The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-17

GATHERING OF THE CLANS AT An
"OLD WRGlNNY" WEDDING.
The Feverish Excitement OF Expectation
lavish Hospitality-HowG Guests Came
driving Fourth -Hand-"A Time
When Weddin's Was weddsu's"

Mrs. F. @. de Fontaine in New York Grapkic.l
Fifty years ago old Roanoke was in a
feverish state OF excitement over an event
which was destined TO unite the interests
and estates of two Of the Oldest and most in
fiuential families in Virginia. Weeks in adj
vance the clans had been gathering from
the neighboring states TO do honor TO the oc-
casion, and when the day of the wedding ar
rived Oakland" the ancestral home of the
bride, was taxed to its utmost TO accommo-
dnte the numerous guests "Peyton Hail."
the adjoining estate owned by relative,
also threw open its hospitable doors, and
was soon filed to overlooking by the we'd
ding company that came with big box. little
box, bandbox and bundle. Cots were placed
in parlors and libraries, pallets laid on every
available floor, while each lounge and sofa
had one or more occupants
In those days wedding could not be man.
aged as an impromptu affai-, for the soil of
3Old Virginny" was not then, as it now is,
crossed and recrossei by in-iumerable rail-
roads, and supplies had to be- wag oned over
hundreds of miles of territory. On this oc-
casion the confectionery and everything
which could not be manufactured upon the
plantation was brought from Richmond by
canal boat to Lynchburg and from thence
to Roanoke. distance OF several hundred
miles, and week being consumed in the
operation Nothing else was talked of for
months in advance, and the old county was
stirred to its center, for naught so revolu-
tionizss a country place a wedding. The
neighboring forests paid their tribute in
holly, and the traditional mistletoe bough
was suspended on high, under which, IL any
victim was caught, she compelled to pay
the accustomed forfeit which could be
claimed by any cavalier in the room so in
clined.
Chickens ducks and turkeys, which had
been kept In fattening coops for weeks, lost
their heads while rotund pigs with apples
in their mouths looked placidly upon the
preparations for their consumption. New
gowns were given to the female servants,
while the brass buttons on the livery of the
males were frightened TO startling degree.
Old "Uncle Ben" was the centre figure in
this last brigade, and the amount of impor-
lance with which be was usually invested
seemed to have doubled itself on this occas-
ion, and he became most pronounced auto
crat debating terms to his own color and
offering sugge lions to his master, who, as
he had been faithful old butler for many
years, listened to him with the utmost con-
sideration.
Oakland and Peyton hall stood side by
side. Each of these rich estates retained
and respected the traditions which had been
handed down from generation to generation
by those with whose names they were identi.
fed Old landmarks were carefully pre-.
served; old tree, bending beneath the
weight Of years, were jealously kept in place
by artificial means, while from the walls of
the immense salons locked many genera
, lions in powdered wigs, ruffles and short
clothes. The owners of these estates were
gentlemen Of the 'old school," chivalrous,
honorable and high toned; quick to resent
an insult or to avenge wrong and just as
quick to pardon an offence where honor was
not involved. They were of the stock which
gave to Virginia her Light-Ho Harry
Lee, John Randolph, Robert z. Lee, and
scores of others who have made that state
amous as the mother of statesmen
Many gay party of gentlewomen and
gallant cavaliers gallopsd down those ave-
nues to the summons of the hunters horn
calling them to a fox hunt or a deer chase,
to return in the evening TO a brilliant ball OF
whist party where egg-nog AMI hot apple
toddy were the features of the evening,
while the "antlers" or the 'brush," trophies
of the days sport, were prominent in the
decorations. Preparations were made on
the most lavish scale, and although all the
accessories of the supper had to be wagoned
hundreds of miles this welding is referred
TO by octog enarians and centenarians Of the
county of the finest ever witnessed in
Old Roanoke THAT was time when wed
din's was weddin's," recently said an old
gray haired servant of the family who still
retains vivid recollection of the event.
the clans had gathered from far and near
and it is safe to say that never was there
more brilliant assemblage in old Roano Ike
county.
Many of the guests came hundreds of
miles in private cOnveyanceS There were
no commodiOus hotels near by where COM
Portable quarters coul.. be obtained for man
and beast, consequently the hospitality of
both Oakland and Peyton hall was severely
taxed. At one time sixty extra horses stood
in the stables of Peyton hall alone, like
number also testing the corn bins of Oak
land.
Col William c. Preston, the distinguished
southern statesman, whose wit and elo-
quence added brlliancy to more than one
presidential administration, drove all the
way from his home in South Carolina, four
in hand, while his baggage wagon, contain
ing the maids and Wallets of the party,
brought up tho rear. Mrs. Floyd, the wife
of Governor Floyd. also came, driving four
finland. In fact this was the general style
at that time, and we find that the people of
fifty years ago were quite as tenacious in re-
gard to these matters as their descendants
of to-day. Snuff-colored equipages mounted
high In the air ON immense springs
were enregle. To attempt to de-
scend from one of these swinging
conveyances was tantamount to jeop-
ardizing a life insurance policy, for the
frQ OlQd md f,-v-p at
movement, and it required the skill OF a
tactician to ascend and descend without
making faux pas
How we'll l remember that wedding"
said Virginia matron to me q few days
ago. II was only a child then at 'Peyton
hall, and children on those days were not
as they now are, prominent features OF such
occasions, but distinctly recollect my old
black nanny putting clean apron on me,
taking me by the hand and showing me all
the nice things. then promising if I'd be
good girl, that she'd give me an orange the
the following dav - Think of a child in this