The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-07-06
A ROMANTIC HISTORY or
noted VIRGINIA Dame
Mrs Jean Wood Who Spent Latter Part of Her Lite II
Richmond, Wrote Sweet Verse and Was Ornament
and Charm of the Highest Social Circles.

tutor. This was their evening regale.
While my mother worked with her
needle he read to her.
This mode Of enjoyment pleasantly
brought round the close of the first
year. When the minister's salary was
paid they were now comparatively rich.
My dearest father exchanged his shab-
by black coat for new one, and the
next year was affluent. BY this time
the neighboring gentry found out the
value Of their minister and his wife,
and contended for their society by So
Letting visits and making them pres
ents of many comforts. Frequently these
grandees would come IN their splendid
equipages to spend a day at the Slebe,
and bring everything requisite to pre-
vent trouble or expense to its owners
merely for the enjoyment of the society
Of the humble Inhabitants OF this num-
BILE dwelling. In tho lapse OF few
years by frugaity and industry in the
mana cement OF a good salary, these dear
parents became quite easy in their Cir
cumstances. My father purchased q
large tract of land on the river Potomac
On the most beautiful eninence that [
ever beheid he built good home and
soon improved it into very sweet es-
tablishment. Hero I was born: my
brother, who was intended for the
church. had a private tutor in the house
This man attended also to my too SIS
tiers who previously to his residence IN
the family were under the care of an
Englishman who lived in the house. but
also kept q public school under my
fathers direction about a mile from his
| house. UnhappiIy for me, I was the
youngest. and very sickly. My father
! and mother would not allow me to be
| compelled to attend to my books or my
| needle, and to both l had a decided
| aversion, unless voluntarily resorted to
| an amusement.
| In this was INDUCED. I would some
times read lesson to my sister or the
| housekeeper, or if their authority was
resisted, I was called to my mother. s
! side. All this amounted to my being an
| ignorant child at my fathers death,
| which was a death stroke to my dearest
mother. The incurabls grief into which
! It plunged her could scarcely be mat
| ter of surprise when the uncommonly
| tender affection which united them IS
! considered.
They were rather more than middle
! aged when I was first old enough to
remember them: yet | we'll recoliect
| their inseperable nd undertaking asso-
citation. They were rarely seen asund-
| er. My mother was an active walker
and a good rider. Whenever she could
| do SO, she accompanied him III his pas
toral visits, a faithful white servant at
tending in her absence from home. They
| walked hand in hand and often rode
| hand in hand-wers both uncommonly
| fond of the cultivation Of flowers. fruits,
and rare plants. They watched tha
| opening buds together-together admired
| the beauty of the full-bown blossoms.
and gathered the rpening fruit or seed.
While he wrote or read, she worked
near his table, which always occupied
/, the plea santest place in their chamber,
| where he chose to study. often laying
| down his pen to read and comment on
! an impressive passage.
Frequently, whell our evening repast
was over If the family were together.
| some book, amusing and instructive. was
| read aloud by my dear father, and those
| CT the children or their young associates
| who could not be silent We're sent to
| bed after evening worship, which al
| ways took place Immediately after sup
per. Under the void which this sad sep
| aratlon occasioned. my poor mother
| spirits sank, and never rallied The first
| six Or eight months were spent In a
| dark secluded chamber, distant from
| that formerly occupied. The manage
ment Of the family devolved on my
| brother and second sister. Ny eldest
| married two or three years previous TO
| this period. I was left pretty much to
my own management. The education
| Of my brother and sister was so far
llNiSllSd t!ieIL htiCy iiOi Oiily iiCtO "iieI
| they had acquired. but continued to i'm
| prove: but alas poor me! I. as usual.
refused everything like study. but be-
| came, unfortunately, irnmoderately fond
| Of books. The key Of the library was
| now within my power, and the few ro-
| mances it contained were devoured. Poe
try and a. botanical work with plates
| came next This gave me useless,
superficial knowledge OF what might
have been useful. but what in this In
| dgested way was far otherwise. The
Tattler, Guardian, and Spectator were
the only works I read which contained
| beneficial instruction.: and OF these I
i only read the amusing papers; and, TAX
| ing the beautiful and sublime aIlegores,
| which abound with moral instruction.
| in q literal sense, read them as anus
| ing tales This kind Of reading made up
| a permiscuous mass of chaotic matter
| that darkened while 1t seemed to en-
tighten my mind and I soon became ro-
| mantle and exceedingly Ridiculous
| turned the branches OF trees together and
called them a bower, and fancied could
/ write poetry. and many other silly
things.
IS PROBABLE
NV dear mother suffered greatly to-
ward the close of her life with can
Ger: for this she visited the medicinal
1 springs. and I was chosen to attend her"
It was a crowded and gay scene for me,
/ who had lived almost entirely in seclu-
| sion did not mix in its gayest circle:
i q 81 1910,