The life work of John L. Girardeau, D.D., LLd. : late professor in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Columbia, S.C.

Preface

This book is not intended to be an ordinary biography. Dr. Girardeau belonged to a Church and to an age that gave the world an unusual number of extraordinary men, many of whose lives have already been written, covering, in a general way, the most important events that occurred in his time and locality. Its purpose, therefore, is supplemental, showing who he was, and what part he performed in the great movements of his day.

It presents him chiefly in action, and covers only parts of his life. It has been written, for the most part, by men who were associated with him during the times they have described, and by agreement with the Editor, each author has been perfectly free to express his individual opinions. This method has its disadvantages, especially in its tendency to repetition; but it also has its advantages in giving the reader more confidence in the correctness of the representations made of the man and of his work, especially, when he understands that some of the writers were in agreement with him in the greater part of his principles and controversies, while an almost equal number opposed him in some of his most serious contentions.

It also meets Dr. Girardeau's OAvn ideas in reference to the public display of the more tender emotions. There is reason to believe that he destroyed practically all of his correspondence, and a great deal of other personal matter to prevent any one from writing a biography of him in the common form.

Some will think that this book should have appeared before so many of his friends had died. The editor, however, has delayed its publication to meet the generation of those who came after him. with the hope that his influence might in some measure be extended over them

also.

George A. Blackburn.

Columbia, S. C,

Chapter I Ancestry And Boyhood

By George A. Blackburn, D. D.

Persecution, when endured for Christ's sake, has always produced a noble type of man. It brings out all the strong points of national character, and fixes them as permanent qualities to be propagated from generation to generation. The Babylonish persecution has kept the Jew free from idolatry to this day. The persecutions endured by the Scots and the non-Conformists of England haA^e left a stamp, in the love of religious liberty, that no age will ever be able to efface. The persecution of the Huguenots brought out an unusual number of splendid qualities in that remarkable people. This was due to the distinctive qualities of the French mind, and to the special characteristics of the French disposition. When powerfully acted upon by the Gospel, and then subjected to the fierce fires of a pitiless persecution, there came forth a people strong of mind and heart, intense in their Calvinism, rigid in their discipline, pure in their lives, unbending in their loyalty, ardent in their zeal, tender in their sympathies, and magnetic in their personalities. Driven from their native land by the Edict of Nantz, they were scattered, by the providence of God, among all the nations holding the Protestant faith, to enrich by their experience and by their spirituality all Christianity.

In this illustrious company were the ancestors of John L. Girardeau. In the Hhtory of the Huguenot

Emigration to America^ Baird says : "Jean Girardeau came from Talmont, a neighboring town near the Saine coast." That is, near La Chaume, on the coast of Poitou. This was also the birthplace of Benjamin Marion, ancestor of Francis Marion. In a foot note Baird says: "John Girardeau, born at Talmont in Poitou, son of Peter Girardeau and Catherine Lareine." Kamsey, also, in his history of South Carolina, mentions the fact that the ancestors of the Girardeau family, with other persecuted Huguenots, fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantz.

The family records begin with the statement that John Girardeau, son of Isaac Girardeau, was born in Liberty County, Georgia, March 1, 1756. This Isaac Girardeau was the great-grand-father of John L. Girardeau. The family, after spending some time in South Carolina, moved to Georgia. From here a part returned to South Carolina, part moved on to Florida, and a part remained in Georgia. Dr. Girardeau's grand-father, John, w^as a soldier in the War of the Revolution. For some years before his death he w^as totally blind. Dr. Girardeau, in the family Bible, records the fact that he remembered some of the stories he used to relate concerning his adventures in the war. He lived to be eighty-one years of age and was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church.

His grand-mother was Eleanor Dashwood Williams. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in the family records it is written of her: "Read the Bible constantly. Intelligent and cheerful. Just before she died the hymn commencing, 'Jesus, lover of my soul,' was sung at her bedside. She exclaimed,

'I am safe.' " She was seventy-nine years of age at her death.

