USA > Virginia > City of Lynchburg > City of Lynchburg > Sketches and recollections of Lynchburg > Part 12
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his thoughts almost before their utterance ; but this sacred intercourse was broken up, Death claiming for his own the loving, gentle, intellectual Mary.
Mrs. Richard Cralle, Mrs. Henry Ward, and Mrs. Thomas Friend, were all gifted with superior minds and most kindly dispositions. Paulina, the most beautiful girl of Lynchburg, joined the sacred throng on high, in the month of May, 1835 : the touching beauty of her death-scene, was tenderly recorded by one who stood beside her and has long since joined her in Heaven :
" There is no death-what seems so is transition : This life of mortal breath, Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call Death !"
Of the members of the Cabell family in Lynch- burg, Mrs. WILLIAM LEWIS, of Mount Athos, may properly be mentioned. She was one of the daugh- ters of Joseph Cabell, mentioned in the extract from the speech of Hugh Blair Grigsby, Esq. She was a faithful and affectionate friend, and possessed a warm, generous heart. Her husband belonged to the Lewis family, of Augusta and Monroe, and he was one of the sons of the brave, gallant William Lewis, of Augusta, who so nobly participated in the revolutionary struggles. She survived her worthy husband many years, making her home principally in Kentucky, with her sister, the vene-
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rable Mrs. Breckenridge, who was also a daughter of Joseph Cabell.
Mrs. BRECKENRIDGE was the wife of Attorney General Breckenridge, who received that appoint- ment from General Washington; and, during the lifetime of her husband, she emigrated to Ken- tucky, where her descendants reside. She was the mother of the distinguished Presbyterian ministers of that name, and grand-mother of John C. Breck- enridge, the Vice President of the United States. She was also the mother of Mrs. General Porter, of Black Rock, a lady distinguished throughout the Union for her worth and excellence, as well as for her elegant manners and appearance. Not a great many years since, Mrs. Breckenridge visited her native State, calling on many friends and relatives, and captivating all who met her by her warm- hearted sincerity.
LANDON CABELL, Esq., resided for many years in the vicinity of Lynchburg, in the county of Amherst. He was a grandson of William Cabell, of Warminster, England; and a son of William Cabell, of Union Hill. He made his home, also, in Lynchburg for a period of eighteen months. He was a high-minded, chivalrous man-a true gentle- man of the old school, with impulses most generous
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and feelings most kindly. Of liberal education, he continued through life to derive pleasure from the use of an extensive library. He died in 1834, leaving a widow and three children, of whom Dr. R. H. Cabell, of Richmond, and Mrs. E. Preston, of Missouri, survive. Many little incidents might be recorded to show the generous nature of this excellent man, and the delicacy of feeling which governed all his actions. Residing for some years in the mountains of Nelson county, he was chosen magistrate-an office but little adapted to his kind, sensitive disposition. He, however, discharged its duties with great zeal and faithfulness, and when compelled to render a verdict, or judgment, against a poor man, Mr. Cabell invariably paid the costs for him.
Mrs. PAULINA DANIEL, the second wife of Judge Daniel, was a sister of Dr. George Cabell, and Mrs. George Whitelocke was a daughter of Samuel Cabell, Esq., of Soldier's Joy. She was also a sis- ter of P. H. Cabell, of Lynchburg, well esteemed in the town, and who died in 1838. Mrs. White- locke was a lady of most excellent disposition, and of fine personal appearance ; and her domestic management was the most superior in Lynchburg. She resided in the house owned by Mr. Whitelocke, just below the house of the Rev. W. S. Reid. In
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1827 this excellent lady departed this life, leaving only one daughter, Mrs. Dr. Bohannan, of Rich- mond.
Mrs. EMELINE SCRUGGS, so well beloved in Lynch- burg, is the youngest daughter of Colonel Samuel J. Cabell, of Soldier's Joy. This lady is the widow of B. E. Scruggs, Esq., a well known and esteemed citizen of Lynchburg, who died in the winter of 1856, and whose remains repose in the Presby- terian graveyard.
Nor can this chapter be closed without a brief tribute to the memory of Mrs. John Morriss, of Lynchburg. She was the oldest daughter of Dr. Samuel J. Cabell, of Bedford. Her lovely, amia- ble disposition, and bright, beautiful face, are indelibly impressed on memory; and, whilst we deplore her mournful, untimely death, which took place ere the bridal wreath had withered on her fair brow, we yet feel every assurance that she now rejoices in Paradise, crowned with never-fading flowers. Her remains repose in the extreme corner of the Presbyterian graveyard, where a most elegant, simple and appropriate monument marks the spot.
