Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1910-06-23
Lone Jack. No. June D

~O~Ady 10 ooeoienCe 10 the ADVICE
Of Horace Greeley to 60 West
Young Man" am not a native OF
your city. the old Colonial capital.
Ii was in the spring of 1881 that
l was a passenger on board the
steamer Ariel" on a delightful trip
down James river from City Point to
Kingsmill wharf where landed and
accompanied BY an official gentle
man took the old-ume hack
from the wharf 70 Williamsburg
where l was conducted to my TEN
porary dwelling and upon reaching
my destination I was cordially re
ceived by Drs Black. Clopton and
Wise. all Of whom are now amongst
the silent majority. Prompted by
the memories OF the few months I
spent IN your burg respectfully
subscribe this missive. to you es
pecialiy as I understand you TO be a
native Of the place and perhaps
familiar with the persons and Incl
beats Of which will herein lndite.
One source of amusement was the
old Kangaroo Court which met al
the old glass house by the big front
gate. The personnel Of the court
was as follows. Chief Justice VIM
Camm. Associate Justices. T. S.
Lacy and John S. Charles. whose
decisions were amusing and interest
ing. Once there was a case between
that sutocrsuc citizen of precious
memory. Henry T. Armistead. who
was the plaintiff against that lordly
highstepper. J. B. c. Spencer. de-
PENDANT. who was accused of steal
ing a dog. AL the evidence was
brought in against the defendant
who was ably defended by his coun-
SCI. I. 9. Peachy. a brother-in-law.
who delivered an eloquent harangue
for his client. The plaintiff was
represented by his brother {. P.
Armistead who was one OF the best
men / ever knew. The trial occu-
pied about twenty minutes time and
attracted a very large and apparent
ly interested crowd who cheered
loudly when the verdict was brought
in by the jury which was composed
Of the following gentlemen:
H. NJ. Sweeney. K. Fl. Cloves.
T. NJ. Ware. o. A. Lane. Thos. II.
Geddy. w. r. Hubbard. J. r. Nor
ment. J. R. Coupland. Henry
Charles, DennisOn Cole. Stony J.
Brooks and John S. Morris.
Here is the verdict:
We the jury. according to the
law and the evidence. find The de-
PENDANT not guilty Of stealing the dog
but according to our own knowledge
and conscience we stole the dog our
selves. In congrstulating Jack
| Spencer upon his acquittal Justice
Lacy delivered the opinion Of the
court as follows: Those who
| dwell IN Gopher must suffer hellsu-
city in the haymoor of his asteroids. -
Another incident amusing Il not in
tereSting was the celebrated dog war
fought between the belhgerent can
MES Of Texas Cloves and Bob Bar
low Just in front OF the old arsenal;
both dogs came off second best
with one tail missing which was pre-
served by Bob Barlow who said a
new dog grew on the tail.
Perhaps you remember the York
town Centennial. It was my priv
lege and pleasure to be there with
the Wise Light Infantry Blues. Our
trip down that night consumed about
fourteen hours, travelling a distance
OF twelve miles; the track was being
finished just ahead of US. Iremem-
Der the delightful time we had and
how every night our sleep was dis
turbed by the unearthly yells of
Corporal OF the Guard Post No.
| The Marshall Garnet Rand us.s =.