Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Screven, John 1827 - 1900
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 13, 2004, 4:47 pm

Author: Thomas F. Screven
p. 595-605

   COL. JOHN SCREVEN. (Prepared by Thomas F. Screven.) In presenting a memorial
of Col. John Screven, and of such as he, an eloquent tribute to the Confederate
dead by a contemporary may be appropriately used: "Yes, strew their graves with
roses, for we loved them and they loved us and gave their lives for us. Sprinkle
them with lilies, for their motives were pure and their shields bright and
stainless as their honor. Scatter them with forget-me-nots, for they dwell
forever in our hearts, unforgotten. Cover them with immortelles, for their deeds
are immortal, and while the rains descend to beautify their graves, while the
sunshine gilds bright their memorial stones, while a southern emotion or impulse
exists, we shall never cease to love and honor them;'' and so with John Screven,
for he occupied a sphere of love and reverence in the hearts and minds of his
fellow men who mourned when he was removed from their sight and companionship.

   Born in Savannah, Georgia, September 18, 1827, the oldest child of Dr. James
Proctor Screven and Hannah Georgia (Bryan) Screven, he imbibed the teachings of
tender parents and these sentiments, when developed, displayed him a man among
men,—a mind well balanced, educated in scholarly knowledge and refinement, and
equipped with energy and capacity to fill almost any position of honor and trust.

   One of his courses of education was at a school near Philadelphia; the next
being at Bolmar's (who had been a soldier in the army of Napoleon the Great) at
or near Princeton, New Jersey, where he was an apt and appreciative scholar;
then at Franklin College, later the University of Georgia. At Franklin College,
in the sophomore class, he contested for the prize medal offered to the best
elocutionist. He and one other student were adjudged the best, and there being
but one medal, another was furnished and presented to him. He did not graduate
at this college, for when on a vacation at home, the faculty invited him not to
return. Yet in after years, he was appointed one of the board of trustees for
this university. Upon his retirement from college his studies were directed by a
competent tutor. He then studied law with Judge William Law, one of the
distinguished lawyers of Savannah. Finishing the course in law, he began the
practice. At his father's solicitations he closed his office and undertook to
manage his large planting interests. This he followed with unbounded energy,
intelligence and success. He introduced rollers for crushing plowed land, rice
plows and a rice sowing machine, which were valuable in the preparation of rice
lands for cultivation and in the sowing of seed.

   In the year 1847, Colonel Screven went to Europe, and meeting the Hon. George
Bancroft in London, he was advised to begin his studies at Heidelberg. After a
few months, his health not being good and a longing for home possessing him, he
returned to Savannah to resume planting. In 1849 he married the beautiful and
lovely in character Mary White Footman, a daughter of Dr. Richard and Mary
Constance (Maxwell) Footman, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Habersham)
Maxwell, a daughter of James and Hester (Wylly) Habersham, a sister of Col.
Richard Wylly and daughter of Alexander Wylly. James Habersham was a son of Hon.
James Habersham (a native of England, immigrant to the province of Georgia and
who held many high and important offices in Georgia) and his wife Mary (Bolton)
Habersham.

   Colonel Screven's second marriage was to Mary Eleanor (Nesbit) Browne, widow
of Col. Thomas Browne (colonel of Second Alabama Regiment of Cavalry, and killed
at Murfreesborp), and daughter of Hugh O'Kiefe Nesbit of Macon, Georgia. She
died in 1883. Colonel Screven had seven children by his first marriage and two
by the second. Three children of the first marriage survived him, but two of
these soon followed. One child of the second marriage survived him, and she died
soon afterward, but there are descendants in the first, second and third
generations.

