Memoir of John Howe Peyton
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Title: Memoir of John Howe Peyton
Compiler: J. Lewis Peyton
Release date: November 13, 2011 [eBook #38007]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021
Language: English
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Transcriber's note: For this text version passages in italics are
indicated by _underscores_. Bold is indicated by =bold=. Small caps
have been replaced by ALL CAPS.
Misprints and punctuation errors were corrected. A list of other
corrections can be found at the end of the text.
MEMOIR OF
JOHN HOWE PEYTON,
IN SKETCHES BY HIS
CONTEMPORARIES,
TOGETHER WITH SOME OF HIS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
LETTERS, ETC., ALSO A SKETCH OF
ANN M. PEYTON.
COMPILED BY
The Author of the History of Augusta County.
_Rudis Indigestaque Moles._
[Printed for private circulation.]
STAUNTON, VA.:
A. B. BLACKBURN & CO.,
MDCCCXCIV.
PREFACE.
The following sketches of John Howe Peyton, by some of his
contemporaries, and the scanty material gleaned from an imperfect file
of the _Republican Farmer_ (newspaper) of 1811-12, and from the
_Staunton Spectator_ from 1838 to 1847, (between 1811 and 1830, only a
few mutilated and unbound Staunton newspapers exist,) and a small parcel
of family papers, letters, etc., which escaped destruction during the
civil war; are all that can be found to throw any light upon the life of
one of Virginia's purest men and greatest lawyers.[1] And thus his fame
must largely rest upon the applause and praises, which his efforts
called forth, with his immediate hearers and admirers. This deplorable
want of material for a portrayal of his life and character, is not
peculiar to his case. Few of those who have astonished their
contemporaries by their wit and genius, and who were held in the highest
admiration in their day, have left behind them memorials sufficient to
justify their fame. This is so as to many of Virginia's eminent lawyers,
and of even some of her most renowned public men. As to some of these
the record is decidedly nebulous. Patrick Henry left behind such scanty
remains, that great as were his oratorical talents and patriotic
services, his fame rests rather upon the praises of others, than upon
what he left behind of his own work. In this reflected or traditional
way, his record is splendid, and so is that of John Howe Peyton, who,
without overrating his merits and doing injustice to the memory of any
of the jurists of the time, may be styled the greatest legal genius of
his day. The universal opinion of his contemporaries goes to prove that
in the science of criminal or penal law, of civil injuries or torts, and
as a Public Prosecutor he had no equal, and it is as well established
that in no department of the law had he any superiors. And this want of
material is equally true of his great contemporaries, such as Daniel
Sheffey, B. W. Leigh, and Chapman Johnson, so that like his, their fame
rests on tradition. Alas, that they had not left something of their own
productions--enough, at least, to enable us to have measured them as
thinkers, writers and speakers. That they were all great men is beyond a
doubt, for it is only the great man who touches the heart of the people,
as well as their intelligence.
[1] Note.--In the library and papers of his son, J. L. Peyton,
which were stored for safe keeping on his estate in Alleghany on Jackson's
River, and in the Valley of the Falling Spring, in the Spring of 1861,
there were many boxes of MSS., letters from various members of the
family, written between 1740 and 1860, and often the answers of them.
The letters were from John Peyton, who died in 1760, John Rowze Peyton,
John Sergeant, C. J. Ingersoll, Jos. R. Ingersoll, J. M. Berrian, Thos.
Jefferson, John Marshall, James Madison, Bishop Madison, Governor Tyler,
John Scott, of Fauquier, Dr. Alexander, D. D., Bishop Meade, B. W.
Leigh, Chapman Johnson, John S. Archer, Gov'r. McDowell, Governor
Campbell, Thos. H. Benton, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Wm. C. Rives,
Gen. Francis Preston, Wm. C. Preston, William Preston, J. M. Preston,
Wm. B. Preston, John Floyd, Judge A. G. Dade, John Yates, Bushrod
Washington, Gov. Thos. Mann Randolph, H. A. Wise, John Randolph, of
Roanoke, John Tyler, Spencer Roane, and others; and Mr. Peyton's letter
book, beginning about 1806. The whole of this invaluable mass was burnt,
or destroyed, together with Col. Peyton's library, by Federal troops
during the civil war. Cr.
There was little of incident or stirring adventure in the life of Mr.
Peyton, and this is the case generally, as to literary and professional
men, but the life of such a man should not be permitted to sink into
oblivion. He is represented by his contemporaries to have been a great
and truly good man, who pursued his profession, not merely to gain a
subsistence, but to do good, to advance justice and humanity, to promote
the well being of his fellow creatures, and the general interests of
society. Not his eloquence alone, but all of his powers were ever
exerted for the cause of right and justice. And thus his gifts became a
public benefit and blessing. If such a man does not deserve to be
remembered, we might well ask, who does?
During the two brief episodes in his professional life, when a member
first of the lower and then the upper House of the General Assembly, he
labored to improve the Criminal laws, the Land laws, the laws relating
to the rights of person and the rights of property; in fact, our whole
system of jurisprudence, and to advance the cause of popular education
and of internal improvements.
He was a man of large and progressive ideas, ready to accept any and all
improvements, if persuaded that the remedies proposed were, indeed
improvements, but while always ready to correct abuses, he was far from
believing that all change meant reform--was too sagacious and far
seeing, too much alive to the public interests, to encourage rash and
ill advised men or measures, was wise and firm enough to oppose all
fanatics and _doctrinaires_, in their excesses. In fact he stood in the
way of these men and opposed their measures, as tending to the
subversion of existing laws and the Constitution, and the introduction
of anarchy and confusion. As a Public Prosecutor, it was both his duty
and ambition to see the laws faithfully executed, and an example made of
evil doers. In a word, he was a man who sought to do his duty, not to
gain the applause of men, but to meet the approval of his God. At all
times, and on all occasions, he was zealous for the common weal; and
such was his goodness and magnanimity, that he desired to conceal,
rather than display his deeds, and derive fame from them. If his course
was beneficial to mankind--advanced the interest and prosperity of
society and his country--he was content. For himself, he asked nothing,
and always derived happiness from the preferment of others. Public
honors were often bestowed upon others, which were looked upon as his
due. So far from regretting it, or envying those who got them, he
enjoyed seeing competent men promoted and when incompetent men were
advanced, he would say, "let us make the most of them," so far was he
from and above the littleness of vanity and jealousy. In a word he
belonged to the class which "finds tongues in trees, books in running
brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." Of ambition for
noisy honors, newspaper notoriety, or office, he had none. If ambition
he had, it was gratified by the general recognition of the purity of his
motives, the inflexibility of his personal integrity, by the evidences
he constantly received that his labors to alleviate human suffering and
to cure social disorders, were understood and appreciated. If he had
ambition, it was to do good to his forlorn fellow creatures, to excel in
his profession, and this latter he did so eminently that the great
lawyers in every part of the State consulted him on many if not all
important cases and abstruse points, and for years no law was passed,
nor any important change made in existing laws, by the Legislature of
Virginia, without members of the body, especially of the judiciary
committee, asking his opinion and advice. That he had true ambition,
loved honorable fame, we doubt not, and thus this exalted passion was,
as we opine, the source of those noble actions and life-long labors,
which caused him to be so much honored while living, and to be so
venerated now that he is dead. And it is the duty of posterity to
bestow on him that praise, after his death, which he declined while
living.
Believing that the most efficacious method of exciting the talent of the
living, is to confer due honors on departed merit, we have, nearly fifty
years after his death, and thirty years after the destruction of his
papers and almost everything throwing light upon his life undertaken
this compilation. It must necessarily be very imperfect and incomplete,
but inadequate as it is, it seems well to preserve it, as showing a
wish, at least, to give to heaven-born talent its due.
We should like to have had sufficient material for fully portraying this
remarkable man, his actions, his feelings, his thoughts and his
adventures. Such a work would have derived additional interest from the
fact that it would have recalled and preserved the recollection of his
companions and friends, the kindred spirits of his day, now dead and
nearly forgotten. As this could not be done, we have garnered up, in a
fragmentary way, and not always in chronological sequence, the material,
some of it light and trivial, [for it is said, P's 1st, "of the Godly
man" "his leaf also shall not wither,"] presented in the following
pages, and while it is only a half lifting of the veil of oblivion, it
gives us a glimpse, at least, into an almost forgotten life, and serves
too, to keep in memory his interesting family of Montgomery Hall. Like
all families, it has been dispersed, but it richly deserves to be held
in memory and handed down to posterity.
In one of his eloquent sermons, Dr. Talmage thus speaks of oblivion,
which he styles the cemetery of the human race. "Why, just look at the
families of the earth how they disappear. For awhile they are together,
inseparable and to each other indispensable and then they part, some by
marriage going to establish other homes, and some leave this life, and a
century is long enough to plant a family, develop it, prosper it, and
obliterate it. So the generations vanish."
Mr. Peyton's family, forming no exception to the rule, has been
dispersed, but it survives in its branches and without signs of decay.
Indeed, some of the young shoots exhibit the life and vigor, the virtue
and valor of the original stock, which has stood for centuries, in the
language of Lord Bacon, "against the winds and weathers of time." May
these vigorous branches spread out, increase, keep pace with the grand
march of humanity, and the oblivion of the family be as distant in the
future as was its origin in the past.
This, we believe, will be the case, for we do not belong to those who
imagine that humanity is on the decline, that the energy of man is
decaying, that the heart is becoming harder, and the imagination and
intellect are dwindling away. On the contrary, in our opinion, man is,
on the whole, advancing, and will continue to advance, intellectually
and morally, until the world shall have answered all the purposes of its
creation and the immortal state begins. What else means the vast
improvement in morals, the ameliorations of war, the progress of
political science, the redemption of woman from her degradation and
bondage, the abolition of slavery, the general and wonderful progress of
the race the last hundred years.
To his descendants now scattered through the States of Virginia, West
Virginia, Maryland, New York, and the far West, this compilation will
possess deep interest, if it possess none for others, and for them and
their connections alone, it is designed. May the remembrance and
contemplation of his virtues inspire them with a desire to imitate
them!
MEMOIR
OF
JOHN HOWE PEYTON.
John Howe Peyton, who acquired so much fame as a lawyer, statesman and
orator, was descended from Henry Peyton, of "Acquia", Westmoreland
county, Va., the first of the Peytons to leave England for Virginia,
which he did about the year 1644. Henry Peyton died at his home
"Acquia", in Westmoreland county, 1659. We learn from the National
Cyclopedia of Biography that from the period of their settlement in
Virginia to the present day, 250 years, the family has been "prolific of
men full of gallantry and public spirit, of thrifty habits, hospitable,
charitable and generous, whose lives have been useful and blameless, and
whose characters were without blemish". The grandson of the first
emigrant, or Henry Peyton the third, who removed to Stafford county,
left among other issue, a son, John Peyton, of Stony Hill, Stafford, who
was the grandfather of John H. Peyton, and is described as a man of
"undeviating rectitude of conduct, of unshaken constancy in friendship,
active in benevolence and pure in his habits."
John Peyton left by his second wife a son, John Rowze Peyton, of Stony
Hill, Stafford county, who served seven years in the Revolutionary Army
and acquired by his dauntless valor and faithful discharge of duty, the
sobriquet of the "hero boy of 1776". He was a man of strong convictions,
probably of strong prejudices, and enforced his views in newspaper
articles, showing marked ability as a thinker and writer. His son, John
Howe Peyton, the subject of this sketch, was born at Stony Hill, April
27th, 1778, and died at Montgomery Hall, near Staunton, Augusta county,
Va., April 3rd, 1847. And it may be truly said that no one was more
loved, more honored or more mourned by those who knew him best.
When a boy attending a country school near his birth place, young John
Howe Peyton was conspicuous for the beauty and intelligence of his
countenance, the comeliness of his person, the quaintness of his humor,
the vivacity of his spirits, and the pungency of his wit. The lad was
fond of outdoor sports and all athletic exercises, in which he engaged
daily, thus in good time developing his strength and securing for life a
sound mind in a sound body. These pastimes, however, did not interfere
with his studies, to which he devoted himself for years assiduously. And
he succeeded so well, in both mental and physical exercises, that it was
commonly said of him, that he was a boy who seemed to have come from the
hand of nature, formed and destined to do extensive good, and to excel
in every pursuit. So superior was he generally to his young companions
that he was, before twelve years of age, pointed out as one who already
gave evidence of his future abilities. When only sixteen years of age,
he had grown into a young man of remarkable strength of body and vigor
of mind, was full of pluck and spirit, and had acquired no small stock
of learning. His father determined to send him to the North for further
education. Accordingly he was entered at Nassau Hall Princeton
University, N. J., in 1794, then, as now, one of the most famous seats
of learning in the country, and much patronized by Southerners. His
previous training prepared him well for the University, where he quickly
took and kept a leading place till his graduation as A. M. in 1797.
At Princeton he continued, as may be surmised, diligent in his studies,
and while going through the usual scholastic routine engaged in an
extensive private course of philosophical, metaphysical, historical and
general reading. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and he kept up
this habit in after years, and to give his family a taste for literature
was in the habit of reading aloud to his children of evenings the plays
of Shakespeare, the writings of Addison, Swift, Johnson, Goldsmith and
other standard authors. He also attended the debates in the Whig
Society, (an association of young collegians, formed for mutual
improvement,) where he won distinction as a speaker and debater. He was
singularly free from the usual vices of youth and that sensuality and
egotism, which is the source of so many miseries. In consequence of his
high standing as a scholar, orator and man--and no young man was more
noted for his exemplary habits, straightforward conduct and nice sense
of honor--he was held in great respect in the University, alike by
professors, tutors and fellow students. But he never showed the
slightest consciousness of his endowments or discovered any vanity at
the extent and variety of his attainments, and the impression they made
on others, but enjoyed his success with propriety and good sense. He
made many friends at Princeton, and if they were not afterwards of
service to him, they were certainly a comfort. His object then, as ever
afterwards, was not to shine, for ambition was not his failing, but he
was incited by a thirst for knowledge and a desire for excellence.
Having secured high academical honors, which are the laudable objects
of any young man's generous ambition, by taking his A. M. degree, he
returned to Virginia in 1797, immediately thereafter commenced, and in
due time completed his legal education, and in 1799 entered on the law
practice. Judge R. C. L. Moncure, President of the Supreme Court of
Appeals of Virginia, says of him in his private journal: "He took a
position on being admitted to the bar, which brought him immediate and
continued popularity as a lawyer, a pleader and a scholar." His progress
was indeed rapid, and he soon proved to be acute, deep, cautious,
methodical and persevering, with extraordinary administrative ability;
and was noted for his personal magnetism, his animal spirits and social
powers, as well as his forensic abilities.
At this time he was six feet two inches high, of strong, lithe and
vigorous frame, weighing about 180 pounds. His manners were affable and
engaging, and were characterized by dignity and grace. He was fond of
conversation, and his conversation was animated and instructive. He
always, indeed, spoke with so much point that he appeared superior to
others of his age in wisdom and understanding. To his solid attainments
and well-bred and polished manners he joined a generous heart, virtuous
principles and a chivalric sense of honor. These gifts and
accomplishments soon inspired all who knew him with respect and esteem,
and this admiration was due to none of those artifices so common with
"people's men," or of that subserviency which so often leads to
popularity, and which contra-distinguishes the man without principle,
who wants office, from the man of principle whom office wants. It was
also discovered that he was broad and liberal in his views and opinions
on politics and religion, and indeed on all social questions--was free
from cant and hypocricy, and was without any of that duplicity in youth
which is the forerunner of perfidy in old age. Toward all men he was
charitable, and did not require them to see things as he saw them; he
allowed of a difference of opinion without treating a man as a heretic
in religion, or a knave and traitor in politics because he sought to
serve God or his country by a different course or policy from himself.
He not only respected but venerated all men who were loyal to truth. His
influence was consequently very great and was soon enhanced by the
discovery that he was a man of stern and uncompromising integrity and
inflexible firmness, or unlimited courage, a courage which extended to
rashness, a man who could not be moved from the path of duty by "fear,
favor or affection," and we may add that he went through a long,
eventful and trying life without suspicion of any kind of vice. He was
soon looked up to as a person not only of eminent merit but exalted
character, who would, if the occasion arose, become a hero, ready and
able to defend the rights of the people and the liberties of his
country. Early in the century 1802-3 he was commissioned captain of a
volunteer company of cavalry and drilled his command, composed of young
gentlemen of Stafford and Spottsylvania counties over the country from
Acquia Creek to Fredericksburg, and the annals of British Field sports
were never illustrated by more daring feats of horsemanship, the
clearing of fences, gates, hedges and ditches, than were performed by
these Virginian riders.
In 1804 he married Susan, daughter of William Strother Madison, a niece
of the Right Rev. James Madison, Bishop of Virginia, and relative of
President Madison, by whom he left an only son, the late Col. William M.
Peyton, of Roanoke, who was himself a man of gifted intellect and
extensive acquirements, of upright and honorable character, who acquired
as a public speaker and member of the House of Delegates of Virginia, a
distinguished reputation for ability and statesmanship. We anticipate
events in order to state that after losing his wife by her untimely
death, he married in 1821 Ann Montgomery Lewis, a daughter of the old
Revolutionary hero, Major John Lewis of the Sweet Springs; by his wife
Mary, a daughter of the gallant Col. William Preston, of Smithfield,
Montgomery county, who was wounded at the battle of Guildford, from the
effects of which he died years afterward. By his second marriage he left
ten children. In 1806 he was elected to the House of Delegates. This
gave him little or no pleasure, as he preferred the profession but he
served several years, up to 1810 on public grounds. Though there was not
much scope in the House for his powers, he took an active part in all
business and in the debates, and such was his political sagacity, his
indomitable energy and his vehement eloquence, that he had almost
unrivaled power over his hearers and soon became a leader, inspiring his
followers with enthusiastic love and admiration, and was regarded by
them, if not by both sides of the Chamber, as the ablest man in the
House and the equal of any in the State. At that period he was as
remarkable for his wise and prudent counsels as for his invincible
eloquence.
During the session of 1809-10 Mr. Peyton made the celebrated report as
to an amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which is
appended to this sketch.
Staunton was early in the century a no inconsiderable town, and to
lawyer and litigant alike the most important point west of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, because the seat of the superior courts of law and
chancery--the jurisdiction of the chancery court extending over the
whole western part of the State. This fact caused many able and learned
lawyers to make it their home, among the most prominent were Judge
Coalter, Daniel Sheffey, Chapman Johnson, Briscoe G. Baldwin and Samuel
Blackburn, and the terms were attended by such legal lights, from other
circuits, as George Hay, William Wirt, P. P. Barbour, B. W. Leigh, L. W.
Tazewell, Henry St. G. Tucker and others. Staunton was then regarded,
and for many years later, as having the ablest resident bar in the
State.
In 1808, Mr. Peyton removed to the town to enter the arena against these
great men, and in a very brief period, indeed, he gained, in the opinion
of the court and the lawyers and of the people, the first place at the
bar. Such was his vigor, originality and learning, that Col. Preston,
one of his biographers, says that "he met in contest the strongest men
in each department of the law and he made himself a champion in all."
Daniel Sheffey said "he possessed gigantic power without effort, was
leader in his circuit and at the head of the profession."
From 1808 to 1846, when struck down by apoplexy, he bent the whole
energies of his mind and body to the profession--the only interruption
in this long period of practice being a brief episode of military
service, from 1812 to 1815, as Chief of Staff to Gen. Porterfield in the
war against England, and one of five years in the Senate of Virginia
from 1839 to 1845, when he resigned during his second term from ill
health. He did not desire, still less seek, a seat in the Senate, but
yielded to the importunities of his Rockbridge and Augusta friends, the
leading men of Rockbridge particularly importuning him to accept the
position, in order to promote, among other things, the fortunes of the
Virginia Military Institute; a school they esteemed of great importance
to the county and the cause of State education, and to which it was well
known Mr. Peyton was most friendly, for he was everywhere known and
recognized as the friend and promoter of learning and the liberal arts.
