USA > Virginia > Prince Edward County > Prince Edward County > A history of Prince Edward County, Virginia: from its formation in 1753, to the present > Part 19
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In 1871 he bought the Fauquier Institute, a good board- ing school for girls, at Warrenton. Here he remained until 1882, when, under the urging of Dr. J. L. M. Curry, he ac- cepted the Presidency of Judson Institute, at Marion, where he remained five years, and had a phenomenal success. Over- work at Marion, broke his health, so that he had to devote three years thereafter to recuperation.
In 1891 he was called to the Industrial Institute and College of Mississippi, at Columbus, to serve as its President. Here he remained for seven sessions, and made the school the pride of the State.
He came to Farmville with a mind richly stored with knowledge, a broad vision of life, and a varied and extensive experience in schools of many types. His four years' work in Farmville was characterized by the same zeal and earnest- ness that he had displayed in other places. He was extremely conscientious in his convictions of duty.
When Dr. Frazer resigned the Presidency of the State Normal School in 1902 in order to enter upon the duties of Feld Agent of the Southern Educational Board, he left be- hind him many grateful memories of a courteous, cultured, sympathetic, Christian gentleman of earnest purpose and un- bending principle, staunchly loyal to his lofty ideals of duty.
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PATRICK HENRY.
After his final incumbency of the Governorship of the State (1784), the celebrated Patrick Henry made his resi- dence for a time in Prince Edward County, dwelling upon the banks of the Appomattox from the latter part of 1786. until 1794.
Entries in the Registry Office at Farmville on page 187, book 9, under date of, October 13, 1792, show that he, on that day, conveyed to Augustus Watson of Nottoway, and holding of 936 acres, on the Appomattox River, for 936 pounds "cur- rent money of Virginia." The property was described as follows: "Beginning at Tarlton Woodson's line on the Sandy Ford road, thence along his line, north seven and one-half de- grees west two hundred and twenty poles to pointers. Thence north, eighty-one degrees east twenty poles on Venable's line, to a branch. Thence down the said branch as it meanders to Appomattox river. Thence down the said river one hundred and fourteen poles, to a corner on the banks of the said river. Thence south five degrees, west one hundred and fifty poles to pointers. Thence south twenty-four degrees east eighteen poles, to a poplar fell down. Thence south sixty-four and a half degrees east three hundred and fifty poles to pointers. hence south sixty-three degrees west one hundred and twenty- four poles, to a white oak. Thence thirty-three degrees west, to the road. Thence up the said road as it meanders, to the beginning, with all houses, woods and under woods, ways, waterance, water courses, etc."
Signed, Patrick Henry, Dorothea Henry, (his wife)
And witnessed by: Tarlton Woodson, John Miller, Woodson Allen, John Watson.
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A second deed to the same property, by the same persons, is recorded in book 9, on page 327, as being given shortly after the first one.
In connection with the same transaction, a commission to privately examine Dorothea Patrick, who was then at Char- lotte Court House, was appointed, as recorded in book 10, on page 442, in the same registry office.
A further instrument, constituting "James Fontain, of Kentucky" his attorney, to close a certain estate, is recorded in the same registry office, in book 8, page 212, in 1790.
The exact location of the house in which Henry lived in Prince Edward county has been a matter of considerable dispute, but, after exhaustive research, Mr. Roy Mathewson, realtor, of Farmville, writes as follows: "Mr. Henry's first purchase of land in Prince Edward was twenty acres, con- veyed to him by his friend Venable, who was known as Abraham Venable, T., and T distinguishing him from several others of the same name. The recorded deed does not so state, but, by a comparison of the metes and bounds of the 20 acres first conveyed, with other descriptions, it is probable that the house in which Patrick Henry lived was built by the father of Abraham Venable T, who was also Abraham Venable, but known as Abraham of Prince Edward. The house in which Mr. Henry lived was burned in the seventies. There are a few people living today who have seen it. Their descriptions agree that it was a large two story frame dwelling with a high brick basement. A two story portico running along half of the front, was supported by high columns. There was a double row of large locust trees from the house to the road, a dis- tance of several hundred feet, and the usual office building at the road end of the row of locusts. * *
Its location is near the Farmville-Lynchburg Highway, about five miles west of Farmville and about half a mile north of
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Appomattox Church. It is also about four miles from Hampden-Sidney.
