xt7wdb7vn45b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wdb7vn45b/data/mets.xml Kentucky. General Assembly. 1868  books b92-63-27078866 English Printed at the Kentucky Yeoman Office, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Powell, L. W. (Lazarus Whitehead), 1812-1867. Kentucky History. United States Politics and government 1861-1865. Biographical sketch of the Hon. Lazarus W. Powell, (of Henderson, Ky.)  : governor of the state of Kentucky from 1851-1855 and a senator in Congress from 1859-1865 / published by direction of the General Assembly of Kentucky. text Biographical sketch of the Hon. Lazarus W. Powell, (of Henderson, Ky.)  : governor of the state of Kentucky from 1851-1855 and a senator in Congress from 1859-1865 / published by direction of the General Assembly of Kentucky. 1868 2002 true xt7wdb7vn45b section xt7wdb7vn45b 














































































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       BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH




                  OF THU





HON. LAZARUS W. POWELL,
             (OF HENDERSON, KY.),




  GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY



           TERom 1851 TO 1855,



                   AND A



SENATOR



IN\T C    RSS XG R



1mOM    1860 XOO 1SO



PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Of KENTUCKY.




            FRANKFORT, kIP.:
    PRINTED AT THE KENTUCKY YEOMAN OFFICE.
          a L KI X.JOt. PUBIuC PWINTRL.



1868.


 
This page in the original text is blank.


 


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF KENTUCKY,

                   MARC H 5, 186;8.


  MR. MCKENZIE moved the following resolution, viz:
  RCeolved, That a Committee of three be appointed by the Chaic to
prepare a Biographical Sketch of the HON. L. W. POWELL, and that the
Public Printer be directed to print five thousand copies of said Biography
for the use of this House, together with the speeches delivered on the
occasion of the announcement of his death, in pamphlet form, accompa-
nied with a lithographic portrait of the deceased.
  Which was adopted, and the following named gentle-
men were appointed to perform the duty indicated by
the resolution, viz: Messrs. J. A. MCKENZIE, of Christian
county; S. I. M. MAJOR, of Franklin county; and R. M.
SPALDING, of Marion county.



            IN THE SENATE OF KENTUCKY,

                   MARCH        43, 1868.


  MR. ALEXANDER moved the following resolution, viz:
  Resolved, That a Committee of two of the Senate be appointed by the
Chair, to act in conjunction with a similar Committee of the House, to
prepare Biographical Sketches of the HON. L. W. POWELL and the HoN.
JOHN L. HELM, and that the Public Printer be directed to Drint three
thousand eight hundred copies of each Biography for the use of the Sen-
ate, together with the speeches delivered on the passage of the resolu-
tions in regard to their death in the Senate and the House, the same to
be published in pamphlet form, accompanied with lithographic portraits
of the deceased, and that they be mailed to the members of both Houses,
postage paid.
  Which was twice read and adopted. Senators JOSEPH
M. ALEXANDER, of the county of Fleming, and BEN. J.
WEBB, of the City of Louisville, were appointed, in pur-
suance of the resolution, to perform the duty assigned
thereunder.


 
This page in the original text is blank.


 


INTRODUCTION.



  It is to be feared that the effort we have made to
depict the character and public services of the HoN.
LAZARUS W. POWELL will be regarded, by many of our
readers, more as a eulogy than a biography. Every
written memoir of a truly good man must necessarily
partake of this character.  Had there been anything
in his private life or in his public career worthy of
general condemnation, or even of severe censure, we
cannot suppose that the duty we have endeavored to
perform would ever have been imposed upon us by the
General Assembly. The maxim, de mortuis nil nisi bonum,
is always applicable where there are living representa-
tives of one's blood and name to be affected by the
condemnation of the dead. The fact, therefore, that the
representatives of his own people, so soon after his death,
have directed his biography to be written, is evidence
of the purity of his record-of the high estimation in
which he was held by their entire constituencies.
  It is a singular circumstance, in connection with our
search after details concerning the private life of Gov-
ernor POWELL, that our inquiries, with rare exceptions,
have met with only general answers. " He was a most
genial gentleman," is the usual reply that we have re-
ceived from men of all parties and all creeds, at home
and abroad. One writes: "He was always true to his
principles and to his friends, and he was ever ready
to forgive those who had done him injury." Another
writes: " He was the soul of honor, as he was of can-
dor; conscientiousness and urbanity had in him their


