USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Poems and sketches: consisting of poems and local history; biography; notes of travel; a long list of Wayne County's pioneer dead, also many names of those who lost their lives in defense of their country during the late rebellion > Part 16
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" Old Tomb,
" Where Washington's remains rested until 1831. Tomb restored by Michigan, 1887."
At Georgetown we had pointed out to us the former residence of Key, the author of the "Star Spangled Banner "- a two-story brick structure, which may have been 15 X 50, and extremely plain, and built out even with the sidewalk, or very nearly so. We were also shown the cottage of Mrs. Southworth, who has prob- ably written more fiction than any other woman in America. Arrived at " Arlington Heights," we were amazed at its beauty and grandeur. It is now the resting place of thousands of brave soldiers, who sleep the last sleep that comes to us all.
" The storm that wrecks the wintry sky, No more disturbs their sweet repose Than Summer evening's latest sigh, That shuts the rose."
Many beautiful and expensive monuments adorn the place and record the virtues and the daring of the departed. A large, square monument, near the Lee mansion, bears the following inscription :
.
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" Beneath this stone repose the bones of two thousand and eleven unknown soldiers, gathered, after the war, from the fields of Bull Run, and the route to the Rappa- hannock. Their remains could not be identified, but their names and death are recorded in the archives of their country, and its grateful citizens honor them as of their noble army of martyrs. May they rest in peace. September, 1866."
The estate is on the Virginia side of the Potomac, directly opposite the city. It comprises about twelve hundred acres, and once seen, can never be forgotten. It was purchased for £11,000, or about $55,000, by Jno. Custis, the father-in-law of Martha Washington, early in the eighteenth century. Arlington House is a noble looking structure, and consists of a central building, sixty feet long, with a portico of eight Ionic columns. There are two wings, each forty feet long. In the rear are the slave quarters, kitchen, stable, etc. The house is constructed of brick, and stuccoed. It has, near by, a glorious well of sparkling water, deep and cool, in which are suspended two oaken buckets, one of which comes up as the other goes down, for the purest of nec- tar that nature can yield. The government paid to Mr. George Washington Custis Lee $150,000 for this prop- erty. The portion of Arlington set apart for the ceme- tery, comprises about two hundred acres. The total number of bodies interred in the cemetery is over six- teen thousand, or about a thousand more than at Gettys- burg. The streets of Washington City are mostly paved
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with asphalt, or concrete, and the sidewalks with cement, and their equal is probably nowhere else to be found. The colored brother abounds, and the older ones almost invariably take to the streets when walking. This custom I suppose to be a relic of anti-bellum days, when he had few rights a white inan was bound to respect. The younger ones, however, usurp their full share, and do not hesitate to jostle their white brethren on the way. Meeting a citizen one day, at a corner store, while awaiting a car, I made some remarks con- cerning the splendid condition of their streets and walks, and said they must certainly be a great boon to " cyclists." He replied by saying that they certainly were, and that there were at least 30,000 bicycles in daily use in Washington City.
On the evening of the 6th of June we had the pleasure of hearing a two hours' performance by the " Marine Band," on the lawn in the rear of the Presi- dent's house. The music, to my untutored ear, was simply marvelous, and the attendance of citizens and strangers very large. Washington offers so many attractions that months might be spent in the vain endeavor to exhaust them all, and we left the city with regret. On the evening of the eighth of June, we took passage on board a steamer bound for Norfolk, Vir- ginia, and arrived at our destination about 8 A. M. next morning. The city is said to be above one hundred and fifty years old, and the harbor one of the best in
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the world. We saw many large vessels at anchor here. The population is claimed to be sixty thousand, about one-third of whom are negroes. There are many fine residences here, and many other evidences of wealth, but they are seemingly of a past age. Some good store rooms are to be seen, but the greater number are not up to the ideas of a progressive people. The colored man performs about all the rougher manual labor, raises immense crops of fruits, vegetables and peanuts, for home consumption and for shipment abroad. At the time we were there, we sometimes saw as many as an hundred men, women and children at work in a single field. I cannot say whether they generally own the grounds or not, but the improvements were universally poor. The black man is a slovenly worker and a shiftless creature, and his reward is accordingly. We have seen him drive a buggy into Norfolk with an ox in the shafts. On a Sunday the young bucks, each with his " best girl," may be seen parading the streets in very good attire. They are also very fond of riding in the street cars, to the great discomfort of the more fas- tidious whites.