   Colonel Screven was elected, in 1858, captain of the Savannah Volunteer
Guards. He was wonderfully successful in this command, the guards largely
increasing in numbers and skill in the military exercises, and in popularity.
They soon purchased a suitable building and lot for an armory on the corner of
York and Bull streets. When General Sherman and his troops occupied Savannah,
this building was burned. On January 3, 1861, Hon. Joseph E. Brown, governor of
Georgia, as a precaution, ordered the seizure of Fort Pulaski at the mouth of
the Savannah river. A detachment of the guards, under Captain Screven's command,
the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Capt. F. S. Bartow and the Chatham Artillery were
sent to carry out the order and the fort was seized and occupied. The guards
performed service at several periods during the months of January and February,
1861. Their next service under Captain Screven, clothed in Confederate gray
(they were the first military companies to adopt the gray uniform) was in the
Confederate states' service for sixty days, April and May, 1861, at a battery at
Thunderbolt, Chatham county; the second term of service was for six months at
Fort Screven and Battery Stiles on Green island, both under the command of
Captain Screven. The third enlistment as the Savannah Volunteer Guards
Battalion, in 1863, designated as the Eighteenth Georgia Battalion, of three
companies, A, B and C, was on March 1, 1862, for three years, or the war.
Captain Screven was elected major, but served only as acting such, not being
commissioned by the state, but shortly after a commission was issued to him as
major of artillery by the Confederate government. During this enlistment he was
frequently absent from his command, having an additional duty imposed upon him
by the authorities in supervising obstructions in the Savannah river by means of
sunken cribs loaded with stone or brick; but he was permanently detached in
December, 1862, from the command to take charge of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad
for the better transportation of government supplies and troops. Upon General
Sherman's approach to Savannah in December, 1864, Colonel Screven, with the
equipments of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, left the city for southwest Georgia,
and, at Way's Station, in Bryan county, narrowly escaped capture by that
general's troops, who were marching on Fort McAllister. Colonel Screven returned
to Savannah in May, 1865. It was in 1864 that his services were required in
Savannah in the work of raising troops. Succeeding with five companies, he was
commissioned a lieutenant-colonel, and thence his title of colonel. The command
of the Savannah Volunteer Guards fell to Capt. William S. Basinger of Company A,
he being the senior officer. After the war, in 1872, he, Major Basinger, was
elected major of the battalion of the Savannah Volunteer Guards and served for
about ten years, after which he resigned, when the corps desired Colonel Screven
to accept the command, but he declined the honor.

   In 1859 Colonel Screven succeeded his father in the presidency of the
Atlantic & Gulf Railroad. After the war between the Confederate states and the
United States, he was retained in the presidency for many years, encountering
serious difficulties in the management and maintenance of the road in
consequence of the costs of its restoration of the roadbed and the poverty of
the contiguous country, which indeed were largely attributable to the results of
the war and course pursued by the victors. The company having gone into
bankruptcy, he was retained as receiver. It was finally sold and was called the
Savannah, Florida & Western Railway, now the Atlantic Coast Line.

   Colonel Screven was elected the mayor of Savannah to serve during
administrative periods from 1869 to 1873, but resigned before the expiration of
the last period. In the election to that office in 1869, he represented the
Democratic party of the city and was opposed by the Republican party. He
received a majority of 2,010 votes over his opponent. Upon this result there was
great rejoicing, evidenced by a grand parade of citizens bearing banners. Whilst
mayor he was charged with mal-administration of the affairs of the Atlantic &
Gulf Railroad, but at a meeting of the stockholders, he was re-elected
president, and at a later public meeting of stockholders and citizens he was
honorably exonerated from these charges. His administrative abilities and
resolution were markedly judicious. An instance was while mayor of the city,
during the regime of Aaron Alperio Bradley, the leader of the Republican negroes
and carpet baggers, when anticipating the seizure by this class of the polls at
an election to be soon held, he notified the volunteer companies of the city to
be ready, sent to New York for a rapid fire gun, requested the aid of the
authorities at Washington, D. C., and sending for one of the leaders of the
white Republicans informed him that he would be the first one shot if any such
action occurred. The white leader left Savannah that night and no disturbance
occurred at the polls.

   On March 11, 1873, Colonel Screven was persented with a handsome gift, upon
which was inscribed: “Hon. John Screven, mayor of Savannah, 1869-1873. A token
of esteem and affection from the Savannah Police Department, March 11, 1873."

   Having been relieved of his railroad duties upon the sale of the Atlantic &
Gulf Railroad, he was chosen an associate arbitrator of the Southern Railway &
Steamship Association, and as such served with distinguished credit and approval.

