A southern planter

Front matter

A

SOUTHERN PLANTER.

BY

Preface

father’s descendants. Should this be so, I shall not regret laying bare much that is private and sacred.

He was like his Jaqueline ancestors in appearance. The “grand look” of the first Jaquelines and what we knew as the “Jaqueline black eyes” were his. Several times in his life he was asked as a favor by painters to sit for his portrait j on two occasions by distinguished artists whom he met casually. “I want a patrician head for an historical picture that I am painting,” ono said.

He never suspected any one of wishing to be otherwise than strictly upright, and, consequently, was frequently defrauded in his dealings with dishonest people. Once, during the latter years of lus life, when in extremest poverty, he made a rather worse bargain than usual.

“I do not think that you ever made a good bargain in your life,” some one said.

“ Ho, I never tried,” was the emphatic answer. “A good bargain always means that somebody makes a bad one.”

“ Uncle Tom,” one of his brother’s children said to him, “why do you deny yourself everything? Your credit is good. You could get thousands of dollars if you chose.”

“ Yes, my dear, my credit is good ; and I mean to keep it so,” he replied, in a manner that precluded further argument on that subject.

S. D. S.

Baltimore, 1303 John Street, June 1, 1886.

Contents

CHAPTER PAQH

I. — Birth and Early Years 17

II. — Marriage and Life at Elmington .... 31

Introduction

GENEALOGICAL.

In the fair land of France the old Huguenot namo and family of d’Aubigne still live. They form but a small colony in their native land, never having increased much. From the earliest times they seem to have had a strong religious vein.* All the branches of this family in America claim a common ancestry. They have the same armorial bearings, — an elephant’s head, three footless martins, and the fleurs-de-lis of France, — the same traditions, and the same motto, which they hold in three languages. In France they have the motto in the Latin, Fidelis et Grata. One of the American branches has it in French, Fidele et Reconnaissant ; while most of the name in the United States have it in English, Faithful and Grateful.

The name has undergone many changes since the American branch left France, two centuries ago. It is variously written, as Daubeny, Daubney, Bigny, D’aubenay, Dabnee, and Dabney.

The traditions among all say that they are descended from that fearless Huguenot leader, Agrippa d’Aubigne, who flourished from 1550 to 1630.

But Agrippa was not the first of his name known at the French court. According to tradition in the family, a d’Aubigne commanded a company of Swiss guards at the court of Louis XII.

Agrippa d’Aubigne wrote a minute history of the

* The following is an extract from “ Don Miff,” a romance written by my brother, V, Dabney : “ This Huguenot cross gave the old Whacker stock a twist towards theology. Two of the sons of Thomas and Elizabeth took orders, much to the surprise of their father.”

INTRODUCTION.

fearful times in which he lived, — one of the best that has come down to us. Agrippa was the father of Constant d’Aubigne, who was the father of Mme. de Maintenon, and her brother, Chevalier d’Aubigne. Constant d’Aubigne was twice married. The first wife, Ann Marchant, left a son Theodore. The second wife, Jeanne Cardillac, was the mother of Mme. de Maintenon and Chevalier d’Aubigne; the latter was never married. The d’Aubigne line was continued through Ann Marchant’s son, Theodore.

We find the name on the rolls of Battle Abbey among the list of knights who fell at Hastings. Others survived the conquest, and are mentioned in Hume’s History as champions of Magna Charta.

After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), a branch of the d’Aubigne family left forever the land of their ancestors, because they could no longer there worship God with freedom of conscience. They took refuge in Wales. Somewhere between 1715 to 1717 two brothers, Cornelius and John d’Aubigne, left this land of their adoption, and sailed for America. Perhaps about the same time their brother Robert came over, and fixed his home in Boston. Cornelius and John came to Virginia and settled on the two banks of the Pamunkey River, — Cornelius on the northern and John on the southern side.

