USA > Virginia > City of Richmond > City of Richmond > Virginia, especially Richmond, in by-gone days; with a glance at the present: being reminiscences and last words of an old citizen > Part 10
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halo. He died, full of years and full of honors, in the year 1837. His last good work was to influ- ence the establishment of the first Savings Bank in Richmond.
Mr. ************* 's book store was in the only wooden building now remaining of the olden time, already described, on the south side of West Main street; it stands at the corner of Fourteenth, or Pearl street. (Mock Pearl. I dislike these bor- rowed names, that impress one with the insignifi- cance of the object, compared with its patronyme. Astor House, for instance-dimensions, 20 by 36- and Wall street. Bah !) In connection with Mr. ******* 's book store, I am reminded of an humbler, but, in one sense of the word, a much greater personage, whose station was under His Honor, the Mayor, though not an official one.
Fat Nancy, the apple-woman, filled the cellar door under his Worship's shop window. There she displayed all fruits in their season ; the black Po- mona of the street, of which she had the monopoly, except so far as her claim was disputed (I should say, infringed upon) by a peripatetic vender, Bob Hummins by name ; but as Bob had only one arm, he did not venture to dispute Nancy's supremacy, and kept out of reach of her tongue. If scolding could have tried down Nancy's fat, the school.boys would have reduced her to a shadow ; for, as some three hundred or more pounds of flesh obstructed
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her locomotion, the boys stole her apples with- out fear of arrest (unless by the Mayor, and it was beneath his dignity to interpose) and thus they kept Nancy's scolding faculties in constant exercise .*
Another resident of the same square passes before my mind's eye. Previous to the Corsican invasion of confectioners, the dispensers of sugar plums had ap- peared but singly, and in the days I write of, the incumbent was a Frenchman, who bore the eupho- nious and sylvan name of Aubin de la Foret. In- stead of the brilliant shops and saloons which now tempt not only the children, but their parents, with ices, jellies, fruits, and all sorts of bonbons and cor- dials, Laforet exhibited, among various less refined comestibles (not meaning that his candies were highly refined), a dozen jars of confectionery, and these did not require very frequent replenishing. Tempta- tion has, of late years, caused many a sweet tooth to be cut, and, perhaps, to be extracted. Few
* It is urged that I did injustice to one of my most conspic- uous personages, and to the rising generation, by suppressing his name in the first edition. There is no good reason for con- cealing it, for the possessor was not ashamed of it, nor of any thing attached to it.
I will now, therefore, let the stars pale before the bright name of William Henry Fitzwhyllson. We may thus confer mutual honor. I seek to immortalize his name, which will immortalize my book, and we may shine together like Gemini the second !
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could compete with the Forrester for the palm of ugliness. To look at him and at his sign, you would be apt to think it a misnomer-so little were the man and the name adapted to each other. His nose would have been very prominent, but that it was turned hard-a-starboard, which probably saved it from running afoul of other objects. His legs were mismatched, one being exceedingly bowed, which gave him a lee lurch in walking. His eyes stood so prominently out of his head that one might suppose he could see in all directions at once, and his complexion vied in hue and wrinkles with his own dried figs. But, with all this lack of " personal pulchritude," (as Mr. Rootes termed beauty,) Mr. Laforest, as he was usually called, was a worthy, honest and industrious man, and his children inherited, with his good name, something better than his figure and his features.
Among the singular characters of by-gone days, the tall, stiff and formal figure of Mons. Joseph Bonnardel rises before my mind's eye. This old genteman (I cannot say citizen) was of the "ancien regime " of France, and when that was upset he could no longer remain. The court cos- tume which he wore, and probably the only kind he possessed, indicated that he had known better days.
His ante-revolutionary suits were of costly ma- terials, and of the fashion of the times of Louis
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XVI. His dress was a stiff stock of silk or cam- bric, fastened behind with a large buckle set in paste or other brilliant imitation of precious stones ; this shone conspicuously above the vest and coat, the collars of which were extremely low, and this stock was on extra occasions ornamented in front with lace falls. His vest, of figured brocade, was extremely ample, with flaps to the pockets, and extended below his hips, garnished with many buttons in the centre of each of which glistened a brilliant of properly adapted hue. His coat, on some occasions of purple, or of snuff-colored silk velvet, and on others of a lighter silken material, was of grand proportions, the large buttons deco- rated like those of the vest, and with pockets of huge dimensions. His small clothes were of black satin, with elaborate knee buckles, his hose of silk, and his shoes stout, with high vamps and large buckles. He wore his hair, which was black sil- vered with gray, combed back from his forehead and temples (like the ladies of to-day), and gath- ered behind in a clubbed queue. His highly deco- rated gold snuff-box and cane were passports of gentility, as well as certificates of date.
