Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-21
WILLIAM CRAIG.
Action or the Memphis Bar with Refer
enee TO the Death Of Assistant United
States District Attorney Will
liam Craig.

At bar meeting, held in the Second
/ Chancery Courtroom, on December 20,
1872, Judge \. Wright was called to the
chair and II. Clay King, Esq, appoint
| ed Secretary.
Judge J. o. Pierce, Chairman of the
Committee on Resolutions, submitted
the following, which were adopted:
! WHEREAS, The sad intelligence has
| lately reached US of the removal of Will
liam Craig, Esq, a member of the
| Memphis Bar, from the scene of his la
| bOrs and usefulness, by the fiat of an
| Over-ruling and all-wise Providence,
and we, the surviving members of the
bar, desire to express IN permanent
form our sentiments of respect and
esteem for his memory and his exam
pie, and to offer upon his early grave
our mourning tribute to his worth and
virtues; be it, therefore,
ResOlUed, That in the death of Will
liam Craig the bar of Memphis loses one
Of its most active and valued members,
whose earnest industry and assiduity in
the practice of his profession ever COM
manded our praise, and now furnish US
an example worthy of imitation and a
record worthy of emulation.
Resolved, That in the high courtesy
and gentlemanly bearing that always
| characterized his practice at the bar, we
recognized the nobility of true man
hood; and we are proud now to remem-
Der him not only as & faithful and trusty
associate, but as a generous and hOnora-
BILE opponent.
ReSOlUed, That our departed brother
has been removed from our midst at
what seemed the opening of a long
career Of active usefulness in his profess
sion, with the promise of high standing
and honorable distinction in the future
and while we cannot cease tOmOurn the
loss to ourselves and the profession in
this early and to US untimely death of
our brother, we do yet bow with submits
sion to the will of Him who HdOeth all
things WELL" in the confident belief
that it will be well with our deceased
brother, and that our loss will be his
gain.
Resolved, That these resolutions be
presented to the respective courts of the
city and county, and to the United States
Courts and the Supreme Court for the
District of West Tennessee, with the re-
quest in behalf of the bar that they be
spread upon the minutes of those several
courts; and that a copy of the resolu-
tons be forwarded by the secretary Of
this meeting to the family of the de-
ceased, with the assurances of our per-
sOnal regard for him, and our sympathy
with them in their affection. Respect
fully submitted, JAS. o. PIERCE,
ED. /. BELCHER,
E. S. HAMMOND,
Committee.
Judge Pierce said:
Mr.. CHAIRMAN-In presenting these
resolutions in behalf of the committee,
l beg for myself, an opportunity to ex-
press my conviction that the members
of the Bar of Memphis, do credit ito
themselves and honor to the profession
they represent, when they assemble to
pay the last tributes of respect to the
memory of William Craig; not because
he was a brilliant genius, nor because he
filled any large place in the public esti-
nation, nor because of any proud record
of his professional achievements; but
because the record of his professional
life, brief though it was, was illustrated
by an untiring zeal and energy in labor
in his profession, and by a ceaseless de-
votiOn to its best aud highest interests,
which each of us might well emulate,
and of which any of us might well be
proud. 1t is the simple truth in his
case, that he was an OyerwOrked man, and
that he has fallen an early sacrifice to
taOse tireless labOIs. Holding up
steadily before himself the brilliant
cynOsure of professional success, he
labOred early and late, by night and by
day, and allowed his zeal and devotion
in the path of professional pursuits, to
carry him far beyond the limits of the
physical strength which nature gave
him, and the mOurnful result is now
before us; his mortal remains fill an I'M
timely grave, around which we now
assemble to pay an honor to his men,
DRY. While we regret this, his early de-
mise, we have no word of reproach for
the want of care, if it were such, which
led him to press forward too ardently in
the race for success and distinction; we
remember only the aPdOr, the zeal, the
energy and the devotion which eharac-
terized his professional efforts among US,
and we figure to ourselves the high pos
itiOn and proud attainments that would
inevitably have crowned those efforts
had he been spared to continue them as
a member of our Bar. To pay lust
honor to such life and such a record,
the common Language which the hum
blOA h4CAAbOA0 VI AA4C belA may USE II III
sufficient-they deserve, nay, they de-
mand, the higher tributes of eloquence
and glowing panegyric; and we may
well call upon the most brilliant mem
bers of our Bar to use their dexterOus skill
and to give rein to their fervid magma
tons, and to weave into chaplets of
beautiful eulogy the sentiments which |
eentertain, but cannot suitably express,
of respect and esteem for the memory Of
our departed brother.
Remarks were then made by E. S. |
Hammond, Colonel J. S. Kerr, and |
District-AttOrney Hudson.
On motion, the Chairman then ap-
pointed the following members of the /
Bar to present the resolutions to the |
several courts, as follows: To the Su-
preme Court, Charles Kortrecht, ESQ.
to the United States Courts, United |
States Attorney II. Z. Hudson; to the |
First Chancery Court, Barbour Lewis,
Esq; to the Second Chancery Court, |
Judge J. E. Bigelow; to the First Cir
cult Court, w. NJ. Randolph, Esq.,; to |
the Criminal Court, John S. Kerr, Esq.
to the Probate Court, H. Townsend, |
Esq; to the Bartlett Court, P. J. Null |
vehill, Esq.
Thereupon the meeting adjourned.