The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-12-11
RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE.
RecOllections of Picturesque Public
Figure of This Country.

Eigufe OF LhIS Country.
His Lonely Life Among His Slaves After
he Had Retired from Congress--The
Woman Whom He Loped-Roots of a.
Tree Burst His Coffin and Grew About
His Body.
(From the Philadelphia Times.)
John Randolph of Roanoke was one of
the most remarkable characters ever pro-
duced by this country. There are yet
after all these years, numbers of anecdotes
told and printed of the eccentricity, the
power OF sarcasm, and the wonderful elo-
quence of the man who was perhaps the
most unique figure of this century.
For more than thirty years Randolph
was constantly in public life. serving as
Congressman, Senator and Minister to
Russia, during which time he was called
the political meteor of his day, and at
traoted the attention of the public in a
way that no other man ever did. He was
known by many, but comprehended by
none; his briiliancy was equalled only by
his eccentricity; and his mirth mingled
with sadness not untouched by bitter
ness. His whole life was tinged with that
morbid unhappiness and love OF solitude
which characterized his later years. He
believed himself to be the child of desti.
ny. and would often assert in great an
guish that he felt "the CURSE cleayino
to him.
In early youth he acquired great
knowledge of politics and an extensive
acquaintance with the leading characters
of the country which served him we'll in
1899, when he found himself elected to
Congress He became during the next
fourteen years the most prominent figure
in Congress. Crowds fiocked to the
House whenever it was announced he
would speak, and a lasting impression
was made upon them by the tall, gaunt
man, who, with dark eyes flashing and
sallow face lighted up by his wonderful
eloquence, emphasized with his long,
bony forefnger some of the most cutting
fell from mortal lips. Sometimes, but
| not often, he made use of the wonderful
power of pathos he possessed and swayed
his audience Whatsoever way he would
In 1873 he retired from Congress and
returned to his estate on the Staunton
River, the celebrated Roanoke, which is
never separated from the mention of his
! name. Here he dwelt alone, save for his
slaves, in a house built of logs. 1t would
be difficult indeed to dis cover a more
lonely spot, where day after day not q
sound was heard hut the rustling and
signing of the wind through the trees
He never permitted twig to be cut on
the place, and the dense underground and
unpruned trees seemed to form a fitting
retreat for the wild nature of this de-
scendant of Pocahontas. Humble as his
dwelling place was in appearance 1t con-
tanned some fine paintings and engrav-
ings, and q magnificent library of more
than Thousand volumes, most of which
he had imported from England. Many of
these books were rare editions, beauti-
fully bound, and in numbers of them
were margial notes, evidenoing thought
and research.
OF a conservative nature, Randolph
chung to the traditions OF his ancestors,
and travelledlfn q coach and four long
after others had abandoned that clumsy
mode of locoomtion. In his,dress, too, he
adhered to the fashions of the past to such
a degree that his queer figure was often
the subject of much notoriety. This an
noyed him, but had no effect in produ-
cling an alteration of costume. He adyo-
Gated the English law of primogeniture.
and believed SO firmly in keeping proper.
ty intact, that he could never be per-
suaded to part with q foot of his large
landed estates.
Randolphs habit of withdrawing from
his fellowmen caused him to make few
friends but those friends felt for him a
depth of attachments seldom equalled.
One of them was Francis Scott Key, au-
thor of the "Star Spangled Banner
with whom he kept up long and vol
luminous correspondence, which was pub
lished some time since.
nance, around " hich has always lowered
a mystery quite in accord with the rest
of his strange career. On a plantation
near his mothers home lived Maria
Ward, young girl of wonderful beauty,
famed as the teile of her day in he State.
All the wild devotion in Randolph ma
ure was concent rated on his beautiful
neighbor, and finally they became be-
trothed One day, however, they parted
after a long, solemn interview, and from
that time never met when possible to
avoid it, though their interest in each
other seemed unabated. Neither of them
could ever he induced to explain the
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