Mary Louisa Michel Binckley Memoir, 1906 (and 1899): Part I

Mont Calm (aka Montcalm), Campbell house, Abingdon, Virginia. Source: Duke University*

[Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley Memoir, 1906 (and 1899), Part I. Additional paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.

 

Many thanks to William Myers, Mary Davy, Sally Young and Sue Davis for their ongoing research collaboration; specifically to William for providing scans of the original documents, and in turn many thanks to Peter Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]                                                
                                                                December 19 20  1906

(The original was written in Saucilido [Sausalito, California] 7 years ago [1899]) 

To look back fifty sixty years or more must always be more or less painful to the average man or woman, for few lives of three-score but have had their griefs, cares and adventures that seem to start out sharply when age begins to dim the background of remembered pleasure. But I have promised to look back, and whether the fulfilling of a promise be hard or not, it must be done.

I must close my eyes on this landscape and recall the one I first remember with a child's queer distinctness of recollection for some salient points, while all the rest of life is misty.

A white house with veranda -- a green grassy yard and the shade of trees. An old apple tree under which I played with a baby brother. The faces of one or two negro servants, that of my nurse being clearest. My father's gay voice I can hear now, and even the memory of the strings in my heart faintly the delicious thrill that sound always brought me.

I can see mother as she was then with her fresh color and quiet ways, and I again stand and watch fascinated while Amy brushes out the great masses of mother's long fair hair, and can see it shine in the morning sunlight. 

This same Amy, by the way, was the one who was generally sent on errands into town (our cottage was in the western part of Abingdon, near what is now the dépot [aka dépôt].) and was sometimes allowed to take me out to walks. Once walking in a dark wood, she showed me a lonely cabin, and on my solemn promise not to tell "Miss Jane" if she told of its mysteries, in a tragic whisper informed me that in that lonely spot the doctors brought the bodies of '"bad [plural of n-word]" & boiled 'em into castor oil.'

Children then were required to take the vilest medicine without protest, but no earthly power ever succeeded in making me take castor oil.

Amy was also allowed sometimes the felicity of dressing me in my best (red morocco slippers I remember as one bit of grandeur) and taking me visiting. 

Once in a highly decorated condition I was taken up a long hill to Gov. Campbell's old mansion that stood among great trees. A severely stately old lady made polite enquiries as to the health of my family, and then bestowed upon me a large peach. But the bliss of possession was at once destroyed when I was made to go out on the veranda and eat it with my neck painfully stretched over the railing, so that no drop of juice could stain that spotless floor. 

This old lady (Gov. Campbell's wife) was noted in Abingdon for her stinginess (a very unusual trait then), her love of stately display where it could be done economically, and her excessive cleanliness. Having no children and a staff of well-trained servants, her ruling passions were easily carried to absurd lengths. 

Source: Find a Grave under "David Campbell (1779-1859)" 

[Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930).
First memories are of "Lilliput." See 1841 letter from Jane (Mother), link here. 
Father = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866).
Mother = Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Amy = enslaved servant. There are two Amys listed in the estate (dated 1832) of Peter Johnston, Jr. (1753-1831), and we may suppose that this Amy is one of them. Link here.
Campbells = David Campbell (1779-1859) and Mary Hamilton Campbell (1783-1859). Virginia Campbell, a niece, and David H.R. Campbell, a nephew, also lived there for a time.
*Linked to  Campbell Family Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University; photo from the collection of Professor Norma Taylor Mitchell. Link here.]

"Edward William Johnston And Roanoke Female Seminary" (1969), Part I

Botetourt Springs early 1840s. A digital copy can be found at the Hollins University

[Notes from studying Margaret P. Scott and Rachel Wilson, "Edward William Johnston And Roanoke Female Seminary," Journal of the Roanoke Historical Society. Roanoke, Virginia. Volume 5, Number 2 (Winter 1969), pages 15-25. Scott and Wilson, Hollins Class of 1912, were emeritus professors at the time of publication.]

"Responsibility" for Bedford Female Academy in Liberty (Bedford), Virginia, was passed from the Reverend Mr. Jacob Mitchell to Edward William Johnston "we think" in 1837 (page 16). 

