USA > Virginia > City of Lynchburg > City of Lynchburg > Sketches and recollections of Lynchburg > Part 3
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acquittal, as well as of the incarceration of the ill- fated Blænnerhasset, are too well known to render any detail here of these events at all desirable.
Continuing for several years a magistrate, Mr. Anthony's friends perceived in him such talents for the bar, that they began to persuade him to study for that profession. The late Wm. Pope, and the numerous members of the talented families of Pleas- ants and Bates, were amongst his warmest friends, and his own inclinations prompting him to follow their advice, he accordingly, at the age of thirty, commenced his legal studies : obtaining in a brief period a license to practice law, he removed to Lynchburg, where at once he rose in his profession, his practice soon becoming so large that he could attend to it but with difficulty. Placed thus for a period of eight or nine years in opulent circum- stances, Mr. Anthony considered himself a wealthy man; but about the year 1819, a sudden reverse plunging him into poverty, it was at this time that the cheerful hopefulness of his disposition shone brightly ; for over this stormy sea serenely he passed, feeling thankful that amid the wreck he had his own energy and strength remaining. With an unshaken trust in Providence, the day succeed- ing his failure, he walked forth from his happy home with the knowledge that everything owned by him must be given up. But only for a short time was the reverse felt. On that very day he
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was met by a wealthy client, who engaged his ser- vices in a new case, and insisted on his receiving compensation beforehand: from that period the tide of business was so great, that even the energy and industry of Mr. Anthony were scarce sufficient to attend to the numerous demands made on his time by his very extensive practice. During many years, Mr. Anthony nobly sustaining himself, exemplified in his character all that forms the upright man and the Christian, when death suddenly cut short his useful career, in his fifty-eighth year, in the month of September, 1835.
It would be impossible to enumerate the many charities of this excellent man during the course of his practice in Lynchburg. Many widows were by him befriended, and their business matters attended to without charge; many orphans, to his exertions owed the possession of their property; and the last professional visit he ever made was to a widow lady in the country, in order to aid and advise her in conducting her affairs.
Many interesting legal anecdotes of him might be recorded, but in this place only one simple one shall be introduced. In the early period of Mr. A.'s practice, he was often opposed to the late Christopher Clark, at that time an eminent lawyer of the upper country. It had often been necessary for Mr. Clark to call on one particular witness, whose name was Enoch Hogan. Hogan was a
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busy, prying man, generally more occupied about the affairs of others than his own, and Mr. Anthony and the members of the bar had been in the habit of jesting with Mr. Clark about his standing wit- ness, and saying to him whenever he got into a hard place, "Clark, call up Enoch Hogan." At one time Mr. Anthony was engaged in a lawsuit in which it was necessary to prove the hand-writing of an obscure woman residing in Kentucky. From time to time he had urged his client to take the deposition of this person, without which he would inevitably lose his cause. The case was brought to trial-they were unable to prove this hand-writing. Much discomfited and brought to bay, Mr. Anthony was about to surrender, when Mr. Clark whispered, "Anthony, call Enoch Hogan." Though aware that his advice was given in derision, Mr. Anthony calmly desired the sheriff to summon Enoch Hogan. Enoch was called, and came in amidst a roar of laughter from the whole court room ; he was sworn and interrogated by Mr. Anthony as to his know- ledge of the hand-writing of the surviving witness. "Do you know that hand-writing?" Hogan took the paper, giving a quick, sulky glance at it, and handing it back with this remark, "I reckon I ought to know it; it is the signature of my own sister :" and so it was. She lived in Kentucky, and he had many letters from her in possession, and the similarity of the hand-writing and other
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circumstances put the matter beyond dispute. " This," said Mr. Anthony, "taught me one les- son, which in my after practice I never forgot : that was, never to give up a cause until I had lost it."
A brief sketch of CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY, by the late JOHN HAMPDEN PLEASANTS.