His father was John Bohim Girardeau, who was born at Toogoodoo, St. Paul's Parish, Colleton District, S. C, October 27th, 1798. He was married to his first wife on December 16th, 1824, by Dr. A. W. Leland. Like the other members of his family, he also was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He died at Beech Island, S. C, from an attack of influenza, complicated with typhoid fever. In the record of his death Dr. Girardeau wrote : "It was one of my sweetest privileges, my dear and honored father, to hold communion with thee on earth; it is one of my fondest hopes to renew it in heaven."

His mother was Claudia Heme Freer, daughter of Edward and Margaret Freer. She was born on James Island, S. C, March 17, 1801. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a woman of extraordinary loveliness of character. She died from country fever, as it was called, on June 21, 1833. John Lafayette Girardeau was the eldest son of this marriage. Five other children were born to these parents : Emily Margaret, Thomas Jefferson, Edward Freer, who died on his first birthday, Claudia May, and Edward Freer, the name being the same as that of the fourth child.

From a second marriage, to Mary Fisher Hughes, six children were born to his father. They were : William Hughes, John Bohun, Isaac Williams, Mary Hughes, George Maurice, and Beulah Ellen.

Dr. .Girardeau made some notes of his early life and experiences, in order that they might not slip aAvay from his memory. These notes contain the only data from which a history of his early life could be constructed. They are largely in brief sentences and catch words. It Avill probably be more interesting, and, at the same time, give a more accurate picture of his youth, to publish them, in so far as they are intelligible, just as he has written them. He says:

"I was born on James Island, near Charleston, on the 14th of November, 1825. Was baptized by Rev. Dr. A. W. Leland, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church.

"My earliest recollections are connected with my mother. On one Sunday afternoon, w^hen I had just learned to read — about five years old^ — she called me to her, and, holding the Bible in her lap, bade me lean on her knees and read the nineteenth Chapter of John's Gospel, commencing, 'Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him.' I was very much affected by the account of the Savior's sufferings and cried. She then told me to go up-stairs. I remember that, as I went, in the midst of tears, I was very vain of the feeling I had exhibited, and w^ondered whether mother would not tell it to others.

''Remember going to the Sabbath School held at the church. Dr. Leland was generally present and taught a class himself.

"Father and mother joined the Church after I was born. I must have been about three or four years old. They joined under the pastorate of Dr. Leland. Presented themselves together on same day. There had been a revival of religion on the Island and many made a profession of religion. Remember the prayer meetings which were held at night from house to house. Used to sit on a bench near mv orrandmother (Mrs. Lawton) or mother. Remember Dr. Inland standing up in a corner near a table and speaking to the people. The room used to be filled. The yards filled with horses and gigs. Dr. Leland used frequently to walk to the meetings. Remember him walking up the path through the churchyard to the church; and in the pulpit. Wondered why he did not strike his hand against the sounding-board when he gesticulated; that old sounding-board attached to the low ceiling with a large star of different colored wood let into it.

"Remember well the church; the pew where father and mother sat. Sat sometimes with them and sometimes with Uncle Freer in his square corner pew next the side door. And that holly tree, whose bright red berries used to hang near the little square window on the side of the pulpit. I think I see them gleaming there now. The gentlemen used to stand under two large red-oak trees and talk before service and make curious figures on the ground Avith their sticks. The boys used to ramble about the churchyard, pulling sassafras roots to chew and wild violets to 'fight cows' with their crooked necks; then stroll down the road and drink water from the ditch, out of bay-leaves.

"Remember Uncle Isaac riding 'old Scott,' grandfather's old sorrel, to church, and the exquisite satisfaction with which I would ride him home with crossed stirrups to 'suit my length.' One day the old fellow went off with me in a canter and frightened me dreadfully.

"One afternoon Mr. Osborn preached and spoke solemnly of eternity. The evening shadows were lengthening, the woods grew browner, and the sermon, connected with the solemn look of the woods, affected me very much. One evening cried to go to prayer meeting with father and mother. It was held at

'Uncle Jackey's'. Mr. Osborn lectured, and, on being told that I begged to come on that cold night, praised me for it.

"When about five years old, was sent to school to Mr. Rawlins Rivers, who taught the only school on the Island. 'Head and foot' plan. Used to stimulate the ambition of the scholars. Remember being required by my father to give account of my standing in the classes. Great tribulation to be 'taken down,' and obliged to report to him. Studied lessons along the road from school home. Carpenter's spelling. — 'ache, a pain': 'adze, a carpenter's axe.'

