Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1897-02-09
AN INTERESTING Letter.
M1LLDALE, WARREN Co., VA, !

MILLDALE, WARREN Co., VA,
January 18th, 1897.
Mr.. O.. B. RouSS, NetU York City.
My dear Sir. Comrade and friend:
Should this letter come to you in
your busy hours, lay it aside, for in
it there is nothing of business; but l
want to thank you for copy of
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly
for December last, sent me, as sup
posed, by your thoughtful kindness,
in which, as i turned its finely illus
trated pages, saw first portrayed,
our peerless Lee and sketch of his
campaigns as written by Gen. .. o.
Howard; next appeared Napolean in
the battle scenes of the Pryamids, a
young Corsican, whose high ambition
marked Gut shining pathway to
glory and renown far above the heads
of those around about him and heing
possessed of genius unequaled by
any of the age in which he lived,
soon found himself treading the por-
tails of the temple of fame, and as
contemplated the life and character
of these, my mind became retro
spective.
Again turning the pages my gaze
| falls upon the leneaments of your
own familiar face, most excellently
pictured, and, beside it, your own
family circle, whom it has not been
my privilege to know. The pictures
of your brothers are good also, as
are those of your father and mother,
whom 1 have known and visited at
'tShannoD Hill" on one occasion in
company with Seth. Your fathers
versatile style of conversation i'm
pressed me with high appreciation
of him as a man of intelligence and
large information, and your mother
with her quet easy dignity and we'll
ordered house-the tempting lemon
pies set before us. have never for
gotten.
Again 1 turn to your picture in
contemplation of the past and with
my earliest acquaintance with your
life's doings, an interest in which,
was first ELECTED by the merging of
the life's history of your gentle,
sweet sister into our family connec-
ton, aud whilst bride was received
with open arms by nv father and
family here, when we all quickly
learned to love and appreciate her.
Through this circumstance my at
teDtion soon after was drawn to you.
then a young merchant in the town
of Winchester, Va.
About that time it began to be
bruited abroad that there was q
young Mr.. Rouss, who was singular
in his way of doing busines as a
merchant-''heh had not much of any
thing but a great variety Of many
things"-boys exhibited Barlow
; knives bought of him over the coun-
ter or at one of his auctions for the
marvelously low price of Sets, that
they would cut against any knife at
the regular hardware stores-youths
were seen with razors and strops
from there for 10cts. that would re-
move down from the lips far more ef-
fectually than the cat and cream pot
men bought boots, shoes, hats and
gloves for themselves without espe-
cial need of them, and likewise dress
l goods of calico and silk for their
wives and daughters lest they might
not get so good bargain again soon,
while pins, needles, buttons and
ribbons seemed almost gift-so on,
hundreds of odds and ends, valuable
in each particular, but far below the
prices marked by the old merchant:
: thence when the query was made tC
! ! them why it was that you were sell
: ing many of the same articles at les:
:han half their demands, the derisIvs
answer was: ''Oh that's lot ot
da maged stuff gathered up from th'
Junk dealers" Yet in spite of thi:
it was readily seen that the stoct
grew in variety and quantity anC
e custom was increasing in equal pro
3 portion until the young hero begaI
: to stand abreast with the for most O
his fellow tradesmen. flying from
: his pennant the grandest of notices
Excelsior
In these years your pensman wa
absent at preparatory school at th
University of Va. from whence Ii,
came home, and in answer to his State
call soon found himself on the fail
II grounds at Winchester. keeping tim
and step to the -at-tat-tap of the drum
and shrilI notes of the fife, prepara
: tory to the long weary marches O
the StonewaIl Brigade, in which b
served until August, 1864, when h
received transfer to the gallant Co
q b. of the 18th. Va. Cavalry-( (excus
digression) Wars lurid cloud
'e dawned upon the horizon and gre'