Johnston moved the school to Botetourt Springs in March of 1839 (page 16). He officially bought the deed from Hezekiah Daggs on April 20, 1839 (page 24). 

Students at both locations included:

Elizabeth Steptoe
and her first cousin, Frances "Fanny" Mennis

There was a Christmas party, apparently at Bedford, probably in December of 1838.

At Roanoke Female Academy, students included:

Eliza Mary Johnston, later Hughes (1825-1909)
Miss Lewis (Charleston, Kanawha)
Miss Bowyer (Fincastle)  
Miss Allen (Fincastle) [Probably Mary Jane Allen, later Watts (1825-1855)]
Miss Dabney (Lynchburg)
Sally Langhorne
Sally Steptoe (page 17).

[From other notes we know that the following were students there, also:

Mrs. Sorrel = Letitia "Letty" Gamble Watts Rives Sorrel (1829-1900), whose second husband was Dr. Francis Sorrel (1827-1916), a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Her first husband had been Landon Rives (1825-1862). 
Mrs. Washington = [?].
Sue and Lizzie Peyton = probably related (daughters or nieces) to William Madison Peyton (1814-1868).] 

For the first 1839 term, apparently, teachers and handlers included Harvey Mitchell, Jane Mitchell, Mr. Bozzaotra, "Cousin Sue," and Edward and Estelle.

For the 1839-1840 term, Harvey and Jane departed. Estelle to continue and be joined by her mother. Mr. Bozzaotra [spelled Bozkaotra in other notes] evidently remained. Mr. Goodsicki of Richmond would be added to teach dancing in 1840. (page 17).

Picnic at Mrs. General Edward Watts of "Oaklands" on Roanoke County, drinking mint juleps (page 20).

By early 1841 the school was finished as such. So it seems there were two (or three) sessions at Bedford and two sessions at Botetourt Springs, all between 1837 and 1841.

In the endnotes on page 24, there are references to "Hollins Archives: Letters written to and by Mrs. Elizabeth Steptoe of 'Fairview,' Bedford County: 1838, two letters on the same stationary. Nov. 24th, 1839, May 8th and June 24th. These original letters were given to Joseph A. Turner of Hollins College by Annie Lowry of Bedford. Mr. Turner notes that Miss Lowry is related to the Johnston family." Also: "Copies of Letters from Students and Others Connected with the Roanoke Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs, 1931. Unpublished typescript. Unpaged."

Part 2 will follow this article's postscript about Edward's career and life after the closing of Roanoke Female Seminary, with additional documentation. 

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Jacob D. Mitchell (1806-1877)
Estelle's mother = Joséphine Labarrière (1776-1858). Her first husband was Dr. Paul Valentine Costar (d. by 1805); her second, Jerome De Cressac Villagrand (1776-1845). Jerome joined them at some point, too. 
Estelle = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848).
Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866)
Jane = Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892)
General Edward Watts (1779-1859)
Mrs. General = Elizabeth Breckenridge Watts (1794-1862), mother of Letitia Gamble Watts (1829-1900)]

[Many thanks to William Myers, Mary Davy, Sally Young and Sue Davis for their ongoing research collaboration.]

Notes on Edward William Johnston by Frederick and Fanny Johnston

[From scans provided by Sue Davis of notes typed up in 1931 by Walter Johnston excerpted from "memorials" written by Fanny Johnston in or about 1875, and based also on her father's notes. Notation at top of first page: "Memorials Vol. I page 35." The typed pages were sent with a cover letter from James Ambler Johnston at Richmond to Joseph A. Turner at Hollins, Virginia, on October 7, 1931. I have here cleaned up the typing (cramped spacing, etcetera) but kept spelling as in the original. This is my rough, annotated transcription. In this, I'm aiming to emulate medieval librarians working from ancient scrolls, copying out important texts for wider circulation and preservation. There is a copy of the original letter and typed notes at Historic Sandusky (Charles Johnston's residence in Lynchburg, Virginia, before he relocated to Botetourt Springs). There may be a copy held by Hollins University and another in one of the Richmond repositories.] 