In the hand-book in the land office of Richmond, Virginia, is recorded: “ Cornelius de Bany, or de Bones or de Bony — a grant of land (200 acres) in New Kent, dated 27th September, 1664. Again, another grant to same of 640 acres, dated June 7th, 1666. Again, this last grant was on Tolomoy Creek, York River. Again, Sarah Dabney, a grant of land (179 acres) on Pamunkey River, in King and Queen Co., April 25th, 1701.” Then follow other grants to other Dabneys in these early days of our country.

Prom Robert d’Aubigne, of Boston, sprang the men who for three generations, and almost from the beginning of our republic, have held the United States consulate in the Azores, or Western Islands. During this period the government has seen many changes, but only

INTRODUCTION.

one attempt has been made during eighty years to take the consulship out of the hands of the descendants of Robert d’Aubigne. They have borne themselves so well in their office as to win the confidence of Whig and Democrat and Republican. Under General Grant’s administration it was thought advisable, for political reasons, to bestow this consulship on Mr. Cover. Accordingly, in 1869, it was taken from Charles William Dabney and given to Mr. Cover. Charles William Dabney, who had succeeded his father in the consulate, who had held it since 1806, received the new consul in his own house, as he could not be suitably accommodated elsewhere. But Mr. Cover lived only two years, and on his death the consulate passed again into the hands of the Dabney family. Charles W. Dabney had held it for forty-three years. He did not desire it again, feeling too old to serve. His son, Samuel W. Dabney, was appointed consul in 1872, and still holds the office. Honorable mention was made by President Cleveland, in reappointing him to the consulate, of the services of Samuel W. Dabney. A younger brother of Charles W. Dabney, William H. Dabney, held for twenty years the consulship of the Canary Islands, having resigned in 1882.

In the court record at Hanover Court-House, unfortunately destroyed in the Richmond conflagration of 1865, occurred this entry in the first minute-book of that county, at the beginning of the entries, which were begun when the county was cut off from Hew Kent County, in 1726 :

“ Ordered, that it be recorded that on — day of April, 1721, Cornelius Dabney, late of England,* intermarried with Sarah Jennings.” All accounts agree that his first wife died soon after coming to Virginia, leaving ar. only son, George. From this English George came the William Dabney who gave two sons to the Revolutionary army, — Charles, who commanded the Dabney Legion, and George, who was a captain in that legion. The brothers were present at the siege of

* He seems to have gone to England before coming to America.

INTRODUCTION.

Yorktown and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. They received the thanks of Congress for services rendered. George Dabney’s powder-horn, that he carried into battle, is still in existence, and in the possession of one of his descendants. Patrick Henry, who was a kinsman and companion of these brothers, was on very intimate terms with them.

From the marriage of Cornelius Dabney and Sarah Jennings sprang three sons and four daughters. The descendants of their half-brother George and of this band of brothers and sisters have their homes in Louisa and Hanover Counties. Of late years they have spread over nearly every State in the South and Southwest, and some have found their way to the Middle States.

The distinguished Presbyterian minister, Rev. Robert L. Dabney, well known as the author of the “ Life of Stonewall Jackson,” and now professor in the State University of Texas, is descended from Cornelius Dabney’s son George.

John Dabney established himself on the lower Pamunkey River, at what has been known ever since as Dabney’s Ferry, and this became the original nest of the Dabneys of King William and Gloucester Counties.

“Most of the families of Lower Virginia are descended from John d’Aubigne; also the Carrs, Walters, Taylors, Pendletons, Nelsons, Robinsons, and Carters and Fontaines, Beverleys and Maurys, the Lees, of Loudoun, the Seldens and Alexanders, of Alexandria. There is hardly a Huguenot or Cavalier family in Virginia that has not in its veins an infusion of the blood of that sturdy confessor, Agrippa d’Aubigne. From the original pair of French Huguenots, married in 1685, no less than six thousand descendants have their names inscribed on a gigantic family-tree. Several thousand more could be added, if the twigs and boughs were filled out with the names of the lineal descendants known to exist.”

John d’Aubigne was married twice. George was the offspring of his first marriage. James, his son by his second wife, was famous for his great strength.

INTRODUCTION.

