USA > Virginia > City of Lynchburg > City of Lynchburg > Sketches and recollections of Lynchburg > Part 6
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In the year 1832, leaving his native State, he settled in the city of New Orleans, where, in a few years, he was married to a lady residing in that city. His health becoming much impaired, he, in the summer of 1840, returned to Lynchhurg, and thence with his father visiting the watering places of Virginia. In the autumn he returned to Louisiana, and he was destined never more to gaze on his beloved native hills, nor feel invigorated by the pure life-giving winds that had gladdened him in boyhood. During the winter of the succeeding year, he breathed his last in New Orleans, and his remains repose in the cemetery near the city. In the hearts of those who knew and esteemed him, his memory is deeply enshrined, and we cherish a pride in claiming for our own beloved native place, Jesse Burton Harrison.
Extract from the Address of JAMES P. HOLCOMBE, Esq., before the Society of the Alumni of the University of Virginia.
"No nation can retain its character in the scale of history, without a distinct and original literature. The literature which would express the spirit or supply the
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wants of a people, must not be filtered through the strata of a foreign society, but drawn fresh from the wells of a native soil. Noble sentiments, beautiful imagery, profound thoughts, lives of heroism or beauty, speak to us from what region or in what tone they may, must always inform, delight and elevate the soul. But when embodied in a foreign language, and tinctured with the colors of a social and political atmosphere remote from our own, they do not possess the power that belongs to a literature which can thrill the heart with the echoes of its mother's tongue. I fully subscribe to the remark made by one of Virginia's most gifted sons, whose taste, learning and genius would have placed him, but for an untimely death, by the side of Legare,* that the practical loss to mankind, if arithmetic was reduced to counting on the fingers, would be less than if the department of fancy was blotted out of our libra- ries ; for practical, to all intents and purposes, must that knowledge be, which raises or keeps alive any feeling touched to fine issues. Yes, far beyond the horizon of a sense-bound existence, in the sacred regions of poetry and philosophy, lie those eternal springs which alone can keep fresh and warm the inner life of a people. A literature which draws its aliment from the materials that surround their daily walk-which embellishes with its forms of grace-and images of beauty their world
* The late J. Burton Harrison. It is peculiarly appropriate that this beautiful extract should form the connecting link be- tween the brief memoir of J. B. Harrison, and the Cyclopedia of Lynchburg Literature.
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of home which takes up the gross body of popular sentiment and opinion, and, by the transfiguring power of genius, converts its muddy vesture of decay into a luminous mantle of immortality ;- such a literature must be fruitful of results upon the character and destiny of a people. It cannot but infuse into their bosoms such a sense of the dignity of human nature, and the true ends of human life, as will either work its way through all difficulties to freedom and civilization, or invest the adverse fortunes of the nation with a glory, which, like the beauty of Juliet, shall make the grave itself " a feasting presence bright with light."
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CYCLOPÆDIA OF LYNCHBURG LITERATURE.
"There has been no question so often asked, and so variously answered, of late years, as this : 'Shall the South have a literature of her own?' It is one of vital importance to her social and political interests- a question on which hangs the integrity of her peculiar institutions, and on which is based the preservation of her social and political independence."-Southern Literary Messenger.
In this chapter will be given a brief sketch of some of the literary characters of Lynchburg, a few of whom have been eminent for literary pro- gress and mental cultivation ; and it is but due that the brothers, HARVEY and STEPHEN MITCHELL, should have the first place, not only as pioneers, but as gentlemen of fine talents and literary taste.
