Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-06-23

man grew old he grew into Calvinism
He affiliated late in life with the Epis
copal Church. He was one of class O
men greatly looked up to in the state o
society that existed ia Virginia before
the war. In other words, he was one
OF the aristocracy, whose word hsc
the virtue of law with his neighbors
I saw in one of the magazines since hi;
death picture entitled "The Typica
Southerner," which must have resemb
led Kankey as he looked when in the
prime of life. He was an upright man
and always treated his Northern neigh
bors honorably, but evidently the fate
of the "lost cause" was to him per.
sonal loss, and one over which he
grieved. This may have assisted in
making him the strong Calvinist that
he was. He became quite poor after
the war, but always carried himself
with remarkable dignity and compos.
ure amid some severe trials. have
sketched his character as it impressed
me because he stands in my mind as q
type of one of the best classes of the
Southern people, and as such will nc
doubt interest your readers.
Second, the members of the Histori-
cal Society, whose affairs are managed
by my old school.mate, Willard S. AL,
len, will probably recall the name oil
Zebulon Kankey, one of Asbury's
preachers, and, l think, member OF
the famous "Christian Conference"
He not only preached here, but lived
near here. His SOD, Zebulon Asbury
Kankey, died only two or three years
ago, aged over ninety. knew him
we'll and have frequently visited him.
He told many incidents of Asbury, who
often stopped at his fathers house. He
showed me the testement given him by
the bishop and spoke of his having fire.
quently sat on Asbury's knee. Kankey
lived at Neabsco Mills on the ''Tele-
graph Road" from Alexandria to Fred
ericksburg, the highway over which
the southern statesmen travelled in 60
ing to and returning from Washington.
He had seen most of the great men of
that day on the stage.coaches that
passed his fathers door. He recalled
with special interest the passage of La
fayette. The "Great Southern Mailn
drove daily by his fathers house in a
big cart drawn by one horse. 1t would
take gigantic horse to haul the daily
mail that passes, through this county on
the Atlantic Coast Line, in sight of the
old Kankey homestead at Neabsco.
Add to this the mail that thunders past
Manassas on the Southern Railway,
and it would be problem worthy of
some of your Boston boys to figure up
how many thousand horsepower would
do the work in this year of our Lord
1896.
Third, 1 think the most remarkable
coincidence, within my reading of his
tory, has recently been brought freshly
to my mind. On the 18th of July,
1861, at 10 q. M, Gen. Beauregard, the
first commander of the Army of North
ern Virginia. took up his headquarters
at the Mclean house on the south
bank of Bull Run, and an hour or so
later Gen. Mcdowell, the first COM
mander of the Army of the Potomac,
attacked him with infantry and artil-
lery. In fact, it is said that McDow-
ellis batteries put hole through the
house while Beauregard and his staff
were inside. This battle of Blackburn's
Ford was but the precursor of the first
Bull Run-the first pitched battle of
the war. When Beauregard evacuated
Manassas, Major Mclean removed his
family to Fauquier county, and as the
tide of war surged round them, he took
them to Lunenburg. There he appear
ed in 1863 and told his family he was
going to take them where the sound of
battle would never reach them more"
He rented brick house at Appomat
tox Court House, toward which all the
military movements converged and
finally eliminated.
So that on April 8, 1865, the two last
commanders of those same armies
Ulysses S. Grant and Robert e. Lee
met at the Mclean house at Appomat.
tox to arrange for the final surrender.
Major Mclean removed to his old
home at Manassas after the war. /
have frequently heard him say that. the
war began on him and ended on him.
His children were for some time
members of my Sabbath school in the
Methodist Church at this place. He
was strong Southern man, but voted
| for Grant in 1872. He and his wife are
now both dead, and his heirs chose me
to administer ON the estate. Their
large estate, known as YORKSHIRE" has
been divided into small farms, and by
public sale on Dec 2, 1895, "the first
battlefield of the war" was sold. l
name this as evidence of the tendency
from large plantations to small farms,
which is not only desirable for Virginia,
but inevitable.
There are some other interesting his
orical matters that ! may refer to at
another time.
w