I neither saw nor heard anything to indicate an unfriendly feeling toward the North. The war deprived them of their slaves, and left them stranded and help- less, for a time, but I doubt not that they have been gainers in the end, while many a slave, when freed, was greatly the looser in all but principle. He gained
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his liberty, but assumed new cares and duties for which he was unprepared. But in time, the balance will doubt- less adjust itself to the new conditions, and all be better for the change. While at Norfolk we visited two sum- mier resorts on the sea-shore, one of which was " Ocean View," some eight miles from the city ; the other was " Virginia Beach," eighteen miles distant. Each boasted good hotel accommodations, good bathing grounds, and such other peculiar inducements as are usually found at like resorts, in addition to a barren, sandy beach, redeemed and relieved, to some extent, by the restless ocean's flow, whose might and majesty no tongue can tell.
"Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean, roll ; Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ;
Man marks thy ruin - his control stops with the shore."
The city of Norfolk is said to be but six feet above sea level, and in many parts not so much as even three. The citizens claim a very low death rate, but they have, nevertheless, a very large cemetery within the corporate limits.
We saw many handsome women here, but they were much given to the use of the negro dialect and inflection. A beautiful and apparently cultured young lady would say, in reply to a question, " Yes, sah," or " No, sah," as the case might be, and many other like expressions, borrowed from her colored brother ; but,
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on the other hand, he seems to have profited little by association with the whites; he is too indolent, too animal and too stupid. The people seemed exceedingly kind and obliging, but must be very non-progressive, if it be fair to judge them by what we saw around us. In a city having three times the population of Rich- mond, we do not recall the sight of a single new building in course of construction, except that of a brewery and artificial ice plant. Norfolk was the only city visited I should not care to see a second time. Its attractions are few and tame. In my opinion, slavery and the negro have blighted it for all time to come.
The 15th of June, towards evening, found us snugly quartered at the Windsor Hotel, in Phila- delphia. We had left Norfolk, by rail, via Richmond, Alexandria, Washington and Baltimore, making four transfers on the way, in a distance of some three hundred miles, but were always fortunate in close connections and fast trains. Our hotel was centrally located -on Filbert street - and consequently in the near vicinity of the Broad street station of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad, the great City Building, the United States Mint, Wannamaker's famous store, and sundry other places of note and interest. The city is nearly six miles wide and twenty-two in length, and covers an area of more than one hundred and thirty square miles. It has thirty-six hundred acres devoted to public parks, the largest of which is Fairmount, which contains over
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twenty-eight hundred acres. There are three principal and many smaller ones, and for the past six or seven years more than $500,000 per annum has been expended for their improvement. Philadelphia has always been regarded as a slow city, but it possesses vast wealth, is well and substantially built of brick, and to go over it, as we did, by car and cab, and on foot, and behold its well built and ornate business blocks and many magnificent residences, one is simply amazed, and cannot help but wonder and admire.
The Pennsylvania Railroad depot, at Broad and Market streets, is a splendid example of modern Gothic architecture. The main building of the depot has a frontage of three hundred and six feet on Broad street, and two hundred and twelve feet on Market. Beneath it runs Fifteenth street, and on the north side Filbert street. The train shed is a marvel of engi- neering skill, for it is a single span of iron and glass, three hundred and four feet in width, six hundred feet in length, and one hundred and forty-six and one-half feet in height, and covers sixteen tracks. More than twenty million persons are said to enter and leave this depot by train annually, and this is but one of many great systems of railways entering this city.
No visit to Philadelphia would be complete without an inspection of Wannamaker's great store. We were over it and through it several times during our stay in the city, and always found it a source of renewed
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interest. The stock on hand is claimed to aggregate $4,000.000, and it is next to impossible to inspect its multitude of objects without making a purchase ; we are not easily tempted, yet we could not do it. We feel sure that on one occasion we saw, at least, a thousand persons on a single floor. Lunch is served, and mild drinks are to be had by any one applying. For the convenience of patrons, many waiting, reading and toilet rooms are provided. No description can convey a just conception of the place -a visit alone can do it.