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THE WINSTON FAMILY.
" He kept a brave old mansion, At a bountiful old rate, With a good old porter to relieve The old poor at his gate. Like a fine old English gentleman, All of the olden time."
With the name of Cabell is intimately associated that of Winston, not only from their occupying the same position in society, but from the circumstance of two of the sons of Colonel John Cabell, of Buckingham, marrying daughters of Judge Ed- mund Winston, of Chesnut Hill, Campbell county. Dr. George Cabell was united in marriage to Sarah Winston, and some few years later, Frederick Ca- bell, Sr., of Nelson, became the husband of Alice, the second daughter.
Judge EDMUND WINSTON was a native of Hano- ver county, and when a young man he chose for his wife Alice Winston, his first cousin. Settling in the latter part of the last century near Lynchburg, his abode was the seat of that genuine old Virginia
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hospitality, which, in this age of steam and tele- graph, is so fast departing from our midst. Of the high talents and legal abilities of this eminent ju- rist, it is not here the intention to make a record, but only to recall a few incidents connected with this family, alike distinguished for moral worth and high mental attainments. Sarah, the accomplished and excellent wife of Dr. George Cabell, has al- ready been mentioned. ALICE, the second daughter, was a very superior woman, her mind being of a fine order, and in the highest degree cultivated ; and it is related that the late Joseph C. Cabell, on his return from a European tour, where he had access to the most brilliant and enlightened circles of the old country, was heard to say that he in Europe had seen few ladies equal to Alice Winston, and none superior.
On becoming the wife of Frederick Cabell, Sr., and leaving the paternal roof, this lady entered on a life entirely new to her, in a county at that time thinly settled, and the inhabitants primitive in their habits ; yet she found herself perfectly at home amid those simple scenes, carrying on with zeal and energy the manufacture of domestic fabrics, con- tinuing to improve her mind, and in after years assisting in the education of her children, from whom she was taken suddenly in 1814, whilst the greater part of them were in infancy.
The members of the Winston family are all dis-
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tinguished for that calm self-possession and dignified composure, which would cause any one of them to be at perfect ease in the presence even of a crowned monarch. One of the younger daughters married Mr. Moseley, of Bedford, and this excellent woman resided for many years in the vicinity of Liberty, where she led a most useful, happy life, and where many of her descendants still live, cherishing the memory of her virtues as a sacred legacy. MARY, the youngest daughter, married Colonel John Johns, of Buckingham, and dying five years since, she was interred at Chesnut Hill, their former residence. GEORGE WINSTON, the oldest son, married a daugh- ter of Patrick Henry. Emigrating some years since to Alabama, his descendants reside in that State, one of his sons being at present Governor of Alabama. Of this large family, EDMUND WIN- STON, Esq., of Amherst, alone survives. Well known and beloved throughout a large circle of friends, who have partaken of his noble hospitality, this excellent man is now calmly passing the eve- ning of his days, patiently waiting the time when his broken household shall be happily re-united in a heavenly home. More than half a century since, Mr. Winston married Caroline, the daughter of Colonel John Wiatt, and who still survives; and this venerable couple have lived to witness many changes.