And his deep interest in the cause of education was evinced by his
acceptance of the position of trustee of Washington College in 1832,
which he held till he resigned in 1846, having during this long period
at great inconvenience to himself, attended the meetings of the Board,
of which he was an active and useful member. He also acted for many
years before and after 1832 as President of the Board of Trustees of the
Staunton Academy; was one of the founders of the Virginia Female
Institute at Staunton, and a member of the Board of Trustees; was one of
the most earnest advocates of the scheme for establishing the Virginia
Military Institute and suggested the union of the Institute and
Washington College under one management, believing that the United
University ought to be and would become one of the greatest seats of
learning in the country. He also accepted, in 1840, the position of
visitor to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and wrote the able,
interesting and instructive report of the Board for that year. This was
said at the time to be the ablest report ever written on the condition,
the mode of instruction, the changes and improvements which should be
introduced in the course of study and discipline and the future
usefulness of West Point.
Education he considered the philosophy of the human mind, enriching it
with all that is useful or ornamental in knowledge, teaching us how to
avert evil and produce good. It was not so valuable for the learning
acquired, for to be well informed, was not, in his opinion, to be well
educated; as for the moral character it formed, for the habit of thought
engendered, for the preparation it was for the practical duties of
life--in a word, he regarded education or intellectual progress as the
sure forerunner of moral improvement.
It may not be out of place to mention here that his interest in, and
sympathy for the unfortunate and afflicted was manifested in various
ways, but especially by his services as a member of the Court of
Directors of the Western Lunatic Asylum at Staunton for over twenty
years, during ten of which he was President of the board.
Mr. Peyton's political life can be briefly summarized. He voted for the
election of James Madison and zealously supported his administration. He
also voted for James Monroe, and opposed the election of John Quincy
Adams, voting for Gen. Jackson. He voted for Jackson twice, reluctantly
when a candidate for a re-election, because of his refusal to sign the
bill to recharter the United States Bank, but under a belief that
Jackson's course was more due to the feelings created by the particular
time when congress passed the bill, it being just previous to his second
election, than to any settled hostility on his part to a United States
Bank, and he subsequently abandoned that party, and ever afterwards
adhered to the Whig party.
Mr. Peyton thus gives his reasons for abandoning the democratic
party--he said: "shortly after his (Jackson's) re-election, he commenced
a train of measures, to which I was utterly opposed, measures of a novel
and alarming character, which in their origin and their subsequent
developments, brought distress and embarrassment upon the banks, upon
the country at large, and especially upon all our commercial interests.
I allude to his wild, violent and undigested schemes of finance,
commencing with his pet bank system and ending with his order in
council, the specie circular. This warfare upon the bank of the United
States, the currency and the commerce of the nation, reduced us in 1837
to the degradation of witnessing a general suppression of specie
payments by the banks. These acts, connected with the corrupting system
of party discipline, introduced by that administration, with the view of
compelling private judgment to succumb to the behest of the party,
completely separated me from the administration of Andrew Jackson." (See
his letter of date May 1st, 1839, and addressed to the people of Augusta
and Rockbridge counties.)
In the Senate, he opposed the annexation of Texas, a revenue tariff, and
a war with England on the question of the Oregon boundary line, saying
in regard to Oregon, "while our title to the whole of that vast region
extending westward from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and
the 42nd degree of north latitude to 54 deg. 40' was certainly as good as
that of any other nation, and probably better, we had ourselves, on
repeated occasions virtually admitted that it was not so complete and
unqualified as to preclude all other claims to any portion of it; and
therefore a war for Oregon, unless an attempt was made to wrest it
forcibly from our possessions would be not only a blunder but a crime."
The annexation of Texas he opposed on many grounds. He declared first
that America was already too vast to be national, and too rich to be
democratic, and any extension of her borders would increase the evils.
Secondly, he objected to a clause in the constitution of Texas which
refused to the legislature power to pass laws for the emancipation of
slaves. Thirdly, he was opposed to the United States Government assuming
the debt of Texas and he thought annexation might lead to useless wars
about boundary, etc.
On the question of the tariff, he held that direct protection was a
legitimate object of legislation and he opposed any tariff which gave
merely incidental protection. He derived his doctrine on the question
both from the necessity and justice of the case, and the explicit
avowal of those who framed the constitution and of those who sat in the
first Congress under it, that it was designed and desired to lay duties
for the encouragement and protection of domestic manufactures and he
would allow no arguments of expediency to induce him to abandon his
ground and to fall in with the friends of a revenue tariff giving
incidental protection. This phraseology he denounced as a device of
demagogues who were willing to conceal or abandon their principles in
order to secure success. He also supported the "Monroe Doctrine,"
opposed nullification and secession, and favored a United States bank
and popular education by means of State aid. He also spoke on behalf of
a generous system of internal improvement and against the great liberty
of divorce. In a word, he gave a general support to the principles of
the old Whig party and occupied a position of commanding influence. His
speeches in the Senate, like those at the bar, were distinguished for
their clear, nervous brevity. And the great men of the day, B. W. Leigh,
John J. Allen, R. E. Scott, William C. Rives, Vincent Witcher, Wm.
Daniel, R. C. Conrad, and others, declared were equal to anything ever
heard in a deliberative assembly. He was consulted and deferred to for
the wisdom, sagacity and moderation of his counsels and was usually
styled the "Nestor of the Senate." His influence was paramount and
always exerted for the public good, and the prosperity of Virginia, for
half a century; indeed, up to the civil war, was to no inconsiderable
degree, due to the wise advice of this patriotic and public spirited
man.
Some years before he entered the Senate, he had grown stout, weighing
220 pounds, his fine silk-like hair was snowy white, his face florid,
his eyes bright, piercing and thoughtful, and in silence his calm and
serene countenance gave him a majestic and graceful appearance.
Alexander McD. Cowan, writing of him in the Vindicator newspaper of
Staunton, February 18th, 1887, says; "Mr. Peyton was a remarkably
handsome man, being of a fine figure and size, and with a face whose
every feature was well-nigh faultless in shape and expression. Indeed,
the word superb which used to be applied to the late Gen. Hancock's
commanding appearance, might with equal appropriateness have been
applied to John Howe Peyton." Gen. William Preston, of Kentucky, told
the writer he was, when he first met him in 1835-6 at the White Sulphur
Springs, the "finest specimen of the Virginia gentleman of the old
school, in his scrupulous, old fashioned courtesy, and open handed
liberality, in his dress and appearance, he had ever seen--was not only
an honor to the State but to human nature." His health was good up to
the age of 66 years, his step firm, his figure erect; in fact, he was as
straight as a dart, and there was something in his look which seemed to
arise from an innate disposition of the mind or the workings of a great
soul.
He kept up a large establishment at his elegant home of Montgomery Hall,
having over fifty servants about his premises, entertained a great deal
of company in a delightful manner, gave sumptuous dinners and a great
many of them, and of other entertainments--in fact, he kept open house,
and while he set no bounds to his generous hospitality, there was no
ostentation or vain display, though his house and furniture were
thoroughly well appointed. His guests were among the most distinguished
for talents and acquirements, for rank and station in the State and
country. It was said, therefore, that at Montgomery Hall you were sure
to enjoy the "feast of reason and the flow of soul." While he
entertained so well, he was himself abstemious in his habits and denied
himself animal food one day in every week.
He was wise and prudent in forming his intimacies and friendships, but
when once a man's friend, unless for some good cause, he was ever
constant and unchangeable, and there was no length to which he would not
go to serve a friend. On one occasion, when in the Senate, he sacrificed
the office of Governor of Virginia, to which he was about to be elected,
to serve a friend and to secure the election of his friend, as he did,
to the position of Judge. At another time, for he was a friend who
"abided in the day of trouble" he offered a friend in distress from
pecuniary losses, the occupation, use and proceeds of one of his estates
in Alleghany county, of nearly 5000 acres of land and a large number of
servants. In this munificent spirit of liberality and generosity, he
sought to provide for this unfortunate friend and his dependant family.
So constituted was he, that it was often said that if a man's friend, he
was the friend of his family, indeed of everybody connected with him--in
a word he took the whole tribe to his heart. As a master, he was kind,
humane, just and ever mindful of the wants of his servants, provided
every family with a good house and garden, extended to them the
privilege of raising poultry, pigs, etc., and of enjoying the fruits of
such care and industry as they chose to bestow on them, during time
allowed for this purpose. And he was so loved and respected by his
servants that they considered it a favor, not a task, to do his bidding.
But when there was occasion for it, he could be severe, and required a
strict account from all.
Every community has its leading spirit, who, to a certain extent,
impresses his character upon it and brings it up, in a measure, to what
that choice spirit is, and that is precisely what Mr. Peyton did. He was
identified with every interest of the people, with their trade and
commerce, with the material development of the State, and its moral,
educational and religious prosperity. He was honest and upright in the
highest degree, and never violated a trust, but was ever faithful to
every obligation. His heart was full of that charity which "vaunteth not
itself and is not puffed up." The poor, the afflicted, the distressed,
whether "in mind, body or estate," were recipients of his kind deeds,
and the widow and orphan knew him in their extremity. Principle dictated
all his acts and he never departed a hair's breadth from the line of
duty.
He was warm hearted, genial, and kindly, was fond of intellectual
society, in which he was sure to shine, was given to hospitality and
entertained more company probably than any gentleman of his day in
Virginia; in fact, lived with open house.
Among other accomplishments, it should be remembered that he was a
refined and robust writer, and had his professional and business
engagements permitted, he would doubtless have been a famous author. Now
and again he indulged, in an hour of leisure, in preparing an article
for the British Reviews. They showed eminent literary talents. Those
productions were, for the most part, destroyed in the library of his
son, Col. J. Lewis Peyton, which was stored for safe keeping during the
Civil War, on his Jackson River estate in Alleghany county, where they
were burnt by Federal troops. His essays were generally on subjects of
utility to the State and country, but some times his disquisitions were
on moral and metaphysical science, and were remarkable for their
clearness and force--no man, indeed, could have presented his views in a
more perspicuous, more forcible or convincing manner. Judge McCue says,
"his conception of a great subject and mode of expression were as clear,
distinct and demonstrative as were those of Edmund Burke."
In a brief sketch only his salient points can be touched upon. Enough
has been said, however, to present a fair idea of the superior mental
and moral endowments of this extraordinary man. For his wonderful
life-long labors he did not receive, though having a most extensive and
fairly lucrative practice--probably the largest of any lawyer in
Virginia--a tithe of the annual income of a modern millionaire, but he
accomplished great and noble ends, and no language can describe the
inward satisfaction, the mental pleasure he must have enjoyed. He
rejoiced in what riches cannot purchase, the love, admiration and
respect of every one, from the humblest mountaineer to the highest
official in the land.
His name has not perished and will not, but will grow greener with years
and blossom through the coming ages. This little tribute, it is hoped,
will extend and confirm the reputation of a man worthy of universal
admiration. May it, however, do more. The fame of the truly great can
only be of use when stimulating by example. Let every reader of these
pages consider what he can contribute towards the same great cause of
social melioration, what sacrifices he will make to reclaim the vicious,
instruct the ignorant, cheer the disconsolate, what selfishness and
bigotries he will relinquish; what benevolence, justice, charity he will
exercise, and what, in a word, he will do to imitate the example of
heroic worth given us by this truly wise and good man.
He was struck down by apoplexy in 1845, recovered sufficiently to walk
about his house, but was disabled in 1846, by a second attack
accompanied by paralysis. His mind, however, continued clear and
vigorous, though his voice was indistinct. This was illustrated by his
ability displayed on his sick bed, in a conversation with the late Col.
John B. Baldwin, in which he gave him the points and elucidated the
intricacies of an important and difficult law case, then in progress
and cited the authorities. Throughout his illness, he endured his
sufferings with patience and meekness, and died at Montgomery Hall,
April 3d, 1847, leaving the reputation of having been a perfect
gentleman, the soul of honor, and the pink of chivalry.
MR. PEYTON'S REPORT IN 1810.
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
EXTRACT FROM THE MESSAGE OF GOV. TYLER OF VIRGINIA.
DECEMBER 4TH, 1809.
A proposition from the State of Pennsylvania is herewith submitted, with
Gov. Snyder's letter endorsing the same, in which is suggested the
propriety of amending the constitution of the United States so as to
prevent collisions between the government of the Union and the State
government.
HOUSE OF DELEGATES.
Friday, Dec., 15th, 1809.
On motion ordered that so much of the Governor's communication as
relates to the communication of the Governor of Pennsylvania, on the
subject of an amendment proposed by the legislature of the State to the
constitution of the United States he referred to Messrs. Peyton, Otey,
Cabell, Walker, Madison, Holt, Newton, Parker, Stevenson, Randolph,
Cocke, Wayatt and Ritchie.
Thursday, Jan., 11th, 1810.
Mr. Peyton from the committee to whom was referred that part of the
Governor's communications which relates to the amendment proposed by the
State of Pennsylvania, to the constitution of the United States, made
the following
REPORT.
The committee to whom was referred the communication of the Governor of
Pennsylvania, covering certain resolutions of the legislature of that
State proposing an amendment of the Constitution of the United States by
the appointment of an impartial tribunal to decide disputes between the
State and Federal judiciary, have had the same, under their
consideration, and are of opinion that a tribunal is already provided by
the Constitution of the United States to wit; the supreme court, more
eminently qualified from their habits and duties, from the mode of their
selection, and from the tenure of their offices, to decide the disputes
aforesaid in an enlightened and impartial manner than any other tribunal
which could be selected.
The members of the supreme court, are selected from those in the United
States, who are most celebrated for virtue and legal learning, not at
the will of a single individual, but by the concurrent wishes of the
President and Senate of the United States; they will therefore have no
local prejudices or partialities. The duties they have to perform, lead
them necessarily to the most enlarged and accurate acquaintance with the
jurisdiction of the Federal and State courts together, and with the
admirable symmetry of our Government. The tenure of their offices
enables them to pronounce the sound and correct opinions they may have
formed without fear, favour, or partiality.
The amendment of the Constitution proposed by Pennsylvania seems to be
founded upon the idea that the Federal judiciary will, from a lust of
power, enlarge their jurisdiction, to the total annihilation of the
jurisdiction of the State courts; that they will exercise their will
instead of the law and the Constitution.
This argument, if it proves anything, would operate more strongly
against the tribunal proposed to be created, which promises so little,
than against the State courts, which, for the reason given, have every
thing connected with their appointment calculated to insure confidence.
What security have we, were the proposed amendments adopted, that this
tribunal would not substitute their will and their pleasure in place of
the law? The Judiciary are the weakest of the three departments of
government, and least dangerous to the political rights of the
Constitution; they hold neither the purse, nor the sword; and even to
enforce their own judgments and decisions, must ultimately depend upon
the executive arm. Should the Federal judiciary, however unmindful of
their weakness, unmindful of the duty which they owe to themselves, and
their country, become corrupt and transcend the limits of their
jurisdiction, would the proposed amendment oppose even a probable
barrier to such an improbable state of things?
The creation of a tribunal, such as is proposed by Pennsylvania, so far
as we are able to form an idea of it, from the description given in the
resolutions of the Legislature of the State, would, in the opinion of
your Committee, tend rather to invite them to prevent collisions between
the Federal and State courts. It might also become in process of time, a
serious and dangerous embarrassment to the operations of the general
government.
Resolved, therefore: That the Legislature of this State do disapprove of
the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the
Legislature of Pennsylvania.
Resolved also: That his Excellency the Governor be, and he is hereby
requested to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble and
resolutions to each of the Senators and representatives of this State
in Congress, and to the executives of the several states in the union,
with a request that the same be laid before the Legislature thereof.
The said Resolutions being read a second time, were, on motion ordered
to be referred to a committee of the whole House on the state of the
Commonwealth.
Tuesday, Jan. 23rd, 1810.
The House according to the orders of the day, resolved itself into a
Committee of the whole house on the state of the Commonwealth, and after
some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Stannard
of Spottsylvania, reported that the Committee had, according to order,
had under consideration the preamble and resolution of the select
committee, to whom was referred that part of the Governor's
communication which relates to the amendment proposed to the
constitution of the United States by the Legislature of Pennsylvania,
had gone through with the same, and directed him to report them to the
House without amendment, which he handed in to the clerk's table.
And the question being put, on agreeing to the said preamble and
resolutions, they were agreed to by the House unanimously.
Ordered that the clerk carry the said preamble and resolutions to the
Senate, and desire their concurrence.
IN SENATE.
Wednesday, January 24th, 1810.
The preamble and resolutions on the amendment to the constitution of the
United States, proposed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania by the
appointment of an impartial tribunal to decide disputes between the
State and Federal judiciary, being also delivered in, and twice read, on
motion was ordered to be committed to Messieurs Nelson, Currie,
Campbell, Upshur and Wolfe.
Friday, January 26th, 1810.
Mr. Nelson reported from the committee on the preamble and resolutions
on the amendment, proposed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, etc.,
that the committee had, according to order, taken the said preamble and
resolutions under their consideration, and directed him to report them
without any amendment.
* * * * *
"This important state paper," says Judge McCue, "can be seen in the
works of Daniel Webster, vol. III, pp. 352-54, and so able were these
views and resolutions, considered at the time, as to attract the
attention of the leading Statesmen of the country, and they guided the
other States in the adoption of similar resolutions, thus overthrowing
the effort of Pennsylvania to establish a separate and distinct judicial
department as arbiter between the Federal and State Governments."
In the great debate in the United States Senate between Daniel Webster
and Gen. Hayne, of South Carolina, Mr. Webster quoted Mr. Peyton's
preamble and resolutions, as so conclusive of the questions involved, as
to admit of no further discussion. In a subsequent pages of Judge
McCue's sketch, an interesting conversation between Mr. Webster and
Daniel Sheffey is reported.
DISEASE LEADS TO HIS CHANGE OF HOME.
For several years previous to 1808, Mr. Peyton suffered with a disease
of the stomach and bowels--a chronic disentary, which baffled the skill
of his physicians. He consulted many of the eminent doctors of Virginia
and Maryland in vain. The numerous remedies they prescribed were taken
without good effect or gave only temporary relief. As a last resort he
determined, on the advice of his family physician and his most intimate
friends, to try the efficacy of the mineral waters of the Virginia
Springs, and accordingly spent the summer of 1806-7 at that famous
resort, the old Sweet Springs, in Monroe county. A use of the waters in
a very brief period, gave him relief from his sufferings, and at the end
of the season his health was re-established. He quickly decided, painful
as was the severing of early ties, and the separation from friends, to
leave the malarial regions of lower Virginia, and to make his home in
the healthy and bracing climate, west of the Blue Ridge. Accordingly in
1808 established himself in Staunton.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The deep interest taken by Mr. Peyton in all matters likely to promote
the thrift of the people and the public prosperity, and to which
repeated reference is made in the various sketches of his life, is
illustrated by the following facts:
At a meeting of the people of Augusta, held in Staunton in June, 1811,
to form an agricultural society, the first ever organized in the county,
he was present and appointed on what was styled the Committee of
Correspondence, a committee, no doubt, raised to induce by letters the
leading men of the county to co-operate in the cause.
MILITARY SCHOOLS.
In view of the war threatened with England the year following a military
association was formed in Staunton, and a committee was appointed at a
public meeting to deliberate and report on the best means to be adopted
in order to secure the establishment of military schools in the counties
of Augusta, Rockbridge and Rockingham for the instruction of officers
and men. This committee, of which Mr. Peyton was a member, reported to a
meeting of the association held in Staunton June 20th, 1812. It does not
appear by whom the report was written, but it embodies his sentiments on
the subject, and is therefore given as follows, namely:
"The committee to whom was referred a resolution of the Staunton
Military Association, which has for its object the establishment of
military schools, having had the subject under consideration beg leave
to report.
