nature and the art of practicing law.  He introduced me to his friends who always

stood by; a few are yet alive.

        When he came to the County seat to practice law he was hardly 21 years old.

He was the "worker bee" of Reconstruction days.  'Tis true he was young and the

glory of the fight went to the titular heads, old soldiers like Isaiah Fox, Bob

Fishburne, C. C. Henderson, et al.  But the real work of electing Hampton was

under the direct leadership of M. P. Howell, who was close to the people, and

executed the plans projected by older men. who were largely out of touch with

the voters and were old.

The first job he took in Walterboro was Clerk of the County Commissioner.

From 1876 to 1906 he was unquestionably the first citizen of Colleton and the

leading lawyer of the Colleton Bar.  He was first in politics, first in the law and

first in the hearts of his countrymen.  Herein lay his power.  He knew and loved

humble men (the backbone of civilization).  He often warned me never to despise

the lowliest man.  The first case he ever had in court was brought to him through

a despised, lowly fisherman.  This gave him his start, and he became the ablest

and most successful trial lawyer I ever knew.  He was not profoundly learned in

the science of law, but before a jury he was invincible.  He had co-partners who

were profound lawyers, Murphy, Farrow, and Gruber.  They looked after the

technicalities and the pleadings, and he took care of the witnesses and won the

cases.  He was a friend of the lowly, the distressed, and the oppressed everywhere.

He once told me after he was fatally stricken that his greatest consolation was

the fact that he had befriended so often the friendless.  He made lots of money

but little stuck to his pocket.  It was all given back to the poor, from which class

he got it.  He died in his prime, leaving a small estate, a widow and six children

ranging in age from 23 to 6. 1 was the oldest and am glad to record that I went

to work and through the help of his friends supported and educated the crowd.