The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1876-06-21
Personal Sketches OF Prominent
Szissi>sip pia s:S-AAirsIRn q.
HkuuneIs.

Hiram Glover Runnels was born il
! Oglethorpe county, Georgia, in the yea
: 1875. His father, Harmon Runnels
about the beginning Of the present cen
fury, emigrated with his family to til,
3 Territory of Mississippi, which by th,
act of Congress of 1898, had been estab
! lished, including all that beautiful anC
fertile region lying between the Missis
sippi river and the Chattahoochee. He
settled on Pearl river in what is now
, Lawrence county near the present site
of Monticello, of which he may be called
the founder, as he was the first Of the
pioneers The country was then an al
most unbroken wilderness, inhabited by
the Indian, the bear, the wolf and the
deer. The father was u man of mark
and influence in the time of the Terrific
ry and the infancy of the State. He
was the first Representative in the Ter
ritOrlal Legislature from Marion county,
which in the year 1871 was carved out
of Wayne, Franklin and Amte, and
when the county of Lawrence was
formed in 1914, he was several times
chosen to represent it in both houses of
the Legislature. He was not man of
learning, but possessed courage COM
bined with great forbearance and gene
roslty. Though fearlessly meeting the
dangers Of the frontier there was moth
ing aggressive iii his nature. The fiery
ambition aud unconquerable will of his
noted son seem to have been derived
mostly from the Scotch Irish blood of
his mother. In the ancient burying-
ground at Monticello, amid the moaning
| Mn nd do Il. L.,
meath a moss covered stone, recording in
words almost effaced by time, his many
virtues, reposes the honored dust of this
staunch old pioneer of Pearl River Val
ley.
The advantages for intellectual i'm
provement enjoyed by the subject of
this sketch in his youth were very linn
tied. Schools were unknown, and but
! few books were seen west of Georgia
! Still, after working barefoot all day in
the field, he often studied till midnight
by the brilliant blaze Of the light-wood-
ever a blessing alike to the poor and the
rich who dwell in the land of the pine.
His fathers blazing hearth was his only
! school house, and there without the
help of a teacher, he acquired q fair En-
| glish education. The family in the
early days of the State was somewhat
distinguished. There were five brothers
and three sisters. The brothers in the
order of their age were Howell, Hardin,
Harmon, Hiram and Hosea Howell
became a lawyer of good regulations;
Hardin was the first sheriff of Lawrence
county; Harmon was the first clerk of
the courts, and Hosea represented the
| I ~ Al
sisters, Letitia, married Samuel Stamps,
who became Secretary Of State She
lived, up to a few years ago, at Jackson,
and is we'll remembered there by the
older class Of citizens.
Hiram early excelled all his compan-
ions in feats of personal daring
Though not really quarrelsome, he was al
ways ready for fight, bear hunt or
horse race. he was familiar with the
rife and the pistol, and an unerring and !
deadly shot with either. If his career
had not fallen on the piping times of |
peace" between the war of 1872 and the |
Mexican conflict, instead of a militia
commander, he undoubtedly would have
distinguished himself as Fighting gem
eral' of the most chivalric type.
In 1918 he went t. Columbia and en- |
gagged in mercantile business. That /
year the elder Harmon Runnels was |
candidate for the Legislature, and, du- /
ring the course of the canvass, he was I
bitterly assailed personally in a printed
circular written by an ambitious young
lawyer Of Monticello, who had a consid- |
cradle reputation as fighter for him
self and his clients. This attack on
their father set the quick temper of the
sons on fire. Hardin instantly sent the /
lawyer peremptory challenge. When
the insulting circular reached Hiram at
Columbia he did not know what steps
had been taken by his brother and he
also at once sent its author an uncon-
ditiOnal challenge. 1t was finally ar
ranged by the seconds that but one
should fight the disciple of Blackstone,
and Hiram. as he always did, insisted
on doing that part of the business. They
fought with duelling pistols at the usual
distance, and strange enough, at the first
fire both missed. The seconds then aug
gested an adjustment. Runnels said,
mo, the fight must 90 on. If the insult
had been to myself might act other
wise, but gross insult to my old father
can't forgive. l will fight his battle to
the end" At the next shot he disabled
his antagonist by a severe wound in
both legs and the Aght ended,
In 1929 he married the amiable and
accomplished daughter of Major David
Smith, for whom Smith county was
named. The lady was cousin of Ex-
Governor B. G. Humphries. Having
returned to Lawrence, he wac elected in /
70 IL l., IL I l.
ture and reelected. In 1929 he re-
moved to Hinds county and settled near
Jackson.
Clinton in 1929 was greatly ahead of
Jackson in everything that goes to make
up live town. 1t was there that the
great men of the State used to congre.
gate. Rum els about that time BECAME
conspicuous in Clinton society. He
had recently fought duel with Eugene
Magee, an Irish lawyer of Vicksburg,
and shot him in the leg below the knee,
and this gave him considerable eclat
About this time he began to be spoken
of for Governor. The suggestion did
not meet with universal appreciation
One of the most prominent men who
sneered at his pretensions was James
Marsh, leading lawyer from Yazoo
Lindsay's Hotel at Clinton was head
quarters, and here, in The early spring
of 1880, eliminated the bitter quarrel
between Marsh and Gen. tunnels, as he
was then called. 1t was what Is gener
ally denominated a street fight, though
it actually occurred in the hotel yard.
Several shots were fired on both sides.
Runnels was the aggressor and escaped.
Marsh was painfully though not danger
ously wounded.
In 1888 General Runnels was elected
Governor He had several competitors