"The committee deem it unnecessary to refer to any other authority than
the good sense and honest feelings of every man, to prove the great
utility, at all times, but more especially at this, of military
instruction to the people of this country. The subject, there at least,
is a new and difficult one; and the committee are very sensible that any
plea which they can suggest will have many palpable obstacles to
encounter and may be exposed to various others, which they cannot
foresee. They rely for every hope of success upon the acknowledged value
of the object in view, upon the patriotism of the people, upon the order
of the present times, and upon the success of the experiment, which this
society has made.
"A military school, in which could be taught the complete discipline of a
refinest, the different exercises of the rifle corps, the artillery and
the infantry, together with the cavalry exercises of the sword, though
it could not promise to teach the whole principles of war as a science
would certainly promise much that would be eminently useful to every
soldier and officer in the institution. And your committee cannot
refrain from suggesting that a school for these purposes, successfully
conducted, might serve as an introduction to some more extensive and
some more perfect system of military education.
"To obtain a person capable of conducting such a school, would not always
be easy; such a person is not very readily to be met with, and what is
yet more difficult, funds to remunerate his services, are to be raised
by voluntary contribution. But at present, judging from their own
experience, in this society, your committee think that a person whose
skill, information and zeal in military affairs, would enable him to
conduct such a school, may be found in your commandant, and they hope
that funds to compensate his services are within the reach of an active
and spirited exertion. They hope that the neighboring counties of
Rockbridge and Rockingham would consider the subject as worthy of their
attention, and might be induced to unite with the people of Augusta in
their endeavors to attain it. A sufficient number of subscribers in the
county of Augusta alone would probably not be obtained, to induce any
one properly qualified, to devote his time to this service. But by the
union of Rockingham and Rockbridge this might be effected.
"Your committee would therefore recommend to the society, the adoption of
the following resolutions:
"Resolved, that subscriptions be opened in the county of Augusta, under
the immediate superintendance of a committee of seven persons, appointed
by this society, for establishing a military school in the town of
Staunton to be denominated the Staunton Military School, to commence on
the 15th day of July next, and continue for one year thereafter, and be
under the directions of Capt. George Turner; the present commandant of
this society--that the times of teaching and price to subscribers be
regulated by said committee and the commandant in conjunction, so that
the days of teaching be not less than one day in each fortnight, and the
price to subscribers be not more than ten dollars per annum, payable
quarterly in advance.
"Resolved, that it be recommended to the commandant to endeavor to
establish similar schools in the neighbouring counties of Rockingham and
Rockbridge, and that the committee aforesaid be instructed to invite,
respectfully, the co-operation of those counties."
THE WAR OF 1812.
The year following, President Madison sent a war message to congress and
such was the popular excitement growing out of the British claim
entitled the "Right of Search," and the collision between the United
States frigate, _Chesapeake_, and the British frigate, _Leopold_, in
1807, which had never been allayed, that war was declared by the United
States against Great Britain, on June 18th, 1812.
The nation was much divided on this policy. By the opposition party, the
main strength of which was in the Northern and Eastern States, it was
considered a mere administration measure, resistance to which argued no
want of patriotism, but quite the contrary and so from the beginning to
the close of hostilities, the Federalists did all they could to stay
the course on which they thought the Government was driving to
destruction. The Hartford convention met, and some of the New England
States went so far as to nulify an act of Congress regarding enlistment.
During all this time, the country was in great want of resources, which
nothing but unanimity could supply. The army was but a handful, and the
Militia, instead of coming forward in large numbers, remained at home to
attend party meetings and discuss the right of the Government to call
them out; the supply of war material was very scanty, and the Treasury
almost empty.
Such was the unpromising state of affairs, when John H. Peyton, who had
voted for Mr. Madison and warmly supported the war policy, came forward
and exerted every energy of mind and body to stir up popular enthusiasm
in support of the war. He volunteered at once, to serve in the army,
until peace was restored, and was immediately appointed Chief of Staff
to Gen. Porterfield, an old Revolutionary officer, who, while serving as
a lieutenant in 1780, at the siege of Charleston, S. C., had killed by
his side, Captain Valentine Peyton, a young and gallant cousin of J. H.
Peyton. Forgetting everything but his duty to his country, which was
with him, and every true patriot paramount, Mr. P. abandoned his
lucrative practice, which more selfish men sought to appropriate, and
his wife and family and joined the army on the James river in Eastern
Virginia, with the active operation of which he was identified until the
declaration of peace, February 17th, 1815.
The "Republican Farmer" went out of existence, no newspaper took its
place for years and we have seen no account of the army services of
Major Peyton beyond the statement that he was "one of the most
enterprising and daring officers in the service," but more than thirty
years after the end of the war, and his death, his minor children
received from the Government, a pension for his services.
ANECDOTE OF THE FIGHTING MAJOR.
The late Adam Bickle, of Staunton, father of R. G. Bickle and a member
of the Augusta Force, use to enjoy telling an anecdote of Major Peyton.
He said that repeated complaints were made by the soldiers as to the
musty flour and inferior bacon furnished by the commissary, to the
troops, while stationed at Camp Holly. On one occasion, Major Peyton
remonstrated with the commissary, on the character of the stores, when
that officer flew into a passion and grossly insulted the major, whom he
alleged, was not the proper officer to take him to task. Without a
moment's thought Major Peyton knocked him down with the hilt of his
sword, and gave him a thorough drubbing in presence of the men. This
would appear very curious to persons accustomed to European discipline
and standing armies, but with the raw levies, of eighty years ago, was
much enjoyed and thought not to be greatly out of place. It had the
effect of endearing the Major to the men who never in any kind of
subsequent trouble, failed to appeal to him.
Many years after one of Major Peyton's young children hearing of this
affair, enquired if the commissary had challenged him. The Major replied
that he had not. But continued the child "suppose he had, what would you
have done?" "Why," said the Major, "I would have answered him as humorously
as did the gentleman spoken of by Dr. Franklin, A gentleman in a coffee
house," said the Major "desired another to sit further from him. Why so?
Because you stink! That's an insult, and you must fight me. I will
fight you, if you insist upon it, but I do not see how that will mend
the matter, for if you kill me, I shall stink too, and if I kill you,
you will stink, if possible, more than you do at present."
A WESTERN TRIP IN 1815.
Shortly after the close of the war, Mr. Peyton made a visit to Kentucky
on business, one object being to look after fifteen hundred acres of
land belonging to his wife lying near Louisville, a property which has
since become of immense value. He was accompanied by Ned Phipps or Fibs,
his body servant during the war, a faithful negro, upon whose attachment
he could rely. In his station few men behaved, as a rule, better than
Ned, who had a certain amount of self respect, "nigger" as he was
styled, and knew how to conduct himself, if he did not always do it.
They made the entire journey from Staunton to Louisville, on horseback,
of course they were armed, as their route was through a wild and savage
country, infested by Indians, many of them dissatisfied with the close
and the result of the war; and a class of desperate whites, more
dangerous than the red men, some of whom had served under Gen. Harrison
in the North West, and were survivors of Fort Meigs, and the battle and
massacre of the river Raisin. The Eastern part of Kentucky, known as the
"Knobs," or the "Knobby country," is still a savage country in
possession of a savage people, though traversed by the Chesapeake and
Ohio Railroad which is supposed to have let in some of the light of
civilization, and has gained an unenviable notoriety within the past ten
years by reason of the bloody feuds between the Hatfields and McCoys.
Through this wilderness they travelled on miserable paths called roads,
which connected the settlements, swimming rivers, and other water
courses and resting of nights in log huts, called country taverns
promising accommodations for man and beast. And what is remarkable to
relate completed their outward journey and returned to Virginia in
safety.
When we consider what our ancestors endured, what hardships and
privations they suffered, we are of the opinion that we enjoy to-day,
more physical, spiritual and intellectual benefits and blessings than
have ever before fallen to the lot of man. Notwithstanding the rough
experiences of this trip, Mr. Peyton found something bright in all he
saw and heard, allowed nothing to depress his spirits, still less
deepening sorrows, over the woeful complaints he listened to from back
woodsmen of hard times and worse coming.
He was one of those men who make the best of every thing, there was
nothing splenetic, melancholy, or timid in his nature, and he returned
from his visit strengthened for his manly duties--his lawyer's life.
Such was his devotion to the profession that he would allow nothing to
permanently turn him from it, and he only served two years as Mayor of
Staunton, to which position he was elected in 1817-18 because, the
duties were so light that they did not interfere with his work, and his
friends urged him to accept the place as, at that time, the currency was
deranged, money scarce, and people depressed. From the fertility of his
resources it was thought he would find a remedy for these evils. During
his Mayoralty, the city made an issue of paper money and this
circulating medium brought no small relief to the people. One of these
"shin plasters," as they were termed in popular slang phraseology, was
found a few years since, over eighty years from the time it was put
forth; presumably in the stocking of some provident old woman, and was
sealed up as a curiosity in the corner stone of the Confederate Monument
in Thornrose Cemetery, at Staunton.
During the month he gave himself for relaxation and rest in Kentucky he
enjoyed the society of such people as the Brown's, Green's Preston's
Gov. Shelby, Col. R. M. Johnson, Natl. Hart, Robert Scott and other
noted characters in that rich and lovely region. Some of these
afterwards from time to time visited him, and greatly enjoyed the
blandishments of Virginian society.
DECLINES AN APPOINTMENT.
On his return from his Western trip he was appointed deputy United
States District Attorney for Western Virginia, and for a time discharged
the duties of the office for his friend William Wirt. He had served in
the Legislature in 1808-9, with Mr. Wirt and a strong mutual friendship
was the result. On Mr. Wirt's resignation of the position and his
removal to Baltimore, Mr. Peyton declined the office as conflicting with
his other appointments, (which were more lucrative) and his extensive
private practice.
* * * * *
We owe the following letters to the filial piety of Mr. Peyton's
eldest daughter, Mrs. Susan M. Baldwin, widow of the late Col. J.
B. Baldwin, who has preserved them since the Montgomery Hall family
was broken up at Mrs. J. H. Peyton's death in 1850.
OLD FAMILY LETTERS.
Fawcett's Tavern, Green Valley, Bath Co., Va., June 1, 1822.
JOHN H. PEYTON TO MRS. PEYTON.
_My Dear Ann_:
I left home in such haste that I forgot to tell you to send to Mr.
Johnson's for a carboy of wine. Though you do not like it yourself,
hospitality requires that you should always have it for those who do.
Baldwin [Afterwards Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin, his life-long friend] and
I were thoroughly drenched in the rain-storm on yesterday, but neither
of us felt the slightest inconvenience from it this morning. No news, so
far, from your mother or Mrs. Massie. Give my love to William [his only
son by his first marriage, the late Col. William M. Peyton, of Roanoke]
and be assured, my dear Ann, that you are, in your present delicate
situation, the source of constant solicitude to me. Take care of
yourself and go to no large parties. You will always have the company of
Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Donagho, Mrs. Baldwin, Miss Telfair, and you can not
fail to enjoy such society. Write to me constantly.
With sincerest affection, though in great haste, your husband.
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lewisburg, Greenbrier Co., June 5th, 1822.
_My Beloved Ann_:
I received your affectionate letter of the 2nd of June this evening
which gave me great pleasure. When separated from you, there is nothing
that gives so much delight as to get one of your cheerful letters. I
regret to learn that you have been indisposed, however slightly, since
we parted. I feel confident, however, that with prudence and care you
will suffer as little as anyone from disease. You have a thoroughly
sound constitution. If you were a little older I would add, a well
preserved one. If I were to tell you how many kind enquiries and good
wishes have been expressed for you by friends here, you would be proud
and happy.
I am much gratified to that you and my dear son William are again
friends. I trust the reconciliation will be sincere and enduring.
[Note.--It proved to be such and this reference is made to their
relations in the memoir of Col. Wm. M. Peyton, "after the loss of his
(Wm. M. Peyton's) mother, and Mr. Peyton's second marriage to her
cousin, Ann Montgomery Lewis, * * William extended to her not only
deference and respect, but a truly filial affection. Mrs. A. M. Peyton,
was therefore soon warmly attached to him and taught her children to
love him before they learned to do so for his own noble qualities, for
his native endowments and the extent of his accomplishments, as they
were developed to the family in after years."] Our good brother, James
Woodville, is now with me and we often talk of you. He is a most kind,
sympathetic and affectionate friend. Dr. Lewis has at last, set out for
Point Coupee. Massie and his wife are recovering. Your mother expected
to leave on a visit to you on yesterday. Whether she has actually gone,
I do not know. I hope she has. If not I shall return by the Sweet
Springs and endeavor to induce her to go back with me. Whether she comes
or not, be of good cheer. I shall be with you and will see that every
comfort is provided that love and foresight can suggest. Woodville says
your mother will certainly go down, and I trust she may, as it would be
a comfort to you and a pleasure to us all. Your father looks quite well,
is hale and hearty, and Mrs. Woodville, who is at the Springs, much
better. James sends his love to you and William.
I am your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
P. S.--Mrs. Woodville was very anxious to have accompanied your mother
to Staunton, but James[2] bids me tell you he could not spare his wife
so long.
LEWIS LITTLEPAGE.
[2] Note.--The James here mentioned was James Littlepage Woodville, who
married Mrs. Peyton's eldest sister, Mary Lewis.--Mr. Woodville resided
at Fincastle and Buchanan, and was a prominent lawyer and president of
the Bank of Buchanan. His father was Rev. John Woodville, Rector of St.
Mark's Parish, Culpeper Co., and a native of North Britain. He was a
nephew of the celebrated, but eccentric Lewis Littlepage, whose career
was brilliant and unequaled. Littlepage was born in Virginia in 1762,
and died at Fredericksburg in 1802. At the age of 17 he went to Europe,
and in 1779-80 accompanied Mr. Jay, American Envoy, to the Court of
Spain, Madrid. Though only a youth, his figure was fine and manly--his
dark eyes bright and penetrating. Among his acquaintances he was
regarded as a prodigy of genius and acquirements.--Shortly after
reaching Madrid, Littlepage separated from Mr. Jay's family, and joined
as a volunteer aid, the duke of Cuillon, and was with the army at the
siege of Minorca. At the siege of Gibralter he was on a floating battery
and blown up, but being uninjured was rescued from the sea and
distinguished himself during the further operations against that
fortress. On the return of the fleet to Cadiz, he was sent with
despatches to Madrid, where the Court received and treated him with much
distinction. He then proceeded to Paris, and was on terms of friendship
with Dr. Franklin, who was then living at Passy.--At Paris and
Versailles this adventurous, young Virginian moved in the best society
and attracted marked attention from all. After a brief visit to London,
he returned to the Continent and made a tour of Europe, establishing
himself at Warsaw, where he was so popular that he rose to be in effect,
the King's Prime Minister. He resisted and defeated the plans of
Zamoyski before the Diet. He afterwards went to St. Petersburg as
Ambassador from Poland, and acquitted himself with distinguished ability
and became a favorite of the Empress Catherine. The following letter of
Lewis Littlepage to Lewis Holiday takes up the history of his life where
our account ends and completes the story of his eventful career in
Europe.
LETTER FROM JOHN H. PEYTON TO MRS. PEYTON.
Warm Springs, Sept. 2nd, 1822.
_My Dear Ann_:
I dined at the Hot Springs and arrived here last evening without
accident or adventure and without increasing the inflammation of my
wounded leg. [Note--While opening the front gate at Capt. Massie's, in
the Valley of the Falling Spring, Alleghany county, his riding-horse, a
spirited but badly trained animal, sprang forward, dashing him against
the gate-post, and the iron prong of the latch was driven through the
calf of his leg, inflicting a painful and dangerous wound. The wound was
so serious indeed that he was confined to the house for several weeks
and owed his recovery mainly, as was thought, to the kind attendance of
Mrs. Massie and her family.] Old Brinkly, who is here, and something of
a leech, and a kind and excellent fellow, examined and dressed the wound
last evening. He approves of all that was done by Mrs. Massie, and
insisted that I should take the warm bath this morning and let the "_leg
there soak for thirty minutes_." I followed his advice in the absence
of a more scientific authority, and have just returned from the bath
feeling all the better for having taking it. I thought the burnt alum
which sister Susan put on the wound healed it too rapidly, and the
effect of the bath has confirmed me in this impression. Immediately
after leaving the bath, the blood spurted in a lively stream from the
wound, which Brinkly soon stopped. He was not cast down at this
incident, but said it was a good sign, that it was a discharge of
bruised blood, and applied lint and Basilican plaster, and I now feel
quite easy and comfortable. Brinkly is not a quack; on the contrary, he
possesses some skill, and is anxious to be of service, not only to me,
but to all suffering humanity.
There are a number of visitors still here, among them Norborne Nicholas,
Judge Roane, Dr. Adams, Mrs. Harvie and Malinda Bowyer. They meet daily,
Dr. Brockenbrough included in the party, in my apartments, and we enjoy
the reunion no little. All are exceedingly kind, they even oppress me
with their friendly attentions. Having accepted the guidance of old
Brinkly, I shall adhere to him as long as I improve. It may not be the
best course, but it would be difficult to ascertain the wisest policy
among such a multitude of counsellors, each one with an infallible
remedy, and all advising a different course of treatment. But it is
interesting to hear these good people discuss their theories. They are a
remarkably cultured coterie to have remained behind the annual exodus,
and all full of kindness of feeling. This I take to be culture, or the
powers we acquire of sympathizing with others, of feeling the conditions
under which they act and of regarding them and their interest rather
than our own wishes and gratifications. Roane, who will stop with us
three days, on his return from Richmond, and whom you have not met,
though I have known him for 20 years, is a man of superior abilities,
and with considerable literary attainments, is accurate in legal
learning and one of our best lawyers and judges. He is a good, but not
what is styled a "brilliant talker," ready in his wit and pat in
illustration. He amuses the mind by his happy conceits which, like a
good conscience, act as medicine for both mind and body. I regret to say
that his health is bad. [Judge Roane died Sept. 4th, 1822.]
Girard Stuart has just arrived from the Sweet Springs and says 160
visitors are yet there, and about 60 at the White Sulphur. I hope to see
you and little Susan, Captain and Mrs. Massie, on Friday. Present me
affectionately to Capt. M., Susan and the family.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SPEECH OF JOHN H. PEYTON 72 YEARS AGO.
The following interesting extract from the records of the Superior Court
of law and chancery for Bath county, 1822, will no doubt be read with
keen zest at the present time:--
EXTRACTS FROM THE RECORDS.
At a Superior Court of law holden for Bath county at the court house on
the 5th day of September, 1822.
John H. Peyton addressed the court to the following effect:--
"The melancholy task devolves upon me [Mr. Peyton was Attorney for the
Commonwealth in the county and circuit] of announcing to the court the
death of Hon. Spencer Roane, one of the Judges of the Supreme court of
Appeals of Va. He departed this life on last evening at this place
where he came a few weeks since for the recovery of his health.
"In him the country has lost one of her most useful and distinguished
citizens, liberty one of her most enlightened, firm and determined
advocates, and the judiciary, one of its brightest ornaments.
"As a small tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased, rendered
peculiarly appropriate as it emanates from a department to which he was
both personally and professionally attached, and from a court over which
presides one who has long been his political associate and personal
friend, I offer for adoption the following:
"Resolved, That the court do forthwith adjourn and that the Judge, the
Bar and the other officials of the court attend the funeral of the
deceased.
"The court and the Bar assenting to the resolution immediately
adjourned."--_Spectator_, 1894.
