MEN OF AFFAIRS

It is quite fitting that the author ofMakers of Virginia Historyshould be chosen as Director of the Division of History, Education and Social Economy of the Jamestown Exposition. Mr. Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler brings to his work also an experience of more than thirteen years’ work in the educational field, having been instructor at William and Mary College, Richmond College, Morgan College, Baltimore, and president of the Woman’s College, Richmond. Mr. Chandler holds degrees from William and Mary, Richmond College and Johns Hopkins and has long been an authority on Southern history, being an active member of the Virginia Historical Society, American Historical Association and Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; and having writtenRepresentation in Virginia,History of Suffrage in Virginia,Makers of Virginia HistoryandMakers of American History(joint author). Since the year 1904 he has been editor for the publishing house of Silver, Burdett & Co.—the only Southern man who is editor of a New York publishing house.

J. A. C. CHANDLER

Mr. Chandler’s interest in the work of the Jamestown Exposition and his thorough knowledge of the ground and departments covered led to his being asked to take charge of a special department and he received a year’s leave of absence from his publishing house in order to accept the position. His plans include a splendid historical exhibit of the sources of history as shown in rare documents and letters, valuable relics, oil paintings and statuary relating to the beginnings of our country; an educational exhibit, showing the best in our schools throughout the country, with especial stress upon the schools of the South. Consolidation of schools; grading of rural schools; theestablishment of county high schools and county agricultural schools, teaching of manual training and domestic science will be fully brought out in this exhibit and will contain much of practical assistance to teachers in all parts of the country. Mr. Chandler’s indefatigable efforts and tireless energy will make this department a thoroughly interesting one. He is a young man, having been born in Guineys, Virginia, in 1872.

Joseph Forney Johnston, who was elected Alternate United States Senator in the Democratic Primary in Alabama, in August last, was born in Lincoln county, North Carolina, in 1843. He entered the Confederate Army, as a private, in April, 1861, served until the war closed, was wounded four times, and rose to the rank of captain. After the war closed, he returned to Alabama, where he had been studying law when the war commenced. On being admitted to the bar in 1866, he practiced law at Selma until he removed to Birmingham, in 1884, to accept the presidency of a bank. He continued in the banking business until he was elected governor in 1896.

JOSEPH F. JOHNSTON

Whilst in Selma, he lead the movement which overthrew Republican rule, and served his party many years as chairman of county, congressional and state committees. He never held any office, and never sought any, until he became a candidate for governor.

In the panic of 1893, he was one of the factors that averted financial disaster to Birmingham. He was one of the organizers and first president of the Sloss Iron & Steel Company; so that when he became governor he had behind him large business experience, and a wide knowledge of the conditions and resources of Alabama.

He was nominated for governor in 1896, in one of the most exciting campaigns the state ever witnessed, and in spite of the opposition of the railroads, great corporations and money power.

When he became governor he found a large deficit in the state treasury, the public schools languishing and the public credit impaired. When he quit office, after serving two terms, the deficit had been wiped out, the terms of the public schools largely extended, more competent teachers secured by wise laws compelling examinations, the credit of the state at the highest point ever reached, and the public service the most efficient in the history of the state. Every department of the state government had lasting impression made upon it by the firmness of his grip; the laws and policies he established,though severely criticised at the time, have remained, through adverse administrations, untouched, and stand yet as monuments to his justice and sagacity. We find from his record that he began ten years ago the fight on graft that is now sweeping the country; that he has a mailed fist that does cheerful and effective battle with corrupt interests and all interests that conflict with the laws and with the rights of the public, and that he can serenely stand under fire until an ultimate victory appears out of the smoke of battle.

When we consider Mr. Johnston’s past services, his indomitable spirit, his unvarying regard for the public interest throughout his entire career, his fearlessness, aggressiveness and candor, his large experience in practical affairs, as well as American politics, it is not difficult to see why the people have chosen him for successive honors.

It is rare that dominant qualities of the kind possessed by Governor Johnston are coupled with a personality so genial and winning and so rare a faculty for attaching warm friendships. The boy released from the Army of Northern Virginia, with his five scars, courageously leaving the home of his fathers to begin life in Alabama with a capital stock consisting of a mule and wagon and a box of tobacco, was no more friendly, no more kind-hearted and approachable than is now this man of affairs and broad renown, who has been chosen by the democrats of Alabama for succession to the United States Senate.

One of the heroes of the battle of San Jacinto, that victory won by sheer force of despair, was General Edward Burleson, who commanded the center at that famous encounter with the blood-thirsty Santa Anna. Subsequently, when the little republic of the Lone Star was added to the gallery of nations General Burleson was made Commander-in-Chief of the army and was one of the early vice presidents of the republic. Originally from North Carolina, General Burleson removed in early youth to Tennessee and followed Jackson on his campaign which ended at New Orleans, serving as one of “Old Hickory’s” lieutenants. This experience made him immensely valuable to Sam Houston. The last legislature of Texas placed a handsome portrait of this pioneer public servant upon the walls of its magnificent capital amidst a goodly array of great and good men whose efforts lifted Texas to her present proud position among the commonwealths of the union.

A. S. BURLESON

General Burleson’s son, Major EdwardBurleson, was also a soldier of the young republic and helped to frame its constitution. He settled at the head of the lovely San Marcos river and there the subject of this sketch, Albert Sidney Burleson, was born on the third of June, 1863. His father was away fighting for the Confederate cause at that time, as were five of his mother’s brothers—one, Fergus Kyle, a captain in the Terry Rangers. It would seem that young Burleson was pre-ordained to be either a soldier or a statesman, with chances more in favor of the former than the latter. After graduating from the State Agricultural and Mechanical College and from Baylor University (founded by his cousin, Reverend Rufus C. Burleson), he decided on the law, taking his degree at the State University, and serving as Assistant City Attorney at Austin for six years. He next served four years as District Attorney and was then elected to Congress. He is now serving his fourth term at Washington, where he has served his state ably and well.

Last winter Mr. Burleson was put on the appropriation committee and has secured important appropriations for his state, among them being appropriations for experiments in exterminating Johnson grass and the boll weevil; experimental stations for the cultivation of tobacco and tea; an allowance of ten thousand dollars yearly for the maintenance of a School of Mines at the State University; laws enabling Confederate Veterans who took part in the Mexican and Spanish wars to enter National Soldiers’ Homes; dam at El Paso (secured in conjunction with the efforts of Congressman Smith), thereby making Texas a participant in the appropriations for the reclamation of arid lands; the reimbursement of nearly half a million dollars for monies expended by Texas in protecting her frontier from Indian depredations.

Mr. Burleson is an expert on agricultural matters and was a member of the agricultural committee for two terms. He is also the author of the Cotton Statistics Law, by which the control of the cotton market has been wrested from the stock exchange, and the regulation of prices placed in the hands of the farmers. It is natural and right that this law, so far-reaching in its benefits, should be enacted through the efforts of a representative of our leading cotton state.

It is unnecessary to add that Mr. Burleson is possessed of a wonderful persistence and tireless energy which enable him to accomplish everything he undertakes. He takes his politics seriously and he never stops working. He is a forceful debater and makes a dramatic speech, having the eloquence of a man who believes what he says. He is noted not only for this convincing earnestness, but for the absolute accuracy of all his statements and his thorough mastery of every point he presents. He has, withal, a vast store of characteristic Western stories and his jolly wit, coupled with his loyalty to his friends, makes him one of the most popular of congressmen.

Back to Index Next