Evening star., 1921-05-15
THE RAMBLER CONTINUES HIS STORY OF
RIPON LODGE AN OLD VIRGINIA HOME

tea" There was another plant
creeping wintergreen. out OF whose
berries the American housewives OF
the revolution made tea. and the
popular name for that plant today
is teaberry.
WHEN you come to Ripon you will
w see five large coffee trees tss;
were planted not for a coffee crop. but
for shade and ornament. These trees
were probably set out because they
were something different" from ths
locust trees which so many OF tho
early settlers planted around their
homes. 1t is not a common tree.
though ( is native American and
many pot Of coffee" has been
brewed from it's seeds by pioneer
Americans. The name which botanists
have given il is Gymnocladus Dioicus.
The first word is compounded of tn"
Greek words "gymnos." meaning max
ed, and "cladus." meaning branch.
"Dioicus" is made up of two Greek
words "di" or two. and "oikus, house:
and by "dioicus" the botanist means
plant having male and female MOWERS
on different branches.
IS to 10 feet tall and from two
TO three feet in diameter Of trunk X.
The leaves are "pinnate'; that Is
featherlike form 'pinna," or feather.
which is also the parent word OF our
pen" which was first made from
feather or goose quill. Ten or fifteen
feet from the ground the tree general
ly separates into three or four princl-
pal divisions which spread slightly and
form a narrow pyramidal head. The
bark is deeply fssued, dark gray in
color and the surface is often tinged
with red and roughened by small
aeales. The leaflets are pink at hrst,
later bronze green and then dark
green above and light green beneath.
1t comes into leaf about the same time
as the oak and its foliage turns bright
yellow in autumn. Legumes hang on
it all winter unopened. These are
from six to ten inches long and from
one and a half to two inches wide
In the pods are dark reddish-brow
seeds three-Quarters of an inch long.
ovate, or slightly obovate in form.
These are the coffee" berries. 1t grows
on the shores of Lakes Cayuga and
Seneca, N. Y; in the Conococheague
valley, in Pennsylvania; in southern
Ontario, southern Michigan, eastern
Nebraska, eastern Kansas. southwest
ern Arkansas, and generally between
the Allegheny mountains and the
Mississippi river 1t is rare in the
neighborhood Of Washington.
The Rambler thinks he remembers
that years ago William r. Smith. then
superintendent Of the Botanic Garden
coffee tree in the garden. 1t is usually
found in rich bottom lands in com
pany with black walnut, blue ash,
blackberry, cottonwood, honey locust,
red elm and the hickories.
One of the things about Ripon Lodge
that has Rambler is
the death there in 1903 Of Bernard
Hooe- as the result of a wound re-
ceived in a duel with William Kemp.
There were several Hooes in Virginia
bearing the Christian name Bernard,
but ne who was killed in this duel
was Bernard J. Hooe. The Rev. Hor-
ace Edwin Hayden makes mention of
the duel in his volume on Virginia
genealogy, and it is also mentioned in
Henry S. Foote's "Casket OF Rem
iniscences."
BERNARD J. Hooe married Mar
- garet Pratt. The first mention
one finds of him is in Hening's Sta
tutes, where he is appointed to receive
slaves for debts due from the sheriff
of Gloucester county. That was in
1880. He was overseer Of the poor in
Dettingen parish in 1871. justice of
the peace in Prince William county
in 1890, trustee of the town of Hay
market in 1898 and sheriff OF Prince
William in 1900. He had four chill
dren. The first was Thomas Pratt
Hooe, who married Miss Opie. He
died the year after his father was
shot to death. and his will is among
the records Of Prince William. He
leaves his little daughter TO tne care
of Sallie. the wife of Col. Thomas
Parker of Fredericksburg, and in his
will names his wifes brother, Hirome
Opie: his niece, Elizabeth Parker, and
his brother-in-law. Hewitt Hooe. The
witnesses to the will were Bernard
Bernard ]. Hooe had son Ber-
nard, a daughter Lucy. who became
the wife of Ario Buckner, and an
other daughter, Eliza Thacker Hooe,
who married James Hewitt Hooe.
Bernard Hooe. jr., died in 1910. In his
will he names his wife, Bernard II.
Hooe, his uncle, and James H. Hooe
as his executors, and Daniel NJ
Chichester guardian of his children,
who were all minors at the making
of the will. This Bernard Hooe mar
ried Mary Symes Chichester and their
children were Mary Chichester Hooe,
who died unmarried; Bernard Hooe,
Richard Chichester Hooe. sarah NC
Carly Hooe. who married Thomas or
Mordicai Throckmorton; John Hooe
county, who married Maria, daughter
Of Robert Gaines of Beverly. King
George county; Anne Fowke Hooe,
who married George Johnson; Mary
Symes Chichester Hooe, who married
George Sweeny, and Clarissa Bernard
Hooe, who married Gaskins Moncure.
There was another Bernard Hooe in
Prince William county long ago. He
was born in 1871 and died in 1859.
His wife was Eleanor Buchanan BITS
coe, who was born in 1873 and died
in 1862. She was daughter OF Johh
Hanson Hooe and his wife, who was
born Mary Elizabeth Attaway. As
out with the aid of DR.. Hayden, there
were eight children born to Bernard
Hooe and Elizabeth Buchanan Bris-
coe They were Mary Elizabeth Hooe.
Anna Maria Hanson Hooe, Richard
Cecilia Hooe. John Bernard Hooe.
Bernard Hooe and Philip Beverly
Hooe. Mary Elizabeth married DR..
William P. Johnstone of Georgia:
Anna Maria married gentleman
named Hardin of North Carolina;
Ellen, who died in 1882. married
George D. Fowle of Alexandria, and
if the Rambler is not tangled in his
notes their daughter. Ellen Barnard
Fowle, married Fitzhugh Lee. general
liza married James Upshur Dennis;
John Bernard died young. Bernsrd's
record is not at hand. Philip Beverly
Hooe was captain in the Confederate
service. He went out with the Alex
andria Rifles in the 18th Virginia In
fantry as a second lieutenant, and in
the second year of the war was pro-
noted to captain and acting adjutant