Numberless anecdotes are related of Judge Win-
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ston, all tending to show that high-minded, chival- rous disposition which so adorned the Cavalier gen- tlemen of the Old Dominion. During the violence of the French Revolution, a family of French refu- gees accidentally made Chesnut Hill their tempo- rary home. They were perfect strangers to Judge Winston, and the hospitality tendered to them was such as a Christian would, in its broadest sense, ex- ercise, without any interested motives whatever. They proved to be persons of great elegance and refinement, and Madame Laporte and her daughters enlivened much the social circle of Chesnut Hill; and though so recently from a scene of blood and carnage, yet, with all the buoyancy and versatility of the French nation, they related anecdotes of the Tuilleries, Versailles, and many incidents connected with the gifted, but ill-fated Madame Roland, and the lovely, unfortunate Marie Antoinette. After a short time, Judge Winston established these ladies on a plantation owned by himself, in the neighbor- hood of New London, and from that place they often visited Chesnut Hill, exhibiting all those cour- tesies in which the French nation so excel all others. On the death of an aged relative of the Winston family, Madame Laporte and her daugh- ters came down on a formal visit of condolence, and very soon after, a large chest was by them packed with brocades, French fans, slippers, laces, silks, &c., and sent to the Misses Winston. The contents,
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being viewed with great delight by the young ladies, a distribution was about being made, when their father, entering the room, caused a stop to be put to these proceedings, by having the chest nailed up again and returned, with many polite messages to the French ladies, deeming that it was not right to accept such favors in the position which he occupied to them. A part of Madame Laporte's fortune hav- ing been rescued and remitted to her, these ladies, leaving the upper country, selected for themselves a home in the neighborhood of Petersburg. Vic- toire, the oldest daughter, married a Virginian by the name of Campbell, and settled in the town of Petersburg. Many years after this time, Judge Winston was attending one of his courts in that town. He had gone thither in his carriage, and whilst there, one of his horses having died, the Judge was much troubled about returning home, for in those days there were no public conveyances. Delighted to have an opportunity of repaying her many obligations to Judge Winston, Mrs. Campbell had insisted on his making her house his home during his stay in Petersburg, and the death of his carriage horse was, to this lively French woman, a positive pleasure, as it afforded her the great grati- fication of lending him one of her carriage horses, and sending with him a servant man to bring the horse home. By a singular coincidence, the oldest son of Mrs. Campbell, many years after this time,
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accidentally met with Mary Moseley, a granddaugh- ter of Judge Winston, and being mutually pleased, the acquaintance led to a marriage between them. Mr. Campbell was a well known and esteemed min- ister of the Presbyterian Church. They resided for some years in Bedford county, but removing to the West, both himself and his lovely wife there died, leaving several orphan children. An inci- dent, touching from its simplicity, will be recorded of these sisters of the Winston family. Like the five sisters of York,* these four daughters of Judge Winston together wrought with diligent hands a large piece of embroidery, each one laying off her appointed portion, and anticipating the time when the survivors would tenderly and mournfully gaze on the record which would recall so much of joy and sorrow. It was kept in the family, and often brought forth by these sisters, when they met, till the last remaining sister would contemplate it, and by her this piece of embroidery was a map or chart of memory, every bud and flower bringing before her the past, and vividly recalling the times of hope and youth, when these four sisters encircled the family hearth, gladdening with innocent mirth their happy home.
* Incident of the five sisters of York, related in Nicholas Nickleby.
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Colonel JOHN WIATT, for many years a valued and beloved citizen of Lynchburg, was a native of the lower country. He was a most gallant gentle- man, combining all the courtesy of the old Cavalier of Virginia, with feelings the most ardent, generous and affectionate. When a young man he married Wilhelmina Jordan, a sister of Mrs. William Cabell, of Union Hill, and Mrs. John Cabell, of Bucking- ham. Colonel Wiatt served with bravery in the Revolutionary war, and was present at the battle of Guilford Court-house ; but shortly after the ter- mination of the war, he came to reside on his plan- tation in the county of Amherst, and a few years later he removed to Lynchburg, where, to the day of his death, he continued a useful and revered resident.
Mrs. MINA WIATT was a lady of great beauty and vivacity, possessing a fund of wit, refined by good humor, and such an acquaintance with human nature as enabled her in a short time, with ready tact, to form a just estimate of all with whom she came in contact. She was, in old age, very lovely and graceful, and her appearance as a young bride was thus described by a lady* who met her at her
* Mrs. Anne Cabell, at that time Miss Carrington, and after- wards Mrs. Wm. Cabell, of Union Hill.
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bridal party at Union Hill : "Mrs. Wiatt was a blooming, beautiful woman, with brilliant black eyes and a profusion of dark hair. She was hab- ited in pink brocade trimmed with silver, with a double skirt of the same; her hair was dressed with pink and silver, and done up in cushions; and her sparkling jewelry set off her elegant appearance, when slowly going through the dignified, graceful movements of the minuet."
Colonel Wiatt and his excellent wife, doubtless, in a great measure led and directed the taste of the infant town of Lynchburg, of which they were the earliest settlers. Of cultivated minds and of great skill in horticulture and gardening, and perfect adepts in every sort of domestic manufacture, Col. and Mrs. Wiatt, by their wise and prudent counsels, greatly assisted housekeepers younger than them- selves.
