Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1941-09-18
JUDGE j. G.. OGLEVEE PENS
ACCOUNT OF HISTORIC
VIRGINIA

Editors Note: The very able ar
ticle which follows was written by
Judge j. C. Oglevee of Carrollton.
formerly of this county, after re-
cent tour of Virginia made by him
self and his wife, and was first pub
lished in the Carroll Journal:
Old Virginia is the most historic
monuments and shrines that stand
as mute memorials to the heroes of
years gone by. It's battle fields, his
toric mansions, and hallowed sepul-
cherS attract continual procession
of tourists from every corner of the
country. More alluring still are the
ghosts and spirits of the mighty
dead who dominate that ancient
land. Their deeds of valor are chis-
eled in the marble statues that
stand like sentinels keeping watch
above their graves.
The home of brigadiers and ma
jor generals, Of scheming politicians
and statesmen, of distinguished law
yers, and of eight presidents,-all
able, brilliant, fighting men, who
achieved upon the stage of life an
Immortality of fame, Virginia has
more to attract and entertain a
curious public than any other part
Of the country. No wonder a hun
dred thousand tourists annually mo-
tor up the two miles of mountain
highway to see the home of Thomas
Jefferson on Monticello, fountain
of liberty and a shrine of democ-
racy. There also they see a pano-
rama of mountain scenery unsur-
passed even by the skyline drive
With kind of dumb curiosity they
gaze upon the antique furniture, the
great open wood fire places,s the
slave quarters, the little old two
wheeled gig with a seat like an old
fashioned rocking chair, and about
the same size which this man of
many talents made himself, and in
which he rode down the mountain
OH his way to Philadelphia, where
he achieved an Immortality of fame
with his gifted pen.
He was only 33 at the time, but
he had pondered deeply upon that
mountain peak about the philosophy
of government and how best to-
build a nation that should be free,
prosperous and happy. His major
problem was how to keep an aristo-
cratic, arrogant, office holding class
from saddling themselves upon the
backs of the people, as he we'll knew
was the case with every nation on
earth. His fundamental conception
was that the government must de-
rive it's just powers from the con-
sent of the governed, that the less
government the better, and that all
governmental power not granted to
the government must reside in the
people. AS part of this program
he demanded repeal of the law of
primogeniture, the entailment of
estates, free religion, and universal
education.
1t is we'll that such vast numbers
Of common people have the means
and opportunity to visit the most
fascinating home in all this coun-
try.
The old Virginia planters consti-
tuted the aristocracy of the COM
monwealth. Owning large tracts of
the best land in the state, with i'm
mense fields of tobacco cultivated by
slave labor, they kept open house
for all the kith and kin, and the
as well, and with a stable
of saddle horses, a kennel of fox
hounds, and an ample supply of
wine in the cellar they lived a free
and easy life in times of peace. In
knee breeches, wigs and ruffles they
attended the Episcopal church on
Sunday tithed their tobacco to pay
the preacher, held or controlled the
public offices and generally man
aged the affairs of state. Some
were college graduates, others, like
Washington, had little schooling,
bat nearly all were stalwart men of
character and ability. The law of
and primogeniture tend
ed to produce family clans, and
when the Lees, Randolphs. Wash
ingtons, Blands, Jeffersons, Gus
tises, Fairfaxes and other land lords
were in the saddle, nearly all of
Virginia from tide water to the
was in high state of !
with prosperous coun- |
ty-seat village in every county.
But now all is changed. The |
once rich farms of rolling hills are
today vast wilderness of pine, and |
most Of the villages have disappear
ed. The tourist may travel for |
miles and miles without sighting a |
home or even a patch of tobacco.
Upon this most favored land, once |
/ paradise, rests the blight and |
curse of slavery.
Tourists who take the back road |