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 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
" Signed by order and on behalf of the Common Hall.
" ROBERT MITCHELL, Mayor."
" To the Worshipful the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of Richmond :
"GENTLEMEN-I derive great honor from your congratulatory address, the language of which is too flattering not to have excited my utmost gratitude.
" To the smiles of Heaven, to a virtuous and gallant army, and to the exertions of my fellow-citizens of the Union, (not to superior talents of mine) are to be ascribed the blessings of that liberty, independence, and peace, of which we are now in the enjoyment.
151
THE HAY-SCALE WAR.
" Whilst these are afforded us, and whilst the advantages of commerce are not only offered, but are soliciting our accept- ance, it must be our own fault, indeed if we do not make them productive of a rich and plenteous harvest, and of that national honor and glory which should be characteristic of a rising empire.
" That this growing city may enjoy the benefits which are to be derived from them in the fullest extent-that it may improve such of the advantages as bountiful nature has bestowed, and that it may soon be ranked among the first in the Union for population, commerce, and wealth, is my sincere and fervent wish.
"GEORGE WASHINGTON."
CHAPTER X.
THE HAY-SCALE WAR.
SCARCELY any country or any community, how- ever peaceably disposed and however well gov- erned, can be always free from domestic feuds and internal commotions.
In the beginning of the present century, a dan- gerous feud arose in the city of Richmond, which threatened dismemberment or civil commotion, or as one of our most distinguished poets expresses it in prose, "Where a difficulty in the parish seemed to announce the end of the world !" The origin of the controversy was no less important
152
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
than the locating the first hay-scale erected in the city. As such a machine was considered beyond the skill of any American mechanic to construct, it was ordered from England, and on its arrival, the question arose, what part of the city should be honored by its erection therein ?
Each claimed the preference, and three parties were formed-the Creeks on the east, the Shockoes on the north, and an intermediate one, which I shall call the Carians. The discussions in and out of the Council waxed warmer at each renewal, until at last, as a rhymester of the day described it,
" The contest high and higher rose, Until from words they got to blows, As arguments of greatest stress That either party could express."
The newspapers were resorted to, and squibs and even epigrams, or attempts at them, were penned on the occasion. Such was the excitement that one party, fearing a defeat, and preferring, like the Czar, destruction to disgrace, threatened to throw the scales into the river.
At length the James River Company fortu- nately threw a sop to this Cerberus, by offering a piece of ground for the erection of the scales on Cary street near the Basin, then nearly com- pleted, and also offered to bear a part of the expense, on condition that the Company might have the use of the scales, when not otherwise
153
THE HAY-SCALE WAR.
employed. Not the first time that the scales of justice were influenced by interested motives.
The Creek nation and the Shockoes had to suc- cumb, and the city was saved. The flow of ink ceased, and that of blood was averted.
The scales yet retain their position, and the only objection to it was discovered too late-to wit, that the ascent to the platform, and the restricted limits of approach to it were such, that wagons laden with hay found great difficulty in reaching it, and it fell into disuse.
The defeated nations obtained their triumphs in turn. Each was honored with an independent hay-scale, and the Carians retain the empty honor of an empty platform.
How many wars originate from causes almost as puerile, and terminate in as little benefit to the victor and as little injury to the vanquished !
154
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
CHAPTER XI.
TWO PARSONS AND NE'ER A CHURCH.
" Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !"
It is a remarkable fact that Richmond was with- out a church of any denomination in the early part of the present century, and previously, except the venerable old parish church of St. John's, on Church Hill, where religious service was performed before the Revolution, and where the first burst of political regeneration was uttered by Patrick Henry, in the emphatic words, " GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!"-and almost at the moment that I write the words (August, 1855), there is being elevated on the Capitol Square the splendid statue of that orator, by Crawford, represented in the very act of uttering words even more memora- ble, as being the grand outburst of the spirit of Liberty, personified by Henry at the age of 29, when after the passage of the stamp act, he elec- trified the House of Burgesses in 1765, with the grand peroration, "Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles his Cromwell, and George the Third"-the cry of
155
TWO PARSONS AND NE'ER A CHURCH.
"Treason ! Treason !" interrupted him for an instant-and he added-"may profit by their example-if this be treason, make the most of it." Such an occasion justified the impassioned repre- sentation of the orator by the sculptor-a work des- tined, if others were wanting, to immortalize both.