George was twice married, and died, leaving two sons, George and Benjamin, by his first wife, and two, James and Thomas, by his second wife. His second son, Benjamin, refused to receive his share of his father’s property, leaving it to be used in educating his younger half-brothers. His brother George lived at the old homestead, Dabney’s Ferry, and became the father of sixteen children, eleven of whom lived to be grown. Of these, four were sons and seven daughters. These sisters were noted for their beauty. One of them, Mary Eleanor, attracted the admiration of General Lafayette.

A daughter of this lady, now sixty-seven years of age, writes thus :

“General Lafayette, you know, visited this country in 1825. He was the guest of the city in Richmond. Ho private house could do for his entertainment, but a suite of rooms in the great Eagle Hotel was secured for him. I have seen the rooms many a time, as my mother boarded there with my brother and myself. Cousin H. R. was the most gifted person with her pen, and she would, with indelible ink, make lovely leaves, flowers, doves, or scrolls, with the name in them. Well, Lafayette’s pillow-cases were of the finest linen, marked by her with her own hair , which was a lovely auburn, very long and smooth and even, and a motto was also on them with the name. I saw them often. I believe he was in Richmond some time. All his pillow-cases were marked in that way. My dear mother had then been a widow four years, and was only twenty-four years old, and in the very height of her heauty. Everybody who could get to Richmond was there to see the great welcome of the city to Lafayette. Many people were not even able to find shelter. Of course, my mother and young aunts were among those who went there. There was a hall, spoken of to this day as the Lafayette Hall. My mother danced with him and became well acquainted. People used to come over with such tales to grandpa’s, and he made me cry many a time, teasing me by saying that mother was going to marry Lafayette and go to France to eat frogs. You

INTRODUCTION.

know Lafayette was a married man, well advanced in years ; but, of course, I did not know that. He really told several persons, Mrs. H. among them, that my mother was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, either in France or America. When he left Richmond many ladies kissed him, and he requested a kiss from my mother.”

Benjamin Dabney married first Miss Patsy Armstead. She lived only a few years, leaving three children, George, Benjamin, and Ann. A year or two later he married his second wife, Miss Sarah Smith, the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Smith. My father was one of the children of this marriage. The sons, George and Benjamin, grew up to be of so great physical strength as to become famous at their college of William and Mary. In physical development they resembled their grandfather’s half-brother, James Dabney, who bears the surname of “ the Powerful” on the family-tree. George went into the navy, and was engaged in the battle of Tripoli, and was so fortunate as to save Decatur’s life in that fight. He grew tired of the navy and left it for a planter’s life. Benjamin also became a planter, and married his cousin, Ann West Dabney, the daughter of his uncle George.

The Smiths from whom my father was descended on the maternal side were known in Virginia as the Shooter’s Hill Smiths, — Shooter’s Hill, in Middlesex County, Virginia, being the home which they founded in this country. His mother was Sarah Smith, the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Smith, of Westmoreland County, a clergyman of the Established Church, and Mary Smith of Shooter’s Hill. The earliest record in the old Shooter’s Hill Bible is of the marriage of John Smith of Perton and Mary Warner of Warner Hall, Gloucester County, in the year 1680. One of Mary Warner’s sisters, Mildred, married the son of George Washington’s uncle, Lawrence Washington. A descendant of John Smith of Perton, General John Bull Davidson Smith of Hack wood, was a thorough Democrat, sharing with other Americans of that day in a revulsion and animosity against everything English.

INTRODUCTION .

Seeing that some of his family took more interest in genealogy and family records than he thought becoming in a citizen of the young republic, he made a bonfire of all the papers relating to his ancestors and family history. It is necessarily, therefore, rather a tradition than a fact recorded in family history, that John Smith of Perton was the son of Thomas Smith, the brother of the Captain John Smith so famous in colonial history. The Smiths of this line adopted Captain John Smith’s coat of arms, the three Turks’ heads, and now hold it.

