Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-27

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face Of the Potomac and the hills of vir-
| ginia beyond. Surrounding the old mansion
i is spacious yard. filled with shrubbery
and trees. many Of which were planted by
Judge Holt.
The front entrance is one of the large
old-fashioned blind" doors. The caller is
| surprised when after ringing the bell and
being admitted he finds himself still out
At the back end of this porch a door en-
tiers on small square hail. from which as
cends the stairway to the two rooms which
Judss Holt occupied during the forty years
| WEIGH he spent In the mansion.
| The Judges Bed Chamber.
The first room entered is a spacious
chamber, which was the old mans bed room.
Here ne delighted in the most complete and
picturesque confusion. He permitted no
one to put the place to rights. Naught
| save the bed was trusted to the tidying
hands Of the faithful servants whom he
| Kept with him continuously for many
| years. Papers and books lay about in be-
| wildering confusion. Here were tumbled in
rlotous disarray the letters of all the great
| men prominent in the history of the coun-
try during the time Judge Holt was him
| sei making history. The outlook of this
pea room Is to the east over the back yard,
.aRng IN. let 1t be said parentheticaily, a
l
tree anout forty feet high, and just now
multitudinously loaded with the juicy fruit.
~ 10 the west of the bed chamber is the
| nprary, room about twenty feet wide
by thirty long, now empty of furniture
| ana the endless mass of books Judge Holt
mad collected there on almost every branch
| VI human research, some of them Of rare
| valUe and great cost. In these two rooms
the hermit spent most of his time Once
a day he rode out in his quaint old We
hicle, accompanied by Charles Strother,
| ms pody servant. These rides were usu-
| any IN the morning, from o'clock to H.
Perhaps an hour day was spent walking
up and down his yard among the trees
| ne loved so much, and many an hour he
fpen' SIT slt.ing under well-grown cherry
t tse mat SHOWS signs of dying. The
JudSe. 1t is said. used to remark that If
the cherry tree was dying 1t was time for
M nun TO so. Near the cherry tree is pref
E ~ n1nS' which the judge planted, a thrifty
ElShsn elm and near by a Camperdown
elm. that died this summer. all of which
tne old hermit himself set out and tended
Rare Old China.
IN the house, mingling in the general
confusion, were many rare things which
Judge Holt had collected from all parts Of
the world. He delighted In using daily a
beautiful set of china that once belonged to
LOUIS fhiiiipe, and 1t was fancy of his
10 eat from one particular plate of rare
beauty, that once contained the daily bread
o. Louis XIV. The servants were given
excellent quarters in the rear of the house.
ana Few persons were ever admitted
charles Strother still lives in the house
with his family. Strother keeps a pool
room on c street northwest near the Balti-
more and Ohio depot He and his wife have
S Wsi @itn Judge Holt for nearly ten years.
Mrs. Strother's mother was cook in the
mouse Tor fifteen years. and the daughter
grew up there. During the last years, when
S lnereasing feebleness came upon him,
| mr. h
ing to him.
Ihey were not at all pleased at the ap-
pe pc re-. OF the Will. not SO much because
count of the incidental reference. in the
newspaper accounts, that Servants in the
mouse had kept it." When it was explained
10 Mrs. Strother this morning by Star re-
porter. that the allusion to servants must
nave meant those who were with Gen Holt
twenty years ago she was inclined to be
less cross about the matter. and related
the life OF her reclusive employer. -,
What Mrs. Strother Says.
Mrs. Strother said that she had no idea
where Judge Holt kept his will. He used
small. old-fashioned desk in his library
and kept its pigeon holes stuffed with pa
pers. In his bed room closet quantity of
government bends and other valuable pa
pers were found, but the will was not there.
OF course. Mrs. Strother was not present
all the time during the two different
| searches for the will made ty the relatives.
She says a slip Of paper was found on
which, in Judge Hollis handwriting, was
the single line. Date of my last will, jan
uary |. 1886" This would seem to indicate
that there is another will somewhere in ex-
istence, and that the mysterious will which
turned up yesterday was revoked.
Mrs. Strother states that Judge Holt al
ways manifested the greatest devotion to
named in the will. She is an elderly lady,
| living at Lebanon, Ky. The Judge wrote to
her regularly and sent her money contin-
ually. She was mentioned by him often,
and he seemed to regard her as an adopted
daughter. Miss HyneS came several times
from Kentucky to visit her relative and
was shown the greatest respect and affec-
ton by Judge Holt.
Aversion to Mrs. Throcl1morton.
Josephine Holt Throckmorton, the other
| beneficiary of the strange WILL is the
daughter of Major Chas. B. Throckmorton
of the United States army. She was
Judge Hollis godchild, and for many years
he thought a great deal of her. For some
reason there came between the Judge and
the Throckmortons. particularly Major
Tnrockmorton's mother. who lives on Capt.
toll Hill. difference Of some kind. Judge
Holt at first refused to see Mrs. Throek-
morton when she came to see him. She
came often and he finally directed the serv-
ants not to bring her name to him. as he
| would not see her under any circumstances.
Mrs. Throckmorton came after Judge Holt
fell as he came down stairs year ago, and
only day or two before his death tried to
see him. He refused to let her come to his
bedside and forced the servants to turn
! her away.
Frequently Spoke of His VIII.
Judge Holt was in the habit of speaking
of his will frequently. He mentioned his
nephew. Washington Holt of Kentucky,
as the person who would have charge Of
his estate. He told the servants to tel
egraph Mr.. Holt in case of his death, and
not to turn 81 ything over to any one else.
I'm his hands 1 have put everything" he
told his old cook the day before he died.
MY business he continued, us in bad
shape Everything Is all mixed up"
Later he spoke of summoning Washing
ton Holt from Kentucky to arrange several
matters of business. IF only we could get
Washington here. Ellen" he said to his
cook, II could put things right. I would
give you enough to keep you as long as
you live in return for your faithful ser
vice here"
But Washington Holt was a paralytlc,
and Judge Holt would not disturb him to