Historic Fredericksburg Part 15

MAJOR EDWARD RUGGLES

Major Edward Ruggles was graduated from Annapolis in 1859, came South in 1861 and offered his services to the State of Virginia, before that State joined the Confederacy. He was later transferred to the Confederate Army, and served on the staff of General Daniel S. Ruggles in the engagements at Aquia Creek, being present at the first engagement of the Civil War, June 1, 1861. Later he served with the Army of Tennessee and after the war lived in King George and Fredericksburg, where he died in 1919, at his residence on lower Main Street. He was one of three men who aided John Wilkes Booth to cross the Rappahannock at Fort Royal, and directed him to the Garrett barn, where Booth met his death.

COLONEL RICHARD L. MAURY

Colonel Richard L. Maury, a son of Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury, was born in Fredericksburg in 1840. Upon the outbreak of the War between the States he at once offered his services to his native State, and his Naval Career, though short, is notable. Detached from Company F, Richmond, 1st Va. Regiment, by order of the Secretary of the Navy, he took part in the capture of the St. Nicholas and other vessels on the Potomac and Chesapeake. He was afterwards returned to the Army and served with the 24th Va. Infantry until Appomattox. After the War he resided in Lexington and Richmond, in which latter city he died a few years ago.

COMMODORE DOMIN

Commodore Thomas Domin, U. S. N., like many other officers of the old Navy, often left his family in Fredericksburg while absent on the long tours of sea duty, sometimes two and even three years in length. Thus, while a native of Ireland, where he was born in 1801, Commodore Domin called our town "home" for many years.

Entering the U. S. Navy in 1818, after many voyages to all parts of the world he was with Admiral Perry when the latter forced his way into the j.a.panese harbors. When the war between the States was imminent, he retained his place in the old Navy, with the promise that he would not be ordered to action against his adopted State.

He served on the Light House Board at Baltimore for the duration of the war, and upon his retirement in 1870 lived in Fredericksburg, for a time.

He died in Savannah, Ga., in 1873.

He resided, when in Fredericksburg, in the house now owned by Dr. C. Mason Smith on Prince Edward Street.

WILLIAM HENRY BECK

Surgeon William Henry Beck, U. S. Navy, came to Virginia from England as a lad of twelve in 1800. Some years later he entered the Navy as an a.s.sistant Surgeon, and made several voyages in the old sailing s.h.i.+ps to various ports of the world.

He married Miss England, of Stafford, and made his home in Fredericksburg.

He lived in what was then a northwestern suburb, near the present basin, and this section was known as "Becksville." He was at one time a police officer in our town, and as the result of an injury in arresting a prisoner, lost an arm.

He died in the fifties, and was buried in St. George's Churchyard. A son bought and lived for years on what is known by our old citizens as "Beck's Island," now owned and occupied by Mr. J. A. Emery.

JOHN RANDOLPH BRYAN

Lieutenant John Randolph Bryan, U. S. Navy, born in 1806, in Georgia, was educated in Virginia, and married at Chatham in 1830, Elizabeth Coalter, daughter of Judge John Coalter, of the Virginia Supreme Court. Leaving Yale in 1823, Lieutenant Bryan was appointed to the Navy, became mids.h.i.+pman in 1824, and was ordered to the Peac.o.c.k.

He resigned in 1831 and took charge of his estate at Wilmington Island, and later an estate in Gloucester County, Virginia.

In 1862, he offered his services to the Confederate Navy, but was judged too old. He was the ward of John Randolph, who made a deep impression upon his mentality.

Lieutenant Bryan was noted for his courtesy and charm of manner. He spent his latter years in the house of his daughter in Fredericksburg, Mrs.

Spotswood W. Carmichael. He died at the University of Virginia, while on a visit, on September 13, 1887.

The name of Mrs. Spotswood W. Carmichael will recall to many Dr.

Carmichael, that splendid physician and gentleman of "the old school" who ministered to the sick of a previous generation and had a host of loyal friends.

