In the region of country just described and in the counties beyond
abound the finest mineral springs, one or more being found on every
plantation. At one place there were seven different springs, and the
servants had a habit of asking the guests and family whether they
would have--before breakfast--a glass of White Sulphur, Yellow
Sulphur, Black Sulphur, Alleghany, Alum, or Limestone water!
The old Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs was a favorite place of
resort for eastern Virginians and South Carolinians at a very early
date, when it was accessible only by private conveyances, and all who
passed the summer there went in private carriages. In this way certain
old Virginia and South Carolina families met every season, and these
old people told us that society there was never so good after the
railroads and stages brought "all sorts of people, from all sorts of
places." This, of course, we knew nothing about from experience, and
it sounded rather egotistical in the old people to say so, but that is
what they said.
Indeed, these "old folks" talked so much about what "used to be in
their day" at the old White Sulphur, that I found it hard to convince
myself that I had not been bodily present, seeing with my own eyes
certain knee-buckled old gentlemen, with long queues, and certain
Virginia and South Carolina belles attired in short-waisted, simple,
white cambrics, who passed the summers there. These white cambrics, we
were told, had been carried in minute trunks behind the carriages; and
were considered, with a few jewels, and a long black or white lace
veil thrown over the head and shoulders, a complete outfit for the
reigning belles! Another curiosity was that these white cambric
dresses--our grandmothers told us--required very little "doing up:"
one such having been worn by Mrs. General Washington--so her
granddaughter told me--a whole week without requiring washing! It must
have been an age of remarkable women and remarkable cambrics! How
little they dreamed then of an era when Saratoga trunks would be
indispensable to ladies of much smaller means than Virginia and South
Carolina belles!
To reach these counties flowing with mineral waters, the families from
eastern Virginia and from South Carolina passed through a beautiful
region of Virginia known as Piedmont, and those who had kinsfolk or
acquaintances there usually stopped to pay them a visit. Consequently
the Piedmont Virginians were generally too busy entertaining summer
guests to visit the Springs themselves. Indeed, why should they? No
more salubrious climate could be found than their own, and no scenery
more grand and beautiful. But it was necessary for the tide-water
Virginians to leave their homes every summer on account of chills and
fevers.
In the lovely Piedmont region, over which the "Peaks of Otter" rear
their giant heads, and chains of blue mountains extend as far as eye
can reach, were scattered many pleasant and picturesque homes. And in
this section my grandfather bought a plantation, when the ancestral
estates in the eastern part of the State had been sold to repay the
British debt, which estates, homesteads, and tombstones with their
quaint inscriptions, are described in Bishop Meade's "Old Churches and
Families of Virginia."
While the tide-water Virginians were already practicing all the arts
and wiles known to the highest English civilization; sending their
sons to be educated in England, and receiving therefrom brocaded silks
and powdered wigs; and dancing the minuet at the Williamsburg balls
with the families of the noblemen sent over to govern the
colony,--Piedmont was still a dense forest, the abode of Indians and
wild animals.
It was not strange, then, that the Piedmont Virginians never arrived
at the opulent manner of living adopted by those on the James and York
rivers, who, tradition tells us, went to such excess in high living as
to have "hams boiled in champagne," and of whom other amusing and
interesting tales have been handed down to us. Although the latter
were in advance of the Piedmont Virginians in wealth and social
advantages, they were not superior to them in honor, virtue, kindness,
or hospitality.
It has been remarked that, "when natural scenery is picturesque,
there is in the human character something to correspond; impressions
made on the retina are really made on the soul, and the mind becomes
what it contemplates."
The same author continues: "A man is not only _like_ what he sees, but
he _is_ what he sees. The noble old Highlander has mountains in his
soul, whose towering peaks point heavenward; and lakes in his bosom,
whose glassy surfaces reflect the skies; and foaming cataracts in his
heart to beautify the mountain side and irrigate the vale; and
evergreen firs and mountain pines that show life and verdure even
under winter skies!"
"On the other hand," he writes, "the wandering nomad has a desert in
his heart; its dead level reflects heat and hate; a sullen, barren
plain,--no goodness, no beauty, no dancing wave of joy, no gushing
rivulet of love, no verdant hope. And it is an interesting fact that
those who live in countries where natural scenery inspires the soul,
and where the necessities of life bind to a permanent home, are always
patriotic and high-minded; and those who dwell in the desert are
always pusillanimous and groveling!"
If what this author writes be true, and the character of the Piedmont
Virginians accords with the scenery around them, how their hearts must
be filled with gentleness and charity inspired by the landscape which
stretches far and fades in softness against the sky! How must their
minds be filled with noble aspirations suggested by the everlasting
mountains! How their souls must be filled with thoughts of heaven as
they look upon the glorious sunsets bathing the mountains in
rose-colored light, with the towering peaks ever pointing heavenward
and seeming to say: "Behold the glory of a world beyond!"[14]
[14] From this vicinity went nine ministers who were eminent in their
several churches: two Episcopal bishops, one Methodist bishop, three
distinguished Presbyterian and three Baptist divines of talent and
fame.
Beneath the shadow of the "Peaks" were many happy homes and true
hearts, and, among these, memory recalls none more vividly than
Otterburn and its inmates.
Otterburn was the residence of a gentleman and his wife who, having no
children, devoted themselves to making their home attractive to
visitors, in which they succeeded so well that they were rarely
without company, for all who went once to see them went again and
again.