"Died at his residence in Lynchburg, on Thursday, the first of October, CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY, Esq., in the . 59th year of his age. Mr. Anthony's illness was congestive fever, and from confidence in the uniform firm- ness of his health, and excellence of his constitution, he unfortunately neglected remedies in the incipient stages of the disease. But who shall say that mortal skill could have availed to save him, or who shall decide the problem, destined to be hidden in everlasting obscurity, that the appointed hour is fixed for all, by an unalterable fate? The calamities which Death visits on surviving friends are sufficient without their being aggravated by the painful, perhaps in every case, false supposition, that the stroke of his scythe might have been averted. We can never know the truth, and the mode of faith is the happiest and wisest, which refers all to the wisdom and providence of God.
Few men have lived in this community more useful in their sphere than Christopher Anthony, or died more inopportunely for the usefulness they were capable of exerting. An active and patriotic citizen, a most devoted husband and tender parent, there was no relation of life
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which he did not sustain with zeal and fidelity. Sub- jected at two periods of his life to severe pecuniary re- verses, his unflinching spirit and indomitable energy refused to succumb to misfortune an instant, but rather with that admirable elasticity which belongs to the con- sciousness of capacity, derived renewed energy from the necessity which required it. He was for a third time reaping that fortune so well due to his talents and vigor, when Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, closed his active and useful career.
"Mr. Anthony was a native of Bedford county, and was born in the Society of Friends, to whose benevolent principles he firmly adhered, while he relinquished out- ward conformity to their manners. He was bred a mer- chant, in which capacity he, at one time, conducted business in Richmond. Failing in this he adopted the profession of the law, and speedily attained the highest eminence at the bar, which he maintained for a long series of years, and enjoyed to the end of his life. A seat on the bench was repeatedly in his power, but he declined it as being less lucrative than his practice. His native capacity was of the highest order, and had he possessed the advantages of early instruction in elemen- tary knowledge, he had been amongst the most shining men of his generation. As it was, he had few superiors ; in intuitive knowledge of men, that best of knowledge, none. May his ashes repose in peace until the great day, when all the dead will come forth to meet their Judge."
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MRS. ANNA W. ANTHONY.
" What are the trophies gained By power alone, with all its noise and strife, To that meek wreath, unstained, Won by the charities that gladden life !"
BERNARD BARTON.
ANNA WOOLSTON ANTHONY was the eldest daughter of Samuel and Anna Couch. Her father was by birth a Philadelphian, and her mother was a native of Mount Holly, New Jersey. Emigrat- ing soon after their marriage to Virginia, they es- tabished themselves in the city of Richmond, where Anna was born in the month of January, 1786. Shortly after this event, Mr. Couch purchasing the estate of Little Creek, in Goochland, he removed there with his family, and he continued to reside there till his death. Being a man of large pro- perty, Mr. Couch was exceedingly liberal and gene- rous, esteeming the privilege of bestowing on others, as one of the most refined pleasures. Pos- sessing a fine mind, highly cultivated, his tastes were literary, his temperament highly poetic, and many of his compositions, both in prose and
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verse, are preserved in the family, evincing a high order of talent. His daughter received her educa- tion under his immediate superintendence, and be- coming early acquainted with all the standard lite- rature of the English language, her retentive mind preserved these impressions, which were in after life deepened by still further cultivation. When at the age of six years, her parents left the estab- lished Church, and united themselves to the Society of Friends, liberating at this time a large number of slaves. At the age of 10 years, owing to the in- firm state of her mother's health, an infant sister was confided to the charge of Anna, and assuming the entire care of the child, she reared it as ten- derly as though it had been her own. About four years after this time, her father was seized with a severe illness, from which he never recovered, and Mrs. Couch, with all the tenderness of a devoted wife, gave herself up entirely to administer to the comfort of her husband, confiding the whole care of a large establishment to her daughter Anna, who not only administered wisely the domestic affairs, but materially aided her mother in nursing her sick father. On the death of Mr. Couch, obey- ing one of his last requests, they gave up their residence in the country, and removed again to the city of Richmond. In the course of a few years, Anna was united in marriage to Christopher An- thony, of Bedford county, also a member of the
5
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Society of Friends. Removing with her husband to Goochland, Mrs. Anthony there found herself surrounded by the beloved friends of her childhood, and most happily sped away the few years of her residence in that county. In the year 1811, they made their home in the town of Lynchburg, where, very soon, Mrs. Anthony took a prominent station in society, forming these ties of friendship which remained unbroken through life, and are now con- sidered by her children a sacred inheritance.
