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Dr. Vaiden’s Obituaries
Daily
Clarion, Jackson,
Miss., February 7, 1880, P.2., Col. 1.
Death of Dr. C.M. Vaiden
“A good man has fallen in Israel ! Mississippi
is called to mourn the death of one of her best and most public-spirited
citizens. Dr. Cowles Meade Vaiden, whose good deeds these columns have so
often recorded, died, after a lingering illness, at his home in Carroll
county at 2 ó clock p.m. yesterday, February 6. We have barely space to make
this melancholy announcement. On
another occasion, we will endeavor to produce a tribute benefiting the lofty
virtues of the lamented deceased.”
Daily
Clarion, Jackson,
Miss., February 18, 1880, P.2., Col. 2.
In Memoriam
The
Late Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden
“Though the health of Dr.
Vaiden had been bad for years and disease had wasted his frame, he had
resisted its gradual encroachments with so much resolution and borne his
afflictions with so much unfailing fortitude, that few of his friends
realized that he was for a long time on the brink of the grave, and when at
last his physical forces succumbed to the destroyer, they were unprepared for
the melancholy announcement that his brave and gentle spirit had indeed
passed through the shadow of the dark valley and entered into life and
immortality beyond. He was born in Charles City
county, Virginia, on the 25th day of April, 1812, and died at his
home in Carroll county, Mississippi,
on the 6th of
February, 1880. He had not
therefore, attained the years of his life, threescore and ten, allotted by
the Psalmist. He received his
education in the county where he was born, and in his seventeenth year, seized
with the desire to pave his own way through the world upon the actualities of
which he had entered, he removed to North
Carolina and engaged in teaching school. At the same time he devoted himself to the
study of the higher branches of education.
He afterwards studied medicine and received his diploma from the
famous school in Philadelphia
which has given so many successful practitioners to suffering and afflicted
humanity. He was a laborious
physician, and in that profession, as in everything he undertook, he
succeeded, for in his vocabulary, it may be said without exaggeration, there
was no such word as fail.
He was married in Lenoir
County, North Carolina, to Miss Elizabeth Whitfield
Herring, in October, 1837. The
estimable lady who plighted her heart and hand to him in the morning march of
life, and for forty-two eventful years, shared with him its joys and sorrows,
was a watcher at his dying couch, and ministered to his sufferings and
received his last adieu on earth to meet again in the home of the hereafter
where there will be no more parting.
It was a sad scene; the separation of these two whose current of
thought and feeling had run into the same channel for so many long years
until they had become as one.
In May, 1838, Dr. Vaiden
removed to Mississippi,
and after a few months prospecting, he settled permanently in Carroll county,
where he died at Prairie Mount [sic], February 6th, inst. Here he engaged in practicing his
profession, and also in planting and merchandising. He soon became a man of note in the
community where he lived, and though not ambitious of public station, was
elected to serve his county in the State Legislature for several terms, one
of which was after the war. In every
pursuit he developed the higher qualities of intellect and of manhood. He was a born leader of men, and left his
impress upon everything he touches. He
was the highest type of honor and chivalry.
He was a strict man of business; and left nothing about which doubt
and misconstruction could arise, in his transactions with his
fellow-men. With A.M. West, and others
whose names were not so conspicuous before the public, he was a pioneer of
that great enterprise the Mississippi
Central Railroad and gave his time and talents, and invested his means, for
its accomplishments. It stands as an
enduring monument to the wisdom and public spirit of its founders. He was a representative man in all works of
benevolence, public charity and progress.
With characteristic tact, he realized the changes that were wrought by
the war, adapted his plans to them, and achieved success and fortune in spite
of every obstacle. The climax of the
monument he has erected in the hearts of his countrymen, and which is more
enduring than the marble shaft that will mark the spot where sleep his mortal
remains was his munificent contribution in the cause of education. At the time of his death seventy-four young
men were attending the State
University with means
which he had placed at their disposal for that purpose. Who will take up the good work where he
left it when summoned to the realities of another world? If it is given to the departed to look down
from the battlements above to the scenes of their earthly toils and anxieties,
how eagerly will he watch the fruits of his good example. Who will carry forward the enterprise to
which he gave his heart and opened his purse?