This gentleman, Benjamin Donald, was a man of high character,--his
accomplishments, manner and appearance marking him "rare,"--"one in a
century." Above his fellow-men in greatness of soul, he could
comprehend nothing mean. His stature was tall and erect; his features
bold; his countenance open and impressive; his mind vigorous and
cultivated; his bearing dignified, but not haughty; his manners simple
and attractive; his conversation so agreeable and enlivening that the
dullest company became animated as soon as he came into the room.
Truth and lofty character were so unmistakably stamped upon him that a
day's acquaintance convinced one he could be trusted forever. Brought
up in Scotland, the home of his ancestors, in him were blended the
best points of Scotch and Virginia character,--strict integrity and
whole-souled generosity and hospitality.
How many days and nights we passed at his house, and in childhood and
youth how many hours were we entertained by his bright and instructive
conversation! Especially delightful was it to hear his stories of
Scotland, which brought vividly before us pictures of its lakes and
mountains and castles. How often did we listen to his account of the
wedding-tour to Scotland, when he carried his Virginia bride to the
old home at Greenock! And how often we laughed about the Scotch
children, his nieces and nephews, who, on first seeing his wife,
clapped their hands and shouted: "Oh, mother! are you not glad uncle
did not marry a black woman?" Hearing he was to marry a Virginian,
they expected to see a savage Indian or negro! And some of the family
who went to Liverpool to meet them, and were looking through
spy-glasses when the vessel arrived, said they were "sure the Virginia
lady had not come, because they saw no one among the passengers
dressed in a red shawl and gaudy bonnet like an Indian"!
From this we thought that Europeans must be very ignorant of our
country and its inhabitants, and we have since learned that their
children are purposely kept ignorant of facts in regard to America and
its people.
Among many other recollections of this dear old friend of Otterburn I
shall never forget a dream he told us one night, which so impressed us
that, before his death, we asked him to write it out, which he did;
and, as the copy is before me in his own handwriting, I will insert it
here:
"About the time I became of age I returned to Virginia for the
purpose of looking after and settling my father's estate. Three
years thereafter I received a letter from my only sister, informing
me that she was going to be married, and pressing me in the most
urgent manner to return to Scotland to be present at her marriage,
and to attend to the drawing of the marriage contract. The letter
gave me a good deal of trouble, as it did not suit me to leave
Virginia at that time. I went to bed one night, thinking much on
this subject, but soon fell asleep, and dreamed that I landed in
Greenock in the night-time, and pushed for home, thinking I would
take my aunt and sister by surprise.
"When I arrived at the door, I found all still and quiet, and the
out-door locked. I thought, however, that I had in my pocket my
check-key, with which I quietly opened the door and groped my way
into the sitting-room, but, finding no one there, I concluded they
had gone to bed. I then went upstairs to their bedroom, and found
that unoccupied. I then concluded they had taken possession of my
bedroom in my absence, but, not finding them there, became very
uneasy about them. Then it struck me they might be in the guest's
chamber, a room downstairs kept exclusively for company. Upon
going there I found the door partially open; I saw my aunt
removing the burning coals from the top of the grate preparatory
to going to bed. My sister was sitting up in bed, and as I entered
the room she fixed her eyes upon me, but did not seem to recognize
me. I approached toward her, and, in the effort to make myself
known, awoke and found it all a dream. At breakfast next morning I
felt wearied and sick, and could not eat, and told the family of
my (dream) journey overnight.
"I immediately commenced preparing, and in a very short time
returned to Scotland. I saw my sister married, and she and her
husband set off on their 'marriage jaunt.' About a month
thereafter they returned, and at dinner I commenced telling them
of my dream; but, observing they had quit eating and were staring
at me, I laughed, and asked what was the matter, whereupon my
brother-in-law very seriously asked me to go on. When I finished,
they asked me if I remembered the exact time of my dream. I told
them it distressed and impressed me so strongly that I noted it
down at the time. I pulled out my pocketbook and showed them the
date, '14th day of May,' written in pencil. They all rose from the
table and took me into the bedroom and showed me, written with
pencil on the white mantelpiece, '14th of May.'
"I asked them what that meant, and was informed that on that very
night--and _the only night_ they ever occupied that room during my
absence--my aunt was taking the coals off of the fire, when my
sister screamed out: 'Brother has come!'
"My aunt scolded her, and said she was dreaming; but she said she
had not been to sleep, was sitting up in bed, and _saw me_ enter
the room, and run out when she screamed. So confident was she that
she had seen me, and that I had gone off and hidden, that the
whole house was thoroughly searched for me, and as soon as day
dawned a messenger was sent to inquire if any vessel had arrived
from America, or if I had been seen by any of my friends."
No one who visited Otterburn can forget the smiling faces of the negro
servants about the house, who received the guests with as true
cordiality as did their mistress, expressing their pleasure by
widespread mouths showing white teeth (very white by contrast with
their jet-black skin), and when the guests were going away always
insisted on their remaining longer.
One of these negro women was not only an efficient servant, but a
valuable friend to her mistress.
In the absence of her master and mistress she kept the keys, often
entertaining their friends, who, in passing from distant plantations,
were accustomed to stop, and who received from her a cordial welcome,
finding on the table as many delicacies as if the family had been at
home.
No more sincere attachment could have existed than that between this
lady and her servant. At last, when the latter was seized with a
contagious fever which ended her life, she could not have had a more
faithful friend and nurse than was her mistress.
The same fever attacked all the negroes on the plantation, and none
can describe the anxiety, care, and distress of their owners, who
watched by their beds day and night, administering medicine and
relieving the sick and dying.