The age-herald., 1900-07-22

! by Mrs. N. w. Trimble It is of massive rosewood, supported by marble columns, with claw-feet of rosewood and gilt. The top is marble, and the rich colorings of the rosewood, in contrast with the white
 marble and gold suggests the gorgeous l splendor of an imperial palace It was for
 merly owned by Mrs. Carpenter of Mont gomery, through whom Mrs. Trimble inher- tied it. At this sideboard' many brilliant groups have drunk toasts, and when the Marquis de Lafayette visited Montgomery Tn 1895, it was from this magnificent side- board that he partook of the sparkling
 wlne in company with the beautiful Mrs. Carpenter, at whose house he was a guest. This sideboard was brought from England, more than a hundred years ago. At the time of LaFayettes visit, Mrs. Carpenter, with number of other Montgomery wo- men, had the honor of receiving the Mar quis on Capital Hill, and standing beneath a bower of roses, she made the address of welcome Mrs. Carpenter, with the Mar ouis, opened the ball that was given in his honor. She afterward married Thomas Welsh, who was postmaster at Montgomery during President Davis administration. In the many handsome homes in Birming ham in which are foard valuable heir looms many generations old. that of Mrs. Albert T. Henley is one of the most interesting. Of the many rare pieces of furniture, in- cluding massive buifets and tables of old mahogany Mrs. Henley has also in her possession the quaintest old desk that be- longed formerly to Mrs. Robert Beverly Jane Wormley. who was a noted belle and beauty of Virginia and from whom 1t de- scended to Mrs. Robert Carter Randolph, and then to her daughter. Mrs. J. w. Fay Tor, who presented it to her daughter, Mrs Henley.
 The desk is of inlaid mahogany and is perfect example of old colonial furniture The mirror in the top of the desk, the mum Der of little compartments, together with the slender columns that support IL, give if n most quaint appearance Its associa- tions are very dear to its present owner, who recalls the days when her maternai grandmother prized it in the magnificent old home. and while all heir looms are dear for their "reminiscences, a peculiar sentiment is naturally attached to a desk owned by a feted young beauty Of long aqo If is here that Jane Wormley penned
 tbe answer to billet doux from the Virgin
 ia gallants, and numberless little notes that drought soft bushes to her falr young face have rested beneath the 1nla1o Hid- hogany The homage that chilValry pays to beauty found here biding place Wlth other tender missives, and many gay youne gallant has had his fate decided at inc little click that closed the mahogany top revealing in the mirror the trluihpii- ant smile that her answer brought to liie face of the young belle who wouiu haNe , indignantly denied that she was coquette.
 And here. too, were the love letters or bandsome Robert Beverly, to whom she
 gave her heart and hand.
 The history of the ancestral families or
 Mrs Henley is most interesting, ana the
 heirlooms owned by other branches ol .ie
 family are valuable from both the intrinsic
 ,s well as historic point of view. All stu
 dents of Virginia history are familiar wltn
 the records of the Tayloes, whose ancestral
 home on the Rappahannock stands today as
 A monument to its founder, Colonel Johh
 Tavloe who built 1t in 175S. The first Fay
 Joe came to the colonies in 1870, and settled
 upon the Rappahannock, where, later'
 William Tayloe of London built the superp
 old house. Mt. Airy" It is of interest to
 know that 1t remains in possession or the
 family that has owned it for more than two
 hundred years The house contains twenty
 five rooms and is built of native sandstone,
 with facings of white stone brought from
 England. The terraces and magnificent old
 gardens are as picturesque as in former
 days, when the most brilliant company of
 the day gathered at famous Mt. Airy.
 The "Old Bowl' is among the historic
 possessions, its praises having been sung in verse The collection of old portraits at
 Mt Airy" is an extremely interesting one.
 and old prints that hung in the rooms of
 the John Tayloes second and third of the name, when they were students at an Eng fish university. Mrs. HenleyS father, Ma ior J. w. Tayloe removed to Alabama in 1851 In 1853 he married Lucy Beverly Randolph of Greensboro. At the beginning of the war between the States Major Tay- Joe raised and equipped a cavalry company, belonged to the Jefferson Legion for short time and inspector general of D. II. Hill 5 staff
 The beautiful home of Mrs. James Bow ron contains quantities of historic possess sions but without mentioning the family heirlooms, the romantic story of the can delabras and clock recently purchased in New York by MT. Bowron is most interest ing While there, just previous to his sail ing for Europe, he particularly admired Dresden clock set displayed by a we'll known dealer in imported relics. The story connected with the clock and can delabras interested MT. Bowron and he purchased them and ordered them sent to his home in this city, where they have been
 greatly admired by all lovers of the artis- l tic. Both the clock and the candelabras are
 fully eight feet tall They are made of real Dresden and ornamented in rich bronze while the exquisitely designed columns branch at the top into the receivers for the candles, a single candelabra holding twen- ty-four candles. The clock is ornamented at the top with curiosly wrought urn in bronze, and the gong emits a weird sound The set was made originally for the late Archduke Randolph of Austria It is de- signed after a famous set four hundred years old and that adorns an F,rronean