Mr. Bonnardel's appearance (Frenchman though he was) was that of an animated automaton; every movement was as stiff and angular as if operated by machinery, and his manner of speaking was as slow and formal as were his motions and figure-
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for the gearing that worked all this machine was of tardy movement; misfortune had probably injured its springs. The old gentleman, for gen- tleman he was, was very poor, and supported him- self by giving private lessons in French, at a time when scholars were few. He lived in a small wooden house, one story and an attic, with a pecu- liar looking porch in front, yet standing on Grace street west of Fourth, with tall stumps of mul- berry trees in front .* In this house he lived, "solitary and alone," for many years, with no domestic help, and but few domestic comforts- but his apartment was neat and clean, though little encumbered with furniture. Mr. B. pre- served every article of his wardrobe, however much worn, which he had brought from la belle France. Paper boxes contained stockings innu- merable, much dilapidated, which, perhaps, he intended to re-establish on a new footing; others with various garments and various articles edible or useless, and each carefully labeled-on one was seen " Bas de soie sans pieds."
The poor old man felt sometimes the cravings of hunger, which, perhaps, he had not means to appease, for he was too proud to ask assistance, even if he required it, and his appetite was of
* Demolished in 1859, as are most of the old buildings noted in 1856.
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the insatiable kind. When by chance dinner was announced at the house where he was giving a lesson and he was invited to a seat at the table, the stowage he made would indicate that he was laying in provisions for an East India voyage.
Mr. Bonnardel was afflicted-I ought to say blessed-with an idiosyncracy which age did not abate. He was not only very susceptible of the tender passion himself, but he imagined, and was rendered happy in the idea, that every hand- some pupil, who was old enough to discern his merits, was in love with him; and his greatest concern was, lest his devotion to any one of his admirers should break the hearts of the others. The old man rather lived to love, than loved to live.
Some of my grandma readers, nay, even some of the most youthful great-grandmas, may have been pupils of Mr. Bonnardel, and may remember his gallantry, though they have outlived the tender passion he inspired.
Let no one misconceive me so much as to think that I have introduced this old gentleman or others as subjects of ridicule. I can sympathize with a worthy man, however impoverished he may be, and whatever may be his innocent peculiarities. Dotage itself should be respected, when preceded by a life of utility and integrity.
With so successful an example before me as Hone's Table-Book, I may venture to introduce a
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few more of the individuals, not of every day life, interspersed among our population in the olden time.
In my boyhood one of the most conspicuous, and in one sense of the word, the greatest man of his day, was Major Willis, (more properly Maxi- mus), but commonly called Jack Willis, an en- larged edition of Falstaff, whose belt would have fallen far short of encircling Willis. He was not only a Falstaff in the flesh, but also in the spirit, like him witty and living by his wits. We do not reckon flesh by the stone as in England, or I might say fat Jack would have counterpoised forty stone. His tailor used to hand him one end of the measuring tape and revolve around him with the other, till he had accomplished his circumfer- ence. Had Major Willis lived to a fat old age, he might, like Falstaff, have had a prince for his crony and rollicking companion ; nay more, the prince might have called him "Nuncle," for prince Achille Murat, son of the king of Naples, married Willis's niece, a lady of great beauty ; but Willis did not live to see the marriage, nor did Achille, to see the restoration of the Napoleon dynasty in the person of his cousin.
Achille's brother, Joachim, also married an American lady, and they are now (1856) flourish- ing in Paris as members of the Imperial family ; some fifteen years ago, his glorious republican wife
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toiled, woman-like, to support her ci-devant princely husband in inglorious idleness, in the vicinity of his royal uncle Joseph, ci-devant king of Spain, at his seat (not throne) on the Delaware. A niece of the writer was a pupil in the boarding-school of that lady at Bordentown, New Jersey. Such are the vicissitudes of fortune !