 
INTRODUCTION.



consistent representatives at all times and under all
circumstances; he was sympathetic in the presence of
human misery and bereavement, and to the poor he was
always a liberal benefactor."
  One who knew him well writes:
  "1 There was a geniality about POWELL in social life
that was not only the delight of his friends, but which
had often the effect to make bis bitterest political foes
forget for the time that he was not of themselves. In
mixed companies, it was a habit with him to introduce
topics for conversation that were unlikely to provoke
contention. When he found it impossible to prevent
this, he was always uneasy until he or others had turned
the discourse into other channels. His influence in the
United States Senate was greatly in excess of his im-
portance as a party politician. He was known to be a
man of sound discretion and of incorruptible integrity,
and his advocacy of measures in which no political policy
was involved seldom failed to bring to his aid a certain
number of votes from the opposition benches."
  The Hon. THOS. C. MCCREERY, his life-long friend, who
now fills the position he so greatly distinguished in the
Senate of the United States, thus writes to one of the
Committee:
  " I should find it difficult to write a lengthy biography
of Governor POWELL, from the fact that those traits of
character which endeared him to all may be stated in a
few sentences. Everywhere, at all times, and under all
circumstances, he was the same. In social and private life,
he was a kind, genial, hospitable gentleman. When you
approached his door, no cloud shaded his brow; but the
gushing warmth of his welcome made you feel that you
were entering the portals of a friend. In public life, he
never failed to come up to the full measure of his duty.
He was possessed of a high order of talents, which he
industriously employed in supporting measures, the jus-



6


 
INTRODUCTION.



tice of which, in his mind, amounted to positive convic-
tions."
  So far as we are able to discover, his patriotism was
never the subject of suspicion in any quarter, except at
the beginning of the late civil war, when he boldly took
his stand against the rightful assumption of power, on
the part of the Federal Government, to make war upon
the seceded Commonwealths of the South, for the purpose
of coercing them back into the Union. Not even then
were his motives impugned by any large number of those
who were clamorous for the war. The result of the
attempt which was made in 1862 to expel him from his
seat in the United States Senate is clearly indicative of
the high estimation in which he was held by many among
the leading members of the Republican party. That at-
tempt failed by a vote of twenty-eight to eleven, a majority
of his political opponents voting against expulsion.
  To sum up the result of our investigations as to the
character of Governor POWELL, both as a man and as the
trusted agent of his State, we find that he was beloved
by his own people, and everywhere respected; that he
was true to his political principles, and ardent in their
dissemination; that he was courageous in defending what
he conceived to be the truth, and was never discourteous
in debate-not even toward his bitterest antagonists;
finally, that he was exact in the performance of his
official duties, and was governed by prudence in his
recommendations of measures of public utility. It were
impossible to fulfill properly the duty that has been laid
upon us, in the face of a record so indicative of Govern-
or POWELL'S wise statesmanship, of his official integrity,
and of his exalted character as a man, without giving to
our memoir the appearance of a panegyric.
  We desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to a num-
ber of individuals, in different parts of the State, who
have most kindly furnished us with information of one



7


 
INTRODUCTION.



kind or another in relation to the late Governor's private
and public life. Without such aid, it would have been
impossible for us to have performed our task with any
degree of exactness, or to have given to our picture even
the faint outlines of resemblance to the original, which
we have been thereby enabled to secure. Our acknowl-
edgments are especially due to R. T. GLASS, Esq., and
Gov. ARCHIBALD DIXON, of Henderson; to the Rev. J. B.
HUTCHINS, of Marion county; to Col. S. B. CHURCHILL,
Judge GEO. ROBERTSON, GRANT GREEN, Esq., and W. P. D.
BusIn, Esq., of Frankfort; to the Hon. THos. C. MCCREERY,
of Washington City; to the Hon. I. A. SPALDING, of Union
county, and to the Hon. HENRY J. STITES, Col. PHIL. LEE,
Governor BRAMLETTE, and others, of Louisville.
                         JOS. M. ALEXANDER,
                         BEN. J. WEBB,
                                  Senate Committee.
                         J. A. McKENZIE,
                         S. I. M. MAJOR,
                         R. M. SPALDING,
                                   House Committee.



