, and much 
larger than the Indians further south. Their complexion 
was also brighter, and the women fair and handsome. The 
Oherokees, in their dispositions and manners, were grave and 
steady, dignified in their deportment, and tenacious of their 
liberties. When De Soto reached Nacooehee with his small 

* 

army, they were looked upon as objects of curiosity, and not 
of fear. In valor, the Cherokees were equal to any people, 
but they did not know of the fearful and destructive weapons 
of the Spaniards, and of their great skill in war. The day 
was fixed for Lorenzo and his comrades to depart for Cuba. 
Some of the best men and fleetest horses were selected for the 
expedition. Echoee rejected all overtures made by Lorenzo. 
She was grieved, however, beyond expression, to part with 
her Spanish lover, but neither bribes, threats nor persuasion 
could induce Echoee to prove unfaithful to Wahoo, or to her 
people. Garillo knew her every mov^ement, and to this 
serpent in the garden was assigned the duty of gaining her 
consent, or planning her destmction. He was as familiar 
with the cJherokee language as with the Spanish. 

THE SERI*ENT AT WOEK. 

Garillo, who was skilled in all sorts of mischief, informed 
Lorenzo that at a certain hour Echoee and her daughters 
would visit the cavern in Yonah Mountain. This was the 
custodian of the vast treasures of the Cherokees. It was a 
week before the time fixed for the departure of the Cuban 
expedition. It was agreed, when they accomplished their 
fiendish work, they would leave immediately, without the 
consent or knowledge of De Soto, and before they could be 
attacked by the natives. It is about as diificult to reach the 



83 

end of a rainbow, as it is to catch an Indian napping. 
Wahoo, the chief, was thorcfaghly aroused, and informed of 
all the uiovoments of the Spaniards. He had his faithful 
warriors stationed on every hilltop, and at a preconcerted 
signal, they kindled fires on the mountain tops to summon 
the warriors. In this way they could communicate with the 
neighboring tribes with almost telegraphic swiftness. Lorenzo, 
Garillo, and party in dark deeds, stealthily followed Echoee, 
Eola and Ifacochee to Yonah Mountain. Just as they were 
entering the cavern, they were stopped by this robber band. 
Lorenzo made his last appeal to Echoee to accompany him 
to Spain, and be his wife and queea. He did not only covet 
her treasures, but he was passionately in love with the beauti- 
ful Indian Queen. Echoee indignantly refused to accept his 
proposition. She was seized by Garillo. In an instant he 
fell dead at her feet; a sharp dagger, which she drew from 
her bosom, and which had been presented her by a Spaniard, 
found its way to the treacherous Garillo's heart. She had 
been warned of her danger, and was prepared for him. 
Echoee could have dispatched Lorenzo, but she hesitated. 
She and her daughters were taken prisoners. Lorenzo told 
Echoee that she was a murderess, and that farther resistance 
was useless; that her only safety was in fleeing with him; 
that unless she did so, and deliver him the treasures, she 
would be thrown from a high precipice and killed. Echoee's 
eyes flashed defiance. She preferred death rather than 
betray her trust. 

PLAYING ON A MOTHEe's LOVE. 

Lorenzo knew Echoee's love for her children. He ordered 
them to be bound with strong cords; he further directed 
that, unless Echoee instantly yielded to his requeSt, to cast 
the children down a deep precipice. Echoee would readily 
have sacrificed her own life, but when she saw that her 
pi-ecious children were to be destroyed, she was overcome by 



M 

a mother's love, and promised if Eola and Nacoochee were 
spared, she would give up the hidden treasures. The liber- 
tine Lorenzo was not satisfied with the vast treasures, but 
forced Echoee, notwithstanding her sci-eams and entreaties, 
to spend several hours with him in the cavern of Tonah 
Mountain. 

WAE ON THE TEEACHEEOUS SPANIAEDS. 

When the news reached Wahoo that Echoee and his 
daughters had been captured by the Spaniards, and the 
treasures stolen, Wahoo was kindled with rage. War was 
immediately begun. The yells and war cries were heard 
from valley to valley, the bright fires flashed on a thousand 
hills and mountain tops, signals for the warriors to assemble. 
A furious a.ttack was made on the Spaniards at every point. 
De Soto, with a strong guard, was some miles away, at the 
new town of De Soto, which he had built for those working 
in the mines. He little suspected Lorenzo's treacherous 
schemes. The hideons yells and war songs of the savages 
were the first intimation De Soto had of the deadly conflict. 
The Indians, now by the tens of thousands, poured into 
Nacoochee with tomahawks, clubs, rude arms and poisoned 
arrows. War was begun with frightful havoc. It now 
became a hand to hand fight. Wahoo, the war chief of the 
Cherokees, at the head of his brave army, fought desperately. 

THE OPPOSING WAEEIOKS. 

De Soto, the hero of many hard fought battles in Mexico 
and Peru, concentrated his little army in the centre of 
"Nacoochee Old Town."' His men had great advantage 
over the natives, as they were provided with helmets, breast- 
plates, shields, and coats of steel to repel the arrows of the 
Indians, while the natives only had furs, bear skins, with 
shields of hide, to protect them. They seized whatever 
implements they could find for weapons. They even grasped 



85 

the pots from the fire, emptyiag their contents on the head 
of the enemy; besides tables and billets of wood became 
instruments of war. The Spaniards made death charges 
of artillery. The roar of the cannon only maddened the 
natives. They were mowed down by the thousands with 
grape shot. The mailed cavaliers rode through the streets, 
cutting to pieces men, women and children. The Cherokee 
warriors, and their allies from afar, constantly increased in 
numbers, filling the air with yells of defiance and rage. 

THE FATE OF LORENZO. 

Lorenzo, after securing the vast treasures, amounting to 
many millions of dollars in value," attempted, with his com- 
rades in crime, to escape to Cuba, with Echoee and her 
daughters as prisoners. Just before reaching the Chattahoo- 
chee River, demoniac yells and war cries fell upon their ears, 
as the Indians came like an avalanche down the mountains. 
They sprang like tigers upon the treacherous Spaniards. 
Lorenzo was the fii'st victim of their vengeance. He fell, 
pie^rced by a thousand swift arrows, and was immediately 
tomahawked and scalped. The stolen treasure, the accumu- 
lation of ages upon ages, were all regained, and the queen 
and her daughters set at liberty. Poor Echoee was crazed 
with drugs, administered by Lorenzo in the mountain cavern, 
and although innocent of intentional wrong, she realized that 
an ignominious death awaited her for surrendering the treas- 
ures. Clasping her daugliters to her bosom, whom she loved 
better than life itself, imparting a mother's fond and farewell 
kiss, in deep shame and desperation, she carried them in the 
dashing waters of the Chattahoochee. They were instantly 
washed over the rapids of the swift mountain stream. The 
warriors ceased their fight to save their queen and her beauti- 
ful little daughters from a watery grave. A boy of sixteen, 
the son of a (Jhoctaw chief, reached Nacoochee as she was 
sinking. Echoee and Eola were drowned. Thus perished 



86 

the beautiful Christian Indian Queen, Echoee — the Morning 
Star. 

