Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-03-10
HANOVER MEMORIES.
aHow DEAR TO THE HEART ARE
THE SCENES OF Dun cHILDHooD.-
RecoIIections of Incidents when
Going to school at Laurel Mesaow.
Education I'm the Past Compared
with That Of the Present.
written for the pIspatchO

/ written Tor the Dihpatcht
My first article in the Dispatch on
Beaver Dam" has brought me many
letters from old schoolmates whom l
have not seen for forty years They
come from different States. showing
| how widely the Dispatch Is read. and
| 'how dear TO the heart are the scenes
OF our childhood"
| From the letter Of Mr.. Joseph Sydnor'
| OF Columbus, o., make some extracts
OF both general and personal Interest;
with one or two exception. have
| very vivid recollection OF every incident
mentioned. and went over the ground
| In my imagination, as have often done,
and enjoyed the scenes again. Ny I'M
preston is that we attended school at
Laurel Meadow or spring (Mr. True
hart's) for a portion Of two years-lSss
| and 1s4o--and that a school was opened at
Meadow Farm IN 1s41. How we en-
| joyed coasting down the hillside, over the
pine tags, whilst seated on a four-inch
Single: wearing away two inches OF
pants on each side, that our dear old
mother had to mend. and who did not
neglect TO impress on me the importance
OF being more considerable Of her COM
fort whilst seeking my own pleasure!
The 'Qusen-of- May celebration that we
observed. the flowers for which the larger
boys, your brother. and myself. with
others, obtained from the genial old
bachelor. Mr.. Dick. Johnson.
II am quite sure that DIR. Plumer. OF
hallowed memory. held services on Thurs
day afternoon. once a month, du-
ring one summer In the parior at
Laurel Meadow, and later at Beaver
Dam. A professor OF music from Rich
mond, named Root, undertook to conduct
singing-class here also; but this was
for the grown folks.
PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER.
distinctly DO I remember. whilst we
were Just organizing for a game OF little
cat. before school called in at Mea-
dow Farm, during the first week In
April. 1874. that the Curtis boys came
up and announced that President Harri-
son had just died. and that their uncle
the Vice-President, had been summoned
to Washington to succeed as President.
Mr.. Tyler was on a visit to his brother,
DR.. Tyler, OF Shermer. in Charles City.
The messenger probably stopped at Dr.
Curtis's, not knowing whether he would
find the President there or at DR..
Tyler's. Mrs. Curtis was Mr.. Tyler's
sister. Mr. M. L. Bedford. who conduct
ed the school for four years, was
quite elated when Bartlett Curtis secured
an entrance to West Point from his
school.
II must not close this without
bestowing my profound reverence
on the memory Of the beloved
saints, who were held in such
high estimate by my dear father. DIR.
Plumer. though apparently an austere
man, | revered and esteemed highly,
and aften attended bis services after
went 10 Richmond TO business. Your
own devoted father was again and
again referred TO by my father. as
q gody man. worthy of all admiral ton.
When sad Affections came TO your house,
my own dear parents held him up be-
fore us as model OF Christian trust and
meekness. oh, what an Inheritance has
been left to us-the memory and ex-
amples OF such menu
DIR. PLUMER.
Apparently an austere man." says my
old school-mate. and he was. But under
all that austerity there was warm heart,
and a keen sense Of the ludicrous, which
DR. Tucker Lacy could tickle. even at
the expense Of his very dear friend. DR..
Plumer once said to a friend of mine
that the river they were crossing was
large enough and dgniied enough, TO
be called ThomaShigher instead OF be-
ing nicknamed Tom higher. At another
time, when a seminary student, at Co
lumbia. preached sermon from a text,
the Doctors comment was IF the text
had been afflicted with a case of con-
fluent smallpox. the sermon would never
have caught It," Messrs. Macfarland and
Lyons, too found that DR.. Pluner had
read Don Quixoti." and knew how TO
apply IL. TO the cost OF the lawyers,
with a ready wit, as keen and cutting as
a Damascus blade. One OF the most
touching and pathetic scenes ever read
OF, was at the close of the funeral
services Of Mrs Plumer, I'm the First
Presbyterian church. OF your city DIR.
Plumer sent up TO the pulpit a request
that Dr. Preston. the pastor, should read
10 the congregation Ruth, 4: s.: "The
Lord deal kindly with you. as We have
dealt with the dead, and with me-"
COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
When / contrast Meadow-Farm Acade-
my with the country schools OF the
present day, with all due respect to Par
son Massey. l consider the latter an I'M
mtigated humbug. The school system
now foisted on US as a Yankee enter
prise. suits the thickly-settled districts
OF the North, and the cities and villages
or the South, bur II cannot be, or has
not been adapted to the sparsely-settled
districts, even Of our own State. Four
months and a half or five months out
or twelve for a teacher TO pump In. and
seven or seven and half months out OF
twelve for the contents to pour out OF
the sitter of a child's thoughtless braini
rms always reminds me OF our old school
grlo
Well jumps up one foot, and falls back
two feet. how long viii It take him TO
get to the top? This, added to another
patent fact public pap is a public
curse. shows the folly OF the i'm
practicable scheme. 1t is only In rare
cases that the patrons OF a public school
VIII prolong the session more than one
or two months. II at all. after the free
session closes. The result Is that all over
our state, and all over the South, the
children In the country districts are
growing up without even a rudlmentary
education. And TO perpetuate the evil.
some OF our endowed "State institutions
are compelled 10 receive these pupils.
with scarcely n smattering OF English:
ana IN due time send them forth as
graduates OF certain schools.
NOT so THEN.
With all the odium attached TO the
phrase. by Young America, l am proud
70 say 1T was not so when l was a
boy"
AT Meadow Farm Academy have tust
written that Bartlett Curtis was prepared
ior west Point. There one OF the Misses
Macon was prepared to adorn and grace
the home OF her husband the late Rev.
Ut. Alexander Martin. for twenty-five
years pastor In Danville. Va. The sydnor
girls were educated for the homes they
now grace with refined culture. There
was prepared, with one years instruction
from Dr. Osborn, my pastor. 10 enter
he sophomore class at Hampden-
sidney College. Latin and Greek were
taught as well as some of the rudiments
OF science; and all this in a mixed school
or girls and boys, by one teacher. But
we were In school nearly all day. where
We not only recited as now. but studied
unoer the eye and help OF the teacher
ana not or our parents. think the vaca-
ton was only one month, certainly not
more than two. The teacher was we'll
paid fixed salary. made I'D by the pa
irons who could pay, and all who could
not pay were admitted free. There were
no such trumpery as trustees, but Mr.
William Il. Sydnor was boss of the whole
amair appointing the teacher, collecting
and paying his salary, and the teacher did
the rest In the way Of instruction and
thrashing combined. We had to ',speak."
as then called. not deciaim. every Friday
evening. There l won my first prize In