The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-01-27
IA O Q Is II Ete xaa o. !.

4
room was filed with ladies, members Of
the Legislature end the Bar. At 10
O'Clock, the Court was opened, -Chiel
Justice Moses and Associate Justice
Willard being present. Attorney Gene
raj Chamberlain arose and announced to
the Court the death OF Judge Boozer,
and submitted the following resolutions,
with the accompanying remarks:
Resolued, That in the death of the Hon.
Lemuel Boozer, Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas and General Sessions for
the Fifth Judicial Circuit of this State,
we mourn the loss of pure and useful
public servant, an able and impartial
Judge and on honest and estimable man.
Resotced, That the foregoing express
sion of our respect and esteem be pre-
sented to the Supreme Court, with the
request that itbe spread upon the records
of the Court.
MAY IT PLEASE Your HoNoEs: L am
charged by my brethren of the Bar with
the melancholy duty of announcing to
this Court the death of Hon. Lemucl
Boozer, late Judge of the Court of Com
mon Pleas and General Sessions for the
Fifth Judicial Circuit of this State. A
life devoted from earliest manhood to
that profession of which you arc the
honored ministers-a life of long and en-
inent public services-a life crowned with
the honors of his fellow citizens and
adorned with high personal and private
virtues, has suddenly closed. I'm the
midst of life we are i'll DEATH" Behind
us-behind each one of us-stalks the
unseen but relentless destroyer! But a
day or two ago, and he whose form is
t,1inr int 20,
dust. was in our midst, erect. vigorous,
cheerful, with the promise as assured as
yours or mine of many remaining days
of usefulness and honor. Sel Dis nee
ALTER uisum. A higher power than his
or ours had appointed the bound of his
earthly life, and, on Sunday last, in the
midst of great bodily anguish, but with
"A calm and cheerful spirit, he passed, as
we humbly trust, to IL higher. happier
and more peaceful existence. Surely
such a life is worthy our contemplation!
Surely the departure of such man may
well arrest our busiest hands, while for q
brief moment, ut least, we mark his vir-
tues and deplore his loss. And surely
here, if anywherc-herc in the presence
of this Court it is fitting that his mem
ory should be lIonored and his praises
spoken.
| In rising to announce the decease of
our honored friend, aud to offer my brief
tribute to his memory, am we'll aware
that I am acting chiefly in virtue of my
official station; and yet there was so
much in our personal relations that
seemed to bridge over the disparity of
our years-there was so much of kind
illness and personal confidence in Judge
Boozer's bearing towards me, that feel
as il no man here could offer more
heartfelt or well-founded expression of
affection or honor. HE was my friend,
faithful and just to me-" But it is not
as personal friend and benefactor, but
rs q fearless and upright public servant
ii Judge without fear and without
gnile-a pure and patriotic legislator, IL
just and useful citizen, and an honest,
high-minded man, that desire to pre-
sent him on this occasion.
The outward events of the life of Judge
Boozer may be briefly given: Born in
the year 1903, he entered upon the prac-
tice of his profession, as lawyer, at the
early age of twenty-five, and, one year
later, was elected to represent his Dis
trict in the lower House of the Legislu-
ture of the State. From that time,
almost without interruption, he continued
his services as q legislator, down to the
date of the attempted secession of the
State of South Carolina from the Fede-
raj Union. At the close of the war, he
again appeared in public life as a mem
ber of the Constitutional Convention of
1865, and, under the State Government
which followed, was appointed District
Judge for the District of Lexington. In
1868, we find him a member of the Con-
Stitutional Convention assembled under
the reconstruction Acts of Congress, and,
under the Constitution then framed, he
was elected Lieutenant Governor Of the
State This Office he held until, in Sep
tember. 1868, he was elected to the
judicial office. from the active discharge
OF whose duties an acute and fatal
disease has 30 suddenly removed him.
Such, may it please your Honors, in
briefest epitome, was the outward public
life of Lemuel Boozer. A fair and honor
able record-a page of human history
unblurred by dishonor or fear, unstained
by self-seeking or venality-a life, if not
widely conspicuous by startling events,
nor emblazoned to the world by brilliant
deeds, yet rich to US and to the State in
| tho example of pure and unselfish ser-