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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
115
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.