The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-04

Weatherford, an event that was re- | garded as of great importance in the i pioneer days. He stood up to be mar ried in full Indian costume. hunting shirt, leggings. belt and all. for he was devoted to this costume and although ] one of the wealthiest men of our sec ton he never wore any other costume" "Ah, 1t was great life that was lived l in the old days about rensaw,' said the old South Alabamian regretfully. Ten saw was then the garden spot of South Alabama Everybody there owned plantations, negroes and horses. The plantation owner took life easy. He spent his time in hunting, fishing, read | ing the papers, in entertaining and in bein gentertained He had no apprehen- | sions about making living. His | plantation worked under his overseer brought him each year a great cotton crop and his negroes were continually multiplying to his profit He could | take the boat, come down to Mobile and discount his note for two or three thou sand dollars as easy as a man can buy a hat now"
 old Plantation Life.
 | Some of the most definite traditions of South Alabama cling around the | education and the wealth of Tensaw. It Is recorded in history that the first school established in all Alabama was taught by a Professor Pierce at Ten saw. Tn all the years that have fol- lowed the students who attended the schools which succeeded this original institution of learning had as a majori- ty of their students boys and girls of more or less remote Indian ancestry. l '~The remains of the old school which I attended seventy-f1ve years ago." said Mir Tunsta1l may still be noted" In those early days I went to school with the Sizemores, the Stiggins, the Du- rants, the Weatherfords and other des- cendants of the prominent Indian fami- lies. Many of my school mates went west with the Creeks when they were removed from Alabama to the Indian Territory. few of them returned to | Alabama. Most of them lived and died | in the west"
 His family being one of wealth 1t was felt incumbent that young Tun- stall should be sent to a good school to complete his education. Chapel | Hill, N C., was the place selected. AS youth he went to Montgomery on a boat and from Montgomery to the Virginia line he made the trip on a pony and In the same way returned | to his home Among his school mates at college were the Harrisons, the dis tinguished Virginia family who like him are proud of the strain of aborigi- | nal blood In thelr VelnS.
 His education having been completed he chose the law as a profession. He | entered upon the practice of the law with every prospect of attaining great | distinction. A partial friend at that | time, and 1t was as far back as the forties. called him "the rising star of South Alabama" He was enamored | of plantation life, however, an exist ence he felt that was more in harmony I
 work, and the contention which form l so large a part of the life of sue cessful lawyer.
 He gained as far back as 1S47 wide reputation for an impassioned address he made to the Legislature of Alabama contending for the rights of the ln- dans of Alabama to the ballot, right
 of which they had been deprived by the State constitution which limited the ballot to men of white blood. He made an elouuent plea for the rights of his fellow men of Indian descent to par ticipate in the States elections, basins his claim upon the proposition that the
 Federal Constitution gave the right and 1t could not be taken away by the law
 of the State.
 A copy of this adress on an issue
 that has been dead in Alabama TOT half century Is preserved IT fin the Department of Archives and His
 tory. In this address he takes occasion
 to say: ,
 "In conflict between the Nationa and the State Constitution, which mus
 prevail, what virtue or validity shoulc
 attach to any system of ethics. whose
 moral injunctions impart contraven'
 ton of the decalogue? None. Then bS
 comparison what stability should oe' long to the resolutions of convention
 when said resolutions are at variance with the avowed supremacy of the Ma tional ConstitutIon? The answer is | easy ~
 T then throw mystelf under the broad aegis of the National Constltu'
 tion and demand it as a right to De citizenized. If I am a citizen oy ths