CAPTAIN THOM, U. S. M. C.

Captain Reuben Thom, of the Confederate Marine Corps, was the son of "Postmaster Thom" and was born in Fredericksburg. He entered the war at Norfolk in 1861, and in 1862 was in command of the Marines on the famous Merrimac in the battle of Hampton Roads. Captain Thom took part in the engagement at Drury's Bluff. After the war Captain Thom moved to Baltimore where he died.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BETTY WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S HOME

_"Kenmore" Where George Was.h.i.+ngton's Sister Lived After Her Marriage. Her Mother's Home Is Close By_]

_Unforgotten Women_

_Some of Many Who Left a Record of Brilliancy, Service or Sacrifice._

The stars that s.h.i.+ne in the galaxy of the heavens do not all glow with the same l.u.s.tre. One is gifted with a steady and dependable splendor, another scintillates and fades to s.h.i.+ne afresh. So, it is, that the women of Fredericksburg have in their individual ways added to the glories of the town and well sustained its deserved reputation, as being the home of capable, brilliant, and beautiful women. A distinguished French officer once said, after meeting one of the women of Fredericksburg, "If such are the matrons of America, well may she boast of ill.u.s.trious sons." This was at the great Peace Ball, given in the town in 1783, to which, of course, the mother of Was.h.i.+ngton was especially invited. The simple manner and appearance of the great woman, surprised the gallant officers present, and provoked from one of them the remark.

Clad in a plain but becoming garb, that characterized Virginia women of her type, she received the many attentions paid to the Mother of the idolized Commander-in-Chief with the most unaffected dignity and courtesy.

Being accustomed to the pomp and splendor which is attached to Old World royalty, it was a revelation to them to behold such a woman. How could she live in the blaze of glory which irradiated her ill.u.s.trious offspring, and still preserve her simple dignity of manner, so barren of self pride and hauteur!

[Sidenote: _The "Rose of Epping Forest"_]

But this daughter of Colonel Joseph Ball, of Lancaster County, this "Rose of Epping Forest" which budded into existence on March 6, 1708, this una.s.suming woman, who on the anniversary of her natal day in 1730, gave her heart and hand to the master of Wakefield, this thrifty and systematic young housewife and widowed mother at Pine Grove, in Stafford County, this matron of Fredericksburg, possessed qualities individual to her who became the author of the being of the greatest and best loved character figuring on the pages of American history. Her last home selected for her by General Was.h.i.+ngton, stands today, on the corner of Charles and Lewis Streets, the same home with the characteristic simplicity of years ago.

The a.s.sociation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, to which Society it now belongs, has restored in part the interior with its wainscoting and paneling and its period furniture. The interesting old brick floored kitchen, with its huge fireplace, and its crane, iron pots, skillets and equipment of former days, all seem today in perfect accord with her reception of her cherished offspring in 1783. After an enforced cessation of visits to his aging mother for a long period of seven years, she at length was told by an orderly that "His Excellency" had arrived, and was at her very door. Turning quietly to her faithful, ebony maid, she said with her habitual self control, "Patsy, George has come, I shall need a white ap.r.o.n." But beneath this calm exterior, her embrace of her first born son was overflowing with fervent mother-love, and hidden away in the deep recesses of her heart was the swelling pride in his glory. Senator Daniel truthfully said, "The principles which he applied to a nation were those simple and elementary truths which she first imprinted upon his mind in the discipline of home."

The splendid granite monument, erected to her, with its simple inscription, "Mary, the Mother of Was.h.i.+ngton," and on the reverse side: "Erected by her Countrywomen," rises from a ma.s.sive foundation to a distance of 59 feet. Her ashes lie beneath, in a spot of her own selection, (which in her lifetime was a part of the Kenmore estate) and her favorite resting place. Nearby are the two rocks upon which she used to sit and read her Bible. These are known as "Meditation Rocks."

