The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1890-11-13
CARTER OF FAUQUIER,
HOW THE COLONEL TRIED TO BOR-
ROW A STAMP.

ROW A STAMP.
The Yankee Postmaster Was an "Onery
Cuss" and Refused the Slight Favor,
Whereupon the Colonel demonstrated.
F. Hopkinsoa Smith in the Nou. Century |
"To give you an idea, suh," the
colonel continued, "of what we South
ern people suffered Immediately after
the fall of the Confederacy, let me
state case that came under my own
observation.
Colonel Temple Talcott of Fokeer
county, Virginia, came into Talcott-
vile one mornin', suh,-a town settled
by his ancestors.-ridin' upon his
horse-or rather mule, sub, belong
in 20 his overseer Colonel Talcott,
sub, belonged to one of the vehy fust
families in Virginia. He was a son of
Judge Thaxton Talcott, sub, and
grandson of General Snowden Stafford
Talcott of the Revolutionary War.
Now, sub, let me tell you right here
that the Talcott blood is as blue as the
sky, aud that every gentleman bearin
/ ILc Is hnOWH dIl ONST tuS COuu-
try, sub, as a man whose honor is dear.
er to him than his life, and whose
word is as good as his bond. Well,
sub, on this mornin' Colonel Talcott
| left his plantation in charge of his
overseer-he was workin' it on shares
and rode through his estates to his
ancestral town, some five miles dis
tant. 1t is true, sub, these estates
were no longer in his name, but that
had no bearin' on the events that fol-
| lowed; he ought to have owned them
and would have done so but for some
vehy ungentlemanly fo'closure pro
ceedin's which occurred Immediately
after the war.
"On arriving at Talcottville the
colonel dismounted, handed the reins
to his servant,-or perhaps, sub, one
of the niggars around the do'-and en-
tered the postoffice. Now, sub, let me
tell you that one month befo' the Gov
ernment, contrary to the express wish
es Of a great many Of onr leadin' citi
zens, had sent Yankee postmaster to
TalcottviIle to administer the postal
affairs of that town. No sooner had
this man taken possession than he be-
gan to be exclusive, sub, and to put
on airs. The vehy fust air he put ON
was to build fence in his office and
compel our people to transact their bu-
siness through hole. This, sun, in
itself was vehy -gallin', for up to that
time the mail had dumped out on the
table in the stage Office and every gen
tIem,n had Helped himself. The next
thing was the ciosin' of his mail bags
at hour fixed by himself. This be-
came a great Inconvenience to our cit
izens, who were often late in fnishin'
their correspondence, and who had al
ways found our former postmaster
willin, either to hold the bag over un-
til the next day or send it across to
Drummondtown by boy to catch
later train.
"CoIcnel Talcott's mission to the
post office, sub, was to mail a letter to
his factor in Richmond, Virginia, on
business of the utmost Importance to
himself, suh-namely, the raisin' of a
small loan upon his share Of the crop.
Not the crop that was planted, sub,
but the crop that he expected to plant
Colonel Talcott approached the
hole, and with that Chesterfeldian
manner which has distinguished the
Talcotts for mo- than two centuries
asked the postmaster for the loan Of a
three cent postage stamp.
To his astonishment, sub, he was re-
fused.
"Think of Talcott, sub, in his own
county town bein' refused three cent
postage stamp by low-lived Yankee,
who had never known a gentleman in
his life, sub! The colonel's fust i'm
pulse, sub, was to haul the scoundrel
through the hole and kearve him; but
then he remembered, sub, that he was
Taicott and could not demean him
self, and drawin' himself up again with
that manner which was grace itself he
requested the loan of three-cent
postage stamp until he should commu-
nicate with his factor in Richmond,
Virginia; and again, sub, he was re-
fused. Well, sub, what was there left
for high toned Southern gentleman
TO do? Colonel Talcott drew his re
volver from the leg Of his boot and
shot that Yankee scoundrel through
the heart and killed him on the spot.
"And now, sub, comes the most re
markable part of this story. Ifit had
not been for Major Tom Yancey,
Jedge Kerfoot, and myself there
would have been lawsuit
Fitz lay back in his chair and
roared.
"And they did not hang the colo
nel?"
"Hang Talcott! No, sub; we
don't hang gentlemen down our way.
Jedge Kerfoot vehy properly charged
the coroner's jury that it was matter
of self-defense, and Colonel Talcott
was not detained, sub, lmo' than half
an hour.
| Senator INGALLS, once remarked