8


 


            HIS PRIVATE LIFE.



  Every photographic artist knows that sun-pictures
depend much for their truthfulness to nature upon the
marked features of the object sought to be portrayed.
Smooth faces and regular lines of landscapes are seldom
caught in their full reality. This is because there are
certain accessories to truthful delineation always wanting
in such cases. It is impossible to secure, from the living
face, the aspect of unrest, which frequently gives to it
its greatest charm, its most distinguishable feature. It
is the same with a certain class of inanimate objects.
A regularly laid-out garden, or a smooth wall of bricks
or granite, never makes a pleasing picture. In the case
of the garden, the accessories are wanting of sunshine
and cloud, fragrance, and the constantly changing lights
and shadows produced by more or less commotion in
the atmosphere. In the other case, however grand and
noble may be the structure exposed to the eye, there
are lacking the surroundings which are necessary to fix
in the mind the ideas of fitness, comparison, propriety,
and the like. The nearest approaches to exactness that
have resulted from the photographer's art are to be
found in the pictures it has given of old faces, old
ruins, and other strongly marked aspects in the domain
of nature.
  In treating of the private life of Governor POWELL,
one must feel that the difficulties he has to encounter
are equally great with those of the photographer when
he attempts to reproduce on his prepared paper the
exact features of a landscape that presents no aspect


 


LAZARUS W. POWELL.



of a marked character. This beautiful life, like a grand,
but quiet stream, flowed on its peaceful course, blessed
of all, and bearing blessings to all.
  Although Governor POWELL was undoubtedly possessed
of an ambitious mind, his whole life showed clearly that
his ambition was worthily directed toward worthy objects.
lIe desired to earn an honorable name through the prac-
tice of those civic virtues which, while they adorn their
possessor, are the strongest supports of both society and
government. Laudable ambition is but the directing of
the forces and powers that fill the soul in the channel
of the highest usefulness. To possess talents, and not
to use them, is to bury one's treasures in the ground.
To possess them, and to use them improperly, is to act
as does the madman, who exerts his physical strength
to the injury of every one he meets. The object of all
laudable ambition is to deserve the plaudits of men for
acts beneficial to mankind; and the highest encomium
that one man can pay to another is to be able to say
of him: Lie refused the powers that he could not exer-
cise without injury to others. In its incipiency, laudable
ambition is but the wail of the soul after those objects
in the possible future which will bring it nearer to
Truth-nearer to the summit where sits-sedet aternumque
scdebil-the Spirit of Wisdom and Knowledge. There is
no taint of sin in such ambition. It is but the putting
to profitable use of the talents given into the keeping
of certain of His creatures by Him to whom all service
is due.
  Every human nature, among the almost endless diver-
sities of rational existencies, has its own capability for
a specific work. It is inglorious to shirk the responsi-
bilities of one's position in life-the obligations, the
cares, the labors that are incidental to the possession,
and the putting to proper use, of special mental endow-
nents. The color taken by ambition is derived from the



10


 


HIS PRIVATE LIFE.



