James Seddon: "very extreme man" from Virginia
From The New-York Times February 9, 1861:
“Occasional,” in a letter from Washington to the Philadelphia Press, gives an incident which transpired during the sessions of the Peace Convention at Washington on Feb. 6. Mr. SEDDEN, of Virginia, a very extreme man, and little disposed to lead the way to conciliation, having made some objectionable remarks, the Chief Justice of North Carolina, Mr. RUFFIN, who is now over eighty years of age, and the idol of the people among whom he lives, alike because of his spotless character as his gigantic intellect, rose to his feet, and pronounced one of the most inspiring and affecting appeals for the Union. He melted the hearts of even the most ultra of his colleagues, and Ex Gov. MOOREHEAD, of North Carolina, himself a remarkable man, and only second to the aged Chief Justice in the love of the people of the old North State, burst into a flood of tears, which he could not restrain.
Thomas Ruffin: pro-Union speech makes John Morehead cry
ex-Governor Morehead: a John Boehner-like response to Ruffin's speech?
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Apparently, Thomas Ruffin was only about 73 during the Peace Conference. John Motley Morehead is known as “the Father of Modern North Carolina.”
James Seddon would seem to be an interesting choice to be one of Virginia’s representatives to the Peace Conference. His biography at The Confederate War Department differs in some ways from the Wikipedia bio.
The entire article is at The New York Times Archive.
