At the time I am writing about, the life of the Virginia farmer was
one to be much desired, for he was a baron in his realm, was lord of
all he surveyed, and yielded no obeisance to any one, but to his Maker
and his country. The dark shadows of coming dire events had not then
cast their war-like omens ahead. The question of the Missouri
Compromise, the admission of Kansas into the sisterhood of the States
under the Lecompton Convention, the decision in the Dred Scott case,
the political issues and measures which were the precursors of the
great war between the States had not yet reached Congress. Everything
that could render life pleasant was vouchsafed the country gentleman
and planter, and his family about three-quarters of a century ago.
What was to happen in the near future no one at this early period
could Cassandra-like predict, and yet there was in the political
horizon a small pillar of portentous appearance, which was destined to
cover the whole heavens with gloom and bring death to thousands of
peaceful citizens in this country, through the clash of arms and
fratricidal strife in which brothers were arrayed against brothers,
and fathers against sons.
My father was an old line Whig and believed in the theory of
government advocated by Alexander Hamilton, yet he recognized the
autonomy of the States and approved some of the tenets of Mr. Thomas
Jefferson, but did not agree with him generally, being in favor of a
strong central government at Washington, though disagreeing with the
extremists of both sections.
Being a close student of the political history of our country he
subscribed to, and carefully read every page of, the National
Intelligencer, owned and published by the Seaton brothers, which was
the best exponent of the legislation of the time that has ever been
issued; the editorials were clear and forcible and the reports of the
debates in Congress were correct and complete. The political disputes
on the floor of Congress began to be warm, and indeed acrimonious
between the Northern and Southern members, which brought out the great
efforts for peace of Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and prevented at that
time a clash of arms between the sections. The admission of Kansas
into the Union under the Lecompton Convention was but a link in the
chain of events leading to the great Civil War. Well do I recall my
respected parent's remark that the trend of the speeches by the
Free-Soil, or Abolition, party in the North and those of the
Secessionists of the South, would certainly bring about a disruption
of the United States if persisted in; and alas! his children lived to
see his remark verified in the year 1861.
Our family moved from old Fairfield to Magnolia farm, only about two
miles north of Richmond, which place was then owned by the Nortons,
and it was a quiet, pleasant home "far away from the madding crowd" in
a sociable and agreeable neighborhood; it is at the present time owned
by the "Hartshorne" Colored Female Institute and now is included
within the corporate limits of the city of Richmond, Va. How rapidly
the wheel of time brings changes in our surroundings. My father's
children are advancing in years, the older ones are sent off to
boarding schools, my oldest brother had just returned from
Philadelphia, where he had attended the Jefferson Medical College as
an office student of Dr. Thomas C. Mutter, the president of the
college, who was first cousin of my mother--her maiden name was
Frances Mutter.
From Magnolia we moved to "Rose Cottage," owned by a Mr. Richardson,
the object in this move being to be near "Washington and Henry"
Academy, a boarding and day school carried on by a Mr. and Mrs.
Dunton; she was in charge of the small boys and the girls, while her
husband taught the large boys. I was in Mrs. Dunton's department,
being but a small chap, and as to whether I learned anything at this
time it is a matter of considerable doubt. My mother furnished six
pupils to this institution. The principals would come over to "Rose
Cottage" two or three times per month, bringing their boarders with
them, which visits they appeared to enjoy greatly as a good supper,
with a large and shady yard to play in, was certainly well calculated
to afford mirth and pleasure to both old and young. A Mr. Osborne, a
Presbyterian minister, boarded at the academy, being a unique
character and one of the best men to be found anywhere; he formed the
plan of teaching the scholars, young and old, the catechism of the
Presbyterian Church, and all those who committed it to memory received
a nice book as a prize. The climax of the scheme was an offer of a
grand prize to any scholar that would repeat the whole of it without a
hitch or halt. The children were thoroughly inoculated with
Presbyterianism. The final trial of reciting, or memorizing, the
catechism came off at the residence of Mr. Thomas Gardner. The contest
was one long to be remembered, a Miss Fannie Shelton scoring the first
honor, and Miss Newell Gardner the second. The supper provided for
this happy occasion was a first class one in every respect. The best
that a well-stocked farm house could produce, both in substantials and
nicknacks, such for instance, as broiled chicken, roast lamb and
barbecued pig, with dessert of ice cream, yellow cake and pies in
abundance; it was in short one of the finest "lay-outs" that I ever
saw, and being an appreciative youngster I did ample justice to it
indeed, and fairly revelled in the many good eatables so generously
spread before us, and to this day I remember it with pleasure. "Rose
Cottage" was truly a delightful home. The never-failing wheel of time
was turning fast, and the water of life that once passed over it will
never again turn it. We were all growing fast as we advanced in years.
At this time my father bought a place on Nine Mile Road, about two and
a half miles from the city, it was named "Auburn," and to it we moved
bag and baggage.
