The two parsons : Cupid's sports; The dream; and The jewels of Virginia

Front matter

"is- ,f

OO

N - Vt- V

Chapter I, — Introduction of the Parsons, ... 23

Chapter II. — Two Denominations in One, ... 36 Chapter III. — Why they Preached together, and how they

Disposed of their Fees, . . . . . . .50

Chapter IV.— The Winston Family, .... 57

Chapter V. — The Mamage of Jemmy Winston, . . 78 Chapter VI. — Parson Buchanan Ministering to the Sick, . 93 Chapter VII. — Parson Blair's Sermon, "I go a fishing," . 105 Chapter VIII.— Dinner with Mr. Munford, . . .125 Chapter IX. — Mr. Rutherfoord's connection with our Parsons. — The Oratory of Samuel D. Denoon, . . . 138 Chapter X. — Richmond Light Infantry Blues' Dinner, . 154 Chapter XI. — Parson Blair's School for Boys, . . . 168 Chapter XII. — Death of William Blak. — Sermon by Parson

Chapter XIII. — Election for Member of Congress, . . 202 Chapter XIV. — Duel between Parson Buchanan and Colonel

Tateham, 212

Chapter XV. — The Partridge Hunt, and the Parson's Sermon

on Hunting, 234

Chapter XVI. — Parson Blair's Female Seminary, . . 265 Chapter XVII. — Parson Buchanan's Mode of Discharging

Parochial Duties. — The Cobbler and his Shoe, . . 276

Viii COKTENTS.

Chapter XVm. — Parson Blair's Dinner Party, . . . 289

Chapter XIX.— The ImiDOsition upon Parson Buchanan,

and how he turned it to advantage, .... 308

Chapter XX. — Miss Lnly Ingledon Reading a Gentleman's

Countenance, and giving him an Answer Unquestioned, 219

Chapter XXI. — Dinner at Buchanan's Spring. — Barbecue

Club, J^26

Chapter XXII. — Mrs. Ingledon, Col. Eobert Brain tree and

Mr. Thomas Clairborne, 342

Chapter XXIII. —Parson Blaii-'s Snack. —Chancellor "Wythe, 357

Chapter XXIV. — Mrs Ingledon and her Daughter. — A Parlor Lecture. — Col. Brain tree and Miss Luly. — Our Thom and Little Luly, ........ 366

Chapter XXV. — The Genealogy of the Braintrees, and the

Arrangements for Col. Braintree's Wedding, . . . 380

Chapter XXVI. — Unexpected Interview between Little .

Luly and Mr. Claiborne, 393

Chapter XXVII. — The Assembling of the Guests at the

Marriage, 404

Chapter XXVin.— Chancellor Wythe's Death. . . .41^

Chapter XXIX.— The Richmond Academy and the Burning of the Theatre, 434

Chapter XXX.— Conclusion of the Wlaole Matter, . . 450

Cupid's Sports. — No. I., 470

The Jewels of VrRGnsriA, 542

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.

COLONEL GEORGE WYTHE MUNFORD, the author of the sketches contained in this vohime, was for more than half a century well known, as an accomplished public officer in the legislative and executive departments of the State. His reputation as a literary man has been confined to (comparatively) a small circle of intimate friends, who thoroughly appreciated his varied talents. The followingpublication will, we trust, introduce him to a much wider circle, and give those who were acquainted with him only in his public capacity, an opportunity to know and admire him in the more endearing relations of private life.

"We propose to select from a variety of notices, runningthrough an extended period, a few paragraphs, which will give to those who are not familiar with his services in the councils of the State, and with his social qualities, a just estimate of his character as a citizen, of his ability as a statesman, and of his virtues as a patriot and Christian.

We present from the correspondence proposing his name as a candidate for the office of governor, in 1863, such extracts as will furnish, in a concise form, many striking particulars of his public and private career, and show the esteem in which he was held by those who knew him best.