But dazzled by regal splendor, I have lost sight of "my fat friend," as Beau Brummel called George IV. I can, however, only record, that after a short life and a merry one, he died at his lodgings-not at the Boar's head-but at the Eagle, and the undertaker had to call in the carpenter and mason to take out the door frame, be- fore he could take out the great mass of mortality, he had undertaken to inter.
And now for a contrast to Jack Willis, which I present in the person of a little weazel of a man, who would weigh about as much as one of Jack's calves, and its stocking would be large enough for Jemmy's jacket. This diminutive specimen of humanity named Jemmy Elliot, supported himself on lizards ! Frequently have I seen him take them in his mouth, not cooked as the large species called Guana, are in the West Indies, but alive and quick !
To prevent any ill effect on my reader's stomach, let me add that Jemmy did not bite them like radishes, nor swallow them whole; but on
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opening his lantern-jaws, the lively lizard would peep out, look around, then run about his face and neck, and hide in his bosom. Jemmy would catch a fly and give it as a reward. He carried many of these familiar spirits in a little box, and would exhibit them and their training, which embraced various tricks, in number and variety according to the number of "half bits " contri- buted to the entertainment. Jemmy lived but did not fatten on his lizards. His life was as inoffen- sive as theirs, and he was probably metamorphosed into one at his death. They seemed to delight to play about his grave, especially on those nights when it was illuminated by fire-flies.
Amongst those whose appearance, not for beauty or grace, was apt to attract attention in by-gone days, was Friend Maddux, a tall, raw-boned Quaker, who adhered strictly to the costume of his society. Friend Maddux was full six feet in stature, and his long strides and rapid gait might have indicated that he inherited the boots of Jack the giant-killer-he strode about four feet at each step, and slung his body and arms with a vim to keep pace with his legs. His occupation was that of collector of accounts, and his approach was a terror to bad pay-masters. He was very plain- spoken, and slow to accept excuses; but although a severe dun, he must have been a kind-hearted man, as the following incident will show.
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He had occasion to call on Mrs. Green, once a beautiful actress, whose "occupation was gone." Her only child, a daughter in the bloom of youth, was burned at the theatre, from which the mother escaped through a door behind the scenes, while the daughter was with some friends in one of the boxes. Mrs. Green rushed forth in the attire of the Bleeding Nun, (the character she was personating,) to seek for her daughter in the houses where she visited, those of respectable citi- zens; her frantic appearance exceeding any tragic acting-she flew from house to house, but, alas ! in vain.
Her husband, a favorite actor, had become dissi- pated and left her destitute, and when friend Mad- dux saw her, she was living in poverty and solitude. He felt compassion for her desolate condition -- a childless mother and deserted wife.
He spoke to her of religion and its consolations, and inquired if she attended church. She replied, "I do no. I have no one to go with me, and have not resolution to go alone." John's pity was ex- cited, and he asked if she would go with him. She thanked him, but said they were not of the same creed. He replied, "I will go to thy church with thee." She assented, and he promised to call on the next Sunday. As John exacted pui.ctuality, he also practiced it-accordingly, on the day ap- pointed the Episcopal congregation were astonished
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by the entrance of the tall and ungainly Quaker, with the pale and delicate actress arrayed in weeds, leaning on his arm. Their devotion was suspended and their curiosity excited.
The next day one of them rallied John on his gallantry.
" True, friend Jane," he replied, "I carried a poor, desolate sinner to hear the word of God, but I do assure thee I saw many there who stared at her, that required the word as much as that poor soul did."
The name of Maddux is perpetuated, to this time at least, by being given to the hill on which he resided, overlooking the valley of Shockoe Creek, and south of Howard's Grove.
Friend Maddux was so enterprising as to publish the first Directory of Richmond, in 1819, which contained about 1100 names. With the aid of large type, an almanac and various tables, he eked out a small, thin volume. The Directory for 1859 contains the names of about 6600 persons, of whom not more than 44 are registered in that of 1819, as far as I can tell.