motives to which it owes its existence. If these be pure,
if they be unselfish-that is, if they be directed to no
good that will not also prove a good unto others-then
is one's ambition no emanation from the abyss of de-
praved nature, but a spark from that Living Intelligence
from Whom it originally descended, and toward Whom
it must ever tend by the law of its nature.
  LAZARUS W. POWELL was born in Henderson county,
Kentucky, on the 6th day of October, 1812. His father,
Capt. LAZARUS POWELL, only a few years previous to the
birth of the subject of our memoir, had settled on a tract
of land lying twelve miles south of the village of Hender-
son, on the Morganfield road. Here he still resides, at
the advanced age of ninety years. His mother was the
daughter of Capt. JAMES MCMAHON, of Henderson county.
This gentleman had served in the ranks of the Kentucky
volunteers in the war of 1812. He was a man of strong
native intellect, but exceedingly eccentric in manner and
habits. Though both of the late Governor's parents were
possessed of average natural talents, neither had ever
enjoyed the benefits of intellectual culture beyond its
simplest rudiments. LAZARUS was their third son. Three
of his brothers still survive, and one sister, the estimable
wife of the Rev. D. H. DEACON, Rector of St. Paul's Epis-
copal Church, Henderson, Kentucky.
  The boy, LAZARUS WV. POWELL, at a very early age, be-
gan to exhibit those traits of character which, in their
fuller development, caused him to be loved and respected
wherever he was known. When he had arrived at an
age to be able to appreciate the advantages of education,
he used diligently the very inadequate means that were

 In the prime of his life, Capt. POWELL was recognized as a man of vigor-
ous mind, and was noted for his energy of character. He accumulated a
large estate, the greater part of which has been distributed among his chil-
dren. He retained the old homestead, where he still resides. At the date
of the Emancipation Proclamation, he was the owner of a large number of
valuable slaves.



it


 


LAZARUS W. POWELL.



within his reach to acquire knowledge. The school he
first attended was a primary one kept by a Mr. EWELL
WILSON, in the village of Henderson. Here he learned to
read and write. Later, he became a pupil of the late
GEORGE GAYLE, Esq., a gentleman of rare talents and at-
tainments, under whose tuition he acquired a fair aca-
demical education.
   Young POWELL was a manly youth, ingenuous and
 truthful, and not a little ambitious. He had scarcely
 reached the age of eighteen before he had marked out for
 himself a pathway in life and chosen the profession in
 which he hoped to acquire a moderate competency, and,
 possibly, the other results of a reasonable ambition. He
 did not say-for his aspirations were all civic-
           "- -The world's mine oyster,
           Which I with sword will open-"
but with a like spirit that breathes through this immortal
sentiment of the world's greatest poet, he pursued his
course, and allowed no obstacle to interpose between his
will to do and the accomplishment of the act he so willed.
  Few farmers in Kentucky, at the time to which we re-
fer (1830), were possessed of any great abundance of
ready means; and thus it turned out, wvhen young POWELL
was preparing to carry out his design of entering upon
the study of the Law, that his father was only enabled to
furnish him with a sum of money that was quite insufficient
to cover the expenses incident to the position he expected
to occupy. Early in the month of June, 1830, the young

 Mr. GAYLE was a firm believer in the efficaev of the rod as an aid to the
impartment of knowledge. lie was quick-tempered, but was seldom unjust,
whether in the bestowal of praise or punishment. He was eminently suc-
cessful as an instructor of youth, and his memory is warmly cherished to
this day by a large number of his former pupils. After he had accumulated
a fortune ample enough for all his wants, he still continued to teach for sev-
eral years, on account, as it is believed, of his love for the profession. In
October, 1862, his grand-datghter, Miss MARY A. ALVES, was united in mar-
riage with HENRY POWELL, Esq., the eldest son of the late Governor.



12


 


HIS PRIVATE LIFE.



man rode over to the town of Owensboro, the county seat
of the adjoining county of Daviess, for the purpose of con-
sulting with an old legal friend of his father's, the late
Hon. PHILIP THOMPSON.        This gentleman was then en-
gaged in a large practice in the circuit presided over by
the Hon. ALNEY MCLEAN.t      Mr. THOMPSON readily assented
to POWELL'S wish to enter his office as a student. He soon
discovered, however, that the insufficiency of his young
friendts educational attainments would be a great draw-
back to his hoped-for success in the undertaking upon
which he had entered, and he urged upon him the neces-
sity of suspending his legal studies until he could avail
himself of the advantages of a classical education.
  This was a great blow to POWELL'S hopes. He had the
good sense, however, to see that the advice that had been
given him was the result of a kindly interest in his affairs.
Returning home, he set about revolving in his mind the
unlooked-for difficulty and the means at his disposal
for overcoming it. The result of his self-communing
was a determination to visit Bardstown, then the seat of
one of the best literary institutions in the State. Having
obtained from Mr. THOMPSON a letter of introduction to
the Hon. JOHN ROWAN,  an old friend of the writer, he