[Sidenote: _Susan Savage and Anne Maury_]

The name of Susan Metcalf Savage will always be held in the highest veneration by those of Fredericksburg who realize and appreciate the many sacrifices, heart-aches, self-denials and home-longings experienced by those who give their lives in heathen lands. Brought up in an atmosphere of love and unselfishness, and herself devoted to every call of duty, it was no surprise to her many friends to learn that soon after her marriage to Reverend Dr. Savage in 1838 she would sail with him for tropical Africa, one of the first woman missionaries from our land. Though her life in this then unusual field of usefulness was less than two short years, her labors were not in vain, and her works and her example will live for years to come.

Ann Herndon, who became the wife of the great scientist, Matthew Fontaine Maury, was born in the house on the corner of Princess Anne and George Streets, erected by her father, Dabney M. Herndon. Her loveliness of face and character was equalled by her charming manner, and attractive personality, and whether in Fredericksburg, or Lexington, Va., whether in Was.h.i.+ngton or London, her home was the spot where the savant, the scientist, the literati and men and women representing every phase of culture and social distinction, were wont to a.s.semble. The beautiful jewels presented to her by the crowned heads of Europe, (her ill.u.s.trious husband, being an officer in the United States Navy, was restricted from accepting gifts, else his admirers would have showered them upon him), were deservedly famous. After the death of Commodore Maury a plan was conceived by a member of one of the royal courts of Europe, and initiatory steps had already been taken, to raise a munificent sum of mony with which to honor the widow of the man to whom all educated nations were to pay homage. But when their project reached her ear, she refused to accept it, though recognizing and appreciating fully the compliment to her devoted husband.

[Sidenote: _President Arthur's Wife_]

One of the captivating belles of the town was Ellen Lewis Herndon, daughter of the Naval Commander, Captain William Lewis Herndon, who in 1857 met his death in the Gulf Stream. Being possessed of a rich contralto voice, Miss Herndon made frequent visits to the National Capitol, and delighted the congregations at old St. John's Church with her sweet, rich tones. It was here that the young attorney, Chester A. Arthur, afterwards President, became infatuated with the pretty young singer.

Those old days were the parents of these days, and many were the whispers of conjecture and surmise as to the outcome of those frequent visits of the handsome Mr. Arthur to the home of Ellen Herndon, (that still strikingly pretty residence on Main and Charlotte Streets), and shortly before the War between the States, a pretty wedding was solemnized in New York City, and Ellen Herndon became the bride of Chester A. Arthur.

In the heart-rending times of 1861-'65, the women of Fredericksburg with untiring energy and courage, in the midst of the agony of war, a.s.sumed the laborious task of ministering alike to soldiers in blue and gray, and many burdens of sorrow were in some way lightened and many a physical pain lessened or a soul cheered. Perhaps the women of Fredericksburg were inspired to great deeds by the example of that splendid specimen of womanhood, Clara Barton, who for sometime was stationed near Chatham, carrying on her splendid ministration to the sick and suffering Federal soldiers.

OF WOMAN'S WORK

It was on May 10, 1866, that the women of Fredericksburg, urged by Mrs.

Frances Seymour White, (widow of an officer in the U. S. Army, who died as the war began), a.s.sembled in the lecture room of St. George's Church to form an a.s.sociation to care for the memory of the n.o.ble Southern heroes, whose graves were then scattered over battlefield and farm. This was the first step towards the formation of the Ladies Memorial a.s.sociation the work of which organization, begun so earnestly and lovingly, has so successfully been fulfilled. Mrs. John H. Wallace, was elected President and Mrs. Frances Seymour White, Vice-President. On Mrs. Wallace's death, Mrs. White was chosen President, and continued until 1882, when she was succeeded by her daughter, Mrs. Francis B. Goolrick, who continued to act as President for eleven years. Mrs. Maria K. Daniel followed next for seventeen years, and Mrs. Frances B. Goolrick, who was elected in 1912 is still President.