Evening star., 1922-03-12

| departed this life the 18th Of May. 1895.
| in the sixty-seventh year Of her age.
i She early in life devoted herself to
| the service of religion and continued
| through a long life bright example
! of Christian piety. She was a woman
| Of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
| being the greater part Of her days
the subject of affliction, which refined
| her as fire for dwelling in the man
| sions of the holy and the blessed"
WHILE attending Dr. Hunts acad-
w emy young Writ boarded with
| the family of Samuel Wade Magruder,
i who lived in a brick house on farm
called Locust Grove. This house is
still standing. back from a road which
leads west from the Georgetown
Rockville road to Bells mill, and, as
the Rambler remembers, Locust Grove
| is about two miles west of George
| town-Rockville road. Locust Grove
and the Presbyterian Church and
school near the hamlet of Potomac
| were subjects of "rambles" several
years ago.
Young Writ seems not to have led
| a happy life at Locust Grove. In his
| memoirs he wrote this:
Maj. Magruder vas q magistrate and ex
oficio a conservator Of the peace which. how
ever, he was as ready on provocation to break
as to preserve. Mrs. Magruder's contrast with
| her husband was striking. She was quiet and
generally silent. 1 do not remember having
heard her speak a dozen times In the two
years that lived with the family. But the
ma jor's voice I remember as loud as the north
wind that used to rock the house and sweep
| the snow-covered fields. They had q large
| family-seven sons and four daughters. The
crowns sons were numerous and loud enough
| to keep the house alive. being somewhat Of the
Osbaldian order. except that there was not 4
| Rashleigh among them, nor was there Di
Vernon among them.
| Mai Magruder's household embraced not
| less than twenty white persons. To these
| there was a constant addition by virtue OF
| the young people Of the family. 1t was. in
! fact, an active. busting. noisy family, always
| In motion and in commotion. To me it was
painfully contracted with the small. quiet. at
fectionate establishment Of Mrs. Love-"
There was one of Wirt's associates
or quasi companions at MAJ. Magru-
der's of whom Writ wrote in unfiatter-
ing terms. Whether this fellow was
one of the Magruder family or a
boarder Wrist does not say. What
| he does say is that the young man
was "ill-tempered and I became the
| peculiar object of his tyranny" Con-
| tinuing he says: There was that in
my situation which would have dis
armed a generous temper. l was
small, feebly grown, delicate boy, an
orphan and a poor one, but these cir
| cumstances seemed rather to invite
than to allay the hostility of this fierce
| young man. During the two years
that it was my misfortune to be in
| the house with him and his school
fellow 1 suffered wanton barbarity
that SO degraded and cowed my spirit
| that 1 wonder I ever recovered it,"
Writ remained a student at Hunts
school until 1887, when the school
was broken up. The Rambler's un-
derstanding is that DR.. Hunt changed
the location of his school to Rock
vile, and that it came to be called
the Rockville Academy. a school
which continued to, take in and turn
out, boys until a, few. years ago. The
Rambler is. writing that from some
memories which seem to lurk in the
back of his head, and he has not the
time now to look the matter up. but
if he has gone wrong some of his old
friends in Rockville-Lovie Morgan,
Skillet Higgins, Tom Dawson, Ed.
Peter, Will Burdette. Cliff Robertson.
Wash Hicks. Doc vinson. Doc Linthi-
cum, Doc Pratt, Doc Lewis and all
the others-will come to his rescue
and set him right.
X X +
ONE of Wirt's schoolfellows at
~ Hunts school was Ninian Ed
wards, who became United States ,
senator from Illinois and governor of
that state. Ninian Edwards father
was Benjamin Edwards Of Montgom-
cry county, who after removing to
Illinois sent back for young Writ to
come on and act as tutor in his fam
lily. Writ served for some time in
that capacity and then returned to
Montgomery county and began Read
ing law at Rockville in the Office Of
William P. Hunt, who was son of
the Rev. James Hunt. Later Writ
read law in the office of Thomas
Swami, a distinguished member of the
Washington bar and at : one time