HARVEY MITCHELL, well known and beloved in our community, spent his boyhood and early youth in the town of Lynchburg. His parents resided in the county of Amherst, at a beautiful place, visible from almost every point of Lynch-
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burg; and their vicinity to town enabled the children of the family to attend daily the schools of Lynchburg. When a small boy, Harvey Mitchell manifested a great talent for drawing, painting and taking likenesses; and with this was combined, a genius highly poetic-his knowledge of drawing enabling him to view with a poet's eye the whole page of Nature. He practised his profession of portrait painter, in the town of Lynchburg, for some years, writing manuscript pieces for his friends, as well as articles for periodicals. En- dowed with wit, and with a spirit and genius akin to that of Sidney Smith, there is no doubt but that Harvey Mitchell was even superior to that gentleman, who has of late years acquired such celebrity in the world of letters. His sketches were illustrated by his own humorous drawings, and his writings were somewhat in the style of those of Port Crayon, who has contributed in the last two years so agreeably to Harper's Magazine ; and had Mr. Mitchell's articles been published also in the North, they would have attracted more notice and would have obtained greater success. Mr. Mitchell also wrote dramas, depicting admi- rably the foibles of the community in which he lived. In conjunction with Stephen Mitchell, his younger brother, he attempted to publish a period- ical, but the undertaking failed for want of sufficient encouragement. Mr. Harvey Mitchell resides, at
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present, in the city of Washington, where he holds an office under Government.
STEPHEN MITCHELL was a young lawyer of great promise, and of fine literary taste. About twenty-eight years since he made ineffectual efforts to resuscitate the literature of his native State, by publishing a periodical, but meeting with so many discouragements, he was forced to abandon the enterprise. He wrote a play, called " The Maid of Missilonghi," which was, without doubt, a splendid literary production. He carried it to New York, where the managers of the Bowery theatre were so delighted with it, that they offered a very liberal sum for it, which was to be paid immediately after its reception on the stage. Accordingly, splendid scenery and magnificent dresses were provided for the occasion, and the young author already saw plainly before him the path to fame. But, alas ! for the uncertainty of human affairs ! The very day before the one fixed for the performance, the Bowery theatre taking fire, the scenery and dresses were consumed, and, worse than all, the manuscript of "The Maid of Missilonghi" was burned; and, as no copy had been preserved, the reading public were thus debarred the pleasure of perusing this beautiful production. Under these favorable auspices, had this play been brought out, it would probably have
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held a rank almost equal to Bulwer's "Lady of Lyons." Shortly after this disastrous overthrow of all his hopes, Stephen Mitchell, returning to Virginia, made Norfolk his temporary home, and, his health declining rapidly, in a brief period he was numbered with the dead.
GEORGE TUCKER, Esq., was a native of the Island of Bermuda, from which place he had emigrated when a very young man. He removed with his family to Lynchburg, about the year 1817, and resided in that town till the opening of the University of Virginia. Being appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy in that institution, he, for some years, filled that post with great ability. During his residence in Lynchburg, he wrote a touching little memoir, called "Recollections of Rosalie," a beloved daughter, who died in the winter of 1818. The work has been printed and published at his own expense, by a man named Boyce, and the binding would do credit to any publishing house of the present day-so neatly and substantially done, that, after a lapse of thirty- eight years, the little volume looks fresh and new. It was during his residence in Lynchburg that Mr. Tucker also wrote "The Valley of Shenandoah." The descriptions, in that novel, of Virginia life, are unsurpassed, and the pictures of slavery in the the Old Dominion are quite inimitable. Since then
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he has written " The Voyage to the Moon," and " The Life of Jefferson," a voluminous work, which has placed his reputation as a writer on a firm basis in the literary world. This polished and intelligent gentleman now lives in the city of Philadelphia, where he is said to be at present employed on a new work, the appearance of which will be anxiously desired by his friends and admirers.
Mrs. ANN URSULA BYRD was a sister of the late Mr. William Munford, for many years the able and efficient Clerk of the House of Delegates. She was the wife of William Otway Byrd, Esq., of Westover; and subsequently to his death, she took up her residence in the town of Lynchburg, making her home with two married daughters living in that town. Mrs. Bryd was a most excellent woman, with a vigorous mind and poetic fancy. Delighting greatly in reading, her memory was so remarkable that she was able to recall at will the pleasure derived long since from books she had perused. For many years she was engaged in writing a novel, and hopes, at one time, were entertained of its publication ; but, for some cause or other, it has never appeared in print. The work was styled "Education, or the Family of Mountflorence ;" and it was pronounced exceedingly interesting by those who had the privilege of its perusal. A few years previous to her death, this lady had a violent
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spell of illness, causing her for a time to lose her memory almost entirely, so that she could only remember a few choice pieces of old English poetry. On regaining her health to a degree, and discover- ing that she had forgotten how to read, with a strength of mind and perseverance worthy of being imitated, she immediately commenced at the simple rudiments, and actually learned again to spell and read. She was a devout Episcopalian, and was one amongst the few belonging to that church at the time of its establishment in Lynch- burg. This amiable woman lived to an advanced age, and died in the city of Lynchburg, where her remains are interred.
