The soldier-bishop, Ellison Capers

Front matter

intljeCttpotlfttigork

THE LIBRARIES

THE SOLDIER-BISHOP ELLISON CAPERS m

Foreword

In presenting the life of Bishop Capers, it is a pleasure tc acknowledge the assistance I have received from contributors and friends.

To those bishops who knew and honored him and have herein paid their tribute to his memory, expressing so beautifully the love and esteem in which they held him — to them I wish to record my gratitude and appreciation. Bishop Capers ever cherished as sacred any expression of comradeship and confidence toward him, whether given by the humblest or the greatest of his fellow-men. But no experience gave him greater happiness than such expressions from his brother bishops.

To those whose names appear in the volume in connection with memoirs, reminiscences, and anecdotes I also wish to express my appreciation, both for the material furnished and also for the spirit of loyal interest which prompted the contributions.

It was at the suggestion of my brother, the Very Rev. William T. Capers, dean, Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, Ky., that I was led to undertake this work. By his many admirable suggestions in regard to the method of securing certain valuable materials, and also in regard to the work in the last half of the book, I profited greatly.

Bishop Capers is survived by five sons and two daughters. They are: Frank F. Capers (banker), Greenville, South Carolina; John G. Capers (United States District Attorney for South Carolina); Wm. T. Capers (clergyman), Lexington, Ky. ; Ellison, Jr. (merchant), Summerton, S. C. ; Walter B. Capers (clergyman). Columbia, Tenn. ; Mrs. C. B. Satterlee, Columbia, S. C. ; Mrs. Wm. H. Johnson, Charleston,

8 FOREWORD

S. C. As soon as the preparation of this volume was begun they promptly offered their assistance and forwarded to the author all data in their possession bearing upon a theme equally dear and sacred to them all.

My brother, the Hon. John G. Capers, had for a number of years been engaged in collecting material for the preparation of a similar work. This material he generously turned over to me, and throughout the preparation of the work has rendered invaluable service both by practical suggestions and scholarly criticisms in those chapters relating to the Capers family.

With a grateful sense of appreciation for all assistance rendered, I have thus been encouraged to complete the work, which, though not without its discouragements, has had also its inspirations, and will, I trust, bring its readers into that sweetest of all experiences — the heart-touch of a man who was as great as he was good.

Walter B. Capers.

Columbia, Tenn.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Capers Family 13

II. Childhood 24

Part II Addresses And Sermons

Commencement Address Before South Carolina Academy, 1886 . 318

Memorial Address at Greenville, S. C, 1890 33S

Speech at Unveiling of Confederate Monument at Chickamauga

Battlefield, 1901 348

Sermon on the Day Appointed for Prayer and Humiliation on

Occasion of Burial of President Garfield, 1881 3Si

Sermon at Consecration of Church in Selma, Alabama, 1881 . . 357

ILLUSTRATIONS

Opposite page

Capers Coat of Arms ii

Magill Coat of Arms xii

The Soldier-Bishop, Ellison Capers, D.D frontispiece

Mrs. Ellison Capers 40

Lieutenant Ellison Capers 40

Brigadier-General Ellison Capers, C. S. A • 99

Christ Church, Greenville, S. C 155

Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C 187

Bishop Capers as Chancellor of the University of the South. 235 opposite page xii.

Chapter I The Capers Family

The Capers in their origin were probably English. However, after diligent and careful investigation Francis LeGrand Capers, of Pueblo, Colo., concludes the family name to have been originally Capier, and that long years ago, when Flanders was under the sovereignty of France, the Capers resided there and were Huguenots. But it is in our opinion impossible to trace definitely the origin of the family prior to 1689, when the brothers Gabriel, Richard, and William Capers came to America and settled on the seaboard of South Carolina. Gabriel taught school, and later the Capers bought considerable property on the mainland and became extensive planters. From colonial days the Capers family seem to have been prominent, influential, and wealthy, and "Capers Island" and "Capers Inlet" off the coast of South Carolina bear the family name.

