E 
 
 467.1 
 .T74 
 C437 
 1876 
 
George Washifigton Flowe. 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/tributeofaffecti01char 
 
A , ^ 
 
 TRIBUTE 
 
 OF 
 
 AFFECTION AND RESPECT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, 
 
 (;hakleston, s. c, December 20, \m. 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 GEORGE ALFBED TRENHOLM 
 
The News and Couriek Job Pkesse 
 19 Broad Street, Claarleston, S. C. 
 
MEMORIAL MEETING. 
 
 In response to the call of S. Y. Tupper, Presi- 
 dent, the members of the Charleston Chamber of 
 Commerce assembled in their rooms at one o'clock, 
 P. ]\r., on 20th December, 1876, to pay their trib- 
 ute to the memory of the late Honorable GEORGE 
 Alfred Trexholm, a former President, and for 
 man}' years a prominent and influential member 
 of the Association. 
 
 In announcing the objects of the meeting, Presi- 
 dent TUPPER said — 
 
 Gtiitltuicn of tJic CJiambcr of Coiinncrcc — It is no 
 unusual occurrence that brings us together. It 
 is the one solemn and inevitable event in the his- 
 tory of every human being. 
 
 ]vlr. George A. TREXHOL^r, a distinguished 
 member and ex-President of this Chamber, is no 
 more. His earthly career is ended. But the 
 remembrance of his usefulness, his commanding 
 abilities, and the influence of his character, re- 
 mains with us for emulation and applause. 
 
 If I speak of his virtues as a citizen, his integ- 
 rity as a merchant, and his sincerit}' as a friend, 
 I should only utter what is known to all of you. 
 
6 
 
 Accustomed as we have been for many years 
 to look to him for counsel, confiding in his sound 
 judgment, matured wisdom and experience in 
 commercial affairs, whom have we now to fill 
 his place ? 
 
 We have cause to lament the death of our 
 most distinguished member, whose superior intel- 
 ligence and eminent services gave tone and repu- 
 tation to this Chamber. 
 
 Our halls have resounded with his eloquence. 
 He was an orator in the full meaning of oratory — 
 the art of persuasion. That voice shall be heard 
 no more which encouraged or restrained us in our 
 deliberations upon subjects of grave and public 
 importance ; and who am6ng us presumed too 
 much upon his own opinions when his ripe intel- 
 lect and intelligence had pronounced upon ques- 
 tions of commercial policy, law and usage ; and 
 when have we ever erred in following his coun- 
 sels ? 
 
 Our records are filled with his wisdom, and his 
 death has canonized the name of a great merchant 
 upon those records. But while we deplore that 
 the light is extinguished which once guided us 
 safely through paths of uncertainty, yet our hearts 
 are grateful that he has left us the legacy of his 
 name and the reputation of his splendid abilities. 
 
 It is with some hesitation, and I trust with pro- 
 per humility, that I refer to my own deprivation 
 
since his last illness, in finding none so wise, so 
 friendly, so patient as himself, with whom to ad- 
 vise in the cares which often beset me in my 
 official position. I look back with much emotion 
 to the last interview I had with Mr. Trenholm. 
 He had just advised against a proposed union on 
 the part of this Chamber with a popular foreign 
 commercial association, whose agent was then in 
 this city, and his arguments were so just, so clear 
 and forcible ; so filled with concern for the inter- 
 ests of this Chamber, that in yielding my ambi- 
 tious views to his judgment, I pronounced him 
 my " commercial father." He answered not, but 
 gave me his hand, and with that w^arm pressure 
 we parted never to meet again this side of eter- 
 nity. 
 
 I desire to speak but in general terms of Mr. 
 Trenholm, and of those qualities by which he 
 was best known to us. I attempt no narrative of 
 his eventful life ; that duty has been ably though 
 briefly performed by a faithful chronicler of the 
 day. I may be permitted, however, to refer to 
 his devotion to his native City and State. That 
 devotion was earnest and uncompromising, and 
 became more intense when we had reached our 
 present fallen political condition. Latterly he 
 consented to become a candidate and was elected 
 to the Legislature. No honor could possibly at- 
 tach to the office save that of the discharge of 
 
8 
 
 duty and the sacrifice of comfort and every per- 
 sonal interest. To restrain vice and ignorance, to 
 interpose his lofty character against misrule and 
 injustice, were doubtless the motives of his action. 
 Earnest in the advocacy of the right, he was fear- 
 less in the denunciation of wrong ; and who has 
 not marked the readiness and boldness with which 
 he ever vindicated his principles and opinions. 
 