The use of the old church by the apostles of liberty was not considered a desecration, except by those who advocated a union of Church and State, and adored monarchy in the infallible person of George III. The liberty invoked here was be- sought with the aid and blessing of Heaven, and it was granted and has been perpetuated. How dif- ferent was the spurious imitation in France, where religion was abolished and infidelity proclaimed ; where a sort of heathen worship was adopted, by personifying Liberty as a goddess, who proved her title by permitting to her worshippers all sorts of freedom-a Liberty that did not survive the cour- tezan who personated her.
The only other building erected for religious worship, at the time first adverted to, was the Quaker Meeting-house, yet standing on Cary and Nineteenth streets, but in rather a dilapidated con- dition ;* the number of members of that society,
* A few days after the the publication of the 1st edition of this book, the Spirit or the book moved some liberal Friends to" repair the house and also the wall around the burial ground and grass plat, which was gradually falling into the street.
156
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
once large, being much diminished. Some thirty odd years ago there was a great exodus of them from Southampton and other counties, to the West. They carried to Ohio the art of curing bacon-but I have wandered from my text .*
Other religious denominations had occasional places of worship only, for occasional preachers- mere barns, where no regular weekly service was performed.
But this lack of churches in Richmond gave rise to a beautiful illustration of Christian love and union.
The population of Church Hill was then very sparse, consisting of only a few families, and the distance to the old church, from that part of the city where it was comparatively dense, was too great for worshippers to attend, especially in the condition of the unpaved streets in those days. The hall of the House of Delegates was the only apartment in the city sufficiently spacious for a
* Such was the spirit of intolerance in Virginia in former days, that, in 1663, a fine of five thousand pounds of tobacco was incurred by any ship-master who should bring Quakers to reside in the Colony, and the same fine by any person who should entertain a Quaker in or near his house to preach or teach. It is the more remarkable that the number of Quakers in Virginia should have become so large, but persecution acts per- haps like the pressure on a spring, and increases the re-action.
The Colony of North Carolina offered an asylum to the Quakers and other dissenters expelled from Virginia.
157
TWO PARSONS AND NE'ER A CHURCH.
place of worship, and to this purpose it was de- voted on the Sabbath.
But there were two ministers of different de- nominations, with each a congregation, and only one hall for worship. Parson Buchanan was an Episcopalian, Parson Blair a Presbyterian. Which one should claim the pulpit ? He who had the largest congregation, or he who had most influence with the Executive and Legislature ? The two parsons did not test the question. The fraternal appellation which each gave to the other was based on real brotherly love.
On each alternate Sunday, the one and the other occupied the movable pulpit, which disappeared on week days, and such was the spirit of tolerance and liberality which the example of the pastors had inspired in their congregations, that the same in- dividuals formed a large portion of the worshippers on every Sabbath.
These two clergymen were beloved throughout the community for their many virtues. They were not ascetics, but liked to see their flocks gay and happy, and to promote and to partake of such feel- ings within proper bounds. Each possessed a fund of wit, and was liberal in expending it. The humorous poetical sallies of each, usually addressed to the other, caused many a smile to be wreathed. But I have something to record of these clerical
14
158
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
brethren which shows their characters in a more beautiful light.
Mr. Buchanan was a bachelor, and by the death of a brother inherited a competency. Mr. Blair was a married man, dependent on his parishioners and on his school for the support of a large family. Probably by some logical argument, on a witty basis, Mr. Buchanan proved that Mr. Blair was entitled to all the clerical fees of both. If not log- ically, he carried his point practically, and no Episcopal couple were married, nor an Episcopal child christened, that the fee, if any was forthcom- ing, did not help to expand the slim purse of the Presbyterian brother.
On one occasion, Mr. Buchanan played a joke on Mr. Blair, in this wise: A gentleman had en- gaged Mr. Buchanan to perform the marriage ser- vice in the country, some twenty or thirty miles distant, but omitted to provide a conveyance for him. At the appointed time Mr. Buchanan hired a carriage for two days, made the outward journey, and made the twain one-partook of the wedding supper, and no doubt enlivened it. On the next day, as he gave the couple his parting benediction, the bridegroom slipped into his hand a rather heavy rouleau.
The kind-hearted parson inwardly chuckled at the handsome fee he had earned for his brother.
159
TWO PARSONS AND NE'ER A CHURCH.
