Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1915-03-26
M0Llla6sWORrh HONE
ATTRACTS MANY VISITORS
BY MEMO"

our In an Olu-IdS1lOutu uOuS
lear our city, one that spoke elc-
uently of the dear dead years i
hat have gone forever. Nonel
ire living now who saw these i
wallis upreared and fashioned in
o what was then the grandest
west of the Blue Ridge
Winchester was then
out village, and many of the
Shawnee Indians yet fingered
around the grand springs that
vet hold the magic spell that was
laid upon them ere the paleface
had seen the Shenandoah VAL
ley. The thick stone walls grew
into a Stately mansion that was
finished in the year of 1854, and
the Hollingsworth family have
lived in it ever since. The large
estate around it came into the
possession of Abraham Holdings.
worth in 1892 before any settle
ment was made at Winchester.
We think that the first house
was built there in 1888. The
wig-wam dwelling Indians, who
lived around the Shawnee
Springs. must have looked with
establishment upon the great
stone house that was reared
mong them, and its owner was
so pleased with his home and its
surroundings that he named it
"Abra hams Delight and the
beautiful streamlet that passed
through the estate is yet called
Abraham's Creek. The passing
years have robbed the estate Of
much of its glory, and the family
has dwindled tc two frail-looking
ladies, who were born and will
die in their ancestral home-a
home so filled with memories to
them, and that has weird in
terest to even a stranger. In It
We seem to hear echoes from
soundless footsteps the pulsing
of life that has been passed with
in these walls, that have witness
ed the birth, the bridal and the
bier. Once they echoed to the
sports Of childhood and to the
lavish hospitality that was a
daily occurrence, and to all the
varied activities Of a large es-
tate which, with its many ser
wants, was little world within
Itself. 1t must have been a glori-
ously beautiful place when its
first owner called it his De
light" One can imagine that
he felt like Waldemar. King OF
Denmark, who had formed pal
ace and grounds around it to his
Town taste. 1t was far away from
1.-THE whirl of the city and 'he
liking gave it name that signi.
fes my Happiness" and he
said that even heaven could NOT
be fairer to him than his own
home aud tradition tells that for
centuries his shadow has fitted
through the great galleries. and
the sound of his silver bugle is
yet heard in the forests at the
head of his phantom hunters.
| Old homes give one wierd
thoughts. Longfellow says oil
them 4:
"All houses wherein men have lived
and died
Are haunted houses. Through the
open doors
the harmless phantoms on their er.
rands glide
| With feet that make no sound upon
| the floors.
ave have no title deeds to house or
| lands
Owners and occupants of earlier
dates,
From graves forgotten, stretch their
dusty hands,
And hold in mortmain still their
old estates. -
But sllorn as "Abrabam's De.
light" is of its past glory, the
solid walls and deep window
seats are memorials of the has
been" of the place, and the house
has it's many relics over a century
old. Some 60 back to colonial
times. The heayy-lidded family
Bible came from England sew
eral centuries ago, and has serv-
ed many generations of the Ho1-
lingsworth ia mily. 1t gives one
a wierd feeling TO touch the
parchment where the hand of |
Lord Fairfax rested when he|
traced his signature to tile deed
that transferred the land that |
became "AbralIam's Delight"
Clear-cut are the letters yet.
though the hand of the writer
has long been dust. The in.er-
est that this man holds for us is
not that he was a lord or that he