The grandson of John Smith of Perton, John Smith of Shooter’s Hill, married in 1737 Mary Jaquoline, one of the three beautiful daughters of the French emigrant, Edward Jaqueline. The ceremony was performed at Jamestown by the Rev. William Dawson. They were the parents of Mary Smith of Shooter’s Hill, who was married in 1765 to the Rev. Thomas Smith. In Bishop Meade’s book on the old churches and families of Virginia are some interesting accounts of Mary Smith’s Jaqueline ancestors and Ambler relations. The following extracts are from his pages :

“ The old church at Jamestown is no longer to be seen, except the base of its ruined tower. A few tombstones, with the names of Amblers and Jaquelines, the chief owners of the island for a long time, and the Lees of Green Spring (the residence and property, at one time, of Sir William Berkeley), a few miles from Jamestown, still mark the spot where so many were interred during the earlier years of the colony. Some of the sacred vessels are yet to be seen, either in private hands or in public temples of religion. . . . The third and last of the pieces of church furniture — which is now in use in one of our congregations — is a silver vase, a font for baptism, which was presented to the Jamestown church in 1733 by Martha Jaqueline, widow of Edward Jaqueline, and their son Edward. In the year 1785, when the act of Assembly ordered the sale of church property, it reserved that which was passed by right of private donation. Under this clause it was given into the hands of the late Mr. John Ambler, his grandson. . .

INTRODUCTION.

“Edward Jaqueline, of Jamestown, was the son of John Jaqueline and Elizabeth Craddock, of the county of Kent, in England. He was descended from the same stock which gave rise to the noble family of La Roche Jaquelines in France. They were Protestants, and fled from La Vendee, in France, to England during tho reign of that bloodthirsty tyrant Charles IX., of France, and a short time previous to the massacre of St. Bartholomew. They were eminently wealthy, and were fortunate enough to convert a large portion of their wealth into gold and silver, which they transported in safety to England.”

“Whilst I was in Paris (says one of the travellers from America), in 1826, the Duke of Sylverack, who was the intimate friend of Mme. de La Roche Jaqueline (the celebrated authoress of ‘Wars of La Vendee’), informed me that the above account — which is the tradition among the descendants of the family in America — corresponds exactly with what the family in France believe to have been the fate of those Jaquelines who fled to England in the reign of Charles IX. I found the family to be still numerous in France. It has produced many distinguished individuals, but none more so than the celebrated Vendean chief, Henri de La Roche Jaqueline, who, during the revolution of 1790, was called to command the troops of La Vendee after his father had been killed, and when he was only nineteen years of age. Thinking that he was inadequate to the task, on account of his extreme youth and total want of experience in military affairs, he sought seriously to decline the dangerous honor; but the troops, who had been devotedly attached to the father and family, would not allow him to do so, and absolutely forced him to place himself at their head in spite of himself. As soon as he found that resistance was useless, he assumed the bearing of a hero and gave orders for a general review of his army : to which (being formed in a hollow square), in an animated and enthusiastic manner, he delivered this ever-memorable speech: ‘My friends, if my father were here you would have confidence in him; but as for me, I am nothing more than a mere child. But as

INTRODUCTION.

to my courage, I shall now show myself worthy to command you.’

“This young man started forth a military Eoscius, and maintained to the end of his career the high ground he first seized. After displaying all the ski if of* a veteran commander and all the courage of a most dauntless hero, he nobly died upon the field of battle, at the early age of twenty-one, thus closing his short but brilliant career.”

The Jaquelincs have English as well as French ancestors. A branch of the family in America still cherishes a lock of Queen Elizabeth’s red hair. This was acquired through Cary, Lord Hunsden, whom they claim as their English ancestor. His mother was Mary, daughter to Thomas Bullen and sister to the unfortunate Anne Bullen.

Through the Smiths and Jaquelincs my father was related to the Washingtons, Marshalls, Amblers, Joneses, Pages, Carys, and many other Virginia families. My fathers grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Smith, was not related to his wife, Mary Smith, although she bore the same name. The result of this union was a family of three sons and four daughters. Among the list of their mimes in the family Bible we find a Mary Jaqueline. Hueir fifth child, Sarah, was born on the 27th of February, 1775, and her brother, John Augustine, seven years later. A thirteen-year-old sister, Ann, was struck by lightning and burned to death in her closet.

