He had also been a Confederate brigadier-general. There were two other democrats in the delegation, Gen. P. M. B. Young and Col. Wm. P. Price; but these had served in the preceding Congress. When the new State Legislature met, Hon. Thomas M. Norwood, of Savannah, was chosen to succeed Dr. H. V. M. Miller in the United States Senate. Colonel Norwood was a man of scholarly attainments, a brilliant writer, especially in the vein of satire, and a most cultured gentleman; but he possessed no personal magnetism, he lacked initiative, and as a consequence held the toga for only one term. Chief-Justice Joseph E. Brown, in the meantime, having resigned the judicial ermine to become president of the company leasing the Western & Atlantic Railroad, Governor Bullock designated as his successor Hon. Osborne A. Lochrane, one of the state's most gifted sons, but a strong supporter of the policies of reconstruction. Robert E. Lee, the illustrious commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and one of the greatest soldiers of the age, according to the unbiased judgment of military critics, died at his home in Lexington, Virginia, on October 12, 1870. Two days thereafter, the Georgia Legislature, then in session, adopted the following resolution: "Robert E. Lee is dead. The brightest of virtue's stars has fallen; the noblest of patriotism's exemplars is gone; the peerless hero and the guileless Christian sleeps with Washington; the Union has lost her most gifted pupil and soldier; the South her most loved son and peerless chief; mourning darkens the whole land, and the heart of the South is in tears; such a death, so great a loss, and so overwhelming a sorrow, stay the hand of labor, and suspend the contests of the day: therefore "1. Resolved, That the General Assembly will attend the citizens' meeting of the city of Atlanta, to be held on Saturday morning next, to give expression to the feeling of sorrow, which fills the public heart. "2. Resolved, That a committee of two from the Senate and three from the House be appointed to confer with the committee of arrangements of said citizens' meeting as to the participation of this General Assembly in the same. "3. Resolved, That the Senate and House adjourn tomorrow, each House to adjourn to Monday morning. "Approved October 14, 1870." Only a few months before his death, General Lee, in the spring of 1870, came to Georgia for a brief visit to the grave of his father, the renowned "Light-Horse Harry" Lee of the Revolution.* The latter was buried at Dungeness, on Cumberland Island, having died at this place while visiting the family of his deceased comrade-in-arms, Gen. Nathanael Greene.† In a letter, written from Savannah, on April 18, 1870, Robert E. Lee thus speaks of his filial pilgrimage to Dungeness: "We visited Cumberland Island where Alice decorated my father's grave with beautiful fresh flowers. I presume it will be the last time I shall be able to pay it my tribute of respect. The cemetery is unharmed * The remains of "Light Horse Harry" Lee were exhumed in 1914 and taken to Lexington, Virginia, where they now occupy a crypt in the chapel of Washington Lee University, beside the ashes of Robert E. Lee. + Fitzhugh Lee's "Life of General Lee," Great Commander Series, New York, 1899, p. 410. and the grave in good condition, but the house at Dungeness has been burned and the island devastated. I hope I am better." But it was not to be. He resumed his arduous duties only to lay them down in a few short weeks. The end came gently but suddenlyalmost in a flash. It was not disease in the ordinary sense that severed the mysterious thread of life, but anguish of soul. Six months from the date when the above letter was penned the renowned warrior fell asleep at Lexington, bequeathing to his fellow-countrymen and to the whole Anglo-Saxon race, the untarnished sword, the matchless example, and the immortal name of Robert E. Lee. On November 1, 1871, the newly elected State Legislature assembled in Atlanta. Both houses were overwhelmingly democratic, a result which had been foreshadowed in the fall elections; and throughout the state. there was profound rejoicing. The downfall of the radical regime in Georgia was at hand. Hon. L. N. Trammell, of the Forty-third District, was elected president of the Senate and Hon. James M. Smith, of Muscogee, speaker of the House. The State Senate at this time was a perpetual body, half of its old membership holding over, while the other half was newly elected. Prominent among the