The next son was Edward William. He married first a Miss Costar, step-daughter of Monsieur Villagrand -- cousin Estelle as we called her. For two years we lived in their family at the Botetourt Springs and all that part of our history will come with the years 1840-41; but I will write what I can of Cousin Edward here, along with that is recorded of his father's children, rather than place it later.

He [Edward] was an excellent scholar, speaking French necessarily in his family as constantly and correctly as English, and also Spanish and Italian with the literature of all which he was perfectly familiar. He was never successful, however in any thing in the way of a profession, I believe, having been at different times engaged in various callings.

At one time he had a bookstore in Columbia[,] S.C. and father was employed by him there when he first began to earn his own living. I have often tell him tell of the withering scorn which cousin Edward criticised his pronunciation of 'Italian', as if it 'Eyetalian' and I'd not think I ever heard the word mispronounced, as it almost invariably is, without thinking of that.

He also had a boarding school for girls at Liberty [aka Bedford] for a short while, in which aunt Mary expected to have had a place as assistant teacher after she was left a widow the first time, and was prevented by the failure of her eyes, caused by using them too soon after a serious attack of illness, in her anxiety to study and prepare herself for the place. She was obliged to give the thing up entirely, as the trouble was so serious as to threaten total blindness, and she never fully recovered use of her eyes, although Frank, her son, after he made a specialty of the eye in his practice, assured her that the defect was a focal one altogether, and is she had had proper glasses at the time of the first failure of her eyes they could have been restored entirely.

Cousin Edward moved his school from Liberty to Botetourt Springs, but I do not know how long he taught there. Mrs. Sorrel (Letty Watts), Mrs. Wm. Watts (Mary Allen), (Mrs. Washington) Sue Peyton, Lizzie Peyton and many contemporaries of theirs were pupils of his there. 

Monsieur and Madame Villagrand, the parents of Cousin Estelle, lived in the house adjoining ours when we lived there and I remember perfectly their speaking French and my learnings [sic] some of the words which I have never forgotten, either their meaning nor their pronunciation, though I was only four or five years old at the time. 

Father [Frederick] assisted cousin Edward in the school, and Mother had some duties connected with the pupils, but they found time to learn French, and to speak it quite well with the Villagrands who were great admirers of theirs. 

I have a letter now marked 'E' from Mad. V. to Mother in French. They admired and loved Cousin Edward Wm., very much, and I have been accustomed to hear her speak of his opinion and advice on all literary subjects with the greatest deference, especially as to the education of children, which she tried to carry out a good deal on his plans, as far as she could. The "Dictionaire des Difficultes de la langue Francais" [Dictionnaire des difficultés de la langue française] which is in my possession was one of his books, and "Crabbe's Dictionary of General Knowledge" was also his. The remains of the old John Gilpin pitcher was given her by cousin Edward, and I have seen it on their table.

After the school at the Springs, which I think was a failure financially, Cousin Edward went to Washington where his wife died. He was engaged on the editorial staff of "The National Intelligencer," an old time Whig journal of great weight and power in its day, and wrote a great deal over the signature 'Il Secretario' and with such grace and pungency as gave it fame in the whole country, though I do not know whether the subjects which exercised his pen were chiefly literary or political -- both I think. 

In after years he satire became famous as a newspaper writer in some contest with Daniel, the Editor of the "Richmond Examiner" who was noted for the cutting and bitter style of his paper. I think matters came to quite a serious point between them and there was either an actual or threatened challenge in the case in the end.

He went to Louisville and married a Mrs. Woolly of Kentucky and I do not know anything at all of his life after leaving Virginia. He died on the same day that his wife did, and I have heard that her daughter was married a very short time before their death, the ceremony taking place in their presence one in one room and one in the other of two parlors with folding doors between the couple standing in the doorway. Mrs. Woolly, his second wife, was in some way connected with the Preston family either by blood or by marriage. There were no children by either marriage by Ed. Wm.


[James Markham Ambler Johnston (1885-1974), a son of Frederick.
Walter Christian Johnston (1911-1959), a son of James.
Joseph A. Turner = Joseph Augustine Turner (1875-1937), grandson of Hollins Institute founder, Dr. Charles Lewis Cocke (1820-1878).
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867), principal.
Charles Johnston (1769-1833).
Frederick Johnston (1804-1893), a son of Charles. Clerk of Roanoke County, 1837-1865. Married to Elizabeth Ann Carter Burwell Johnston (1810-1861).
Fanny Johnston = Frances Royall Johnston (1830-1909), a daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Ann.
Aunt Mary = Mary Morris Johnston Dillon Cunningham (1810-1884), a daughter of Charles Johnston.
Frank = Dr. Francis Dean Cunningham (1836-1885).

