not gain his suit, as she afterwards married a Mr. Pettus, an A. M. of the University of Virginia, who taught, and was the principal of a female academy in Tennessee; they made a very handsome bridal couple, but she did not long survive the wedding, and Mr. Pettus married, as his second wife, a Miss Turner, and removed to Richmond, Va., where he had the misfortune to lose his second wife by death.

About this date I, who had grown to be a good-sized boy, remember well going down to New Kent Courthouse to see the cavalry troop with their new and very showy uniforms of light blue cloth with silver trimmings and metal helmet, with white plumes. This old company, one of the oldest in the State, was then officered as follows: Captain, Braxton Garlick; first lieutenant, George T. Brumley, with Southey Savage as orderly sergeant. On this occasion, after the commanding officer had put the troopers through a few drilling paces, all of them, officers and private soldiers, with one accord repaired to the tavern bar room and there regaled themselves with several fine juleps each; this treat had been set up by Captain Garlick, and he expected each man to do his duty in this valiant attack upon the enemy’s fort, and truly was he not disappointed therein, although it was one of the hottest days I ever felt in the month of May.

Not far from my brother’s residence, where I was then living, lived a man named Tip Rabineau, a unique character, his ways and dress were both similar to that of the person described as Dominie Sampson in Sir Walter Scott’s novel “Guy Mannering.” Tip was about six feet and two inches in height; he wore his pants too short and coat sleeves not long enough to cover his big wrists, and yet he had an accomplishment which gave him much distinction in the neighborhood as being one of the most successful hunters to be found anywhere around, ranking as one of the best shots in Hanover County. He used always a single-barreled shot-gun that measured about six feet in length and carried powder in a small round gourd, and the shot in a canvass shot-bag; for loading this muzzle-loader he used newspaper for wadding; the bore of this weapon was but little larger than a ladies’ thimble, but with this primitive outfit he brought down a bird every time he fired at one. What finally became of Rabineau I know not since I lost sight of him.

Colonel Frank G. Ruffin, just before the beginning of the war, at my brother’s invitation, came down to Mount Prospect, our home then, for the purpose of lecturing on agriculture to the farmers at New Kent Courthouse, on a court day, where a large crowd had assembled to hear him, and although whether theoretical or scientific farming had then attained the high degree it now enjoys is a matter of much doubt, yet he imparted to his listeners in a very pleasing and instructive manner, many valuable ideas on the subject of the new way of tilling “old mother earth”; how poor, thin soil could be made to yield as much as the richest Pamunkey low grounds under his advanced system of cultivation. Of course there were some present who believed the Colonel, and others who did not fully accept his theories, for as a matter of fact, he was considered one of the least practical of the prominent farmers in the State, but one of the best theoretical ones. We passed a very pleasant day at the courthouse and I enjoyed, on our return home, as a boy, great pleasure and instruction from his most interesting and amusing conversation. Ah, indeed! was those the flush times in the old Commonwealth, the like of which will never again be known.

At about the period I am writing the York River railroad was being built from Richmond in an easterly direction about forty miles to West Point, in King William County, at the head of York River, and the junction of two rivers, the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi. The young men, the civil engineers employed about the surveying and construction of this work frequently visited “Mount Prospect,” it being convenient to the camp, and we all enjoyed their society very much indeed, they being polished gentlemen, whose presence was an agreeable addition to any company; among them I can recall the names of Major E. T. D. Myers, General J. M. St. John, Colonel Jno. G. Clarke, Colonel Henry T. Douglass and others whose names I fail to remember now, but all were then young, intelligent men, each of whom afterwards attained important military positions in the Confederate service during the war which soon followed their railroad building on the peninsula. Colonel Clarke, above mentioned, subsequently married my sister, Lucy Selden.

The majority of them have now passed from this life on earth to join those on the “other side of the river,” though their names and deeds are revered by their survivors. No State, nor country ever produced a braver or more accomplished group of heroes than they were.

Well, after attending Colonel Crumps’ school for three years, when he closed for the summer vacation I bid farewell to his excellent tutorship. There were many quite pleasant associations connected with my school days there; I was considered one of his best boys; I packed up my few belongings there and returned to Auburn, my mother’s home. My respected father died in the year 1852, and my mother then carried on the farming operations under the supervision of our servant Israel as her head man and overseer, who was one of the most efficient and faithful negroes I ever knew, performing his duties fully and satisfactorily to his mistress as manager of the hands.

Two of my sisters were then married, Sister Anne to Mr. Peyton Johnston, the senior member of the drug house of P. Johnston & Brothers, of Richmond; my other sister, Betty, married the Rev. Dr. Alexander Martin, of the Presbyterian Church in Danville, Va. Probably no minister in that denomination had a higher reputation for pulpit oratory; he preached with force and effect, and set an example of a pure, unselfish, Christian life.

After consulting the wishes of her single daughters my good mother decided to move to Richmond. She therefore rented a nice roomy house in a pleasant street in the city, and then a new leaf in the book of life was turned for me, as I of course continued to live with the family, but an era, or epoch in my journey of life now confronted me, as I was about to start to work to earn my own bread and meat. I therefore duly made application to the firm of Parker, Nimms & Co. for a clerkship in their establishment, and the senior partner told me to call in a few days for an answer, which I accordingly did in due time and received a favorable one, and in a few days I began my life’s work. I remained with that firm six years and only left in 1861 to join, or rather to go with the First Company Richmond Howitzers into the great war between the States, being a member before the same strife began, having joined in the year 1859 when the company was organized. The house of Parker, Nimms & Co. was one of the largest wholesale dry-goods houses in Virginia at that time. When a young man commenced his apprenticeship in a dry goods store, it took some time to become acquainted with the routine of the business; it was about twelve months before I was allowed to carry a customer through it. It was not then as now when there is a salesman in separate departments and buyers are taken to another counter and clerks; but then in my day when a salesman started with a customer or purchaser he carried him or her through every department until the memorandum of the buyer was complete. It was then considered quite undignified for houses of established reputation and standing to advertise their wares in the newspapers; how different it is now, when most of the articles are sold through the aid of printer’s ink; then they were sold upon their merits and