A letter was addressed to him by a number of influential gentlemen of Richmond— representative men of all parties. After sketching the circumstances of the times and the perilous condition of public affairs, they say :

" At so troublous an epoch in our history, the man who should uphold the sovereignty and protect the interests of the State, should possess a deep and abiding affection for Virginia, an inflexible resolution never to see her integrity impaired, a thorough acquaintance with her resources and the genius and temper of her people, a large knowledge of the science, and a ready familiarity with the practical details of government, and a character above reproach. Believing that you combine these qualities in an eminent degree, and recognizing the invaluable and distinguished services you have rendered the State in many posts of usefulness through a long series of years, we ask authority to place your name before the people of Virginia for their suffrages as the next governor of the State. These are no days for party nominations or party conventions, and we flatter ourselves with the hope that your name brought forward in this way will secure the vote of a decisive majority of your fellow-citizens."

In response to this letter. Colonel Munford gives concisely some of his views upon public afiairs :

"Proud of Virginia's ancient renown, zealous that her present should equal her former fame, recognizing but one Virginia, and that containing all her peoj)le and her whole territory, I give my heart and mind to maintain and perpetuate her integrity unimpaired.

" I am a strict constructionist, with the constitution as my compass and chart ; believing it to be the duty of the executive faithfully to execute, not to make laws ; not to usurp the prerogative of the Legislature, nor to interfere with the just action of the judiciary.

" I am an advocate of State rights ; opposed to consolidation of powers in the federative system. I would, if I could, restrain the Confederate government within its appropriate functions. It has enough to do to secure our independence without violating personal rights. It has enough to do to attend to its external relations ; to smooth the way for intercourse with foreign nations ; to care for and provide adequate supplies for our patriotic and glorious armies. It has enough to do to provide an adequate revenue, and to curtail its redundant currency, leaving the States to attend to their internal affairs, ample for their noblest exertions ; leaving individuals free to regulate their own pursuits, unstimulated by governmental aids, unseduced by governmental bribes, unawed by the exercise of unwarrantable powers. I will give to the President a zealous co-operation, confiding in his talents, fidelity, patriotism, firmness, and Christianity."

In the following extracts from a letter urging the nomination of Colonel Munford, Ex-Governor (then General) Henry A. Wise, the distinguished patriot and statesman, thus outlines his public and private character :

'' Colonel George Wythe Munford is here presented as a candidate for the office of governor. At a time when Virginia needs the best talents and the experience, skill and counsel of her truest and most devoted sons, such a nomination, it is hojied, will be generally acceptable.

" His claims for promotion are the best foundation for the State's claim to his services. He has been intimately connected with the public affairs of Virginia for nearly forty years. He has at his fingers' ends the rolls of her legislation ; he has been the keeper of the journal of the reforms of her organic law ; he has, as commissioner of the Sinking Fund, been officially obliged to scan her fisc with the accuracy of a calculator and a critic ; he has practised her whole system of militia organization ; he has had to state the accounts and pay-rolls of her claims and pensions, and the catalogue of her library, and to conduct her international exchanges ; he has had to supervise the audits and settlements of her literary and monument funds ; he has lately revised all her statutes ; and he has been her Secretary of State, intimately counselling her executive administration, for a long series of years. In offices with very moderate, if not inadequate, pay, he has waited assiduously, and often extra-officially on her people ; he is universally known and greatly ajjproved in all the places he has filled and yet fills ; he is thoroughly acquainted with the capabilities of the Commonwealth, and with the genius and wishes and instincts, and even prejudices of her people; and he is intus et in cute, a Virginian, beloved of Virginians, inbued with their genius, tlieir wishes, their instincts, their prejudices, their pride^ their passions, their grace, and their glory !

" He is unambitious, except to serve and be useful, and has served and been useful a long time in subordinate places. He is now in the full maturity of his talents. Though time has silvered his head, his energies are yet vigorous as ever, and now, as they have been for many years, are incessantly exerted to do his part well, in the brightest of sunny days as in the night and gloom of the storm which palsies some and appalls almost all.