Thomas Smith was rector of Homini Church, Cople Parish, Westmoreland County, from 1765 to 1789. At one time during the residence of his family at the rectory attached to this old church, there came an alarm that the British ships were coming up the Potomac River. The rector ordered everything that could be hastily collected to be put into a wagon to be driven off to a place of security. As the servants were engaged in loading up the wagon, the oxen moved one of the wheels against a plank on which a line ofH beehives were standing. The plank was upset and the hives thrown to the ground. The bees flew in every direction, stinging every living thing within reach.

INTRODUCTION.

The family and servants fled into the house. They were obliged to stuff even the keyholes to keep out the infuriated bees. The oxen ran entirely away, and the fowls which were in coops in the wagon were stung to death.

The Rev. Thomas Smith died in May, 1789. Two years later, in December, 1791, his wife died. In October, 1791, their daughter Sarah, in her seventeenth year, was married to Benjamin Dabnej’’. He was a widower with three children, though but twenty-seven years old. Sarah’s step-daughter, Ann, afterwards married her brother, Major Thomas Smith.

Benjamin Dabney had given up the family mansion at Dabney’s Ferry, together with his patrimony, on his father’s death, to his brother and his half-brothers, and lie made his home on the York River at Bellevue, in King and Queen County. He had also, to some extent, used his own means in the education of his half-brother, James Dabney, and his wife’s favorite brother, John Augustine Smith. Both young men received medical educations abroad,— James Dabney in Edinburgh, and John Augustine Smith in London and Paris. His kindness and trust were not misplaced. When his own early death deprived his children of a father’s care, Dr. James Dabney and Dr. John Augustine Smith were the best friends whom his children had.

MEMORIALS

OP

A SOUTHERN PLANTER.

Chapter I. Birth And Early Years

My father, Thomas Smith Gregory Dabney, was born at Bellevue, his father’s country-seat on the York River, in the county of King and Queen, Virginia, on the 4th day of January, 1798, and he used to tell us that he was two years in the world before General Washington left it.

Two brothers had died in infancy before his birth, and the vigorous boy was hailed with much rejoicing. The christening was a great event. It was celebrated at Bellevue on so large a scale that the cake for the feast was made in a churn. Often as children we heard the old servants refer with pride to this occasion, and to the large company invited to witness it. In the old Smith Bible, for the rebinding of which one hundred dollars of Continental money is said to have been paid, is found this entry, in his mother’s small, old-fashioned handwriting: “Thomas Smith Gregory Dabney, our third child, was born on the 4th day of January, 1798: was baptized the 1 1th May, 1798. His godfathers were Messrs. Robert Wirt, Harvey Gaines, Thomas G. Smith, James Dabney, Thomas Fox, and Fid ward Jones. His godmothers were Mrs. Lee, Miles. Milly Williams, Elizabeth Robinson, Mary S. Whiting, Mary Camp, and Ann S. Dabney, and Ann Baytop.” The first inb 2* 17 cident recorded of the baby was his great terror at the sight of a very ugly lady, a visitor of his mother’s. “Missis, he didn’t know if she was folks,” was his nurse’s explanation when his screams had drawn attention to her charge. When only one year of age he was inoculated, having been sent with his nurse to a public hospital, as the custom then was in Virginia. In due time he passed safely and without disfiguring marks through the dangers of varioloid. He used to relate to us that his mother had said that one of the happiest moments of her life was when her spool of cotton fell from her lap, her little Thomas, then eighteen months old, picked it up and handed it to her. When he was two years old his brother, Philip Augustine Lee, was born, and, two years later, his sister, Martha Burwell. This little flock were taught their letters and to read by a favorite servant, the daughter of their mother’s maid. Thomas had great difficulty in remembering one of the letters. Finally, a cake was promised, all for himself, if he would try still harder. So, all day he went about the house repeating “ Gr, G-,” and the next day, when lesson hour came, his mother put his cake before him as fairly earned.