The farm was known as "Cliffside," but that name seems to have gone out of use about fifty years ago and does not serve to identify the property now."
The above description means that the place was about one mile N. W. from the present Tuggles station on the Norfolk and Western R. R. The present owner is L. H. Williamson.
Patrick Henry was, soon after taking up his residence in the county, elected as one of its delegates in the Assembly, where he reassumed his old position as leader. He con- tinued to serve in every session of the Assembly until the end of 1790, at which time, because of increasing physical disability, he finally withdrew from all further official con- nection with public life. He however, continued to practice law within the county.
Writing concerning him in connection with this law work, Dr. Archibald Alexander, then of Hampden-Sidney College, says :
"In executing a mission from the Synod of Virginia, in the year 1794, I had to pass through the County of Prince Edward, where Mr. Henry then resided. Understanding that he was to appear before the Circuit Court, which met in that county, in defense of three men charged with murder, I determined to seize the opportunity of observing for myself the eloquence of this extraordinary orator. It was with some difficulty that I obtained a seat in front of the bar, where I could have a full view of the speaker, as well as hear him distinctly. But I had to submit to a severe penance in grati- fying my curiosity ; for the whole day was occupied with the examination of witnesses, in which Mr. Henry was aided by two other lawyers. In person, Mr. Henry was lean rather
.
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than fleshy. He was rather above than below the common height, but had a stoop to his shoulders which prevented him from appearing as tall as he really was. In moments of ani- mation, he had the habit of straightening his frame, and adding to his apparent stature. He wore a brown wig, which exhibited no indication of any great care in the dressing. Over his shoulders he wore a brown camlet cloak. Under this his clothing was black, something the worse for wear. The expression of his countenance was that of solemnity and deep earnestness. His mind appeared to be always absorbed in what, for the time, occupied his attention. His forehead was high and spacious, and the skin of his face more than usually wrinkled for a man of fifty. His eyes were small and deeply set in his head, but were of a bright blue color, and twinkled much in their sockets. In short, Mr. Henry's appearance has nothing very remarkable, as he sat at rest. You might readily have taken him for a common planter, who cared very little for his personal appearance. In his manners, he was uniformly respectful and courteous. Candles were brought into the Court House, when the examination of the witnesses closed; and the Judges put it to the option of the bar whether they would go on with the argument that night or adjourn until the next day. Paul Carrington, Jun- ior, the attorney for the State, a man of large size, and un- common dignity of person and manner, and also an accom- plished lawyer, professed his willingness to proceed imme- diately, while the testimony was fresh in the minds of all. Now for the first time I heard Mr. Henry make anything of a speech; and, though it was short, it satisfied me of one thing, which I had particularly desired to have decided : namely, whether like a player he merely assumed the ap- pearance of feeling. His manner of addressing the Court was profoundly respectful. He would be willing to proceed with the trial, "but," said he, "my heart is so oppressed with the weight of responsibility which rests upon me, having the
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lives of three fellow-citizens depending, probably, on the exertions which I may be able to make in their behalf (here he turned to prisoners behind him), that I do not feel able to proceed tonight. I hope the Court will indulge me, and . postpone the trial till the morning." The impression made by these few words was such as I assure myself no one can ever conceive by seeing then in print. In the countenance, action, and intonation of the speaker, there was expressed such an intensity of feeling, that all my doubts were dispelled; never again did I question whether Henry felt, or only acted, a feeling. Indeed I experienced an instantaneous sym- pathy with him in the emotions which he expressed; and I have no doubt that the same sympathy was felt by every hearer. As a matter of course, the proceedings were deferred till the next morning. I was early at my post; the Judges were soon on the bench, and the prisoners at the bar. Mr. Carrington-opened with a clear and dignified speech, and presented the evidence to the jury. Everything seemed per- fectly plain. Two brothers and a brother-in-law met two other persons in pursuit of a slave, supposed to be harbored by the brothers. After some altercation and mutual abuse, one of the brothers, whose name was John Ford, raised a loaded gun which he was carrying, and presenting it at the breast of one of the other pair, shot him dead, in open day. There was no doubt about the fact. Indeed, it was not denied. There had been no other provocation than oppro- brious words. It is presumed that the opinion of every juror was made up from merely hearing the testimony, as Tom Harvey, the principal witness, who was acting as constable on the occasion, appeared to be a respectable man.