BRANSFORD VAWTER was a native of Lynchburg, and was born about the year 1815 or '16. His father was, by profession, a tailor, and he had been one of the oldest and earliest settlers of the place. Mr. Vawter was a man of some eccentricities, but he possessed good sense, combined with great honesty and a most kindly disposition. He was particularly attached to Bransford,* his second
* Mr. Vawter was justly proud of this son, whom he always addressed as " Buddy," bestowing on his oldest boy the soubri- quet of "Jake." When under the influence of ardent spirits, Mr. Vawter would seat himself in his upper window, carelessly attired, singing out the following recitative: "The world is good, the people are good, and God bless ' Buddy' forever"- adding then, in a sort of undertone,-" and, at the same time, please don't forget Jake !"
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son, but he gave each of the brothers every advantage of education that could be procured in Lynchburg. At a very early age Bransford was remarkable for his elegant personal appearance and graceful manners ; and, as he grew up, his mental gifts so developed themselves, that he was found to possess talents of a superior order. A high-minded, chivalrous young man-honorable in his feelings and distinguished by his winning modesty-Brans- ford Vawter will ever be remembered with interest and affection by friends and school-mates with whom he was associated in Lynchburg ; and had he lived, he would doubtless have ranked high among the poets of his native land. His early death was a great disappointment to his numerous friends in Lynchburg ;- the light of a brilliant genius was suddenly quenched, and only a few of his pieces have been preserved to attest his poetic talent. The following song has been set to music, and is sung throughout the United States, whilst few are aware of their authorship, or of the feel- ings which prompted the lines :
" I'd offer thee this hand of mine, If I could love thee less, But hearts so warm, so fond as thine, Should never know distress. My fortune is too hard for thee, 'Twould chill thy dearest joy ; I'd rather wecp to see thec free, Than win thee to destroy.
12
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I leave thee in thy happiness, As one too dear to love-
As one I think of but to bless, As wretchedly I rove. And Oh! when sorrow's cup I drink, All bitter though it be, How sweet 'twill be for me to think, It holds no drop for thee.
And now my dreams are sadly o'er, Fate bids them all depart,
And I must leave my native shore, In brokenness of heart. And Oh, dear one ! when far from thec, I ne'er know joy again, I would not that one thought of me, Should give thy bosom pain."
After the appearance of these lines, a great curiosity was felt to know the name of the author ; and, accordingly, an advertisement was inserted in a periodical, desiring him to avow himself, for it was the intention of the proprietors to award him a prize. Bransford Vawter then acknowledged himself to have been the author, and an expensive volume was immediately forwarded to him by the proprietors of the Magazine.
Mrs. MARGARET CABELL BELL, wife of Lieute- nant Bell, U. S. N., at present a resident of Newburgh, New-York, was a former resident of Lynchburg. She is the daughter of the late Major Richard Pollard, Chargé-des-Affaires to Chili, and a grand-daughter of the late Robert Rives, Esq., of
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Oakridge, Nelson county, Virginia ; at which place she was born. This lady possesses a very superior mind and fine talents. Some years since she contributed largely to the Literary Messenger, as well as to several periodicals published in the North. One of her poetical effusions, which, some years since, appeared in the Messenger, attracted, at the time, much notice and commendation, and is still remembered with much pleasure by those who have read it. The piece was called, "Lines on seeing a sprig of laurel from my birth-place"-and, about the time of its appearance, she wrote for the same periodical a novellette, entitled " The Vicis- situdes of Life :" it possessed great interest, and was written in a most finished style. This accom- plished lady has written many other interesting articles; but, of late, we believe, she has not published any of her writings.