" Colonel Munford is a gentleman in the true sense — urbane, even-tempered, calm, patient,honest, just, firm, manly, and liberal. He is a scholar of classical education, and amidst all his practical life has cultivated, not unsuccessfully, the field of polite literature. He is an alumnus of the venerable college of William and Mary, with her degree of Bachelor of Law.

" At the beginning of the session of the General Assembly in 1825 he was elected clerk of the House of Delegates, to which oifice he was re-elected at each succeeding session for twenty-seven years by unanimous votes. And in December, 1852, he was elected by the General Assembly Secretary of the Commonwealth. On the last day of his service as clerk, the House of Delegates unanimously adopted a resolution tendering to him their thanks for the prompt, able, and impartial manner in which, for twenty-seven years, he had discharged the unportant and responsible duties of that office.

" On the 5th of October, 1829, he was elected Secretary of the State Convention called to revise the Constitution. Of this Convention Mr. Ritchie, in his preface to the Report of their Proceedings and Debates, says :

" ' Much of what was venerable for years and long service; many of those who were most respected for their wisdom and their eloquence, two of the ex-presidents of the United States, the Chief-Justice of the United States, several of those who had been most distinguished in Congress or the State Legislature, on the bench or at the bar, were brought together for the momentous purpose of laying anew the fundamental law of the land. '

" This office he resigned, after a service of two months, having been then re-elected, for the fifth time, Clerk of the House of Delegates. In his letter of resignation he states that, so long as the sessions of the Convention and the House would not have conflicted, he would, with pleasure, have served both, without receiving double compensation.

" But brief as was his 'association with the Convention of 1829-'30, it brought him into contact with some of the foremost men of their time, and their proceedings and debates taught him lessons of jurisprudence and law making, and held before his eyes examples of wisdom and virtue in the art of governing, the like of which we may well pray for again. He could not but be inspired by their spirit ; he could not but be enlightened by the illumination of such minds ; he could not but be made more wisely patriotic by the dignified deliberations of such fathers and founders of civil liberty, of social order, and of constitutional guarantees.

" Since he entered upon the duties of Secretary of the Commonwealth, he has filled, either e.e-ojficio or by special appointment, various other offices.

" In March, 1860, the duty of revising the Code of Virginia ■was devolved on him by law, and he has executed his task to the entire satisfaction of the bench and the bar.

" Thus he has been required to fill many important but still subordinate offices. All of them, and most of them together, he has filled with ability, assiduity, punctuality, accuracy and dignity. And when we look at the nature of the offices, they are all such exactly as train a man for the comprehensive views and various details required in the executive office, which superintends them all. With the legislation, with the forms, with tlie history of accounts and claims, he is more familiar than any other man. And with the larger subjects he has had to labor still harder and more constantly. He knows all our liabilities, all oui* resources, all our expedients for punctual preservation of State honor, and he knows how to detect the tricks of money-changers, and the frauds of claimants. Himself economical, lie lias jealously watched others who would plunder, either by corruption or extravagance. There is not a subject of the State's policy with which George Wythe Munford is not habitually familiar, and with which he has not been practically familiar for twenty-five years. What man living can justly lay claim to so large and long, so comprehensive and yet so minute, an experience ? What better mau, then, is there to be found for the office of governor ?

"Is there any personal objection to him? His private is even more exemplary and commendable than his public life. He is of an old stock, and a good old Virginia stock. In manners, morals, and principles, as well as by birth and education, he is a gentleman. In all those more intimate and tender relations which bind him to family, friends, kindred, and servants, he is all that friendship could ask, or affection claim, or humanity and kindness enjoin.

