Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-11-12

bsma before he was 10 years old. A.
county In each Of these States IL named
Tor him. He was the first Governor OF
Alabama, both when Il was a Territory
ana after II was a State. but his remains
lie In neglected grave, hidden from
sight by overgrowing weeds and bushes
IN an old Held He was killed by fall
OF MS horse while riding rapidly TO shell
Ter from a shower OF rain In the summer
OF INV. and part OF the inscription on the
stone that marks his grave (which I
could read only after considerable effort
IN clearing away from It the mold and
dirt that had long hidden II from view
Is In these words:
Such, alas! Is the uncertain stage Of
human existencel To-day we may wear
the crown Of the highest earthly hsnors.
ana tomorrow be mingled with our kin
dred dust"
lie was one OF the most confidential adj
viSers OF Mr.. Madison (by whom he was
appointed Territorial Governor), was the
intimate friend and political associate OF
William II. Crawford. and George NJ
1'roup alone rivalled him In the love Of
the people OF Georgia while he remained
citizen OF that State. He was brother
OF Thomas Bib, who was also Governor
OF Alabama. and they were both sons OF
William Bib and Sally Wyatt. and un-
cles OF Mrs. NJ. ID. Bib. and cousins OF
George NJ Bib. who was Chief Justice
OF Kentucky, United States senator, and
secretary of the Treasury under Presi-
dent Tyler.
BENAJAH SMITH BIBB.
son OF Captain William Bib. Of the Re-
Volution, brother Of the two Governors
above named, and father OF Martha Dan
bridge Bibb, was one OF natures noble
men. He was born In Ebert county,
Ga, five years before the birth OF the
nineteenth century came TO Montgomery
while yet a young man. and lived here
from that time till his death-a period
Of more than sixty years-during ak which
time his life was an open book 10 his
fellow-men, who gave him freely of their
confidence and honors, repeatedly called
him to serve them in the Legislature,
and placed the judicial ermina upon him
despite the fast that he was not lawyer.
He was forcibly displaced from the judge
ship OF the City Court OF Montgomery
| by the United States troops after they
took possession of the city.
When President Fillmore visited Mont
gomery he was the guest OF Judge Bibb,
and, I'm company with John +. Kennedy.
his Secretary Of the Navy. went with
the Judge in his carriage 10 his large
cotton plantation near the city. where
the comfort and cheerfulness OF the slaves
and their attachment TO their master
and hs family was in striking contrast
with the common northern idea OF slave
life I'm the South and 81 revelation 10 one
accustomed to that idea and 10 the eh-
travagantly sensational and slanderous
pictures Of the Abolition speakers ana
writer's. That visit and that view or
slave bfe on "A typical southern planta-
ton made deep impression on MT flii-
more.
AN OLD-LINE WING.
Judge Bib was on Old-Line Wing, de-
voted to the union which his and his
wIfe's forefathers mad done so much TO
create but, when the Southern Confed-
eracy was formed, true TO the traditions.
the memory, and principles of his Illus
trious ancestry, he gave IL his earnest
unlnching support to the last hour OF its
| existence; and when the end came ana
/ the long, dark days. and he stood-an
old man amid the wreck of once large
fortune, with hardly ray TO pierce the
! gloomy prospective bated no Jot or heart
nor hope, but steersd right onward ad-
herring still and adhering ever to prlnci-
pies as sacred to him as his ancestral
blood-too strong TO be shaken by adver-
sitv. and too pure to be liable TO the faint
OF n temporizing eXpediency. They who
knew him best bear ready testimony that
wealth and woldly honors had not spoiled
nor weakened him. and fortune left him
as II had found him-Benajah Smith Bibb.
H. lived nearly SO years-65 of them side
by side with her who had been vision
OF beauty TO his youth, reality OF JOY
! TO his manhood. and the stay and strength
OF his age. Side by side for nearly three
! score years and ten were they building
up the most beautiful thing on this earth.
| a Christian home. where the old-time
southern hospitality reigned with royal
I grace and the hours came ana went wlth
a gladness akin to festal joy
Giving for over a year in his family"
said the late Chancellor Lipscomb. OF
Georgia. "T have no hesitation in saying
that Judge Bibb was by eminence a
true and noble man. and humanity Is
the richer because he lived.
AUNT SOPHIA BIBB.
ooh. woman! In our hours OF ease
Uncertain. coy, and hard to please,
And variable az the shade
by the light, quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wiring the brow.
a ministering angel, thou!'
There Ia probably not State that once
formed a part Of the Southern Confede-
racy In which there cannot to-day bs
found some who felt the blessing OF the
angelic ministering of Aunt Sophia
Ribb'' during the dark and bloody days
the days of pain and anguish-from 81
TO '65 Topether with other noble wo-
men OF ntgomery. she organized thu
Ladies' .spItal in this city for sick and
wounde soldiers, was elected It's president
and remained at its head. its guidir .
genius and chief executive spirit through
out the war For more than year she
and her devoted co-laborers maintained
the institution. supplying from their own
resources all that was necessary Tor the
/ comfort Of the soldiers, and when the war
had assumed such proportions as MADE
/ 1t impossible for them to do this longer
and demanded the establishment OF q
hospital on q larger scale, she applied
| 10 President Davis to furnish from the
/ Confederate Government stores whatever
might be lacking for it's proper conduct
/ The President promptly complied with her
/ request. and subsequently reported II the
| best-managed hospital in the South. In
its sewing-room the white hands of Mont
1 gomery's gentlest women daily Knitted
socks comforters, gloves, and made uni
| forms and garments OF every KIND Tor
| the soldiers of the South, and into It's
wards daily through those long and
dreary years of war, despite her three
score years. came like a ministering angel
/ this true-hearted daughter Ol htNpiueiOh-
airy slrcs showing how divine a woman
may be in ministry to men.
noble sisterhood IL was, that asso-
| citation Of
THE WOMEN OF MONTGOMERY.
They nursed and healed the sick and
wounded they brought the dying back
to life. they tenderly closed the eyes OIL
the dead and gave them reverent burlal
I'm graves that are to-day lovingly cared
for by the daughters of the women oil
81. There, with each recurring spring
! tide,
Beautiful feet with maidenly tread
Offerings bring TO the gallant dead.
and fair hands cover them over with the
sweetest flowers Of the land they hveo
and died for. Green be those graves lot
ever. and green. forever green, IN ti't
hearts of tho sons of the South De ths
| women of '6l-the women or that Oiu
south of whose lofty type OF woman
hood Mrs. Sophia Bib was SO SHINING
an exempler. - 4,
Rut Intensely southern as she was IL
| was not the southern soldier alone VINO
received the tender care of Aunt SOPHIA
glbb. when woundedInion soldiers wer.
brought to Montgomery she had themn put