SAME TO SAME.
Isleham, Jackson's River, March 7th, 1823.
_My Dear Ann_:
I arrived here on Thursday about 12 o'clock, after a very disagreeable
and fatiguing journey. The day I left home, I had good roads and fair
weather, and I reached Roadcap's on the great Calf Pasture River, near
the Panther's Gap, where I lodged. The next day I traveled in the rain
from morning till night, and over wretched roads, often a half leg deep
in mire. My horse was so wearied and exhausted I could get no further
than the Hot Springs, twenty miles. The next day I rode through sleet
and rain, mire and mud to Capt. Massie's, where I stopped until the
weather improved. I then took your brother Benjamin with me to this
point, where we have since been enjoying fine weather--the sky is now
serene and the air mild.
The day I left Staunton Mrs. Massie set out for Fincastle on a visit to
her sister, Mary, (Mrs. Woodville), who is, I am sorry to say, in
declining health. She will make an effort to fetch Mary to her home,
thinking the air and water of the Valley cannot fail to be of service to
her. Capt. Massie and the children, your father and mother, and, indeed,
all the family are in their usual good health and spirits.
A thaw has set in, the ice is breaking up, and the water courses rising.
Vegetation is a fortnight later than last year at this time. The maple
sugar season, which usually occurs in February, is just now beginning.
Nelly is very busy over her pots and pans, but has only made
thirty-three pounds. This she sends you to-day by Ben, who also carries,
among other things, the cloth for a suit of clothes sister Massie
presented me--the cloth is of her own manufacture and of fine and
durable texture. Have this suit made up for me immediately and have the
pantaloons cut by my wedding small clothes--they fit better than any of
my others. If you are too busy to give this matter your attention ask
Miss Tapp to attend to it. William will purchase the trimmings from Mr.
Cowan. [Note--Joseph Cowan then the leading dry goods merchant in
Staunton.]
I have decided to send your carriage horses by Ben and to run the risque
of making my journey through Pendleton on the mare I bought of Capt.
Massie. She is rough, much marked with harness, but is young, active and
though spirited, gentle. I prefer such a riding horse, unsightly though
she be, to the slow, lifeless movements of Kelly, who is at the best a
shuffling nag.
I am adding to the furniture and comforts of our house here--have
directed Mrs. Walton to make you some handsome counterpanes and some
linen sheets, table cloths and towels from the flax grown on the farm. I
have also bought a supply of feather beds and pillows, and purchased a
mirror and dinner service of Liverpool ware, the latter for use on great
days and holidays when you favor the place with your presence.
The servants have put up 5,900 pounds of pork and large supplies of
lard. There is every prospect that we shall have plenty of fruit and
vegetables, so that you will want none of the creature comforts when on
your visit in August. The ice-house has not been commenced, and I fear
will not be finished this season. Walton's delays are vexations--I
suspect he has an object in them--he fears to make this place too
comfortable lest you may prefer it to Staunton, in which case his
services might, and would be dispensed with. If I should be forced by
his repeated neglect of my orders to decline his services for the
future, he will have fared as he hath wrought.
I hope to get a letter from you at the Warm Springs--do not expect
another from me before my return. Ben unites with me in love to you,
William and Susan.
I remain your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
P.S.--Tell William the river could not be forded, or I should have sent
for his minerals and other curiosities at McClintic's. Ben will take him
his Indian arrows and stone cannon ball, though there is no account of
the _Indians ever having used big guns_. Nelly sends Susan some maple
sugar.
MAJOR JOHN LEWIS.
Mrs. Peyton made a visit to her mother at the Sweet Springs after the
death of her father, Major John Lewis, which occurred at the Springs in
1823. Major Lewis ought to live in the memory of posterity, as he was in
more ways than one a remarkable man, renowned among his comrades for
courage, integrity, his high sense of honor and indomitable
perseverance. Let us premise a word as to this heroic old man. He had
long served in the Indian wars on the border and was present at the
battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, an officer under command of his
distinguished uncle, Gen. Andrew Lewis, commander-in-chief. During the
arduous march from Fort Union through the wilderness and at the battle
he infused his own spirit and energy into all about him, was already
renowned for his precocious military talent at the opening of the
Revolutionary war. About two years later he joined the Continental army
as a Lieutenant, was engaged in nearly all the battles in the Northern
Colonies, Monmouth, Saratoga, Trenton, etc., and spent the winter of
1777, at Valley Forge. Though a very young man he attracted and made the
lasting friendship of Washington. He rose to the rank of Major, in which
rank he served at the battle of Monmouth. At the close of the war, to
which he had devoted his energies, and just as he was in sight of the
glorious summit "where fame's proud temple shines afar," and his
services would doubtless have been rewarded by high command, the strife
ended by the recognition of American Independence. In 1783, Major Lewis
returned to his Virginia home, without having won that extended fame
which was so liberally meted out to those in high commands. From 1783,
to Wayne's victorious campaign against the Western Indians, in 1794,
Major Lewis was much on the frontier, had many encounters with savages
and border ruffians, had many hair-breadth escapes and won great
applause for his personal strength and boldness. In his frays with these
fierce borderers he displayed extraordinary physical strength as well as
indomitable pluck. He was only five feet ten inches high, but was
strongly and compactly built, and his muscular power was enormous. It
was commonly said that he was the strongest man in Virginia. His
shoulders were broad and his chest deep. His countenance was frank,
open, manly and cheerful, but at periods of danger stern and severe. In
nature he was kind and gentle, was a humane and benevolent man, neither
showing ferocity nor indulging in cruelty. He died an Elder in the
Presbyterian church, universally respected by all who knew him. During
his career he made the acquaintance of Gen. Jackson, afterwards seventh
President of the United States, who entertained and expressed the
highest opinion of his military genius and of his pure and upright
character. In 1830, when South Carolina threatened nulification, General
Jackson declared to a Virginian gentleman then in Washington, "That if
he had a man like John Lewis to second him, he could go to South
Carolina, hang Calhoun and end nulification within a month and forever."
In 1830, the United States government made a large grant of lands to his
heirs as a further recompense for his military services. It was during
Mrs. Peyton's visit to her home in the Sweet Springs Valley, after her
father's death, that the following letter was written:--
JOHN H. PEYTON TO MRS. PEYTON:
Staunton, June 24th, 1823.
I duly received the letter of my dear wife on the 15th, giving me the
agreeable intelligence that she and Susan had improved in health and
were well. Let me say a word here on the subject of your and her health.
Do not let her habits of life become too delicate. If you will both
continue the practice of taking a cold bath every morning, you will soon
regain your former healthy tone, and Susan become stronger and teethe
easily. Whenever you suffer with heat and need refreshment resort to the
warm bath, not oftener, however, than once a day. Do not allow the nurse
to carry Susan in her arms as much as heretofore; let her place the
child on the floor to there exercise by getting on her own way--"We must
crawl before we can walk." Nothing can supply the want of exercise, it
gives the child confidence and the conversation of the nurse and the
pointing out of objects pleases its fancy and arouses its faculties.
Children that are too much nursed and coddled are apt to be weak and
delicate and are sometimes even deformed by the carelessness of nurses
in keeping them too long in improper positions. We cannot be too
particular with this lovely child in whom we so much delight. The
Masonic procession occurs to-day; it is in honor of John the Baptist.
Dr. Stephens delivers the address [Rev. Dr. Stephens, Rector of Trinity
Church, Staunton,] and the dinner is given at Mrs. Chamber's tavern. I
can only participate in the dinner, as there is a trial of a negro for a
rape committed on a white married woman, which will occupy my attention
throughout the day. Now that he is within the toils of justice, I shall
see that he does not struggle out and make his escape. Such brutal deeds
must meet their just punishment.
Your friend Mrs. Baldwin is much engaged entertaining her brother and
his family, who are on a visit from Winchester. Such spare time as I
have is spent with Johnson and his family, where I am almost domiciled,
[Chapman Johnson the distinguished lawyer.] Johnson's health is much
improved and his spirits are better. He no longer suffers with
depression. He makes many friendly enquiries after you and his
god-daughter, Susan Madison. He goes to the Sweet this summer with his
family and sister-in-law, Agnes Nicholson.
I have directed the servants to make you a supply of currant jelly and
walnut pickles. Sinah has also salted down, for winter use, a quantity
of excellent butter. Is there anything else you would like to have done?
If so, speak--you will not have to speak twice.
On Thursday I commenced my harvest. The wheat is much better than last
year, and than I supposed it would be. The recent rains have improved
the oats and corn, and there is promise of an abundant yield. Our hearts
should be filled with thankfulness for the countless blessings God
showers upon us. Why are we not stimulated to more and greater acts of
beneficence.
My health has improved since I last wrote--my cold is gone, my appetite
good and my spirits buoyant. I do not think I will ever lay aside my
flannel again, certainly not before May is out. Dr. Boys and Gen. Brown
both told me recently that they never removed theirs without taking
cold, and for several years they have worn it all the year round.
I received a letter from Capt. Massie a few days since, from which I am
happy to learn that he is recovering. I hope to meet Woodville soon, on
his way to see his friends in Culpeper. I hear that Aunt McDowell is at
Smithfield with your grandmother Preston, whose health is much impaired.
James M. Preston writes urging me to make them a visit and to fetch you
and Susan along. Ballard is a stirring and promising lad. [afterward Wm.
Ballard Preston, Secretary of the Navy in President Taylor's Cabinet.]
My engagements will not admit of my writing more.--Remember me
affectionately to your mother, to Sister Woodville, to Sarah, Lynn, and
all the children. Kiss Sue for me, and for yourself accept my best
wishes for your health and happiness. Write as often as possible.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
Note.--Ben was by birth an African chief, and became Mr. Peyton's
favorite man-servant. Captured on the African coast in 1807, he was
brought to Virginia with a cargo of negroes and sold. At the auction Mr.
P., who happened to be on the Lower James river at the time, became his
purchaser. He was then about twelve years old, a strong, athletic boy,
who grew to be 6 feet 2 inches high, and was as black as ink. He was
named Ben Potter, probably after one of his captors. The interpreter
gave an interesting account of Ben, and of the deference and respect
paid him on the voyage by his fellow captives.--The young negro was so
much impressed with the appearance and bearing of Mr. Peyton that he
begged him through the interpreter, to become his purchaser. This he
consented to do and Ben continued his faithful servant through life,
till his (Mr. Peyton's) death in 1847. Ben was soon deeply attached to
his master, was confided in, and trusted by Mr. Peyton and his family.
On leaving home to go the round of the circuit, Mr. Peyton always placed
his wife and children under Ben's protection and never had cause to
regret it. He was sober, industrious and honest--every way worthy of
the trust reposed in him. Thirty odd years later, when Mr. Peyton was
prostrated by paralysis in 1845, his attached servant and friend was
ploughing in a field near the Montgomery Hall Mansion. Hearing cries of
alarm from the family, he abandoned his team and ran to the house, and
elbowing himself into his master's room assisted in ministering to him
till the arrival of the family physician.
From that hour to Mr. Peyton's death in 1847, he slept in his room,
helped to watch over him, administered his medicine, drove him in his
phaeton, when his health admitted of it, and looked after his comfort in
every way, and was never over thirty minutes out of his presence till
Mr. P. died, when he seemed broken-hearted. Mr. Peyton's executor
offered Ben his freedom and a life annuity, which he declined--he
preferred to remain with his old Master's children, and did so until his
death, which occurred about 1855, the aged, trusted Servant sinking into
the grave a sincere Christian, loved and respected by all who knew him,
and with the confident hope that he would meet his old Master and friend
among the Saints above. Among those whose admiration for the character
of this faithful servant led them often to speak of him with pleasure,
was the late Col. John B. Baldwin, who never, while he lived, allowed
Ben, and the history of his good and faithful services, which for
several years came under his observation, to go unmentioned--or
unrewarded.
JOHN H. PEYTON TO MRS. PEYTON.
Warm Springs, Sept. 1st., 1823.
_My Beloved Ann_:
On the day we parted the Judge (Archibald Stuart) and myself arrived
without adventure at General Blackburn's.
On the next day at Colonel Cameron's and on Tuesday at two o'clock
arrived at Huntersville, the seat of Justice of Pocahontas county--a
place as much out of the world as Crim Tartary. Owing to the bad
conditions of the roads we were much fatigued and bore many marks of
travel-stain. The so-called town of Huntersville consists of two
ill-constructed time-worn, (though it is not time which has worn them,)
weather-beaten cabins built of logs and covered with clapboards. My
negro cabins on Jackson's river are palaces in comparison with them.
One of these wretched hovels is the residence of John Bradshaw, the
other is called the Loom-house for these people are self-sustaining.
They spin and weave. The big wheel and the little wheel are birring in
every hut and throwing off the woolen and linen yarn to be worked up for
family purposes. The home-spun cloth, too, is stronger and more durable
than that brought by our merchants from Northern manufacturers.
In Bradshaw's dwelling there is a large fire-place, which occupies one
entire side, the gable end. The chimney is enormous and so short that
the room is filled with light which enters this way. It is an ingenious
contrivance for letting all the warmth escape through the chimney,
whilst most of the smoke is driven back into the chamber. In the
chimney-corner I prepared my legal papers before a roaring fire,
surrounded by rough mountaineers, who were drinking whiskey and as night
advanced, growing riotous. In the back part of the room two beds were
curtained off with horse-blankets--one for the Judge, the other for
myself. To the left of the fire-place stood old Bradshaw's couch. In the
loft, to which they ascended, by means of a ladder, his daughter and
the hired woman slept, and at times of a crowd, a wayfarer. The other
guests were sent to sleep in the Loom-house, in which was suspended in
the loom, a half-woven piece of cloth. Three beds were disposed about
the room, which completed its appointments--one was allotted to Sampson
Matthews, a second to John Baxter, the third to George Mays, and John
Brown. The loom was used as a hat-rack at night and for sitting on, in
the absence of chairs, in the day. As there was not a chair or stool
beyond those used by the weaving women, my clients _roosted_ on the loom
while detailing their troubles and receiving advice.
Bradshaw's table is well supplied. There is profusion, if not
prodigality in the rich, lavish bounty of the goodly tavern. We had no
venison, as this is a shy season with the deer, but excellent mutton
with plenty of apple sauce, peach pie, and roasting ears. As a mark of
deference and respect to the Court, I presume, we had a
table-cloth--they are not often seen on Western tables and when they
are, are not innocent of color--and clean sheets upon our beds. This
matter of the sheets is no small affair in out of the way places, as it
not unfrequently happens that wanderers communicate disease through the
bedclothing. Old Bradshaw's family is scrupulously clean, which is
somewhat remarkable in a region where cleanliness is for the most part
on the outside. A false modesty seems to prevent those salutary
ablutions which are so necessary to health, and I did not commend myself
to the good graces of the hired woman by insisting on my foot-bath every
morning.
We remained five days at Huntersville closely engaged in the business of
the Court, which I found profitable. Pocahontas is a fine grazing
county, and the support of the people is mainly derived from their
flocks of cattle, horses and sheep, which they drive over the mountains
to market. There is little money among them except after these
excursions, but they have little need of it--even want is supplied by
the happy country they possess, and of which they are as fond as the
Swiss of their mountains. It is a pretty country, a country of
diversified and beautiful scenery in which there is a wealth of verdure
and variety which keeps the attention alive and the outward eye
delighted.
On Saturday the Judge and I visited Sandy Lockridge, where we were very
hospitably entertained. His house is every way a respectable dwelling,
with plenty of room and much good furniture. On Saturday we returned to
Col. Cameron's and this evening arrived here in sound health and
excellent spirits, notwithstanding our rough experiences. I was much
disappointed not to find a letter awaiting me from my dear wife. Ben
Crawford has, however, relieved my anxiety, by telling me that he saw
you on Saturday sitting at the front window of your dining-room writing,
and thought he heard the prattle of Susan in the room. I imagine you
were writing to me and hope tomorrow's mail will fetch the coveted
letter.
Your father's will has been recorded in Alleghany county and your
brother William has qualified as sole executor--the sale is to take
place day after tomorrow, but nothing will be sold but the live stock. I
have seen none of our relations or connections since I left home--have
learned these facts from others.
Accept the best wishes of your husband for yourself and our dear little
girl, and believe me,
Yours affectionately,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
LETTER FROM JOHN H. PEYTON TO HIS WIFE.
In 1826, John H. Peyton obtained an appointment as cadet at West Point
for his brother-in-law, John B. Lewis, of the Sweet Springs. As young
Lewis was inexperienced, had never traveled beyond the limits of
Virginia, Mr. Peyton determined to accompany him to the United States
Military Academy, though the journey at that day was long and tedious
and his professional engagements made his absence at any time a matter
of great inconvenience to himself and clients.
The following letter to Mrs. Peyton will be read at this day with
interest and something like astonishment, so great has been our progress
and development within the past sixty-five years--such changes would
hardly have occurred in European countries in centuries. At that day the
old-fashioned stage-coach was still in use, there were few macadamized
roads and no railways. The entire journey, therefore, from Staunton in
Virginia, to West Point, was made in what were called "hacks,"--most of
them rickety and unsafe, and in steamboats no better, and not so safe as
the Tug and Ferry boats of the present and as unlike as possible the
floating palaces of our day. It must be remembered that railroads were
not opened in the United States until 1830, and travel was somewhat in
the unsatisfactory state described by Mr. Pickwick.
"Travel," said Mr. Pickwick, "is in a troubled state, and the minds of
coachmen are unsettled. Stage-coaches are upsetting in all directions,
horses are bolting, boats are overturning and boilers are bursting."
Such was true in no Pickwickian sense in our country in 1826, and the
perils of traveling were increased by the use of high pressure engines
on the boats, and unskillful drivers and bad horses in the coaches.
There was not much improvement in things in Virginia since A. D. 1665,
when Colonel Valentine Peyton, of Nominy, in the county of Westmoreland,
Virginia, thus remarks in his last will and testament [See April number,
1881, of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register] before
leaving home, "_being about to take a voyage to Jamestown and knowing
the life of a man to be uncertain. I doe make this my last will and
testament_." If a man were indifferent to such dangers, there was little
pleasure to be derived from traveling. The taverns were miserable, and
the rural districts almost destitute of the comforts of civilized life.
Excitement there might have been in journeying then, but none of the
pleasant exhilaration which attends a jaunt in a Pullman now-a-days. Mr.
Peyton makes no complaints, though it is obvious from his description of
a half-hour's "nap" on the Baltimore boat, that he had not stumbled upon
a bed of roses.
JOHN H. PEYTON TO HIS WIFE.
New York, June 18th, 1826.
_My Dear Ann_:
On the 15th at 5 o'clock we left Baltimore on the steamboat for
Philadelphia. The view of the city, Fort McHenry, the light-house on
North Point, and of the Chesapeake Bay, with its numerous vessels
spreading their canvas to the winds just as the sun was sinking below
the horizon, was animating and enlivening, majestic and sublime. From
the prow of the vessel, I contemplated this interesting scene as long as
the light enabled me to enjoy its beauties. Soon after dusk a pealing
bell summoned us to the supper table, where we were surprised to find a
sumptuous repast spread out. We had not anticipated such variety or
delicacy of food. After partaking of the good cheer, we drew lots for
our berths. I was unlucky--my berth was so warm, not to say hot and
stuffy, that before I could get any sleep our arrival at French town was
announced. Turning out at 12 o'clock at night, but with no regrets, we
shortly after continued our journey, and at 3 o'clock in the morning,
found ourselves at New Castle. Here we re-shipped in a steamboat without
berths. This I did not regret after my recent experience of them, and
Benjamin and myself essayed to secure a half-hour's sleep stretched upon
two pine benches. How long we might have courted sleep on these hard and
narrow couches, I know not. We were not left to make the experiment any
length of time, but were shortly roused up by the bustle among the
seamen and passengers preparatory to landing at Philadelphia. The
breakfast table, when we entered the so-called saloon, was smoking with
coffee and steak, and about the time we had paid our respects to both,
the boat was at Chestnut street wharf. Landing here we proceeded
immediately to Campbell's, and it was a glad surprise to find him astir,
thanks to the business habits of the city of brotherly love.