The tragic death of Eehoee, Wahoo's Nacoochee Queen, 
was the signal for renewed hostilities. The Indians, almost 
numberless, rushed down from the mountains upon the 
Spaniards. The enraged Indians seized the slain Spaniards' 
swords and sharp lances. A terrific havoc ensued. De Soto 
was in the thickest of the fight. The sword which made 
him illustrious in Peru, was now crimsoned with the blood of 
the Cherokee Indians and their allies. 

The Spaniards were finally overpowered by numbers, and 
made a hasty retreat, followed by the infuriated savages. 
A horrible carnage ensued. Nacoochee Valley was strewn 
with the dead and dying. The wounded Spaniards crawled 
to the banks of the Chattahoochee River to slake their 
intense thirst; many were thrown into the swift mountain 
stream and were drowned. Darkness put a stop to the 
horrible massacre. 

When the morning sun arose, the Spaniards were many 
miles beyond Tonah Mountain, on the unmarked road to the 
great Mississippi River. De Soto's army was hounded from 
day to day by the infuriated Indians. A year was consumed 
in marching to the Father of Waters. De Soto, the hero of 
a thousand battles, from the day he landed in the swamps of 
Florida, met with disasters and disappointments. His home 
in Naeoochee Valley was the onlj' bright sp()t in his three 
years march through a wilderness country inhabited by 
millions of ferocious savages. But for the treachery of his 
officers, he would have amassed great wealth in Naeoochee 
and its surroundings. The quantity of gold and other min- 
erals hid away in the valleys and mountains of the Cherokee 
nation is past computation. 

Harassed and disappointed, that great? man's spirit forsook 
him, and in 1542 he sickened and died on the banks of the 
great Mississippi. Thus ended the life of Hernando De 
Soto, one of the greatest generals of any age. To conceal 



sr. 

De Soto's death, his body was placed in a rough box, and 
sunk in the ruddy waters of the Mississippi Eiver. He was 
the first white m-^n to find a grave in that deep and turbid 
river. 

De Soto's devoted wife. Donna Isabel, spared no pains or 
expense in searching for her long absent husband. When 
the sad intelligence was reached in Havana of his death, 
disheartened by long anxiety, she died of a broken heart. 

ISTacoochee, Ga. Geoeoe W. Williams. 

NAOOOCHEE, THE DAUGHTER OF WAHOO, THE INDIAN CHIEF OF 

THE CHEROKEE NATION, ELOPED WITH SAUTEE, SON 

OF THE CHOCTAW CHIEF. 

It will be remenibered that Lorenzo was an officer in the 
Spanish Army, who betrayed Echoes, the Indian Queen. 
De Soto knew nothing of Lorenzo's treacherous schemes. 
After securing the vast treasures, amounting to many millions 
of dollars in value, Lorenzo attempted to escape to Cuba 
with the Indian Queen and her two lit*le daughters as 
prisoners. Just before reaching the Chattahoochee River, 
one mile from Touah Mountain, the Indians sprang like 
tigers upon the treacherous Spaniards. Lorenzo fell, pierced 
by a thousand swift arrows. The treasures were regained. 
Echoee was crazed with drugs administered by Lorenzo in 
the mountain cavern. Clasping her daughters to her bosom, 
she dragged them into the Chattahoochee, and they were 
instantly washed down the swift mountain stream. An 
Indian youth of sixteen, the son of a Choctaw chief, reached 
the little girl, ISTacoochee, as she was sinking The mother 
and sister were drowned. 

ISTacoochee, the only daughter of Wahoo, was saved from 
drowning by a boy of the Choctaw Nation, grew up to be a 
girl of remarkable ^auty and grace of manners. She was 
wooed by many a gallant Cherokee youth, but was won by 
the brave young warrior, Sautee, of the Choctaw Nation, 
who rescued her from drowning in the Chattahoochee. 



One dark night Nacoochee disappeared from her vine-clad 
palace; she had eloped ■with Sautee, son of a Choctaw chief. 
The father of Naeoochee summoned a hundred stout warriors 
to go in pursuit of his erring daughter. The valleys and 
mountains echoed the terrific war-whoop, as they were 
searching every hill and dale. 

Days and nights passed, but Sautee and the black-eyed 
Indian girl could nowhere be found. • 

The enraged father refused to eat or sleep. He believed 
that the lovers had sought refuge in the caverns of Yonah 
Mountain. Renewed and more diligent search was made. 

Sautee had selected a bridal chamber for his young prin- 
cess (which was amply supplied with venison and wild turkey) 
amid the rocky fastnesses of Mount Yonah. lie regarded 
the rugged cliffs rising in their native grandeur around him 
as secure from the intrusion of friend or foe. Nacoochee's 
new home must have been a second Eden. Before her stood 
out a world of mountains, rising one above another, until 
their lofty peaks were lost in the clear blue sky, while at her 
feet nestled the lovely valleys of Nacoochee and Sautee, 
covered with fragrant forest flowering trees, and brilliant 
rhododendrons and azaleas. I'Vom the crevices in her granite 
palace gushed forth pure, perennial streams, which are joined 
by a thousand mountain springs that constitute the head 
waters of the picturesque Chattahoochee River, and which, 
like the rivers that run out of the Garden of Eden, abound 
in gold. 

The cies of the wolf and night-hawk disturbed not the 
slumbers of the youthful lovers. 

But Nacoochee and Sautee could no more successfully 
conceal themselves from the revengeful warriors, than could 
Adam and Eve hide from the presence of the Father of the 
great human family, after having listeilted to the beguiling 
serpent, and eaten of the forbidden fruit. 

A savage shout of dctory announced the capture of the 
foe who had dared to rob the old chief of his daughter. 



89 



Hasty judgment was prouounced — Saiitee was to be thrown, 
iu the presence of Nacoochee, from the highest precipice of 
Mount Yon ah. 

Before the sentence was executed, the warriors engaged in 
a death song and v/ar dance around the strongly guarded 
prisoner. This was kept up until the setting sun had dropped 
behind the western mountains, and the evening star was 
looking down upon the tragic scene. 

At a signal from the old chief, four strong warriors seized 
Saiitee, and with one terrific yell, hurled him headlong into 
the deep chasm beneatli. Quick as thought Naeoochee 
sprang from the strong embrace of her father, and shouting, 
"Sautee! Sautee! " threw herself from the overhanging 
precipice. Their mangled remains were found side by side 
in the valley. 

The terrific shock well nigh broke the heart of the aged 
father. He directed that Nacooehec and Sautee should be 
buried on the banks of the Chattahoochee, in one grave, and 
a mound raised over them to mark the spot. This has been 
planted in vines and blue grass. The cypress, ivy and 
rhododendron cover the grave of Nacoochee and Sautee. 

The valleys of Nacoochee and Sautee, which unite just 
below my Nacoochee home, were named to perpetuate the 
memories of the Cherokee girl and her Choctaw lover. 

George W. Williams. 



DISCOVERY OF QOLD IN " NACOOCHEE, GEORGIA, 
AND ITS SURROUNDINGS." 