In his autobiography Bishop William Capers, father of the subject of this volume, gives the following interesting sketch of the family in the early days of South Carolina history:

"Our name. Capers, I suppose to be derived from France, and the first of the name were Huguenots. Of this, however, I am not certain, nor is it of any consequence. I remember to have heard no more from my father about it than that he had never seen the name in any English catalogue of names. My father's name was William, and that of his father and grandfather, Richard. Of my father's father I know but little more than he died in middle life, leaving two sons, George Sinclair and William, and no daughters. After his death, my grandfather having contracted an unhappy marriage, my father's uncle. Major Gabriel Capers, of Christ Church Parish, became his foster father, and did nobly by him. He had five daughters, but no sons, and my grandfather became his son in all possible respects. My great grandfather survived his son many years, a large, fat, healthy man, of peculiar manners, dressing in ornaburgs and plaids at home, and with broadcloth and silks, stiffened with excess of gold lace, and powdered wig when he went abroad.

"A different kind of man was my father, whose name I cannot mention without emotion after thirty-eight years since I saw him buried. I have studied his character with intense interest and honor his memory in every feature of it with my whole soul. A chivalrous soldier of the Revolution was he, whose ardent patriotism cooled not to the last hour of his life. And yet after a few years in the legislature, following the establishment of peace, he held no civil office whatever, and was seldom seen on public occasions, except in his office as major of brigade to muster his troops. He was a military man ; the war of the Revolution made him so, and to muster a brigade seemed his highest recreation. But no man I ever knew was more a man of peace than my father was. Social and unselfish, generous, kind, his nature was impulsive, but it was the opposite of passionate. Benevolence supplied his strongest incentives, and the serving of others seemed to be his favorite mode of serving himself. I never knew him to be involved in a personal difficulty but once, and then it was on account of a wrong done by an unreasonable neighbor to one of his negroes.

"My father's education had been interrupted by the Revolutionary war, and was, therefore, imperfect; but he had a clear and strong understanding, was fond of natural philosophy and mechanics, wrote with ease and perspicuity, and in conversation was eminently engaging. He was born on October 13, 1758, just at the right time, he was fond of saying, that he might have a full share in his country's independence. He fought with the bravest and the best, first as lieutenant in the Second Regiment, when General Moultrie was colonel, Marion a lieutenant-colonel and Horry a captain, and afterward until the close of the war, as one of General Marion's captains, and was also his intimate friend. He was one of the defenders of Charleston in the battle of Fort Sullivan; was in the battle of Eutaw; was at the siege of Savannah, when Pulaski fell, and not far from him at the fatal moment ; was at the battle of Rugeley's Mills, which happened after his escape from prison in Charleston, and before he had rejoined Marion. Indeed, he was there in search of Marion, whom he expected to find with General Gates, but found not, as he had gone on an expedition to Fort Motte. At Stono, where the lamented Laurens fell, he was present and fought like himself; at Charleston he was one of the defenders and accompanied Major Huger on the service which on their return proved fatal to that gallant officer, by the false alarm through the inadvertence of a sentinel, whereby many lives were lost by the fire of their own countrymen from their own lines of defense. And in addition to these services, he was engaged in numerous skirmishes, which have never found a record in the books, though they contributed no mean quota to the defense of their country."

The ancestry of William Capers has already been referred to and therefore it is only necessary to state here that he was born in Saint Thomas Parish, South Carolina, January 26, 1790. Receiving his early education in private schools, he was prepared to enter the State College at Columbia, which he did in 1805. He easily won distinction in his studies, but voluntarily withdrew in his senior year, returning home to begin the study of law in the office of Judge John S. Richardson, Statesburg, S. C. In 1807 he became a licentiate of the

Methodist ministry and began his life's work by assisting the Rev. Wilham Gassoway on his circuit. After two years of such training he was given a circuit of his own, and from that humble beginning he rapidly rose to usefulness and eminence. He was perhaps the youngest preacher in his Conference, and yet he was successively appointed to the influential churches of Fayetteville, N. C, Wilmington, N. C, Savannah, Ga., Charleston and Columbia, S. C.