 The Hon. PHILIP THOMPSON was a lawyer of great ability. 1e was a
member of Congress from his district from 1823 to 1825. He was killed by
oU Jeffries in a street fight in Owensboro, in 1836.
f The Hon. ALNEY McLEAN resided in Greenville, Muhlenburg county,
where he died in 1842. He commanded a company of Kentucky Volunteers
at the battle of New Orleans; also a company in Gen. HopKIis campaign
against the Indians. He served his district in the Congress of the United
States from 1815 to 1817, and from 1819 to 1821. He was for many years a
circuit judge, a position that he occupied at the date of his death. He was
a man of superior ability, of great popularity, and of high moral character.
 Judge RowAN was born in Pennsylvania, in 1773; emigrated to Kentucky
when quite young; was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of
1799, and Secretary of State in 1804. He was a member of Congress from
1807 to 1809; Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1819, and a Senator in
Congress from 1825 to 1831. He died in Louisville, Ky., July 13th, 1843.
Judge RoWAN was a Democrat of the Jeffersouian school. That he should



13


 


LAZARUS W. POWELL.



set out for Bardstown, at which place he arrived in the
first week of September, 1830. His entire riches con-
sisted of the horse he rode and less than one hundred
dollars in money.
  He took early occasion to present his friend's letter to
Judge ROWAN, and was by that true gentleman treated
with a degree of kindness and interest which he ever
afterwards remembered        and   spoke of in terms of the
deepest gratitude. Judge ROWAN was, perhaps, the most
learned man of his profession in the State. In order to
test the qualifications of the young man for the pro-
fession which he had chosen, he introduced into their
conversation certain literary, scientific, and historical
questions, which he deemed it important that every one
should be acquainted with who had any thought of en-
tering upon the study of the Law. The result was as
unsatisfactory, in regard to young POWELL'S scholastic
attainments, as had been his former trial before Mr.
THOMPSON. His natural good sense, however, and his
evident candor, made a most favorable impression on the
erudite statesman, and again he was strongly advised to
apply himself to the acquisition of a thorough collegiate
education.
  With becoming modesty the young man acknowledged
to JUDGE ROWAN that he had not sufficient means to defray

have been strongly inimical to the Whig policy, of which Mr. CLAY was the
chief exponent and champion in Kentucky, was but natural. But he gave to
Mr. CLAY little credit for exalted meutal gifts, and less for statesmanship.
He was often heard to express the opinion that DANIEL WEBSTER was much
the superior man. He could not understand why it was that the Massachu-
setts statesman was so much in the habit, as he expressed it, of "play-
ing second fiddle" to one so greatly his inferior. Speaking, on a certain
occasion, of the distinguishing characteristics of these eminent men, he
illustrated his idea by the following supposed case: "If," said he, "the two
should happen to go duck-shooting together, Mr. CLAY would expect Mr.
WEBSTER to assume the office of spaniel to bring out the birds, and the latter
would not be able to perceive that there was any degradation in his assump-
tion of such an office."



14


 


HIS PRIVATE LIFE.



the necessary expenses of a college course of studies.
Having arrived at the details of his present means and
future prospects, Judge ROWAN gave him hopes that the
particular difficulty might be overcome. He told him
that he was well acquainted with the Faculty and Pro-
fessors of St. Joseph's College, and that, having some
influence with them, he thought it highly probable that
he would be able to arrange with them for his immediate
matriculation and subsequent tuition.
  Early the following morning Judge ROWAN accom-
panied the young man to        the college, where he was
formally   introduced   to  the  President, the    late  REV.
GEORGE A. M. ELDER. Mr. Elder was a man of the
kindest impulses. He was also an excellent judge of
character. The manly appearance of young POWELL,
his candor in stating his wishes and the inadequate
means he possessed toward their realization, together
with his evident disinclination to accept of unusual
terms, or such as would compromise his own independ-
ence, all deeply interested the good ecclesiastic. Other
members of the Faculty were called to the consultation,
and, before they separated, the name of LAZARUS W.