Mrs. Sorrel = Letitia Gamble Watts Rives Sorrel (1829-1900), whose second husband was Dr. Francis Sorrel (1827-1916), a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Her first husband had been Landon Rives (1825-1862). 
Mary Jane Allen Watts (1825-1855).
Mrs. Washington = [?].
Sue and Lizzie Peyton = probably related (daughters or nieces) to William Madison Peyton (1814-1868).  

Daniel = John Moncure Daniel (1825-1865), died from effects of a duel wound near the end of the American Civil War. 

Monsieur Villagrand =  Jerome De Cressac Villagrand (1776-1845).
Madame Villagrand = Joséphine Labarrière (1776-1858). Her first husband was Dr. Paul Valentine Costar (d. by 1805).
Estelle = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848).

Mrs. Woolly = Margaret A. Jewett Wooley (circa 1821-1867). Best I can determine at this point: she had been married to Charles Henry Jewett, a US Army officer who died in Florida, leaving her a widow with a daughter also named Margaret (circa 1840-1881); she then married a notorious former Army officer Abram/Abraham Roll Wooley (1782-1858) as his third wife. Abram's second wife had been Caroline Letitia Preston (1806-1840), who died of consumption. Edward William Johnston seems to have married Mrs. Wooley sometime between 1858 and 1860, by which time they appear, with her daughter Margaret, in St. Louis, in the 1860 federal census. They had all four been living together in Washington, D.C., in 1850.]

[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration.]

Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel to John Preston Johnston, February 8, 1841

[Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel at Lilliput, Abingdon, Virginia, to John Preston Johnston, at United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, February 8, 1841, Box 26, Folder 12, Series X, Sub-series J, Robert Morton Hughes Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529. This is my rough transcription.] 

My dear boy,

I received your letter to-day, & assure you that I was highly gratified to perceive that you still remember and love your unworthy aunt. I have frequently promised myself that I would write to you, but as I have heard of you very often without any direct correspondence, I suffered my daily round of household duties, and petty cares, to engross my time, and prevent the fulfillment of my purpose. I am truly glad that you, my beloved nephew, have opened a correspondence which will afford me so much pleasure. I was sure that your uncle Beverly was in the habit of writing to you frequently, as he often told me of letters received from you. I shall take him to task for his negligence, the first time I lay eyes on him. I have an idea, however, that he is engaged in a correspondence of a most interesting nature, with a young lady (of course) & doubt not that you will excuse his being remiss in attending to the claims of less fair writers. He is still in pursuit of Miss Daniel -- and, I am told by one of his friends, with a good prospect of success. He himself is perfectly impenetrable on the subject. I suppose you know that his quondam flame, Miss Erskine, is married -- to an ordinary, & somewhat aged man, a Mr. Gay.

You give the first intelligence I have had of brother Joseph's love affair. I do most sincerely wish that he may gain the heart & hand of his lady love, if she be such as he paints her. I should like to have a sister-in-law that I could love & esteem rather more highly than her of Hayti. I never know where to direct a letter to Joseph. I therefore entreat that you will write to him, in my name, and urge him most strongly to pay us a visit the ensuing spring or summer. We hope to have you, & Liz, & brother Sydney, with us. Our dear Joseph's presence would make us almost too happy. Do beg him, in every way you can think of, to come, & tell him that we all love him as dearly as ever. I should not be surprised if mamma were to visit us next summer, & sister Louisa is pledged to give us her company. They both mention you most affectionately when they write to me.

You ask where we are living? Do you remember where Spiker used to live, on the main road, half a mile west of Abingdon? His house has been pulled down & ours built on the same lot; (though further from the road) by Mr. Railey. It is a neat little cottage -- the situation is beautiful, & the distance from town so short that our friends there can conveniently come to breakfast or tea with us. We have a small circle of very agreeable associates, with whom we are on the most friendly terms, indeed as intimate as near kindred, and your two uncles are often with us. So I have every reason to be pleased with our place of abode. Your aunt Preston breaks us house every fall, and spends the winter in Carolina, with Margaret. She is there now, & will, in all probability, remain until Thomas's return, which is fixed for April or May.

