The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-01-25
STONEWALL JACKSON.
Interesting Facts About the Distin
gGished Confederate General.
His Sunday School for Colored Children
An Eccentric but Pious Man.

III first met stonewall Jackson when be
was college professor and I a student at
Lexington, and afterward when he was q
commander and an officer in the Army of
Virginia. He was one of the grsndest men
it has been my good fortune to claim as q
friend"
The speaker was Colonel George II. Moi
Tat, gentleman OF wealth and leasure
writes Buckhannon, w. Va, correspond
emit to the Pittsburgh Dispatch. His pleas.
ant home here is always open to the strang
er, and it was while passing an afternoon
with the writer that he was persuaded to
give these recollections of famous man
Continuing he said:
During the years which 1 spent at college
In Lexington, Va, / made my home with
Mrs. DR.. Estelle. She was a warm.hearted
and cultured southern woman and a close
friend OF Jackson, who was then professor
of mathematics at the State Military Insti-
tute. He called often at her house, and il
was there that L came to know HIM in the
autumn OF 1859. / shall never forget the
fisrt time that met him. As boy / heard
OF his heroic struggles as a cadet at West
Point, and his dashing and gallant services
with General Scott in Mexico. In magma
ton had created an ideal which made my
first M Getting with him a keen disappoint-
ment.
Instead of the handsome. polished gen.
tleman had pictured. found him awk-
ward in appearance, severely plain in dress,
and stiff and constrained in bearing. But
when he began TO talk my momentary dis
appointment passed away. His voice was
soft musical and expressive, and in CONVEX
satlon his eyes of gray would light up in q
way that through the mans nature ran
vein OF sentiment as tender as that of wo-
man. l listened to his terse and we'll.
rounded sentences, always instructive aud
full of meaning, an BOY though was, L felt
that he possessed power which in stirring
times would make him q leader among his
fellows. When in later years L saw his APP
pearance on the battlefield gave renewed
courage to veterans who had faced death in
a thousand forms, 1 knew that my conyic
tl0n was not q mistaken one.
"One thing which made me sincerely re-
spect Jackson was that he was a profoundly
devout man. He believed implicitly In a
divine power, and labored constantly to
bring himself and those to whom he held the
relation OF teacher, to the highest ideal of
manhood. In incident which comes to my
mind now will illustrate this phase of his
character:
jackson was the superintendent of a
Sunday-school in Lexington made up of col
ored children. My college chum was
teacher in this school, and once during his
absence took charge of his class 1t was a
Sunday in summer, and the room was filed
with children ranging from six to fifteen
years OF age. Scattered among them were
several white ladies and gentlemen, who
acted as teachers Just as the clock was
striking 3 the Superintendent called the
school to order with prayer, earnest and
full OF feeling, which went straight to the
hearts of all who heard it. And then the
manner in which he handled the lesson of
the day, touching upon all the points that
would interest his little hearers, was admira-
BILE. His way OF stating old truths was also
charming in its freshness and simplicity
Some OF the aristocratic people of the town
looked with disfavor upon this undertaking
of Jacksons, but his heart was in the work.
and then as ever, needing not what others
said, he did what he believed to be his duty.
The success OF the school was always dear to
him, and even after the war had broken ont
and he had left Lexington, his letters always
expressed the desire that 1t should be kept
up as of old.
81 heard Jackson make the only political
ing the campaign which resulted in the
election OF Lincoln. Though the voters of
Rockbridge County, in which Lexington is
situated, were overwhelmingly for Douglas
Breckenridge had q NUMBER of warm sup.
porters, and the latter held a mass meeting
at the Courthouse. Frank Paxton, who al.
terward fell at Charlottesville at the head
of his brigade, was one of the speakers. But
the interest seemed to lag until Jackson, who
sat in the rear OF the room, took the audience
by surprise by arising and addressing the
Chair. From the first he was listened to
with the strictest attention, and bis
speech of quarter OF an hour made more
lasting impI ession than all the others. He
spoke briefly and to the point, touching
upon the dangers which threatened our
common country, and the need of every cit
izen taking decided stand for the right as
he saw tit. That scene comes back to me
now-the dimly-lighted room, the upturned
faces of the listeners and the earnest words
and awkward gestures of the speaker. When
he had finished he turned abruptly and
marched out with the quick, firm step which
was part of the man. But a revelation had
come to those who remained, and they knew
that the reserved and quiet professor whom
they had never credited with an interest in
public affairs had clear and well-defined
views of the hour and the courage to ex.
press and stand by mis- convictions
"Jackson's first wife was the daughter of
Rev. George Jenkins, the President of Wash
ington and Jefferson College. 1t was one of
the striking anomalies produced by the war
that, while Jackson was the idol of the South
ern cause, his father in-law was an extreme
Unionist, and at the beginning of the war
on account of his decided views, rendered
his resignation and went North. Jackson's
second wife, by whom he had one child, a
daughter, is still living and often visits
Parkersburg this State, where the relatives
of her husbands mother, the Meals, reside.
Both of Jsckson's wives were noble women,
and to both he was warmly attached.
Though, as have said Jackson was re-
served and austere in his bearing, he was
one of the most popular men in Lexington
Modest, and always unwilling to make q
showing OF his powers, every one, sooner or
later, came to regard him as a remarkable
man, and even if they did not claim him as
friend, they respected him sincerely, and
were prompt to show him that they did In
the class room he was impartial and strict
but not severe. A dull student al ways re.