De Soto and the Indians did not take all the gold out of 
JSTaeoochee and its surroundings. After De Soto was driven 
out of Nacoochee by the Indians the gold remained in its 
snug deposits for a period of three hundred years. In 1828 
an old woman was doing her washing on a small branch that 
empties into the Chattahoochee Eiver, which runs through 
Nacoochee Valley, she stumbled over a lump of gold worth 
$5,000. Those who owned "forty-acre lots" dreamed of 
fortunes, very few of which were realized. The excitement 
was greatly increased by the discovery of another lump of 
gold worth $20,000. This was the largest nugget of gold 
that was ever found at the South. It is not an uncommon 
occurrence to find nuggets here weighing from one to three 
pounds. 

People flocked to this new El Dorado from all sections of 
the country. Even the great Calhoun did not escape the pre- 
vailing epidemic. Your correspondent, then a small boy, 
knew every by path through the mountains of Georgia; and 
to him was assigned the honor of piloting the Carolina states- 
man and others to Yonah, the mines and other places of 
interest. It was the year the "abominable" Tariff Act was 
passed and about the time Mr. Calhoun resigned his position 
as Vice-President under the hero of ISTew Orleans. Ee left 
his home in Pendleton, some sixty miles from ISTaeoochee, for 
rest and recreation. i 

I shall never forget how much Mr. Calhoun was excited. 
He would walk the floor for hours in the deepest meditation, 
frequently passing his long fingers nervously through his hair, 
which stood almost erect on his head. The great mind of 
Calhoun penetrated the future; he saw that political events 
which were then transpiring North and South would result 



91 



either in a dissolution of the Federal Union or a desolating 
civil war. Mr. Calhoun seemed to dread the one as much as 
the other. While he regarded many acts of Congress odious, 
unjust and oppressive to the South, yet he was not at that 
time in favor of a dissolution of the Union ; he stood firmly 
upon the Constitution handed down to us by our forefathers. 

The political fever, however, had not taken so entire pos-* 
session of the great Carolina statesman as that he should escape 
the gold mania ; he had studied political economy enough to 
know that gold was the only true representative of all values 
and the great leveller of social distinctions. 

It was the custom of miners and speculators who had 
"deposits or veins" for sale to prepare them for "testing." 
My father warned Mr. Calhoun against sleight of hand which 
was practiced by many of these Wall street adventurers; but 
the"" man who was wondrously wise in politics and books 
heeded not the advice, and was a child in the clutches of the 
rude miners. I accompanied Mr. Calhoun to the mines said 
to be worth millions. 

To be certain that there was no deception, Mr. Calhoun 
would select a piece of ground untouched by the spade, stand 
by and see the small trees removed, then the earth, until the 
gravel and slate were reached, which was washed before our 
eyes. If unluckily, they did not succeed in finding gold, not 
a few were unscrupulous enough to have it concealed about 
their persons, which was by the sleight of hand transferred 
into the pan. This was what was called "sp,lting/' and 
there were many victims to this mode of "cornering." Mr. 
Calhoun paid ten thousand dollars for a mine not worth as 
many hundred; he, however, purchased a vein of ore which 
proved to be of immense value. The gold was embedded in 
a stratum of rocks; there could be no deception practiced in 
such mines. Since that day thtsre have been great improve- 
ments in working the mines. The old boxes and long troughs 
have given place to the hydraulic process and all the latest 
improvements in machinery have been introduced. 



92 

The Wacoochee Hydraulic Mining Company was estab- 
lished just before the late war, mainly by enterprising l^ew 
Englanders. 

The water is carried in a canal twelve miles in length, 
which cost some forty thousand dollars. 

The canal has its source in the Blue E-idge, and is carried 

' on the side of the mountain. With its branches, which 

spread out on the ridges, thousands of acres of land cau be 

irrigated and washed. Deposits and veins of gold extend 

the entire length of the canal and its branches. 

The Nacoochee Company own, and have under lease ^ eight 
thousand acres of the best mining ground in Georgia. 

It is surprising to see with what force the water passes 
through the pipes, washing down the hills almost as easily as 
if they were so many banks of snow. 

. When and how the rich deposits and gold-bearing rocks 
were formed, is a mooted question between learned geologists 
who have given much attention to this interesting branch of 
science. 

When the Tonah Mountain and Blue _ Ridge, for nine 
hundred miles, were elevated by volcanic action, the true 
veins were formed which made the placei'S or deposits of the 
rich mines that have produced millions of dollars in and 
around Nacoochee, Ga. 

A million or more years ago, when this world was created 
by a Divine Power, it was as level as the Atlantic Ocean, 
but volcanic eruptions, which threw up the Alps and the 
great chain of mountains from the ISTorth to the South pole, 
distributed millions and billions of gold in the long range of 
mountains and valleys. 

It is thought there is more gold in JSTacoochee, Ga., and 
its surroundings than there is in the vaults of all the banks 
in the United S'Lates. How much it will cost to remove it 
from the present snug deposits remains to be seen. The 
mines have been worked without cessation since 1828. I 
was then a boy of eight years old. 



93 

Gold is fhe most precious metal in lie -world. Tr tbe 
second chapter of Genesis ^ we are told that a river went out 
of the Garden of Eden where there was gold. And the gold 
of that land was pronounced good. Gold exercises a greater 
influence over the human family than all the Kings and 
Queens. In peace or in war it represents the true value of 
all the commodities of the earth. Gold from youth to old 
age is coveted. 

A large number of miners were engaged in digging for 
gold which they brought to my brother's store in Nacoochee 
and exchanged for merchandise, gold or silver coin. At 
that time in the mountains of Georgia eight ten cent pieces 
of silver passed currently for one dollar. 

Although a mere lad, I knew enough of arithmetic to see 
that a profit of twenty per cent, could be made by buying 
the gold dust and carrying it to the mint near by and have 
it coined and exchanged for new silver dimes. It was in 
these mountain wilds, that 1 got some of my first experience 
in the "exchange business." I slept on my brother's counter 
to guard it from robbers, and received 6^ cents each night! 

Seeing the miners pick up nuggets of gold' worth two and 
three hundred dollars each, it is not surprising that I should 
get the "gold fever" up to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit — 
I prevailed on my father to embark in mining. To my great 
delight he promised to begin operations the next morning. 
That night visions of gold dazzled my wakeful eyes. 1 was 
inipatient for the coming of morning. At the break of day 
I was with my father in the barnyard ; he told me to put the 
plow harness upon "old Dick," a favorite horse he brought 
from ITorth Carolina. In a short time Dick was harnessed, 
and I was directed to hitch him to the plough. I thought 
this a new mode of digging gold, but as my father's orders 
were never questioned, I silently obeyed- 

My fattier selected a broad corn field on which to initiate 
me in the mysteries of mining. Carrying me to the field, 
he said ''now George, you see this corn ; plow four furrows 



94 



carefully between each row. This field is a sure gold miue — 
one that has never failed me. We will make corn to sell to 
those men who spend all their time hunting for gold." At 
one dollar per bushel. I followed "old Dick" and my 
father's orders to the letter. When the hard day's work 
was over, I took for supper corn bread, rye mush and milk. 
That night I was too tired and too little fanciful to dream ; 
by morning the gold fever was cured, I have never had a 
return of it. But I have had an inkling for gold! 

GEO. W. WILLIAMS. . 
ISTacoochee, Georgia. 