He was anxious to unroll the paper, expecting to find ten half joes enveloped, but he restrained his impatience until out of sight of the wedding folks ; then, to his surprise and disappointment, he discov- ered ten half dollars ! Vexation could not long retain its place with him, and soon gave way to the opposite feeling. He determined, if he could not put a fee into Mr. Blair's pocket, he would get some fun out of him. So, on his return home, he drew out a regular account thus :
The Rev. J. D. BLAIR,
To the Rev. J. BUCHANAN.
To hire of a carriage two days, at $5, -
- - $10 To horse-feed and other expenses to and fro, - 3 -
-$13
By wedding fee received from Mr. 5
Balance due to J. Buchanan,
- $8
The memory of these good men is enshrined in the hearts of their survivors.
A contemporary of these Reverend gentlemen was the Abbé Dubois, a Catholic Priest of talent and distinction, and, like them, free from intoler- ance, so that they enjoyed each other's society. The Abbé escaped from France during the reign of terror, and came to Richmond at the close of the last or early in the present century. He obtained permission to perform the services of his church in the court-room of the Capitol-the present Senate Chamber-on the opposite side of the hall to that
160
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
in which his Episcopal and Presbyterian friends officiated.
The Abbe taught a French class in Harris's school, and also gave lessons to a select few at his own residence, in the small wooden-house which is supplanted by the new Custom-house and Post- office. When the Abbé left Richmond, a farewell supper was given to him by a brother teacher, Mr. Dunn, at which his clerical friends were among the guests. He closed his career, years afterwards, as Catholic Bishop of New York. One of his pupils, now almost an octogenarian, to whom I am indebted for this, speaks of him as a learned, accomplished and amiable man.
The humble residence of Mr. Blair yet stands at the north-west corner of Leigh and Seventh. The not less simple one of Mr. Buchanan, at the north- east end of Mayo's Bridge, has disappeared.
Since those primitive times, I have seen many churches built, and many of them converted into tobacco factories, bakeries, concert halls, dwellings, &c., but only to be substituted by larger and better edifices, and now Richmond contains as many and as handsome places of worship as any city of its size.
Within the last two or three years, in walking round little more than a square (now sub-divided), one would pass these various places of worship-a Campbellite (Disciples), a Baptist, an Episcopalian,
161
TWO PARSONS AND NE'ER A CHURCH.
an African Baptist, an Unitarian, a Methodist Episcopal, and a Presbyterian church, and a Syna- gogue.
It may be interesting, for future reference, to enumerate the places of worship in Richmond, and their pastors at the present time-May, 1860.
EPISCOPAL .- St. John's .- Grace and 25th street, Church Hill, Rev. J. T. Points, pastor.
Monumental .- Broad, below 12th, Rev. Geo. Woodbridge, D. D. St. James .- Marshall and 5th, Rev. Joshua Peterkin, pastor. St. Paul's .- Corner of Grace and 9th, Rev. Charles Minne- gerode, D. D.
Grace .- Corner Main and Foushee, Rev. F. Baker.
BAPTIST .- First .- Broad and 12th, Rev. J. L. Burrows, D. D. Second .- Corner Main and 6th, Rev. L. W. Seeley.
Grace Street .- Grace and Foushee, Rev. J. B. Jeter, D. D. Leigh Street .- Leigh and 25th, Church Hill, Rev. E. J. Willis. Oregon .- Oregon Hill.
First African .- Broad and College, Rev. Robert Ryland. Second African .-- Byrd, between 1st and 2d.
Third African .-- Leigh, near Brook avenue.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL .- Trinity .- Franklin, east of 14th street.
Rev. J. D. Blackwell; about to be transferred to corner of Broad and 20th.
Centenary .- Grace, near 5th, Rev. W. H. Wheelwright.
Broad Street .- Broad and 10th, Rev. Jas. A. Duncan, pastor. Clay Street .-- Clay and Adams, Rev. J. J. Waggener.
Union Station .- 24th street, Union Hill, Rev. W. W. Bennett. Oregon Chapel .- Oregon Hill.
[ Wesley Chapel .- 17th, near Venable, Rev. Mr. Bellman. Sidney Chapel .- Sidney, Rev. J. M. Saunders.
Rockett's Chapel .- Rockett's, Rev. Mr. Bellman.
African Methodist .-- 3d, between Leigh and Jackson, Rev. G. W. Nolley.
162
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
PRESBYTERIAN .- First .- Capitol and 10th, Rev. T. V. Moore, D. D.
Second .- 5th, near Main, Rev. M. D. Hoge, D. D.
United .-- Corner Franklin and 8th, Rev. C. H. Read, D. D.