   He was the first president of the Sons of the Revolution, a member of the
Jasper Monumental Association, president of the board of trustees of the Chatham
Academy, member and third vice-president of the Confederate Veteran's
Association, Camp 756, president of the Georgia Historical Society, trustee of
the University of Georgia, member of the board of education, member of the
legislature, 1859-60, judge of the inferior court of Chatham county from 1852,
honorary member of the Savannah Volunteer Guards, commissioner on the
construction of the state capitol at Atlanta, Georgia, member of the Savannah
Benevolent Association, member of the Drainage Commission, 1877. In the yellow
fever epidemic of 1876, "he rendered fearless, devoted and noble service." His
oldest son, James Proctor Screven, died of this disease. Col. Screven was
attacked, but recovered, having remained in the city to attend to his railroad
duties.

   Col. Screven's last public effort was in the fall of 1899, when an executive
committee, of which he was chairman, made complete preparations for the reunion
of the Georgia division of the United Confederate Veterans to be held in
Savannah on November 22, 23, and 24, 1899. This was a notable event and was
attended by numerous Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy with their
distinguished guests. On this occasion he delivered an address of welcome.

   Col. Screven was an excellent presiding officer at meetings of clubs,
associations, committees, and popular assemblies, for he understood
parliamentary law and its application. In conversation, his charm of manner and
his diction made him most entertaining. He was not given to story-telling. As an
orator he had but few equals. As a writer he was lucid and cultivated. His mind
was a storehouse of varied and valuable information acquired from youth to old
age. In height he was about five feet ten and a half inches, slender in build,
graceful in his movements, ever polite, easily approached, and kind and generous
in all ways.

   The following is copied from the report of the committee of the Georgia
Historical Society on the death of Col. Screven, which occurred on January 9,
1900; the committeemen were members of the society: Col. George A. Mercer, Dr.
R. J. Nunn, Judge Robert Falligant, B. A. Denmark, Esq., and J. R. Saussy, Esq.

   “At the date of his decease he was president of the University Club of
Savannah, president of the board of trustees of Chatham Academy, president of
the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and president of the Georgia
Historical Society. It is to the dignified, able, and efficient discharge of the
important functions of this last high office that your committee more
particularly seek to pay merited tribute.

   "Col. Screven was elected a member of our society on the 10th day of March,
1851. He was chosen a curator February 13, 1888. At the last date he was elected
second vice-president and first vice-president on February 12, 1889. On June 16,
1898, upon the death of our then lamented president, the distinguished Henry R.
Jackson, he was unanimously chosen president of the society, and filled the
office up to the day of his death. For this position he was eminently fitted
both by character and training. His conduct as man and officer was a model to
all observers; his deportment was suave and winning; and his literary ability
and culture, his love of art, his sympathy with every proper expression of
beauty, were pronounced and abiding. One of the strongest qualifications he held
for the position was his becoming attention to details. He fully appreciated the
value of minutiae and did not consider it the mark of a strong mind to neglect
little things. While he accepted the rules which Shakespeare announced through
the mouth of Lepidus that 'small to great matters must give way,' he did so with
the frequent qualification of Enorbarbus, 'not if the small come first.' He knew
that compacted grains of sand often make a surer foundation than mighty blocks
of stone. In fine, he obeyed the injunction of the Apostle, and did all things,
both great and small, at all times and in all places, decently and in order.

   "Col. Screven was one of the last links left that bound us to a generation
less materialized, less selfish and money loving, and in many respects
possessing more high tones than our own. He belonged to that class of men who
help to punctuate a cycle, and the bloom of whose life and character adorns a
generation. He was always considerate and conciliating. His voice, like
Cadelia's, was soft, gentle and low, and he was too refined a gentleman to be
ever noisily demonstrative or otherwise. He was a very rare combination of the
fortiter in re with the suaviter in modo. He always wore upon the iron hand the
velvet glove. To the abounding virility of the strong man he united the gentle
courtesy of the refined and delicate woman. The very atmosphere that he exhaled
was redolent of his goodness and spread the pure contagion of his life and
purpose. It was impossible to come within the sphere of his influence without
feeling a sense of betterment, and realizing a consciousness of elevation. He
was indeed a knight without fear and without reproach. What better can be said
of him than that he was always a perfect southern gentleman, and at a period
when to reach such an ideal was to be a little lower than the angels.

