The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-07-08
AMONG TIL; l.. +. V.
A Glance at tho Mode of Life of the Oldest
Virginia Families.
(From the Philadelphia Times. J

(Fsom the Philadelphia Tlmcs)
Virginia's 'first families" can be found
all over the State, but nowhere in such
purity and antiquity as III Stafford coun-
ty. the home of Governor Lee. The
county is not very largo and by no means
prosperous, but it stands first rs the OK
poncnt of all that is conveyed by the cx-
preston "F. L. "" Nearly every fami-
~ here can trace its origin by lincal
descent to the first English settlers,
while not n few can speak of thcir great
great -grand-fathcrs and grandmothers as
lord and lady So-and-so. Tho county is
named after the famous earl of Stafford
and not few Of its people are descended
from the family of that noblcman. Be-
fore the war these people lived in the
style OF nobility, if without it's name,
and now that the course of events has
reduced their means they preserve Eng
llsh customs in oil except the splendor
which only wealth can afford.
In the first place, each family has its
little domain, and, however small, it has
an imposing English namc, just as if it
were an earldom. Somerset, Richland
Aberdeen, Lcnnox and Waysidc arc a
few of the names of small farm houses
nesting i'll the Stafford pines and sur
rounded by thousands Of acres of par
TALLY cultivated lands. These houses are
frame, generally two stories high, and
the poorest of them is surrounded by a
lawn, through which runs one or moro
carriage drives. One would expect to
see castles when coming in view of the
beautiful lawns and the centuricd oaks,
and would feel disappointed ut the little
white houses Mt the end of the drives;
but there is a sort of rustic harmony in
the picture after all. Seated in the vcran-
dahs Mt evening and looking out on the
oak-canoplcd swards, you would forget
tho absence of the castle, and, if you
were an Englshman, fancy yourself
amidst the lime trees on one of the grand
old estates across the water.
THE HOME OF GOVERNOR LEE.
The former home of Governor Leo is
called Richland. 1t is like all the estates
III tho county-a two story frame house,
a largo lawn and several hundred acres
of anything but rich land. Here the
Governors ancestors have lived for hun
drcds of years. Of course, the Lees can
trace their descent to titled Englishmcn;
at least, all books of heraldry make it
out SO. At a distance of few miles is
Somerset, the home of the Moncure
family. The present Mrs. Moncure is q
granddaughter of the famous Lady
Spotswood, whose portrait hangs in the
capitol at Richmond. This family has
lived i'll Stafford county for nearly two
hundred years. All its deceased mem
bcrs arc buried in The graveyard at Aqua
church, and tablet near the pulpit con-
tains the rather royal inscription:
''SGcrcd to the memory of the race of
Moncurc." There arc about one hun
dred and fifty members of the family in
tho county. The women, taken all in
all, are tho most beautiful the writer has
ever seen within the same area. They
seem to have inherited in remarkable
degree the queenly beauty of Lady
Spotswood and some of them bear close
resemblance to her portraits.
The Waller family, n little further up
at Waysidc, is related to the Lees and
trace their origin to the stmc source.
The first of tho Scots camc to Stafford
from England to take charge of Aqua
church. He was one of the unfortunate
class known as noblcmcn's sons, and was
assigned, as is usually the case, to the
ministry. Ono of his descendants is
Congressman w. l.. Scott, who passed
his boyhoOd on the Stafford hills. Mr..
Scott has not forgotten his old home
amidst his Pennsylvania millions. 4
few months ago he sent twelve hundred
dollars to the pastor of Aqua church for
the purpose of repairing the old build
ing, and is now contemplating trip to
the home of his distinguished ancestors.
The names of all the families who have
lived in the county since the antc-Rcvo-
lutionary days would fill half column
of the Times, and although they cannot
all claim titled progenitors, they arc the
very first Of the "F. +. ""
soME NONSENSE ALLEGED.
A great deal of nonsense has been
written about these ''first families" They
arc usually represented rs thriftlcss, vain
and scornful to all outside the magic cir
Gle of their society. They lack, it is
true, much of tho energy and goahcadi-
tiveness of the Northern man, but it
must be remembered that most of those
yet living were brought up under oondi-
tlons that paralyZed energy. With large
estates and hundreds of slaves they had
no motive for cxcltion, and now that the
war has swept away all their wealth, they
must change their very natures before
they can become the pushing business
mon who build up communities The
new generation is growing up quite diff
ferent, and it is more than likely that
when they come to the fore the Virginia
farmer will no longer let his acres lie
useless or half cultivated Tho fact is
that the landholdcrs in Stafford county
are yet in q dazcd state over the results
Of the war. They can hardly realize the
change, or if they have they think it is
too late in life to start out afresh.
AS to thc ''proud, scornful women" of
the "E. F. w." it is pity to strike q
blow at the pictures which have been
drawn by imaginative writer's, and which
have long been regarded as genuine in
the North, still the pictures have no
prototypes in real life. Everyone has
read those fanciful stories about rich
and cultured Northeners suoing for the
hand of poor Virginia girls and being
refused, solely because they did not be-
long to the "F. L. "" These arc vericst