For some years she resided in the house at pre- sent occupied by Henry Dunnington, Esq., leading there a useful, happy life, active in her duties to her family, and dispensing good to all within her sphere. Large and abundant were her charities, many poor persons being entirely supplied by her with comforts. A woman in indigent circumstances, named Meredy, lived in a house immediately in rear of the old Methodist Church: her husband having made his arrangements to move with his family to Richmond, they packed up all their small amount of goods, and just as they were tying on their bonnets to start, the new tenants who were to take the house appeared on the steps with their parcels and bundles. Mrs. Meredy shook hands with the new comers, regretting that it was not in her power to aid them ; but, said she, "in leaving Lynchburg I bequeath to you Mrs. Anthony, and I consider that I leave you a rich legacy."
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Being endowed with great firmness and presence of mind in times of sickness and danger, she was once sent for at midnight, to come to the house of a relative, whose little son was said to be dying. On her arrival there, she found the family all sit- ting around in profound grief, and it was told her that the little child was dead. The dreary array of grave clothes was spread out, and one of the friends of the family was just about to prepare his little form for burial. Mrs. Anthony suggested that life might possibly not be extinct; but the family assured her that the child was dead, and that no breath for some moments had been appa- rent. "I will at least try to restore him," said Mrs. Anthony. She accordingly proceeded to administer restoratives, and very soon the little suf- ferer began to show symptoms of returning anima- tion, and ere long a feeble cry issuing from the babe, showed that Mrs. Anthony's efforts had been entirely successful. The child recovered and is now residing in one of the Western cities, a vigorous man in the prime of life.
Shortly after the return of Mr. Anthony from the Legislature of 1817, he was seized with a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which, for a time, baffled the skill of even the eminent medical men then residing in Lynchburg, and threatened him with loss of life. ITis sufferings were so great,
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that it was with difficulty a moment's ease could be procured. The use of opiates was much more rare than at present, and chloroform, happily for man- kind, unknown at that time; the only thing which composed Mr. Anthony was the voice of his beloved wife, whilst occupied in reading aloud to him; it appeared to possess a mesmeric effect, and, whilst she was reading, he would seem to sleep, but the moment her voice was silent, he would awake to a sense of his sufferings. During this trying period, Mrs. Anthony read aloud to her husband all the volumes of the British Essayists ; nor was his re- covery complete, till he had made a long sojourn at the Warm and Hot Springs. When the unexpected reverse occurred in 1819, Mrs. Anthony bore it all with cheerful serenity. Not a murmur escaped her, not a cloud appeared on her countenance ; possess- ing her soul in patience, she calmly rested all her cares on Him who had borne carth's trials. Her ways were committed to God, who speedily brought her out of adversity, establishing her in even greater comfort and prosperity than she had be- fore enjoyed.
The house now occupied by Samuel McCorkle, Esq., was planned and built by the late Christopher Anthony. The dwelling was completed in 1831, and the family took possession of it during the summer of that year. Mrs. Anthony, though, could
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not but regret leaving her old home, on Courthouse Hill, where she had enjoyed so much happiness, and mingled with her regret a feeling that her domestic circle was soon to be broken up; yet, repressing these sad thoughts, she cheerfully engaged in all of her duties, and entered with zeal and ardor into the work of improving her new re- sidence.
In the year 1829, Mrs. Anthony communed in the Episcopal Church, but it was not till the spring of 1836, that she became a member of that denomi- nation. During the second Episcopal Convention, held in Lynchburg, she was baptized and admitted into the church, of which she continued a zealous and devoted member till the time of her death, like the pious and good Susan Allibone,* of Philadelphia ; showing forth, in her life, the beauty of holiness, and proving that Episcopacy, based on Quakerism, can produce a Christian character, so formed after the model of our great Exemplar, so meek and lovely, that even the most worldly, on meeting with such, must own the power of the religion of Christ to exalt and purify the character.
* See " Life of Susan Allibone," written by Bishop Lee. The writer considers it a privilege to have been in the same house with this lovely woman, for more than a week, in Phila- delphia.