 What has been said of another memorable man 
 may justly be said of Mr. Trenholm : He had 
 too much merit not to excite some jealousy ; too 
 much virtue to provoke enmity." 
 
 Mr. Trenholm was the true type of a South- 
 ern gentleman. He was social, considerate, and 
 magnanimous; modest and unassuming; regardful 
 of the feelings of others. Knowing his powers he 
 affected no superiority over others. He seemed 
 ever hopeful and cheerful, and his disposition was 
 marked for its urbanity and kindness. 
 
 As a merchant we knew him best. He was 
 diligent, methodical, and faithful to his engage- 
 ments; and who doubts his great wisdom and 
 sagacity in all commercial matters ? It is here 
 that his character is most impressed upon us and 
 worthy of our emulation. He was a true mer- 
 chant of our better days. Educated and refined, 
 his respectful attention to all, his dignity and 
 gentle decorum made it a pleasure to have inter- 
 course with him even amidst the most perplex- 
 
ing cares of business. In this respect he had but 
 few peers, and no superiors. 
 
 But there is a deeper sorrow than ours, where 
 the ties of natural affection and dependence have 
 been freshl}- broken; a grief that we cannot know. 
 We dare not Hft the veil of this sacred sorrow, 
 but we may sympathize in the bereavement, for 
 we too have some cause to mourn ; and for the 
 sake of the living and the dead it is well for us 
 to give honor where honor is due. 
 
 Wq gave him our confidence in life, let us be 
 faithful to his memory in death. 
 
 ]\Ir. E. Horry Frost, the Senior \^ice-Presi- 
 dent of the Chamber, then introduced the follow- 
 ing preamble and resolutions of respect to the 
 memory of the deceased, as expressive of the feel- 
 ings of the members: 
 
 I could wish, ]\Ir. President, it had fallen to 
 the lot of some one more capable than myself to 
 offer these resolutions in memory of ^Ir. Trex- 
 HOLM ; he was a man whose name will live so 
 long in this City and State, and be held in such 
 estimation, and whose fame as a merchant, and 
 even in politics, was so extended into all parts of 
 our country, and, I may say of the world, that 
 justice to his memory requires a more able pen 
 than mine ; it is, however, within the pro\'ince of 
 
10 
 
 any to ofYer a tribute upon the tomb of worth 
 and eminence, and it is in this spirit that I avail 
 myself of the sad privilege. 
 
 One of my first recollections of Mr. Trenholm 
 is of him as a member of this Chamber, in which 
 for a time he held the highest office, and in 
 which he was always pre-eminently a guiding 
 and a ruling spirit ; if there was at any time 
 occasion for counsel or for action, the fruits of 
 a fertile mind and a ready hand ; if we were to 
 be represented abroad, or were called upon to 
 make some public demonstration at home ; if we 
 needed one gifted with eloquence or persuasive- 
 ness, or one who would attract the attention of 
 men and reflect honor upon ourselves, it was to 
 him that we instinctively turned, and without him 
 we hardly thought that our acts of business or 
 ceremony had their full expression. 
 
 The qualities which distinguished him here he 
 carried, of course, into all assemblies or bodies of 
 men with which he was connected, and his loss 
 to them is doubtless equally great ; and yet this 
 reflection does not diminish the peculiar force 
 with which we feel it to fall upon ourselves ; we 
 regarded him as one always of us and with us, 
 one whom we were proud to put forward as our 
 representative, and who endeared himself to us 
 by his frequent presence, his geniality and his 
 friendship ; he seemed to us to belong to this 
 
1 1 
 
 Chamber, and the gap he has left is so wide that 
 we do not know where to look to fill it. 
 
