The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-04-18
GOLD vsRoINNy. WEDDING.

N SOLD vzR0INNY 1" WEDDING. l,sr.. r. e. DeFonsaine, in N. Y. Graphic.l
 r;fv wears ago old Roanoke was in a ...,rr;sh stase of excitement over m event sS;ch was destined to unite the interests ..d estates of two of the oldest and most Influential families in Virginia Weeks En advance the clans had been gathering from the neighbosing states to do honor "a inc occasion, and when the day of the 5~eddinv arrived e Oakland" the snces- ',al home of the bride, was taxed to its Utmost to accommodate the numerous mests. Peyton Hall," the adjoining Ssstate owned by "a relative, also threw tcoen its hospitable doors, ard was soon S6Iled to ovesfowing by the wedding com pauy that came with big box, little box, handbox and bundle. Cots were placed f 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 managed as an imprcml tn affair, for the soil of 1" Old Virginny" was not then, as < it now is, crossed and recrossed by innu- merabie railroads, and supplies had to be wagoned over hundreds of miles of territory. On this occasion the confec- tionery and everything which could not he 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 stir rcd to its centre, for naught so revolu- tionizes a country place as. wedding. The neighboring forests paid their trib- ute in holly, and the traditional mistle- toe bcpgh was suspended on high, ander which, if any victim was caught, she was compelled to pay the accustomed forfeit, which could be claimed by any cavalier in the room so inclined.
 Chickens, ducks and turkeys, which had been kept in fatiening GOODS for weeks, lost their heads, while round pigs with apples in their mouths looked plac- idly upon the preparations for their con- sumption. New gowns were given te the female servants, while the brass buttons on the livery of the males were bright ened to startling degree. Old Uncle Ben" was the centre figure in this last brigade, and the amount of importance with which he was usually invested seemed to have doubled itself on this oc- casion, and he became most pro- nounced autocrat, dictating terms to his own color and offering suggestions to his master, who, as he had been faithful old butler for many years, listenes to aim with the utmost consideration.
 Oakland and Peyton Hall stood side by side. Each of these rich estates re- tained and respected the traditions which had been handed down from generation to generation by those with whose names they were identified. Old landmarks were carefully preserved old trees, bend ing beneath the weight of years, were jealousl, kept in place by artificial means, while from the walls of the immense sa- Ions looked many generations in pow dered wigs, ruff .s and short clothes. The owners of these estates were gentlemen of the old school" chivalrous, honor able and high-toned quick to resent an insult or to avenge a 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-Horse Harry Lee, John Randolph, Robert E Lee, and scores of others who have made that state famous as the mother of states men.
 Many a gay party of gentlewomen and gallant cavaliers gallopea down those avenues to the summ ons of the hunters horn calling them to fox hunt or deer chase, to return in the evening to a bril- liant ball or whist party where egg-nog and hot apple toddy were the features oi the evening, while the antlers" or the "orush," trophies of the days sport were prominent in the decorations.
 Colonel Watts was the master of Oak. land," where he and his accomplished wife dispensed the most charming hos pitality. Mrs. Watts was Breckenridge and possessed in feminine degree all of those characteristics which have made that name celebrated.
 Their daughter Lizzie was the affiancec bride of Thomas L Preston, one whose family had been identified with the his- tory of Virginia from its earliest founda' ton, and it was the celebration of theii nuptials which had called together so many of the relatives of both families The wedding was to have taken place several months before, but was postponed on account of a dream that Miss Wattl had.
 She dreamed that some one came ts her feom the spirit land and told her tha' if she married Mir. Preston she would die in six months.
 It produced such an impression upor her that the engagement was broken anc only renewed again by the intervention of friends.
 Preparations were made on the mos lavish scale, and although all the acces sories of the supper had to be wagonet hundreds of miles this wedding is re ferred to by octogenarians and centen arians of the county as one of the fines ever witnessed in Old Roanoke. ~Tha was a time when weddin's was weddin's, recently said an old gray-haired servan of the family who still retains a vivit recollection of the event.