Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 11.pdf/18

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Vol. XI.

No. 1.

BOSTON.

January, 1899.

GEORGE McDUFFIE. By Walter L. M11xer, of the South Carol1na Bar. SO far as I have been able to learn, the life of this distinguished Carolinian has never been written. Consequently, it is a difficult matter to obtain sufficient reliable data from which to prepare a sketch or write a criticism on him. The precise date of his birth seems to be somewhat in doubt. In O'Neall's " Bench and Bar of South Caro lina" and in the " American Cyclopaedia" is stated that he was born about the year 1788, in Columbia County, Georgia. In a sketch of Mr. McDuffie written by Mr. Armistead Burt, of Abbeville, S. C., we are told that he was born on the tenth of August, 1790. Of his ancestry the same paper gives us the following account: "John McDuffie and Jane, his wife, were natives of Scotland; and soon after the close of the Revolutionary War came to Columbia Coun ty, the State of Georgia, and made their homes in the pine lands, near the line of Warren County, some thirty miles from the city of Augusta. He was better educated and more intelligent than his neighbors, and nat urally exerted much influence in the com munity. He was well known for the vigor of his understanding and the energy of his will. Integrity, courage, generosity, and benevolence were his characteristic qualities, and they commanded the respect and esteem of his neighbors." This good Scotchman seems to have been interested in the educa tion of his children at least so far as a primary training was concerned, and as a consequence we learn that his son, George, was permitted to attend the schools of the neighborhood. These schools, however,

were very poor and the teachers employed in them were deficient in preparation and training for their vocation. Here McDuffie learned to read, write, and spell. At this early stage in his career he appears to have impressed his teachers and fellow-pupils with his amiable temper, affectionate dis position, and superior talent. At twelve years of age he was employed as a clerk in a country store by a Mr. Hayes and here he conducted himself in so exemplary a manner as to win the friendship and confi dence of his employer. Developing a talent for a larger business than that done by Mr. Hayes, he determined to go to Augusta, where, on the recommendation of his former employer, he obtained a position in the store of Mr. James Calhoun. Judge Samuel McGowan in speaking of him said that Mrs. Calhoun noticed that the candles were burned down at night, usually after the family retired, and it was discovered that McDuffie was in the habit of studying then, and that it was in this way that the family's attention was called to the boy's ambitious tendencies. Mr. Calhoun, being impressed favorably with the lad's worth and promise, succeeded in interesting his brother, William Calhoun, in him. The re sult was that William Calhoun proposed to educate him, and consequently, we soon find young McDuffie matriculating as a pupil in the well-known school at Willington, in Abbeville District, South Carolina. This school was then presided over by the famous teacher, Dr. Moses Waddell, who seems to have trained more young men