state senators were: Rufus E. Lester, John C. Nichols, L. C. Hoyle, Charles C. Kibbee, Thomas J. Simmons, Wm. M. Reese, Wm. S. Erwin, George Hillyer, E. Steadman, and James R. Brown. The leaders in the House were: Morgan Rawls, Joseph B. Cumming, Claiborne Snead, Henry Jackson, E. F. Hoge, Joel C. Fain, J. H. Guerry, John I. Hall, J. W. Renfree, John W. Wofford, E. D. Graham, R. W. Phillips, Wm. D. Anderson, R. L. McWhorter, George F. Pierce, Jr., W. P. Johnson, Isaac Russell, Emanuel Heidt, L. J. Allred, and W. H. Payne. But Governor Bullock was not on hand to greet the law-makers. He had read the handwriting on the wall. Impeachment loomed before him. Exposure was imminent. How to escape the evil day was a question uppermost in the executive mind. There was only one safe course to adopt; and just one week in advance of the ominous day set for the assembling of the State Legislature, Governor Bullock played his trump card. On October 23, 1871, Georgia's chief-magistrate fled the state between two suns, quietly slipping his resignation into the hands of Benjamin Conley, president of the Senate who, pending an election, became governor ad interim. At a special election held on the third Tuesday in December, Hon. James M. Smith, of Muscogee, then speaker of the House, was elected, receiving 39,705 votes, with only a few scattering ballots cast in opposition.* When the Legislature re-convened after the Christmas holidays, Speaker Smith transmitted his resignation to the governor; and Hon. Joseph B. Cumming, of Richmond, formerly speaker pro tem., was elected speaker. Georgia had called one of her most distinguished sons to the governorship; and thus fell the curtain upon the last act in the tragic drama of reconstruction. * House Journal, p. 25. CHAPTER I GEORGIA'S REDEMPTION FROM CARPET-BAG RULE-JAMES M. SMITH TAKES THE OATH OF OFFICE AMID GREAT REJOICING HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS CHIEF JUSTICE LOCHRANE RESIGNS ONE OF GEORGIA'S MOST BRILLIANT PERSONALITIES-HIRAM WARNER BECOMES CHIEF JUSTICE -Ex-Gov. CHARLES J. JENKINS EMERGES FROM RETIREMENT-RESTORES THE SEAL OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT-HIS LETTER TO GOVERNOR SMITH-PRESENTED WITH A FACSIMILE OF THE SEAL-A DRAMATIC INCIDENT THE LEGISLATURE APPOINTS A COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE FRAUDULENT BONDS OF THE BULLOCK ADMINISTRATION-THOMAS J. SIMMONS-JOHN I. HALL-GARNETT MCMILLAN— THE COMMITTEE'S ARDUOUS TASK-IN SESSION FOR TWO MONTHSBONDS TO THE AMOUNT OF $7,957,000 FOUND TO BE FRAUDULENT— ACTS PASSED DECLARING THESE BONDS NULL AND VOID-UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO ARREST THE FUGITIVE EX-GOVERNOR RETURNS TO THE STATE WHEN PUBLIC FEELING SUBSIDES-SUBMITS TO ARREST— IS TRIED IN FULTON SUPERIOR COURT-BUT THE CASE IS DISMISSED, DUE TO A LACK OF EVIDENCE TO CONVICT-BENJAMIN H. HILL, Jr., HIS PROSECUTOR JUDGE HILL'S OPINION-GOV. BULLOCK'S LAST DAYS HIS CHARACTER-EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES. Georgia's redemption from carpet-bag rule was formally signalized on January 12, 1872, when a favorite son of her own choice was duly inaugurated governor and placed at the helm of civil affairs. This simple but impressive ceremony ended the regime of reconstruction. Promptly at high noon, Hon. James M. Smith, governor-elect, accompanied by the acting governor, Hon. Benjamin Conley, Judges Hiram Warner and Henry K. McCay, of the Supreme Court, Hon. David G. Cotting, secretary of state, together with other State House officers, appeared in the representative chamber. Hon. L. N. Trammell, president of the Senate, called the joint session to order and signaled the two bodies to rise as the inaugural party moved down the main aisle toward the speaker's desk. To witness the inauguration of a governor who embodied in his person the highest type of moral excellence, who possessed the unbounded confidence, respect, and love of the people, and whose election to this high office, bespoke Georgia's resumption of sovereign statehood, there was assembled in the galleries and on the floor of the House a vast multitude of spectators, including many ladies, and this assemblage was truly representative of the social and intellectual aristocracy of Georgia. The hall was packed to its utmost capacity and the scene was paralleled in brilliancy only by the stately ceremonials of ante-bellum. days. The governor-elect's opening sentence sounded a key-note of optimism. Said he: * * House Journal, 1872, pp. 31-34. |