" Is he agreeable in his office ? Go and ask Governors Johnson, Wise, and Letcher what a valuable officer and invaluable friend in office he was and is ! Go and ask the Legislatures of his time, their members and committees, of what use he is, and ever has been, and how he has volunteered to serve them with counsel and labor ! Go to the four winds of the State, and ask every poor pensioner and claimant and petitioner for pardon, how many calls of theirs he has answered with much labor without pay ! Go to the Treasurer, Auditors, and the whole persoiiel of the executive service, and enquire how much aid he has rendered them ! And ask everywhere, whether he has an enemy ? If he has none, is he a sycophant to all ? Not one can be found to say so. All will say he is no time-server — he is a Stateserver. Why then should be, who has been careful and faithful in few and comparatively small things, not be made ruler in many and great things?"

In addition to the Code of 1860, referred to by Governor Wise and published by the Legislature upon his recommendation, which was known as the second edition of the Code of Virginia, it became apparent, in 1873, to Colonel Munford, that a third edition of the Code was indispensable, and in a letter to the General Assembly of that year he assigned the following reasons for a new Code :

" The entire change in the organic law since that time (1860), the revolution through which the Commonwealth has passed ; the dissolution of the connection with the government of the United States by the ordinance of the secession convention ; her independent existence prior to her union with the government of the Confederate States ; her subsequent union with that government, and the adoption of its constitution ; the continuation of the State government at Richmond during the whole war ; the successful establishment of the restored government for the State at Wheeling ; the action of its legislative and executive authorities there ; the ordinances and acts of the convention at Wheeling ; the organization of the State of West Virginia within the established boundaries of this State ; the assent of the restored government to the formation of the new State, and its final reception into the Union by the Congress of the United States, recognizing the dismemberment of the State, and authorizing the representation of the new State in the Senate and Hoiise of Representatives ; the removal of the restored government from Wheeling to Alexandria ; the acts of the Legislature there; the assembling of a convention, which adopted a new constitiition for the government of the State under these auspices ; the resumption of the powers and functions of the restored government at the close of hostilities in the city of Richmond, sustained and supported by the Federal troops ; the subsequent destruction of that government under the reconstruction acts of Congress, subjecting the State to military rule and authority as Military District, No. 1 ; the permission given by Congress to the State to form again a new constitution, and the authority granted to elect members to a convention for that purpose ; the action of that convention by its ordinances and resolutions ; the submission of that constitution for approval to Congress ; the proclamation of the President of the United States extending to the people the right to ratify or reject the coustitutiou itself, or specified clauses in that coustitution ; the ratification of the constitution by the people, and the rejection of the two clauses submitted to them ; the approval of the constitution afterwards by Congress, upon condition of the adoption of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Federal constitution, and of certain other provisions ; the final reception of senators and representatives from this State in Congress, and the action of the General Assembly since, to adapt the laws of the State to the new constitution, fundamentally changing the political and civil structure of the government; all combined have rendered the laws so chaotic and conflicting in many instances, and produced such radical changes by amendments and repeal, that the citizens of the State find it impossible to know what the laws are under which they live ; and it requires the deejDCst research and investigation of the bar and the

judiciary to ascertain the law as it is, and then to construe it correctly and satisfactorily.

"Under these circumstances, I have prepared another edition of the Code, and I offer it to the General Assembly for publication and distribution to the officers of government for such remuneration as it may deem just. I have encountered great difficulty in its preparation, and have spared neither time nor care in the work, my undivided aim having been to make it as correct as the materials at my disposal would justify.

" I have prefaced the constitution as it now exists with an epitomized historical account of the revolution through Avhich the State has passed, (which I believe will be of great use in future,) acd have made many notes to other chapters, showing the changes made in the polity and government of the Commonwealth. I have endeavoured to do this without bias or prejudice. I propose, if the General Assembly shall deem the work worthy of publication, to insert in their projaer places such amendments to the laws as may be adopted at the present session."

The entire subject Avas referred, in both branches of the General Assembly, to the judiciary committee, and an act was passed unanimously iu each house, providing for the publication of the new edition of the Code of Virginia, known since and now as the Code of 1873.

MEMOEIAL SERVICES IN THE LEGISLATURE.

