The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-07-02

ordinary. Is the homo Of lss Eliza Vors.
les, n mansion OF three stories, built OF
blto stone, uncut. and With severe stcop
roof and narrow windows, characteristic
Of so many Of tho buildings OF tho eight
zenith century 1t was ut this house that
Lafayette stopped wlcn Tho was In this
country In 1924 Over III Culpcper they
tell how Lafayctto's troops bivouacked
at point six miles cast OF tho town dur
Ing the War OF the Revolution, and many
of his men imbibed too freely of the
brandy distilled In u building, the traces
of which may be soon to this day--the
building, not the imbibing. Tho place
was chrlstcned Brandy Cross Roads
by Lafayette and Ills mon, and 1t Is
Brandy to this daya name made famous
as the scene OF q Dig cavalry fight during
the war between the States.
The Lees.
Francis Lightfoot Lee was president OF
tho first magistrates court OF Lo,idoun,
established when the county was erected
from q portion OF Fairfax, and George
town. BY which the town had been known.
was changed to Lcesburg In 1868, old
Nicholas Minor, who appears to have had
a shrewd business head, bought up all the
lund lie could purchase in the neighbour
hood OF the town. and cut It up into lots
of half acre each. He decided two lots
to the county as tho site for d court
house. do not know when the frat
courthouse was built. The present struc-
turc Is comparatively new. Its red brick
walls and white columns appear tn good
advantage In the green square, hulf hid
den by trees, but the building is poorly
suited TO the purposes OF Its erection. In
rear of the courthouse Is the clerks office,
where Mr.. D. w. Hempstone, the clerk,
and other county officers hold sway. The
building was originally used for school
purposes and was erected from the pro-
ceeds OF a lottery In 1884. Tho streets
OF tho town were paved in the same way.
and 1t was with the revenue from the
sale of lottery tickets that water sys-
tenn was Installed, about the same time
or earlier.
have spent 50 much time on the court
green there is little to devote to the Lees
burg of to-day-the good streets, electric
lights. substantial business buildings and
the banks. the tier the pride Of the peo-
pie. There are three banks in Leesburg.
and the aggregate deposits reach g. mil
lion and a half dollars. I should say
something of the Lceshllrg Inn, an old
fashioned name, but one OF the best no.
tells to be found in q town Of the size in
the State. Leesburg claims eighteen hun.
drnd people. 1t is slightly larger than
pavedlwith cobble stones. but macadam
has been put on the paving, with the re-
suit that the streets are both smooth and
hard and are not so noisy as when the
cohble stones were in use.
Extra Billy Rogers.
Some day am going to devote col
umn to Colonel Extra Billy Rogers,
who is eighty years young, and now,
after having spent a great portion Of MS
life roaming over America, Europe and
South America. in addition to fighting
for tho Confederacy four years, is living
at the Leesburg Inn. and planning. by
the way, a trip to California for the
purpose Of looking for some Of the old
trails which were plain in the golden
days when emigrant trains from the East
were coming into the State almost as
frequently as passenger trains roll into
Z the union station In San francisco at
present The Colonel told me many
stories Of his experiences. Flo was with
Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston and Col
onel Robert .. Lee when they made that
celebrated march to Salt Lake City in
1856, and he later went TO the scene of
the Mountain Meadow massacre, as the
representative Of the government, to re-
cover eighteen little children who sur
vived the murder Of their parents and
WcIc III &lIS DOSSGSSlOll Oh MOT1lOH resi-
dents. This story oftthel massacre Of a
train OF elnigrants by Normons. dis
guised as Indians, in 1851. is almost for
gotten to-day. HI,
+ It occurred SO closely to the war that
1T is lost sight of, owing: TO the greater
events which followed soon after. Mr.
Rogers brought these children to Camp
Floyd. and they were sent back to South
ern Missouri and Arkansas, 4 from which
sections the train had been made up.
A short time ago Colonel Rogers received
a letter from a woman in Arkan sas,
saying she was a, survivor of the mas
sacre. and asking him to help her get a
pension. He did what he could, but there
is no likelihood of her ever getting the
pension. What Colonel Rogers learned
Of the Mormons while he lived in Salt
Lake as Indian agent has caused him to
hate them ever since with.a hatred that
Is not common In the far eastern portions
Of the United States. Some years ago
two Mormon missionaries came to his
house. but. as may be imagined they did
not stay long. The Colonel telcphoned
to an old ex-Confederate. one Of Mosbys
men, who lived near him, to try to catcl,
the preachers and lynch them. 1t Is a
matter of deep regret to the Colonel that
his message was received too late.
Colonel Rogers was q member Of the
I.eCompton Legislature of Kansas. in tho
fiftics, and while serving III that body
was one Of the party which captured
John Brown, who was one of the Free
Soil leaders. and had murdered num-
Der of the opposing party by firing into
their houses while they lay in their
beds. Colonel Rogers says he insisted
with all tho earnestness of which he was
capable that Brown should DO hanged,
but he was overruled and the old man
was set Free to come over to Harpers
Ferry In 1859. only a short distance from
tho homo of the man who had wanted
to hang him, murder several. pay tho
penalty OF treason on the gallows, and
bring on the great war.
t''If Brown had been put to death when
we had him. and as I advised, the war
would have been postponed for years.
said the Colonies
am again guilty OF wandering too far
afeld. get back by remarking that
there arc in Itoudoun more Incorporated
towns than in almost any county Of Vlr-
ginia-Leesburg, with population OF
1880; Hamilton. population 700; Round