Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-22

uuOSE tH0 IMPRESSION LHdI AL LHdL
neighborhood she could secure more
branches of education and therefore
obtain a still larger amount Of pa
tronage," but. being disappointed in
this expectation. "she transferred her
establishment to Belmont. near Lees
burg, Va. where she purchased a d.
1apidated mansion In secluded posi-
tion and had it fitted up with every
convenience for her purpose"
Then follows this paragraph:
The neighborhood was one which possessed
= attractions Far removed from any persons
Of cultivated minds congenial feelings,
nearly six miles from place of worship. her
only near neighbors persons Of limited intelu-
gence and destitute of any sympathy with her
views and efforts for her benefit, no situation
could have presented fewer points Of attrac-
ton. 1t was autumn when she entered upon
Its occupation with very limited number Of
pupils and under circumstances calculated to
damp the ardor Of the most energetic. One Of
the assistants. In referring to 1t afterward, re-
marked that was sad, dark winter. indeed"
The Rambler told last Sunday that
Miss MERGERS entrance into that old
and conservative Virginia neighbor--
hood was not marked by an outburst
Of enthusiastic cordially. She had
very strange views on two most i'm
portant questions-religion and slav-
cry. She thought that the teachings
Of her own church did not agree
reading of the Scriptures. and she
did not believe in negro slavery. Her
line of thought was q little out of
adjustment with that Of her rich
neighbors, but as the years wore on
Miss Mercer's radical Views under
went modification. while her neigh
bors learned that she was woman
OF sterling worth and beauty of
character, and they also learned that
q person might differ with a parson
hoofs.
Two extracts of a letter to the
Rambler from a friend in Leesburg
were published last Sunday. and in
one of those extracts was this sem
tence: "Leesburg being four miles
and wrote to her cousin. Mr.. Latrobe
Of Baltimore. for a cheap plan for a
church for which she and her schol-
ars raised the money" That was J.
II. B. Latrobe, an architect. The
Rambler has before him a letter from
Miss Mercer to Mr.. Latrobe telling
him that she had collected q fund
for the little church and inviting him
to visit the site. (which Is slight
elevation in a skirt of wood near the
road" And. by the way, what
good. old-fashioned phrase that is
skirt of wood" The Latrobe family
has long been one of the most dis
tinguished in Baltimore. and its mem
bers have acted prominent parts in
civic affairs
The Rambler has at hand no facts
regarding the Latrobes, but he as
sumes. which is often dangerous
thing to do, that they are descended
from that Benjamin H. Latrobe who
succeeded James Hoban and pre-.
coded Charles Bullfnch as architect of
the Capitol. Benjamin Fl. Latrobe was
appointed architect of the Capitol in
1903 by President Jefferson. and re-
signed in 1917. He was born and edu-
Gated in ENGLAND and came to the
Philadelphia 1t said of him that "It
is to his genius we owe the design
and finish Of the Senate chamber, now
occupied by the Supreme Court. the
interior Of the wings Of the central
building"
* X
Last week several lines were given
TO Ann Wampler. a widow, who came
to Virginia as one of Miss MERGERS
assistants, and who was the mother
OF Capt. Morris Wampler of the United
States coast survey and later chief
engineer on the staff Of Gen. Beaure-
gard OF the Confederate army. Mrs.
Wampler. in 1916. became the wife of
William Mavin. The Mavin family,
William T.. Robert ara Marjory the
latter two single. with a widowed
sister, Mrs. Horseberry. came to Lou
doun county. from Northumberland,
England. in 1880. and settled on Goose
creek. buying the mill. which, for
nearly century. was known as Ma
wins mill.
BEFORE the coming Of the Mavins
It was Cooks mill, and before that it
had been Hough's mill In the Lees
burg letter. to which the Rambler
has several times referred. was this:
II went down to the clerks office and
found that in 1907 the mill, with
seventy-one acres. belonged to Will
liam Hough of Waterford, Loudoun
county. He sold to Mr.. Cook of
Berkeley county. The clerk thinks
that as there is no deed to Hough he
probably inherited the mill and adj
1accnt land" In one of the letters of
Miss Mercer the Rambler finds refer