 As a merchant Mr. Trexholm was distinguish- 
 ed for the large grasp of his mind and the energy 
 which he infused into his undertakings : these 
 qualities account for the immense extent of his 
 business operations, for the success A\-hich in the 
 main attended them, and for the readiness with 
 which if at any time disaster befell him, he im- 
 mediately recovered himself, compelling it, as it 
 were, to be but temporary. There was a time 
 when he seemed to ha\'e almost the entire com- 
 merce of Charleston under his swa\' : her exports, 
 her imports, her banks, her railroads, her wharves, 
 her shipping, all felt the impulse of his moving 
 spirit : there was no department of business he 
 did not touch, and there was none to which he 
 did not gi\"e life and vigor; his heart panted to 
 make Charleston a great commercial cit}- ; the 
 vision of her future Avealth and greatness was 
 always before his eyes, and the way to it he 
 not only showed to others, but led in it with 
 mighty steps and undaunted courage. 
 
 As a statesman and politician his acts ha\-e 
 gone into histor\', and in her own time the 
 muse of Histor}' will relate them properh' : to 
 her guardian care we can safeh' and most wiseh' 
 leave them ; we do not, however, trench upon 
 her domain if we now say, that to the political 
 
12 
 
 affairs of the State and of the country he brought 
 the same grasp of mind and energy which he be- 
 stowed upon his private affairs; and to these great 
 quahties he added a spirit of self-renunciation and 
 self-sacrifice for the sake of public duty, exhibited 
 on more than one occasion, which must always be 
 an example to men, and which we should never 
 forget. 
 
 The last instance is, perhaps, the most note- 
 worthy, at least it is the freshest in our memories, 
 and was the fitting conclusion of a consistent life. 
 It was when, two years ago, at the call of us, his 
 fellow-citizens, he gave up the loved and pleasant 
 society of his home ; in health then failing, re- 
 nounced his ease and comfort ; relinquished the 
 care of his business; laid aside the remembrance 
 of his ancient fame; forgot that he was a prince 
 among merchants, and had sat in Cabinets, an 
 adviser in the struggle of mighty nations ; laid 
 aside the pride which might well have led him 
 to believe it his due to be called only to the very 
 highest places in the land ; and for months gave 
 his time, for the public good, to his duties as a 
 member of the Legislature of his State — a Legis- 
 lature so sadly changed from that in which in 
 former years he had been an ornament and a 
 power; and he accepted this office, not because 
 any additional honor or profit would come to 
 him — his life was nearly spent, his fame was 
 
13 
 
 made, he wsls entitled to the ease and rest which 
 his long labors had earned for him — but because 
 his fellow-citizens believed that his services there 
 A\'Ould be useful to them : and they were eminent- 
 ly so. but above them all was the example of 
 self-sacrifice which he set for the imitation of 
 those who are to follow him ; and it Awas during 
 the discharge of this his last public duty that he 
 first felt the approach of that disease which has 
 since taken him from our sight. 
 
 Last and best I As in life he had been a fol- 
 lower of our Lord and a seeker of His grace, so 
 in death he was able to trust in Him. 
 
 Li accordance with these remarks. I therefore 
 offer to the Chamber the following resolutions for 
 their acceptance : 
 
 Resolvp:d, That in the death of the Hon. George A. Tren- 
 HOLM this Chamber has lost a member to M'hom it has owed 
 much of its prosperity, %\-hose ability to serve it was only 
 equalled by liis zeal, and whose exertions in its behalf were con- 
 tinued through his whole life ; the commerce of the city has 
 lost one of its ablest, most sagacious, and most enterprising pro- 
 moters ; the State has lost a faithful son, who served her in high 
 places, who brought to her counsels wisdom and ability, and 
 adorned her assemblies with eloquence and dignity : and the com- 
 munity has lost a citizen who was to it an honor and an orna- 
 ment. 
 
 Resolved, That this Chamber will always cherish his memon.-, 
 
 bearing in mind his constant and distinguished services, and the 
 
 high example which his life has afiorded. 
 4 
 
14 
 
 Resolved, That copies of the proceedings of this meeting be 
 sent to Mr. Trenholm's family, and that the Chamber offer to 
 them its sincere sympathy in their bereavement. 
 
 Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published 
 in the daily papers. 
 
