St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-07-25
HIGH LIFE VIRGINIA.

HIGH LIFE IN VIRGINIA.
How the Oldest and Rarest of the F.
f. VS. Get Along in the World. y.
Rlchlapd Letter. ..., >
Virginia's first families" can be found
all over the state, but nowhere in such pur-.
lty and antiquity as in Stafford county, the
home of Gov. Lee. The county is not very
large and by no means prosperous, but it
stands first as the exponent Of all that is
conveyed by the expression ''F. F. ""
Nearly every family here can trace its ORR
gin by lineal decent to the first English
settlers, while not few can speak of their
at-great-grandfathers and grandmothers
as Lord and Lady So-and. So. The county
is named after the famous Earl of Stafford
and not a few of its people are descended
from the family of that nobleman. Before
the war these people lived in the style of
nobility, if without its name and now that
the course of events has reduced their
means they preserve English custom in all
except the splendor which only wealth can
afford.
In the first place, each family has its lit
tie domain, and. however small, it has an
imposing English name, just as if it were
an earldom. Somerset, Richland Aber-
deem, Lennox and Wayside are a few of
the names of small farm houses nesting in
the Stafford pines and surrounded by thou
sands of acres of partially cultivated lands.
These houses are all Frame generally two
stories high, and the poorest of them is sur
rounded by lawn, through which runs one
or more carriage drives. One would ex-
pect to see castles when coming in view of
the beautiful laws and the centuried oaks,
and would feel disappointed at the little
houses at the end of the drives; but there is
sort of rustic harmony in the picture,
after all. Seated in the verandas at even
ing and looking out ON the oak-canopied
swards, you would forget the absence of
the castle, and, if you were an Enghshman,
fancy yourself amid the lime trees on one of
the grand old estates across the water.
The former nome of Gov. Lee is called
Richland. 1t is like all the estates in the
country-a two-story frame house, a large
lawn and several hundred acres of anything
but rich land. Here the. governors an
cestors have lived for hundreds of years.
OF course, the Lees can trace their descent
to titled EngliShmen; at least, all books of
heraldry make it out so. At distance of
few miles is Somerset, the home of the
Moncure family. The present Mrs. Mon
cure is a granddaughter of the famous Lady
Spotswood, whose portrait hangs in the
capitol at Richmond. This family have
lived in Stafford county for nearly 900
years. All its deceased members are buried
in the graveyard at Aqua church, and
tablet near the pulpit contains the rather
royal inscription: Sacred to the Memory
Of the Race of Moncure." There are about
$50 members of the family in the county.
The women, taken all in all, are the most
beautiful the writer has ever seen within
the same area. They seem to have in
herited in remarkable degree the queenly
beauty of Lady Spotswood, and some of
them bear close resemblance to her por-
traits.
The Waller family, little further I'D at
WaySide, is related to the Lees and trace
their origin to the same source. The first
of the SCOTS came to Stafford from England
TO take charge of Aqua church. He was
one Of the unfortunate class known as
noblemen's younger sons, and was assigned,
as is usually the case, to the ministry. One
OF his descendants is Congressman w. L.
Scott, who passed his boyhood ON the Stat
ford hills. Mr.. Scott has not forgotten his
old home amid his Pennsylvania millions.
A few months ago he sent ST, 300 to the
pastor of Aqua church for the purpose of
repairing the old building, and is now con-
templating trip to the home of his distin.
guished ancestors.
The names Of all the families who have
lived in the county since ante-revolutionary
days would fill half column of q news
paper, and although they all cannot claim
titled projenitors they are the very first Of
the IF. +. Vs."
a great deal Of nonsense has been writ
ten about these first families" They arc
usually represented as thriftless, vain and
scornful to all outside the magic circle of
their society. They lack, it is true, much
OF the energy and goaheaditiveness of the
Northern man, but it must be remembered
that most of those yet living were brought
up under conditions that paralyzed energy.
With larger estates and hundreds of slaves
they had mo motive for exertion, and now
that the war has swept away their wealth
they must change their very natures before
they can become the pushing business men
who build up communities. The new gen.
Grafton is growing up quite different. 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.
The fact is, that the landholderS in. Stafford
county are yet in daZed state over the re-
suits of the war. They can hardly realize
the change, OF if they have they think it is
too late in life to start out afresh.
AS to the proud. seornful women OF
the IF. f. Vs." it is pity to strike a blow
at the pictures which have been drawn by
imaginative writers 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 fanciful stories about rich and
cultured Northerners suing for the hand of
poor Virginia girls and being refused solely
because they did not belong to the IF. 4.
vs." These are veriest bosh. Here among
the very oldest Virginia families there are
many marriages every year between North
ern men and Stafford women and vice
versa. The society line differs from that in
the North only in this particular, that here
wealth without culture is insufficient to
gain entrance into society, while in otner
place it is sometimes quite sufficient. On
the other hand, culture, even if unsceoD,
panied with the dollar, will open to q man
the best houses in the country, providing, of
course, that he has the usual recommends
ton of responsibility.