MR. ELDER was a thoroughly loveable man. Though he occupied, for
nearly twenty years, the post of President of a college in which were
domiciled from one hundred and fifty to three hundred young men and
boys-a large proportion of whom were natives of Louisiana and Mississippi,
and, consequently, if there be any truth in the generally accepted saying,
"a hot sun breeds a hot temper," may be supposed to have been difficult
of control-he was never known to have bad an enemy in the college. He
had evidently studied human nature to some purpose. He won the hearts
of all by making it clear to the perception of all that he possessed himself
the most loving of hearts. He died at Bardstown, in the year 1838. The
writer of this was seated, on the evening of his death, in the parlor of a
friend, since deceased, and was conversing with several members of his
family, when suddenly the tolling of the Cathedral bell hushed our voices
into awe. Not a word was spoken until the iron clang had again thrilled
through our ears, when, with a choking sob, one of the ladies present ex-
claimed, "0 God, he is deadI"  Few were the homes, indeed, wherein was
heard that tolling bell, that tears and sighs and prayers were not its fitting
accompaniment.



15


 
LAZARUS W. POWELL.



POWELL was duly entered on the college register. It
is scarcely necessary to state that every obligation
entered into by Mr. POWELL with the Faculty of St.
Joseph's College was afterwards fully redeemed.
  To say that young POWELL was what is termed popular
with both his Professors and his fellow-students, would
inadequately express the general sentiment with which
he was regarded in college. By the former he was
beloved to a degree that can only be fully understood
when reference is made to the bond that exists between
parent and child. He was the pride of the latter, ad-
mired and looked up to as something to be made much
of and copied after. There was no waywardness in their
feelings toward their idol, because there was no blot on
his escutcheon. He was listened to, and his advice fol-
lowed, because of their respect for his character and
their confidence in his judgment. Who can measure
the restraining influence of such a mind over the weak-
nesses and latent propensities to evil of less steadfast
associates His young companions learned to respect
virtue, principle, assiduity, and goodness, because of all
these their friend was. ever the consistent exponent.
  Boys from fourteen to twenty are very frequently more
zealous political partisans than are their elders. This
was certainly the case with the students at St. Joseph's
in 1830-3. POWELL had been nurtured, as it were, in the
principles of the Democratic party. The great majority
of his fellow-students, on the contrary, had imbibed other
notions-those that had for their chief exponent at the
time the great Whig leader, HENRY CLAY. Controversies
often arose between the students on the merits of the
political questions which were then dividing public senti-
ment, and in these there was, no doubt, exhibited as
much bitterness as usually accompanies disputes on any
deeply interesting topic. Had the subject of our me-
moir been anything else than the man he was-sincere,



I16


 


His PRIVATE LIFE.



but calmly demonstrative-able to distinguish between
political heresies and the motives which incline men to
their adoption-he would scarcely have been accorded, as
he was, the championship of the entire school in every-
thing in which a general interest was excited outside
of politics. No matter what were the partisan views
of any one of his fellow-students, it was impossible that
he should not respect the party that had an advocate so
entirely candid, and yet so cautious about giving offense
to  others.  Throughout his whole political career, in
after years, there was no wavering on the part of his
old fellow-students, when it was question of saying a
kind word or of doing a kind thing, for one who had
so much endeared himself to their hearts.
  "It may be stated," writes one of his fellow-students
to the Committee, "with entire truth, that the standard
of Governor POWELL.'S scholarship would have been im-
proved, had he passed though college at a less rapid
pace." He adds: "Poverty and ambition stimulated him
to great exertion, and he graduated in the class of 1833,
which numbered some of the sprightliest and ablest minds
in the South and Southwest."

