The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-05-07
NJ. B. BATES
DIES AFTER
SHORT ILLNESS
WAS A CAPTAIN IN SOUTHERN
ARMY AND DID VALUABLE SER
VICE IN THE RECONSTRUCTION
DAYs-A RESIDENT OF QUINCY.

The Gadsden County Times or last
week says:
Capt M. B. Bates died last Sunday
about IL o'clock, after an illness of two
or more weeks. True, he had been SUI
fering for some time from serious
malady, but with indomitable will he
had fought the Grim Reaper until his
streigth was Slapped, and who in the
SEVENTEEN year of his age, on April
Goth, gave his, honors to the world
again and slept in peace"
Only brief time since, it was pa
thetic to observe him amid the scenes
that surround us, passing to and fro
from home to store, moving carefully
and cautiously, as If his powers were
failing and he were then tottering on
slowly down to 1ife's last resting place;
and yet, while this was pathetic in one
sense, nevertheless, it is always a
sublime spectacle to see an aged man
with trembling steps, his hair stream
ing to the breeze, still bravely stem
ming the rude stream of life as it
beats him from side to side, till at
last, exhausted, he folds his arms and
sinks beneath the ruthless waters.
And so did Captain Bates die, as he
had lived-in harness and at the wheel
he fell as it became a soldier like
him to fall, at the front in the battle.
He was a native off Virginia, being
born in Fredericksburg, IN 1S41. He
enlisted in the army at the age of Is,
serving under Captain Denham. He
did not attain high rank as a soldier,
being only lieutenant at the close of
the war; but mere rank, however,
offers no adequate measure of ones
efficiency as a soldier or of his force
and fire as a man. Merit is modest
and often unambitiouS, and many are
content to do their duty without the
reward of laurels, titles or decorations;
and it is worthy of notice that there
were hundreds of soldiers in the
Southern armies during the Civil war
who were highly educated and pro-
fessional men, but who did not aspire
to positions of rank and authority,
but who, in the absence of their OFF,
GERS and in sudden emergencies, were
often leaders and commanders unto
themselves, and this is why the vo1un-
teer private soldiers of the Southern
armies risplayed a higher degree of
martial individuality and Intelligent
efficiency than the world had ever be-
fore or has since witnessed in soldiers
of the line.
Following the fortunes of war, he
drifted to this county near the close Of
that memorable struggle. On May 30th,
1866, he was united in marriage to
Miss Esther Davis of Mount Pleasant,
who preceded him to the Great Beyond
only a few years since.
Captain Bates was in many impor-
tant battles during the great struggle.
He fought at Natural Bridge, and was
| in other important battles in that Sec
| ton. He was in the company that
sunk a gunboat on the ST. Johns river,
and his name emblazons the brightest
pages of Dickinson's history, which
| tells of his valor and worth as SOL
| der. The people of this section can
| testify as to his great worth as man,
| his eminence as a citizen, his useful
ness as a public servant, his loyalty
| to his people and his patriotic devo-
| ton to his country.
He served the people Of Gadsden
county in the state legislature for four
terms, and though not a native, he
| never betrayed the trust which they
bestowed upon him. He never lost an
opportunity to serve them and the
| state. He was intensely loyal to the
south and all things southern. He
loved her people, their history and
their traditions, and the time never
was when he was not willing to devote
his tireless energy to the upbuilding
| of the county and the advancement of
| it's people. His keen knowledge of
men and his conservative judgment
was of potent value to this section in
the consideration of legislation on the
floor, and particularly in the important
committees of which he was a MEM
| Der and to which he gave his undi-
vided time and attention. He was
quiet and transformations in all that he
! undertook. He was no orator, nor
old he aspire to be one; he never
sought to cultivate the graces of ora
| tory in order to attract attention to
himself. He preferred rather to do his
work quietly in committee and on the
| floor, and to trust to results to vindi-
| cate the confidence which his people
had reposed in him; yet there We're
| occasions when he expressed himself
with a force and vehemence which
| showed that, when the necessity arose,
he was abundantly able to take care
| of himself and a cause in which he be-
! lieved.
| ne S6TNtN lOl a 4iuAlbCA Va col ciS
a county commissioner also, and, as in
| all other places of trust, his admins
tration of the affairs of the county met
with the hearty approval of his people.
At the time of his death he was
| commander of D. L. kenan Camp,
| Confederate Veterans, in which he
| took a great interest.
The funeral services were held at
his daughters home Monday morning
at o'clock, and a large number of
sorrowing friends gathered there to
pay the last sad tribute to a life full
of good deeds and loving kindnesses.
His remains were laid to rest in the
loving arms of old Mount Pleasant,
where the pine and poplar whisper
peace unto his ashes and glory unto
his SOUL bearing each day the message
Of peoples love and generation.