The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-05-07

Sat In = Historic Senate Was . CeiIsague
81 Clay and webs,ss-ssw Applies for
Care From the Soldier Home.
Much comment has been made over
the application OF Gen. Thos l.. Cling
man. ext. :. Senator from North Car
olina, for admission TO the Soldiers
Home In Raleigh. The Washington
Post presents, in connection with that
fact, the following sketch:
ITO see Clingman in his poverty
stricken old age, one found it hard 10
picture him as a power in body of
great men, such as Clay, Webster. and
Calhoun. Yet he WAS quite As promi-
nent, il not so famous, in the proceed
ings which marked the historic time
when they were his colleagues. Clay
was his idol, and when Webster made
his great 9TH OF March speech he sat on
the arm Of Clay's chair, his hand AZ
fectionately resting on the great Ken
tuckian's shoulder. That was in the
old Senate chamber, " There the Federal
supreme Court now holds its sessions.
With Andrew Jackson As his compan-
ion. he led the Senate into the old Hall
OF Representatives., now Statuary Hall,
to hear John Quincy Adams deliver
ship for Clay led to a duel between
himself and Congressman Yancy, of
Alabama, growing out OF a speech de
livered about the causes that led to
Clay's defeat. The ground selected for
the meeting was near Washington,
perhaps at Bladensburg. Pistols were
the weapons, and one shot was ex-
changed without effect. Here the Sec
Onds, Charles Lee Jones, the noted ex-
ponent of the code duello, for Cling
man, and Congressman Huber, of South
Carolina, for Yancey, endeavored to
bring about an adjustment, and they
finally arranged the matter satisfac-
tOrily. During the very first week he
served in Congress Clingman had a
passage at arms OH the floor with Hen
ry A. Wise, Of Virgingia.
The public career Of Senator Cling
man has been a remarkable one. He
is now eighty-three years of age, and
more than twenty of these were spent
| in legislative assemblies. Graduating
from the University of North Carolina
at twenty, he was soon after elected to
the State Legislature, and in 1910 was
promoted by the electors to the State
Senate. From December, 1913, to June
| 1858, he served continuously as Rep
| reese NATIVE of North Carolina in Con-
gress, with the exception Of one term,
participating during this extended
period in nearly all,impOrtant debates,
particularly in those relating to for
| elgn affairs from his prominent posi-
ton of chairman of the committee
having that field in charge. During
this service he established record for
attendance, never missing days ses-
sion.
| His Senatorial career began in 1853
through appointment to fiji the unex-
pired term of Senator Asa Biggs, who
resigned to accept a Federal Judge
ship. He was subsequently elected to
succeed himself from March 4, 1861,
but the term was never begun. In the
preceding January, Cllngman with
drew from the Senate with other
Southern members, participated as a
Commissioner from North Carolina in
the Confederate Congress in May, and
in July was formally expelled from
the Senate. Then he entered the Con-
federate Army, and became a Briga-
der General, and did not figure again
in politics after 1868, when he went as
delegate to the Democratic National
Convention.
For years prior to the war and for a
long time thereafter Senator Clingman
had devoted himself to scientific pur-
suits, and it is tribute to his know
ledge and enthusiasm that he deter
mined the highest points of Black
Mountain and Smoky Mountain, both
of which have been called in his honor.
North CarOlina's valuable mineral de-
posits were also made known through
his efforts.