Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-07-12
Another car load OF Ceres -four just re-
ceived at the Fort worth Grocer Co.'s.
AMONG THE +. +. V.
A Chance nc the Mode Of Life OF tho Lead
ing Families of ola Virginia.

county, Va, says
vlrginla's s.frst iamillcsn can be found
all over the state, but nowhere in such
purity and antiquity as ia Stafford county,
the home OF Gov. Lee. The county is not |
very large and by no means prosperous,
but Il stands ilrst as the exponent OF oil |
that Is conveyed by the expression "F. |
+. "" Nearly every family here can |
trace its origin by lineal descent 10 |
the first English settlers, while not |
q few can speak OF their great |
great grandfathers and grandmothers as
Lord aud Lsdy SO and SO. The county
is named after the famous earl of Stat
ford, and not few OF It's people are de-
scendants from that nobleman. Before
the war these people lived in the style OF
nobility, II without It's name, and now
that the course OF events has reduced
their means, they preserve Englishscus.
toms In all things except the splendor,
which only wealth can AFFORD.
la the first place, each family has Its
little domain, and, however small, 1t has
an imposing English name Just as n II
were an earldom. Somerset, Rlchlaud,
Aberdeen, LennoX and Wayslde are few
OF the names OF small farm houses
nesting la the Stafford pines and sur
! rounded by thousands otacres Of partially
cultivated lands. These houses are al
frame, generally two.stories high, and
the poorest Of them is surrounded by
lawn, through which runs one
or more carriage drives. One
would expect TO see castles when
coming in view OF the beautiful lawns
and the tenturied oaks, and would feel
disappointed ut the little white house at
the end Of the drives; but there Is a sort
OF rustic harmony In the picture after all.
Seated in the yerandas at evening and
looking cut on the oak-canopied sward,
you would forget the absence of the cas-
tie, and, II you were an Englishman,
, fancy yourself amidst the lime trees on
! one OF the grand old estates across the
water.
The former home Of Gov. Lee Is called
Richland. " Is like all the estates in the
county--a two-story frame house, a large
, lawn and several hundred acres OF any
thing but rich land. Here the governors
} ancestors have lived for hundreds of
years OF course, the Lees can trace
their descent to titled Euglishmen; at
least all books OF heraldry make IL out so.
At distance Of a few miles is Somerset,
: the home Of the Moncure family, The
present Mrs. Moncure is granddaughter
of the famous Lady Spotswood, whose
I portrait hangs In the capitol at Richmond.
j The family has lived In Stafford county
for nearly two hundred years. All It's
r diseased members are buried IN the
8 graveyard at Aqua church, and tablet
G near the pulpit contains the rather royal
o inscriptions "Sacred 70 the Memory Of
d the Race Of Moncure.n There are about
D 100 members OF the family In the county
Q The women, taken all in all, are the most
d beautiful theMritcr has ever seen within
+ the same area. They seem to have In
S herited In remarkable degree the que0nlJ
g beauty OF Lady Spotswood, and some OF
c them bear a strong resemblance TO bei
! portrait.
G The Waller family, little further up,
at Wayslde, are related to the Lees, and
trace their origin to the same source
The nrst OF the Scots came to Stafford
y from England TO take charge OF Aqua
: church. lie was one Of the unfortunate
y class known as ncblemen's younger sons,
t and was assigned, as Is usually the case,
4 to the ministry. One Of his descendants
is Congressman w. l.. Scott, who passed
= his boyhood on the Stafford hills Mr..
a Scott has not forgotten his old home
1 amidst his Pennsylvania millions. few
. months ago ne sent $1,000 to the pastor Of
: the Aqua church for the purpose OF re-
pairing the old building, and ia now CON
, templating q trip TO the home of his dis.
! tinguished ancestors.
Z The names of all the families who have
! lived tnthe county ante-revolutionary
days would I'LL half a column of the Times,
and although they cannot all claim titled
progenitors they are the very first of the
IF, II. VIZ
+. a great deal Of nonsense has been writ
' ten about these "hrst fGmilies.n They
e are usually represented as thriflless, vain
and scornful to all outside the magic cir
Gle of their society. They lack, it is true,
I much OF the energy and goaheadatlveness
4 OF Northern men, but II must be remems
bered that most Of those yet living were
u brought up under conditions that paral-
0 yzed energy. With large estates aud
r hundreds OF slaves they had no motive
i for eXertion, and now that the war has
e swept away all their wealth they must
. change their very nature before they can
q become the pushing business men who
, build up communities. The new genera
tion Is growing up quite different, and IT is
more than likely that when they come 10
the fore the Virginia farmer will no
longer let his acres lie useless or half
, cultivated The fact Is the landowners
In Stafford county are yet In dazed state
: over the results OF the war. They can
hardly realize the change, or II they have
they think 1t is too late in life to start
I out Rfresh.
As to the "proud, scornful women"
! Of the "F Il, W" II is a pity to strike
: 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 fact remains that the
pictures have no prototypes in real life.
Everyone has read those ianclful stories
about rich Northerners suing for the
0 hand Of poor Virginia girls aud being re-
e fused solely because they did not
v belong to the az. f. w These
4 are yerlest bosh, Here among the
3 very oldest Virginia families there are
4 many marriages every year between
q Northern men aud Stafford women, and
J. vice versa The society line differs from