The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-09
TO BUY TEMPLE FARM
nxAx or THE COLONIAL
s uopowamsnk VIII Ds Asked to Secure 4ossession of Famous Historical 2 Spot and Preserve It as Q
 National Park.
Y. Curtis in Chicago Record4

| x6e Colonial Danes of Virginia have
 nred q petition to Congress asking
 tha4 government purchase for a 41<5enai park the Temple farm near
 4fktoWn, the scene of several irn- D0rtant Historical events, including the 1(oore house. which was the head &rNk<efe of Washington, Rochambeau 4Hd Lafayette during the battle of
 4Qxktown. 1t was there that Lord %QrnWaAis met Washington to draw NN the articles of surrender, and there took place the last great scene in the drama of the war for independence
 The house Is in good state of preser- walton. and, with the farm belongs to q O. Msunk. formerly of Ohio. but Q Elrginian by descent.
 The Nelson house, which Is the l4rBest In Yorktown, was the head 4uarters of Cornwallis. It still be- 8 }ougssto the seventh generation of the
 uescendants of General Thomas Nelson, z Ehc, during the siege of Yorktown,
 prdered the guns of the revolutionary
 Army to be trained upon his own resi- fence and offered reward of guineas to the gunner who would hit it first. for
 t was supposed to be occupied by the British commander. The fire was SC
 hot that Cornwallis was compelled to abandon it and seek refuge on hls vessels. which were blockaded by
 aiai do Grasses fleet anchored at the mouth of the river. (
 Marks the Yorktown Surrender.
 The first custom, house in America ettil stands across .he street from the Nelson House, end through 1t for more than a hundred years. goods for New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore werS entered. II Is q fine old brick build- Ing. with heavy shutters that cover easnes of small panes of ,oid-fashi0ned Elass. During the century of activity upon the York River it was an i'm porfant place, but after the revolution the commercial importance of York town fell away and importations en- ufely ceased. The custom house was then removed to Norfolk, although a deputy was kept there unti la few years ago.
 Quaint Old Custom House.
 The monument erected by Congress 10 commemorate the centennial anni- sersary of the Yorktown surrender stands upon slight eminence a few hundred feet south of the Nelson House. where British battery was placed during the battle in the reyoIu- tioh.- It. is very ornate for so tall a column. being covered with stars. shields, garlands and other adornments which diminish its dignity. Upon the summit is figure supposed by some to be the Angel of Peace: by others the Goddess of Liberiy--a colossal woman with hands outstretched as much as to say. Cease fighting, brethren. :" The attitude might also be interpreted with equal nrnnffafV 0u n11n .P afn the oppressed to the land of the free and the home of the brave. The thir- teen original colonies are represented ey corresponding number of female. nSures at the base of the column in various costumes, which may have had seme significance in the imagination of the artist that docs not appear to the ordinary eye and is left to conjecture. Epotswoode Remarkable Character.
 Temple Farm was the country home pr Alexander Spotswoode, who, in 1710 at the age of 34 years, became Cover nor of Virginia, and possessed more ab- solute power than any monarch in Christendom. He was the hero of so many thrilling adventures that I won- uer the writers of historical romances haye not taken advantage of the ma tertsl furnished them. They called him the Tubal Cain of Virginia" because ne discovered and mined the first ores of the iron age in the new world, and instituted the first order of nobility In America. known as The Knights of &he Golden Horseshoe"
 Spoiswoode was not a utilitarian, but great warrior. and man of high principle and fine intelligence. He diff fered from most of the colonial Gov ernors of Virginia in that he endeavor- ed to promote the interests of the colo nists rather than the interests of the crown, There is nothing of dishonor in all his record. He was brave, generous. just and honest, and did more than any other man of his century to devel- op the material progress of the colony. He fought and killed the diabolical pirate Blackboard who haunted Hamp- ton Roads and the coast from Massa- chusetts to the Carolinas, and on his return sailed up the James River with the pirates head at the bow of his ship. Stotswoode imported a colony of mipers from Germany and located them at the place now known as Ger mama. on the Rappahannock River.
 In 1716 he undertook to discover a path over the Blue Ridge Mountains, l and christened the highest peak Mt. | George, in honor of his King, whose l name he carved upon a rock. On this | Expedition he carried a quantity of | horseshoes to protect the hoofs of the | ~. |