| Title: | Thos. W. Coskery, U.S.A. to W. J. C. Allen, Belfast. |
|---|---|
| ID | 708 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Coskery, Thomas W/23 |
| Year | 1873 |
| Sender | Coskery, Thomas W. |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | businessman |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Augusta, Georgia, USA |
| Destination | Belfast, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Campbell Allen, William J. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | friends, business |
| Source | D 1558/1/1/496: Papers of William John Campbell Allen Deposited by F. D. Campbell Allen. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, N. Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9802151 |
| Date | 06/08/1873 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 04:02:98. |
| Word Count | 105 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Augusta 6th Augt [August?] 1873 W. J. C. Allen Esq Belfast My Dear Sir You will see from the enclosed that our old & esteemed friend Mr Robert Campbell has gone the way of all flesh. He died at his summer residence in Clarksville on Sunday morning last, his remains were brought to Augusta and yesterday I attended his funeral which took place at the Presbyterian Church. he was buried at the "Cottage" a large family burying ground six miles from the city where Mr & Mrs Bones lie. His death was not altogether unexpected as his health had been failing for some months past. With kind regards to your family and my friend Mr Blackwood. Yours very truly Thos [Thomas?] W. Coskery [Newspaper cutting?] THE LATE ROBERT CAMPBELL. The remains of our venerable fellow citizen Robert Campbell, were brought from Clarksville by the afternoon train of yesterday, and will be interred to-day in the "Cottage Cemetery." The funeral service will be conducted at the Presbyterian Church. Mr Campbell was much and deservedly respected in this community, having resided in Augusta (with the exception of a few years which he spent in Savannah) since the year 1802. He was born in the North of Ireland, and at the age of fifteen he left his native land, expecting to join his father who had been residing in Augusta for some years, but before he reached our city his father had died. On his arrival he found himself a lonely stranger, a poor orphan boy in a foreign home. But though young he had imbibed from a pious mother sound religious and self-relying principles, and he at once engaged himself to a merchant, receiving as salary $50 for the first, $75 for the second, and $100 for the third year! Such was the commencement of the life of the young stranger,who afterwards became a banker, and for many years a retired merchant of large means. His success in life is easily accounted for, when we trace it, as he did, to its legitimate cause - religious home training. He was a man of unbending integrity of principle and purpose. Every act of his life seemed to spring from a stern sense of duty, but he loathed all cant and ostentation. He was scrupulously honest in all his business and personal dealings. Many illustrations of this characteristic are current among our citizens. For example : when a friend bought a gold watch in England to his order and for his personal use and brought it out on his person, thereby avoiding duty, Mr Campbell at once announced the fact to the authorities and remitted to them the ad valorem duty required by law. The reasons he assigned for so doing were, that he had no right to defraud the government of the country of a single cent, and beside, he had taken the oath of allegiance and become an American citizen, and was therefore bound to maintain and sustain the government of the country in all its just imposts and claims. The bond of his oath of allegiance to the republic, as it was when he became a citizen, he felt to the very last, and often appealed to it as his only reason for not sympathizing with war politicians in the movements which led to the late civil strife. Mr Campbell possessed a very clear mind, being highly gifted with the faculty of perception. He was a most reliable judge of men, and while he was never severe, he was almost always correct in his estimate of character. He was fond of books, and during the period of retirement from business he spent most of his time in reading, and when his vision became impaired he was always wont to employ the aid of some friend to read for him. By this means Mr. Campbell was posted up till the very last week of his life in all the leading topics of the political, scientific and religious worlds. Whilst, however, as a gentleman and a citizen, Mr Campbell occupied for many years a prominent place amongst us, it is as a Christian philanthropist that he commanded the confidence and respect of the best and purest members of our community. For many years he was vice-president of the Liberian Colonization Society, to which he contributed liberally long before emancipation. He was a liberal supporter of every kind of Christian charity that came within the range of his knowledge and commended itself to his judgment. But his charities were dispensed according to the Scripture rule : "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Mr. Campbell contributed to many a person and many a cause, whilst, except his banker and himself, no one knew of his doing so. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church by birth, baptism, and conviction, and while catholic in his spirit, he held tenaciously to the doctrines, and observed most religiously the ordinances of the church of his fathers. He was a liberal contributor to all the enterprises of the Presbyterian Church, South, and commanded the respect and confidence of all his fellow-members. His life was one of great consistency and unblemished purity. His habits were rigidly temperate ; in fact, he was for seventy years a total abstainer from distilled or fermented liquors, and to this he often attributed his long life. But, above all, Mr. Campbell was an eminently pious man. Though ripe in years before he united with the Church - he always bore an immaculate reputation. His oath of allegiance to the Church of Christ constrained him to weight every claim, and respond to every demand made by the Superior Courts. To all the excellencies, Mr Campbell added that of a sweet, calm, and amiable disposition, which amid the weakness of age and decay of his bodily powers, made his society pleasing and attractive. And inasmuch as every man dies as he lives, Mr. Campbell's death was like his life - peaceful, quiet, and happy. He was ripe in years and ripe in grace, and his death was but a transition - sweet and delightful - from the grace on earth to the glory in Heaven. |