"For a clearer understanding of what follows, it must be observed that the said constable, in order to distinguish him from another of the same name, was commonly called Butter- wood Harvey, as he lived on Butterwood Creek. Mr. Henry, it is believed, understanding that the people were on their
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guard against his faculty of moving the passions and through them influencing the judgment, did not resort to the pathetic as much as was his practice in criminal cases. His main ob- ject appeared to be, throughout, to cast discredit on the testi- mony of Tom Harvey. This he attempted by causing the law respecting riots to be read by one of his assistants. It appeared in evidence that Tom Harvey had taken upon him to act as constable, without being in commission; and that, with a posse of men, he had entered the house of one of the Ford's in search of the negro, and had put Mrs. Ford, in her husband's absence, into a great terror, while she was in a very delicate condition, near the time of her confinement. As he descanted on the evidence, he would often turn to Tom Harvey-a large, bold-looking man-and with the most sar- castic look, would call him by some name of contempt; "this Butterwood Tom Harvey," "this would-be constable," etc. By such expressions, his contempt for the man was communicated to the hearers. I own I felt it gaining on me, in spite of my better judgment; so that before he was done, the impression was strong on my mind that Butterwood Harvey was unde- serving of the smallest credit. This impression, however, I found I could counteract the moment I had time for reflec- tion. The only part of the speech in which he manifested his power of touching the feelings strongly, was where he dwelt on the eruption of the company into Ford's house, in cir- cumstances so perilous to the solitary wife. This appeal to the sensibility of husbands-and he knew all the jury stood in this relation-was overwhelming. If the verdict could have been rendered immediately after this burst of the pa- thetic, every man, at least every husband, in the house, would have been for rejecting Harvey's testimony, if not for hang- ing him forthwith."-J. W. Alexander, "Life of Archibald Alexander," 183-187.
In the year 1794, being then fifty-eight years of age, and possessing a reasonable competence, Patrick Henry de-
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cided to withdraw from his profession and resolved to spend his remaining days in retirement. He therefore, removed from Prince Edward county, to Long Island in Campbell county, and there, in 1795, he finally established himself on an estate in the County of Charlotte, called Red Hill, where he continued to reside for the rest of his life; which gave him his burial place; and which remains in the possession of his descendants. This considerable description of his residence within the county of Prince Edward is given because the people of the county are naturally proud of the fact that they were honored by the residence amongst them of so great and so good a man. He was born at Studley, in the county of Hanover on May 29, 1736, and died at Red Hill in the county of Charlotte on June 6, 1799.
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GENERAL JOSEPH EGGLESTON JOHNSTON.
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was the eighth son of Peter Johnston and Mary Wood, who was the daughter of Colonel Valentine Wood, of Goochland County, whose wife was Lucy Henry, sister to Patrick Henry. He was born at Cherry Grove, Prince Edward county, February 3, 1807. He was named after Joseph Eggleston, a military associate of his father, and the Captain of the company of Lee's Legion of which his father, Peter Johnston, was Lieutenant.
In 1811, Peter Johnston, with his family, removed to a place which he named "Panecillo," on the edge of Abingdon. This removal was consequent upon Johnston's appointment as a judge of the General Court of Virginia.
His education was begun by his parents, both of whom were distinctly competent to give it. This was the custom in those days, amongst the "gentry." This work was carried on by the parents until the lad was old enough to enter the Academy at Abingdon; a fairly good classical school. Young Johnston was a good student, and made the most of the op- portunities afforded him, both at home and at school. He ever maintained a fondness for the classics. Homer was his favorite.