Under his guidance, after another cup of coffee and a hot roll, we
proceeded to attend to the numerous commissions with which we were
charged. This occupied us something over four hours, when we bade our
friends adieu and went aboard the New York steamer. About 6 o'clock p.
m. we reached Princeton, where I spent four of the happiest years of my
youth, and which I had not seen since taking my degree in 1797. The
stages were running with such rapidity, however, that it was impossible
to call, as I wished, upon my old friends, Dr. Alexander and Prof.
Comfort, or deliver the letter for Miss Waddell, but I chanced to meet
a young gentleman of my acquaintance from Washington, who stopped at
Princeton, by whom I sent it to her.
I shall make it a point to stay over a day at Princeton on my return. In
due time we arrived here. Benjamin is perfectly well, does not regard
either the fatigues or loss of sleep, but I am worse for the wear and
tear. And I would not advise those to take the trip whose only business
is pleasure.
On yesterday I dined with Mr. Gallagher, where I met Mr. Reid, who, you
may remember, preached some time since at the Presbytery in Staunton. He
is to preach in New York to-day, and I hope to hear him. He is highly
esteemed here as a preacher and man. In the evening I took tea with Mrs.
Murray, mother of my brother Rowze's wife, where all the family were
collected round me making enquiries after their relatives and friends in
Virginia. For the most part I was unable to gratify their curiosity,
having recently neither seen nor heard of the kith and kin in Richmond
or the Northern Neck.
At 10 o'clock tomorrow I shall set out for West Point with Gen. Huston,
of Tennessee, to whom I was introduced on yesterday by Gen. Scott. [Gen.
Winfield Scott.] I requested Miss Heiskell of Philadelphia, to execute
Jane and Lynn's commissions, which she promised to do against my return.
Give my love to all the family,
Yours affectionately, though in much haste,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
ANECDOTE OF JOHN H. PEYTON IN A CRIMINAL CASE.
Shortly after his eldest son, William, entered upon the practice of law
in 1823, when attending court at the Warm Springs, Bath Co., he
mortified his father, John Howe Peyton, exceedingly by a piece of
off-hand levity, which the latter regarded as a most undignified
proceeding, unworthy of the profession. Young Wm. Peyton was employed to
defend a man charged with horse stealing, and as there was only
circumstantial evidence to prove his guilt, W. M. Peyton, who was much
exhilarated, for it must be remembered that the case came on after
dinner, set up the defence that according to the principles of science,
and of a new science likely to prove both useful and ornamental, it was
impossible his client could be guilty. He then referred to and explained
the theories of Gall and Spurzheim, and declared that according to the
phrenological bumps on the head of his client, theft was a crime he was
incapable of committing. He argued with much gravity and ingenuity in
this direction, amidst the suppressed giggling of the bar, to the great
chagrin of his father, who was the public prosecutor, and to the
thorough mystification of the county court. This body was composed of
country gentlemen unacquainted with law, and it was one of their boasts
that they made up their decisions, not so much in accordance with the
principles of common law, as of common sense. W. M. Peyton went on, and
drawing from his desk a copy of Combe's phrenology, illustrated it with
plates, exhibited it to the jury, and declared that at the point on the
pericranium of his client, where there should be a protuberance if he
were capable of robbery, there was not the slightest development, and
asked, what is the value of science, if we discard its teachings? He
then made an animated and eloquent appeal to the feelings of the jury,
based upon the humane principle of the common law, that it is better
that ninety-nine guilty men should escape than that one innocent person
should suffer, and declaring his conviction of the prisoner's innocence,
asked them to give him the benefit of every doubt and lean to the side
of mercy.
His father, in reply, commented severely upon the airiness of his son,
as inconsistent with the administration of justice and the dignity of
the profession. He ridiculed Gall and Spurzheim's far-fetched theories,
which he declared were not scientific deductions, but only speculative
opinions, and brought the whole defence into contempt, by referring to
the human skeleton, saying, "If you run your eye down the spine it
alights upon the _oscoccygis_." Neither the court nor the jury
understanding what these words meant, but overcome by the ludicrous
manner of Mr. Peyton, both burst into a hearty laugh. "Now," he
continued, "this oscoccygis is nothing more nor less than a rudimentary
tail, as Lord Monbeddo has well said, and I suppose we shall have some
modern philosopher startling the world again with the proposition that
man once flourished a tail, but of which the civilized use of a chair
has, in process of time, deprived him." He continued, somewhat in this
style, "I say nothing against philosophers nor tails, both are useful in
their way. What would a cow do without her tail, especially on our
fly-pestered prairies, or the Pampas of South America? What would a
monkey do without this caudal appendage and its prehensile quality? With
him it takes the place of hands. And shall we have philosophers telling
us we received our hands when we lost our tails, and that the monkey
lost the use of his hands because of his peculiar facility of using a
tail? A beautiful science," said he, "is the phrenology, according to
the theory of the learned counsel for the prisoner. To all standing in
the unenviable position of his client, it will prove, if the learned
gentleman be correct, not only a thing of beauty, but a source of
comfort and a joy forever. To the murderer, the burglar, the highwayman,
to all in fact, who wish to be rid of the responsibility which attaches
to their actions, it will become a positive blessing. Not to these only,
but to the entire community--it opens a brilliant prospect of life, of
life as it should be in this enlightened age, at this advanced period in
the progress of the world. Upon the ruins of our present immature
civilization it will uprear a charming state of society. Under the
vivifying influence of this new system, mankind will be happy, perfectly
happy; and until the auspicious day when the new order commences, this
'consummation so devoutly to be wished,' need not be anticipated.
Throughout the world, at least so much of it as is illuminated by the
light of phrenology, perfect liberty will obtain, and the present
generation will wonder at the darkness in which their ancestors groped.
Justice will reign supreme, and our statute books will be no longer
disgraced by those dreadful laws founded in ignorance, superstition and
cruelty, which consigns a helpless and irresponsible man, criminal you
call him, to the merciless hands of the executioner. It will be clear as
the noon-day sun, that law and liberty cannot co-exist, that they are
natural enemies. Along with this knowledge will come a resolution to
demolish the whole system of our jurisprudence, to cart off the rubbish
and substitute in the place thereof a new, nobler, and higher
civilization. Poor weak man will no longer be held accountable for his
actions. The infirmities of his nature will become a recognized
principle, that men are but men, will be evident to all men. It will be
understood that from the foundation of the world it was determined,
pre-destined, and fore-ordained that he should act thus and thus, and
that, therefore, he cannot be justly rewarded for any action however
meritorious, nor punished for any crime, as we term it, how atrocious
soever. Men will stand aghast that laws should have existed, and for so
many ages, for afflicting a human being for actions, over which it is
clear, according to the prisoner's counsel, he had no control--actions,
in fact, which they were bound to perform, by an irresistible law of
human nature. Then will it be seen that men commit murder, perpetrate
rape, and apply the torch because they cannot help it. Gentlemen of the
jury; no line of argument would be shorter. I leave you to determine its
soundness."
"But to be serious," said Mr. Peyton, who though cheerful in his
disposition, had a manner so tempered with gravity as to check the
indecent levity, "I must refer, before closing, to the conduct of the
prisoner's counsel, and remark that some speakers are more anxious to
display their eloquence, than to promote the public good. Now when this
is the case, as I must charitably suppose it to be on this occasion,
oratory is a useless gift, and such fine speeches as we have had to-day
are simply disgusting. When great talents are employed to support a bad
cause, perhaps from selfish motives, I trust and believe that this is
not the case now, they are objects of universal contempt. Oratory, with
all its pleasing charms becomes an instrument of mischief, when used by
an unprincipled man as, when resorted to by a good man, its happy
influences almost exceed belief. An orator, who thus uses his talents,
without reference to his personal interests, if he do not succeed in his
efforts, at least enjoys self approbation and that of his God."
In this manner Mr. Peyton threw the defence into ridicule and disrepute.
This sound sense and keen sarcasm was too much for Wm. Peyton's after
dinner eloquence, and from a brief consultation, the jury returned and
delivered a verdict condemning the prisoner to the penitentiary for two
years.
The Hon. David Fultz, of Staunton, recently judge of the circuit
superior court of Augusta county, who was present on this occasion, told
the writer twenty years ago that he had never, during his career at the
bar, been so much interested or amused by any trial as this. The disgust
of my father at such a defence being set up, the elation of his son at
the probable success of his ruse, the bewilderment of the court and
jury, both of whom seemed lost in a fog, the suppressed merriment of the
audience, which did not comprehend exactly all that was transpiring, but
which to some extent entered into the fun, rendered the whole scene
inimitable.
MR. PEYTON'S VIEWS AS TO A FIDDLING LAWYER.
"Music," said Mr. P., "is out of place in a court house, I never knew a
fiddling lawyer to succeed, especially if nature designed him to play
that useful, yet much despised instrument, the 'second fiddle,'--a good
enough instrument for a duet, but one on which no successful _solo_ was
ever played."
MR. PEYTON ON RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL TOPICS.
In 1840, Mr. P. and his brother-in-law, Colonel Wm. L. Lewis, met at
the home of a mutual friend. In religion Col. L. was a Roman Catholic
and in politics a disciple of John C. Calhoun. Discussion arose between
them and became so warm on the part of Col. Lewis, that their friends
feared they might result in a feud. Not so, however. Mr. P.'s moderation
was equal to his vigor, and he soothed his brother's discomfitures by
his logical reasoning.
"There is no necessity, William," he would say, "for difference of
opinion creating hostility. It must be admitted by all that there is
great variety in the tastes, habits and opinions of mankind, and it is
necessary that it should be so. That partial discord tends to general
harmony is more than poetically true, for, if all men were to set their
minds upon living in the same climate, or under the same government; or,
if all the people of a country had an unconquerable desire to live in
the same town; if all the inhabitants of a town were to have a good
opinion of only one physician, or of only one preacher, or lawyer or
mechanic, or could only relish one article of food, or fancy only the
same dress; or, if all men were to fall in love with the same woman, or
all the women with the same man, what would be the consequence? Why from
a feeling of seeming agreement, universal discord would result.
"Even the value of truth is best appreciated by the opposition it meets
with, and falsehood and error are detected by the discriminating powers
of opposite sensations and feelings. That there should not be uniformity
upon many important subjects, such as the theory of government, etc.,
must be the stamp of heaven. For myself, I claim freedom of opinion as
an inherent right, provided it does not disturb the established order of
society. I fear your nullification views go this length. However, let me
proceed: No man has a right to be offended at my opinion, or hold me in
contempt for entertaining it, for it does him no injury; and what I
claim for myself, common justice requires that I should allow to others;
and did we well consider, that this disparity of an over-ruling
Intelligence, we surely should not suffer it to be the cause of feelings
of animosity to our fellow human beings, though their political or
religious opinions should be the opposite of our own--still less such
old friends as ourselves. For," continued Mr. Peyton, "unless we had been
subjected to the same involuntary impressions and sensations that other
persons have been, which is, perhaps, impossible, we can be no judges of
the merits of their opinions, or how they have outraged truth and
reason, even admitting that they are in error. If it should be contended
that truth and reason are immutable, and when two differ upon a
fundamental truth, there must be deviation from reason and truth in one
of the parties. I would admit it to be so, if the question was
susceptible of mathematical demonstration.
"This is rarely the case--were I to meet a man who should contend that
two and two do not make four, or that the amount of degrees in three
angles of a triangle are not equal to the amount of degrees in two right
angles, I must justly charge him with folly or wilful falsehood; but, in
whatever does not admit of demonstration, our convictions are our
feelings; and our feelings depend more upon involuntary impressions than
we are often willing to allow. Certainly truth and reason are the most
likely to prevail with cultivated minds, for truth and reason are the
most likely to make the right impression, but we are too apt to
over-value our own kind of knowledge, while we underrate that of others.
"In point of real utility, the knowledge of the man who is skilled in the
breeding and feeding of cattle is more valuable to society than is the
knowledge of him who is skilled in mathematics, yet the latter will look
down upon the former, when, perhaps, the only advantage he has over him
is the being able to convey his knowledge in more correct and
perspicuous language; and unless we possessed all kind of knowledge in
an equal degree, we are liable to be imposed upon in some things, either
by thinking too much upon them, or too much, to the exclusion of other
branches of knowledge, the possession of which, though seemingly foreign
to the subject, may be necessary to its clear elucidation; for it is by
possession of general knowledge only that we can claim a superior title
to correctness in every particular. A may be able to solve a difficult
problem in mathematics; B can not do this, but B can make a plow upon
true mechanical principles which A can not; if C can do both, C must be
superior to A or B; but all mankind are in the situation of A or B, as
possessing only partial knowledge. We should all, therefore, be
indulgent to each other's deficiencies. Still, my superior in general
knowledge and learning, may be the dupe of a weak prejudice, without
justifying an impeachment of either. I have a brother-in-law," he would
look askant at Colonel Lewis when getting off this kind of fillip, "of
whose cleverness and general knowledge I have a very high opinion, yet
in politics we are quite opposite. We indeed worship different idols,
and the only superiority I can pretend to claim over him is, that I can
bear for him to adore his idol, even in my presence, and yet keep my
temper--a compliment he can not always repay."
"Fudge!" exclaimed the Colonel, jumping to his feet and walking hastily
to and fro across the room, "I may warm with the subject, but as to
being offended with you it is out of the question. I never have and
never will so far forget myself."
"Come, come, be seated," Mr. Peyton would rejoin, giving him a friendly
tap on the shoulder. "Let me proceed. Of course you will not think I
wish to depreciate the value of truth and reason, I only wish to urge
that the seeming want of them in others may be deceptions, and should
not be the cause of contempt, acrimony or ridicule. All are enamoured
with even the shadow of truth, and should see the substance, if in their
power, but placed in a variety of lights and shades, some can only see
the shadow, and mistake it for the substance." Thus their fraternal
discussions proceeded and terminated in the discomfiture of Col. Lewis,
who though a clever man, an eloquent talker, full of confidence, and
abundance of zeal, was no such logician as Mr. Peyton, and left not the
slightest pain rankling in his bosom.
"Now, William," said Mr. Peyton, "I cannot flatter myself that I shall
convince you of any errors, which, in my opinion, you have been guilty
of in this respect. That is no reason, however, why I should not attempt
to make you entertain a disbelief of all foolish impossibilities. For
example, there is the fallacious science of astrology--it has been the
game of a few designers in all ages, for sordid interest, to have duped
others and been duped themselves. In ancient times they were, in
Alexandria, compelled to pay a certain tax, which was called the 'Fool's
Tax,' because it was raised on the gain that these impostors made from
the foolish credulity of those who believed in their powers of
soothsaying. Well may believers in this science be called 'fools,' when
they do not seem to consider that if the principles of judiciary
astrology were correct, and its rules certain, the hands of the Almighty
would be tied, and ours would be tied also. All our actions, all our
most secret thoughts, all our slightest movements: would be engraven in
the heavens in ineffaceable characters, and liberty of conduct would be
entirely taken away from us. We should be necessitated to evil as to
good, since we should do absolutely what was written in the conjectured
register of the stars, otherwise there would be falsehood in the book,
and uncertainty in the science of the astrologer. How we should laugh at
a man who thought of settling a serious matter of business by a throw of
the dice. Yet the decision of astrology is just as uncertain. Our fate
depends upon places, persons, times, circumstances, our own will; not
upon the fantastical conjunctions inspired by charlatans.
"Suppose two men are born on our planet, at the same hour and on the same
spot. One becomes a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, and the other
an emperor, or a commander-in-chief of an army. Ask an astrologer the
cause of the difference. In all probability he will reply, 'It was so
willed by Jupiter.'
"Pray what is this Jupiter? Why it is a planet, a body without
cognizance, that acts only by its influence. How comes it then that
Jupiter's influence acts at the same moment and in the same climate in
so different a manner? How can that influence differ in its power? How
can it take place at all? How can it penetrate the vast extent of space?
An atom--the most minute molecule of matter would stop it, or turn it
from its course, or diminish its power. Are the stars always exercising
an influence, or do they exercise it only on certain occasions? If they
exercise an influence only periodically, when the particles which, it is
intended, are detached from them, are moving to our sphere, the
astrologer must know the precise time of their arrival in order to
decide rightly upon their effect. If on the other hand, the influences
are perpetual, with what wonderful speed they must rush through the vast
extent of space! How marvelous too must be the alliance they form with
those vivacious passions which originate the principal actions of our
lives! For if the stars regulate all our feelings and all our
proceedings, their influence must work with the same rapidity as our
wills, since it is by them our will is determined."
HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
Mr. Peyton was a firm believer in the doctrines of Christianity, and the
experience of his life was that true happiness is only found in the
observance of her precepts. He held that man must have some religion and
the most perfect was that handed by Christ to his Apostles. He did not
attach great importance to sects, and when asked whether he was a
Catholic, Presbyterian or Episcopalian, answered that he did not find
such words in the Testament--he was merely a Christian; he believed in
what was revealed to us in the Bible and submitted himself with humility
to the Almighty power. He was brought up in the Episcopalian church and
died a member of it.
MR. PEYTON'S ORIGINALITY AND POWER OF ILLUSTRATION.
"I recall a conversation," says one of Mr. P.'s biographers, "just after
a protracted term of the Augusta Circuit Court, in which the late Judge
Lucas P. Thompson and Gen. B. G. Baldwin bore the leading parts. Gen. B.
was paying generous tribute to Mr. Peyton's force and originality. Judge
Thompson remarked in substance, that he had never seen Mr. Peyton go
through a cause deeply interesting and moving him, in which he did not
utter some view or sentiment illuminated by genius, or at the least,
some illustration marked by a bold originality; and he instanced two
causes, tried at the last term--one a civil suit and a very heavy will
case, in which he made a novel and scorching application of a familiar
fable of AEsop. I forbear to give its details, because both the critic
and his subject have passed from earth.
"In the same cause three signatures were to be identified and
proved--that of the testator and also of the attending witnesses--all
three having died since their attestation. Many witnesses were called to
prove the genuineness of the three names. Opposing counsel sought to
badger the witnesses by urging them to specify what peculiar marks there
were in the handwriting and signatures, whereby they could speak so
positively as to their identity and genuineness. This of course for the
most part they could not do, and in the argument of the cause before the
jury the same counsel strove to throw discredit and contempt upon those
witnesses (all men of good character) for their failure and inability so
to describe the quality and peculiar marks in the calligraphy of the
signers as to show they were familiar with their handwriting. In his
reply to those sallies of his opponents, Mr. Peyton swept away the whole
airy fabric by a single happy illustration:
"'_Gentlemen,' he said, 'You have often been assembled in crowds on some
public or festive occasion. Your hats have been thrown pell-mell in a
mass with perhaps a hundred other hats, all having a general
resemblance. Suppose you had attempted to describe your hat to a friend
or servant, so that he might go and pick it out for you. It has as many
points for accurate description as a written signature--its color,
height of crown, width of brim, its band, lining, &c. Do you think that
friend or servant could by any possibility have picked out your hat for
you? And yet when you went yourself, the moment your eye would light
upon it, you instantly recognize it amongst a hundred. Familiarity with
it has stamped its picture on your mind and the moment you see it, the
hat fills and fits the picture on your mind as perfectly as the same hat
fits your head_.'
"The jury were evidently won, and gave full credence to the ridiculed
witnesses.
