The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-10-11
An Afflicted Family.
DEATH OF DIR. JOHN A. STUART
AND COL. LARKIN GRIFFIN.

AND COL. LARKIN GRIFFIN.
Seldom in our journalistic .caree
u has it been our painful duty to chroni
> Gle greater ai1iclion upon any flmil.
than has of late been visited upon tn
Z family of Or. Stuart, at Ninety-SiX
> \. lovely daughterasleeps in q new
made grave, and now the father, DIR
:, Stuart, and Col. Griffin, the grand
father have just been laid where thu
: torc-fnthcrs Of the hamlet sleep.
DR.. Stuart had been confined to hi:
: room for several weeks with typhoit
fever, and the aged patriarch, Col
Griffin, who lived in the house will
5 the Doctors family, had been foI
several months too feeble to be out o
: the dwelling. Col. Griffin daily grew
| weaker and more exhausted from thu
, natural wearing out of the system
from old age, and the fever each day
made greater ravagcs upon the fine
constitution and thegrcat physical DOW
l crs of the Doctor, until last Wednes'
day afternoon, at four o'clock, sur
rounded by his family, he quietly anc
peacefully went to rest, as II who
'draws the drapery of his couch abou
him and lies down to pleasant
Dreams" In an adjoining o Col
Larkin Cirinin's soul quilted its earth
~ tenement, just four hours later.
DIR. JOHN A.. STUART
was born near Sims Cross Roads in
this County, June 30, 1921. His faith
or (who died when John was only ten
wears old.) was Alexander Stuart, q
%native of Ireland his mother was
Margaret Wardlaw, who was Il distan!
relative to the Wardlaws and the Per-
rims now OF Abbevillc. Soon altel
the death Of his father, John was sent
to school to his brother-in-law, Rev
John Harris, near Athens, Ga, where
he remained three years. Returning
to his friends ut Greenwood, lie enter
ed the Greenwood Academy, then un-
der the management Of Mr.. James
| Lcsly, where he received all the liter
AIRY education he eve got at school.
He WAS a young man Of uncommon
promise, and when about sixteen
wears old began to read medicine with
DR.. +. Il. Calhoun, Of Greenwood,
into whose family he had been re-
ccivcd as an adopted sol. He pro-
| HTCSScu lIllJlAllS ~ Nv oithS =" 'H
chosen profession. and soon went to
the Medical College at Charleston,
where he pursued his studies with
marked diligence and success. After
wards, in order that he might attain
still further proficiency in the healing
art, he attended for Il season the lee
lures in the Medical College at Phila-
delphia, where he graduated with dis
tinction i'm 1899, before lie had attain
ed his twentieth year. Returning to
the home Of his friend, DR.. Calhoun,
he at once began Il successful and lu-
crative practice of medicine. In 1910
he married Miss Eliza b. Griffin, who
lived after their marriage only six
teen months. subsequently he mar
ried Miss Talitha Griffin, a sister Of
his first wife, and she died in ABOUT
Twelve months afterwards. Being a
widower for the second time, in 1919
he married his third and present wife,
Miss Mary p. Griffin, who is q sister
Of the first two-ali daughters of Col.
Larkin Griffin. No children were
born of the first two marriages, but OF
the second marriage ten children were
born-niue Of whom survive the Doc
Tor.
Always a moral man. he join
ed the Presbyterian church early
in life, at Rock Church, near Green
wood, and was ever aconsistent MEM
Der, and had been for many years be-
fore his death an Elder of that denom-
ination Of Christians, and on his
death. bed gave uumislakable evidence
Inf his ,crpDtalte with God,
He became Il Mason when Il little
over twcnty-one years Of age, and was
ever afterwards Il jealous member Of
| the order, and by his orderly conduct
convinced the world that he obeyed
preccpts and wholesome rules as set
forth by the mystic tic. He was one
of the brightest and best informed
Masons in the County, aud at the
time Of his death was .Worshipful
Master of the Lodge at Ninety-Six,
| the position which he had held for
many years. Since the war, when
the Royal Arch Chapter Of Royal and
| Select Masters WAS organized at Nine
ty-SiX, he was chosen High Priest,
Which office he held until the day Of
his death. At the last meeting of the
/ Grand Lodge of the State, his intelli-
yelce and familiarity with Masonry
commended him to the attention Of
that body and he was elected Deputy
! Grand Master for this division Of the
state.
At the organization Of the Demo-
cratic cluh5 at Nincty-SiX he was
chosen President, and VAS always
| their trusted delegate to the political
meetings at AbbeviIle Court House.
He was II publie-spirited citizen,
foremost in every good work. What
ever tended to promote the welfare
and prosperity of the country or the
h%arnincsk Of his community found all
carfrst advocate in DR.. Stuart.
His popular manners, together
; With his energy and his liberality,
rave him an influence beyond compu-
tatiop. Being Il safe and 4 reliable
counsellor, nothing of Importance in
his ncighhorhO0d was ever undertake
en- without first consulting him.
The death of DR.. stuart isa calam-
ity not only to his own immediate fami-
lv, but is Il great loss to the county,
and for many reasons is a sad ~dispensa-
ton of that divine Providence, which
is inscru!nble and past finding out.
He was of a long-lived family and
possessed u healthy robust physique,
and being only tifly-tive years of age,
he had good reaso to hope that he
had yet in store many years to live,
il. which he might in the evening Of
Il w~ell-spcnt life witness and enjoy
the progress of his children in
the morning of life, while he quietly
rested in the halo OF the closing
shades of his own departing days.
Dr.. Stuart was q man of refinement,
education and high moral worth, and
was the most useful member OF the
community in which he lived. Emil
nent in the profession which he
adorned with his character. and his
virtues, he was distinguished for his
integrity, sound Judgment, 4Ad social
excellence. He was an ia~Rectionate
and devoted hushan! i kind and i'll
lulgent father, and he in turn was
idoIized by u happy family whose V
rY thought centred in him. He was
the centre around whom all gathered
at the fall of the evening shades, and
in whom all contided without reserve
His generous nature, his sympa-
thrtic heart, and his bounteous hand,
were ever ready TO relieve the distress
ed, while his kindness, his cheerful
words, and his hearty grasp Of the
hand never failed to inspire new hope