Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-21

uttO TWO mattresses spread III GIlt
parlOr, on one of which he and Mr.
Reynolds slept and two young mer
on the other. After they had gone
to bed all fell asleep except Mr.. r.
who lay awake an hour or so, and
finally got up and went out on the
porch and smoked a cigar. After
growing a little weary, he quietly
returned to the room he had left and
supposed he could gain his bed with
out disturbing any one, but unfortu-
nately got into the young mems
bed DR.. Drane, in the meantime,
aWoke and feeling round he could
not find his bed fellow, he cried
out, "Mr. Reynolds" who replied,
" Here ~" where are you @-" why
amt / there?' "NO, Sir, / can't
find you here" "Then, my dear
friend, ifI am not there, will you be
kind enough to tell me where | am" +"
| tell this little story as an illus
tratiOn of what manner of man he
was. Such little incidents were of
perpetual occurrence in his history.
After Gen. JackSon's defeat in his
first Presidential aspiration, he was
invited to New Orleans by his pOliti-
cal friends, and on his way stopped
at Clarksville to partake of a public
dinner rendered him by the people.
| Count Reynolds presided as chair
man, and sat at the head of the table
with Gen. Jackson on his right.
! Before the festivities closed, but af-
ter wine had been introduced, and
the General had retired, the Hon.
y. NJ. Clayton, recently from Vir-
/ ginia, offered as toast The Hon.
Henry Clay, Of Kentucky, the mod.
ern AhithOphel-may his councils
be turned into fOOlishness." The
| Count, whose glass was filled ready
to be drank, and who felt what he
had already taken, Immediately
emptied his glass upOn-the floor, and
said with emphasis: " Burn me if
] drink that toast" The table was
in great excitement and adjourned
in confusion. [ dwell on this, as
1925 was quite historic period in
our annals.
VIM. l.. Brown, Will A. Cook and
William b. Turley (the latter after
wards a Judge of the Supreme
Court, and who delivered the Opin-
ion in the case of the State VS.. Cope
land and others still more remarka-
ble) were members of the ClarkS-
vile Bar, and all laid the fOunda-
tion Of their reputation and useful
ness in the courts in Clarksville. The
two first named moved to Nashville
and the latter to Memphis; and all
Immediately took rank among the
first lawyers of Middle and West
Tennessee. Brown and Cook were
more famous at the bar as profound
lawyers, skilful and able debaters,
while w. B. Turley became one Of
the ableSt judges who ever adorned
the Supreme bench of Tennessee.
Of William l.. Brown | knew of
personal knowledge but little. |
saw him but once and that was after
he left ClarksVille for Nashville and
was in the fall Of 1925 or 6. He
was a very delicate man, of flexible
limbs, with sallOw skin and black
eyes. Eager in the pursuit of what
ever engFOSSed his mind, and of very
restless manners, and exceedingly
impetuOus in the argument Of his
causes; endowed with extraordinary
elOquence, and very intOlerant to-
wards his opponents. On one Occa-
court, he turned to his antagonist
I think Judge Crabb-and bowling
very low to him, said: You have
been pleased, sir, to refer to- the
Statute of Limitation of 1919, which
has no legitimate connection with
this cause, with a view l apprehend
of fOrestalling the judgment of this
court on that law which will come
up for judicial construction at a sub
sequent day of this term of this
court. May it please the Court, 1
give the gentleman notice to reserve
his ammunition and bide his time
and not waste his strength in antici-
patton Of a coming conflict which
he may well dread. | am fully
armed to meet him or any other an
tagOnist, l don't care whom be he
Richard or Saladin, Greek or Turk,
I'Il crush him." He has more ira
dictionary reputation than any man
who ever appeared at this bar and
was the author of the Statute of lein,
1919
VIM. a. Cook was a safe and
learning outside of his profession,
none of the attributes of an orator,
except perhaps great earnestness in
debate, which is perhaps as effective
as the famous definition of Demos
themes of elOquence, action; and is as
necessary to secure success in the
courts, in Congress or before the tri-
bunal of the people.
Patrick Henry Darby was at one
time a citizen Of ClarkSVille and a
member of the Clarksville Bar. He
was a lawyer Of fine talents and pos
sessed great knowledge Of the land
law of Tennessee, and became very
OdiOus as land shark and land job
Der in land titles. The act of 1919
fixing a limitation to land litiga-
tiOns was passed for the express pur-
pose of defeating him and others of
his stamp in their Vaccinations
against titles to real estate in Tennes-
see. In 1925 when 1 was student at
PENNSYLVANIA university | met him
nLeXingtOn, KY, and he told mehe
had been legislated out of Tennessee,
and that he was, he hoped, a solitary
instance in American history where
the legislative authority of a State
had turned its battery against an in
diVidual citizen. He said he had in
a perfectly legitimate way laid the
foundation of the finest estate in
America under existing laws and
had been reduced by legislative ty-
ranny to utter poverty and virtually
exiled from the State without a
crime, to gratity the malice of men
who envied the merit they could
not reach. He was a rough, bad
man, but was endowed with Won
derfuI perseverance and capacity for
mischief.
When / came to the bar in Clarks-
vile Hon. Cave johnson was still
in the practice of his profession,
though his public duties called him
to Congress. He entered Congress
1929 and was reelected till 1887
was defeated that year but was again
returned to Congress in. 1889 and
continued till 1915, when he was APP
appointed POstmaster-General at the
beginning of President Polk's adj
ministration, and remained in Office
till its close, on the 4th of March,
! 1919. He had risen from the clerks
office in Robertson county, where he
was born, to the highest position as
a lawyer; was very familiar with
/ legal forms used in the practice of
[ his profession and with all manner
/ of personal contracts and convey
/ ,,,aoS of rnal aDd OprSOnal estate