"Remember that cow that I tried to scare by jumping at her ; how she plunged up to me and there stood dancing up and doAvn, shaking her head and threatening to gore me to death every instant. Tommy was over the fence in a jiffy and left me to scuffle for myself. But the creature, after letting me know what she could do with me if she pleased, quietly walked off, to my great relief. Providence spared my life then. It would have been as easy for her to have killed me as to have given her horn an extra push. The plaid cloak fluttered in vain.

"Remember, too, how Aldrich pushed me headlong into the pond when I was on my knees drinking water. Spared again.

"Remember, too, upon first trying to swim at the 'swimming place,' Fort Johnson, how I was just about to drown, when Sun rescued me; and how the grey mare ran away with me down the 'Bluff Road,' without saddle or bridle, and not even a handkerchief or grape vine in her mouth; how I jumped off, thinking she was going down into the creek, and, falling on my head, could scarcely rise or see ; how the boys on their horses seemed to be away up in the sky.

"Remember, too, how afterwards, in St. Thomas', I was thrown heels over head and nearly killed by the fall; how, in Montague Street, I was precipitated from a tree and the breath knocked out of me; the fall, too, from old Bob near the barn in St. Thomas', when the gun broke in twain under me; and on the Island, how the ox, 'Old Pallux,' gored me in the temple; the fall from a horse, too, in Christ Church Parish at the bridge near Mitton Ferry, thrown clear over his head and nearly run over by him.

" 'When in the slippery paths of youth With heedless steps I ran, Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe And led me up to man.'

"When about seven years old, swore dreadfully at a playmate; so loudly that I was heard at a distance. Mother dispatched Lem for me, who carried me, fighting and screaming, to her. She took me into her room, and corrected me soundly. Remember it with gratitude. It did me good. Thank God for a mother who was fond and tender but would not suffer sin in her children. I remember no other chastisement received from her. Afterwards, years afterwards, was led by bad company to use profane language but only occasionally. That correction, I have reason to believe, was the means of deterring me from forming the habit to any great degree. Remember, long after, being rebuked by schoolmaster for using profanely the name of the blessed Savior.

"When I was seven years old dear mother died. We were playing on the grass-plot in front of Aunt Elizabeth's, Avhen some one came and told us she was dying.

Strange sound ! Tommy and I went into the house and stood in the passage-way by the door of her chamber. The room was full of people. It was an afternoon in June, about four o'clock. There she lay, pale and speechless. Father was at the head of the bed, ill himself, too weak to succeed in getting on the bed; she beckoned to Uncle Edward and pointed to her children, who were standing near the bed, as much as to say, 'Let nothing harm them when I am gone.' She then gave her hand in a last farewell which she could not speak, but which she tenderly looked, to father, and, afterwards, to her children and relatives successively, and, having thus bidden them all good-bye, she quietly closed her eyes and fell asleep in Jesus' arms. I think I see it all now. Afterwards father went into another room and I lay beside him on the bed. Rev. Mr. Edward Buist was with him and offered prayer, kneeling by his bed.

"The funeral took place next afternoon, in the meeting house at Fort Johnson. It rained furiously. Mr. Buist preached;' a solemn hymn was sung, they lashed the coffin on the carriage part of a gig, and the mournful procession moved off. They took the body to the Presbyterian Church in the Island and carried it to the east side of the churchyard. Father afterwards erected a tomb covered by a marble slab, which stands to this day, though not as at first, alone.

"To this day, her memory is held in honor by those who knew her. Often have I been asked by the poor negroes on the Island, 'Are you Miss Claudy's child?' 'Yes.' 'Bless you. Your mudder was a good woman !' She was kind to everybody, especially to sick and needy negroes. Often did she send me with a plate of breakfast to old 'Daddy Prince.' One morning, as I went to carry him his breakfast, I found the old man, propped against the wall — dead. I have never heard an evil word said of her. She bore the character of an hmnble, sweet-tempered, useful follower of the Lord Jesus.