A few years since, Mrs. MARTHA HARRISON ROBINSON, a sister of the late Jesse B. Harrison, translated, from the French, a celebrated work, for which, from the reviews, she received the highest commendation. It was said that the sense of the original was perfectly preserved, and the style unimpaired by the translation, so as for the work to be fully appreciated by the American reader. Works of this sort generally suffer much from their translation; and, it is said that, whilst
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in this country, the son of Marquis de la Fayette was heard to say, that " Corinne" (Madame de Stael's celebrated work) had been so marred by the English translation, that no one could have a proper perception of its beauties, unless it was read in the French language. The same remarks are also frequently made respecting the beautiful little book called " Picciola."
Mrs. CORNELIA M. JORDAN is a native and resident of Lynchburg, and is on the mother's side a near relative of the Goggin family of Bedford county. Mrs. Jordan is a lady of decided poetic talent, and amongst her pieces, the lines on " Confirmation" deserve a higher place than the corner of a newspaper. Of late she seems to have confined herself to literature for very young children, and we hope that she will persevere in that department, till she makes herself as useful as Mrs. Trimmer or Mrs. Barbauld.
The talented and excellent Mrs. WOODSON* laid our children under great obligations by the pub- lication of "The Southern Home"-and her untimely death is deplored by the rising generation as a real misfortune. It is highly desirable that we should have a juvenile literature of our own : such books as " Queechy " and "Wide, Wide
* Of Charlottesville.
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World " are not adapted to Southern children ; and, until they can procure better books than " My Brother's Keeper," it is high time for the South to arise and furnish literature for the young, which can afford amusement and instruction.
Dr. VALENTINE, the celebrated ventriloquist and entertaining delineator of eccentric charac- ters, was, in the year 1829, a resident of Lynch- burg, being employed in the druggist establishment of the late Dr. Howell Davies ; and doubtless he was at that very time, like "Count Smorltolk" (Mr. Pickwick's great traveller), laying up mate- rials in his brain for the very amusing book published by him a few years since. Even at that early period Dr. Valentine showed strong talents for the line of life he has since chosen. He was somewhat an improvisatore, and performed in private for the amusement of his friends and acquaintances. He was a man of gentlemanly appearance, of good family, well-educated, and a native of one of the Northern States. He made a wise choice in selecting for his profession that of a ventriloquist and delineator of eccentric charac- ter. It is much better to take at once to the stage, than to be an amateur-professor of these arts.
[Since the above was penned, an advertisement in the Vir- ginian tells us that Dr. Valentine has recently visited Lynch- burg, delighting the good people of the place by his exquisitely humorous exhibitions. ]
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PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS OF LYNCHBURG.
"'Tis sweet to view from half-past five to six, Our long wax-candles, with short cotton-wicks, Touch'd by the lamp-lighter's Promethean art, Start into life, and make the lighter start : To see red Phœbus through the gallery pane, Tinge with its beams the beams of Drury Lane, While gradual parties fill our widen'd pit, And gape and stare and wonder as they sit."
HORACE SMITH's imitation of Rev. G. Crabbe.
" You've only got to curtesy, whisp- er, hold your chin up, laugh and lisp, And then you're sure to take : I've known the day, when brats not quite Thirteen, got fifty pounds a-night, Then why not Nancy Lake ?
HORACE SMITH's imitation of Wordsworth.
The site of the reservoir was a public lot, called "Black's Lot"-and it was there, in 1819, that the Circus companies reared their pavilions, and there nightly did the ring-master and clown delight an admiring audience,-the frequent repetition of their wit and repartee having not the smallest effect to diminish the rapture with which all their
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sallies were received by the throng which con- stantly attended their exhibitions. In those days, it was said that equestrian companies came earlier and staid later in the season in Lynchburg, than at any other town of its size in the Union.
Some few years later, the Circus was held on the lot on which now stands the house erected by Captain Jesse Perry ; and, for a season, Clown Lewis, Messrs. Hunt and Foster, Master Lipman and Birdsall were the admiration of the town. On one occasion, during their performance, a violent thunder-storm raged, so as to put an end for the night to the exhibition, and the audience had to take shelter in the ring with the performers. On a near approach, how much of their grandeur disappeared, and how paltry looked then their spangles and decorations ; and what a great dis- appointment ensued, on finding the grotesque expression of the clown's face was altogether owing to paint and burned cork.