They had been reared under the usages and ob- servances of the Church of England; but after the Revolutionary war, that denomination becoming nearly extinct, they worshiped with great liberality in other churches, and from the establishment of the first Presbyterian Church of Lynchburg, they regu- larly attended there and communed. Col. Wiatt being deaf, was accommodated with an elevated seat, nearly on a line with the pulpit; and those accustomed in their childhood to see there his vene-
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rable form, in wrapt attention, feel, on entering that old church, something wanting, when they gaze on the vacant spot where sat Colonel John Wiatt.
This excellent couple lived to great age, Mrs. Wiatt surviving for some years her husband, who died in 1827. Of this large. family alone survive Mrs. Caroline Winston, of Amherst, and Colonel Samuel Wiatt, both of whom are well known and appreciated in our community. Captain Wiatt is a worthy, high-minded gentleman, possessing a warm, affectionate heart, joined to wit of a high order, which, together with a fine memory and habits of great observation, render his experience of life truly amusing and interesting, and such as would make him an invaluable aid to Dickens and Thack- eray.
Captain Wiatt was first married to Mary, a daughter of Benjamin Brown, Esq., of Amherst. She was a lady of great personal beauty, and her mind equally lovely. She died in the summer of 1825, at the residence of Edmund Winston, Esq., of Amherst. A few years later, Captain Wiatt was united to Miss S. Brown, of Lynchburg, a daughter of our good citizen, Matthew Brown, Esq. This lady, for moral worth and mental superiority, was unrivalled in her native town. Studious and diligent from early childhood, to her husband's house she carried these dispositions, which, together with her
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energy and industry, made her a rare combination of all that was excellent in woman. She died in 1842, and her death scene will never be forgotten by her friends, whose faith was thereby strength- ened in the power of religion to make bright the dark valley of the shadow of Death.
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THE NORVELL FAMILY.
"The world is filled with the voices of the dead. Sweet and solemn voices are they, speaking with un- earthly authority ; coming back to us in the messages of angels."
INFLUENCE.
Captain WILLIAM NORVELL, Sr. resided for many years in the large mansion-house, at present occu- pied by John M. Otey, Esq. . Previously to the time of his coming to Lynchburg, Captain Norvell resided in the county of Amherst, where he mar- ried Anne, the second daughter of Colonel John Wiatt. Captain Norvell was an excellent, high- minded gentleman, possessing great energy and industry. Accumulating a large fortune, and ably for many years filling the office of President of the Bank of Virginia, he died long before attaining old age, leaving a numerous young family, the care of whom devolved on his widow, Mrs. ANNE NOR- VELL. This lady was a very lovely and remarka- ble woman, inheriting much of the grace and per- sonal beauty of her mother, Mrs. Mina Wiatt, together with that elasticity of disposition and
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buoyancy of character, which contributed towards forming one of the finest characters with which Lynchburg has ever been adorned.
Remarkably cheerful and even gay in carly life, as soon as Mrs. Norvell became religious, she gave up all worldly pleasures ; joyful in the Lord, she ever found His service a pleasant one, and into her religion were infused the buoyancy and hopefulness of her disposition, causing her in her daily walk to show forth the beauty of holiness, thereby proving to the worldling, that
" Religion never was designed, To make our pleasures less."
Thus did Mrs. Norvell live, in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. An active member of the Dorcas So- ciety, a zealous member of the Methodist Church, dispensing aid to the suffering and relief to the sick, encouraging and stimulating her minister by her active performance of duties, and wisely govern- ing and guiding her own household, so that when " at midnight the cry was heard that the Bride- groom cometh," she arose like the wise virgins, and went forth to meet him.
" Rise, saith the Master, come unto the feast ; She heard the call and came with willing feet; But thinking it not otherwise than meet For such a bidding to put on her best,
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She is gone, as for a few short hours, Into her bridal closet, there to await For the unfolding of the palace gate, That gives her entrance to the blissful bowers. We have not seen her yet, though we have been Full often to her chamber door, and oft Have listened underneath the porter's gate, And laid fresh flowers, and whispered short and soft ; But she hath made no answer, and the day From the clear West is fading fast away."
ALFORD.