"The other instance during the same term (cited by Judge Thompson)
occurred in the celebrated prosecution of Naaman Roberts for forgery--in
forging the name of Col. Adam Dickinson to a bond for six hundred
dollars.
"The body of the bond was confessedly the handwriting of the prisoner at
the bar. That was admitted. The signature was a tolerably successful
attempt at imitating the peculiar handwriting of Adam Dickinson. But no
expert could look at the whole paper and fail to see a general
resemblance between the body of the instrument and the signature,
raising a strong conviction in the mind that both proceeded from the
same hand.
"The defense strongly insisted upon excluding the body of the instrument
from the view of the witness, by covering it with paper, or turning it
down, and so confining the view to the signature only--upon the familiar
doctrine of the law of evidence forbidding a comparison of various
handwritings of the party, as a ground for an opinion upon the identity
of genuineness of the disputed writing. And this point was ably and
elaborately argued by the prisoner's counsel.
"The learned prosecutor met it thus:
"'_Gentlemen this is one entire instrument, not two or more brought into
comparison. Let me ask each one of you, when you meet your friend, or
when you meet a stranger, in seeking to identify him, what do you look
at? Not his nose, though that is the most prominent feature of the human
face; not at his mouth, his chin, his cheek; no, you look him straight
in the eye, so aptly called the "window of the soul." You look him in
the eye, but at the same time you see his whole face. Now put a mask on
that face, leaving only the eyes visible, as the learned counsel would
have you mask the face of this bond, leaving to your view only the fatal
signature_.
"'_If the human face so masked was the face of your bosom friend, could
you for a moment identify him, even though permitted to look in at those
"windows of the soul?" No; he would be as strange to you as this
accursed bond has ever been strange to that worthy gentleman, Colonel
Adam Dickinson, but a glance at whose face traces the guilty authorship
direct to the prisoner at the bar_.'
"This striking illustration seemed to thrill the whole audience as it
virtually carried the jury."
MR. PEYTON DECLINES A JUDGESHIP.
In 1824-5, Mr. Peyton received a highly complimentary letter from the
late Col. S. McD. Moore, of Lexington, then a delegate to the
Legislature from Rockbridge and attending the sessions in Richmond. The
Colonel informed him that a caucus of members had been held on the
subject of a judgeship then vacant, or about to become so, and that Mr.
Peyton's friends were so largely in the ascendancy that his nomination
by the caucus and election by the Assembly was certain, if only he would
declare his willingness to accept the position. The caucus had
adjourned over to await his reply. The Colonel went on to say that he
and two others had been deputed by the caucus with the agreeable duty of
communicating with him, to ascertain his views as to the matter. We do
not recollect what judgeship it was, but remember distinctly that
Colonel Moore mentioned that in case of election, it would lead to, or
require (we know not which) Mr. Peyton's change of residence to
Richmond. In this letter Col. Moore on behalf of himself and his
colleagues urged his friend to accept and presented many cogent reasons
why he should do so. Proof against all importunities, Mr. Peyton
politely but firmly rejected these overtures and declined under any
circumstances to allow his name to be used in connection with the
office. This circumstance is mentioned, not as an evidence of Mr.
Peyton's indifference to preferment, which has sufficiently appeared,
but to show the estimate in which he was held by the profession and to
present, so far as possible, clearly and truthfully, the history of his
life.
There is an old Spanish proverb which says, "Tell me whom you live with,
and I will tell you who you are." We can infer what manner of man he was
from the fact that through life, he was held in the highest esteem by
the enlightened men of the day. From the ranks of the virtuous and wise
came his friends, and what a source of happiness it must have been to
him. It has been well said: "There is no blessing of life that is in any
way comparable to the enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend. It
eases and unloads the mind, clears and improves the understanding,
engenders thoughts and knowledge, animates virtue and good resolutions,
soothes and allays the passions and finds enjoyment for most of the
vacant hours of life." If this be true, and who can doubt it? how much
greater the happiness to be blessed, not with one, but with many
friends, and those friends, themselves worthy of every honor and praise.
The steadiness and devotion of his friends is worthy of mention in this
connection, they never deserted or betrayed him--on the contrary,
through life, they gave him innumerable evidences of their appreciation.
Some of his youthful college friends, they were not simply companions,
among them Professor Comfort and the late John Yates, of Jefferson
county, Virginia, visited him at Montgomery Hall, forty years after they
parted at Princeton. And Mr. P's papers disclosed a correspondence with
numerous others, such as John Sergeant, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Richard
Rush, William Gaston, J. M. Berrien, of Georgia, and others of his
earlier friends, all of whom became prominent men.
For clearness of thought, force of reasoning and statesmanlike views on
all questions of moment he had no superior, and such was his sense of
justice and his impartiality, his powers of judicial analysis and
insight, or the judicial character of his mind, that we have often heard
the most gifted of his contemporaries regret that he had never sat upon
the Justice Seat, where in their opinion, he would have equaled, if he
did not surpass, the greatest judges who had adorned the bench of
Virginia.
* * * * *
Notwithstanding his refusal to stand as a candidate for a Judgeship, he
was voted for, in the General Assembly of Virginia in 1831-32, and came
within a few votes of election. The result gave him satisfaction, for
had he been chosen, he must have resigned, as unceremoniously as he was
elected. He always explained to his supporters that he could not give up
his extensive and lucrative practice, on account of his large and
expensive family, for a poorly paid judgeship--and besides he preferred
the active and exciting life of a lawyer, to that of a judge, or in a
word, the bar to the bench.
MR. PEYTON'S LETTER ON THE CONVENTION OF 1829-30.
For several years previous to 1829, the question of calling a Convention
to form a new Constitution for Virginia was agitated. There was a kind
of political fermentation on the subject of innovation, with many
persons, a strong desire to up-root the laws under which the State had
so long prospered, and make a new experiment in government. The Ultras
objected to the freehold basis of representation and demanded the white
basis, or manhood suffrage, they opposed a judiciary elected for good
behavior and demanded the election of judges at short intervals, by a
popular vote. They objected to various other conservative provisions of
the Constitution of 1776. Party spirit infused itself in all discussions
and no small excitement was created in the public mind--as a result of
the agitation on the subject. A convention, though opposed by the wisest
men in the State, was finally ordered, and persons nominated for
election were called upon to give their opinions through the newspapers,
on the various questions which would come before it.
Among those asked for their views was Mr. Peyton, who published in the
Staunton papers a long and able letter, in which he opposed the white
basis; the election of judges by a popular vote and for a term of years;
and advocated their election during good behavior, by the Legislature.
He advised the retention, generally, of the conservative features of the
old Constitution, and while he admitted that a few changes might be
made with advantage, warned the people against tampering with the laws,
the currency and the peculiar institutions of the South. He added that
he had voted against calling a Convention, believing that the
Constitution of 1776, was better than any the people were likely to get
from a new Convention; in a word, he bade them bear the "ills they had
rather than fly to others they knew not of."
The letter was so conservative in character and so conclusive of the
points at issue, that it was thought it would have gone a long way
towards preventing the call of a convention, had it been published
earlier. As it was, it only made the friends of organic change, more
determined. They were bent on giving form and substance to their dreams,
their passions were up and they would be satisfied with nothing else.
Some of the most advanced enthusiasts advocated, what are styled
"women's rights," their right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold
office and the like--others were opposed to allowing a man to enjoy the
fruits of his industry, and favored dividing out his income when it had
reached a certain sum; no doubt some would have liked the principal
divided also, others favored free inquiry, if any one knows what this
means in a country where investigation and thought are as free as the
air we breathe; free religion, which was supposed to have been settled
by Mason's act of 1776, legalizing all forms of worship, commonly called
the act of religious freedom, free morals and opinions, and it is not
unlikely there were others who favored free love as a means of
squelching out polygamy. One of the most notorious and eccentric of
these social reformers, was Fanny Wright, not, however, a native or
resident of Virginia; and it was said, with what truth we know not, that
the sum of her teachings amounted to this, that any man who donned a
whole coat and a clean shirt was an aristocrat and ought to be put down.
These misguided people sought to break the force of his views by a loud
outcry, saying he was an old Bourbon, entirely behind the age, a praiser
of times past, like Nestor in the Iliad; who wished the laws of Virginia
to remain unchanged and as unchangeable as were those of the Medes and
Persians, and would have it so if left alone. A looker-on would have
supposed this enlightened man and moderate conservative, from this kind
of ultra nonsense, as extreme in his policy as the notorious Lord John
Manners, a man of phlegmatical repulsiveness of manners, who in
admiration of his class, once exclaimed, with idiotic fatuity:
"Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die
But leave us still our old nobility."
The loss of Mr. Peyton's letter cannot be too much regretted. If
reviewed the whole history of the Judiciary previous to and from the
time of William III., when by act of Parliament the Judges were to hold
office during good behavior, up to a later act of one of the George's,
providing that their commissions were not to cease by demise of the
Crown, and down to his day. He argued earnestly also, in favor of an
independent judiciary, this question arousing his deepest interest, and
showed up the curse of a venial and corrupt one, having in its unsafe
keeping the lives, reputation and property of the people. He entered
also, into an elaborate discussion of the question of popular
representation, the first instance of which, it was stated, occurred in
Aragon in the twelfth century, &c., and discussing the basis of
representation, expressed himself, in case the freehold basis was
discarded, as in favor of the mixed basis, taking into account both
population and prosperity.
The letter breathed a really liberal and enlightened spirit in politics
and religion, and made him the idol of the liberal conservatives. The
extremists were, however, antagonized by it, and in their rage and
disappointment, set to work to mar, if not destroy, his influence. While
distorting and misrepresenting him and his opinions, they had the
"cheek," to say, they did it "more in sorrow, than in anger."
Not at all disturbed by the hurly-burly, he laughed heartily at their
nonsense, and said that these enthusiasts in their efforts to emancipate
man socially, morally, politically and otherwise from all the ills of
life, were innovators running after something they would never reach, as
the hind wheel of the carriage which is in constant pursuit of the fore
one without ever overtaking it. And when he got a chance at one of the
Ring Bosses, and he sometimes cornered one, he handled him after such a
fashion, that the Boss never wished to see him again. To these Bosses
distance ever afterwards, lent enchantment to the view, of this man of
relentless logic, keen irony and withering sarcasm. Many of these
so-called Reformers aimed at nothing worse than their own advancement.
* * * * *
From the foregoing synopsis of Mr. Peyton's letter it is evident, if he
did not say so, that, in his opinion, love of variety and change, a
desire to subvert the existing state of things, indicated both weakness
and ignorance; that it is not the strong-minded and right thinking who
desire to cut loose from the past, its traditions and customs and its
endearing associations, but the stupid, whose wild and dangerous
projects carried out, would, however, unconsciously to themselves, give
us poverty in lieu of prosperity, licence instead of liberty.
MRS. ANNE PEYTON.
HER REMOVAL TO AUGUSTA COUNTY.
During the year of 1829, Mrs. Anne Peyton, the widow of John R. Peyton,
the hero boy of '76, and mother of John H. Peyton, broke up her
establishment at Stony Hill and removed to Staunton. Some years before,
namely on February 1st 1826, her son, Rowze Peyton, was married to a
second wife, Eliza Murray, daughter of John B. Murray, a citizen of New
York City, but a native of England. His Northern bride did not find
plantation life congenial to her tastes and induced her husband to leave
Virginia. After a brief sojourn in New York City, Mr. and Mrs. Peyton
removed to Geneva, N. Y., where they long lived and both died, leaving a
large and interesting family, now connected by marriage with many of the
leading families of the Empire State--such as the Sewards, the Cuttings,
Spensers, deZengs, Wilmerdings, Rathburns and others.
The venerable and respected mother of John H. Peyton was affectionately
invited by her son and his wife, as soon as they heard of her intention
to leave Stony Hill, to make her home at Montgomery Hall, which she
decided to do. Mr. Peyton had built immediately, for her exclusive use,
a comfortable brick residence in the grounds of and near the mansion.
Here she took up her residence in the summer of 1829, and in that snug
abode, she spent in singular ease and tranquility the rest of her life.
At this time Mrs. J. R. Peyton was of large and striking person,
dignified and graceful in manners. She was over 70 years of age, dressed
in black, with a high-crowned white muslin cap and frill, a cap in the
style of what is now known as the Martha Washington cap, and she looked
at first sight eminently neat, precise and stately. She was in fine
physical preservation and her mind and memory unimpaired. She was very
accessible and companionable, she liked to see her friends and to chat,
and her conversation was always full of thought and poetry. Her
acquaintance with and knowledge of the leading Southerners of the pre
and Revolutionary era was extensive, and she possessed a large fund of
information on social, literary, and political topics. This and her
anecdotes, racy and amusing, caused her society to be courted by such
men as Gen. Baldwin, Daniel Sheffey, and Chapman Johnson. Her parlor was
the center of attraction and the rallying point of the family. Her
grandchildren especially gathered round her chair, and listened with
infantile delight, to her graphic accounts of the war, of the officers
and soldiers, of their hair-breadth escapes, of the battles, &c., and at
that early day became familiar with the names of the Washingtons,
Masons, Conways, Fitzhughs, Lees, Scotts, Marshalls, Moncures, Daniels,
Greenes, and other prominent people of the Northern Neck, and all more
or less connected with the bloody drama of the war.
At the premature death of her husband, when only 45 years of age, she
was left with the heavy responsibility of a large and helpless family,
and an extensive plantation and many slaves. Had she possessed less
character and spirit, less force and ability, she must have been
prostrated. The disaster, however, seemed to call forth her strength,
and gave such firmness and elevation to her character, that her friends
and neighbors were filled with admiration and delight. This excellent
woman, who had been during the prosperous period of her husband's life,
all weakness and dependence, now displayed heroic qualities, showed
herself equal to the trying position in which she was placed, displaying
a mental force and firmness truly astonishing,--every difficulty was
overcome, every obstacle put aside. She entered on her new career
soberly and seriously, devoted herself to the education of her children
and the management of their property. The children were taught to think
justly of themselves and kindly of others. She aimed to store their
minds with useful information and to form their moral and religious
characters--thus giving them correct, practical ideas and good habits.
Religion was the basis of her teachings and her children went into the
world with just notions of human life, prepared if prosperity smiled
upon them, to receive it with humble gratitude, and if calamity
supervened to endure it with dignified patience. A kind Providence
prolonged her life to see them a joy and a comfort to herself, and an
honor to Virginia. She governed and directed the affairs of her estate
with such skill and discretion that Old Stony Hill [3] put on a new
face, showed successful husbandry and yielded abundant crops--so much
so, that the casual observer even could not fail to see that both white
and black there enjoyed prosperity and content. Greatly attached to this
old family seat, where she had lived a half century, nothing but the
marriage of her six children and their departure for new homes of their
own, could have torn her from it. But when her only remaining son,
Rowze, who had married a New York lady, mentioned his purpose of leaving
Virginia and settling in New York, she quickly made up her mind to
accept the invitation of her favorite son, John Howe, and to end her
days at Montgomery Hall.
[3] STONY HILL. NOTE.--It may not be uninteresting to mention
that the Stony Hill mansion was an old red brick building erected in the
17th century, with a wide hall and Grecian portico, commanding an
extensive and beautiful view of Aquia creek and the Potomac river. The
dwelling had grown to be a large and rambling domicile under the
additions of four generations of the Peyton's, and all of them improving
men. This fine old colonial house was demolished during the first year of
the Civil-war, 1861-62, by Federal troops, on the spurious pretext that
it was a necessity to have at once material for baking ovens. The old red
bricks of this stately home, brought from England, as ballast in sailing
vessels sent out to fetch back tobacco to Bristol, were used to erect
many ovens in which bread was baked for the invading northern army.
When John Peyton lived at Stony Hill the estate consisted of 1900 acres
of fine land, and as far as the writer knows, still does. It is owned
and occupied in 1894, by Mr. Moncure, a son of the late President of the
Virginia Court of Appeals, Judge R. C. L. Moncure, whose widow still
lives, and is a descendent of John Peyton.
Mrs. Anne Peyton was a woman of worth, thoroughly honest, sincere and
straightforward, with a fund of practical common sense. Her
conversational powers were of no ordinary kind. A sincere, devout and
humble Christian, a good wife, devoted mother, kind and sympathetic
friend, she was in all respects a remarkable person. While it does not
come within our scope to here enter at length into her life and
character, it is right and due to her memory, that reference should be
made to her exalted piety. So domestic, unobtrusive, and retired was her
plantation life, that her name is little more than an echo in the age in
which she lived, and might scarcely be even that, if it had not been
kept somewhat in mind by the fame of her distinguished son. A
considerable part of her time, after she fixed her residence at
Montgomery Hall, was spent in the seclusion of her apartments, and much
of every day was given to meditation and prayer. She left behind many
voluminous manuscript books, in which she had copied the Psalms, the
Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and many striking passages from other parts
of Holy Writ, and containing many prayers, (original and quoted,) and
ejaculations, suited to various occasions. These were of the following
character, which will give an idea of the whole: "Supply, Oh Lord, the
wants of a heart which knows not even how to lay them open before thee,
which does not so much as think of doing it, and which too often shuts
out the light and consolation of which it stands in need." And--
"These, O Jesus, are the things I ask. Intercede for me, that I may be
truly sensible of the diseases that I labor under, and thankfully
embrace the means which thy goodness has ordained for my recovery. Grant
that the end of all my actions and designs may be the glory of God.
Enable me to resist all the sinful appetites of my carnal nature. Grant
that I may hunger and thirst after righteousness" &c., &c.
These MS. books contained also evidence that she prayed often, fervently
and importunately, and that like Anna, she served God with fastings and
prayers night and day. Luke ch. 2, v 37. She was never, however, "rash
with her mouth," heeding. Eccl., ch. 5, v 2. On the contrary, her words
were few and innocent of those vain repetitions against which our
Saviour warns us in Matthew, ch. 6, v 7.
AFRICAN COLONIZATION.
He advocated the colonization of our African population in Liberia and
was one of the managers of the Augusta County Colonization Society,
founded in 1831-32 to promote this end.
The managers submitted to the Society their annual report on the 21st of
April, 1832, the following extract from which will show the object and
purposes of the Society:
Concerning the colony of Liberia, we have no information to
communicate but such as the public prints have given from time to
time, to all who wished to know what was going on at that
interesting establishment. The sum of this information is, that the
colony, gradually advancing in numbers, advances also in every
branch of improvement and prosperity. We believe that in the whole
history of colonization, there has never been an instance elsewhere
of so cheering a degree of success from a similar amount of means
and exertions. Divine Providence has evidently smiled upon the
enterprise, and encouraged its friends to prosecute it with
untiring perseverance.
Shall we close this paper here? A feeling which we assuredly know
to be no other than a sincere regard for the honor and welfare of
our country, prompts us to offer to the society some additional
reflections.
It was never expected by any man of sense that the voluntary
association of which we form an humble part, would be able to
effect, by its own very limited energies, any sensible diminutive
of the large and pernicious mass of our colored population. But we
did hope to evince the practicability of acquiring an extensive and
fertile territory in a suitable climate and of removing our negroes
to it and setting them in it, with fair prospects of their becoming
a respectable and happy nation; and thus to pioneer the way for
delivering this otherwise favored land of ours from a burden, the
sorest that ever afflicted any people under heaven. And this hope,
thanks be to God, we are permitted to see realized. The colony
exists and flourishes. It remains that the legislative authorities
of these Southern States, invigorated by the attainable and
powerful aid of the Federal Union, take this business under their
efficient patronage. And surely the period is now emphatically come
for putting into action on this momentous subject our utmost
talents and our utmost resources. After ages already lost in
supineness, shall we still waste our precious time in
disquisitions, as needless as they are unreconcilable with our
boasted republican character, on what we call the right of property
in our slave; while the deadly evil which we all profess to
deplore, is gaining ground upon us with gigantic strides every year
and every hour. We say needless disquisitions; for such they appear
to us to be. Let liberal means be provided for removing far away
those unfortunate beings amongst us whom we denominate free blacks,
together with those slaves who shall be voluntarily manumitted for
the purpose of removal. On this single condition, we are satisfied
that there will be no necessity to interfere in a compulsory way
with any man's right of property in his slaves. Public sentiment,
incessantly acquiring expansion and strength will much better
achieve the glorious consummation.
