Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 12.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

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[196] found to be elected by a majority of more than eleven thousand. He went into office on the 1st December. His inaugural address astonished everybody. It declared his intention to carry out the principle of reform which was a main feature of the platform of his party. It might have been a set of words, of course, signifying nothing. But the speech showed such an intimate knowledge of the condition of the State, such a convincing sense of the corruptions which had disgraced the party that ruled it, and so earnestly urged the reform of abuses, that the Republicans were alarmed, fearing that the man of their choice might prove a traitor, and the Conservatives hoped that he might prove a powerful ally. All parties waited for time to show the stuff of which the new Governor was made. In the meantime Elliott had given a distinct intimation of his official conduct. By the death of Judge Graham during the past summer there was a vacancy in the First judicial district, which must be immediately filled. Prominent among the candidates was Elliott's favorite, W. H. Whipper, a clever but ignorant negro, who like Elliott had come into the State after the war. He was by profession a lawyer, by practice a gambler and swindler, and this was the man whom the extremists of the Republican party desired to clothe with the ermine. The Governor seemed to regard him with ineffable disgust, and entered into the contest with so much zeal and energy that Mr. Reid, of Anderson, was elected, and the people of Charleston spared the humiliation of seeing a bad negro on their circuit bench.

The satisfaction caused by this salutary interference of the Governor was so great that the Conservatives accepted with patience his next public acts, which were, indeed, of a very questionable character. One was the appointment of Timothy Henly as Treasurer of Charleston. This notorious adventurer came to South Carolina with the Union League in his carpet-bag, out of which he made a fortune for himself. Excessively vulgar, but of a jovial and genial temperament, he insinuated himself into the society and tolerance of men who ought not to have forgotten their self-respect. He unblushingly proclaimed himself a rogue, and claimed, and even received credit for his frankness. It is said that he had little to do with robbing the public treasury. His genius lay in his powers of persuasion; an able lobbyist, he corrupted the members of the Legislature, acting as broker for all who had jobs to carry. He received their money, transacted their business and pocketed his commissions. It is no scandal to call him a rogue, for so he called