Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 26-28, 1849

[Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 26-June 28, 1849, near Weverton, Maryland. Age: eleven. 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 document, and in turn many thanks to Peter Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]    

June 26. This morning after father went up to the Ferry, promising to come back a little earlier than usual and join us at Mrs. Cushion[‘]s. After breakfast I cleaned up the house. I wrote my journal got my French lesson, and said it and my history, and sewed some before dinner. [D]irectly after dinner we dressed and soon were on our way. Soon after our arrival Mrs. Cushion & Miss Mary took us up stairs to show mother a quilt that she wanted laid off to quilt: mother said that she would do it. Mrs. Cushion also showed us her quilts and home made bed covers. She had more than

                                                                                           51

any body that I ever saw.  A little while before supper father came and soon after we ate supper, after which we looked at the garden. We sat out in the yard chatting, a little while and then walked home.

June 27.  This morning, father went down to Weverton to bring up his painting materials and as he wanted some help he took me with him. When we got down there, we found that they had not eaten breakfast ar Mr. Wever[‘]s; I did not sit down to the table, though they wanted me to do so, but Mrs. Wever gave me a nice saucer of raspberries and milk. Father got to reading and I walked into the garden and looked at the flowers: in about half an hour we started home, and had a very warm walk. Arrived at home father began painting Aunt Estelle’s portrait; and I, sewing a bonnet for Lucy who was very busy, and had to go to the harvest field in the evening, it kept me busy until evening and then I carried it to her: she then showed Willie and me where to get raspberries and helped us to gather: we got a quart and had them for supper.

June 28. Well, I think that a journal is a very silly thing, unless the person is travelling in a foreign country, for then, if well written, it would be interesting to those who had never been in foreign parts. However, on the 28^th of June 1849 I was not well; I had a dull headache, and a sort of weakness, produced by the warm weather: after cleaning up, and writing my journal I laid down and tried to go to sleep, but soon got up again on hearing Mrs. Cushion come in at the gate.

I forgot to tell you that mother had taken Mrs. Cushion[‘]s quilt home with her to lay off; but one square was not sewed in and Mrs. B came over this morning to sew it in. Sue had not been here long when I went up stairs and lay down again. This time I went to sleep and slept till after dinner. After I waked Willie and I made a little mat of plantain leaves stalks and then I read some to mother.

Late in the evening I made up the fire swept up and set the table, and as usual ate my supper out on the grass. The oleander . . . almost open, so is La Pactale and Madame Brousanout.

[Mary Louisa Michel (1838-1930).
Mother = Jane Mary Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Father = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866).
Willie = William Manning Mitchel/Michel (1839-1908).
Sue = Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel (1845-1940).
Lucy = enslaved servant.
Mr. and Mrs. Wever = either Caspar Willis Wever (1786-1861) and his wife, Jane Catherine Dunlop Wever (?-1859), or closely related family members. 

Uncle Edward = Edward William Johnston (1799-1867).

Aunt Estelle = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa. 1802-1848).

Weverton and Knoxville were located on the Baltimore & Ohio rail and Chesapeake & Ohio canal lines, just north of the Potomac River and the Virginia boundary line.]

Nella Fontaine Binckley: "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter III, Part 2

[Nella Fontaine Binckley, "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter III, part 2. From a transcription annotated by Patricia D'Arcy Binckley of typewritten original, February 25, 2005. Original "written some time after 1941 by Nellie F. Binckley, 1860-1950 or 51." Notes in brackets are mine, unless followed by the initials "P.D.B." Occasionally, 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 a scan of the original document, and in turn many thanks to Peter Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

My two grandmothers visited us, and my education was not neglected. Grandmother Michel had started me in French and Latin when I was nine years old. Her own education had been very unusual for a woman of her day. She was an excellent Latin scholar, spoke French like a native, and also knew Spanish and Italian. When she was a girl, young ladies had been taught to be notable housewives, to sew and embroider, and were prepared to preside over a household with grace and dignity. They were sent to a finishing school, where they acquired some accomplishments and got a smattering of a few other things. Beyond that, nobody cared what was in their heads, if anything. It did not matter.

Grandmother never went to school a day in her life. It was then the custom among the landed gentry of Virginia to have their sons prepared for college at home by a tutor. She was the youngest of a large family and the only daughter. She had nine brothers. She studied with their tutor and studies whatever she wished. She didn't like English grammar, so never studied it, and spoke the most beautiful English I ever heard. But of course, one does not learn one's native tongue from a grammar.

When she was 13, her mother [Mary Wood Johnston -- M.J.B.] died and she went to live in Washington with her brother Edward and his wife. He was a lawyer [he was an educator/editor/librarian], and a very accomplished linguist. His wife [Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa. 1802-1848)] was French, from Martinique [from Saint-Domingue/Haiti], and she never learned English, nor did her mother, Madame Villegrand [Joséphine Labarrière Costar, whose second husband was Jerome De Cressac Villagrand, Estelle's step-father],who lived with them. So nothing but French was spoken in their house. 