The House of Delegates of Virginia adopted the following resolutions :

" Whereas, The House of Delegates has been informed of the death of Colonel George Wythe Munford, who for a quarter of a century was Clerk of this House, and for more than fifty years filled various oflfices of honor and trust under the government of this Commonwealth, with distinguished ability and exemj)lary fidelity —

^'Resolved \st, That a committee of five be appointed to draft suitable resolutions of respect in honor of the memory of Colonel George Wythe Munford, to be entered on the journal of this House.

" Resolved 'ind^ That this House adjourn at 2 p. m. in respect to the memory of Colonel Munford, for the purpose of attending his funeral."

The committee made the following report to the House of Delegates of Virginia, January 12, 1882 :

" The committee appointed to prepare resolutions of respect in honor of the memory of Colonel George Wythe Munford, beg leave to submit the following report :

" George Wythe Manford was born in the city of Richmond, Virginia, on the 8th day of January, 1803. He was named Iq honor of the distinguished Chancellor Wythe, the intimate friend of his father, William Munford, Esq. He inherited from his father, who was a man of great native ability and high literary and legal attainments, that strength of mind and fondness for intellectual labor which were his lifelong characteristics. Reared in the refining and cultivating atmosjihere of a Virginia home of the olden time, all the faculties of his nature were developed and rounded into a symmetrical model of the Christian gentleman. He completed his classical education at the college of William and

Mary, that venerable alma mater, to whom the nation and the State are indebted for so many of the brightest names that adorned their annals in the past. After graduating at William and Mary College, he entered upon the study of the law, with the purpose of devoting his life to the practice of that profession. But he was called to another sphere of usefulness. He was employed b}^ his father, at that time Clerk of the House of Delegates, to assist him in discharging the duties of that office. On the death of his father, in 1825, he was elected to succeed him as Clerk of the House. With what accuracy and diligence he fulfilled the duties of his office, the journal of this House bears most conclusive testimony. For more than twenty-five years he kept that journal in a manner that does credit to his skill and industry. When the Convention of 1829 assembled, Colonel Munford's reputation as Clerk of the House of Delegates secured his election as secretary of that body. In that capacity he was thrown into daily contact with James Monroe, James Madison, John Marshall. William B. Giles, John Randolph, Abel P. Upshur, and the many other distinguished men who were members of that Convention.

" In this way Colonel Munford became more thoroughly acquainted with the public men of Virginia, and her political history, than any other man of his generation

"After his long service as Clerk of this House, he was elected Secretary of the Commonwealth. In that office he continued to serve with marked ability until the fall of the Confederacy destroyed the autonomy of the State.

" For several years after the war Colonel Munford lived in the county of Gloucester, in the midst of a most interesting family, and surrounded by a large circle of devoted relatives and friends.

" After the re establishment of the civil government of the people of Virginia, Colonel Munford was appointed clerk of the committee of this House for courts of justice : and his thorough familiarity with the history of the legislation of this State, his legal acquirements, and his unsurpassed ability as a draughtsman of bills, rendered bis services in that capacity eminently valuable.

" Subsequently he occupied a position in the office of the First Auditor, and more recently he held an appointment in the Census Bureau at Washington.

" During all this long period of public service Colonel Munford maintained the same high standard of official duty, performing the functions of every office incumbent upon him with unswerving honor and fidelity, and thorough efficiency.

"In addition to these labours in the service of the State, Colonel Munford succeeded in accomplishing a task which probably no other man would have attempted, on account of the magnitude of the undertaking, and the painstaking application it would impose. We refer to his great and successful labors in compiling and editing the Code of Virginia of 1860, and afterwards in publishing the Code of 1873.

" These works will stand for ever as imperishable monuments to his fame, bearicg witness to his ability and extensive information. In the paths of general literature, also, Colonel Munford made several efforts, which showed unusual gifts as an author. In looking back over his loDg life, which came to a close at his residence in Richmond, Virginia. January 10th, 1882, we may well say :

" ' He was indeed

A pillar of State ; deep on his front engraved

Deliberation sat, and public care.