The office of Town Cryer once existed in Rich- mond, and the last incumbent, more than a half century ago, was a little, shriveled, querulous old man, of whom little remained but his voice, who bore the name of Tankard, but did not seem to rejoice in it, nor indeed in anything else, except
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Crying. If the public attention was to be called to any subject-a lost or found child, a stray horse, a public meeting, or a public sale, it was announced by the cryer's bell, which rang most perseveringly throughout the (then narrow) city limits. It was taken for granted that no vendue could be held, even if the toddy bowl was filled, without the aid of Tankard, who most tediously and nasally cried the bids, if he heard or saw them, but as neither his ear nor his eye was very acute, he frequently scolded the bidders for not speaking out. "A nod was as good as a wink" to him-he regarded neither.
Among the singular characters who appeared in Richmond in by-gone days, was Mr. K., or any other initial you please. He resided, when at home, in a small log house in the country. His raiment on all occasions was of gray or mixed homespun cloth and home or country made. His brawny neck was unincumbered with a cravat, and his limp shirt collar was tied with a bit of tape or black ribbon. The brim of his hat exceeded in breadth by several inches that of the staunchest Quaker, and by this and his other habiliments, he was generally known or could be described to those who sought his very efficient services as a lawyer or collecting attorney. His bed was a truss of straw, and as a substitute for sheets, he slipped into a bag some two yards long and two yards wide,
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the neck of which was drawn and tied around his own. Bacon and hoecake were his food, and milk or water, sometimes diluted with spirit, was his drink.
In this manner it was his determination, as he declared, to array the outward and to satisfy the cravings of the inward man, until he should amass the sum of $50,000.
After some years of assiduous toil, saving and perhaps shaving, he emerged one day from his sack and his homespun, like a butterfly from a chrysalis state, in a full suit of fine broadcloth and satin, with a shining beaver hat and a proud and gallant bearing. He had plucked his plum and intended to enjoy it. He visited, drank punch and mint- julep, ate roast beef and canvas-backs, and fell in love.
The lady of his choice amused herself by co- quetting with him and keeping his hopes alive. After prosecuting his love-suit for a longer term than he had usually expended on a law-suit, he determined to close the pleadings and ask for a verdict. Greatly to his joy, and a little to his surprise, it was given in his favor, and tenderly parting with the mistress of his heart, he went on his way rejoicing. But alas! how momentary and uncertain are the visions of human bliss-fleeting as the vision of a humming bird-and such a bird was his Dulcinea.
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Her mother had listened at the key-hole, and knowing that her daughter did not intend to accept Mr. K., she was astonished at what she heard. No sooner had he left the room than she rushed into it and exclaimed, "Why, Letitia, do you intend to marry Mr. K .? " "La, no! mama, I was only joking !" "That won't do, my dear ; make haste and call him back before it is too late." The dutiful daughter raised the sash and hailed her suitor, who was walking slowly and indulging a day dream of future bliss. He heard her charming voice, which had charmed him un- wisely but too well, and retraced his steps to enjoy more of its melody.
How suddenly, alas! were his hopes dispelled. No verdict of a jury against a rich client and a fat contingent fee, when he felt sure of a favora- ble one, ever astonished and disappointed him more than the reversal of decision he then heard, in the few words, "Mr. K., I was only joking."
One so long accustomed as he had been to the glorious uncertainty of the law, and to making a prompt rejoinder to adverse counsel, could not be easily taken aback or at a loss for a reply. Bowing most profoundly, he merely said, "So was I, Miss Letitia," and again went on his way-not rejoicing, but repining at his non-suit. He never appealed, nor did he commence a new suit in the court of Cupid. But like his prototype, the but-
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terfly, he did not very long survive his change of raiment. The Flush times then prevailed, and "our flower was in flushing when blighting was nearest." He did not however "die all for love."
CHAPTER XIV.
OLD FASHIONS.
The fashion of gentlemen's garments some fifty odd years ago, bore a strong contrast to the pre- sent, especially at the upper and at the nether ends. The throat was sweltered in as many yards of muslin, as would at the present day suffice for the lowest flounce of a lady's skirt, which if it were permissible to handle, I would not merely guess to to be about ten yards in circumference, but drop- ping that forbidden subject to take up the almost interminable one of the gentleman's neck gear, let me attempt to describe the process by which the exquisite of that day contrived to invest him- self, like a silk worm, in the circumvolutions of his cravat. If he enjoyed the services of a valet, he held one end of the long and thin texture; and his attendant taking the other, walked round him until both ends met, when they were tied in a large
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bow, and perhaps a small beau was tied therein. If he had to rely on his own resources, the plan was, to attach one end of the cravat to the bedpost, walk off to its full length, if the room permitted, and then revolve on his own periphery, till he was wound up like the main spring of a watch, or an Egyptian mummy, and when the envelopement was complete, the chin could be drawn within it, like the head of a terrapin into its shell.
