Smyrna times., 1913-06-18
COMPOSITION BY SCHOOL GIRL
Written by Elizabeth Wilson, 9th Grade
Smyrna Schools;''A Southern Plan
tation Before and After the War.

/
plantation song lOated up from the
cotton aeld to the merry group sit
ting on the spacious veranda of a
mansion in southern Virginia. AS the
sound reached the group. they all
started singing, and in a moment the
air was ringing with the sweet old
melody.
While they are singing Il will de-
scribe their surroundings which made
the song all the more beautiful. Lo-
Gust trees lined the winding avenue
leading from the mansion to the road.
On each side of the veranda, in the
flower gardens and scattered in the
beautiful, well-kept lawn were white
roses, such as bloom only in Virginia,
and other old fashioned flowers. Rus
tic arbOrs were scattered among the
trees, and fountains were bubbling
and sparkling in the sunshine. The
brook made music as it flowed along
through the lawn. The cotton A elds
stretched out almost bOundless, and
in the distance the mountains rose up
like a great wall.
The interior of the mansion was as
beautiful as its surroundings. The
wide hall with its polished floor, con.
tanned the old Queen Anne stairway,
and opening into it on the one side
was the parlor with its mahogany fur
niture. and on the other side the
hOmelike library with its wide fire.
place From here could be seen the
conservatory with its Towering plants.
There were many other rooms, among
them the dining room with its highly
polished silver and cut glass. In
the halls and rooms beautiful paint
ings and handsome pieces of statuary
added to the richness and splendor of
it all. Each bedroom led into a cosy
sitting room. the windows Of which
afforded a view Of the beautiful lawn,
the white cotton fields and the distant
mountains.
| will now 60 bask to the group on
the veranda. The oldest man in the
group was the planter and owner of
all this magnifcence. He showed by
his appearance that he was man who
had not and did not do manual labor.
| will call him Mr.. Mayhew. His
wife and daughters had the same ap-
pearance. His sons had the air of
we'll educated and wellbre,i lads. I
will not say college boys, for they
we're ia ught at home by highly ed
ucateo tutor. They all were nice
looking. refined. courteous and hospi-
table.
The Mayhews were. as all other
SOutherners. hOspitable to strangers
as we'll as TO friends. II stranger
was seen coming up the road. a slave
-as sent to tell him to come in. He
was welcomed most courteously. and
was given refreshment. If ladies
came to call, they we're welcomed
cordially and taken upstairs by an old
eolored nanny to take off their
wraps. They were always expected
to stay for the next meal. Sometimes
some young ladies and gentlemen
came over in the evening and had
dance. Several darkies were sum-
moned to play the the Virginia Reel
on their banjOs. Who would wish to
see a more charming sight than the
pretty girls in their dainty dresses,
and the handsome gentlemen bowling
and smiling and dancing?
This was the way a southern fam
lily, such as the Mayhews, lived before
the great Civil War. The planter
did not go cut and work in his cotton
fields. but every day he rode over the
entire plantation TO see if everything
was in order. His wife and daughters
did not think of working in the house.
To all appearances they did nothing
but live a life of ease and luxery, but
back Of all this, they had to see that
hundreds Of slaves were fed, clothed
and looked after. The gentlemen had
their Wallets, the ladies their maids.
Much Of their time was spent in en-
tertaining, and being entertained.
Their beautiful mansion was always
open TO visitors and they were con-
stantly giving dances and parties.
Were the planter and his family
happy and eontented? Yes. Who
would wish for an easier life, and
surely this way Of living was beauti-
full. For hospitality. refinement and
pleasure were all there. How chang
ed the scene when the war was over.
Mr.. Mayhem and his sons returned
from war. his wife and daughters
from relatives, TO find the mansion
in a forlorn condition, the we'll kept
flower gardens ana lawn grown up in
weeds. the cotton fields laid in waste
and the slaves freed. Not a person
to do the work but themselves. The