The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1904-12-30
The Influence Of ManllnV
Can Incident In the Life Of COL Geo. W. Blackburn

If an honest man is the nohlest woIL
of God, as the Poet so tittingly has said,
then there passed away from us few
weeks ago one. who Was truly noble.
''In his honor impIegnable-m MS
simplicity divine"-is line which
Prof. DimitIy wrote on the tomb OF
Albert Sidney johnson
Fitting words and fittingly do they
apply to the life and character of our
venerable friend. Col G. ". Black
burn, who has passed over the liver tC
be with the loved ones gone before.
| am not here to write an extended
eulogy on the life Of my venerable
friend and neie hbor-b ,cause he needs
none. Eulogies are tor the dead, and
this is for the living. Eulogies tell
what a man was. this tells what a
man did. and it is what we do that
counts.
1t is simple little thing and yet 1t
was great thiug-so characteristic,
too. of Col, Blackburn. so timely in
these degenerate times, politically.
when honesty is nothing and only
money counts, that / shall tell il as
the good old man told il to me- Per
haps in after years some other man
under temptation may see it and re-
member -and thus the influence of
Nanny ma live-the influence of
Nanny and the loyal. honest, devoted
son, who never uttered her name ex-
cept in reverence and love and whose
own sturdy, rugged, kindly, honest
life. is the greatest monument to her
character.
r hal, &c no. L:
makes him. Not his father, nor his
wife, nor his friends, nor his children,
nor his environments, but the blood of
his mother. which bubbles IL his veins
As proof OF 1t, you cannot show me a
great man. who did not have great
mother, nor can you show me weak
man. who did not have weak one.
And he may never have seen her In
his life, but the fibre of her being IS
in his soul, and the pattern of his des-
tiny is as surely woven therein as
Orion s belt stands forever stitched in
the loins of the huntsman of the
heavens. I 10 not know who Nanny
was-except that she was his mother
Nor did | ever+talk with him an hour,
but he would tell me about her-often
with tears. And this IS the way he
told it-not long before he died mot
in talking about himself. but OF
Nanny. who had died years before he
was elected Comptroller.
''You see. when I was elected Comp
tIoller of Tennessee, l didn't know
much about public affairs and l was
kind of timld. l was so afraid l
do my, duty as Nanny would
expect me to do it. wasn't afraid
Tor myself, but I was afraid I'd dis
grace Nanny. When got to Nash
vile and to the Capitol, / looked
for a place to pray NANNY
aised me on prayers and hickory
nut conldn' t find any place in all
hose fine offices. so had to gn down
INTO the basement and there Ia pray
hat l would do my duty and not dis
grace myself or Nanny.
II hadn't been In Office long, before /
got letter from the President OF a |
,Ig, bank in New York, asking ma to
State deposits to his bank !
nd giving mighty account of his |
ank. think the state had about
million dollars in deposits at the time
n another New York bank. l wrote
nd told him that ] saw no reason
,hy should change banks, the one
ad the funds in had been the states
ustodian tor many years. was safe
nj sound and had treated us right
nd l saw no reason to change. The