But suppose this to be a visionary picture. Suppose that yet
greater sacrifices shall be found indispensable. What then? Shall
we shrink from the making of those sacrifices for the salvation of
our native land, the loveliest and the choicest of all lands? Shall
we tamely sit still, and see Virginia despoiled of much of her
strength by unexampled emigration to other regions, and by this
means ripening the more speedily as a harvest for the scythe of the
assassin. Shall we, after all that we have seen and heard within
nine months past, persist in the slumber and indolence of
infatuation? Or shall we soon arise in all our zeal, and all our
united strength, to devise and to pursue the measures by which
alone such a tremendous issue may be arrested, and our country
rendered truly prosperous and happy? How these questions are to be
answered by facts, time must discover, and God only, who is
omniscient, can certainly foresee. For our part, though we deeply
lament that the equally able and eloquent discussion which recently
took place on this most important topic in the hall of our
legislature was suffered to float away into the air, yielding no
practical results; yet we think we ought not to abandon the cause
of liberating our beloved country from the abominations and the
curse of slavery, in utter despair. A better day may be about to
dawn upon us. Perhaps the discussion to which we have referred,
itself a wondrous phenomenon in Virginia, may not die away as a
fruitless expenditure of feeling and genius. And in the meanwhile,
let us continue our labors for the improvement of the Colony, that
it may become a more capacious, and in every way convenient
receptacle for drawing off, when the good season for the extended
operations shall arrive, the pestilential nuisance of our African
population.
The prominent men of that period associated with Mr. Peyton in this good
work were Rev. Conrad Speece, Joseph Cowan, Samuel Clarke, John McCue,
George Eskridge, Charles A. Stuart and others.
RETIRES FROM THE BAR AND IS ELECTED TO THE SENATE.
Mr. Peyton determined some years before he was 60 years of age, to
retire from the bar when he reached that time of his life, and did so.
After he was sixty he took no new cases, only in one case making an
exception to this rule in favor of an old and valued friend, who
earnestly implored and begged for his services. He gave them to this
friend and lost the case in the circuit superior court of Augusta, but
was so well satisfied that the case was erroneously decided that he took
an appeal, and after Mr. Peyton's death the decision of the lower court
was reversed and thus his client ultimately gained his cause. After he
reached the age of 60 he only attended his office and the courts to wind
up his business.
His friends knowing his purpose to give up the bar determined, if
possible, to secure his services in the Senate. He was solicited on all
sides to go to the Senate, and the following letter appeared in the
Lexington and Staunton papers:
_To the Voters of the Senatorial District of Rockbridge and Augusta_:
FELLOW-CITIZENS--
The next session of the Legislature will be the most important which has
occurred for many years past. The criminal laws of the Commonwealth are
all to be revised, the subject of education is to be thoroughly
considered, and the great schemes of internal improvement are to be
brought forward and vigorously pressed by their respective friends.
Under these circumstances it is particularly important that this
District should be ably represented in the Senate of Virginia, the body
that must supervise and give the finishing touches to the Legislation on
all three subjects. Rockbridge and Augusta, long famed for their
morality and good order, have a deep interest in having the system of
fixed laws brought to the highest state of perfection. They have their
primary schools, the academies and colleges all requiring an _able
champion_ and _enlightened patron_, and they have their respective
schemes of improvement: the James River canal, the extension of the
Louisa railroad and continuation of the macadamized turnpike from
Staunton to Buchanan, demanding the support of a powerful intellect and
matured experience.
In looking around for a suitable representative of the District, the
eyes of everyone seem attracted to _John H. Peyton, Esq._, of Augusta,
as the man. He is a gentleman of distinguished ability and unblemished
integrity. He has long been known to Virginia as the ablest criminal
lawyer in her borders, and hence he is peculiarly qualified to discharge
the duties incident to the revision of those laws. His general
attainments and enlightened views of, and on all subjects qualify him in
a high degree to aid in constructing a system of public education which
shall diffuse the genial rays of knowledge through all classes of
society, and he has evinced his deep interest in the success of the
James river improvement by the most substantial of all proofs--the
investment of large sums of money in its work.
Mr. Peyton now holds several lucrative offices and he is in the
enjoyment of an extensive and extremely profitable law practice, but it
is understood that he is willing to relinquish them all if his
fellow-citizens should require his services in the Senate. It is a
subject of congratulation to the district that such is the fact, and I
cannot believe that the district will hesitate for a moment to avail
itself of the services of so distinguished an individual. It would be a
subject of just pride to our district to send such a man to the Senate.
He would tower head and shoulders above any other man in that body, and
the impress of his talents and learning would be permanently visible
upon the statute books of Virginia. Let the voters of the district then,
go forward as one man, and record their votes for John H. Peyton. Let
them recollect that it is a duty which they owe their country to select
the man who, from his talents and acquirements, is best suited to
discharge the duties of the station. When in the management of his
private affairs, it becomes necessary to employ an agent or an attorney,
they always seek the man best qualified, and upon the same principle,
when they are about to choose an agent not only for themselves but for
their country and posterity, (for in the administration affairs we are
trustees for posterity) they should elect the man who is able to render
the most efficient services to the public.
The office of Senator is at all times an important one; but under
present circumstances, there is a peculiar propriety in selecting the
strongest man, for it is universally conceded that there is a woeful
deficiency of talent in the Senate. The election of Mr. Peyton would
therefore be hailed with satisfaction by the whole State; and he would
be from our district, the Senator of Rockbridge and Augusta.--Lexington
Gazette and Spectator, May 2, 1839.
A VOTER.
MR. PEYTON'S LETTER CONSENTING TO RUN FOR THE SENATE. HIS POLITICAL
SENTIMENTS.
_To the voters of the Senatorial district composed of the counties of
Rockbridge and Augusta._
FELLOW-CITIZENS:
Having authorized my name to be placed before you as a candidate to
represent you in the Senate of Virginia, I deem it a duty I owe alike
to you and myself to make a plain and distinct avowal of my political
sentiments.
Though it is true that a member of the Senate of Virginia, has little to
do with Federal politics, and may not during his whole term of service
be called upon to express a single opinion upon them, yet, in a
representative republic it is not only proper that the political
sentiments of a candidate should be distinctly understood, but it is
equally proper that he should possess political sentiments congenial
with those of his constituents.
Under this impression, the following brief statement is made.
I came into public life about the period of the election of James
Madison as President of the United States.[4] I served as a member of
the House of Delegates of Virginia the two sessions of 1808-9, 1809-10.
I was a friend to the election of Mr. Madison and a warm and zealous
advocate of the measures of his administration.
[4] FOOT NOTE.--Mr. Madison was elected President in 1809 and re-elected
in 1813.
Among the measures to which I gave my hearty support was the
establishment of the late Bank of the United States. Since that period I
have not mingled in politics. As a citizen, however, I approved
generally of the administration of James Monroe, and was opposed to the
election of his successor, John Quincy Adams.
I advocated the election of Andrew Jackson, and supported most of the
measures of his administration during his first term. I also voted
reluctantly for his re-election, I disapproved of his veto to the bill
to recharter the Bank of the United States, and the _ad captandum_
arguments used by him to justify the measure. I attributed the act then,
however, more to the feelings created by the particular time when
Congress passed the bill--it being just previous to his second election,
than to any settled hostility on his part to a United States Bank.
Shortly after his re-election, he commenced a train of measures to which
I was utterly opposed; measures of a novel and alarming character, and
which in their origin and subsequent developments, brought distress and
embarrassment upon the banks, upon the country at large, and especially
upon all our great commercial interests. I allude to his wild, violent
and undigested schemes of finance--commencing with his pet Bank system
and ending with his order in council, the Specie circular.
This warfare upon the Bank of the United States, the currency and the
commerce of the nation, reduced us in 1837 to the degradation of
witnessing a general suspension of specie payments by the banks.
These acts connected with the corrupting system of party discipline
introduced by that administration with the view of compelling private
judgement to succumb to the behests of party, completely separated me
from the administration of Andrew Jackson.
His successor who pledged himself in advance "to follow in the footsteps
of his predecessor," and who has gone a bowshot beyond him in
obstinately pressing upon a free and intelligent people; his thrice
rejected scheme of a sub-treasury--to him and his measures I have always
been strenuously opposed.
Upon those subjects which fall more legitimately within the scope of the
duties of a Virginia State Senator--in advancing and promoting the great
cause of internal improvement, and in the diffusion of light and
knowledge among our people, and in the general objects of legislation,
my interest is identified with yours.
Finally, occupying the relation I now do, fellow citizens, towards you,
by no procurement of my own, but having been pressed into it by the
solicitation of friends, I have thought it right thus briefly, but at
the same time explicitly, to state my political views. I have felt this
duty the more imperative--because having been once a supporter of
General Jackson's administration, and no public occasion having since
occurred, except at the polls, to make my subsequent opinions known were
I silent some might cast their votes in this election under a
misapprehension of my sentiments. Whilst, then, I would regard an
election to the Senate of Virginia as a flattering proof of your
confidence--I could not but regard that confidence misplaced and
valueless, were it bestowed by the people without knowing where and how
I stand.
JOHN H. PEYTON.
[_Spectator, May 9, 1859._]
He was duly elected and took his seat at the next session of the Senate.
MORE OLD LETTERS.
For want of a better place, the following bundle of old letters, running
in date from October, 1823, to April, 1839, are here given. They possess
a peculiar interest to the children of Mr. Peyton, unimportant as they
are, since they exhibit, the domestic side of his character: are pages
in the history of the family and it has been well said that, "Every
family is a history in itself and even a poem to those who know how to
search its pages."
JOHN H. PEYTON TO HIS WIFE.
Charlottesville, Oct., 9th, 1823.
_My Dear Wife_:
It is now Thursday morning, and we are not yet through with the trial of
the first criminal, and there are three others waiting trial. When we
will finish with them I cannot undertake to say.
I have employed as overseer for my farm near Staunton, a relative of my
present overseer, who bears the same name. As you seem so partial to
your countyman, old O'Sullivan, I will send him to my farm on Jackson
river. Don't expect me till you see me, for it is impossible to say when
I can return--the Judge thinks of holding a court next week. If so I
will write you.
Keep everyone busy preparing winter clothing for the negroes--send for
the overseer and tell him that it is my particular wish that he should,
as soon as the seeding is finished, plough the large field around
Sinaugh's house. Tell him to have the wheat threshed out. Adieu. Kiss
little Susan for me, and believe me,
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
P. S.--Miss Nicholson is here and well.
SAME TO SAME.
Harrisonburg, Feb. 18, 1824.
_My Dear Ann_:
I was exceedingly gratified to get your affectionate letter of the 16th
inst., written in that calm spirit of fortitude and resignation which
convinces me that you take a right view of our late misfortune (supposed
to be the loss of a child). I was fearful until I received your letter
that you would be uneasy at my detention here, and am delighted that you
are acquiring patience and learning to submit with composure to the
inevitable. When you have learnt well these practical lessons you will
be much better prepared to encounter the trials and disappointments of
life, and nothing is truer than that all mankind must and will
experience calamities. When we are prosperous we should always look for
a reverse of fortune, and when we are in adversity we should recollect
that it is the common lot of humanity. No one ever yet enjoyed
uninterrupted happiness, and those who have most nearly approached it,
are the sober, the virtuous, and industrious. The indolent are always
unhappy and nearly always vicious. If you wish to be happy attend to the
duties of your household--these will give you exercise and exercise will
insure you health of body and mind. When the mistress takes an interest
in domestic affairs--sees that the servants do their duty, that the
house is neat and in order; that regular hours are kept by all, in a
word, when good house wifery prevails, it affords more real happiness to
the well regulated mind of the mistress than any, or all of the
so-called fashionable amusements of the gay world. Such a house wife
cannot fail to be loved at home and respected abroad.
No one is exempt from trouble, mental or physical, and the weight of
both may seem at times bearing you to the ground, but take heart and the
sum of your enjoyment will always outweigh your troubles. The Almighty
in his infinite wisdom, mercy and goodness, has so constituted our
minds, that past pleasures and enjoyments can always be vividly recalled
to our recollection, past sufferings with difficulty, and seldom in
detail. I would advise you to attempt by all means to divert your
attention from your own person and surroundings, to other objects. The
providence of God has surrounded us with objects of improving
distraction, by which we may be led to think of Him. The same hand that
strews pleasures in your way, has left no situation, however painful or
disagreeable, where an antidote to your distress has not been placed
within reach. You must, however, rouse yourself and seek for it. We
constantly meet persons who complain that everything goes wrong with
them, while with another "whatsoever he doeth prospers." This striking
difference is generally to be accounted for, not by the doctrine of
chances, but by a reference to the temper and character of the
respective parties. Imprudence, or ill temper, for instance, will either
mar the success of any project, or present it in a distorted and
unfavorable aspect.
It must not be forgotten that this advice comes from your best friend,
from one who has had large experience and who has made the springs of
human action much his study.
What a field of rational enjoyment is opening before you in little
Susan. You can watch the shooting idea, can restrain any exuberance,
instil in her right principles, make her reverence virtue, detest vice.
It is astonishing how soon good principles may be made to take root, and
bad ones be eradicated. Never tell her, or suffer others to tell her she
is beautiful. If she is so she will find it out too soon. Teach her to
place her claims to distinction upon good sense, good principles,
modesty, delicacy, affectionate deportment to her parents--respectful
behavior to all. Let her respect herself and respect others. Then she
will be in the widest and best sense a lady. It is astonishing how early
in life the temper of children begins to be formed, and consequently how
soon that important part of the business of education, which consists in
the training of the mind to habits of discipline and submission, may be
commenced. "I wish very much to consult you about the education of my
little girl," said a lady some years since to a friend, "who is now just
three years old." "Madam," replied the friend, "you are at least two
years late in applying to me on the subject." Lose no time in instilling
the principles of unhesitating obedience and thus, lay the foundation of
paternal authority, while teaching your children self-control,
self-denial, and how to gain a mastery over their passions. Warn her of
the trials and difficulties, which more or less come to us all, but
especially to the careless and indifferent.
The suit in which I am engaged will probably be spun out till Friday
evening. I will endeavor in this case to be with you the next day.
With sincerity of affection, your husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lewisburg, June 7th, 1824.
_My dear Ann_:
Baldwin and myself arrived here the third day after we left Staunton, in
good health. We passed Captain Massie's on Monday and regretted to find
both Mrs. Massie and the Captain indisposed. Sarah and the rest of the
family were well. Susan has a fine daughter, but has been so unfortunate
as to take the milk fever. She was, however, better of it, and I hope by
the time I return will be entirely well. General Breckenridge and family
and Woodville and family are here and in their usual health. Colonel
Andrew and Capt. John Lewis are also here.
I hope to leave on Thursday next--on Friday shall stop at my farm,
surveying the land I have entered, and on Saturday leave on my return to
Staunton, if nothing happens to prevent it--on Sunday evening I hope to
be with my beloved wife and child--send at once to Maupin (the overseer)
and direct him to detail hands to work the vegetable garden.
We were all invited to dine to-day with Lewis Stuart, but his wife was
taken ill last night and the invitations were recalled. It was a
disappointment, but as the day is exceedingly warm I think we have lost
nothing. The Colonel has not been at Captain Massie's yet, and I think
Sarah looks a little dejected. No news of William Lewis as yet. The sale
I expect will be postponed until August.[5]
[5] This refers to the sale of the personal property of Colonel John
Lewis, Mrs. Peyton's father.
Present Woodville affectionately to Lynn and Benjamin. He unites with me
in love to you and little Susan.
I am, with anxious desire to be with my dear Ann,
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
The "little stranger" mentioned in the following letter is the present
Col. John Lewis Peyton, the eldest son by the second marriage of Mr.
Peyton. Business engagements making it impossible for Mr. P. to be in
Staunton at the birth, intelligence was sent him of the event by his
favorite man servant, Ben Potter, who rode on horseback to Lexington
during the night.
Lexington, 16th September, 1824.
_My Dear Ann_:
Ben Potter arrived this morning bringing the glad tidings that you had
presented me with a fine son, and that you and the infant were as well
as could be expected. For this I feel grateful, and I regret that I
could not have been with you in the hour of tribulation--everything,
however, happens for the best. I am engaged in a cause of importance,
the evidence in which was closed this evening. The argument takes place
tomorrow, after which I will leave here and try to reach Colonel
McDowell's on my way home. If nothing unusual occurs, I will reach home
on Saturday evening, in the meantime take good care of yourself and the
baby. Be particular not to expose yourself and take cold. Present me
affectionately to my good friends, Mrs. Baldwin and Mrs. Williamson, and
tell them I shall not forget their kind and friendly attentions to you.
Mr. and Mrs. Woodville have not yet arrived--I presume they are detained
by bad weather.
Direct Ben, on his return, to open a cask of wine for the entertainment
of your friends. Ben is careful and may be trusted. Give my love to the
family, and kiss the little stranger for me.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Warm Springs, April 3, 1823.
_My Dear Wife_:
I had Just got off my horse from Pocahontas when the post going to
Staunton arrived. I delayed it long enough to put in this note for
you.[6] The Judge and myself have fared very well among the people of
Pocahontas and arrived here safely and in good health, the snow, rough
weather and bad roads to the contrary notwithstanding. I have barely
time to tell you this and to say that my anxiety to see you, my
children, my sister and brother was never greater.
[6] The mail was then carried on horseback, and the postoffice was in
the office of the tavern.
I have made money on the circuit, enough to pay every debt.
In great haste, but as ever your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Charlottesville, Oct. 11th, 1826.
_My Dear Ann_:
I stayed at Mr. Diver's (Farmington) on the night of the day we parted,
and on the next morning about 10 o'clock reached here.
Monday evening I spent at Mr. Kelley's in company with Mr. and Mrs.
Cochran, Mr. and Mrs. Hatch, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmer. Lynn is living in a
sedate, pious, gentle family, and is surrounded by every comfort, and
has an affectionate, good husband, who appears to be doing a good paying
business (as a merchant).
Our court business progresses slowly, so that I do not expect to get off
before Saturday or Sunday.
If Mr. Cochran (G. M.) has not obtained the bacon I ordered from Mr.
Hogg, you must keep up the supply on the farm from the market, and by
now and again killing a mutton.
In great haste, your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Callaghan's Tavern, Nov. 4th, 1827.
_My Dear Ann_:
I am informed by Judge Taylor that my sister, Lucy Green, of Kentucky,
arrived a few days since in Montgomery county on a visit to my late
brother's family, (Capt. Garnett Peyton's.) She is on her way to see my
mother at Stony Hill, and will not, of course, pass us without a visit.
Though she is impatient to get on, do not let her go until I return, for
nothing could give more pleasure than to see her.
I missed seeing the wedding party at Capt. Massie's, (marriage of John
Hamden Pleasants to Capt. M.'s daughter Mary.) They had gone to
Fincastle on a visit to the Woodville's. They intend paying us a visit
on their return. Woodville is with me and well.
Present me affectionately to the children and make my kind regards to
Mrs. Talfair.
Sincerely your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Richmond, January 19th, 1828.
_My Dear Ann_:
I had intended to leave here this morning, but the weather would not
admit of it. It has been raining the whole day. I think the weather will
admit of my continuing my journey tomorrow, for though I have been
treated with great hospitality since my arrival, I had rather be at home
with my dear wife and children than anywhere on earth.