In the year 1819 the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church was organized in New York City, and in 1821 Bishop McKendree appointed Mr. Capers to the important work of organizing missions among the Creek Indians in Georgia, their reservations being then on the frontier of the Conference. Leaving his family in Savannah, Ga., until April, Mr. Capers set out on horseback on an extensive tour of appointments, for the purpose of arousing public interest in the moral and religious improvement of the Indians. He visited the Creek Nation the following fall, and established permanent missions among them. It was while engaged in this work thai he became popularly known as "the Apostle to the Creeks." Mr. Capers was a devoted missionary, and to him was due the organization of successful missionary work among the slaves in the South. The Methodist Church officially recognized him as the inspiration and founder of her work among the negroes.

In 1825 William Capers became editor of the Wesleyan Journal, and remained editor when at a later date the Journal and Christian Advocate were consolidated. This editorial work was done while he was successfully administering to one of the largest congregations in Charleston.

At the General Conference held in Pittsburgh, Penn., 1828, Mr. Capers was elected as the representative of the American Methodist Church to the British Conference, which convened in London, Eng. How well he filled his mission may be inferred from the following quotations from resolutions adopted by the British Conference :

"Resolve I. — That it is with the most cordial satisfaction and sincere gratitude to God that this Conference has heard the most interesting communication now made by the Rev. Wilham Capers, respecting the extraordinary work of God now carried on through the instrumentahty of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America. .

"Resolve IIL — That the cordial thanks of this Conference are due to the General Conference in America, for their excellent representative, Mr. Capers, whose amiable manners, devout spirit, and acceptable ministry have greatly endeared him to the preachers now assembled, and confirm their feelings of respect and attachment toward their American brethren at large.

"Resolve IV. — That the warmest thanks of the Conference are hereby presented to Mr. Capers for the great ability, Christian spirit, and brotherly kindness with which he has discharged the duties of his honorable mission; and the Conference respectfully assures him that their most fervent prayers for his welfare will attend him on his return to his native country, and that he will long retain a high place in their affectionate remembrance."

In 1835 Mr. Capers was pastor of the Washington Street Methodist Church. Columbia, S. C. The State College was then, as now, located in that city. By action of the trustees Mr. Capers was elected to the chair of English in the college, and it Avas about this time the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by his alma mater. During a continued absence of the president the faculty elected Mr. Capers to preside over the institution.

When the Methodist Church divided North and South (1844), the question of slavery was involved in the controversy. Mr. Capers was a recognized leader in the debates, and was found a champion for the rights of the Southern section. A year later, as chairman of the Committee on Organization, he was the recognized organizer of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. At the first General Conference after the organization of the Southern branch of the

Church he was elected Bishop. He administered the affairs of his office with great abiHty, and is thus referred to in resolutions adopted by the Spartanburg Conference, when the news of his death reached that body then in session: "He was distinguished for the possession of high powers of eloquent speech ; original thought and a captivating elegance of manner in the pulpit; for business tact and management of affairs at the Annual Conferences; for the charm of extraordinary powers of pleasing in the social circle, and for the urbanity of manners distinguishing the South Carolina gentleman of the old school; all these elements of powers were laid under contribution to the one great object and aim of his Hfe."

The work of his bishopric frequently carried him into different sections of the South and Southwest, as far as Missouri, Oklahoma Territory, and the State of Texas. Upon one of his long journeys he heard and saw a great deal of the fearful ravages of cholera, and he thus gratefully acknowledged the merciful Providence that protected him. In a letter home he writes : "In all my travels for more than forty years, on horseback, by stage-coach, on railroad, by ship and by steamboat, no accident has ever happened to hurt me or anyone else traveling with me, to this day."

This remarkable statement is of especial interest to us, because his son of whom we write, after journeyings often, in which there was an abundance of exposure and hardship, never suffered a serious accident or mishap while engaged in the work of his ministry and episcopate.

From the description his biographer gives us of Bishop William Capers, his son Ellison closely resembled his talented father. The elder Capers was of somewhat smaller stature, and his eyes and hair were dark, while the younger Capers was six feet in height, and in the latter years of his life weighed one hundred and ninety- four pounds. His hair was light and his eyes a blue-gray.

