Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1881-08-19
| ". I'm. 3 m. en. ".
Letter from Essex county, Va.

Correspondence of the Alexandria Gazette
TAppAuANNoCK, Va, Aug. l6.-As l re-
visit my old mother State and again breathe
the fresh air Of the country, remember NY
old love, tho Gtz,tte, snd pepcil you few
notes. l write from TsppshsDnock, on the
banks of the Rappshanuc about sixty miles
below Fredericksburg, the river here spreading
oct into a b:oad and wide stream of nearly q
mile and half 10 width. Few OF your readers
ever ssw Tsppthannock; some | suppose have
hardly heard of it, yet it is plate of historic
memories and Of sntiqaated treasures Think
of county where are records and wills 2S5
years old and written 10 cid German or Gothic
text; where the sons of settlers were old mon
when Kirg Georges rue began to grow irk-
some; where homes then old are still marked BY
British oannon, and where memories OF the
early history of Virginia cluster thickly. Yonr
der is On old seop-roofed mansion, once owned
by 40 ancestor Of the Richie family. who By tho
way wss tory Or loyal man during the rev-
oution, end who leis spd wen. to h 6 md and
dwelt for safe'y Gutirg the struggs # '16. 1t
seems odd that SUCCESS should make rebellion
sc respccsuble, for this old gcutlem,u il seems,
though loyal vas osirsciscd by bis neigh.
bors.
l believe Tappabnuuock was settlId-!ai3
out-.he same year with Philadelphia. sud |
think this is true of Port Royal snd L.edstown.
both thus ancient placss. But Port Royal
saems passed into the decadeucs of Dumfrlos 10
Prince William, nnd Le.dstoWn somehow vas
dwarfed 10 the start aad never got beyond
store, blsoSsmithshop aud dTsllipg or two.
Il is place visited twioa week by the steam.
ors from Baltimore, which mouopolizs the
trade of this river. There is room fur rival
lioe, but this Baltimore company ovn b,
wharves along the river aud thus torestsl oom'
petition. THIS to.n-Tappahsnncck enIiva
ened by weekly newspaper. q canning factory
and quite number OF stores, and l notice saw
ernl pew buildings. 1t had at one TINA mum
Der OF old aucestral mansions, built 10 the days
Of plantations aud sIaves, dwellings which for
largenoss and baaut7 would vic with those of
any place. But fire sonsuned most of them,
and those that are left seem quietly passing
away. A "reminiscences of the past is the old
colonial Courthouse. in which 10 the days when
cry man could no. worship under bis own vine
and fs tree, two men were convicted Of preach
| ing Baptist doc'riaee. aad sentenced to fne
! and Imprisonment, By one of those sioRular
0erted into Baptist church, 10 which Bap.
| list congregation worships
| look GU from the porch where I sit on
broad, lovel fields, which, without help or rest.
have brought corn and wheat for, l suppose,
200 years. and yet the corn is eplerdid Such
] lsuds in tho Valley cf the Shcnard Dab, would
/ brig $50 to 500 per acre, and this sold few
years ago for sbcuI $40. and this With broad
river rolling ca to the Chesapeake. hich is only
60 miles away Around the points below tho
Lowe arc beds OF tho famous Rappabauuock
oysters, whose Nero mention makes the mou.h
water. nud the RIVER ia full OF fish. Tho cheap
lard will not always be chesp; it canoot be, for
some dap the tide must SIT this way. The
Valley people. aud those who dos't koow ex-
capt by hes,s,y, call this valley graveyard.
| out I think | saw ss many stslIsrt men az the
court house yesterday as l over saw at any
gathering 10 tho Valley or anywhere else. and I
see as many handsome women.
Bat this grows long, and had better ont il
short than yen. | sdd word about political
affairs. This is (by virtue Of the color liue)
republican county, aud is represeted 10 the
Legislature By q colorcd man. But an earnest
feeling is prevailing here hat reedjusterism and
redicslism arc Synonymous, aud the line is beiog
SHARPLY drawn. II seems singular fsot that
50 far as | csu learn those who endorse read
ustefism apply lhe same to their private
affairs, l havo to hear Of readjuster in
this seoion who bes no, forced CON promise on
| bis creditors ard 10 some ins!accas cleared off
! his obigs'iou 10 q neat but cot new way by not
paying auythiog at sll. Tue editor of the
weskiy paper hero - the Gcz,!te is one of
| the IivalieHt papers 10 the State. H.