On the morning of June 17th we called at the U. S. mint, and were soon waited upon by a courteous officer, who showed us over the establishment, and explained to us all processes employed in making money, from the bar to the completed coin, several specimens of which we brought away with us as souvenirs, which had been struck while we were present. There is on display, and in the possession of the mint, one of the largest and most complete collections of foreign and American coins in the world, numbering many thous- ands of pieces, from every part of the habitable world. The mint was first established in 1792, but the present building was not erected until 1833. Visitors are admitted daily from1 9: 00 A. M. to 12: 00, 110011, except Sundays.
One of the marvels of Philadelphia is its wonderful City Building, begun in 1871, and not yet completed,
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but which has cost, up to date, $18,000,000, and may cost several more millions to complete it. The tower, which stands at the north extremity of the building, is five hundred and fifty feet high, and, excepting the Washington Monument, is the highest building in the world. The City Hall stands upon Centre or Pennsyl- vania square. The building is constructed in the form of a hollow square, with passage ways connecting both Broad and Market streets. It is four stories high, in theory, but actually has eight floors, each of which contains a multitude of rooms, numbering, in the aggre- gate, nearly eight hundred. The lofty tower is sur- mounted by a statue of William Penn, of heroic size, being over nineteen feet in height, and proportioned accordingly. During the course of our stay in the "City of Brotherly Love," we made it our business, daily, to traverse its various districts, to the extent of our time and opportunity, by cab, car, or on foot, and thus become as familiar as possible with its more interesting features, and the wonderful magnitude of this great human hive, where poverty and riches, love and hatred, happiness and misery, must ever abound.
Our next and objective point was the city of New York, where we arrived June 19, about noon, stopping at the "Saint Stephens" hotel, on Eleventh street, near Broadway, during the remainder of our stay in the East. The location is most desirable, and the accom- modations and fare all the most exacting and fastidious
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could ask. The facilities for getting about the city are, of course, first-class, and the tourist only needs to know where it is most desirable to go, and acquaint himself with the best and most convenient means of attaining the end desired. There are so many objects of interest in a city so vast, that it is no easy matter for a novice, in traveling and sight-seeing, to determine what to see and not to see, or even how to see. At length, however, one becomes accustomed to his sur- roundings, and shortly feels at home, even in this mod- ern Babylon. Having been a visitor here on many former occasions (though solely in the interest of busi- ness pursuits), we had, nevertheless, learned something of its wonders and its devious ways. We were, there- fore, not long in putting into execution the plans we had matured. So that, early in the afternoon of the day of our arrival, we entered a Broadway car, destined for City Hall Park, the New York terminal of the great Brooklyn Bridge. Here we ascended a considerable flight of stairs, which brought us, at length, to a land- ing or station above, where we, for the second time, entered a car, which, for a fare of three cents, or five cents for two persons, promptly transferred us to the other side of East river, where we, for a third time, took passage, this time on an elevated train which must be over thirty feet from the ground, as we were above the third story of the houses, along the way, and thus we traversed the city of Brooklyn, in the direction of
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Greenwood Cemetery, our objective point, for several miles. We had a magnificent view, from our car win- dows, of the city and its surroundings, including New York Harbor and its shipping, and the great Statue of Liberty. Arrived at our destination, we left our car and descended by a covered way to the ground, and on approaching the beautiful and artistic arched entrance to the cemetery, we found a carriage service awaiting the hourly arrival of sight-seers. We soon engaged the services of an intelligent and communicative son of Erin, who, of course, was familiar with all the points of interest, as his business required him to be. He conveyed us over miles and miles of winding ways, amid this indescribable "city of the dead," whose beauties and marvels it would be folly to attempt to describe. The surface is, in many places, undulating, and every opportunity has been embraced to still further enhance, by art, that which Nature here so lavishly bestowed. The original grounds consisted of one hun- dred and seventy-five acres, which have since been increased to four hundred and seventy-five acres, the present dimensions. The first interment was made September 5th, 1840, and the total number of inter- ments to January Ist, 1894, was 276,577. There is a receiving vault in the grounds capable of accommodat- ing 1,500 bodies. The cemetery has seven lakes, of varying dimensions ; sixty-two hydrants ; twenty miles of drain tile; ninety-eight cess pools, and one thousand
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two hundred receiving basins. There are five entrances, the northern or main entrance being at Fifth avenue and Twentieth street. The interments average eighteen to twenty per day, or over six thousand per annum. The monuments, tombs and statuary to be seen here are truly marvelous, and must excite the wonder and admiration of every beholder. The funds of the cor- poration, on January Ist, 1894, amounted to $1,608,743.
