Hill,
Charles Dougherty, has to his
credit the distinction of having made a record as one of the ablest
public prosecutors in his day and generation in Georgia, having
rendered most noteworthy service as solicitor-general of the Atlanta
circuit. A lawyer of most solid attainments and greatest facility in
the marshalling of facts and evidence, he has also the incisive
keenness and versatility which are such valuable ad-junts to technical
knowledge.
Of him it has well been written: "Felicitous of speech, quick at
repartee, ready at all times with bright and sparkling quotations from
his favorite authors, and rich in all the varied resources and
accomplishments of the orator, he stands without a peer among the able
and distinguished prosecuting officers of Georgia. Mr. Hill possessess
a peculiar mind. It is not only quick in its perceptions but also
remarkably firm in its retentiveness. He never makes a note in the
trial of any case, however important it may be, and never mistakes the
evidence in the argument of his cause to the jury. His preparations are
purely mental and in none of his great speeches has he employed the use
of a pencil. Perhaps no lawyer at the bar has a more prodigious
memory."
This worthy member of the bar of Georgia's capital city is also a
representative of one of the best known and most honored families of
this commonwealth. He was born near LaGrange, Troup county, Georgia,
Nov. 3, 1852, and is a son of the lamented and distinguished Senator
Benjamin H. Hill, of whose career specific mention is made in this
work. Mr. Hill passed his boyhood days in his native county and there
received his early educational training. In 1867 his parents removed to
Athens, Ga., and after further preparatory study young Hill entered the
law department of the state university, in that city, being graduated
as a member of the class of 1871. He was admitted to the bar in Twiggs
county and after practicing two years, with somewhat discouraging
results, he decided to abandon the work of his profession and to engage
in agricultural pursuits. He accordingly purchased a farm, and to the
same he gave his personal supervision until the death of his father, in
1882. This called him to Atlanta, and after his honored father had been
called from the scene of life's activities he "decided to resume the
profession which had now become to him a solemn legacy." He assisted
his brother in the prosecution of a number of criminal cases, and in
this connection made a "brilliant reputation by his eloquence and
adroit legal manipulations."
In 1885 he was elected solicitor-general of the Atlanta circuit and was
several times reflected.
The review from which previous quotations have been made continues as
follows: "Since entering upon the discharge of his duties as the
state's prosecuting attorney Mr. Hill has been a terror to evildoers
and while he claims that he has never convicted an innocent man it is
equally true that a guilty one has rarely escaped. Mr. Hill has been
identified with a number of celebrated murder trials, and his speeches
delivered on these occasions have been masterpieces of forensic
eloquence. The courtroom is always crowded to overflowing as soon as
the report spreads that Solicitor Hill is about to make his closing
speech to the jury. No man is more truly the idol of his friends or
more conspicuously the life and center of every group in which he
happens to be found. His humor is always captivating and his wit
lively, good-natured and sparkling. He has very little artificial
reserve and speaks with frankness and candor, never hesitating to give
his opinion freely on any subject. Generous, open-hearted, indulgent
and kind, he is one of the best of husbands as well as one of the
cleverest and truest of men."
Source: "GEORGIA - Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events,
Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form", 1906,
Submitted to Genealogy Trails by K. Torp]
An Autobiography
Of a Great Man
The following brief but interesting autobiography of the late Senator
Hill was written and given by him to his friend, the late Dr. W.H.
White, in 1879, and it was found among his father’s papers by Mr. W.
Woods White, who has kindly consented to its publication, It is as
follows:
I was born in Jasper County Georgia, September 14, 1823. I was
the seventh of nine children and the fifth of six brothers. My
father was a small farmer owning a few slaves only. All his sons,
therefore, did all farm work and all his daughters did all household
work. My mother cut and made the clothes we wore, and most of
them were spun and wove on the plantation.
I worked in the farm from the time I was eight years old, and black and
white came and went alike in all work. My father was a man of
common education, but was extensively read and of great influence in
his neighborhood.
When I was 10 years old (in 1833) my father moved to the county of
Troup, a new county, and his lands were all in the woods, and I helped
clear them. I walked the entire distance from the old to the new
home, over one hundred miles, helping to drive the cattle.
My father would always have a schoolhouse, a church and a temperance
society near his house. He was always trustee of the school,
class leader and steward in the church and president of the temperance
society. Some of the earliest and sweetest recollections are
connected with these institutions and my father’s zeal in them.
The black people always attended church with the whites; and all of us,
black and white, were encouraged to become members at very early
ages. The rule was for the children to work in the farm until the
crop was made and then go to school until it was gathered. After
the crop was gathered, go to school again until planting time for
another crop.
This was my life until I was sixteen years old. I was then
continued at school all the time with a view to a collegiate
education. My father was not able to send all his children to
college, only one beside myself desired a college course and I alone
graduated.
After I was announced prepared to enter college, my father decided he
was not able to send me. A family consultation was held. My
mother insisted on my going. She had always had what was called
her “patch” which was near the house, and was cultivated by her house
hands when not needed at house work. This patch had always been
my mother’s pin money amounting from $50 to $100.
My mother said she would contribute this to my college expenses and
would make my clothes at home besides. An old aunt of my mother’s
who lived in a small house in my father’s yard, and had some means
(small) and no children, agreed to contribute as much more. My
father agreed to add the balance, and I promised that all my college
expenses of any kind should not exceed $300 per annum. I promised
my mother I would take the first honor in my class. I redeemed
that promise. The proudest day of my life was when I wrote to my
parents that I had taken the first honor in my class and all the honors
of the literary society of which I was a member.
HOW I BECAME A SLAVE HOLDER
The cook, Mariah, came to my mother, and was near her age. She
also raised nine children, just the number my mother
raised. One of the cook’s children from birth was assigned
to one of my mother’s children. From our childhood we played
together, worked together and would fight for each other against all
the world. Stronger ties than these were never formed. It
was an alliance offensive and defensive.
I married in 1845. My wife had seven slaves, large and small left
her by her father, who died when she was an infant. We thus began
life with eight slaves. When my father died, the slaves selected
their owners among the children and I had to take two more, who would
go with no other child, and paid for them.
My wife had one other brother left an orphan with her. He married
several years after we did, and determined not to keep his
slaves. They were not willing to go out of the family and I
bought them. I now had fourteen slaves. I was a
professional man living in town and did not need them. I was not
willing to hire them out. The result was I bought some land near
the town and moved on it with the slaves and told them to support
themselves under my protection.
The slaves increased and married wives and husbands and raised children
and to keep them together I bought them all. I also bought
several others who had to be sold and who selected me as their
owner. In a few years my small place was insufficient for them,
and rather than part with them I bought a larger plantation in the
country and placed them on it, and removed with my family back to town.
I was thus a slave-holder from 1845 to 1865, just 20 years. My
slaves increased from eight to sixty-seven, and during all that time
there were but two deaths among them. I realized no profit from
them, and all of them will testify that I cared better for them than
they have been able to care for themselves since freedom came.
------The Atlantic Constitution
Source: The Salt Lake Daily Herald, Sunday September 3, 1882
Transcribed by: Melody Beery