"Bishop William Capers was of medium height, well formed and a little inclined to corpulency in the advance of life. His face was fine and its expression of combined intelligence and amiability. His eye was black and lustrous ; it indicated vivacity of temperament ; it seemed gifted with the power of reading human character at a glance. The teeth were perfect and the lips thin, indicating decision. The chest was round and full, the voice clear in its ring and as melodious as a chime of bells. Thus nature had given him the necessary physique for an orator. His manners were those of an accomplished gentleman. The ease, affability, the finish and freedom from professional crotchets, arose from his native kindness of heart, his careful early training, and the large knowledge of the world to which his calling had naturally lead him. Dignity of person and the various elements which make up weight of character were added to an intellect distinguished for its keenness, vigor, and readiness. His mind was well balanced, practical, and solid; awake to the sentiments of the beautiful and fitted by culture to appreciate and enjoy this sentiment in nature and in man. His powers of conversation were remarkable. He loved to talk, and in talking shone without effort. A genial spirit of humor, racy without coarseness; a vein of deep reflection; an unborrowed fund of anecdote, all ready to be laid under contribution for the instruction and entertainment of those who listened, made his society very charming."*

Bishop Ellison Capers also resembled his father in that he too was "a man of strong family feeling, and no one could enjoy his home more than he."

From the following, written by Bishop Ellison Capers, it appears that he differed with his father as to the origin of the family :

"The name Capers first appears in South Carolina. All of the name who have lived in other States or territories, subsequent to the Revolution, went out from South Carolina, and can clearly be traced to the South Carolina Capers, as, for instance, the Capers in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,

*Whightman's Biography.

and Missouri. The earliest record of the name that I know of is here (Columbia, South Carolina) in the Secretary of State's Office. In May, 1694, two grants of land from the Lords Proprietors are on record, being two plantations sold by them to William Capers. Sixty years ago there was a large house in Liverpool, England, by the name of 'James Capers & Co.' The name appears in the early records of the English Church in this colony and State; and my great uncle and my great grandfather were vestrymen of the Parish of Christ Church. Taking these facts into consideration, I am of the opinion that the original Capers, perhaps the William of record in 1694, came from England. He paid a considerable sum on his plantations, and by the terms of the sale he was to pay other sums every six months, so that I conclude he had some money in 1694, fourteen years after the establishment of Charleston (1680), and twenty-four years after the first colony under Sayle landed on the Ashley River. The Capers in South Carolina in the last of the seventeenth century and in the eighteenth were all on the coast, mostly in old Berkeley and Georgetown counties, north of Charleston, and on the islands and in Beaufort county, south of Charleston, and were all planters or farmers. The sons of my grandfather, my father and uncles, were the first professional men, and were clergymen of the Methodist denomination. Before my grandfather's conversion to the Methodist, the name was always associated with the Church of England. This appears in Dr. Dalcho's history of the Church in South Carolina, and in the old parish registers. I am satisfied our forefathers came over from England. If they had been French people their names would appear somewhere among the names of the Huguenots, and they would have been hostile to the Church of England, or at least Presbyterians or Calvinists. There are Capers now in Liverpool."

Bishop Ellison Capers' conclusion that the family is English finds its strongest support, in our opinion, in the fact of its affiliation with the Church of England during the colonial period, for, as he suggests, if the family had been French its name would have appeared somewhere among the Huguenots, and would in all probability have been hostile to the established worship of the colony. But such was not the case. The Parish Register of old Christ Church furnishes us with the most convincing e\'idence that the Capers who founded the family in South Carolina were not only identified with the Colonial Church, but were also prominent officials in that historic parish. Christ Church is six miles from Mount Pleasant, near Charleston, and is one of the eight parishes established by act of Assembly in 1706. The present building was erected after the Revolution, the original church having been burned by the British. Some years before the first church was erected the following record appears in the parish register :*

BIRTHS

May 6th. 1696. Mary, daughter of William Capers and Mary

his wife.

December 15th, 1698. William, son of ^^'illiam and Mary

Capers.

