The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1869-12-10

@ me- tho feelins sadness crept over me
EThen1 missed froat hissaccustemsd seatain
i,s,r cn the uuoS m5e - " i i1 Mel
comeds his guests with 48smiS ala seemed
only to study how t9reiider tbenl8 tomforta-
BILE and happy. lkS IN t@
Another Of the hotels, that keptby Msfior
Richardson in the days of my boyhood, has
undergone but little change, and save the alb
sence of the old hickory tree lin the yard,
looks Just as it did in days of yore. l was
happy to find in its present host, who kindly
and unostentatiously profered me the hospi-
talities OF his house. an excellent representa-
tive Of an excellent predecessor. / had the
pleasure of meeting with two of Major Rich
ardson's sons-both of them Drs., believe
to whom 1 am indebted for kind attentions,
and greatly regret my failure to have met
with their brother Henry, of whom I have
pleasant boyhood memories.
The other hotel, that kept by Mr. McKenny,
at the intersection of the Baltimore road with
the main street, didn't look as imagine it TO
have looked in the olden time, but the change
may be attributed, perhaps, to the absence of
the huge swinging sign on the corner, with
its elaborate ginger-cake work of iron.
Most of the old houses have undergone
some change, but few of them are just as
they were fifty years ago. Among the latter
is the little building at the corner opposite
the old Richardson hotel, where Ephraim
Lyle manufactured segars and nurSed his
then only baby, Helen Mar The old frame
building in which Bob Richardson sold
goods, and which subsequently became the
office of the Bond of Union, is still among the
things that were, but thas been whirled from
its ancient foundation, and now occupies a
spot in rear of the brick store-house on the
corner The little unpretending building in
which poor Billy Mills and Maurice Foley
carried on tack and gathered cabbage, still
occupies its ancient site and retains its an
Gent form and dimensions. Next to this.
the frame building with its unarchitectural
wings, now occupied as drugstore and in
which Tom Mills cut and fashioned garments
in the days of his glory, looks just as it did
when Bob Richardson reared it, and my hope
| is, that its shadow will never grow less, or
the form and fashion of it fade or decay. Two
other small buildings on the same side of the
square still stand as relics of the past-one
of them once occupied as an office by Mr..
| Wallace, and the other by Col Maulsby.-
These are now separated, if I remember
rightly, by the office of the -Aggss Dc Ittelli-
genceS.
| Another old building, tho somewhat mod
erniZed, is that on the main street now occ,l.
pied by Mr.. Samuel Galloway, and l might
say the same of the two opposite houses, as
well as that now occupied by Dr. Dance, for
merly the residence of my mischievous old
friend Bob Richardson. Mr. Jarretts beauti-
full residence occupies the spot upon which
once stood the small and unpretending home
stead of Mr.. Samuel Bradford and the domi-
Gil of my old friend John Robinson is despoil-
ed of its ancient exterior, and has been trans
formed into a village hosiery.
But more anon of the town, as the paper
upon which am writing, as well as the ca
pacity of your columns, will hardly accom-
modate the whole village IT,
The saddest emotions experienced amid
my gladness, sprang from the fact that of the
hundreds whom once knew and loved in
your community, met with so few. If re-
member rightly, William Jeffrey, Samuel Gal
loway, Lingan Jarrett, and the old colored
man Garrison, were all the acquaintance of
my youth with whom I met in Bel Air, and
| William P. Beall, Miss Sallie Magness, Mrs
Sawyer, James Kean, Mrs. Mnnick at the
Hickory, A. w. Scarborough and Vim.
Mccoy and his wife on Broad Creek, the
sum total of former acquaintance in the
county. -
| 1t was my purpose when commenced to
write this letter, to say something of the
changes and improvements in the county as
far as | had an opportunity of observing
| them, but must defer it to q subsequent pc
| Rod, as this has already been extended to an
unreasonable length. b. .f...o-
I am not willing to close, however, with
out rendering, through your columns, my
grateful acknowledgements to Mr. John Nc
Donald, Mr.. Maynadier, Mr.. Walters, Mr.. o.
s.. Lee, Mr.. Moores, Mr. Sawyer, yourself
and others, for kind attentions of which was
unworthy and had no right to expect,
Hoping to be able hereafter to furnish you
a series Of letters in which may be fortunate
enough to impart some degree of interest,
feeling as do that have failed in this, l
am, most respectfully yours &c.
G. BIC.
ABINGDON, VA, Dec. Sd, 1869.