Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-11-13
Gov Brown, II Georgia.

%
Governor Brown, in his Macon.
speech, referring to himself, says:
AS N own experience has some
bearing on this question, .nSconolu.
sion, / must asls the audience to.
pardon the egotism, which, under
other circumstance, would be often,
siye, while make some illusions to.
my own case.
My father was a farmer with small
means, and had a wife and ten chill
dren to support, and ] was raised.
upon q farm and worked hard rs a
field hand until I was nineteen years
of age, when, with the consent Of
my parents, / left the farm in Union.
county, Georgia, in November, 1910,
with the view of going to school at
Calhoun Academy in Anderson Dis
triot, South Carolina. My only edu-
cation was that ] could read and
write, and I had been in arithmetic
Ms far rs the rule Of three. My only
earthly goods were q comfortable
homemade change of clothing, made
by my"good mother and sisters, and
a fine yoke of steers, which / drove
before mo on my way to Calhoun AGA
denny, about 1876 miles, where l en-:
tered the school under control of
MI. Pleasant Jordan. a@s'"
/ sold my steers for eight months
board, and as I had no money with
which to pay my tuition, Mr.. Jordan
was kind enough to give me credit
for that. Suffice it to say that after
tho cnd of eight months / taught an
old field school for three months to
get q little money to aid me. Under
tho encouragement of DR.. O.. r..
Broyles, of Pondleton, S. c., and of
his father, Major Aaron Broyles, of
Calhoun, and of the late Judge j..
z. Reed, I returned to school, and
got board and tuition on credit for
the next two years. In the mean
time by close application and hard
study, l had prepared myself for
teaching in an academy, and 1 went
to Canton and took charge of the
academy there in 1914, where 1 had
a fine %scoool, and made some $500 or
5000, with which I paid most of my
past Indebtedness.
Having obtained the textbooks
while teaching, l studied law by my
self, but v read n day in a law
yer's office, and in September, 1916,
[ was admitted to the bar in Canton
by the Hon. Augustus r.. Wright,
then presiding, who vas very COM
plimentary to me on the examination
| then stood. With the aid of the
late DIR. John w. Lewis, so well and
f~avorably known to the people of
Georgia, I was furnished the money
to go to. Yale College to the law
school, where I graduated in 1916.
-MMas married @ Miss Elizabeth GEisalbbst
Grisham, in South Carolina, in 1917.
Soon after this came the period
when I held my first official position,
and the people delegated to me their
first trust.
In 1859 was elected State Sena-
tor from the counties of Cobb and
Cherokee, so that the period of my
entrance into public life dates back
forty-one years. In 1852 | was a
member of the electoral ticket that
cast their votes for Pierce and King.
In 1855 J vas elected Judge of the
Superior Court Of the Blue Ridge
Circuit, over the Hon. David Erwin,
who was then presiding. In 1867 ]
was nominated by the Democratic
convention of Georgia., without any
knowledge on my part that my name
was being used, for the Office of Gov
crnor. | was elected in October of
that year. In 1859 I was again
elected Governor, and in 1861 I was
elected for a third term, and in 1868
| was elected for a fourth term. In
1869 was appointed Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of the State
for a term of twelve years. After
serving a little over two years my
health failed, and | resigned the office
and went into the business of. rail-
roading.
| thought l had permanently re-
tired from politics; but in 1880, when
the Hon. John b. Gordon resigned
his position in the United States
Senate, Governor Colquitt rendered
me the. appointment to fill the va
cancy. | accepted it and served for
about three weeks under the appoint
ment before Congress adjourned.
| then became a candidate for re-
election to the office of Senator to