Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1900-10-19
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THE JUMEL MANSION.
FASCINATING WIDOW BECAME THE
BRIDE OF AARON BURR

How tho Grand Dame OF Revoiuntionry
Day Entertained tho Heroes OF America
Cen. wAshingt on's Quarters I'm ths Man-
sion Were Prepared fer Sudden Alarms
About the fine old house ON Harlem
Heights known as the Jumel Mansion
cluster many memories OF the days
that are gone says the New York Mail
and Express. Built I'm 1853 by Rodger
Morris. II passed into the hands or
Stephen Jumel. an eccentric French
fascinating widow threw about IL
great social lustre.
There are various stories or the
early life OF Nine. Jumel The version
probably correct is that she began life
as a barefoot girl near Providence. II.
l.. Her name is said 20 have been Bet
~ Bailou. At the age OF seventeen
she became the wife OF Peter Croix.
q British officer, and some months at
ter his death married the rich old
merchant. stephen Jumel. When her
husband died, Nine. Jumel used her
great wealth TO gain social position.
She entertained the gentry OF the
neighborhood with lavish hand. and
soon her home became celebrated for
It's hospitality. Washington and
Hamilton frequently enjoyed the good
cheer OF the mansion. An interesting
story IL told OF their connection with
the big trees that now stand. gaunt
and grim In front OF the wide doors.
The tale goes that. on n hot summer
day. Wash!rr:on was unable To find
shelter fro lierce rays OF the sun.
He remar. his hostess In HIS
stately maL---::
Madame. you should have some
shade trees hereabouts. II In ex-
cessively warm
THAT is quite an idea," replied
Nine. Jumel. You and Mr.. Hamilton
shall plant some"
Two servants were sent for shovels
and young shoots. Then. surrounded
by n half mocking throng. Hamilton
and Washington dug away the soil
and planted the two trees which still
are standing i'm Tia, dooryard.
Aaron Burr WAS attracted to the
fascinating widow and at length pro-
posed marriage. She was sixty. he
seventy eight. When the old man
proposed. Mime. Jumel was very de-
cided In her refusal OF his offer.
You are the last man l would think
of marrying" she said. But suave old
Burr was not To be gainsaid.
nAA0ahhts hC ANpiiNhs wiz NphO
again tomorrow and bring Il minis
ter with me-
So he did. When the couple stood
up TO be married by Parson Bogart. n
black cat lazily strolled into the room.
"Stopl" cried the bride. Then call
ing one OF the servants she said:
Take this miserable beast away. I
fear Its presence during the ceremony
would bring I'll luck"
The honeymoon was not far ad-
vanced before chickering's arose. Nine
Burr IL said 10 have locked all the
rooms and removed the chairs fr ON
the halls. so that her angry spouce
could not alt down.
Many are the stories told of MI
Jumel In her halcyon days. On o
occasion Prince Napoleon was CISCO ~
in her to dinner. He paused on th,
threshold OF the dining room to allo
her TO preced6 him.
mot before Prince OF France"
said she.
And assuredly never before a lady"
replied the Gallant Prince.
II was In the big dining-room that
Gen. Washington was sitting ut din
ner when the sentry pacing the upper
halls whose windows looked out upon
| the hills, rushed In with the announce
ment that the British were approach
ing on the far side OF the Harlem
| River. Washington rushed up stairs
and gazed long and earnestly at the
moving red uniforms. Then he buckl-
ed on his sword mounted his horss
and clattered on down the western
slope just as the British were climb
Ing the eastern shoulder OF the hill.
Washington's quarters In the man
sion were we'll prepared for sudden
alarms. A push against the wall be-
hind where his bed stood will swing
open a secret door leading down into
another apartment from which excess
may be had into the open afr. II was
In this chamber that Fitz-Greene Hal
leck is said TO have composed his stir
ring lines on Marco Bozzaris." The
stirring stanzas well 1T the spot OF
their composition, which breathes In
tho lines:
"Strikel till the last armed foe ex-
Strike! for your affairs and your
fires;
Strike. for the green graves OF your
sires:
God and your native Land"
In the southeast corner on the up
per floor, is the bedchamber In which
Mime. Jumel died. Toward the end
she grew querulous and crotchety. AT
times she swore to seeing ghosts In
her room. Perhaps Washington.
Hamilton. Burr and the many other
men OF name and fame who had been
under her roof passed before her in
grim array. recalling the brilliant
days gone forever. With the death
of Nine Jumel link that bound New
York to the eighteenth century was