Your little playmate, Louisa, still thinks of you with undiminished affection. She talks of you every day, & mentions your kindness to her. She has grown a great deal since you saw her, & is much prettier. But my boy is my beauty, He is certainly (partiality aside) the sweetest little fellow that I ever saw, and your uncle Harvey thinks he bids fair to be as clever & smart as his cousin Preston.

Your uncle Harvey has been in Lynchburg all the winter closely occupied in painting. His success there was totally unlooked for. He started from home to spend the winter in Petersburg, but, being accidentally detained in Lynchburg got to painting there, & has had an extraordinary run of business. He expects to return home next month, I know he will be delighted to see you here -- he always speaks of you with the affection of almost a father. I must now lay this aside until I see your uncle Beverly who is from home just now.

I have kept this a week, waiting to see your uncle Beverly. He needed no persuasion, I assure you, to give his consent to your coming home  in the next summer. He says he wants you, by all means, to come, & that he will send you, shortly, a permit to get a furlough. I would have you bear in mind, my dear boy, that I shall expect you to spend nearly all the time with us here. A few days in Botetourt, and the rest here, with Eliza. Lou sends her love. Pray do not let it be long before you write again to your affectionate aunt.

Jane W. Michel

[Lilliput = cute name for the cottage that must have been inspired by Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726, 1735). 
Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892)
John Preston Johnston (1824-1847) and Liz/Eliza = Eliza Mary Johnston (1825-1909), children of Charles Clement Johnston (1795-1832) and Eliza Madison Preston Johnston (1803-1828)
Bev = Beverly Randolph Johnston (1803-1876)
Joseph = Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891)
"Her of Hayti" = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (ca. 1802-December 15, 1848)
Mamma = probably Ann Nancy Bernard Johnston (1775-1865)
Louisa = Louisa Smith Bowen Johnston (1800-1873)
Margaret = probably Margaret Buchanan Frances Preston Hampton (1818-1852)
Thomas = possibly Thomas Lewis Preston (1812-1903)
Lou = Mary Louisa Mitchell/Michel (1838-1930)
"My boy" = William Manning Mitchell/Michel (1839-1908)
Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866)
Sydney = Algernon Sidney Johnston (1801-1852)]

Willis G. Clarke to John Milton Binckley, February 9, 1841

[Willis G. Clarke at Clarksburg, Ohio, February 9, 1841, to John Milton Binckley (1821-1878) at Somerset, Perry County, Ohio.].

Dear cousin M, 

It was with great pleasure that I broke open your letter dated the third but am very sorry to hear that you are going to leave old Ohio we see you very seldom as near as we are to each other and if you go to Tenasse [Tennessee] i [I] fear we shall never see wach other again but I hope you will not go: but don't forget your promise to visit us whether you go or not: the boys are all well Tom Slaughter has turned Whig! perhaps this will be sad news to George I suppose he belongs to Matty Vans [Van Buren's] party but I'll just ask you if you are not glad that Harrison [William Henry Harrison, who would be dead in two months] is elected! 

We lived on hard cider all summer and I huzzaue [huzzah] for Tip-- and Tyler [Tippecanoe & Tyler, Too] while you perhaps . . . were shouting for Martin Van Buron [Buren] and [T]homas H. Benton! that will never do we wouldn't go the hard money now how we just send off to Kinderhook and so he thought with the 4th of [M]arch I tell you tip will make the big treasurers walk but you are getting tired and so I'll close . . . 

love to uncle aunt and all the family. Bobs [?] leave to you all and Mother & father 
your affectionate
Willis G. Clarke 

Original manuscript in the John Milton Binckley Papers, 1816-1943. Library of Congress Manuscript Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. This is my rough transcription. Paragraph breaks made for easier reading. 

Many thanks to William Myers for sending scanned copies of the documents from the Binckley papers, and also to Mary Davy and Sally Young for their assistance.