[Nella is probably conflating her grandmother Jane with her mother, Mary Louisa, who lived for a time with Edward in Washington City; Edward and Estelle were married in New York City on February 7, 1824. They moved to Columbia, South Carolina in the second half of the 1820s. By the time they moved to Washington City, in the early 1840s, Jane had been married to Harvey Mitchell/Michel for a decade. However, Jane may have stayed with them for a while in New York City or in Columbia.]   

Uncle Edward once had a lawsuit to conduct in Mexico. He [knew] no Spanish, but in six weeks he had learned to read, write and speak it fluently. 

On Grandmother's 14th birthday [November 26, 1825], Aunt Estelle gave her an exquisite necklace, tiny opals set in a delicate gold chain, with a small carnelian cross as a pendant. Grandmother gave it to Mother on her 14th birthday [February 16, 1852], and Mother gave it to me on mine [September 1, 1874].

When I was 10, I won a contest in a child's magazine for best translation of a French story -- my first appearance in print.

When Spring came and the snows melted, we were living in a lake. But when Summer got there it was beautiful. Most of the ground was virgin prairie, not yet uprooted by the prairie plough, and covered with wonderful wildflowers. But I didn't care much for prairies -- too monotonous. And such an awful lot of sky. I missed my beloved Peaks. 

A sculptor friend of Father's brought me a lump of clay and I used to model little heads. Mother wanted me to take it up seriously, but I loved color [too] much. In fact, I loved it so much that Father never allowed me to have any paints, as he feared I might neglect drawing. But I'm sure it would not have mattered, for I love line just as much as color. Father said that I must have my college education first, and then he'd give me my art education.

Dad and I were great chums. I adored him. I would never have dreamed of disobeying him. If he'd told me to jump out of the window, I'd have done it instantly. I was a biddable creature anyhow, having been born with an inferiority complex, and believing that everyone knew better than I did. And my upbringing tended to accentuate this, as Grandmother Michel had the old fashioned idea that children should be kept down and not be allowed to get above themselves, as she expressed it. She was devoted to me, but thought it her duty to sit on me occasionally.

Mother liked to go to bed early, but Dad liked to work at night, and [always] sat up more than half the night. He and I used to sit up till all hours talking. Finally, with a guilty glance at the clock, he'd say hurriedly, "Run along upstairs, honey," then add shamefacedly, "You needn't say anything to your mother about it." Dad was born a few centuries too late. He was a knight errant in spirit, always ready to help the weak and oppressed with no thought of himself. His motto was "Noblesse Oblige."

[Ellen/Nellie/Nella Fontaine Binckley (September 1, 1860-April 27, 1951). Family names and dates were whimsically tweaked by their owners during their lifetime, adding mystery and sometimes causing confusion. For Binckley's "Artist's Life," I'm opting for the full artist's signature name, Nella Fontaine Binckley. 

Grandmother = Jane Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Mother = Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930).
Father = John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).
Grandma = Charlotte Stocker Binckley /aka Charlotta Stoker (February 19, 1788-November 25, 1877). 
Mary Wood Johnston = Mary Valentine Wood Johnston (May 8, 1769-June 17, 1825).

For French translation, see "Borrowing Trouble," translated by Nellie Binckley, St. Nicholas: Scribner's Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys. Conducted by Mary Mapes Dodge. Volume I (November 1873-November 1874). Scribner & Co., 1874. See page 430 (Volume 1, Number 7, May 1874). The French title was "Emprunt de Peine."]

Edward William Johnston to Dr. John Hook Griffin, February 14, 1844

[Edward William Johnston at Lauderdale, Botetourt County, Virginia, to Dr. John Hook Griffin at Salem, Virginia, February 14, 1844. A scan of this letter was graciously provided via email on April 28, 2017 by Beth S. Harris, Special Collections Librarian & Archivist, Wyndham Robertson Library, Hollins University. There are some additional scribblings on the front of the letter, apparently made at a later date by Henry Griffin, Charles Beale Griffin, and/or John William Griffin. Another small inscription reads: GIVEN TO ME BY BILLY BOWLES, G. SON of Dr. GRIFFEN - April 1935, JAT.] 

             

Lauderdale Feb’y 14^th 1844

Dear Doctor

My wife has another ulcer extending down the pharynx or back part of the throat. I had hope for some time that the disease was disappearing. Its progress in the nose seemed to be checked tho’ still existing. This new appearance in the throat has given us great uneasiness & Doct’r Woodson has just touched it with Caustic, having a few days since applied two blisters on each side of the throat. He thinks the glands about the root of the tongue are affected from her complaining of some pain there tho’ they cannot be seen.

The Doc’t speaks of putting a graton[?] in the back of the neck. We would prefer a consultation with you before any thing further is done.

I if you can do so would like for you to come down tomorrow or as early as possible. Madam has been using nothing but Sand’s Sarsaparilla for some time. Her general health seemed to be improving – this new development therefore has been very unexpected. If you cannot come (which I hope will not be the case) please give your advice as to the best remedy, The Doct’t proposes the use[?] of Iodine.