Sketch of the Life of George W. Williams, " 

[In the Cyclopaedia of Representative Men of the Carolinas.] 

Senior member of the Banking House of George W. Wil- 
liams & Co., and President of the Carolina Savings Bank, 
of Charleston, S. C, is an eminent business man who, from 
the smallest of beginnings, and by virtue alone of indomita- 
ble strength of v?ill has fought his way against powerful con- 
tending influences, to the front ranks of his calling. George 
Walton Williams was born in Bnrke County, N. C, Decem- 
ber 19, 1820. The Williams family are of Welsh descent, 
having emigrated to America on account of religious perse- 
cution. In 1T99, Edward Williams, an enterprising member 
of the family from Easton, Mass., came South and located in 
Charleston, S. C. A few years later he removed to the moun- 
tains of North Carolina and formed a partnership with Daniel 
Brown, a successful farmer and merchant. He soon after- 
ward married Mary Brown, daughter of his partner, and, of 
their eight children born, George W. Williams is the fourth 
and youngest son. When three years old his father, Major 
Edward Williams, removed from North Carolina to the more 
general and fertile regions of Nacoochee Valley, Ga., where 
he purchased a large and valuable tract of land, and here, on 
the very border of civilization, inhabited principally by Chero- 
kee Indians, Mr. Williams's childhood and early youth were 
passed. His father was a man of great energy, and through 
his untiring exertions the fertile valky was brought into a 
high state of cultivation. Major Williams first introduced 
herd's grass, timothy and clover, and established cheese dai- 
ries, shoe factories and like improvements, and in this way 
did much to advance the agricultural and industrial interests 
of Northeast Georgia. 

Major Williams appreciated the value of character, and 
trained his sons to habits of temperance, industry and self- 
reliance, setting before them in his own life a worthy example. 



96 

as did his most excellent wife, a woman of great energy, 
piety and benevolence. The subject of this sketch, in his 
fourteenth year, lost his good mother — a severe loss to one 
who was so much indebted to her for his earlj' training, and 
consequently home lost much of its attractions to him. Hav- 
ing a penchant for trading, his natural instincts led him to 
regard the commercial world as his proper sphere of action ; 
he determined to try a wider field to develop his pent-up en- 
ergies. Major WilHams possessed horses, buggies and money, 
but as his son insisted on leaving home in his teens, the father 
declined to offer him any facilities, imagining that the inex- 
perienced youth would return the sooner to the paternal roof. 
Nothing daunted, the boy set forth on his journey of 150 
miles to Augusta, Ga., in October, 1838. 

The young adventurer believed that "where there is a 
will, there is a way." He started on his*two strong ^feet, 
propelled by a resolute will and untiring perseverance. At 
that time there were but ten miles of railroad in the great 
State of Georgia, and hut a few hundred in the whole South. 
Had there been thousands they would not have availed a boy 
with only ten dollars in his pocket. To lessen his expenses, 
he made a bargain with a kind neighbor, who was going with 
his wagon loaded with the mountain products to Augusta, 
Ga. He assisted in cooking and scotching for his board. 
The board, of course, was rough, and the lodging at night on 
the ground, but this out-door life developed tlie muscles, and 
was an important training for a boy starting out in life with 
a determination to succeed. The journey of one hundred 
and fifty miles was made in seven days, at an expense of 
less than a dollar. He was now among strangers, in a 
strange land. Fortunately, he secured a situation with Mr. 
Daniel Hand, in a wholesale grocery establishment, at the 
nominal salary for the first year of $50 and board. He was 
prompt, active and industrious, did whatever he undertook 
to do well, and was ever watchful to promote the interest of 
his employers. Mr. Williams's genius for business rapidly 
developed. At the age of twenty-one he purchased the in- 
terest of Mr. Scran ton, and became a partner, the name of 



97 

the firm being changed to Hand & Williams. One of the 
first acts of the young merchant, on becoming a member of 
the firm, ■was characteristic of the man. He had been tanght 
by his good father that it was wrong to traffic in spirituous 
liquors. One- half of their stock in trade consisted of such 
goods. He persuaded his partner to abandon that branch of 
their business. It was predicted that they would lose the 
most profitable part of their trade by this course. Mr. Wil- 
liams would not allow pecuniary gains to turn him from a 
course that he believed to be right. With a firm trust in 
Providence he continued to prosecute his biisiness with his 
accustomed energy and forethought. So far from losing by 
his bold step, there was, from year to year, a handsome in 
crease in the profits. 

Our young moralist was encouraged in this honorable 
Christian course by his old friends, George F. Pierce, Bishop 
Andrew, James E. Evans and William M. Wightman, gen- 
tlemen high in the Church. Mr. Williams is a zealous, 
though not a bigoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. There is nothing narrow in his religious opinions 
and feelings ; he has accepted various official duties in religion 
and education. He is a Steward and Trustee of Trinity 
Church, Charleston ; a member of the Joint Board of Finance 
in the South Carolina Conference, and Trustee of WofEord 
College, to which, as well as to Emory C'oUege in Georgia, 
he has made liberal eontributious. 

Mr. Williams has been twice married; first to Louisa A. 
Wightman, in 1843, sister of Bishop William M. Wightman, 
a lady of deep piety, possessing many of the characteristics 
of her brother and of her sainted mother. His second wife 
was Martha E. Porter, a daughter of John W . Porter, of 
Madison, Ga., a lady of rare qualities of heart, mind and 
person. This marriage took place in November, 1856. They 
have four promising children, two sons and two daughters, 
and eighteen grand-children. 

Mr. Williams's domestic tastes are paramount; his little 
7 



98 

■world of home is Ms earthly paradise. Here he finds time 
to devote himself to books, the studies of which he quietly 
pursues without pretension or ostentation.. He has procured 
from time to time a library of several thousand volumes, and 
his picture gallery is filled with choice paintings. 

We have reached a painful period in our country's history, 
that which found two powerful sections on the eve of civil 
war. 

The United States Government was concentrating all its 
vast military and naval power against the States of the South, 
which had united in the formation of an independent Con- 
federacy. South Carolina having, as it were, struck the first 
blow, the strong arm of the United States was directed against 
her metropolis. The effect of this action was immediately 
felt by the business houses of Mr. Williams, the wheels of 
which could not be stopped in a day or in a month, as it was 
largely engaged in foreign and domestic trade. To build up 
the foreign trade of Charleston the house had arranged for 
the importation of sugar and molasses from the West Indies, 
coffee from South America, and bagging from India. They 
had chartered two ships, which were loading with i-ice and 
lumber for the Kio market during the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter. These vessels were to bring return cargoes of coffee. 
As it required six months to make the round voyage, Mr. 
Williams ordered, in the event of the blockade of Charleston, 
the H. P. Kussel to proceed to New York with her cargo of 
6,000 bags of coffee, marked G. W. W. & Co. The vessel 
was sailing as fast as wind and tide would carry her into the 
very jaws of the enemy. In the meantime the United States 
Government had passed the "Confiscation Act." On arrival 
in jSTew York both vessel and cargo were attached. Mr. 
Williams had previously taken the precaution of drawing the 
exchange with bills lading attached, on Brown, Shipley & 
Co., of London, thus saving the cargo of 6,000 bags of 
coffee, which was sold at a profit of |30,000. The brig 
"West India" was to run the gauntlet and enter Charleston 



99 



if possible; this she did successfully in October, 1861. 
Under a raking lire of the blockading fleet the Confederate 
soldiers were thus furnished with 3, 000 bags of the best Eio 
coffee. 