  The class of graduates at St. Joseph's College for 1833 numbered eight
individuals, viz: LAZARUS W. POWELL, of Kentucky; R. F. ALPOINTE, of
Louisiana; G. W. RHODES, of Kentucky; J. B. MADDOX, of Louisiana; A.
LE BLANC, of Louisiana; R. C. BRASHEAR, of Kentucky; THos. H. DUVAL,
of Kentucky, and WM. HOWARD, of Kentucky. Of these, R. C. BRASHEAB
fell at the Alamo, in the war for the independence of Texas. Taos. H.
DUVAL studied law, and removed to Texas, where he became a circuit judge,
and was afterwards Secretary of State. F. R. ALPOINTI: studied medicine,
and became, and is now, an eminent physician in New Orleans. In regard
to the other members of the class of 1833, with the exception of Governor
POWELL, we have no knowledge concerning their after career.
  Others of Governor POWELL'S fellow-students at St. Joseph's were: The
late Hon. GEORGE ALFRED CALDWELL, of Louisville, a gallant officer in the
war with Mexico, and a Representative in Congress from Kentucky from
1843 to 1845, and from 1849 to 1851; the Hon. ROBT. WICKLIFFE, late Gov-
ernor of Louisiana; Judge RICHARD A. BUCKNER, of Lexington, Ky.; the
       2



17


 


LAZARUS W. POWELL.



  Among the college friendships formed by POWELL while
pursuing his studies at St. Joseph's was one which
we cannot forbear mentioning. CLEMENT C. SPALDING, a
younger brother of the present Archbishop of Baltimore
and of R. M. SPALDING, Esq., the member from Marion
county of the present House of Representatives of Ken-
tucky, was pursuing his studies in the same institution
during the entire term of Mr. POWELL'S college course.
His was regarded as the brightest intellect there. Though
his graduation took place a year later-in the class of
1834-his scholastic attainments were, even then, in
some respects, of a higher order than those of POWELL.
Between the two, from the date of the latter's introduc-
tion to the school, there sprung up a friendship so warm
that it was the subject of general observation among the
students. They were the recognized leaders of the va-
rious debating clubs that had been organized in the insti-
tution, and it was in these clubs that they first essayed
their powers of logic as well as of oratorical display.
  Early in August of the year 1833, only a few days after.
his graduation, Mr. POWELL entered the law office of the
Hon. JOHN ROWAN, of Bardstown, Kentucky, for the pur-
pose of resuming his legal studies, which had been inter-

Hon. THOMAS C. MCCREERY, Senator in Congress from Kentucky; Col. S. B.
CHURCHILL, Secretary of State of Kentucky; SAMUEL GLOVER, Esq., oue of
the most prominent lawyers of Missouri, now residing in St. Louis; JOSHUA
F. and JOHN J. SPEED, Esqs., of Louisville, and the Hon. OTHO R. SINGLETON,
a Representative in Congress from Mississippi from 1853 to 1859.
Having finished his college course, C. C. SPALDING studied law, and, in
1836, entered upon the practice in Alexandria, La. His great ability, to-
gether with his strict probity and attention to business, soon enabled him to
take a high rank in his profession. In 1837, while on his way to Kentucky
to visit his relations, he was taken sick, and only reached Bardstown to die
in that place on the 23d of July, 1837. Those who had frequent opportu
nities to see and converse with Governor POWELL will remember how fond
he was of speaking of his deceased friend. Never, to the end of his life,
did he cease to remember and to mourn over the great loss sustained by
himself and the country in the early death of one so worthy to be loved,
and of such brilliant promise.



is


 


His PRIVATE LIFE.



rupted by his college course. The studious habits which
so remarkably distinguished him while passing through
college, equally characterized him in his new position.
He brought all the powers of his mind to bear upon the
acquirement, within the least possible period of time, of
that sum of knowledge of his profession which would
enable him to look forward to an honorable career in life.
He was happy in having for his legal preceptor one of
the master-minds of his day and the country. Judge
ROWAN was not only a well-read lawyer, but he was also
a profound scholar and a man of the rarest natural intel-
ligence. His diction was always elegant, and he spoke
without seeming effort.
   Never have two men of acknowledged genius presented
so marked a contrast in almost every particular as did
Judge ROWAN and his celebrated rival at the bar, the late
Hon. BEN. HARDIN. In every thing, except genius, they
wer