 Hon. Henrv Gourdin said — 
 
 Mr. President — The resolutions before the meet- 
 ing, on this deeply afflicting occasion, will, without 
 doubt, have the undivided approval of the Cham- 
 ber. They express, without exaggeration, the 
 feelings and sentiments of its members, and are 
 simply true of our deceased ex-President. He 
 was indeed at all times among the forem.ost, 
 whether in his own vocation of Commerce, the 
 counsels of our City, the Legislature of the State, 
 or the leading enterprises that have been inaugu- 
 rated in our day — the Bank of Charleston, the 
 Blue Ridge Railroad, the improvements of the 
 Bar and Harbor, and others of less note. And to 
 his wisdom, energy and zeal, are largely due the 
 usefulness of this Chamber, the high reputation it 
 has acquired at home and abroad, and the influ- 
 ence it exercises in the affairs of the State, polit- 
 ical as well as commercial and financial. 
 
 Mr. Trenholm was, in one sense, a self-made 
 man— an example to others, to the youths of our 
 country especially. It is true that he was highly 
 gifted by nature ; but his school education was 
 short, for at the early age of thirteen the school 
 
had to be abandoned for the counting-room, under 
 the necessities of a widowed mother ; but the 
 abandonment of the school did not mean the 
 abandonment of stud}- and self-education. He 
 had the facult}- of uniting study with Avork, (a. 
 habit continued to the period of his last illness,) 
 so that manhood found him the compeer of com- 
 panions and associates, Avho, more fortunate than 
 himself, had had all the benefits of the schools 
 and colleges. Neither study or Avork A\-ere, how- 
 ever, labor to ]\Ir. Trexholm. He acquired 
 quickly and easily : and Avith Avonderful facility 
 ga\-e form and shape to his OAvn ideas in a man- 
 ner to be readil}- understood b}- others. Not 
 alA\-ays Avedded to his OAvn opinions, and tolerant 
 of the opinions of others, he as readily ga\'e form 
 and shape to theirs, as to his OAA-n. An orator 
 b}- nature, he Avas graceful and forcible in debate, 
 fertile in resources, and suggesti\-e under eA-er\- 
 difficulty — AA-ithal social and impressi\"e in societ}', 
 he Avill long be remembered as one of the bright- 
 est and most accomplished men of our day, the 
 most enterprising of our merchants, distinguished 
 alike for his public usefulness, his bencA-olence. 
 and private A\'orth. A life iuA-aluable to the 
 State, to the City, and especially to this Cham- 
 ber, has passed awa\-, never to return ; but Ave 
 Avill perpetuate our remembrance of him by put- 
 ting on our records this tribute to his Avorth. 
 I second the resolutions. 
 
i6 
 
 Mr. Louis D. DeSaussure said — 
 
 Mr. President — It is seldom that a commercial 
 body, such as this Chamber, is called together to 
 pay a tribute of respect to one of its deceased 
 members who has been so eminent in life, and 
 occupied for so long a period of time the first 
 position as an intelligent and enterprising mer- 
 chant ; few men (who have not made politics the 
 business of life) have filled so large a place in the 
 public eye as the Hon. GEORGE A. Trenholm. 
 
 Commencing commercial life more than the half 
 of a century ago, he exerted his energies in de- 
 veloping the commercial interests of the city and 
 State. His intelligent mind has been active in 
 forwarding almost every enterprise. The railroads 
 of the country have received his earnest and un- 
 tiring support. Agriculture, manufactures, and 
 commerce have been advanced under his foster- 
 ing care ; and in times past no new enterprise 
 was undertaken without the question being asked, 
 "What does Mr. Trenholm think of it?" This 
 expression conveys the idea of the estimation in 
 which he was held. 
 
 Mr. Trenholm's cultivated mind and high at- 
 tainments, with his imposing presence and cour- 
 teous manner, marked him in every circle in 
 which he moved as a distinguished person. None 
 ever came in personal intercourse with him with- 
 out feeling the magnetism of his influence. Had 
 
'7 
 
 he turned his attention in life to the affairs of 
 State, he would have been a most distinguished 
 statesman and courtier, and have adorned as a 
 representative of America, with refinement and 
 elegance, any Court in Europe. 
 
 Though Mr. Trexholm preferred the life of a 
 private citizen, he was not always allowed the 
 liberty of pursuing it ; and at a dark period of 
 our Confederate history he was called on to guide 
 the financial ship of the treasury through the 
 storm which was gathering, and which finally, 
 with an irresistible cyclone, wrecked our hopes of 
 a Conservative Republic. 
 