Just as with "Fairfield" and "Magnolia," we found hospitable
neighbors, and genial intercourse was conspicuous. Among them were
Colonel Sherwin McRae and family, a Mrs. Gibson, Mr. Tinsley Johnson,
Mr. Galt Johnson, and many other well known families, nearly all of
whom have now moved away or have passed to the other side of the
river. Mr. William Galt Johnson lived about a quarter of a mile from
us, and there was a considerable intercourse between the two families.
"Galt," as he was called, was a character of renown and possessed of
much personality; one of his traits was never to give a word its
correct pronunciation and yet he thought he was right always. I was
visiting there one evening, and as supper was placed on the table the
bell rang; Galt arose from his seat and in a clear voice said "the
bell has pronounced supper ready, let's go." His wife, who was a
cultivated lady, attempted to correct him by saying "announce,
William," but she could never get him to change his mode of speech.
Another of his peculiarities was his lack of fondness of church-going.
Mrs. Johnson, his wife, was a regular attendant to the church and
naturally desired her husband to accompany her, a most reasonable
wish, but Galt made several excuses for not complying, and finally he
urged as a last resort that he could not sit in a pew unless he could
whittle a stick, and could not collect his thoughts sufficiently to
listen to the sermon; so she told him that should not be a good
excuse, and that he could take a stick along and trim it as much as he
chose, and he consented to go with her, but did not receive much
benefit from the sermon.
My mother determined to send me to live with my eldest brother, Doctor
William H. Macon, who had recently married Miss Nora C. Braxton, the
daughter of Mr. Carter Braxton, of "Ingleside," Hanover County, the
owner of the celebrated plantation "New Castle," situated on the
Pamunkey River. The name of by brother's home was "Woodland," about
three miles below the well-known tavern at Old Church. The reason of
my being sent to live with him was to be convenient to enter the
school kept by a Count Larry, one of the best teachers of his day and
time. The school house was distant about three miles from my brother's
place, and not too far away for a little boy to walk at that time. I
was duly enrolled as a day scholar in Count Larry's establishment,
which consisted of an unpretentious structure, about thirty feet
square, with two doors, one for entry and the other for exit, and was
lighted by two windows with which to admit the sunshine and fresh air
in the summer time, and to shut out the "cold, chilly winds of
December." The school was composed of both boys and girls, and the
Count sat in a large wooden chair, with a table at his side similar to
those now seen in a modern dairy lunch room in the cities. On the
table was placed all his text books and such other teacher's
implements, or fixings, and then to descend as it were from the
"sublime to the ridiculous," he installed, within easy reach, a large
earthen "spittoon," or more modernly speaking, "cuspidor." The master,
enthroned as like a ruler, or king, surveyed his pupils with great
dignity and gravity. And although very kind and lenient in his
dealings with his young charges, yet when occasion required it he
could wield the birch with great effect, but always with prudence and
moderation. He always kept a sharp pen-knife ready for use in making
or mending quill pens, for steel pens were not then in use for the
children; the goose quills were the only kind of pens we knew about,
and it was no small job to keep a lot of chaps well supplied with
writing materials, for he was constantly called upon.
We were given an hour at playtime, and about a mile and half away was
a mill pond, which is probably there now unless dried up, and to this,
in the warm weather, the boys, both large and small, repaired in great
glee, but the girls did not accompany us.
Well school boys are proverbially as prone to mischief as are the
sparks to fly upwards, and when the Count would be absorbed in study
the boys would throw torpedoes upon the floor which would quickly
arouse him from his studies, but was soon made to believe that it was
but an accidental match dropped and trodden upon, though in truth it
was pure deviltry on the part of some of the larger boys. An incident
fraught with much concern to me in connection with a boy by the name
of Benjamin Tucker, who was about my age, but much stouter and had by
some means gotten me under a sort of "hack," and it becoming very
annoying I finally concluded that the thing had gone far enough, so
one day I lost patience with Benjamin and I just "pitched into" him
and gave him a gentle thrashing; he had on a brand-new nine-pence
straw hat which I got hold of and tore to smithereens. Well, after
this "scrap" I had no further trouble with Master Benjamin Tucker.
Another rather humorous matter which happened about this time at
school was about a boy who was called "Phil." He was the pet and idol
of his mother, who took a pair of his father's old pants and made him
a pair from them, but the trouble was that the cloth was not
sufficient for the garment, and resulted in their being too small and
too tight in the body when his burly form was encased therein, and
became as solid as a drumhead, and we had a popular game called hard
ball and the mischievous fellows selected him as a special target, and
when the ball struck him plumb it rebounded as if it was rubber, but
at last he got tired of being made a butt of ridicule and a target in
the game, so he complained to his mother and she reported the matter
to our teacher, requesting that gentleman that the boys should be made
to stop the treatment to her son; the Count, after giving it careful
consideration, told his mother that the only remedy that he could
suggest was to get her boy a new and a more roomy pair of trousers,
and cast the old ones which had caused his annoyance aside. Our old
teacher was a good and faithful one, and if his pupils did not profit
by his knowledge and training, it surely was not his fault. He
possessed of course some objectionable habits, such as when school
closed he would get on a "spree" and remain on it until school was
assembled for work, when all traces of his riotous living had
disappeared.