A few years after this, an equestrian company was established on the vacant lot belonging to " Dr. JOHN CABELL, and just above his residence. They were enjoying a brisk popularity; and one night, the audience being particularly brilliant, the performers were so elated that some of them began to play off practical jokes upon those upon whom they thought they might venture with impunity. Dr. John Cabell had come in quietly and taken
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his seat in a retired part of the pavilion. Having been engaged that day in practice, and feeling much fatigued, Dr. Cabell soon fell asleep. The clown, entirely ignorant of the rank of this dis- tinguished gentleman, walked, or ran up to him in a very comic manner, saying, " Wake up, old gentleman, I say-presently you'll be going home, saying you did not see any of the performance !" But the wrong passenger had certainly been waked up this time. Dr. Cabell, jumping up from his slumbers, seized the astonished and terrified clown, crying out "'Blood and thunder'-pack up and be off from here before day to-morrow !" The performance was stopped, the audience retired, and the grand trampaline, hastily assembling, came into council. It was decided that the most imposing of their number should go immedi- ately, offer an apology, and petition for a little delay in their sentence of departure. After a brief interview this permission was granted, and their bills for the next night's performance were posted up in the morning, exhibiting a more tempting programme than had ever before been presented to the good folks of Lynchburg ; and these performers were in future very studious to avoid anything approaching to a practical joke.
It was from Black's lot that Messrs. DUNNIHEW & CHARLES for a series of months sent up their balloons, which, though they were not as now,
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made of silk and inflated with gas, still they were really pretty exhibitions, delighting a Lynchburg audience ; and their failures produced as great excitement amongst this primitive people, as did their success. A lad by the name of Ogilbie, reared in Lynchburg, was so much allured by their mode of life, that, leaving his profession, he ap- peared before his former acquaintances at the gate or entrance of the lot, to dispose of tickets of admission ; and so much were his former associates dazzled at his appearance in all the grandeur of pink cambric, black cotton-velvet and spangles, that for some time he was not recognised.
These balloons were inflated by means of burning brown paper dipped in spirits-of-turpentine, placed in a small wire car. On one occasion, two balloons were sent up-Adams and Crawford; but, on cutting the cords, by reason of some failure, the balloons refused to ascend. Adams went a short distance, landing to the delight and ecstacy of Lynchburg, in the well-lot belonging to Mr. C. An- thony, whilst Crawford rolled pensively over the heads of the alarmed audience, occasionally drop- ping amongst them coals of fire and burning paper from its conflagration-brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives* being parted in
" A bride and bridegroom attended this exhibition, and the tragico-comico distress of the husband and piercing cries for his bride, were amusing at the time.
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the confusion. Sometimes these exhibitions were very successful and went off with great eclat, but to the major part who attended, the conflagration of balloons was considered as a sort of impromptu fire-works. A splendid ascension was made on one evening, the balloon soaring gracefully away and taking a direction towards Amherst Courthouse. Descending to the earth a few miles this side of that place, it greatly alarmed the inhabitants of the plantation, particularly an old lady, who, fancying that the day of judgment had arrived, mistook the balloon for the angel Gabriel in a chariot of fire.
A short distance above the reservoir, was a long low brick building, which was then used as a place for theatrical performances,* and, though small, it was well adapted to the purpose, having side-boxes and a pit : the scenery, too, was good, and the amateur orchestra, playing for the Thespian So- ciety, was very superior.
Though the writer has since that time seen Hackett, Burton, and other celebrated comedians, yet, putting aside all partiality for residents of
* A wooden tenement, opposite the Norvell-House, was first used as a theatre by Thespians-the tickets were presented to friends, and no charge was made ; the performance, too, was very good. This house was afterwards " Dandrige's Carriage Manufactory."
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Lynchburg, she has seen no performer who had so good a perception of our English comedy, as the late Hardin Murrell. The late Mr. Giles Word and William Digges also had considerable dramatic talents, and the plays of Colman, Cumberland, Sheridan, Foote and Mrs. Inchbald, were well per- formed by this Thespian Society.
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