At this time the great game of war was desolating the 
South. Five of Mr. Williams's partners were in the Confed- 
erate Army, and all of his clerks in service. Food of every 
description became scarce, and prices became higher from 
day to day. In this condition Mr. Williams no longer had a 
heart for trade. As Mr. Williams was an Alderman of the 
City of Charleston, and Chairman of the Committee on Ways 
and Means, Mayor Macbeth needed his services in Charleston 
to aid in managing the finances. 

The State Legislature had appointed Mr. Williams commis 
sary to procure provisions for the soldiers' families, and he was 
appointed by the City Council of Charleston manager of the 
subsistence stores to procure supplies for the poor of Charles- 
ton. Mr. Williams, having correspondents in all of the South- 
ern States, at once adopted measures to procure the needed 
supplies, which were issued under his personal supervision, 
without charging one cent for his services, or for rent on the 
buildings that were occupied. 

Mr. Williams, with his usual skill, promptness and energy, 
threw himself into this labor of usefulness, and through his 
exertions thousands of the destitute and suffering were sup- 
plied with food daily to the end of the war. The friends of 
Mr. Williams regarded this beneficent enterprise and lal)or 
as the crowning achievement of his life. 

The gigantic undertaking, under the most trying circum- 
stances, shutout by land and sea with its endless details of 
duty, its cares, trials, difliculties and responsibilities was of 
an exhausting character, and proved almost beyond his power 
of mental and physical endurance. Nevertheless he held his 
ground, and stood steadfast at his post to the last. 

The very day that the city fell, he issued rations to some 
ten thousand people, all grades and colors, from his private 
residence located near Hampstead, in the northeastern part of 



100 

the city ; he had lemoved from George Street, in consequence 
of the bombardment. 

So great was the pressure the daj of the evacuation, that 
it was necessary to barricade the doors of the dwelling, and 
distribute the provisions through the windows, for everything 
in Charleston was in the wildest state of confusion. At one 
moment, when the crush was greatest, a terrible explosion 
toot place at the Northeastern Depot, by which it was said 
several hundred persons had lost their lives, and it was be- 
lieved that the immense powder magazine in the Half Moon 
Battery, near his dwelling, had been blown up. The panic 
occasioned by this dreadful catastrophe beggars all description. 

It will be seen from these details that Mr. Williams was 
in Charleston when the city was evacuated by the Confederate 
forces. 

Through his appeal to the retiring Confederate General 
the day before the surrender, he obtained an order written by 
K. C. Gilchrist, the General's Private Secretary, for all re- 
maining supplies and stores of the Confederate Government. 
These were destined to the flames, but were thus saved by his 
prompt action. 

The fires caused by the burning of cotton, the gun boatsj 
and in part by incendiaries, were then raging fiercely, and 
threatened to lay the city in ashes. In this crisis Mr. Williams 
called on the Mayor to urge upon him the necessity of surren- 
dering the city, especially as the fire department was disor- 
ganized, in consequence of its members being arrested by the 
small squads of Confederate soldiers, who had been left in 
Charleston for that purpose. 

Mayor Macbeth appointed Aldermen. W. H. Gilliland and 
George W. Williams to be the bearers to Morris Island of 
the following communication : 

To the General Commanding the Army of the United States, 
at Morris Island : 

Sir : The military authorities of the Confederate States 
have evacuated this city. I have remained to enforce law, 
and preserve order, until you take such steps as you may 
think best. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

(Signed) Oeaeles Macbeth, Mayor. 



101 

In the meantime Mr. Williams, learning that the Uniteu 
States troops, under Colonel A. G-. Bennet, were landing 
on Atlantic Wharf, in the rear of the old Exchange, he 
proceeded to that place, and had an interview with Colonel 
Bennett. Mr. Williams informed him of the disorganized 
condition of things in Charleston, and asked for assistance 
to aid in extinguishing the fires. This assistance was fur- 
nished by Colonel Bennett. 

After the interview the subjoined reply was sent to the 
Mayor's note : 

Headquarters United States Forces, 
Charleston Harbor, 
North Atllntic Wharf, February 18,1865. 

Matoe Chaeles Maobeth : 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your com- 
munication of this date. I have, in reply thereto, to state 
that the troops under my command will render every possible 
assistance to your well-disposed citizens in extinguishing the 
fires now burning. I have the honor to be, Mayor, very 
respectfully. Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) A. G. Bennett, 

Lieut-Col. Commanding U. S. Forces, Charleston. 

The navy took possession of Fort Moultrie and Castle 
Pinckney, and a volunteer party of ten men from Mnrris 
Island planted the United States flag on Sumter. The 
soldiers took possession of the Citadel and Arsenal. Mr. 
'VP'illiams procured from the Federal military authorities 
a guard to protect the several mills and warehouses in which 
the provisions had been stored, and thus saved from the 
devouring flames food enough to sustain twenty thousand 
people for three months, which he issued to the citizens 
after the fall of Charleston, when they had neither money 
nor the means of procuring a support. White and black were 
thus rescued from great want and suffering. 

Twenty-three years had come and gone since Mr. Williams 
left his Nacoochee home. He had, by his superior business 
talents, accumulated a larger capital than could be used to 
advantage, even in their extensive Augusta house . . 



102 

Having been for some years favorably impressed with 
Charleston, he visited that city in 1852, and established the 
wholesale grocery house of George W. Williams & Co., on 
strictly temperance principles. The sales in the Augusta 
and Charleston houses were soon increased to two million 
dollars per annum, and- the profits from one hundred thousand 
to two hundred thousand dollars per annum. Mr. Williams 
was elected a Director in the State Bank of Georgia, at 
Augusta, at the early age of twenty-three. It was in this 
well-managed institution that he gained his first knowledge in 
banking. Just in the prime of vigorous manhood, at the 
breaking out of the War between the States we find Mr. 
Williams at the head 'of two of the largest commercial houses 
of the South, an Alderman of the City of Charleston, Chair- 
man of the Committee of Ways and Means, which position 
he held during the entire war ; director of the Bank of South 
Carolina , also of two railroad companies ; the financial coun- 
sellor of a host of friends ever ready to engage in all public 
works and enterprises which looked to the prosperity of his 
adopted City and State. During the war, through his untir- 
ing exertions, thousands of the destitute poor were supplied 
daily with food. On the landing of the Federal troops, Mr. 
Williams secured their services in extinguishing tiie fires then 
raging in various parts of the city. He thus saved from the 
flames, and distributed, food enough to feed 20,000 people four 
months. It was not Mr. Williams's intention, at the close of 
the war, to engage again in the mercantile business, but to 
establish a bank. Mr. Williams went to Washington in 1865 
and procured the charter for the First National Bank of Char- 
leston, capital $500,000, intending to be President, but his old 
friends and customers desired him to return to his old busi- 
ness, and his was the first house to resume business in Charles- 
ton after the war. He at once commenced the erection of 
large warehouses in the burnt district for the storage of cotton 
and fertilizers and his extensive stores on Hayne street were 
filled with merchandise. He also opened a banking house and 
in a short time was fully immersed in business. His firm re- 
ceived as much as 75,000 bales of cotton in one season, in cash - 