"In the death of our dear mother I recognize one of the most marked dealings of Providence with me, as with the other members of the family. After her death our relations changed. A new complexion was imparted to our whole subsequent life. With her life terminated one distinct section of my ow^n. There a monument was raised which designated the end of one period and the commencement of another. And now, in looking back upon it, and reviewing the part of my life intervening between her death and the present time, I think I can distinctly see how it has worked for ultimate good. I humbly believe the Lord intended it so. We lost the benefit of her motherly care and instruction, but we gained the benefit of tuition in the school of affliction; and eternity alone will reveal how important that discipline Avas.

"I continued to attend the school of Mr. Rivers until I was ten years old. Lived part of the time with Aunt Elizabeth and part with Uncle Freer. Father had a situation under the government at Fort Johnson, and continued planting on the Island. While we were living with 'Uncle Jackey' — John Limbaker — one day news w^as brought down to the Fort that he had dropped dead in his field. Several gentlemen immediately went up and found it even so. I remember their bringing his body down, and taking it up the front steps into his room. He was buried beside his wife, Ann Baker Limbaker, at the Presbyterian Church on the Island. She was a daughter of Grand-

IG The Life Work of

father Girardeau by his first wife, who was Mary Wescoat. They were both members of the Presbyterian Church, and bore the character of humble and consistent Christians. Remember well his holding family worship early every morning. The servants, whom I remember as being in his family, were Sally, Maria, Chloe, Philip and 'Driver Isaac' Remember his early horn ! How many associations cluster around the sound of that horn ! Seldom hear a horn at daylight now without thinking of the sweet sound of 'Driver Isaac's' morning call.

''Remember the tall locust trees. The little gate with sole-leather hinges that swung in the bottom of a glass bottle. The eager game of 'shinny ;' the pond. The turkeys and Jerusalem oak — old Marm Bella on the road side, with her pocket of groundnuts and her roasted potatoes. The tall china-brier shoots, our 'sparrow grass,' the 'whoop and hide' by moonlight, and the race of cows at night. There is Uncle Jackey dressing by the 'dresser,' 'tis scarcely day, he hasn't his coat or waistcoat on yet. See his suspenders connected by that bridge in the middle of his back. 'Get up, there, you lazy fellows, if you don't I'll give you some of this water!' Splash ! Oh, then the rush for pantaloons. There is the little table in the corner. The big Bible covered with cloth is opened, the chapter read, then we kneel down. Take a peep from our chairs at him, see his round spectacle-glasses. We are at the Fort — he stands near his house and astonishes the boys by heaving a clam shell to 'The Hill.' Prodigious ! The Hill has come nearer now. A boy might fling a shell across where w^e sailed our shingle boats, 'strung off' with feathers of white and black and red, plucked from the hens and pullets.

"Remember the landing of shingles for the new church. They were put on the beach just in front of father's house. William and his new song just imported from 'Town' : 'Dan, dan — a — who ? Dan — da monkey, oh.' As he sings he strikes his knees together. Wonderful ! There is Tommy in his little blue and speckled frock. Some one taunts him with it : Was it Mr. Hinson? The surf pitches in and dashes up the floating shingles. The boat rocks but the song goes on merrily and the pile gets bigger.

"Remember the afternoon that the mad dog came trotting along and bit 'Fox,' Uncle Freer 's best horse, and 'Chester,' his fine large dog? See them throwing Fox down. They brand him with a hot iron, but the noble fellow lies down and dies. Chester dies, too. 'Sheep-driver,' splendid fellow, how he frets to go ! 'Nappy tandy,' too, how he makes the gig spin ! 'Jim Crow.' They let him out of the stable. See him tearing down the beach sending his heels high in the air at every jump.

"Remember the sand hills on the back beach. The swims, the rolls, the gloomy looking 'tower.' Soldiers used to be flogged there. Old Nich'las and the jerseywagon, the ride to grand-father's at Wappoo. The tenderness of mother for the horse, her getting out and walking in order to relieve him. Old "Daddy Saturday," Mr. Royall's driver, coming along the woodside, whip tied on his shoulder. Dread of him, scampering. Rides to Mr. Buist's on Saturday — Shorter Catechism. 'Whoop and Hide' at night : 'One's all, two's all, zigzole-zam; bob-tail, bob-tail, tickle 'um, tan; ha-rum, scarum, mujum, marum, France ! You are out.' Remember at one of these plays Furman Witter, using the word 'excepting,' and my being gravelled by it, wondering why he did not use the word 'except' without tlie 'ino:.'