And princely counsel in his face did shine majestic'

" In honor of his memory, we recommend the adoption of the following resolutions :

" Resolved, That in the death of Colonel George Wythe Munford, the Commonwealth of Virginia has lost a loyal son, who devoted the best dajs of bis life to her service ; one whose mind was stored with useful knowledge ; who knew how to say what was best to say. and what was best to do ; whose whole life was but the expression of the goodness, wisdom, and purity of his heart and soul ; and who, in all the relations of life, was the honorable and honored gentleman.

" Resolved, That this memorial of Colonel George Wythe Muuford be entered on the journal of this House, and that the Clerk be directed to transmit a copy to his family."

The report was unanimously agreed to.

PORTRAIT OF COLONEL MUNFORD.

On the 5th of October, 1875, a portrait of Colonel Munford, executed by Elder, of this city, was presented to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, General James McDonald, for the gallery of distinguished Virginians in the State Library.

General McDonald, in acknowledging the present, says : " It gives me sincere picture to be able, through the liberality and thoughtfulness of Mrs. Munford and you.rself, to place the portrait of your brother. Colonel George AV. Munford, in our gallery of those who have deserved well of the State. His long i^ublic service, characterized through its whole course by singular j&delity and efficiency, and illustrated by a purity on which the breath of suspicion has never blown, will stand as a high and enduring example for those who come after him, of duty well performed, and merit properly appreciated."

MEMORIAL RESOLUTIONS OF THE R. L. I. BLUES.

At a meeting of the R. L. I. Blues, held at their armory, January 30th, 1882, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :

'■ Whereas, It has pleased God to take from us a beloved comrade and former commander, therefore be it

"■ JRe solved. That in the death of George Wythe Munford this command has lost one of the truest men upon its rolls, the community a beloved and honored member, and the State one of its best citizens and most faithful public servants. By a life which, in private, was singularly lovable and pure, and in its public acts useful, disinterested, and patriotic, he has left an example most worthy of the emulation of all his fellow-citizens, especially of the members of this organization, to which he was sincerely attached from his early manhood to the hour of his death.

" That in performing the sad office of bearing him to his grave, we have felt a deep sense of personal loss, and painfully realized that his death has broken another connecting link in the chain binding us to the past record of this comr mand.

" Colonel Munford was the type, and his name the synonym, of all that made the Richmond Blues of the past the beloved representative of the manhood and hospitality of Richmond, and the Blues of the present peculiarly the object of the affection of many of her citizens. Twice commander of the Company, and resigning against the protest of every member, he never ceased, in war or peace, to evince the liveliest interest in all things concerning it, and when elected first President of the Blues' Association, at an age when most men who had attained his station and were surrounded by his cares, would have lost interest in the Company, he entered upon the duties of his office with his old-time fervor, and elevated the organization with that grace and dignity which had always given him such influence and so endeared him to his old command.

" That the sympathy of this command be tendered to his family, and a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the minutes, and another copy be sent to his family."

In the December number of the Southern Historical Society Papers, we find the following tribute from its editor, the Rev. J. Wm. Jones, T>. D. :

•'The death of Colonel George Wythe Munford, which occurred suddenly at his residence in Richmond, on the night of January 9tb, 1882, has caused universal sorrow, an<i leaves many a vacant place which had been so well filled by this accomplished Virginia gentleman. Others have fitly spoken his eulogy as the able, incorruptible, efficient State officer, the good citizen, and the man above reproach in all of the relations of life.

•22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.

" We shall miss him, especially as one of the most punctual, genial and efficient members of our Executive Committee, one of the most devoted Confederates, and one whose facile pen had made valuable contributions to our history. At the Te organization of the Society in 1873, he was elected Secretary and Treasurer, and filled the office with marked ability until the winter of 1874, when other pressing duties impelled him to resign.

" Full of years, f till of labors, full of honors, this Virginia gentleman of the old school leaves behind him a stainless record and a hallowed memory."