My father’s recollections of his father were very distinct, considering that he died in the forty-third year of his age, when his son Thomas had only attained the tender age of eight years. The memory of this father was ever a most cherished one, and his children remember the almost pathetic manner in which in his own old ago he lamented the untimely cutting off of that young life and brilliant career.

Benjamin Dabney was at the head of the bar iri King and Queen County, and was engaged by the British government to settle British claims. In nearly every case that came to trial in his county he was engaged as counsel on one side. He was considered by his brethren in his profession to be the most learned man in the law in his section. The judge who at that time sat on the bench appealed to him when doubtful on any legal point, saying that Mr. Dabney knew the law, and there was no need to look into

BIRTH AND EARLY TEARS.

the books when he was at hand. My father used to tell us of his vivid recollections of seeing him drive home every evening when the court was in session. He was accompanied by his body-servant, who followed the gig on horseback, and who, after my grandfather got out, carried into the house the shot-bags of gold doubloons that had been stowed away under the seat in the gig-box. He sometimes brought home several of these. One of his fees amounted to four thousand dollars, which, considering that he died when barely in his prime, and the value of money at that time, was exceptionally large.

His eight-year- old son was already learning from him some of the fond, fatherly ways, which were destined years after to endear him to his own children and grandchildren, and which he practised in imitation of this tender father eighty years after that father was laid in his grave. One of our earliest recollections of our father was his having some treat for us alwa}Ts on his return home from a visit. This dainty was invariably put in the very bottom of his great-coat pocket, and the delightful mystery of feeling for that package and bringing it up to light, and then, with eager, expectant fingers untying the string before the treasure could bo seen, was a pleasure not to be forgotten. My father’s face at such times was one of the great charms of the scene, so merry and loving, and almost as full of the pleasant little excitement as the group of bright young ones gathered around him. In explanation to a visitor who might be looking on, he would say, “This is the way that my father treated me. I shall never forget how I enjoyed running my hand down in his great-coat pocket when he came back in the evening from court. I was always sure of finding there a great piece of what we called in Virginia ‘ court-house cake.’ ”

He was like his father in his thorough business methods and his punctuality. On the days when Benjamin Dabney did not attend court he retired to his study after breakfast, and his wife used to say that her orders were not to have him disturbed unless the house was afire. Promptly at three o’clock he left his booths and his business cares behind him in his study, and, after dressing for dinner, joined his family in the drawing-room. He was invariable in his rule of being there ten minutes before dinner was announce i, and he expected all in the house to conform to this. Many guests came and went at Bellevue, but this was never allowed to interfere with his business. After breakfast ho would say to the gentlemen, “ Here are guns and horses and dogs and books; pray amuse yourself as you like oest. I shall have the pleasure of meeting you at dinner.” After dinner he was like a boy on a holiday, ready to join in anything that was proposed, and the life of every party. He was so elegantly formed that after his death it was said that the handsomest legs in America were gone. His death was caused by a violent cold, contracted in the discharge of his law business. At this time a young and rising lawyer, Mr. Charles Hill, was already beginning to share many of the important cases and large fees with Benjamin Dabney. This gentleman was destined to become the father of a child who, years after, married the son of his rival, Benjamin Dabney, and whom we knew as our dearest mother.

Our faithful old nurse, Mammy Harriet, who grew up from childhood with my father, being only two years younger than himself, and who was scarcely ever separated from him, sits by me as I write, and she gives me an incident connected with the death of my grandfather too touching to be passed by.

“ Yes, honey,” she says in her affectionate way, that seems to claim us still as her babies, “ ’course I ’member when ole marster die. I ’member well de ole ’oman, Grannie Annie, who sot wid him night an’ day — sot wid de coffin up-stairs — all by herself; lay by de corpse all night long, put her arms roun’ de coffin, an’ hold on to it, cryin’ all night long. She foller de coffin twenty miles to Bellevue, whar dey bury him; foller behin’ it cryin’ an’ hollerin’ an’ hollerin’ an’ cryiu’ to marster to say how d’}re to Toby — dat was her son — an’ to Mars Gregory Smith, — dat was marster’s uncle, what was