title="26"/> time are as good as they were then. Among the hotels, the Columbian, owned and conducted by Mr. Spottswood Crenshaw, who was succeeded by Mr. Sublett, was situated at the corner of Cary Street and Shockoe Slip, and was the most popular hostelry for tobacco planters. It was very well kept, the table was supplied with the very best the market afforded; a marked feature of its dinners was that pitchers of toddy were freely distributed to refresh the thirsty guests. There was also the “American,” which occupied the site of the Lexington—of the year 1912—at the corner of Main and Twelfth Streets. The Exchange and Ballard on East Franklin and Fourteenth Streets, was regarded as the leading hotel, and it was one of the finest houses of its time; it was kept first by Colonel Boykin and afterwards by John P. Ballard and brothers, and last by Colonel Carrington. In those days there were no transfer companies, and each ran its own omnibus to bring to and fro the guests from the railway stations and steamboats. I well remember one of Mr. Ballard’s teams, consisting of four fine iron-grey horses which he drove to one of his turnouts, and they were beauties, being driven by a negro-whip, who knew how to handle them to advantage.

At this period of time I was living in the country, and came to the city to attend the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the Washington Monument in the Capitol Square. It was during the administration of Governor Jno. B. Floyd, and it was one of the worst days I ever experienced, being cold, rainy, and snowing, all the military of the city, besides the cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, of Lexington, were in the parade. It took several years to build the foundation for the monument, and then some time elapsed before the equestrian statue of Washington, which was designed by Crawford, arrived by steamer from New York, when it was hauled from Rockets wharf on a flat with a long rope attached to it and drawn to its destination in the Capitol Square by citizens and placed it on its pedestal. When it was soon afterwards unveiled it was a “red-letter day” in Richmond and in the history of the State. This splendid triumph in sculpture dedicated to the renowned “Father of his country” stands this day where it was erected more than a half-century ago, and is considered by good judges to be the finest equestrian statue in the United States; it is surrounded by heroic size figures in bronze of several eminent Virginians.

The retail grocery stores were a prominent element of the city of Richmond’s business, being an important part of its commercial greatness. Among them there were the firms of Walter D. Blair & Co., the senior member a genial gentleman whose elegant manners not only retained all of his old customers, but drew many new ones to his attractive store; William M. Harrison, Joseph Weed & Son and George Dandridge. These all kept liquors, as well as groceries. Mr. Dandridge had a clerk who was a good salesman and advanced the interests of his employer in every way he could, and yet he had one failing, being an honest frequent drinker, so one day his employer called him back to the rear of the store and said, now sir, you are a good salesman, and also a good man, and I have but one fault to find with you, namely, you take a drink with every customer that comes in here; yes, he answered I do, and if they don’t come in fast enough I drink by myself, just to keep my hand in, and to encourage trade. Mr. Dandridge retained him in his employ and he finally became a member of the firm. The retail dry goods houses were distinguished for their efficiency and size; there were on Main Street five or six and about the same number on Broad Street. I recall particularly the prominent one of Mann S. Valentine, who was one of the most successful merchants of Richmond. His son, Mann S. Valentine, Jr., was the discoverer of the formula for extracting and manufacturing for commerce the fluid extract of beef, known as “Valentine’s Meat Juice,” which at his death fell to his sons, who organized the Valentine Meat Juice Company, which has proved a boon to humanity, particularly to invalids. The enterprising firm conducts a very large export, as well as a domestic trade, and is composed of intelligent and progressive business men. Mr. M. S. Valentine, Jr., the founder of the present house, at his death, through his munificence, established and endowed the well known Valentine Museum, which is a lasting monument to his memory. It is kept in the best manner by his sons, who feel a great pride in it. Within its spacious rooms are to be found many of the finest relics of the arts of antiquity, and also specimens of Virginian and Southern fossils and curiosities, which have been collected and placed here at great expense and trouble. The building occupied by the Museum was originally purchased from James G. Brooks, and he, from Mr. Jno. P. Ballard, and he bought it from Mr. Wickham, so it is associated with historic memories, and it is truly one of the most interesting places in the city, and is visited daily by thousands of strangers visiting Richmond, as well as by the residents of the city. Mr. Edward S. Valentine is one of the most famous sculptors of his day, who designed and created out of Italian marble the celebrated recumbent statue of General Robert E. Lee, now in the chapel of Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia. This is considered one of the best specimens of the fine arts in the world. Indeed it is an effigy in marble which produces mingled emotions of admiration and awe, as it lies there in its silent vault illumined by electric lamps in its darkened chamber.

The wholesale grocery houses of Richmond at this time were large and served their purpose well. I recall to memory the firms of E. & S. Wortham & Co., which did a very large business, having the patronage from the extensive plantations on the Pamunkey River in grain and produce. Also Stokes & Reeves, Selden & Miller, Hugh Fery & Sons, and Dunlop & McCauce, the latter firm dealt principally in New Orleans sugars and molasses, carrying on the largest business in that line of any house in the city. Next I must mention the many tobacco manufacturers, which business was a very important one, as it is now. The factories of James A. Grant, William H. Grant, William Greanor, Robert A. Mayo & Son, James Thomas, Jr., and many others, all did a tremendous trade in this lucrative business.

CHAPTER XI.

A unique feature was the agencies for hiring out negro hands and servants, it forming a large part of the business of the real estate men. Richmond was then said to have one hundred tobacco factories in active operation.

My memory reverts to an interesting event in the year 1860, when Edward, the Prince of Wales, of the Royal family of Great Britain, visited Richmond, coming here from Washington with his retinue who were entertained at the old Exchange and Ballard House—then in its prime. The Prince stayed over Sunday and attended church at Saint Paul’s. Doctor Minnegerode was then the rector of the parish, and he preached a good practical sermon for the distinguished guests. I remember well seeing the Prince, who was then a beardless youth, of a good figure and looks, he returned to the Capital City the next day, pleased with his trip; it was an epoch in the history of Virginia, socially speaking. Another incident was the lecture delivered here by Mr. Thackeray, the great novelist, at the Athenaeum, which building was then just in the rear of the Broad Street Methodist Church, the subject of the lecture was the “Georges,” and it was a chaste and interesting address, full of anecdotes, with a vein of sarcasm interspersed throughout.

Another lecture about this time was that of the Hon. Edward Everett,