103 

value about |5,000,0'00, besides doing a grocery and fertilizing 
business of many millions. Some fifty partners have been 
associated with him in his long business career, many of them 
having been brought up from the humblest office grade and 
many have retired with fortunes. Mr. Williams has divided, 
including interest, profits arising from his various firms since 
he began business in Augusta, Ga., in 1842 to the present time, 
more than twenty-five million of dollars. This will show what 
ten dollars will do when handled by one of Mr. Williams's 
push, thrift and energy, and is a valuable lesson for the youth 
just starting in life. The banking department of George W. 
Williams & Go's business increased to such an extent that they 
found it necessary to sScure larger accommodations for that 
branch, and in 18Y5 Mr. Williams purchased the fine brown 
stone building, 1 Broad street, which had been erected by the 
State Bank of South Carolina, at a cost of $100,000. *To this 
eligible location he removed the Carolina Savings Bank and 
the Banking Department of George W. Williams & Co. 
Since then Mr. Williams has devoted himself almost exclu- 
sively to banking and in winding up his old mercantile and- 
fertilizing firm. His object in establishing the Carolina Sav- 
ings Bank, in conjunction with 'the banking business of Geo. 
W. Williams & Co., was to afford persons of moderate means 
an opportunity of husbanding their resources. He felt that a 
Savings Bank, properly conducted, would tend to encourage 
frugality, industry and thrift among the laboring classes, white 
and black, and also teach the young the habits of saving and 
economy. It also gave him an opportunity of training his sons 
to strictly business habits. 

Before closing this sketch, we desire to record one of the 
noblest acts of Mr. Williams's life — pure conduct of a typical 
Southerner. I refer to his steadfast ^and unfiinching friend- 
ship for his old partner, Mr. Daniel Hand, in the trying and 
perilous times of the late war. When it was announced at the 
[North that a large sum of money, the accumulations of a war 
trust, had been paid to Mr. Daniel Hand by a Southerner, it 
was flashed over the wires, headed, " Komance of Finance.' 
The marvel was that a Southern man could be found who 



104 

would turn over a million and a half of dollars without being 
asked to do so. Telegrams were sent to Charleston inquiring 
into the particulars of the transaction ; for it was understood 
that Mr. George W. Williams was -the Southerner alluded to. 
As has already been stated, Mr. Williams went from his home 
in JSTccoochee, Ga., to Augusta, and in his eighteenth year 
procured a situation as clerk with Mr. Daniel Hand. So 
energetic and faithful was the mountain boy, that he was made 
a full partner at the age of twenty-one. It was then and there 
that the foundation of Mr. Hand's fortune of two or more 
millions of dollars was laid. At that time Mr. Hand was not 
worth $5,000. Mr. Williams was the chief manager in Charles- 
ton. Mr. Hand being opposed to secession, and afraid of the 
results of the war, withdrew from the firm in 1861, and de- 
cided not to corae South, but to remain in New York. His 
lifetiine.earnings, however, were nearly all in Charleston and 
had to take the chances of the war. In the meantime the war 
between the North and South raged, gold debts due the firm 
by the million went into Confederate money. Each section , 
passed the Sequestration Act. 

As Mr. Hand was no longer a citizen of the South, and 
was known to he a Union man, the Confederate authorities 
took measures to sequestrate his interest in the firm of 
George W. Williams & Co. Mr. Williams finding that his 
old friend's interest would be confiscated, if he remained at 
the North, sent a messenger to Louisville, Ky., requesting his 
immediate return. This was fearlessly done, notwithstanding 
Mr. Williams was informed that if he brought Mr. Hand to 
Charleston, his house would be destroyed by a mob. He also 
reinstated Mr. Hand as partner in his firm, at a cost of 'more 
than a quarter of million of dollars to himself. Mr. Hknd 
failing to get through the lines at Baltimore, took the West- 
ern route. On arriving in New Orleans he was arrested and 
imprisoned as a "Lincoln spy." Mr. Williams telegraphed to 
Governor Moore of Louisiana, vouching for Mr. Hand's in- 
tegrity. He finally succeeded in getting Mr. Hand out of 
prison, but he was sent under guard to Richmond, then the 
seat of the Confederate Government. While passing through 



105 

Augusta, Ga., his old home, the Mayor found it necessary to 
send Mr. Hand to jail to protect him from a mob ; the Mayor 
was his old friend, and accompanied him to the jail. Mr. 
Williams went to Augusta at once, and shared Mr. Hand's 
quarters in the cold walls of the jail until his release was 
secured. After much vexation , trouble and expense, Mr. 
Hand was sent to Richmond and confined in the Libby 
Prison nearly a month awaiting his trial as a spy. In the 
meantime a vigorous suit was commenced in Charleston to 
sequestrate Mr. Hand's interest in the Charleston firm. Mr. 
Williams employed the best of counsel, and after an exciting 
contest, which lasted for several days, the suit was decided in 
Mr. Hand's favor, and his interest in the firm of George W. 
Williams & Go. was saved from confiscation. The Court and 
jury decided that Mr. Daniel Hand had not forfeited his 
estate by change of residence, or by any "treasonable act 
against the State or Confederate Government." 

As South Carolina at that time was not a comfortable home 
for one suspected of Union sentiments, Mr. Williams divided 
his last gold dollar with his friend, and advised him to go to 
the mountains of North Carolina to await the issues of the 
war. Before leaving Charleston, Mr. Hand confided all of 
his personal property to the man who had stood by him under 
suctf trying circumstances, to be held, managed and consid- 
ered as his own. The real estate was already in Mr. Wil- 
liams's name, and needed no transfer. Having been so se- 
verely dealt with by the Confederate authorities, he decided 
to go ISTortli the first opportunity, never to return, which 
resolution he carried out to the letter. 

During the early part of the war. Northern and Western 
houses furnished Mr. Williams's firm with large quantities of 
goods, with a full knowledge that thelaws of the Confederacy 
were against collecting such debts ; they relied entirely upon 
the honor of the firm for their pay. 

All debts of honor Mr. Williams felt his duty to pay. He 
started money North via. Atlanta and Louisville, Ky., but it 
was intercepted by the vigilance committee forbidding money 
paid to the enemy, threatening criminal prosecution if it was 



106 

done. Mr. Williams being determined to provide for the 
payment of these debts, remitted $400,000 sterling exchange 
to Liverpool and London. When the war was over, the debts 
were paid in full, with interest. 

