Vintage

(continuation from Chapter Two)

EARLY NORTHERN ALABAMA

(while part of the Mississippi Territory)

From Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians

 By Reuben Davis 1889

Note*(Names have been capitalized by the transcriber to assist the reader)

Chapter Three

In a short time I became well acquainted with the people of Hamilton and its vicinity. Looking back at this advanced period, I ask myself why there was such a marked superiority in mental and moral tone to that which now exists. In many important respects our people are now far in advance of those who preceded them. Especially is this the case in all the practical arts and sciences, the inventions that facilitate labor, and make life easy and comfortable. That is one great drawback to our civilization. People get too tender, and lack the courage to work, which is the best sort of courage a man can have. In the good old days we lived closer to mother Earth, and drew strength from her bosom.

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At that time even the richest and most cultivated had few books compared to the flood that now pours into every household. The few precious volumes that could be obtained were studied more carefully, and reflected upon with more profit. It has been said " Beware of the man with only one book," and it is certain that the men of that time, who were destitute of many of the so-called advantages of the day, developed a vigorous manhood rarely seen now. Trained to prompt action in every emergency, they had all their faculties keenly upon the alert, and met intellectual questions with the same fearlessness which they were accustomed to show in their conflict with the difficulties of a new society. It is scarcely possible for young men in the habit of regarding college-life as the only education to estimate the sort of training which the exigencies of daily life gave to those who were building a civilized State out of a newly conquered wilderness. It was to the moral fibre of these pioneers that we chiefly owe the wonderful success they achieved. I wish to state this very strongly because I am aware that, upon this subject, much injustice has been done us, both at home and abroad. Our first settlers have too often been characterized as a set of ruffians and desperadoes, whose courage degenerated into ferocity, and whose freedom was license and debauchery.

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The Mississippian has been caricatured into a swaggering rowdy, always drinking whiskey and flourishing revolvers and bowie-knives. It is true that many of them drank hard, swore freely, and were utterly reckless of consequences when their passions were aroused. But it is equally true that the great body of the settlers were sober, industrious men, who met hardships and toil with patient courage, and whose hands were as ready to extend help as they were to resist violence and oppression. They took life jovially, and enjoyed such pleasures as they could come by. Although a God-fearing people — for infidelity was unknown — there was nothing straitlaced about their religion. They attended divine worship in a reverent spirit, and endeavored to do their duty to God and man, so far as they saw it. Even the strictest of them made no scruple about a social glass, or a lively dance, or a game of cards, or even of an honest hand-to-hand fight under due provocation. Minister as he was, my father never doubted that it was part of his Christian duty to knock down any rascal who happened to deserve such discipline. People had not begun to write about muscular Christianity in those days, but they understood and practised it. Their creed was generally simple.

A man ought to fear God, and mind his business. He should be respectful and courteous to all women; he should love his friends and hate his enemies. He should eat when he was hungry, drink when he was thirsty, dance when he was merry, vote for the candidate he liked best, and knock down any man who questioned his right to these privileges. He was almost always an ardent politician, and a strong partisan on whichever side he enlisted. But a man would have been held in reprobation who should attempt to serve his party by fraud and corruption. There was no ballot-box stuffing.

It is probable that the greater simplicity of social habit brought people nearer together, and made man's common brotherhood more readily felt. Certain it is that mutual help and encouragement was the rule and not the exception, and when adversity threatened, neighbors relied upon each other as if they were members of one great family. The world has of necessity grown colder and more selfish as those primitive days recede into the dim past, and in grasping all things, men let happiness slip out of their hands.

People are less religious now than they used to be, though they have so many more churches and preachers to keep them in the right way. I do not profess to be what is called orthodox myself, nor to believe all that was taught in my father's house; but the longer I live, the more clearly I see that without religion and morality no nation or individual can prosper. It is the youth who lives an orderly and moral life, and who reverences all sacred teachings, who grows up into a prosperous man and a good citizen.

During the first two years after I went to Hamilton, little occurred worthy of detail here. I studied hard, generally reading twelve hours a day. This was too much, and I now see that I might have made better progress with less application. However, I was conscious of many deficiencies, and felt that I must lose no time. DR. HIGGASON seemed of the same opinion, and I injured my health by too many hours' confinement. I attempted too much, and failed to master completely any one branch of my subject. When I came to the practice of medicine, I discovered that my knowledge was superficial, and tried to remedy this imperfection by careful study of one branch at a time. At first I was too ignorant even to know how best to employ such advantages as were offered me. Once more I must refer to the great kindness and encouragement I received from leading citizens of Hamilton, who in the midst of their busy lives found time to give friendly help and counsel to the diffident and awkward boy who sorely needed such assistance. Kind words and deeds are good seed wherever scattered, but nowhere is the harvest more abundant than when sown in the heart of a struggling and self-distrustful youth. To this day I can never think without emotion of the people who were kind to me then.

Among these friends I must particularly mention WILLIAM BELLINGTON, to whom I am indebted as much as to any other man, for such small success as I have had in life. He was from Philadelphia, and had received the advantage of a classical education, and also of an early acquaintance with an old and polished society. I have never known a better heart. For some reason, he took me in a manner under his protection, often talked with me, and led me to read books outside of my medical course. With him I first became familiar with Shakespeare and other poets. His influence confirmed me in my determination to become a lawyer.

Some of the young men of the village formed themselves into a Debating Club. I attended one of their meetings, and through the politeness of some of the members, was induced to speak. My remarks had the merit of brevity, and probably of little else, but they were indulgently received, and several gentlemen were kind enough to say that I had qualities that would lead to success as a debater. These favorable comments sank deep in my mind, and strengthened the aversion I already felt for the life marked out for me. I felt that I could never be happy or successful as a physician.

All this time I worked hard at my medical studies. TUCKER and myself were constantly together, but rarely joined in the amusements of the other young men. Once we attended a ball at Quincy, and that was made memorable to me by being the occasion of my first personal encounter. Engaged in the pleasures of the evening, some question arose as to precedence of claim upon the attention of one of the ladies. To my great surprise I was grossly insulted by the gentleman whose claims conflicted with mine. Justly outraged, I no sooner withdrew my adversary from the presence of the ladies than I challenged him to defend himself, and assaulted him with my pocketrknife. In this I was sustained by all present, and the general sentiment was that I had done well to maintain my honor against the assault of an ill-mannered and violent bully. This action I have never regretted, holding that a man has a right to defend his honor whenever and by whomsoever assailed. Had I submitted tamely to this insult, my whole future career would have been blighted by it, and I should have lost all claim to the respect and good-opinion of my fellow-citizens.

continued in Chapter Four