"The followin<T scholars were at the school on James Island. tau<zht by Mr. Kivers: Arabella Rivers, Sarah Ann Kivers, Caroline Rivers, Emma Witter, Furman Witter, James B. Witter, Benjamin Witter, Ralph Holmes, Caroline Holmes, Sarah Palmer Holmes, AVilliani Jeffords, Washington Jeffords, Joseph Jeffords, p:dward Freer, Marion Freer, Adeline Rivers, Abraham Limbaker. John Limbaker, Isaac Limbaker, Joseph Turnbull, Aldrich, Jackson Hendlen, Thomas A. Hendlen, Mary Hendlen, James Lawton, Joseph Mikell, Elizabeth Royall, Cornelia Royall, Leland Rivers, Josephine Rivers, Eliza Rivers, and John L. Girardeau.

"On November 20, 1834, father was married to Miss Mary Fisher Hughes of Charleston. Very soon after 'Ma,' Grandmother Lawton, died! Remember the morning in the 'shed-room' when they came and told us, while in bed, that she was dead. Went over to the 'other house,' as Uncle Freer's was called by us. There was uncle, sitting by the chimney in his room. Went into the next room, and there, where I had often slept in the same bed with her, lay her poor body in death. Buried in the Presbyterian churchyard near the road on the southwest side.

"When I was ten years old I was sent to Charleston and placed at the school of the German Friendly Society in Archdale Street. Was taught by Joseph Theus Lee, Esq. Boarded in the family of Mrs. Beulah Hughes, mother of father's wife, northeast corner of Tradd and Orange Streets. This was in January, 1836. Here commenced a new and important era in my life. My associations were all changed. I was elated at first at the prospect of going to live in 'Town.' But one or two da3^s sufficed to cool my ardor, and soon the home of my childhood haunted me by night and day, and I shed many a tear after I lay down at night. Begged father to take me back into the country, did not wish to live in town. He refused; bitter, bitter disappointment. I was now almost left to take care of myself in every respect. Attended the Sabbath School of the Second Presbyterian Church, where I gained religious knowledge. Teacher, Mr. Patterson, kind man, remember him with gratitude. Remember Mr. Tom Vardell, the Superintendent. Scholars in same class, Sam Turner, Martin McMaster and Charles Scanlan.

"Remember that lonely garret — the water — the rats that used to come and drink at night. Their terrible races and scuffles in the 'cuddy,' and over the room. That terrible racket on the staircase made by one with a huge potato which he lugged up step by step. The straits to which I was reduced — waking up early in the morning and studying lessons in bed by first light of day. Baths at the pump. Allowance ! Rations. Rice cake ! Prayers by the fire. That short Psalm. Cold nights. Cold Sundays in the garret, sunshine in the window. Sunday school books. That blue suit, 'all buttoned down before,' those pumps and stockings. Square corner pew in church. Dr. Smyth. Marshall's bakery. The play in school yard in morning. Palpitating heart.

"Remained at German School until I was fourteen years old. Commenced Latin : Gould's Adam's Grammar. Jacob's Latin Reader. Csesar. Virgil. Greek: Tables of conjugations, declensions, &c. Jacob's Greek Reader. Grseca Majora. Xenophon's Cyropsedia. For a few months before leaving the German School was tau^'ht l)y Mr. llaslan, who took charge of the school in place of Mr. I^e, who had lost his father and apix'arod to he in a mental condition which incapacitated him for discharging his ordinary duties. He was trouhlcd with religious melancholia.-

"At James Island I was very ambitious. Nearly always at the head of the class. Mr. Rivers adopted the plan of incentive to study by appeals to emulation. This was encouraged by Father, who uniformly inquired concerning my daily stand at school and praised or condemned accordingly. AVhen at the German School found total absence of emulation system. No head, no foot, position fixed. Discipline severe to cruelty. This overthrew all desire to excel and engendered very soon a reckless disregard for the teacher and for study. Remember setting my teeth and resolving not to study; how^ever, did study to some extent. Dread of the school wnth the exception of the play ground. In, sometimes, from eight or nine in the morning, excepting a brief interval for dinner, until the riuirino: of the seven o'clock bell. No love for study the consequence. Morals of the school generally excessively low. Lying considered almost a virtue, if practiced for the purpose of avoiding a flogging. Maps, handkerchiefs, &c., used to protect vulnerable parts. These w^ere inserted in the clothing — w^onderful dexterity at the art — ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure. Sometimes detected — wrath, thumbnails, palms of the hand. Small bits of paper with infinitesimal inscriptions condensing the lesson, were used. Great experience in small writing and s?naU things generally. Only virtue at a premium, refusal to inform. A grand, martyr-like quality. Any amount of scourging taken before this virtue was allowed to