   “Happy Historical Society to have numbered among its guides such noble
characters, and to have been able to diffuse its divine purposes through the
influences and example of such pure and lofty example! Be it therefore

   "Resolved, 1st, That in the death of Col. John Screven the Georgia Historical
Society has lost a most faithful and accomplished presiding officer, a wise
counsellor, and a cherished and lamented friend.

   "2d. That the city of Savannah has lost one of her most public spirited and
useful citizens, who occupied a large place at every state of its progress, and
in all its advancements, charities, and amenities was ever foremost.

   "3d. That a certified copy of these proceedings be sent to the family of the
deceased with the profoundest sympathy of the Society.

   "4th. That they be spread upon the minutes of the Society upon pages
specially set apart for that purpose.

   "5th. That the chair of the late president be draped in mourning for a period
of sixty days.”

   Hon. Robert Falligant, for the committee appointed by the board of managers
to prepare suitable resolutions touching the death of President John Screven,
made the following report which was ordered to be spread upon the minutes:

   "Col. John Screven, Sons of the Revolution.   A Minute.

   "In common with many organizations of the city, civil and military, our
Society mourns the loss of a distinguished son and a devoted president in the
death of Col. John Screven. So broad and catholic was the spirit, so many and
versatile were the gifts, so deep and profound the interest of Colonel Screven,
that he touched the life of the city at every point, and while health and
strength continued he never ceased to give himself and of the brilliant
personality he possessed to the welfare of every institution that tended to
broaden and enrich our communal life. And thus, as the municipality of Savannah
mourns in his death the loss of one who filled with highest honor the office of
chief executive; as the veterans of the past and the Volunteer Guards of the
present stood together around his grave to testify to the fearless soldier in
times of war and the wise counselor in times of peace; as state and city both
remember with gratitude the illustrious statesman who reflected honor to the
name of Georgia; so it seems good to us, his associates in the Society of the
Sons of the Revolution, to enter this minute of respect and admiration upon the
pages of our record. To us, in the more limited sphere of usefulness, as he was
to others in the broader sphere of life's activities, Col. Screven was always
the wise counselor, the helpful friend, the judicious manager of the patriotic
interests of our Society. Himself the descendant of a long line of distinguished
ancestry, he was particularly fitted to kindle and preserve a live interest in
the deeds of the heroic men of the early days of our country. Possessing a fund
of historic lore, well versed in the history of his native state, with a mind
enriched by varied reading, it seemed to him—and through him to us-— a duty to
keep alive, by this Society the memory of the men whose wise statesmanship
established, and whose blood cemented, the original Union of the States.

   "A country gentleman of the old South! No better title can adorn his brow. Of
all the crowns which eloquence, statesmanship, and chivalry have placed there,
none did he wear with greater grace or with more perfect ease, for that title
was his by heredity and his own developed culture. Standing before the young men
of this generation they saw what type it was of grace and manhood—manly courage
and womanly tenderness—that of the old South, at its very best, could produce
for the inspiration of her sons and for the admiration of the world! •As the
shadows came out of the skies and fell upon his sleeping place, we seem to feel
the historian's words of-old: 'They buried him among the kings,' and with them
came the poet's interpretation of them:

   " 'Yes, lay him down where sleep the royal dead, 
   His steady hand no more the censer swings;
   Room for this man beside the bones of kings,
   For kingly was he, tho' uncrowned they said.
   Great hearted friend, thee, too, we counted bred
   For manhood, loftier than the tardy wings
   Of souls content with songs the caged bird sings
   Are wont to soar to.   Thine it was to wed
   Far sundered thoughts in amity complete—
   With Christ's own freedom fettered minds to free;
   To thread the darkling patter where timid feet
   Faltered and slipped.   Oh, it was not in thee
   To blanch at any peril!    Then most meet
   That thou amidst the kings should buried be.'

   "In sense of the loss this Society has sustained, in admiration of the
character he bore,

   "Resolved, that the secretary inscribe upon our minutes this testimonial to
our late president, Col. John Screven; and to his family extend the profound
sympathy of this Society in their bereavement—a loss to them too deep for words,
and to us so great that our words do but feebly represent the sentiment of our
hearts.

