Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-03-28
A Merchant Prince, Charles Broadoay
R0uss.

A short time ago the well known million
aire merchant, Charles Broadway Rous', OF
New York, made the city of Winchester, Va,
the magnificent present of $50, 900 for the
purpose of furnishing additional water sup
ply for that CITY. and in order that there
should be no miscarriage of his generous in.
tention, Mr. Rou-s wro'e the following lei
ter to Elk Gov. Holiday, of Winchester;
IL authorize Gov. Fed W. NJ Holiday
| to draw on me, whenever he deems u expe
dieut, for Thirty Thousand Dollars 10, O00]
to be applied to the furnishing of an addi-
tional supply OF water TO Winchester. Va,
in token of my kind memories of the old
town, where began my business life.
should die before he has begun or I'm
ished the enterprise, ] order INV Personal
| representative to honor the Draft or Drafts,
the same rs I would have dnne. if living =
! And IN that event, the said Holiday Will
appoint some one, in case of his death, to
complete this donation.
CHARLES BROADWAY RoUsS
A though numerous skeihes of the lie OF
this magnanimous gentleman have appeared
from time to time in the Scimitar and in
many other newspapers OF the country, yet
public interest in his wonderful career re
mains unsatisfed Perhaps in none of these
can there be found more interesting reading
than the following taken from Mr.. Rouss
biography as it will appear in "Duhee's
Songs of the South"
"Iu tracing the wonderful career OF this
representative man of the South, whose ge
MUS and success has won for him the proud
distinction of bsing the ablest exponent OF
commercial business this section OF the Uni
ed States has yet produced. and who has
forever wiped out the stigma attached To our
people that, while the South had many great
statesmen and soldiers, it had no merchant
prince it is well to review, in the clear light
Of history, some who were lords in their
day,' although their line of business was
confined to strictly Southern soil and citl-
zens; ~, for instance the following:
While millions are familiar with the sto
ries of slavery and the civil conflict, leaving
their mind. saturated with the idea that the
citizens of the slave States we're all farmers,
utterly Ignoring trade and traffic, it is, new
ertheless, fact that from the earliest set
Element the Southern merchant has been the
.oraI of the same class in all civilized na
lions. Long before the tide of humanity
drfted west of the line of Virginia, when
| Cincinnati and Chicago were outposts, the
mercantile transactions of Virginia, South
| Carolina, Grorgia and the Gull States thr"'
the port of Mobile were enormous. The
period of the French possession OF large
territory in the South, of which the State oil
Alabama is part. came with the closing
months of the seventeenth century and held
| for sixty five years. Besides their principal
settlement Mt Mobile, they had trading posts
At Fort Toulouse, near the junction of the
Cnosa and the Talapoosa at the mouth oi
the Cahawba at Jones's Bluff on the Tom
| big bee; at St. Stephens; at Nashville on
the Cumberland at Muscle Shoals on the
| Tennessee then known as the Cherokeel
river. The French carried large stocks and
were ever bold. adventurous and enterpris
ing. yet true to their native instincts OF
polilene>s and suavity of manner.
| Prospecting, their number increased from
| three hundred to over four thousand, almost
entirely engaged in mercantile avOcations ;
their national hexibilty and vivacty of
temper enabling them with conspicuous ia
cilily to ingratiate themselves with the In.
liam tribes. Many "Hawkeye" or "Lea!h-
| er Stocking" was TO be found among the
| Coureurs de 5oir of Mobile; and their ad
ventures of the forest, along interminable
| rivers, over lofty mountains, across Hover
| enamelIed prairies, in pursuit of the hazard
nus enterprise, of traffic, furnished iascina
ting topics of narration. Many of these
traders had been gentlemen in France (;
some of them of noble origin. These were
the Arcadian days of the French regime, af
fording a picture of homes surrounded with
| nxurv. while in the background were to be
| zen the constant caravans of Indian ponies.
aden with packs, kegs and tincups. Such.
in part, we're the characteristics of the mer-
chants of Mobile one hundred and forty
years ago. Temporal mufantur, ct nos muta-
nar in Ills.
"The autumn of 1863 saw the Dominion
If Mobile and its appendsges in the interior
pass from France to Great Britain, being a
part of the acquisition of the Seven Years
War, which lost to France all her possessions
| North America. On the Goth of Octo-
| Der Mobile was taken possession of by n
regiment of Scoth Highlanders. The Scot
lish bagpipes sounded the national anthem
of England as the Lilies of St Deny's were
lowered from the flagstaff and the Lion OF
| St. George elevated IN the stead, while n fen
| de joie announced that the name of Fort
Condo was changed to Fort Charlotte. The
oeriod OF the British dominion embraces
wenty years; but too remote and isolated
rom the scene of conflict, and completely
in the power of the English they dared not
aud could not take hand in the struggle
for independence; yet they were not exempt
rom the ravages of war attending that event
| spain took part with France in the hOstili