As the war progressed, Mr. Williams's fortune, and that 
of his partner, was fast going into Confederate money and 
Confederate securities, with a prospect of almost total loss. 
In this emergency, Mr. Williams naturally looked around for 
other investments, hoping to save something out of the 
general wreck. He learned that cotton could be bought in 
Greorgia and Alabama at 7 to 10 cents per pound. Prompt 
measures were taken to secure 25,000 bales, storing the 
cotton in the most secure places he could find ; he also saw 
that there was a panic at the North in Southern State and 
city securities ; they were being forced in the market at. 33 
cents on the dollar ; believing that those secuiities would be 
worth nearly par when the war was over, he invested in them 
$500,000. Confederate money continued to decline in value, 
while the price of cotton rapidly advanced. Heal estate 
could still be bought with Confederate money ; thinking there 
would be less risk in holding real estate than cotton, he sold 
cotton at 20 to 40 cents per pound, and invested in farm 
lands in Georgia, and 100,000 acres of well timbered lands, 
at $1 per acre. He also purchased in Charleston and iiiftlie 
interior of the State $500,000 worth of real estate. It was 
in such investments, including the purchase of sterling ex- 
change, with a very large volume of Confederate money that 
had been collected in for gold debts due, the firm were in a 
measure saved from total loss. And it was in that way that 
Mr. Hand's fortune, of which he recently gave one and a half 
million dollars for the education of the "freed slaves" of the 
South, was saved. Mr. Williams still keeps up a correspond- 
ence with his old friend, Mr. Daniel Hand, who, is now ninety 
years old, quite feeble, but sound in mind. 

Mr. Daniel Hand, who gave one and a half million dollars 
for the education of the colored people of the South, was an 
earnest member of the Presbyterian Church, and was Super- 
intendent of the Sabbath School of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Augusta for thirty years. 



107 

The gift which will principally illustrate Mr. Hand's phil- 
anthropy is known as the "Daniel Hand Educational Fund for 
Colored People," amouuting to more than a million and a half 
dollars in interest bearing securities, to be held in trust by 
the American Missionary Association. 

Mr. Hand died in Guilford, Connecticut, in 1891. His old 
partner, Mr. George W. Williams, is still actively engaged 
in business in Charleston, S. C, now in his eighty-second year. 
Mr. Hand did not live long enough to see the practical work- 
ing of his munificent gift, but generation after generation of 
the people of the South, both white and black, will rise up 
and call him blessed. 

Mr. Williams is endowed with strong will-power, great 
tenacity of purpose, is quick in perception, fertile in resources, 
is active and energetic, with a tough, wiry, rather than a ro- 
bust frame, enjoying uniformly excellent health. His life 
has been one of devoted industry, and earnestly practical 
results. Inured from youth up to close application to some 
useful occupation, Mr. Williams is as actively engaged as at 
any former period of his life. He rises at 6 o'clock, and is af 
his Bank promptly at 8.30 A. M. In his business transactions he 
does not waste time or words, but acts, as it were, by intuition, 
rarely stopping to reason, but reaching his conclusions by his 
firSt impulse. ("Instinct," he says, "is honest, while reason 
is subject to a thousand influences, and is often unreliable.") 

Mr. Williams has allowed himself few seasons of repose or 
recreation, but has found time to visit Cuba, Canada, various 
portions of the United States, and has made the tour of 
Europe twice. An example of the wonderful versatility of 
Mr. Williams is found in his literary works. Amid the tur-^ 
moil of a commercial career, and during the busy years 
through which he has passed to the honorable position he now 
holds, he has found leisure to present to the world in literary 
form, some of the results of his vast experience. From time 
to time he has written, modestly, without effort or pretension, 
yet with an ability which would do credit to some of the 
practiced pens of literature, a series of letters upon topics of 
high interest. His "Letters to Young Men," (twenty thousand 



108 

letters to young men have been gratuitously distributed in 
the past twenty years) "Success and Failure," '-Making and 
Saving," may be perused with profit by all who wish to emu- 
late the worthy example of a worthy man. He has also pub- 
lished a volume of 500 pages, "Sketches of Travel in the Old 
and New World." 

There is no citizen in the South, who, by his teaching and 
example, and by the introduction of wise and beneficent 
measures, and by the foundation of a financial institution for 
the encouragenfent of the young, by building and founding 
commercial houses, has been of more benefit to the city and 
State of his adoption, than George W. Williams. 



IFrom the Charleston News and Courier. 'i 



QEORQE W^. WIUUIAMS «& CO. 



THE THIRTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY, MAY, 1874. 



A EEMAEKABLE AND INTEEESTING CELEBRATION — INADGDEATION 

OF THE OAEOLINA SAVINGS BANK A GEAND OOMMEE- 

CIAL BANQUET THE EEMAEKS OF MESSES. WIL- 
LIAMS, BUIST, ANDEBWS, T. T. SIMONS, THE 
EEV. J. T. WIGHTMAN AND 0THEE8. 

Seldom has Charleston known a more pleasant and inter- 
esting gathering around the festive board, than that which 
met on Saturday afternoon, to celebrate at once the 32d anni- 
versary of the great mercantile and banking house of George 
"W". Williams & Co., and the inauguration of "The Carolina 
Savings Bank," an addition to our banking facilities, which 
is the offspring of the energy of the distinguished head of 
the firm, and for which it is safe to predict a career as won- 
derfully prosperous as that of every other business enterprise 
launched under his auspices. The name of George W. Wil- 
liams & Co. , long before the war, had become as familiar as 
household words to the commercial community of Charleston, 
The history of the house is a record of spotless probity, in- 
domitable energy, remarkable tact, and success that has been 
as unvarying as it has been brilliant. Even more remarkable 
has been the individual career of Mr. Williams. He is em- 
phatically a self-made man. For more than the third of a 
century that he has guided the fortunes of the firm, he has 
had no less than twenty-five partners, many of whom have 
retired with fortunes, while all have acquired a competency. 



110 

The hoiise to--day occupies a proud position among the great 
business iirms North and South. It is worthy of note, tliat 
all of Mr. Williams's partners began as clerks in his house. 
The main establishment is on Hayne street, but the immense 
business of the lirm requires the use of over a dozen large 
wai chouses, many of which have been built since the -war in 
difierent sections of the city. Such a business, of course, 
gives employment to a large clerical force, besides twenty 
drays, and about one huadred colored laborers 

The Carolina Savings Bank, the inauguration of which was 
celebrated May 2d, 1874, was chartered at the last session of 
the General Assembly. Tlie Bank is situated in the rear of 
the Hayne street establishment and has a new and handsome 
front on Church street. 

At 2 o'clock, Saturday, a company of several hundred, 
including some of the most prominent citizens of Charleston, 
the clerks in the firm of George W. 'Williams & Co., and a 
number of invited guests, assembled in and near the private 
office of the senior partner. Among the guests were lawyers, 
doctors, merchants, bankers, brokers, factors, architects, and 
representatives from the ministry the army, the Bench, the 
press and the field of letters. The young men of the estab- 
lishment assembled in the same room, and to them and to his 
guests, Mr. Williams delivered the following address: 

REMARKS OF MR. WILLIAMS. 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : This being tlie thirty-second- 
anniversary of a long business career, and the time fixed for 
the opening of the Carolina Savings Bank of Charleston, I 
have deemed it a fit occasion to invite you to unite with the 
partners and employees of our firm in celebrating the day. 

You must not imagine, because your speaker has been for 
more than the third of a century engaged in commerce, that 
he is an old man. Far from it. The truth is, he began 
business in his teens, and it is difficult for him to realize, up 
to. this day, that he is anything but a boy! Young or old. 