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About three years after being settled in their new home, Mr. Anthony was, in the month of Sep- tember, suddenly called hence ; and very soon after this mournful event, Mrs. Anthony, leaving Lynch- burg, went to reside with her daughters in the coun- ties of Nelson and Buckingham. She survived her beloved husband more than twenty-one years: during that solitary pilgrimage, cheered by the hope of a joyful re-union in Heaven. It would be impossi- ble to record here, the numerous ways of doing good which were found out by Mrs. Anthony during her residence in the country. A course of the most active industry was by her pursued, taking for her watch-word, "Occupy till I come !" She was strength, energy and comfort to her immediate household; and, when she could think of nothing else to be done, she subscribed liberally to dif- ferent religious newspapers, which she would send throughout the country, thus supplying many poor families with religious knowledge, and lightening their trials by the hopes thereby inspired. A long course of usefulness was closed when she breathed her last, in the month of December, 1854, in the sixty-ninth year of her age. It is not the inten- tion, at present, to portray the touching and beau- tiful scene of her death, so in accordance with her life, though aware that a record of this sort would be beneficial to the Christian community, by afford-
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ing strong proof of the power of religion to com- fort and sustain the believer at the close of life ; and we can only close this brief tribute, by a clause from our beloved Service : "We give Thee hearty thanks, O Lord ! for the good examples of all these Thy servants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labors."
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REMINISCENCES OF THE
COURT AND BAR OF LYNCHBURG.
" Each pedant sage unlocks his store Of mystic, dark, discordant lore, And points with tottering hand the ways That lead me to the thorny maze ; There, in a winding, close retreat, Is Justice doomed to fix her seat ; There, fenced by bulwarks of the law, She keeps the wondering world in awe, And there, from vulgar sight retired, Like Eastern queen, is more admired."
SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE.
The old courthouse of Lynchburg was associated * with many pleasing memories of the past, in those good old days of 1819, when Chancellor TAYLOR held there his courts in the months of May and October. The members of the bar from all the surrounding counties then convened in Lynchburg, and when relieved from the cares of business, they formed a most brilliant and refined social circle.
Judge CREED TAYLOR was truly a gentleman of the old school, with a most aristocratic manner and
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bearing. His dress even, in those days, was singu- lar, consisting of short breeches, long stockings fastened at the knee with large buckles, and his silvery hair was combed from his forehead and con- fined in a queue at the back of his head. His legal abilities and reputation are too well established to need here eulogy, even were the ability possessed of so doing ; but a more elegant gentleman in society, or at a dinner table, could not be found, his cour- tesy extending from his hostess to her youngest boy, whose health he would insist on drinking, as the little fellow ran through the dining-room-and there was a peculiar grace in all his actions, even in the simple one of manufacturing the impromptu olive, from the bread-basket and salt-cellar, previous to taking his wine, between the time of dinner and dessert. His manners at this time were bland and courteous, with all the formality of Sir Charles Grandison. In after years his health declined ; he suffered from chronic gastritis ; his eye lost its brightness, his form its roundness; and becoming exceedingly irritable and fretful, it was only by lay- ing a powerful restraint on himself, and feigning politeness, that he could be brought to conduct him- self with common civility towards the members of the bar.
During his last visit to Lynchburg, on adjourning his court for the day, he appointed the hour of twelve on the following day, as the time for again
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assembling. Becoming restless though, before the hour of eleven, he caused the courthouse bell to be rung long and loudly. In great haste the lawyers came pouring in from all directions to meet his ire- ful glance. He first accosted the late Peachy Gil- mer, reproaching him in an angry voice for being so dilatory, whereupon Mr. Gilmer remarking to him that it yet wanted three quarters of an hour to the appointed time, the Chancellor losing all com- mand of himself, exclaimed in a passionate voice, " Gentlemen, I will have you in future to know that when I take my seat on the bench, it is 12 o'clock." This reply, so worthy to have been made by a native of the Emerald Isle, instead of a Virginian, naturally leads us to think of the Irish bar during the time of Curran, Grattan, and Barrington ; and it is doubtful whether the bar of that country sur- passed in talent and brilliancy that of upper Vir- ginia at the time of which we write.