Those who could afford neither the valet, nor so extensive an investment of muslin, resorted to a substitute for its bulk, in what was called a pud- ding, or to speak more intelligibly (since a some what similar appendage has been adopted by the gentler sex, and been promoted under a more respected name to a different, if not a higher station) a pad, which formed the foundation on which the cravat was built. As at the present day, as was whispered to me by a lady, who wished to exonerate herself from the suspicion of extra- vagance, the foundation of her splendid dress was mere canvass, and only the superstructure or flounces which entirely concealed it, were of the costly material-reversing the figure of a cloud with a silver lining. Here, again, have I trodden on forbidden ground-indeed, apart from all figure of speech, it requires great caution to approach a lady at the present day, without treading on her skirts.
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The very stiff collar of a dress coat was made to sit as high as the ears, and to stand off several inches from the back of the head, which, otherwise, could not be turned. I saw a clumsy waiter at a dinner party, attempt to place two small dishes of custard on the table, and while he reached over a gentleman's shoulder with one dish in his right hand, his unconscious left poured the contents of the other, into the space between the collar and the neck-the custard flowing down that channel, without soiling the coat externally.
[One word respecting the Paris fashion of ladies in 1802, which I find thus condensed ; "nearly in the style of Eve-bosom prodigally displayed, pet- ticoat festooned up rather higher than the ankles."7
Buck-skin breeches and fair-top boots, were the fashionable apparel for the nether man, except at parties and balls. The perfection of both con- sisted in the tightness of the fit. Artisans in buck-skin were entirely distinct from tailors, they assimilated to glovers.
On one Sunday morning, seated in an upper room, I happened to overlook an apartment op- posite, in which the maker was endeavoring to invest his customer in a pair of new buck-skins. The operator was a stout man, and his patient a small one, whose legs were inserted into the gar- ment, and the maker was in the act of thrusting his limbs home, as a sailor would say. He seized
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the waistband, and shook the tenant of the breeches into them, raising him from the floor at cach effort, until the bare-skin and buck-skin were in such close contact, that I cannot imagine how a separation was afterwards effected. That was a perfect fit.
A humorous old gentleman used to tell how he went a-courting in a new pair of buck-skins. It was in the country, and in November, that he mounted his horse and his new breeches.
Before he reached the residence of his dulcinea it began to rain, the wet buckskin stretched so as to permit easy movement, and in this condition he dismounted, but at each step, as the leather rubbed in contact, it sounded p-i-s-h, p-i-s-h, and to this music he entered the parlor, where the ladies were seated around a cheerful fire. They could not suppress a smile at the tones of the leather, and the Major, for my hero was a Major, felt the perspiration oozing out in spite of the cold. As he stood before the fire making his obeisance and compliments to the ladies as deliberately and as gracefully as cir- cumstances permitted, he suddenly found himself enveloped in a cloud. He looked round for the , cause, and to his dismay and confusion discovered it to be the combined effects of heat and moisture on his breeches. He could not stand the smiles which the ladies in vain endeavored to conceal, and as the fog increased in density every moment, the
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Major, like a skillful soldier, retreated under cover of it. He called for his horse, made an apology to his host of sudden indisposition, or something else, and, taking leave, attempted to mount, but his buckskins, tho' expanded by the wet, had so contracted by the heat that he could not raise his foot to the stirrup. Uncavalierly as it was, he ordered the groom to lead the horse where there was vantage ground for mounting, and here, after two or three desperate efforts, he at length attained the saddle, but, in doing so, he found, to the anni- hilation of his vanity and of his hopes, that his buckskins had proved false, and had ripped from stem to stern, and, casting his eyes round to see if he was observed, he detected the ladies at the win- dow in convulsions of laughter at his discomfiture.
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