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DOCTOR DAVID OLYPHANT was born in
Scotland in 1720, at "Pitheavies," the house where his ancestors had lived
for many generations. The house, or castle, as it is called, is about one
and one-half miles from the railway station at Perth, and is still owned
by one of the descendants of the family in the female line.
In common with nearly all the
branches of his race, he warmly espoused the cause of the Stewarts.
After the Battle of Culloden, in
which he took an active part, his life was in danger, but he succeeded in
escaping from Scotland, and, coming to this country, landed at Charleston,
South Carolina, where he lived for many years practising his profession,
and rising in it to the highest eminence.
Here, too, as was natural from his
early training, he took a leading part in the political discussions of the
time. In General Moultrie ‘s "Memoirs of the Revolution," we find his name
among the list of members of the "Provincial Congress" held at Charleston.
He was also a member of the Legislative Council of February, 1776, of
which that revered patriot, the Hon. John Routledge, was President, and,
at a later date, in a letter to Gen. Moultrie the Hon. Charles Pinckney
says: "The Senate, I hope, will act wisely, though it is to be lamented
they are obliged to act now without the assistance of yourself, Olyphant
and others whose aid would give a lustre to their proceedings."
On the breaking out of the
Revolution, he at once offered his services to the Government, and on the
4th of July, 1776, received his commission as Director-General of the
Southern Hospitals, the duties of which he discharged with the highest
honour, integrity and ability until the surrender of Charleston,
when
he became a prisoner of war, and, perhaps, because of
his Scotch birth and early history, was subjected to treatment that called
forth a protest from Gen. Moultrie to the English commanding officer. In
addition to other offices, he was repeatedly elected to the Senate of
South Carolina as representative of St. George, Dorchester.
His health failing, in the year 1785
he removed to Newport, R. I., the climate of which, "more like that of his
native land," proved a complete restorative, and he decided to remain
there permanently. In the year 1786, he married Miss Ann Vernon, [Miss
Vernon was his third wife. He had one son by a previous marriage, who was
accidentally killed.] a grand-daughter of
Governor Ward, of Rhode Island, "one of the belles, and brightest wits of
her time." He lived in Newport, continuing there the practice of medicine
until his death in 1804, at the age of eighty-four years. One who knew his
history well, thus wrote on hearing of his death: "Still will he continue
to live in the remembrance of those who knew him, and the annals of our
country will teach succeeding generations to stamp a high value upon his
character. In private life he was an easy, polite and well-bred gentleman;
an agreeable and instructive companion, he was always sure to command the
esteem and regard of society according to the proportion of their
acquaintance with him; and those who knew him best, valued him most."
He left one son and one daughter. In
the naming of his son he showed the same loyalty of nature that led to his
banishment from Scotland. On the rolls of the Society of the Cincinnati,
of which Doctor Olyphant was one of the original members, it stands
printed in full, David Washington Cincinnatus Olyphant, the first, a
family name, then that of the friend whom he considered the noblest of
earth’s heroes, and then that name which enrolled under its banner those
friends who were dearest, and nearer to him because of the trials and
struggles through which they had passed together. While anxiety may be
felt for a child, weighted with such a name, we can sympathize with the
feelings that prompted it, and rejoice that in this case it was carried
without stain or blemish through long years of an honoured life as an
eminent merchant of New York, and the founder of American Missions to
China. The name, as indicated above, was but a sign of love and loyalty,
the distinctive traits of the old Scotch family, and which led its
historian to write: "But even the sternest foes of the Olyphant politics
(in Scotland) will not grudge, I hope, some need of praise to that
unflinching steadfastness which was ever ready to give life and lands,
home and health, in behalf of a race of doomed Kings." The subject of this
sketch was true and steadfast to what he believed to be the best for his
native land and then for the land of his adoption. There may be a doubt,
perhaps, which was the deepest feeling of his heart, love of freedom, or
hatred of "the Georges." Perhaps the two were unified to him, but the
Jacobite tradition was with him, wonder at it as we may, an abiding one.
It seems proper, in closing this
sketch, to state that Doctor Olyphant apparently thought himself the
proper heir to the title of Lord Olyphant, after the death of his uncle in
1770—the last who bore the title—and he had many papers in his possession
that seemed to vindicate his belief. In his will, Lord Olyphant bequeathed
to him the family plate, and then, providing that the residue of his
estate should be invested for Lady Olyphant during her life, "directs that
at her death, it should be transferred to his nephew, Doctor David
Olyphant, of Charleston, South Carolina." The doctor, however, never
entered his claim, perhaps thinking that the events which led to his
leaving Scotland would be used as a bar to his success. He doubtless hoped
that his son would secure it. That son, however, had other and higher
purposes marked out for his life’s work. Let his descendants emulate his
example, and never waste wealth—if possessed of it—in the pursuit of a
title however noble, but rather, which is far nobler, endeavor to so live
as to be worthy of it.
Doctor Olyphant ‘s uncle (referred
to in the foregoing sketch) was thus noticed at the time of his death:
London, November 2, 1770.
Last Sunday morning died the Rt.
Honourable David Lord Olyphant, at his house in Great Poulteney St.,
Golden Square.
The above nobleman, upon the death
of Francis, the late Lord in 1751, claimed the honour which was allowed
him, and became the 12th Lord Olyphant.
David de Olyphant, immediate
ancestor of this family, was one of the Barons who in 1142 accompanied
King David the First into England, with an army to assist his niece, the
Empress Matilda, against King Stephen, but, after raising the seige of
Winchester, the good King David was so closely pursued that, had it not
been for the singular conduct of this brave person, that King had remained
a prisoner. David, his son, succeeded him, and was greatly in favour of
King Malcolm 4th, and his brother King William. Sir Walter, son of David,
was one of the hostages for the ransom of the last mentioned Prince, who
was taken prisoner by the English in 1173.
Another mention of the family is as
follows:
Lawrence, the 4th Lord Olyphant, who
served heir to his father in 1566, is represented in the memorials of the
times as a man of singular merit, a great loyalist, adhering firmly to the
interest of Queen Mary during all the time of the civil wars. His son
married a daughter of the Earl of Morton. Few families had made a greater
figure in Caledonian story than his. The race is traced to a noble Dane,
who came over in the reign of Donald VI. One of the descendants is found
witness to a Charter of a Priory granted by King David II. Another—William
Olyphant—a man of great interest and power, married Elizabeth Bruce,
daughter of the immortal King Robert. |