Mary Green, of Kentucky, is here, and is an affectionate, good girl. She
appears to be sincerely attached to you, and says she had a great deal
rather be at Montgomery Hall with Aunt Ann, than in Richmond, with all
its fashion and gaiety. Bernard has given me two dining parties since we
have been here. We were also invited to dine at Johnson's, (Chapman,)
but could not attend, owing to a previous engagement at Leigh's, (B. W.
Leigh's.) I was obliged also to decline dining at Dr. Brockenbrough's
for the same reason, and I have, for the same reason, had to decline the
invitation to dine with Mr. Daniel. One day I dined with Gen. Sam'l H.
Lewis at Duval's; on another, with the Triplett's; on another day was
invited to dine by all the members of the Legislature at the Bell
Tavern, and did so. Many distinguished strangers were present. On
another occasion, I dined, by invitation, with all the members of our
party. We have been well, with the exception of a cold I caught
attending a book auction. I am, however, getting the better of it, and
hope by the time I reach Stafford to be well. My stay in Stafford will
be short. I shall stop with sister Lynn (Cochran) on my return. Cochran
has a very snug, cosy establishment. I have purchased a lot of nice
things for you; had them boxed and sent to Bernard's (Gen. Bernard
Peyton's) commission house to be forwarded home by the first conveyance,
with a number of law and miscellaneous books bought here. I am fearful
these articles will not reach Staunton soon, as the condition of the
roads is at present wretched.
I must conclude with the hope that I will receive a letter from you in
Stafford.
Amanda, (Mrs. General Bernard Peyton) and all send their best respects
and regards to you.
Kiss my little cherubs for me, and believe me, as ever your affectionate
husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Stony Hill, Stafford, Feb, 24, 1828.
_My Dear Ann_:
I had the happiness to receive your letter of the 19th upon my arrival
here, which gives me great pleasure indeed. My detention in Richmond
will prevent my return home as soon as I expected. On Saturday next I
expect to leave here.
Rowze's wife has a fine daughter, [The present Mrs. T. R. Spenser, of
Geneva, N. Y.] was born the day before our arrival. My mother, Lucy,
Miss Gallagher and Rowze all send their love to you.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
1828.
Warm Springs, 14th March, 1828.
_My Beloved Wife_:
The day I left you I reached Colonel McDowell's, (near Fairfield,
Rockbridge county,) where I spent the night in the agreeable society of
the family and my dear old aunt. On the next day about 12 o'clock, I
arrived in Lexington and dined with Mr. Taylor.[7] I spent the evening
and night with James McDowell, Jr.[8] Next day I settled my business in
court, spent the afternoon and night with Taylor, and in the morning set
out for Jackson River, and on Friday reached Captain Massie's, having
crossed the mountain by McGraw's gap, and after an hour's delay
proceeded to my farm where I lodged. Captain Massie and his son, Henry,
dined with me next day, and the same evening my son William arrived from
Pocahontas. He remained with me until Sunday when we went to Captain
Massie's to dinner. After dinner William proceeded to the Hot Springs
and I returned to the farm.
[7] Hon. James Taylor, M. C. for this district and an old and intimate
friend of Mr. Peyton, who served with Major Peyton in the army during
the war of 1812-15 and whose friendship was continued up to the time of
Mr. Peyton's death in 1847.
[8] Subsequently M. C. for this district and Governor of
Virginia--Governor McDowell and Mrs. Taylor were both first cousins of
Mrs. Peyton.
On Monday I rode to Alexander Paris', the old Morris tavern, to dinner,
and thence to William McClintic's, where I remained all night. On
Tuesday, I rode out in the rain to the Warm Springs. When I arrived the
water streaming from my neck, arms, cuffs, and my body was wet to the
skin, a warm bath, change of clothing, a good dish of roast beef by a
blazing fire, washed down with a bottle of rum negus soon warmed me to
life and spirits. Since then I have been busily occupied in court until
this evening. Tomorrow I leave for the Supreme court of Pendleton and
expect to arrive there by Tuesday evening. It distressed me to see my
learned brethren of the bar returning to their families when I was
doomed to another week's absence. But my wife will love me the more for
this privation; when she recollects that both duty and interest demand
the sacrifice. I found all well at the farm, all lazy and happy, all
idle and contented. I did not disturb them, left them to enjoy life in
their own way. I hope sister Sarah and cousin Susan Preston will remain
with you until I get back--nothing affords me more gratification in my
unavoidable absence on the circuit than the thought that you are happily
consoled by the society of your friends.
Tell Ben to lose no time with the work of gardening and to transplant
from the old garden near the stone spring house the currant and
raspberry bushes.
Tell Dempster to keep the wagons busy getting out the manure, and to
see that George and Dick are constantly engaged in rail-splitting--the
fences need repairing. Give my love to Sarah Lewis and Susan Preston, to
my little chicks, Susan, John and Ann.
As ever, my dear Ann, your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lewisburg, June 17th, 1828.
_My dear wife_:
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday after we parted at the Warm Springs. On
Thursday, Mayse, Terrell, and Grattan dined with me at my plantation on
Jackson's river--the same evening we rode to Callaghan's Tavern and on
Friday reached this place. I have a beautiful crop of corn on Jackson's
river, and indeed, the crops of all kinds look promising and the negroes
are healthy, contented and happy. I am in good health and closely
occupied in court. Woodville has not yet arrived, he is detained in the
courts of Botetourt and Monroe, I expect him in a day or two--Col.
Andrew Lewis and Capt. John Lewis are both here attending the court. How
do my little children come on? I suppose Susan is attending her school
regularly and that John with his innocent and lively prattle, and Ann
keep up their mother's spirits. How does Dempster get on securing the
hay crop? Tell him to have the cradles prepared for the harvest. Have
your wool packed and sent to Ben. Crawford's store with directions to
forward it to Barr's to be carded. By doing so the rolls will be ready
to be spun as soon as the women can be spared from the harvest field.
Isaac Bowyer has arrived here and tells me that the commissioners
appointed to assign Mrs. Mary B. Lewis her dower in Dr. Lewises lands
at the Sweet Springs, have set off to her 204 acres out of the land of
your brother William, including the meadow and brick house. Your old
neighbor, Susan Bowyer, near the Sweet Springs, is dead--the rest of
your old friends and neighbors are well.
Tell Mrs. Baldwin that her husband [Judge Briscoe Baldwin] is in good
health and spirits. He had the ill luck to have his gig broken to pieces
on the road to the Warm Springs--one of the shafts of the sulky broke,
this alarmed the horse--Baldwin perceived it and leaped from the gig,
the horse then ran off with the gig at his heels and broke it in a dozen
pieces. He had a bottle of old wine rolled up in the foot-board and
though the board was kicked to atoms the bottle was not broken. Was
there ever such luck! We went on to Miller's where we recounted our
misfortunes over the wine which prevented undue depression of spirits.
The horse was uninjured and procuring a saddle, Baldwin mounted the
reclaimed steed who was dripping wet, his eyes dull and his whole
countenance dejected, and we jogged on very pleasantly, cheered by the
Madeira and the reflection that things were not so bad as they might
have been.
When I write again I will be able to give you more information of our
friends. In the meantime be of good cheer and believe me,
Your affectionate husband.
SAME TO SAME.
Warm Springs, March 13th, 1829.
_My dear Ann_:
I have business at the Superior Court of Pendleton, which I cannot well
postpone, or I would return directly home. My stay at Pendleton,
however, will be short. As usual on first leaving home in the spring I
have taken cold. There is a great difference between the log cabins of
these mountains and the substantial and comfortable houses of Augusta.
For example, it snowed last night and when I waked this morning my bed
was covered with snow which beat in through the window--the floor was
nearly covered also, the snow coming in under the door. At this
inclement season a journey to Pendleton can't be styled a pleasure trip.
William has been here during the court and leaves to-day for Botetourt.
He appears to be in pretty good health.
Tell Mrs. Telfair I stopped at the Wilderness (General Blackburn's) on
my way out and found all well--many affectionate inquiries were made
about her. Keep up your spirits--when you look at Susan, John and Ann it
ought to satisfy you with my absence.
Yours affectionately,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lewisburg, Nov. 18, 1830.
_My Dear Ann_:
After your return home, I remained several days at the Warm Springs, and
after court rose, went with William, Sam'l McD. Moore, (subsequently M.
C.,) and Alexander P. Eskridge, son-in-law of Judge Allen Taylor and
brother-in-law of William Madison Peyton, to the Hot Springs, where we
found Sally and the children, (the wife and children of Wm. M. Peyton,)
and were hospitably and elegantly entertained. They all made many
friendly enquiries after you, sister Sarah and Thomas.[9] On Friday I
went to my plantation and procured of Mann a deed to the Mill and the
land in the Falling Spring Valley. Saturday I reached Callaghan's, and
thence took the stage to this place, after sending my horse back to the
farm to remain till my return, a fortnight hence. Woodville arrived on
yesterday and reports his wife better. As soon as he gets back to
Fincastle, they intend making us a visit as he will be detained some
time in Staunton attending the Chancery Court. From Staunton he will go
to Culpeper on a visit to his father. Tell Thomas to stick closely to
his studies, particularly Arithmetic and Algebra. The overseer should
secure the corn crop and cart out the manure. Tell him to thresh fifty
bushels of rye and send it to Major Summer's distillery, to be made into
whiskey.
[9] The late Major Thomas Preston Lewis, the youngest son of Major John
Lewis, of the Sweet Springs, a man of many noble traits of character,
who died unmarried in Augusta county in 1877, deeply regretted.
I hope Susan and John are diligently employed at school, and that the
rest of our small fry are doing well.
The mildness of the season has presented my feeling any inconvenience
from having no woolen shirts. Woodville joins me in love to yourself and
the children, to Sarah and Thomas.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lexington, Va., Sept. 19th, 1834.
_My Dear Ann_:
On the day I left home I reached here in good time, but by some
misadventure took a cold which has kept me coughing ever since. The heat
of the weather and my heavy clothing has caused a reaction and I hope
soon to be myself again.
I found Col. Benton and his family[10] at James McDowell's, and spent
some time with them very pleasantly--they will pay us a visit in
October. I am stopping as usual at Taylor's, they are so pressing in
their invitations and will admit of no excuses that I have fallen into
the habit of making their house my home while here.
[10] Hon. Thomas H. Benton, U. S. Senator for Missouri, and author of
"_Thirty Years' View; or, a history of the working of the American
Government for thirty years, from 1820 to 1850_." Colonel Benton married
Miss McDowell, a sister of Governor James McDowell, a cousin of Mrs. J.
H. Peyton.
Mr. Poindexter is in Lexington, and will marry to-day the widow Lewis.
The wedding is to be private, and the happy pair will leave immediately
in their barouche for Eastern Virginia.
James McDowell and wife have just gone to a meeting of the Preston
family in Abingdon with a view to the adjustment of your grandfather and
grandmother's estates, and though your mother will not be represented in
this meeting her claim, while the claims of others is adjusted, cannot
be overlooked. I hope therefore, when they return to hear something
satisfactory. Nath'l Hart, of Kentucky, has been chiefly instrumental, I
understand, in bringing about this meeting. Write me on Monday addressed
to the Warm Springs and let me hear how you all are. Give my love to my
mother and the children.
I am your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Norfolk, Dec. 19, 1835.
_My dear wife_:
Whilst Susan and Miss Robinson, who accompanied her from Richmond, are
drinking tea at Mr. Loyal's,[11] under the care of Mr. Valentine, I take
the pen to scribble you a few lines. On Wednesday we came down the river
from Richmond in the Steamer Patrick Henry, with all Gen. Blackburn's
emancipated slaves and their luggage on board. On the next day I
delivered them to the agent of the Colonization Society and paid their
passage to Liberia. On Friday the girls took tea at Mr. Smith's. The
evening before they spent at Mr. Robertson's. To-day we visited Old
Point, making the trip in the steamer, Old Dominion. After visiting the
fortifications, which I had not seen since 1814, with Col. Bankhead and
Capt. Washington we dined at the Hotel and returned in the evening.
Tomorrow we shall go to hear my old friend, Bishop Meade, preach. On
Monday we expect to visit the navy yard, Gosport and the dry dock, and
on Tuesday return by the Patrick Henry. Both Susan and myself are in
good health.
[11] Mr. Loyal was the father of Mrs. Admiral Farragut--the gallant
Admiral so much distinguished during the war.
My stay in Richmond will be brief. I never wished more to be at home. The
people everywhere are very kind and hospitable; my friends are attached
and attentive in different ways, but I do not enjoy my trip, because I
am away from those most dear to my heart. I derive more pleasure from an
evening in the midst of my family than any to be derived from travel. I
love the society of my own family, of John, clinging to my knees, Ann,
Mary, Lucy, the girls singing abed. "No man can tell," says Jeremy
Taylor, "but he that loves his children, how many delicious accents
make a man's heart dance in the pretty conversation of these dear
pledges; their childishness, their stammering, their little angers,
their innocence, their imperfections, their necessities, are so many
emanations of joy and comfort to him that delights in their person and
society." I may misquote, as I quote from memory, but if the words are
wrong, the ideas are right.
I have exchanged with Mr. Valentine, Malvina for a man cook, named
Smith, about 18 years of age. He is a good tempered, quick and efficient
general servant, and though young, already skillful as a cook; and is
anxious to go to the upper country, as he suffers with chills and fever
here. He will be of much service on the return trip, as I have a lot of
packages containing articles of furniture, mantle ornaments, books,
clothing, &c., to be looked after. I would have left this miserable
place sooner, but the steam boats run but twice a week. I console myself
with the hope that Susan is enjoying and profiting by the excursion. I
long to be with you. I am, as ever,
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
SAME TO SAME.
Lewisburg, July 14th, 1857.
_My dear Ann_:
I arrived here on yesterday in time for the court, but the business is
delayed by the failure of Johnson and Baldwin to appear. They are
expected tomorrow. I hope you are spending your time pleasantly, making
Miss Herring's visit agreeable. Tell Susan it is my particular wish that
she should write me frequently and at as great length as her
engagements will admit of. She is young and thoughtless and requires
the counsels and advice of her father, which I will take much pleasure
in giving her in letters, where it will be more permanent than if merely
spoken. She is at an age when her acts and sayings are the subject of
observation and comment, hence she cannot be too circumspect--next to
the consciousness of acting right, the public voice should be regarded,
and we should endeavor, by a prudent behavior, even in trifling matters,
to secure it in our favor.
I hope my dear wife that you will also write me often. Mr. Rodgers, the
stage driver, will take charge and safely deliver to me any letters you
may wish to send.
Have you made the acquaintance yet of Dr. and Mrs. Nelson? You will find
them agreeable and pleasant acquaintances--they are very intimate with
Bernard's family. Have you visited your pretty little farm near the
Springs. If not, go to see it, and let me know what you think of the
property.[12]
[12] This was a farm of 350 acres lying in the Sweet Spring Valley,
inherited by Mrs. Peyton from her father, and in 1894 is owned by her
nephew, Dr. J. Lewis Woodville.
Judge Fry, who married a daughter of Parson McElhaney, will be at the
Sweet next week. They are worthy people and I will be glad if you can
call on them. I think you will like them. The good parson has long been
one of my most particular friends, and I want you to be civil to his
daughter.
Excuse this hasty scrawl. My engagements do not admit of my saying more
than that I send affectionate regards to Ben, Tom, sister Caroline and
all the kith and kin about you.
I hope those agreeable New Yorkers--the Clarkes, are still at the
Springs. The society of people of so much information and intelligence
who have traveled abroad, is really improving.
Your affectionate husband,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
Mrs. John H. Peyton, Sweet Springs.
SAME TO SAME.
Lexington, Va., April 20th, 1839.
_My Dear Ann_:
I have only time to write you a few lines to advise you of my safe
arrival in good health at Lexington, where our friends and connections
are all well. Tell Aunt Towles I have met her grandson, John Dabney, who
recognized her son Thomas as he rode up to Taylor's. Taylor invited Mr.
Dabney's family and John to take tea with us on yesterday evening, and
to-day we are to dine with the Dabneys'. I am much pleased with Mrs.
Dabney and her sister, Mrs. Price, and more so with John Dabney, who
strikes me as a superior young man. Taylor is expecting his son, Dr.
James Taylor, from Philadelphia, every day, where he has successfully
concluded his medical studies. Their daughter Susan, who has been
spending the winter in Alexandria, is also expected home in a few
days.[13] They wish to give them a royal reception, and wish our
daughter Susan to come up for the merry making. Mrs. Taylor says if she
will do so she will send her to the Natural Bridge, &c. I have told her
I knew you would not part with Susan at this time, but I thought it
probable you would allow her to spend a week with them in May, after my
return from the courts. She was glad to hear this and said she would
send her son Robert and John Dabney to Staunton to escort her at that
time.
[13] Susan Taylor married some years subsequently Hon. John B. Weller,
M. C. from Ohio, and afterwards Governor of California.
Tell the overseer to take the calves off my grain, and let them run in
the clover field back of the house--the grain is so far advanced now
that the calves will injure it. I hope he has finished corn planting.
Write me at the Warm Springs, either by Tom Michie or Wm. Frazier,
telling me how the farming operations are going on, and how aunt Towles
and our dear little children are.
Aunt McDowell, who is here, sends her best love to you, Mrs. Towles and
sister Green. Mrs. Taylor says if Susan will come to her in May, she
will meet her relations, the McDowells, who will return from Abingdon in
April and be at home, and also Jane Preston, and other relatives who are
coming with the McDowells, from Southwest Virginia for a visit to
Lexington. I have time to say no more, as I am called to court.
Yours affectionately,
JOHN H. PEYTON.
The following extract from the Spectator possesses such interest that we
make no apology for introducing it here:
JEFFERSON, STUART, PEYTON.
We have been much interested recently in reading the early history of
the University of Virginia as developed in the unpublished letters of
Jefferson and J. C. Cabell. One of the letters particularly struck us.
It is from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Cabell, and dated Monticello, May 13th,
1825, and contains the warmly expressed opinions of two of our former
citizens as to the professional ability, general qualifications and high
character of the late Judge Dade, who was urged by his friends as a
suitable person to be made Professor of Law in the new institution,
Judge Stuart and Hon. John Howe Peyton were on a visit to Monticello at
the period when Jefferson was perplexed by the declension of this
Professorship by Mr. Gilmer, and Mr. Jefferson gives the substance of
what Judge Stuart and Mr. Peyton said to him.
The letter will be read with interest by all, but more particularly by
those who remember Judge Stuart and Mr. Peyton, two of our famous men of
the past, both of whom died full of years and honors, bequeathing
fortunes and leaving families, which have inherited their genius.
JEFFERSON'S LETTER.
DEAR SIR:--Every offer of our law chair has been declined, and a late
renewal of pressure on Mr. Gilmer has proved him inflexibly decided
against undertaking it. What are we to do? The clamor is high for some
appointment. We are informed, too, of many students who do not come
because that school is not opened; and some now with us think of leaving
us for the same reason. You may remember that among those who were the
subjects of conversation at our last meeting, Judge Dade was one; but
the minds of the board were so much turned to two particular characters;
that little was said of any others. An idea has got abroad, I know not
from what source, that we have appointed Judge Dade and that he has
accepted. This has spread extensively, perhaps from a general sense of
his fitness, and I learn it has been received with much favor, and
particularly among the students of the University. I know no more myself
of Judge Dade than what I saw of him at our Rockfish meeting, and a
short visit he made me in returning from that place. As far as that
opportunity enabled me to form an opinion, I certainly thought very
highly of the strength of his mind, and the soundness of his judgment. I
happened to receive Mr. Gilmer's ultimate and peremptory refusal while
Judge Stuart and Mr. Howe Peyton, of Staunton, were with me. The former,
you know, is his col
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