The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-04-04


claim that the very last official meet
ing was held in Abbeville, although
not all of the six members were
present, two having resigned-per-
haps three, indeed.
The evidence submitted by Mrs.
Fore shows
1. That President Davis and his
Cabinet of six members spent week
in Charlotte.
2. That they met several times in
the building now occupied by the
Charlotte Observer.
8. That the last full meeting in
Charlotte was held in the house of
William Phifer in the sick room of
Mr.. Trenholm, who was i'll.
4. That Mr.. Trenholm and Atty
General Davis resigned before Presi-
dent Davis left Charlotte.
5. That President Davis says in
his "Rise and Fall Of the Confeder-
acy" after the expiration Of the
armistice ce"-before Gen. Johnston
surrendered-"I rode out of Char
lotte accompanied by the members
Of my Cabinet Except ty.-Gener-
al Davis-----and the Secretary Of
the Treasury, Mr.. Trenholm, who
was too i'll to accompany me,) my
personal staff" etc.
6. That in a Life of Judah p.
Benjamin in the Congressional Ii
brary, he says he resigned on the
way to Abbeville.
Z. That MIR. Secretary Mallory did
not stop in Washington, Ga, but
went directly to his family.
Mrs. Fore thinks that "if there
had been a meeting Of any import
ance in Abbeville, s. c., Mr.. Davis
or Secretary Mallory would have
mentioned it." And she concludes
that the last deliberations Of the
Confederacy took place in Charlotte.
If she had heard Mr.. Burt's account
of the meeting which was held in his
house, in which the remaining four
members Of the Cabinet took part,
Mrs. Fore would have had no doubt
that matters of importance were
ileliberated, and that it was an off,
cial meeting Of the Cabinet. OF
that Mr. Burt had no doubt; and
Mrs. George Whites letter corrob-
crates this view.
There il no evidence Of any kind
that there was any meeting Of the
Cabinet after this. As Mrs. Fore
says, 'it was utterly impossible
that there could have been a meet
ing in Washington, Ca"
In the evidence submitted is an
extract from President Davis book,
as follows: "When I reached Wash
ington, Ca, the Secretary of State,
Mr.. Benjamin, parted from me to
take another route. At Washington
Ca, the Secretary Of the Navy, Mr..
Mallory, left me to attend to the
needs of his family. The Secre-
tary of War, (Breckenridge) had
remained with the cavalry at the
crossing of the Savannah River"
Quoting this Mrs. Fore says,
''there could not have been full
meeting of the Cabinet at either Of
these places" (Abbeville and Wash
ington.) Quite true. There was
no meeting at all in Washington, but
there was a meeting though not a
full meeting-in Abbeville. 49,.
When Mrs. White said in her let
ter that "all of the members of the
Cabinet were entertained at Mr.. T.
C. Perrin's" she simply and mani
festly meant, not the full Cabinet,
but all who were. in the Presidents
party. This I add, to correct a
misapprehension of Mrs. Fore as
shown in her recent letter to The
Greenville Daily News.
With regard to the expression, "a
full meeting Of the Cabinet" it is
worthy of note that in the evidence
submitted while several witnesses
testify that, the last full meeting
was held in Charlotte" no one says
that "the last meeting took place
there" Even at the unveiling Of
the bronze tablet, the orator, Mr..
McRae, repeatedly spoke Of the 'last
full meeting; not once did he speak
of the last meeting" The inscrip-
ton on the tablet itself uses the
words, "The Last Meetings." There
is no doubt that the last meetings,
but one was held in Charlotte. And
fbaro aaens to me to be as little