                             "R. FALLIGANT,
                             "CHARLES H. STRONG,
                             "POPE BARROW,
                                   "Committee."

   The following memorials and tributes are introduced to still further show how
profoundly the death of Col. John Screven was felt by his friends and associates:

"Memorial and Tribute
to
Col. John Screven. 
At Confederate Hall, February 6, 1900.

   "The meeting was presided over by the newly elected president, Robert
Falligant. Immediately after the meeting was called to order First
Vice-President Louis G. Young moved to dispose of the reading of the minutes and
the regular order of business.

   " 'At our last monthly meeting,' he said, 'there was one with us whom we
loved to see here; his presence was a benediction, and we thought to have him
with us many years, so we elected him to office, and we expected him to answer
to the roll-call tonight, but our eyes were darkened; we could not see that his
last was a farewell visit. Early in the morning of the ninth of last month the
Great Captain called him and we can imagine his soldiery adsum as he joined the
ranks of the hosts beyond the sky. John Screven, late lieutenant colonel in the
provisional army of the Confederate states, is not here with us in the flesh
tonight; they tell us he is dead, but as he lives in our hearts and is present
in our thoughts, it is meet that we do homage to his memory.

   " 'I therefore move that the minutes of the last meeting and the regular
business of this, be dispensed with, and that a committee of three be appointed
by the chair to prepare a memorial and draft resolutions in commemoration of the
death of our comrade and late third vice-president, Col. John Screven, the same
to be presented and acted on at this meeting.'

   "In seconding' the motion Capt. M. P. Usina took occasion to introduce the
response received by the executive committee of the reunion, of which he was a
member with Colonel Screven, from the members of the family, of the deceased,
replying to the action taken by the committee as follows:

   " 'The executive committee, Confederate Reunion: Gentlemen: The daughters and
son of Col. John Sereven thank you individually and collectively for your
beautiful tribute to the memory of their father, and they beg that you will
extend their thanks to the Confederate Veterans Association of Savannah for
their presence at his funeral. He often spoke in the highest terms of the
members of your committee, and he was exceedingly proud that he had the good
fortune of being a member of your committee and of. the association. It is most
gratifying to them that he was held in such high esteem by yourselves and by the
veterans, the memory of which they trust will ever be to them a pleasure and a
joy.'

   "Captain Usina also read a letter received by the members of Colonel
Sereven's family from Col. Thomas H. Carter, proctor and superintendent of
grounds and buildings of the University of Virginia. Colonel Carter was a
colonel of artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia. For a number of years he
was associated with Colonel Screven as a member of the board of arbitration of
the Southern Railway and Steamship Association. Colonel Carter wrote his letter
to the family just after reading the announcement of Colonel Screven's death. In
his letter he says: 'For sixteen years your father and myself stood together in
the closest and most confidential bonds of friendship. His was the closest
friendship formed by me since the days of my youth. In an acquaintance with a
long line of men of the highest character, I never knew a nature more
chivalrous, an honor more spotlessly bright, a sense of justice that more truly
and bravely sought the right. As the needle with unerring instinct points to the
pole, so his mind, by intuition, turned always to the truth. In arbitration, the
most difficult, delicate and responsible, involving interests incalculable, he
was ever true to the right, and as steady and brave as a veteran of a hundred
fields. I esteem it one of the greatest privileges of my life to have known
intimately a man so pure, noble and cultured, and can say in all sincerity that
the earth that bears him dead bears not alive a truer gentleman.'

   "Mr. Young's motion that the regular order of business be dispensed with and
that the chair appoint a committee of three to prepare a suitable memorial to
the late vice-president was unanimously adopted. The chair appointed
Vice-President Young and Comrades Pope Barrow and J. R. Saussy. A short recess
was taken while the committee prepared its report. When the meeting was again
called to order the report was submitted by Vice-President Young as follows:

In Memoriam. John Screven.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, Sept. 18, 1827.
Died in Savannah, Georgia, January 9, 1900.

   "His first American ancestor, the Rev. William Screven, emigrated from
England in 1640, and located in Kittery, Maine, from which place, driven by
persecution, he went to South Carolina, where he settled and founded the
illustrious family from which sprung in due time the knightly comrade whose
death we mourn.