Saturday, June 20th. This morning we walked from our hotel, on Eleventh street, near Broadway, to Thir- teenth street, where we entered an omnibus whose trips terminated near the Sixty-fifth street entrance to Cen- tral Park, riding a distance of about six miles for the trifling fare of five cents each. As at Greenwood Cem- etery, so at the park, also, were carriages in waiting to convey visitors over the grounds, eight hundred acres in extent, and probably the most interesting and thor- oughly developed place, of its kind, any American city can boast. We soon engaged seats in one of the vehicles, and, with several other passengers in pursuit of knowledge and objects new, we were driven over and around this veritable "Garden of Eden" for the space of more than two hours, amid lakes and foun- tains, and flowers, and statuary, and bridges, and rocks, and streams, and lawns, and trees and shrubbery, and walks and drives, innumerable. Returning, at the end of the journey, to the point from whence we started, we alighted, and re-entering the grounds on foot, we
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sought new sights to conquer, and "their name was legion." Among the more important, we may name two extensive museums, filled with works of art, ancient and modern ; a zoölogical garden, embracing many specimens of bird and beast, from the Arctic regions to the Torrid zone; and last, but not least, the Obelisk of Sienite, brought from Alexandria, in Egypt, in 1880, at a cost of $75,000 for transportation over a distance of 5,382 miles. It was erected near the Art Museum, and consists of a single shaft sixty-nine feet in height, a pedestal of seven feet, and a base of five, making a total height of eighty-one feet. The base is seven feet and eight inches in diameter, and the whole shaft is covered with hieroglyphics, or picture writing, more than two thousand years old. On the afternoon of the same day on which we paid a visit to the park, we, in company with a merchant friend, of our own city, who was a guest at the same hotel at which we made our temporary home, took a car to the foot of Broadway, and from thence a boat to Coney Island, some ten or twelve miles distant, where we found a great throng of visitors and pleasure-seekers. Some bathing, many strolling along the beach, or diverting themselves in various ways, as inclination led or fancy dictated. Up to this time, no hotel had opened its portals for the reception of the "Summer girl " and her mamma. A little later, however, all would be ready, and the charm- ing creatures would " dance attendance " to the tune
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of many dollars a day, to flirt with some brainless fop ; while papa was still immured in his dingy office, coining his brain into the almighty "needful," for the main- tenance of his fashionable butterfly family at the sea- side.
We found many "tricks" and "traps" and questionable devices here, to lure the unwary into parting with their hard-earned dimes. The Eastern " Yankee " seems unusually prolific of schemes, and is not unfrequently a counterpart of the spider that sought to inveigle the fly. Anything but common, every-day labor for him -it is degrading, in his eyes, and, besides, it makes one tired.
