His service gave universal satisfaction. The praises of the young superintendent resounded throughout the state, and even beyond. Hundreds who came and were restored whole, left with blessings on the head of the young and lovable superintendent. In his retreat of benevolence he labored on year by year, was rarely before the public, and his tremendous work was known only to a limited few. Confidence in him grew to be supreme, and his fame went abroad to other states, and the hospital for the insane in Alabama was noted among similar institutions throughout the country.
Dr. Bryce took a position in the most advanced of the medical fraternity of Alabama. The learned papers presented by him before the medical convention of Alabama, from time to time, with special reference to the disorders of the mind, were regarded as being those of the highest value. He was a devotee to his profession, and his fame grew with the expansion of the institution committed to his care.
In addition to all this, Dr. Bryce was a great favorite in the social circles of cultured Tuskaloosa. His quite dignity, pleasing demeanor, and his learning and culture, won for him a place in the most elevated circle, while his perennial sunshine of heart made him an idol to the unfortunate inmates of the hospital. He became one of the first citizens of the state, and by dint of sheer merit, he held this position to the close of his useful life.
JOHN GILL SHORTER
No man of more exalted personal character ever entered public life in Alabama than Governor John Gill Shorter. He had all the virtues of a Christian statesman. Gentle, refined, highly cultured, modest, he was yet a firm and faithful official. His presence produced an atmosphere of purity and awoke the profoundest respect.
A graduate from the University of Georgia in the class of ’37, for Georgia was his native state, he removed with his father, General Reuben C. Shorter, to Eufaula, then called Irwinton, and after a course of study entered on the practice of the law. Six years afterward he was appointed by Governor Fitzpatrick solicitor of the judicial district in which he resided. In 1845 Mr. Shorter was elected senator from Barbour County, the first from that county after it was formed from Russell County. His bearing and service at once attracted attention, his ability was promptly recognized, and when Honorable George Goldthwaite was promoted to the supreme bench, Mr. Shorter succeeded him as the judge of the judicial circuit, in which capacity he served for nine years, being elected from time to time without opposition.
When the question of withdrawal from the Union was before the secession convention of Georgia, Judge Shorter was sent as one of the commissioners from Alabama. He later became a member of the provisional congress of the Confederacy, and soon became a candidate for governor of the state in response to a popular demand. In 1861 he was elected governor.
The storm of war breaking over the country, there was imposed on the governor an unprecedented burden, attended with unique embarrassment of an appalling nature. Questions of a complicated nature arose in consequence of the haste necessary to meet the tide of hostilities bearing southward, and in the excitement of the hour and the extremity of the period, the people were divided on numerous important issues, and from the outset, the administration of Governor Shorter was beset behind and before with most perplexing entanglements. The strenuousness of the times imposed burdens on him never before borne by a governor. The difficulty was enhanced by the fact that on the governor reposed the settlement of all questions on which public sentiment was divided. The most conflicting demands arose from the turbulence of the times and the passion of the period, but the serene man at the capitol sought tranquilly to do his duty, unswayed by aught else than a supreme sense of public responsibility. His patriotic and philanthropic disposition led him to seek to provide for the families of soldiers on the field, but this produced adverse sentiment on the part of many. With zeal and interest, he sought to protect by every possible means the exposed borders of the state against a hostile army, and gave special attention to the fortification of Mobile by garrisoning the outposts of that city as strongly as possible.