   "Colonel Screven was the eldest son of Dr. James Proctor Screven, and Hannah
Georgia Bryan—his father an eminent physician and one of the leading men of the
city and state; his mother a lineal descendant of Jonathan Bryan, one of the
most prominent of the early settlers of the Colony of Georgia. Inheriting the
intellectual and moral qualities which adorned generation after generation of
his family, and which have made it conspicuous in public and private life,
Colonel Screven, from youth to old age added lustre to the goodly name he bore.
Studious and dutiful as a boy, he grew in knowledge, was educated with the best
advantages, and, endowed with the nobility of soul which readily assimilated the
refinement and virtues of a cultivated home, wherein dwelt all gentle, Christian
virtue, he commenced life thoroughly equipped for the career of usefulness and
honor which lay before him. Appreciating from the start the duty which he owed
to God and his fellow men, he lived a faithful servant of both, and died as he
had lived, in favor with God and man.

   "Colonel Screven's was an active, useful life, surpassing in measure that of
most men. Faithful and conscientious in the performance of his several callings,
lie was always ready to serve family, friend, city, country; and many and
various were the places of honor and trust to which he was called. But the
record of these is beyond the scope of this memorial. To the biographer must be
left the details of a life replete with incident, and forming so important a
part in the history of Savannah, that she must ever number him among the
foremost and most illustrious of her sons. Ours the privilege as Confederate
veterans to make mention of his services in the sacred cause for which we
fought, the object of which is to sustain a principle,—the broad principle of
constitutional liberty,—the right of self-government. Ours the part to recall
his virtues,—to turn to them for consolation and example and to hold them up for
the emulation of our youth.

   "The simple account of Colonel Screven's record as a soldier, sanctioned by
himself, runs thus: In 1858 he was elected captain of the Savannah Volunteer
Guards, and his was one of the three companies designated to occupy Fort
Pulaski, when it was seized by order of Governor Brown in the name of the state
of Georgia, January 3, 1861. Although president of the Atlantic and Gulf Railway
during this period, he was appointed Major of Artillery in the Confederate
Provisional Army, and continued to serve with his command until December, 1862,
when he was ordered by the commanding general to resume his railroad duties. ,
In 1864, when Sherman commenced his movement towards the coast, Major Screven
raised a local battalion of five companies to aid in the defense of Savannah,
and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.' Thus was Colonel Screven
active in war service, even before the Confederacy came into existence, and
although but a short time in the field, always held commissions in the army, and
left the field only at the call to more arduous and trying duties; if in a less
conspicuous sphere, yet one in which he could serve his country to most advantage.

   "The war ended, Colonel Screven took up the thread of life where it had been
broken, and from that time to the close of an eventful and checkered career, so
bore himself in public and private life that he has left to us the legacy of a
spotless name. Upright in heart and mien, with nobility of soul stamped upon his
face, he walked among us, the height of chaste thoughts so beaming from his
countenance that men turned to look upon him and to gather inspiration to follow
in his footsteps. No one could hold intercourse with him without feeling that:
'Here is a gentleman in whom I have an absolute trust.'

   " 'He was a Christian, in faith, hope and charity;
   An Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no guile.
   A Knight in Chivalrie,
   Treuthe and honour, freedom and courtesie.'

   "A gentleman! And 'what is it to be a gentleman? Is it to have lofty aims? to
lead a pure life? to keep your honor virgin? to have the esteem of your fellow
citizens and the love of your fireside? to bear good fortune meekly? to suffer
evil with constancy? and through evil or good to maintain in truth always ? Show
me that happy man whose life exhibits these qualities, and him we salute as a
gentleman.'

   "Thus was he,

   " 'And indeed he seems to me 
   Scarce other than my ideal knight,
   Who reverenced his conscience and his king
   Whose glory was redressing human wrong,
   Who spake no slander, no, nor listened to it.
   We have lost him, he is gone.
   We know him now; all narrow jealousies
   Are silent, and we see him as he moves,
   How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise;
   With what sublime repression of himself,
   And what limits and how tenderly;
   Not swaying to this faction or that;
   Not making his high place the lawless perch
   Of wing'd ambitions, nor a vantage ground
   For pleasure; but through all this track of years,
   Wearing the white flower of a blameless life.'