 But the crowning event of Mr. Trexholm's 
 life, surrounded as he was by wealth, position, 
 influence, and domestic elegance, was the high 
 patriotism which he exhibited when, two years 
 ago, he accepted the position of membership of 
 the State Legislature, and in the discharge of his 
 duty, mingled daily with the ignorant, insolent, 
 and corrupt persons who composed that body. 
 
 Such noble self-sacrifice speaks volumes of his 
 devotion to his native State, and received the 
 gratitude of his fellow-citizens in their hour of 
 trial. 
 
 A noble citizen has gone " to his long home, 
 and the mourners go about the streets." 
 
 We shed a tear of deep sympathy with his 
 family circle. 
 
 5 
 
i8 
 
 Capt. Wm. a. Courtenay said — 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen — I claim the privi- 
 lege of sharing in this tribute of respect, which 
 the Chamber fitly offers to the memory of one 
 who, for nearly half a century, has given inspi- 
 ration and impulse to our commercial, industrial, 
 and public affairs; and, as others present will no 
 doubt desire to be heard on this mournful occa- 
 sion, I shall perhaps best observe its proprieties 
 by limiting my remarks to a brief consideration 
 only, of Mr. Trenholm's qualities as a merchant. 
 
 The general interest which is felt so distinctly 
 and so widely, in this our especial bereavement, is 
 manifested for one who, by common consent, satis- 
 fied the higher public estimate of what, in scope 
 of vision, mental accomplishments, poise of char- 
 acter, and energy of action, constitutes the great 
 merchant. I use this definition in its past sense. 
 It is too common a practice in the present time 
 to designate those as merchants, who merely buy 
 and sell, and who consider mere barter an end in 
 itself, to which all the faculties of a man may be 
 entirely devoted, and not as the means to some 
 of the worthiest objects for which a man can live. 
 
 Mr. Trenholm must have studied with youth- 
 ful ardor the lives and characters of the founders 
 of those renowned Florentine families, who created 
 that unique prosperity which forms so valuable a 
 chapter in the history of the Middle Ages — a pros- 
 
19 
 
 perity growing out of that wonderful industrial 
 triumph which declared it a civic privilege, to be 
 engaged in a practical vocation — a civic disability, 
 to be an idler of rank : conditions Avhich crowned 
 Florence with a culture Avhich was felt in the 
 goldsmiths' shops of the Ponte \'ecchio, and ma}' 
 yet be seen in her renowned architectural and art 
 trophies.- His conception of a mercantile career 
 was clearly pitched on such a plane as theirs — as 
 of one occupied with broad views and an elevated 
 acti\'it\- — a pioneer of ci\'ilization, and a constant 
 impulse to its advancement through the thousand 
 channels in Y\'hich its evolution is \\"itnessed. He 
 seemed to realize at ever}- point of his life, that 
 it is the merchant who gives to civilization hrst 
 the rude initial force, and imparts to it the 
 " sweetness and the light of mature growth. 
 The picturesque figure of speech, of the sea whit- 
 ened with the sails of commerce, would never 
 have been conceived, were it not that the mer- 
 chant had furnished the subject. The romance 
 of the ocean A\-ould have missed some of its most 
 brilliant illustrations, if the keels which ploughed 
 its bosom were onl}- those of State and War. 
 The world pays its highest honors to the faith 
 of the navigator, who sails into unknown seas, and 
 finds a new continent rising out of the waves ; 
 but the discoverer's skill and endurance are match- 
 ed and backed by the faith of another, who has 
 
20 
 
 equipped him for his mysterious voyage. Had 
 Mr. Trenholm's lot been cast on the banks of 
 the Arno, in the fourteenth century, where com- 
 merce had its early dawn, he would have figured 
 in the front rank of that mercantile element, 
 which was the normal life of the Mediaeval Re- 
 public, and would have conspicuously illustrated 
 its essential principle, that only those who work- 
 ed, should rule; and that patriotism, and ambition 
 as well, should be brought to this economic test. 
 But his life was not passed at the Porta Delia 
 Pera ; his fortune was to live in a narrow field 
 on the Ashley five centuries later. Entering upon 
 his commercial career " an humble youth with- 
 out family influence, fortune or favor, he broke 
 through the shadows of obscurity, and by the 
 light of his talents, virtues and industry, came 
 to shine out upon us with a cheerful lustre. While 
 some men were picking pebbles on the seashore, 
 and others gazing idly on the billows, he was 
 climbing unassisted from cleft to cleft up the 
 rocky precipice of renown, whose towering heights 
 seemed to frown upon but could not intimidate 
 him ; for he mastered them all, and his native City 
 and State enjoyed the fruit and the honor of 
 his labors." 
 