June qth. 1701. Elizabeth, daughter of William and Mary

Capers.

April 28th, 1 71 2. Richard, son of William and Mary Capers.

BAPTISMS

June 8th. 1729. Mary, daughter of Thomas and IMary Capers.

MARRIAGES

January 9th, 1741. Richard Capers and Elizabeth Bouhoist.

spinster.

January 3d. 1753. Peter Leguieu and Amerlia Capers, widow.

BURIALS

April 28th, 1720. Mary Capers, widow.

July 15th, 1739. Ann, wife of Richard Capers.

March i8th, 1739. Mary Capers.

*The church was completed 1706.

In the days of the Colonial Church the common law required wardens and vestrymen to take the oath of office. We find one William Capers subscribing to the oath as warden, 1708, 1709. 1712, and again in 1717 and 1718, and Richard Capers, son of William, taking the same oath in 1 736.

From the establishment of the family in South Carolina, 1689, to 1794 (more than a hundred years), when Richard Capers, grandfather of Ellison Capers, became identified with the Methodist Church, the Capers family and all its branches were Church of England people.

In his autobiography Bishop William Capers tells us of the circumstances which brought his father to accept Methodism, and this explains his own connection with that Church. He says : "It was on the first introduction of Methodism into South Carolina that, under the preaching of Henry Willis of blessed memory, my father was awakened and converted and became a soldier of the Prince of Peace. His name may be seen in the original conveyances for the first two Methodist churches in Charleston. After his removal to Georgetown, 1794, he became a pillar of the infant church, serving as trustee, steward, and elder."

Captain William Capers becoming thus identified with the Methodists, it was but natural that his children should follow their father into the Church of his adoption.

According to the family register of the Rev. Robert Magill, of Millrow Presbyterian Church, Antrim Island, the family of Ellison Capers' mother, Susan Magill, is Irish. James B. Magill, after his marriage to Sarah Boyd, coming directly from Antrim, established the family in Chester District, South Carolina. Susan Magill was the daughter of William and Ann Magill of Kershaw District, and the adopted daughter of Mrs. Peter Horry, widow of General Horry, the famous patriot and partisan leader in South Carolina during the American Revolution.

We have sketched the ancestry of the Capers, and it will be of interest to learn something of the forebears of Bishop

William Capers on his maternal side. His mother was Mary Singeltary, daughter of John and Sarah Singeltary, of Cain Hoy, on the Nando, near Charleston. In an old sermon preached by a Mr. Hammet at the funeral service of John Singeltary, the clergyman speaks of his well-known charity to the poor, his unostentatious piety, and his noble traits of character, and calls on his neighbors to emulate the deceased's example. He had an only son, a gallant and spirited soldier of the Revolution, who was killed in a skirmish with a troop of Tarleton's cavalry, under the following circumstances : In the engagement his horse became unmanageable and carried him through the enemy's lines, and while fighting his way back to his friends, single-handed, he was surrounded and cut to pieces by the merciless foe.

The name Singeltary is not the same as the name Singletary so common in South Carolina.

Chapter II Childhood

I PROPOSE to put in writing in this book* the facts of my life which will be of interest to my children. My father made such a record of his life, which has given his children the greatest satisfaction, for assuredly nothing which concerns our ancestors can be of indifference to their offspring.

The love and devotion which my children have ever shown me makes this simple journal both a duty and a pleasure to me, for while my life has not been such as to merit the distinction of a book about myself, it has been an eventful one to me and mine, and especially in its connection with our great civil war will possess in after years a peculiar interest to my descendants.

I have been in the habit of keeping a journal, and especially during the war I was careful to note the events in which I took part, and these journals I will simply transcribe, with such remarks as may make the circumstances more clearly understood.

All the ofificial papers in my possession touching my services as a Confederate soldier I sent to the War Department in Washington, at the request of the Department, that they might be published in the official records of the war, and filed in Washington for safe-keeping, subject to my order if desired.