His life-book is closed, but the memory of the generous friend, the
patriotic citizen, the public benefactor will not fade away.”
The
Late Dr. C.M. Vaiden
(Source:
The Comet, Jackson, MS, Saturday, February 14, 1880, Vol. III, No. 17,
p. 3, col. 3)
Senator Peery* introduced the
subjoined resolutions in respect to the memory of the late Dr. C.M. Vaiden,
with these remarks:
“Mr. President
– In presenting these resolutions, I feel that I am discharging a duty due to
the memory of one of Mississippi’s
most useful citizens. From my earliest
recollections I have known Dr. Vaiden, and he has always been a man of the
same progressive ideas, Christian habits, and charitable instincts that so
distinguished him in his declining years.
A man, Mr.
President, whose exemplary conduct throughout life might be beneficially
imitated by all the youths of this country.
I sincerely desire and feel assured that these resolutions will meet
the hearty approval of the Mississippi
Legislature.
Whereas, Dr. Coles [sic] Meade [sic] Vaiden, who was
for more than forty years a useful citizen of Mississippi, departed this life
at his residence in Carroll county, on the 6th day of the present
month, in the 68th year of his age; and
Whereas, The latter years of his life were chiefly
given to the cause of education in this State, and his benefactions in that
behalf had culminated at the time of his death, in his main support of
seventy-three young men seeking an education at our State University [ed.
note: The University of Mississippi]; and
Whereas, This unprecedented, unequalled philanthropy
in our midst had attracted to him while living, the admiration and love of
thousands of our people, and entitled him to the gratitude of all the State;
and
Whereas, Aside from the benefits arising by contributions
from his private fortune, which he so freely dispensed for the education of
the needy sons of Mississippi, the ennobling example of such a man is worthy
to be recognized and his memory to be handed down by a public expression from
the Legislature, of which he was but recently a member; therefore, be it
Resolved by
the Legislature of the State of Mississippi,
That in the death of Dr. Vaiden, the State of Mississippi has lost one of the greatest
philanthropists and the University its most liberal friend.
Resolved
further, that in deploring his death,
in the name of the people of the State of Mississippi, we bear willing testimony to
his unselfish patriotism, and his generous and useful efforts in behalf of
the uneducated children of our State.
Resolved
further, That these resolutions be spread upon the Journals of the Senate and
House of Representatives, and a copy of the same, be transmitted by the
Secretary of the Senate to the family of deceased.”
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On the 33rd day of the Legislative agenda,
February, 1880, the Senate met pursuant to adjournment in a night session
with Lt. Governor Sims presiding. After a Prayer by Dr. Watkins, the Roll was
called and a Quorum was declared present.
The Journal of yesterday was read and approved, after which Mr. Peery
offered resolutions in regard to the death of Dr. C.M. Vaiden. The resolutions were adopted. (Source: The Comet, Jackson, MS,
Saturday, February 14, 1880, Vol. III, No. 17, p. 3, col. 7 & 8).
* Senator William D. Peery was from District 31, and was
29 years old. His residence address
was Greenwood, Leflore County. He was born in Montgomery
County, which was actually Carroll County when he was born. Living in a house at Edwards, MS, at the
time of his service in the Legislature, Peery was a planter by trade, a
Democrat, and was married. He was a
member of the Senate Printing Committee and the Senate Contingent Expenses
Committee. His religious preference
was listed as Love & Friendship.
(Source: The Daily Clarion,
March 4 (p. 1) and March 5 (p. 4), 1880).
More
Newspaper Articles Concerning the Death of Dr. Vaiden are Forthcoming
Rial
Woods
Ethel
Maude Williams
Anther
Roberts
Willie
Lee West
Clinton
Weeks
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