Many of the members of this interesting family survive. Captain William Norvell, of Lynchburg, Mrs. John M. Otey, and Mrs. John Warwick, also, of that place, and well known and esteemed in this section of country ; Mrs. Daniel Warwick, of Bal- timore, Mrs. Maria Waller, and Fayette Norvell, Esq., of Shelbyville, Ky., and Samuel G. Norvell, Esq., of Cincinnati. The first distinct recollection of this family commences only a few weeks previous to the death of Mrs. Emeline Trent, second daugh- ter of Captain William Norvell. This lovely lady was, whilst very young, married to Dr. Trent, of Cumberland, and in less than two years she was the bride, the widow, the childless mother and the lifeless corpse. Her happiness thus in the very day-spring of life crushed and withered by accu- mulated sorrows, she yet, with all the fortitude of a strong mind and a gentle heart, endeavored to rally and cast aside somewhat the heavy weight of
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woe which had so overshadowed her youth. After preparing for a visit to the relatives of her husband in Cumberland, she came to make a parting visit at the house now occupied by Henry Dunnington, Esq. With what warm, childish admiration was her fair face gazed on, her golden hair so beautifully con- trasted with her deep mourning habit. As she sat by the window, the sunbeams danced around her, playing in her bright tresses, thus throwing around her a halo, and giving to her face that angelic ex- pression it was so soon destined to wear in Heaven.
In a brief time after her departure were the tidings of her death received, and the day on which her lovely remains were brought to Lynchburg will ever, by her family and friends, be remembered with tender and mournful interest ; for a two-fold sorrow might now be said to attend the house of Captain William Norvell. Several years previous, Martha Ann, the eldest daughter, had married Chiswell Dabney, Esq., and ere two years had elapsed of her happy married life, the young wife was sud- denly called hence, just as she had for a few weeks only rejoiced in the sweet dream of her mother- hood. Tenderly had she been laid to rest in the garden of her parents, where her grave served con- stantly to remind them of their irreparable loss. But on the death of Mrs. Trent, Mrs. Martha Dab- ney was disinterred, and these two lovely sisters were together borne a few miles from the town to
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the plantation of Captain William Norvell, which, from that period, became the burial place of the Norvell family.
We cannot close without a brief tribute to the memory of JOHN E. NORVELL, second son of Cap- tain William Norvell. He was born in the town of Lynchburg, and principally educated in that place, where he was greatly beloved. Elegant in person and manners, and gifted with feelings the most amiable and honorable, John E. Norvell will ever be remembered with affection and admiration by those with whom he was associated in his native place. Possessing exquisite talents for music, from this art he derived no selfish gratification, frequently making a sacrifice of his own ease and convenience in order to administer to the pleasure and cheerful- ness of others. A D'Orsay in polished elegance, without the heartlessness of fashion; and in the perfect taste of his attire-a Brummel, devoid of the cringing servility of that "master of the Prince Regent," John Norvell will ever live in the remem- brance of his friends, and will be cherished as a bright, sunny spot in the memory of bygone days !
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THE WARWICK FAMILY.
MAJOR WILLIAM WARWICK.
Major WILLIAM WARWICK, for many years the revered and excellent visitor of our town, was a native of the county of Buckingham,* where was passed his boyhood. Settling whilst a young man in the county of Amherst, and occupying the sta- tion of a prominent bank officer, Major Warwick may be justly claimed by our town as a citizen, par- ticularly as through life he was a constant wor- shiper in the churches of Lynchburg. Major Warwick was a gentleman of the most honorable feelings. His integrity and uprightness were so conspicuous, and so unswerving was he in the pro- secution of what he deemed the right, that many were heard to say that these qualities invested him with a moral sublimity.
* Buckingham or Nelson, the writer is not certainly informed.
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Major Warwick was thrice married, and the chil- dren of all these marriages are good and prosper- ous. May not this be traced, in a great measure, to the immediate hand of Providence, who has pro- mised that the children of the righteous are blessed to the third and fourth generation. The family of Warwick are all long-lived, the venerable mother of Major Warwick attaining the age of 102, and dying in the county of Nelson a few years since. The traits of filial piety have, in this family, been con- spicuous from generation to generation, and we now witness a fulfillment of the promise to those who honor parents, " that it may be well with thee, and and that thou mayest live long in the earth." This excellent man died some years since, at an ad- vanced age, leaving to his descendants a sacred legacy in a name untarnished, and connected only with "such things as are pure, lovely, and of good report."
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