The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-06-28
Historical Letter From Historical Place.

Historical Letter From Historical Place.
Mr.. Editor: Some years since the New
England Methodist Historical Society hon
orec me with an election az one OF their
vice presidents have tried 10 evince my
appreciation by small contributions TO the
valuable possessions OF that Organization,
an ! have long been tempted 10 write n
Historical Letter" which | had reason
10 believe would be the most feasible
method OF laying before my fellow mem
bers Of that Society some Interesting data
Your readers all know OF Manassas We
have manufactured history here in the
past a a rapid rate. The triangular pla-
teaL OF northern Virginia lying between
the Potomac. the Rappahannock and the
mountains, OF which Manassas is the
centre geographically and the summit
geographically. has been tho tlyeatre
where great events have been enacted by
great actors. From our brown-stone
quarries we read some interesting bits OF
geological history The region abounds IN
the implements made by ancient tribes
Of the age OF stone The greatest find
Of relics Of this class ever made was
near the Clifton soapstone quarries, six
miles TO the east Of us. About the same
distance northwarI lies tho road that
when he marched 10 defeat and 70 death.
I need not mention tho Virginia major
who surveyed our fields about 1850 and
later on led the armies OF our young
Republic 10 victory. and whose monument
almost I'm sight Of us-is the loftest
ever erected TO man. ] need not remind
your readers 81 the days OF 81 TO '65 when
New England boys helped us make his
tory on these battlc-scarred plains and
when gigantic armies surged back and
forth across our soil until hardly vestige
Of civilization was left except the lines
Of earthworks and tho railroad embank-
mcnts.
took up my pen. however. not 10 tell
my New England friends OF yore what
they can read from better historians than
I. but TO refer % three things that they
might not so readily ascertain.
First. for your Methodist readers, I Will
mention that one ~ tho circuits Travelled
by the first American Methodist preacher
lies in Prince William county. In which
I live. The recent monument 10 william
Waters stands in the adjoining county or
Fairfax. and his autobiography was pup
lished n little farther on IN 1916 by snow
den. the veteran editor Of tho AleNahdrla
Ga4ette. L have roamed through the
groves where he preached. and occasion
ally / find his modest little book. which
is invariably gobbed UP by the first
Methodist historical crank" that comes
along. ! am glad 10 say that 1 number
several Of that genus among my friends
and visitors.
Second. the members OF the Historical
Society whose affairs are managed by
my old school-mate Willard S. Allen will
.fra. .a.HT 81 -
key. one of Asburys preachers. and.
think, member Of tho famous Christ
mas Conference" He not only preached
here. but lived near here His son, Zebu-
lon Asbury Kankey. died only two or
three years ago. aged over ninety. l
knew him we'll and have frequently
visited him. He told many incidents Of
Asbury. who often stopped at his fathers
house. He showed rne the Testament
given him by the Bishop and spoke Of
his having frequently sat on Asbury's
knee. Kankey lived AZ Neabsco Mills on
the Telegraph Road" from Alexandria
To- Fredericksburg. the highway over
which the Southern statesmen travelled in
going to and returning from Washington.
lie had seen most OF the great men Of
that day on the stage-coaches that passed
his fathers door. lie recalled with spe-
cidl interest the passage Of Lafayette.
The Great Southern Mali drove daily
bv his fathers house in a big cart drawn
by one horse. 1t would take a gigantic
horse TO haul the daily mail that passes
through this county on the Atlantic Coast
Line. in sight OF the old Kankey home
steau at Neabsco. Add 10 this the mail
that thunders past Manassas on the
Southern railway, and IL would be a pro-
bem worthy of some Of your Boston boys
to figure up how many thousand horse
power would do the work in this year
OF our Lord 1876
This Mr. Zebulon Asbury kankey was
I'm many ways ~ very interesting charac-
ter 1 frequently met him on court-days
and at other places He always had SONS
ORIGINAL remarks to make. He spoke OF
hin self as "a Methodist by Inheritance,
and he evidently took pride in his rela-
TORS TO Asbury and his early preachers.
but he was not a member OF that church.
on the contrary, he was one or the
strongest Calvlnists | have ever met. lie
said that Arminianism would DO for the
Young, but he had observed that as a
man grew old he grew into CalVinisIn. He
affiliated late I'm life with the tpiscopai
Church. He was one OF class OF men
greatly looked up 70 in the state or So
ciety that existed in Virginia before tho
war In other words. he was one or the
aristocracy. whose word had the virtue or
law with his neighbOrs. | saw In one OF
the magazines since his death picture
entitled. 1.-THE Typical Southerner. which
must have resarnbled Kankey as ne look
ed whom in the prime OF ltfe- He was an
upright man and always treated his
Northern neighbors honorably. but sv1d-
emily the fate Of the Lost Cause Sas