   "Therefore, be it resolved, That in the death of John Screven, who was our
third vice-president, our comrade, and one of the most devoted of our members to
the sacred cause we represent, our association finds cause to mourn.

   "That in contemplating his worth, his many virtues, and princely character,
we find cause for gratitude and consolation in our grief.

   "That in these times when our youth are misled by the teachings which measure
success by the gain of money, we point them to an example of a life whose
success lay, in its wealth of honor, and truth and piety.

   "That with a copy of these resolutions we extend to his family the heartfelt
sympathy of the association."

   In seconding the motion to accept the resolutions, Mr. Barrow said that he
seemed to see again the slender, graceful form and gentle face which had been so
familiar on the streets of Savannah. Mr. Barrow spoke from the long personal
acquaintance and friendship with the deceased. He spoke especially of his grace
and charm of manner, and said he never spoke a word or did an act that was
unbecoming. His words and acts always seemed to suit the occasion. It was the
nature of the man to act the gentleman. The sad feature of Colonel Screven's
life, Mr. Barrow said, had been that his last days were not his best days. As he
declined in years misfortunes had crowded upon him and he had been troubled with
many cares. Mr. Barrow gave a tender and sympathetic account of his last visit
to his deceased friend only two days before his death.

   General McGlashan said that he had known Colonel Screven but a comparatively
short time, but his strong individuality, his marked dignity of character and
his purity of soul had drawn him strongly to him. He had been more strongly
drawn to Colonel Screven, he said, during his association with him as a member
of the joint executive committee, while the preparations for the recent reunion
were in progress, the success of which had been largely due to the unceasing
efforts, the wise judgment and the constant attention to details of the
deceased. It was Colonel Screven who smoothed over all differences, preserved
harmony and kept attention constantly centered upon their work. '' Like his
great prototype," said General McGlashan, "he was a man who drew all men to him.
His heightened manner of looking at everything elevated us all. Colonel Screven
was a man who typified in himself the highest type of a Georgia gentleman. In
other words, he was a citizen of the first rank of the greatest nation 011
earth. In his death we have lost a warm,- sincere, patriotic comrade, an officer
who would have guided us wisely; a warm friend whose grasp was ever true; a
Confederate whose heart was ever warm to the cause and whose effort since the
struggle ended was ever to dignify the name of the Confederate soldier.”

   Mr. Saussy spoke of the galaxy of distinguished men who had been members of
the association, but who had since become members of the great army beyond,
among them the sturdy Lawton, the fiery Jackson and the brave McLaws. Among them
all there was no man who filled so much, the measure of a man as Colonel
Screven. He was first of all a perfect gentleman, with an ease of manner which
made it always a pleasure to be with him. Being possessed of unusual advantages
in youth, he had made good use of these, becoming possessed of many
accomplishments. He was thus fitted for the offices he had held, all of which he
had discharged honorably and well. The reverses of later life had only served to
bring out the strength and nobility of his character. His was a remarkably
well-rounded character. Whatsoever things were true, honorable, just, pure and
beautiful,—these were characteristics of him. Having lived a life worthy in all
its parts that made man in the image of his Maker, he was able to gather the
drapery of his couch about him and lie down to pleasant dreams.

   Judge Falligant said that he could not allow the opportunity to pass without
saying a word of tribute to the memory of one who was so highly esteemed by all.
It had been peculiarly characteristic of the cause and the principle for which
they had fought, he said, that the men who had stood up for this cause had been
of the loftiest type of manhood. It was not necessary to run over the list of
noble names embalmed in every southern heart. Of this type had been the man to
whose memory they paid merited tribute. It is a type of civilization which is
fast passing away and one never to be renewed in the history of the world. Judge
Falligant closed with the idea that in the great moral world there is no death.
While mortal frames perish, the moral truths which they have exemplified live on
to exercise influence over the world of life.

   The resolutions were then unanimously adopted and a copy ordered to be spread
upon the minutes. Those members who did not make remarks gave their hearty
endorsement to what had been said. It was a remarkable tribute to one who had so
recently passed from their midst and to whom those present seemed to feel they
were but rendering his just due.


Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913


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