The honorable Judge William Daniel, Sr. of the Campbell and Cumberland district, Daniel Sheffey, Colonel Townes, of Pittsylvania, Judge William Leigh, of Halifax, Peachy Gilmer, Christopher An- thony, Callowhill Minniss, and a host* of others,
* CHISWELL DABNEY, JOHN BLAIR DABNEY, though much the juniors of those mentioned above ; Judge ALLAN TAYLOR, of Botetourt, in his manly stature and pure eloquence, reminding us of the great Burrowes; and in connection with these distin-
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cach one deserving more than a passing tribute. Of this large circle only four or five survive, and amongst them an interesting volume might be made up from reminiscences of that period.
PEACHY GILMER was a son of Dr. Gilmer, of Albemarle; he was born about the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, and his boyhood was spent amid the mountains of his native county. He received an excellent educa- tion, and graduating with distinction, he studied for the bar, and soon after obtaining a license, he was united in marriage to MARY HOUSE, of Connecti- cut, a most estimable and highly gifted young lady. They settled in the county of Henry, then a wil- derness, and doubtless the cheerful hopefulness of his wife's disposition, contributed largely to his ex- tensive popularity and unbounded success in his profession. After residing there for a few years, Mr. Gilmer removed to the town of Liberty, in Bed- ford county, where, by a long course of diligence, he secured an independence. His house was ever
guished men, JOHN W. WILLS, at that time clerk of the county, but afterwards an eminent lawyer; and just before the abolish- ing of the chancery court system, (which, in spite of the evils disclosed by "Jarndyce v. Jarndyce," we still like, ) the beloved and lamented Judge THOMAS T. BOULDIN, of Charlotte, might have been called a member of the Lynchburg bar, as he was a constant attendant of the courts there held.
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the abode of the most unbounded hospitality, apart from ostentatious display ; and in the exercise of his profession, Mr. Gilmer displayed the most cheerful assiduity, the very necessity for exertion being esteemed by him as a blessing, calling health- fully into action his mental and physical powers. Gratefully and affectionately does the retrospective thought carry us back to those happy days of childhood, when, under his hospitable roof, the pri- vilege was enjoyed of witnessing his hourly mani- festations of tender interest to those around him, and of listening to his witty, brilliant, intellectual conversation, carried on with other gifted spirits, who, too, have long since passed away ; * nor will many of their words, then spoken, be ever effaced from memory, though they were heard years since, far in the past of long ago.
On the death of a relative in 1829, Mr. Gilmer became heir to a large property in Albemarle. He was now no longer obliged to practice his profes-
* In the Summer of 1828, a convention was held in Char- lottesville for internal improvement, at which ex-Presidents Madison and Monroe, Chief Justice Marshall, B. W. Leigh, Chapman Johnson, and other distinguished men were delegates. Peachy Gilmer, William Radford, Esq., James W. Pegram, and Christopher Anthony were delegates from Bedford and Camp- bell, and the pleasant remembrance of that occasion is clouded by the thought, that of those good men, William Radford, Esq., of Bedford, is the only survivor.
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sion, and as it was desirable for him to live on his estate, he removed with his family from the county of Bedford.
After being settled in his new abode, he missed the pleasant social circle he had for years been ac- customed to meet in Liberty, and a letter written by him shortly after this period warmly expresses these feelings-indeed, he found his associations so linked with the past, that the new scenes in which he now moved failed to impart the happiness expected. His experience was like that of Charles Lamb, who, when emancipated from the India house, with his time completely at his own disposal, expressed himself as having no holidays. The health of Mr. Gilmer, about this time, became im- paired, and he continued gradually to decline till about the year 1836, when this exemplary man and eminent lawyer breathed his last, at Leigh, his country seat, in the county of Albemarle.
GEORGE W. NELSON, at that time of the bar of Lynchburg, was a native of the county of Han- over, and a member of the old Virginia family of that name. A qualified lawyer, endowed with fine talents, and possessing a refined literary taste, a gentleman of most kindly feelings, yet was Mr. Nelson so deficient in suavity of manner, that he failed to make himself popular. He could not follow the precept of St. Paul, and " be all things to all men," and, consequently, to strangers he 6
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