Third .-- Corner Broad and 25th, Rev. Mr. Mitchell.
Duval Chapel .- Corner Duval and Adams, Rev. J. J. Mc- Mahon.
ROMAN CATHOLIC .-- St. Peter's Cathedral .- Corner Grace and 8th, Right Rev. John McGill, assisted by Rev. J. Teeling, D. D., and Rev. J. Brady.
St. Mary's .-- (German. )-Marshall, near 4th, Rev. Jos. Polk. New .- Not consecrated, Church Hill.
HEBREW SYNAGOGUES .-- Kaal Kadosh Beth Shalome .- (Holy house of Peace.)-Mayo street, Mr. Geo. Jacobs reader.
Kaal Kadosh Beth Ahiba (Holy house of Love) .-- (German.) 11th, near Marshall, Rev. M. J. Michelbacher minister. SOCIETY OF FRIENDS .- Corner Cary and 19th.
DISCIPLES .- Sycamore Church .- 11th, near Marshall, Rev. W. J. Pettigrew.
UNIVERSALIST .- Mayo street, Rev. Mr. Shrigley.
GERMAN LUTHERAN .- 5th, above Jackson, Rev. Mr. Hoyer.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN .-- Bethlehem .- Between Clay and Leigh, Rev. Mr. Gross.
This chapter commenced with "ne'er a church," it con- cludes with nearly forty.
163
CEMETERIES.
CHAPTER XII.
CEMETERIES.
"There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."
THE old church-yard of St. John's has been fully tenanted for a number of years, and its tombstones are memorials of many worthies, whose names might else have passed from the present generation. After an absence of some fifteen or twenty years, I re-visited it, and obtained the mel- ancholy recognition of the names of more of my old friends and acquaintances, inscribed on the tombstones, than I found on the door-plates and sign-boards of the living generation. It recalled " the memory of past joys, pleasant but mournful to the soul."
This sacred spot has not been exempt from the barbarous desecration of the idle and worthless. The perpetration of such sacrilegious mischief is one of the most disgraceful traits of the basest characters. Tombs have been mutilated, if not destroyed, but many of them have mouldered or toppled over from neglect. One of the oldest, however, dated 1751, almost coeval with the church, remains unimpaired, except being cracked
164
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
by the fall of a tree, and its preservation is at- tended with some mystery. It covers the remains of the Rev. Mr. Rose, the worthy grandsire of a worthy grand-daughter, the wife and widow of Gov. Pleasants, and who has recently followed them to the tomb.
This ancient cemetery has been much neglected of late years, and looks as though the present generation had other occupation than to think of the past, but the mysterious preservation of the tomb of Mr. Rose, shows that there was a remnant of "Old Mortality " that loved his memory. His tombstone was repaired from the effects of time and of the elements, at regular intervals and by unseen hands, until within the last few years, when probably a tombstone covers those kind hands. In my boyhood, the Sexton of this old and only cemetery, was a woman, Mrs. Bowers by name, and well stricken in years. Her sons were her assistants. She was a Meg Merrilies in bone and muscle, and several times have I seen her, waist or shoulder deep in the earth, apparelled in loose trousers. As she was out of bloom, her motive for wearing the garment could not be impeached- as she was a widow, her husband could not com- plain of the usurpation, and she was one of the few instances of the justifiable assumption of them.
A second general cemetery called Shockoe Hill, near the Poor-house, has been filled and extended,
165
CEMETERIES.
and a third, "the Hollywood," is now being ten- anted; and it is, or will be, the most beautiful Necropolis anywhere to be found. Nature has done her part in hills, valleys, rivulets, and woods, and Art has embellished, without rendering formal, the beauties of Nature. The landscape embraces every variety-forest and placid stream, hills crowned with woods, or with steeples, shaded valleys and blazing furnaces, bridges, on which railroad vehicles are moving sixty feet in the air, and, almost beneath your feet, boats gliding on the graceful curve of a broad canal. In the distance, vast flour-mills and factories, and beyond them the vessels to be laden with their products ; the perspective closing with cultivated fields, whose grain serves partly to supply those mills.
May the spirits of those whose mortal remains repose in this earthly resting-place, look down on it from a heavenly one !
[P. S .- The Oakwood Cemetery, at the eastern end of the city, is now receiving its first uncon- scious tenants-1858.
A Roman Catholic Cemetery has recently been established near the city, on the Mechanicsville road.