*In 1888, while rector of Trinity Church, Columbia, S. C, Dr. Capers began a Journal, in which he proposed to record those facts and incidents in his life which he felt would be of special interest to his family. However, the overwhelming and constant demands upon his time prevented him from going very much beyond the beginning of the war, and while a part of this journal has been lost, we take advantage of what remains to let him tell us for himself of his childhood and youth.

I had a copy of them made before sending them to Washington, and this copy I shall refer to hereafter in connection with events related in my journal.

Having said so much about my journal, I will now begin the record, assured that those for whom I write will read it with interest, and prize it for my sake.

I was born in Charleston, on the 14th of October. 1837, at my father's residence in Calhoun Street, then called Boundary Street. The house is still standing on the north side of Calhoun Street, a few doors east of Pitt.

In my youth I often passed it in company with my mother, and recall how often and how tenderly she would refer to it as the place of my nativity. I never pass it without thinking of that dear mother, and though I have no personal recollection of the house as my father's residence, a feeling of grateful respect and tenderness is sure to rise in my heart when I pass this humble little home of my infancy. At the time of my birth my father was editing the Southern Christian Advocate, published in Charleston, but being appointed to superintend the missionary interests of the Methodist Church in the Southern States he removed from Charleston in the summer of 1840, and purchased a home in Oxford. Ga.. selecting that locality because of the opportunity of placing my older brothers at Emory College, situated in that place.

The home in Oxford is the home of my earliest recollections. Incidents which seem too trivial to record possess for me a sacred interest, and I often think of our Oxford home, and recall the incidents of the two years spent there with increasing interest. As a matter of some interest in noting the earliest distinct records of memory I refer to this era in my life, for I was not three years old when we removed to Oxford, and I remember the old cars from Charleston to Hamburg, and our arrival in Oxford, and the new scenes and novel experiences of our country home, as clearly in my memory as if the whole had transpired only a few years ago ! And yet I do not remember the circumstances of our removal back to Charleston in the fall of 1842. I remember only the circumstances of my walking from the depot in Charleston to our house in Rutledge Avenue, with my uncle. LeGrand G. Capers, who met us on our arrival. The house on the avenue I remember perfectly. I believe it is still standing. My father sold his property in Oxford, and rented his home in Charleston, occupying at different times houses in different parts of the city, until in the fall (I think it was) of 1847 he removed to a comfortable house in St. Philips Street which had been purchased and given to him and my mother during their lives by the kindness of friends in Charleston. The house stands on the west side of St. Philips Street, about midway between Radcliffe and Mary streets. Here I spent happy years of childhood, and by way of indicating the spirit of that childhood I will transcribe some lines written in the fly-leaf of a book given to me by my father :

"Who more fond of having fun

Lessons said and sums all done,

Than this same boy, Ellison !

But I tell you what, my son,

To be always having fun

And no sums and lessons done

Will not do for Ellison.

Have the fun of getting on And being smart, my Ellison !"

About the same time he wrote in pencil, on the margin of a little book he bought for my brother Oddy, called "The Ladder of Learning," these lines :

"Step by step, go it, Oddy!

Step by step everybody

Goes it too ; Go it, Oddy, And let nobody

Outgo you !"

And nobly did Oddy mount that ladder of learning, graduating at Wofford College in i860, with the first honor of his class.

I went to school in Charleston to Miss Susan Thierce, to Mrs. David Dewick, and lastly to the "Charleston High School." In 1850 my brother Henry and myself were sent to the Conference School at Cokesbury, in Abbeville County, my brother-in-la\v, Professor George W. Stone, and afterwards my brother, Francis W. Capers, being in charge. In 1852 my father having purchased a home near Anderson C. H., Henry and I were put to school at the village Academy in Anderson, taught by the Rev. John W. Carlisle. The removal to Anderson took place in the fall or summer of 1852, the house in Charleston being rented out. My father purchased a small tract of land adjoining the lands and home of my brother-in-law, Samuel B. Jones, and built his house and outbuildings, giving us the delightful employment of cutting down trees, burning brush, hunting rabbits and partridges, and enjoying the experiences, so novel to us, of a happy country life. He called his place "Box Cottage," and it was at Box Cottage in 1852 and 1853 I spent the happiest days of my youth.