JopiN L. Girardeau, D. D., LL. D. 21

fail. Non-compliance with this standard ensured excommunication from the fellowship of the school. My schoolmates at the German School : Charles Axson, Sam Brodie, Charles Bolles, Christopher Carsten, Tom Hewie, James Little, Basil Manly, Tom Wagner, Tom Roper, John Seigling, — Croft, Harvey Dingle, Gabriel Wesley Dingle, William Dingle, Ashley C. Wagner, Sinclair Wagner, Kearney Wagner, Thomas Eason, Edward C. Jones, — Westendorff, John Backman Shiver, — Rowell, John Buckmeyer, Ninian Drummond, Theodore Smith, — Weyman, William Plane, Charles Seyle, Florence Seyle, William Smith, George Smith, Henry Seigling, — Evans, Jas. B. Evans, — McGarth, — Alexander, Jos. T. Dill, Furman Smith, — Smith, Edward Hume, John Hume, and Gadsden Hume."

Chapter II Conversion And Early Ministry

By George A. Blackburn, D. D.

Young Girardeau graduated from the High School wlien he'^was between fourteen and fifteen years of age. Tliat fall he entered the Charleston College. Here begins his spiritual life. At the end of the "Memoirs of Thomas Halyburton" he has left the following testimony: "Over and over again have I read this remarkable dying experience. Lord, help me in my last hour! Calvin, Owen, Witsius, Halyburton and Thornwell have been among the chief of my instructors. The account of Wilberforce Richmond's dying experience in Grimshaw's 'Legh Richmond's Domestic Portraiture,' was the proximate instrument in the liands of the ever blessed Spirit of leading me to believe in Jesus. It was at the north corner of King Street and Price's Alley in Charleston. Oh, the unutterable rapture of that hour when I found him, after a month's conflict with sin and hell ! The heavens and the earth seemed to be singing psalms of praise for redeeming love."

In an old Bible the following record was found: "J. L. Girardeau joined Third Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C, October 18th, 1840. Aged fourteen years and eleven months."

Dr. Girardeau's account of that awful month of conviction was enough to send terror to any unconverted soul. He had just entered college when a gloom like that of eternal night fell upon his soul. His conscience pointed to his sinful nature, the unbearable holiness of God, and the flaming bar of judgment. In everything about him he saw the warnings of coming vengeance, while the lurid glare of an eternal hell was ever before his fervid imagination. His case seemed hopeless. He could not see how any one would want to laugh; he could not see how any one could enjoy a life that was nothing more than a vestibule to the dungeon of eternal woe. He was afraid to put out his light at night lest the darkness should never end. He was afraid to go to sleep lest he should awake in the company of the damned. He had no appetite for food. He could not study. No earthly thing interested him. He spent his time reading the Bible, calling on God for mercy and bemoaning his lost estate. In vain did he strive to make peace with God; he wept over the consequences of his sins, but there was no sense of pardon; he tried to repent and reform, but there was no peace ; he strove to make covenants and agreements with God, but the earth was iron and the heavens were brass. One beautiful morning while on his knees begging for mercy, it occurred to him that he had already done everything that it was possible for him to do, and that all of these things had availed him nothing. He would, therefore, just surrender himself to Jesus and leave the case in his hands. This was faith. Instantly the Holy Spirit assured him that he was accepted in Christ, that his sins were forgiven, and that God loved him with an everlasting love. He sprang to his feet, clapped his hands and poured out the overflowing joy of his soul in praise. All nature had changed. In the description of his feelings he said that the sun shone brighter, the birds sang sweeter, and the breezes blew softer than he had ever knowm them to do. His flesh as well as l>4 The Life "Work of