The Hebrew burial ground adjoins that of Shockoe Hill, mentioned above.]
.
166
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
CHAPTER XIII.
CITIZENS OF YORE.
" Honor and shame from no condition rise ; Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
MR. ROSE, the jailor, and others whom I will intro- duce, illustrated the truth of these lines. He flour- ished at the close of the last and early in the present century. In his full suit of black, including shorts and hose, which well suited his tall and dig- nified figure, one would rather suppose that he had charge of a church than of a jail. He was a worthy and kind-hearted gentleman, whose society and that of his family was as highly prized as if he was master of a palace instead of a prison.
His house, which stood on the present open space in front of the County Court-house (which occupies the site of the old jail), was not attractive externally, and the stronghold in the rear of it, called by its occupants Rose's Brig, had still less outward charms, and certainly none within ; but it, like the dwelling, had many visitors, though not voluntary ones. Their condition, however, was ren- dered as comfortable as was compatible with the duty of their custodian.
167
CITIZENS OF YORE.
Rose's Brig (erroneously called Jug in the 1st edition) obtained its name thus : A sailor, who was imprisoned there, said to Mr. Rose that he could paint pictures, and if he had the canvas and other materials, he would paint one for Mr. R. The sailor's offer was accepted, and the picture of a brig in full sail was gradually developed on the canvas, tacked to the wall.
One morning, when Mr. Rose called to see the imprisoned artist, he was not visible, and on raising the canvas, which was partly untacked, a port hole in the wall was disclosed, out of which the sailor had discharged himself, and the name of the vessel was transferred to the prison.
I have introduced the worthy Mr. Rose, as the precursor of his son-in-law, under whose rod and ferule I advanced in Dilworth as far as words of two syllables, and I now beg leave to introduce His Honor, the Most Worshipful
* ₭ * * * * * ", a very long name for a very short man; but though short in stature, Mr. ** ** * * was not a man to be overlooked. He came from some unpronounceable place in Wales, and had served on board a British man- of-war at the seige of Gibraltar by Spain. That was the only datum by which to calculate his age, which he never disclosed, and time did not betray it ; a score of years scarcely made any impression on his appearance, and gray hairs could not betray
168
RICHMOND IN BY-GONE DAYS.
him, for no locks of any color decorated his expan- sive bald pate. Tired of naval gunnery in the Old World, he sought "to teach the young idea how to shoot"' in the New. What vicissitudes intervened between his avocations as powder-monkey and ped- agogue, I cannot say, but in the latter he served many years, acquiring in it both cash and credit. He descended from this magisterial bench, to as- cend a more lofty one, but of this presently. He changed, but did not abandon his literary occupa- tions. Instead of using school books, he vended them; nor did he contract his sphere within the bounds of spelling books and arithmetics. Lit- erature in general, music and book-binding came within his scope. City honors awaited him ; and, by gradual advances, he attained to the office of Mayor, which he filled with much dignity. He also became Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. Mr. ****** was a patron of the fine arts, and more especially of music. He was one of the founders of the Musical Society that held its regular concerts at Tanbark Hall ; and on these occasions, it may be truly said,
" With nose and chin he figured in ;"
for those features were in him exceedingly promi- nent, and as, like most short men, he held his head exceedingly high, he could not be otherwise than conspicuous among the harmonious band, as was his
169
CITIZENS OF YORE.
bass-viol, even taller than himself. This society contained several other members in strong contrast to each other, whose faces and figures, and ecstatic gestures, would have furnished a group worthy of the pencil of Hogarth.
Mr. ********* * was a good and charitable,
though not a pious man. Of his deficiency in the latter respect I would hesitate to speak, had he not given the cue, by telling a story on himself. Horsemanship was not his forte, nor could he be expected to excel in that amongst his other accom- plishments. Very short legs, a seafaring life, and that of a dominie, were not favorable to the acquire- ment of equestrian skill. On one occasion, when in the saddle, his steed got the whip-hand of him ; and, fearing a fatal result, he attempted to offer up a prayer, but the only one he could recollect was. the first he had learned; and he poured forth-
"Now I lay me down to sleep."
Mr. ***** ***** (I love to behold the con- stellation of his name, which I do not breathe, tho' it sleeps not in the shade) retained on the bench of justice the magisterial air he had acquired at the tutor's desk, and in every situation preserved his dignity, whether at the festive board, the whist table, or the music stand. He literally shone in every station that he occupied ; his capacious bald head reflecting the light in all directions, like a
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.