Ill 

he bas made up his mind that his work is nearly accomplished; 
and that in a few brief years the young men around him must 
take his place in the busy marts of trade. It is his earnest 
desire to see them, not only successful merchants, but making 
for themselves names honored in society. 

It is a happy provision of Providence that we are permit- 
ted to take only a retrospective view of life. If I had known 
thirty -six years ago what toils are necessary to secure even a 
moderate degree of success, perhaps I should not now be 
striving to do the work of a dozen men, but would be pur- 
suing the occupation of a farmer in the peaceful and fertile 
Valley of Nacoochee, Ga. 

I have not, my young iriends, as you may well imagine, 
found life a bed of roses, neither will you; there is, however, 
much of real pleasure in the daily discharge of one's duties, 
especially when we can see that our efforts are being crowned 
with success. 

As each of you, doubtless, desires to learn something of 
the secret of success, perhaps I shall not have a better oppor- 
tunity than the present of giving you my hard-earned busi- 
ness experience — beginning, as I did, in a financial crisis, 
and passing through many periods of commercial storms, 
which not only tried men's pockets, but their honesty and 
integrity too. 

The problem of success has been to me a life-time study. 
I have read the biographies and studied the characters of 
imany of the most successful men of the Old and New World, 
and have gone to the wisest man of ancient times to receive 
his testimony. I have also been a close observer of the con- 
duct of those witli whom I have had business transactions, 
and have watched with no small degree of interest the causes 
which lead to the failure of so many. By this precaution, 
I have avoided the rocks on which they were wrecked. 

I say, with health and the blessings of Heaven upon your 
labors, there is no reason why eYerj young man present 
should not succeed. 



112 

Honest success is salutary, not only to individuals, but the 
State. A firm composed of twenty partners acts as much 
upon the principle of competition as if there were but two. 
One of the advantages of a copartnership embracing many 
partners is, that the head of the firm selects from his clerks 
and acquaintances men who can fill certain departments of 
the business better than he could himself; when, perhaps, if 
the same men were left to manage for themselves, ten out of 
twelve would fail. 

To aid you in this good work before us, we have invited our 
friends to meet to-day not only to celebrate the anniversary 
of an old commercial house, but to witness the christening 
of one of its children. The Caeolina Savings Bank of 
Chaeleston. 

Having been for many years the financial adviser of numer- 
ous friends, 1 have long felt the necessity of establishing a 
Savings Bank in which my friends could, with safety, deposit 
their money, receiving for the same a fixed semi-annual 
interest. Such an institution we to-day inaugurate. Your 
speaker reluctantly stands Godfather to this new-born — he 
feels the responsibility — he is used to responsibilities, an d hav- 
ing assumed this, his best efforts will be exerted to make this 
daughter of Carolina a success and useful to the whole com- 
munity. His character, and the character of those associated 
with him, are pledged that the money deposited in the 

-V CAEOLINA SAVmOS BANK '7> 

shall be as secure as if invested in United States Bonds or 
English Consols. • 

My friends will pardon me, in this connection, for saying 
that in varied business transactions, amounting in the aggre- 
gate to more than one hundred million of dollars, our house 
has never failed to meet, to the hour, every pecuniary obli- 
gation, whether written or verbal, except for a short period 
during the war, when their remittances were intercepted. 



113 

It should be the aim of those of small means to seek safety 
rather than high rates of interest; it is seldom that the two 
go together. A Savings Bank, properly conducted, tends to 
encourage frugality, industry and thrift among the young 
and laboring classes, affording them the opportunity of hus- 
banding their resources. Many of you remember the great 
benefits derived from the old '"Charleston Savings Institu- 
tion," which was destroyed by the war. 

We need more banking capital to build up the waste places 
of Charleston; the high rates of interest have been a hind- 
rance to the Commercial, Manufacturing and Agricultural 
interests of the City and State. The late war was a political 
earthquake that shook the Southern States from centre to 
circumference, laying waste the finest portion of creation. 
Three thousand millions value in slaves, and as many millions 
of dollars in currency^ banking capital, bonds and the like, 
were swept out of existence at the surrender of Lee. While 
these misfortunes were overwhelming to the old men, their 
sons must not succumb, but struggle manfully to restore the 
country to its former prosperity. The old and middle aged 
have not, as a general thing been able to adapt themselves 
to the changed state of affairs; despondency has laid its frigid 
hand on them, paralyzing their energies. Some young men 
are averse to slow accumulations, their heads are filled with 
scheming speculations. "Hundreds and thousands" are in- 
significant in their eyes; they look for a few lucky turns of 
the wheel of fortune to make them millionaires ; they hope to 
cope successfully with Stewart, Astor and Yanderbilt. 

A few words more and I have done. A crusty old bache- 
lor friend of mine felt it his Christian duty to warn young 
men to beware of widows, my word of caution to you is to 
beware of lawyers. Lawyers, yoii know, must live,; that fact 
I discovered in my youthful verdancy. My friend intormed 
me that there was nothing like the Charleston Bar in talent, 
integrity and virtue, this side of Boston. Said he, there is 
my attorney, Petigru, you can trust him" not only with your 



114 

SOUL, but with your MONEY too. Indeed, jou cannot go 
amiss in selecting from the old members of the Charleston 
Bar. But, Mr. Williams, selecting an attornej- is a very 
serious thing — very. And remembering my Augusta expe- 
rience, I groaned a responsive amen. It is, Mr. Williams, 
almost as important as choosing a wife; and you know, Mr. 
Williams,' if you were in search of a wife, you would not be 
likely to select from among the old ladies, however clever 
they might be. Another amen from me gaye my friend to 
understand I appreciated fully his touching words of counsel. 
I summed him up thus: In choosing a wife, I must select 
from among the youthful, and the same rule must govern in 
the selection of a legal adviser. I followed his advice to the 
letter; and from among the large number of the then promi- 
nent young men at the Charleston Bar 1 chose one in whom I 
have ever since confided, and of him I will say to-day, that 
he Las been faithful as a friend as he has been able and suc- 
cessful as an advocate. He is with us now. Gentlemen, 
permit mo to introduce the Hon. Henry Buist. 



LETTER FROM DANIEL HAND, MR. WILLIAMS' 
EAELY FRIEND. 

New Haven, May 20th, 1874. 

Mr. Geo. W. Williams, Charleston: 

Deak Sie: I regret that I could not be with you on the 
happy occasion of the thirty-second anniversary of your house 
and the inauguration of the Carolina Savings Bank. You know 
I have had a long, diligent, and laborious life. Yet I feel 
that I am in a great degree, if not mainly, indebted to you 
for the favorable results finally attained so unexpectedly, and 
so gratifying and so fortunate to me. How little did I antici- 
pate any such results when you first became a, party to our 



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then laborous and moderate business. 1 have known some- 
thing of the business of Augusta for more than half a cen- 
tury, and I am confident in all that rime there has been no 
other instance of success in any department at all compared 
to yours. Yon are yet in the prime of life, and may reason- 
ably hope for many years of health, vigor and eminent use- 
fulness to yourself and others. I hope your family may long 
be spared to you, and you to tliem; and that the divine 
blessing may be upon you and abide with all during all your 
lives. Ever your friend, 

DANIEL HAND.