 A single illustration will suffice. By his saga- 
 cious enterprise, an entire fleet of ships carried our 
 good city's name on their registers, and displayed 
 
21 
 
 from their mastheads, to the foreign Hongs of 
 China, to the heights behind Bombay, in the 
 crowded docks of the Mersey and the Scheldt, 
 the Thames and the Seine, the cheery signal flag 
 of a native Charleston house. There was no great- 
 er depth of water then on Charleston bar than 
 now, and yet the great staples of the South found 
 easy exit hence, in Charleston ships, to the dis- 
 tant markets of the world ; and they sailed back 
 with great cargoes from be\-ond the Bosphorus 
 to our city wharves. His was an unceasing, in- 
 telligent activity, with the means then at hand in 
 full use, and a large success was achieved, be- 
 cause he had a large impulse behind him. 
 
 "A life in civic action warm, 
 
 A soul on highest mission sent, 
 A potent voice of Parliament, 
 A pillar steadfast in the storm." 
 
 It is for such a citizen, that the flags of the 
 nations have been so recently drooped. It is for 
 such a son. that Commierce for a time folds her 
 white wings, and is still. Under the majestic 
 branches of a giant oak, in our own city of the 
 dead, is his fit resting place I He sleeps in the 
 soil of his birth : in death as in life adhering to 
 South Carolina. Standing by that new-made 
 grave, let us invoke Nature, in the beautiful pro- 
 cess of the seasons, to salute it with bud and 
 
 G 
 
22 
 
 blossom, bright children of the earth and air; 
 may all gardens bloom for it ; field and forest 
 send sweet tribute to it ! And not altocrether for 
 
 o 
 
 him who has gone before, but as well for our- 
 selves, that we may study his eventful life, learn 
 wisdom of his great example, and, by the con- 
 templation of his virtues and his labors, strive to 
 lift up our thoughts and actions to the height of 
 our own grave emergencies. May these dark 
 days through which we are now moving, be gild- 
 ed by the recollection of his patient fidelity in 
 times as gloomy as now — inspiring us with fresh 
 courage to work out our seeming dreary future, 
 fortified by hopes like his, which were never al- 
 lowed to grow dim — through that steadiness of 
 aim, which finally made him "our chief of men." 
 
 Mr. Ch. Richardson Miles said- 
 After the feeling tributes which have been offer- 
 ed — so just, discriminating, and comprehensive — I 
 should not venture to add any thing, but that I 
 esteem it a privilege to unite in doing honor to 
 one no less gifted as a man, and honored as a 
 citizen, than he was great as a merchant. 
 
 In every thing which concerned the welfare of 
 Charleston, Mr. Trenholm felt the deepest in- 
 terest. Quick to apprehend, broad and far-seeing 
 in his views, and fertile in resources, he would 
 grasp, develop, and mature great enterprises, and 
 
23 
 
 by his persuasive eloquence infuse into others the 
 confidence and enthusiasm necessary for their suc- 
 cessful accomplishment. Far from being narrowed 
 by the pursuits of commerce, he illustrated the 
 enlarging influence of the just conception of the 
 position of a merchant, and thorough execution 
 of its duties. 
 
 He ne\^er sought place, but the assumption of 
 high duties was the natural consequence of his 
 position ; and the qualities Vv-hich made him emi- 
 nent in commerce, he carried into ever\- position 
 to which he was called. 
 
 In 1852 he consented to go to the Legislature 
 of the State, to advance a great enterprise for 
 the development of the interests of Charleston, of 
 which he was an earnest advocate. Here he was 
 in an appropriate and congenial sphere. Al- 
 though without any Parliamentar\' training, or 
 experience, yet 
 
 keen 
 
 In intellect, with, force and skill, 
 To strive, to fashion, to fulfill," 
 
 he at once assumed his place among the first 
 members of the House, not only as a worker but 
 as a debater. This position he retained during his 
 entire term of service, which extended through 
 several sessions. He was among the first men of 
 
the Legislature of South Carolina, when that 
 body was composed of the first men of the State. 
 While still actively engaged in his extensive busi- 
 ness, in the darkest days of our Confederacy he 
 was called to take part in its government, and 
 ably aided it by his counsels to the end ; and 
 faithfully adhered to the fallen fortunes of its 
 head. 
 