In 1825, when he was eighteen, he secured, through the influence of James Barbour, United States Senator from Vir- ginia, and Secretary of War under President John Q. Adams, the appointment to the Military Academy at West Point as a cadet. He thus obtained an entrance into the field of his cherished ambition, for he had long desired to be a soldier. He was descended from a long line of Scottish Clansmen.
In the above year, having successfully passed the neces- sary examinations, Joseph E. Johnston was admitted as a cadet at West Point. He was one of the one hundred and
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five who were so fortunate as to enter in that year. Robert E. Lee, slightly older than himself, and the son of the com- mander of Peter Johnston, young Joseph's father, in the War of the Revolution, was one of his fellow students. Their tastes and habits being of the same character, they soon be- came fast friends, which friendship continued throughout their lives. Seven other young Virginians were fellow stu- dents of the two friends, all of whom dropped out, leaving young Johnston and Lee to pursue their studies together as the sole representatives of their beloved State. They gradu- ated together, the only remaining representatives of the Old Dominion, in 1829, Lee standing second to Charles Mason, of New York, in the class of forty-six. Johnston, hindered in his studies by a serious affection of the eyes that precluded his studying at night, stood thirteen.
Young Johnston's first military service was as second Lieutenant in the Fourth Artillery; the next, in garrison at New York; which was followed by similar duty at Fortress Monroe. This period extended from 1829 to 1832, when his actual active campaigning began in the Black Hawk expedi- tion of 1832, under General Scott.
In so brief a sketch as this must of necessity be, it is manifestly impossible to follow, in any detail, the stirring military career of this favorite son of old Prince Edward county, and no effort will be made to do so.
On July 10, 1845, when he was 38 years of age, John- ston, having attained the brevet rank of Captain, was mar- ried to Miss Lydia McLane, a young woman of remarkable beauty, and great personal accomplishments. The family to which Mrs. Johnston belonged is one greatly distinguished in the annals of Delaware and Maryland. The union was a singularly happy one, and the fact of the absence of off- spring seemed but to draw them the closer together.
During the progress of his military career it was the
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misfortune of General Johnston, that a serious estrangement subsisted between himself and President Jefferson Davis, of the Confederate States, which caused him to be often super- seded, so that he was ever preparing campaigns from which others reaped much of the glory and most of the reward. He possessed a singular ability to subordinate himself for the good of his beloved Southland, and a patience that finally reaped its just reward in the esteem of his contemporaries, so that, scarcely second to the immortal Lee, he is entrenched in the affectionate regard of the peoples of the South, and respected by the erstwhile enemies of his people, as one of the great Generals of all time.
At the conclusion of the hostilities, that marked the de- feat of the South in the War between the States, General Johnston took service with a railroad, and later with an ex- press company. Later still he engaged in the insurance busi- ness in Savannah, where he remained for nearly a decade.
In 1877 he returned to his native State, taking up his residence in Richmond. In 1878 he received the nomination of the Democratic party and was triumphantly elected to Congress where he served for one term as a member of the House of Representatives. He seldom spoke in the House, but was an honored and influential member throughout his term, at the close of which he was appointed as Commissioner of Railroads under President Grover Cleveland, retaining his residence in Washington.
On February 22, 1887, his beloved wife died at their residence in Washington. This was a crushing blow, so that he could never afterward trust himself to speak her name, and his house remained from the time of her death exactly as she had left it. A union of singular happiness was thus brought to a pathetic close. Mrs. Johnston had, for a long time, been a martyr to suffering, during which her husband's attentions were as unremitting as those of a youth- ful lover.
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From the time of the death of Mrs. Johnston, the old General gradually became weaker, though he still maintained his upright posture and steady gait. On the night of March 21, 1891, he peacefully passed away at his residence, 1023 Connecticut Avenue, in the city of Washington. The imme- diate cause of his death was heart failure. He was in his eighty-fourth year when he died. He was buried in the Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore, beside the wife he loved so dearly.
Nothing marks his resting place save the simple inscrip- tion, selected by himself :
JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Son of Judge Peter & Mary Johnston of Va., Born at Longwood, Prince Edward C., Va., February 3, 1807. Died March 21, 1891. Brigadier General, U. S. A. General, C. S. A.