While still sojourning at the Saint Stephen's, we received a kindly invitation from an Israelitish gentle- man, with whom my merchant friend was acquainted, to pay a visit to the Hebrew Orphans' Home on the afternoon of the following day - which was Sunday, June 2Ist -at which time and place he would meet us, and take great pleasure in showing us through the institution, which is located, if my memory serves me, in the vicinity of One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, near the banks of the Hudson river. Accord- ingly, about 2: 00 P. M. the following day, we sought a car on the Elevated road, and soon found ourselves at the portals of this noble charity, cordially greeted by our new-made friend, who introduced us to the physician and other officials of the Home. The build-
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ing is charmingly located and constructed of brick, some four stories in height. It consists of two distinct structures, joined front and rear, having an open court between, one side being occupied by the boys and the other by the girls. No child is received into the institution under five years of age, nor over fourteen. At the latter age homes and places of business are provided for them, with respectable and responsible people, where they may grow up to lives of usefulness and honor. At the present time there are about five hundred boys and two hundred and fifty girls being cared for. The types of the boys were distinctively Jewish, and, having come from the lower orders, very few were good-looking, though many were bright. Of the little girls, a considerable number were really handsome, modest and retiring. On our first entrance to the place we found about two hundred of the older boys being drilled in military tactics. We were subse- quently shown through the school-rooms of both sexes, and found them graded as in our public schools. Some were being taught type-writing, others short-hand, and so on through the various grades, the supreme object being, as far as possible, to prepare them for thie inevitable "battle of life." We were taken through every part of the great building, from top to bottom. Beginning with the laundry, we passed into and through the dining-room, the dormitories, the parlor, reception rooms, library and office rooms, etc., and
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we must say, most emphatically, that a better kept, more tidy or more cleanly place, we never saw ; the management seemed perfect, the children polite, respectful, orderly and happy. Long may the noble institution flourish, to do good ! In one of the lower rooms we saw an exquisite piece of statuary, in Italian marble, recently donated by a friend of the Home, at a cost, to him, of $3,000. It was the creation of a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, now an artist in Italy. The piece, without the pedestal, may be three feet in height, and represents Pharaoh's daughter holding aloft and at arm's length the infant Moses. The figure is nude, and beautiful to a degree rarely conceived or executed.
Having now gone over most the ground contem- plated for the trip, we were not long in preparing for the return homeward. Accordingly, on Monday, June 22d, we wended our way to the Pennsylvania depot, where we secured seats and berths in the palace car "Jouna," of the fast train, No. 21, which leaves New York City at 2: 13 P. M. for the west, and on this swiftly moving car arrived home, in Richmond, the next day, at 10: 30 A. M., having traversed the inter- vening distance of eight hundred miles inside of twenty-one hours- after an absence of thirty days- without any untoward incident or accident, fraught only with pleasing recollections of agreeable experi- ences, happier, wiser and better for the outing.
AUGUST 14, 1896.
PIONEER DEAD
-OF-
CENTRAL, SOUTHERN AND EASTERN WAYNE COUNTY.
" Beneath those rugged elmis, that beech tree's shade, Where heaves the turf, in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell, forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife Their sober wishes never learned to stray; Along the cool, sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
" For them, no more, the blazing hearth shall burn, Or busy housewife ply her evening care; No children run, to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knee, the envied kiss to share."
-
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FIRST SETTLERS,
WHOSE TIME OF COMING IS DEFINITELY KNOWN, BUT WHOSE PLACE OF INTERMENT IS NOT.
The earliest immigrants to this neighborhood were princi- pally from Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio.
RICHMOND
CAME. DIED. AGE.
Richard Rue . B.L.R. E.L. K.HOS.
1805
George Holman
1805
1859
99
Joseph Woodkirk
1805
90
Benjamin Hill .
1806
70
Robert Hill
1806
1850
80
John Smith
1806
1838
82
Ralph Wright
1807
94
John McLane
1810
1838
81
James Pegg
1814
1839
71
Thomas Moore .
1815
1839
93
John Pegg
1813
William Williams
1814
1824
61
John Wright .
1821
1838
76
Jeremiah Cox
1806
1826
75
John Morrow
1808
1825
60
Andrew Hoover
1806
1834
83
Thomas Roberts .
1840
81
Cornelius Ratliff, Sr.
1810
70
John Burgess
·1808
70
Andrew Morrow
1809
1853
90
John Addington .
1806
90
Mrs. Addington (mother of John)
1806
103
Jacob Meek
1806
1842
90
John Hawkins .
1807
75
4
John Townsend"
401
POEMS AND SKETCHES.
CAME. DIED. AGE.
Ephraim Overman .
1807
SO
Thomas McCoy
1805
Joseph Wasson (Revolutionary soldier)
1806
85
Peter Fleming .
1807
75
James Alexander
1807
80
Jacob Foutz .
1806
85
Valentine Pegg
1809
SO
Benjamin Small
1807
80
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