 After peculiar hardships, and long delay, he re- 
 turned to Charleston, and addressed himself with 
 undiminished ability, and unabated energy, to 
 rebuilding his fortunes, impaired by mercantile 
 reverses. 
 
 He was thus engaged, when two years ago his 
 fellow-citizens again called upon him to serve 
 them ; not as before, to take his place among the 
 pure and elevated ; to advocate enterprises of 
 great pith and moment to enlarge our prosperi- 
 ty, and increase our wealth; but among the igno- 
 rant and corrupt, to stem the tide of ignorance 
 and corruption which had swept over us, and to 
 aid in saving something from the wreck of the 
 Ship of State. This crowning act of his life 
 has been so happily described by our Vice-Presi- 
 dent that I will not attempt to add any thing to 
 the description ; but those who witnessed the 
 promptness and grace with which he acceded to 
 the request to be a candidate, and know the 
 cheerfulness with which he made the great sacri- 
 
fices which the position involved, will ever re- 
 member it with pleasure and gratitude. 
 
 His influence for good in the Legislature sur- 
 passed the expectation of all : and he continued 
 to discharge the arduous and trying duties of the 
 position until prevented b\' illness. How, at this 
 trying period, would we value his aid and counsel. 
 
 But those who knew him best turn from the 
 contemplation of the great merchant, the honored 
 statesman and patriot, and love to dwell upon the 
 memory of the man. 
 
 He was indeed rarely gifted ; strikingly hand- 
 some in feature, dignified and imposing in pres- 
 ence, with an irresistible charm and grace of man- 
 ner, of brilliant conversational powers, and pos- 
 sessed of a winning and persuasive eloquence 
 which never failed to impress all who came within 
 the charmed circle of his influence. 
 
 In the days when Charleston was pre-eminent 
 for her cultured society and refined hospitality, 
 he lived up to his station, and 
 
 "joined 
 
 Each duty of the social hour. 
 To noble manners, as the flower 
 And native growth of noble mind." 
 
 There was another sphere in which his excel- 
 lencies shone still brighter — the home, into which 
 he never carried the cares and anxieties of his 
 
26 
 
 busy life, but only the sunshine of his eagerly 
 expected presence ; but from that home we can- 
 not lift the veil, but only stand reverently at its 
 portal, and offer to those shrouded in grief within, 
 our tender sympathy. 
 
 Upon the pillar of their trust many others lean- 
 ed, and all looked with pride and pleasure on its 
 graceful proportions and its beautiful finish ; but 
 the polished shaft is shattered, and we can only 
 gather around, and wreath its broken fragments 
 with garlands of grief and affection. 
 
 Let us garner up the memories, and teach to 
 the coming generation the lessons of the life of 
 Charleston's great merchant. 
 
 At the close of the addresses, the hushed 
 silence in the apartment gave outward evidence 
 of the sacred memories, and personal griefs, the 
 quickened sense of the loss of a great and true 
 friend, felt by those who participated in this 
 mournfully impressive occasion. It was realized 
 that his great career was a possession, and would 
 abide with us — and that in the darkest hour of 
 the future, when men shall seek some light to 
 guide, they will turn to this memory, and in it 
 find counsel and support. " It is the great and 
 

 
 
 
 -7 
 
 good who leave us, who make possible the fu- 
 ture." 
 
 Mr. Wm. B. Burden offered the following reso- 
 lution: 
 
 Resol^'ED, That a Committee of three be appointed to print 
 five hundred copies of these proceedings for the use of the mem- 
 bers, and that copies be prepared and sent to the family of Mr. 
 Trenholm. 
 
 The President appointed Messrs. Wm. B. BUR- 
 DEN, Wm. a. Courtenay, and T. W. Bacot, in 
 compliance with the wishes of the Chamber, and 
 the meeting then adjourned. 
 
 S. Y. TUPPER, 
 
 President. 
 
 P. J. BARBOT, ■ ; 
 
 Secretary.