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DR. JOHN PETER METTAUER. Born 1787, Died 1875.
The father of John Peter Mattauer, was a surgeon, who, with a brother, followed the fortunes of Lafayette. After the battle of Yorktown, the French army was quartered at various points in Virginia. With one regiment, sent to Prince Edward county, were the two brother surgeons. Francis Joseph Mettauer, one of these brothers, obtained permission to remain in Prince Edward county, rather than return to France. Later on he married Eliza Gaulding and to them was born in 1787, John Peter Mettauer.
Comparatively little is known of his early childhood or of his youth, save that he was raised in an atmosphere of surgery. He very early imbibed a love for surgery and re- solved to make that work his profession.
The embryo surgeon was sent to the neighboring college of Hampden-Sidney for his literary training; from which institution he graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1806. He then went to the University of Pennsylvania for the study of medicine and graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1809. Young Mettauer was exceedingly fortunate in select- ing this University, for medical work was then being con- ducted under the most favorable auspices at Pennsylvania. The ablest instructors then obtainable were on the staff of that institution. He also was so fortunate as to enjoy a very extended practice in the Philadelphia Dispensary during his stay in that city.
Returning to Prince Edward county, the young doctor at once entered upon the practice of general medicine. Soon, however, his preference for surgery and his marvelous skill in that branch of his work, attracted wide attention and pa- tients from great distances began to seek him out. From all parts of the United States they came, some even from abroad. Into Prince Edward Court House (Worsham), a
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representative village of "ye olde time," came pouring an ever increasing stream of the sick and the ailing, in quest of the skillful aid of the young surgeon. These were suffi- cient, with their varied retinue of personal attendants, to tax to the utmost the modest accommodations afforded by the private hospital operated by Dr. Mettauer, and by the two houses of entertainment at Kingsville and Worsham, referred to in the terms of that day, as commodious "taverns."
In 1837 Dr. Mettauer organized his Medical Institute, which later on, became a part of Randolph-Macon . College. Most of these young students were from points in Virginia and numbered amongst them, many who in later life attained eminence in the practice of medicine. This Institute was kept up until 1848, when it became the Medical Department of Randolph-Macon College, located in Mechlenburg county.
Dr. Mettauer was a voluminous writer, though many of his most valuable works were never published. He was a daring inventor of surgical instruments, making many of them at old Peter Porter's shop in Farmville with his own hands.
He was a man of striking appearance, being tall, well- formed, and robust. Unlike most of the young physicians of those days who rode horseback in making their rounds, young Mettauer used a carriage for that purpose. His most striking pecularity was his insistence on wearing a prepos- terously tall "stove pipe" hat, upon any and every occasion. He never attended services in the churches, doubtless be- cause that would necessitate the removal of his head-gear. He even objected to removing his hat when testifying in a case in court. He even left instructions that he was to be buried with his hat on, with the result that it required a spe- cial coffin of a trifle over eight feet long to contain his re- mains with this favorite article of head-dress and the con- siderable number of special instruments and the large parcel
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of letters from his first wife, which, by his special direction, were buried with him. He even wore this hat at meals it is said !
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Piercing black eyes, were over-shadowed by an heavy over-hanging brow, above which rose a high and most intel- lectually shaped forehead.
Eccentric in action and commanding in appearance he was a marked man in any assemblage.
His passion for his home county of Prince Edward amounted to almost an obsession. He tried a brief settle- ment at Norfolk and engaged as professor of surgery at Baltimore, in Washington University, but the pull of "home" soon had him back in Prince Edward county where he stayed until he died.
In November of 1875, being then eighty-eight years of age, Dr. Mettauer was called to attend a case of morphine poisoning. A short walk through wet snow made his feet wet. As a result he developed a deep cold, which soon re- solved itself into pneumonia, from which, in two days, he died. Alert and erect, he laid down his work while still in the harness. A most useful life was thus crowned with an heroic death. Close to the scenes of his useful endeavors for his fellows he lies buried, a strong, unselfish soul, tak- ing a well-earned repose. Prince Edward county is justly proud of her surgeon son.
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