                      My respects to Mrs. G. & believe me

                                                     Yrs Truly

                                                              Edw’d Johnston

Lauderdale = Estate near Buchanan, Virginia, of Judge Edward Johnston (January 10, 1807-May 1, 1853) who later died of pneumonia. He was married to Emeline Sophia Bowyer (1809-1893). Edward was the son of Andrew Johnston (1767-1811) and Anne Owen Nash Johnston (1775-1851).

Dr. John Hook Griffin (1803-1878) was the brother of Elizabeth Hook Griffin (circa 1801-1829), Harvey Mitchell/Michel's first wife and mother of Charlotte Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell (1829-1921). Dr. Griffin's wife was Sarah Jane McClanahan (1859-1926).  

Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)

My wife = Estelle, Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa. 1802-1848)

JAT = Joseph Augustine Turner (1875-1937), grandson of Hollins Institute founder, Dr. Charles Lewis Cocke (1820-1878).                          

Henry (Bowyer) Griffin (1838-1940) 
Charles Beale Griffin (1834-1885)
John William Griffin (1835-1864). Enlisted in the 19th Virginia Infantry Regiment in 1861, became lieutenant and regimental chaplain, died August 1, 1864. 
Mrs. G and Dr. Griffin's daughter Emeline (1857-1926) married William Boardman Bowles (1859-1926) in 1885. 

Images: Wiki Commons (top), Peachridge Glass blog, link here (middle), and the Library of Congress, link here (bottom).

[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration, and to Beth S. Harris as noted above.]  

      

Edward William Johnston to Langdon Cheves, Jr., September 25, 1836

[Edward William Johnston at New York City to Langdon Cheves, Jr., Attorney at Law, at Columbia, South Carolina, September 25, 1835. Cheves Family Papers (1808-1934), South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. This is my rough transcription. Note that in the original, Johnston's text frequently employs the old-fashioned "long s" -- i.e., when the letter "s" is doubled up in a word, the first "s" looks more like a lower case "f." Extra paragraph breaks added for easier reading.] 

N. York, Sept. 25th 1836

Dear Cheves

My arrival here, 5 days ago, gave me your first letter; and your second came yesterday. The latter lets me see that you understand why the former remained unnoticed: and tho', perhaps, this is the very occasion for giving a large to excuse it -- because, for this once, I might make them with every advantage of a good cause. I shall spare you, 'till my eloquence finds some more pressing occasion to exert itself.

You give me the only written news I have of Columbia. Of the heavy festivities of your ermined buffoons, there is nothing to be said in any thing so dangerously tending towards somnolence as a letter. I pass by, therefore, a subject so infectious of dulness [dullness]. 

Your history of the ravages which those horrible barbarians of the Sand-hills are committing among the trout is certainly the most appalling story that has been written since Nennius, that Celtic Jeremiah wrote (or wept) his de excidio Britannia. 

How different the tale, which I have to relate, of a four-days expedition, on foot, with but a single companion, into the wildest recesses of the Virginia mountains! How you will glow, when I tell you of the 53 speckled trout caught in a day! How you will turn pale with envy, to hear how we climbed untrodden hills and plunged thro'  torrents never visited before! And then, the scenery! -- whatever of picturesque, black forests and gigantic mountains and vast rocks, and wild clear streams falling into continual cascades, can offer by their most fantastic combination. 

My forte is certainly spirited description and stirring narrative: but, upon an occasion, like the present, where, if I shine, I am sure to make a friend unhappy, I know how to forbear. Do I not know that, with all my self-control in hiding from you all the fairest part of the picture, you will yet have seen enough to through you into a nympholepay, with which I shall find you wasting away, when I return.

Of the other part -- the civil part, as it might be called -- of my adventures in Virginia, it is hardly worth while to speak. I shall go on with the undertaking as to Mr. Henry. I have gleaned much that is of interest; and am in the way to get more. I am satisfied in one particular especially -- that I can turn to miracle of his eloquence and all that, into a regular result from education and laborious attainment, He was a far-better educated man than his marvel-loving biographer -- that I am sure of. Among other things, I have a complete list of the library which he left at his death, It is, for that day, a very large one, and made up as if by one whose active and inquiring mind embraced every thing. There is, too, an unusual quantity of Latin, with some Greek, and French enough to show that even this had caught his attention.

It will, however, interest you, more than all this, to hear of the progress of my designs, as to future occupation. I need not particularly mention several abortive affairs, that have been presented to me: nor can I speak of any thing here, where my perquisitions have, as yet, been very slight. An offer had been made to me, at Washington, which I am much more disposed to embrace than any thing else at all likely to present itslef. Duff Green, you are aware, has in the strangest manner, turned all his great imaginations into gold-realising, from one of his many charters alone, some 700,000 dollars for himself and most immediate associates. 

He is, therefore, in the most successful state; and, with his present resources, able safely to undertake the design in which he is anxious to engage me -- that of re-establishing the Southern Review, at the head of which he wishes to place me. In the attempt, he has the zealous concurrence of those who are most able to promote its success -- Preston, Calhoun & Hamilton; who are to aid him, during an expedition he is presently making to Georgia, Carolina & Virginia, in organizing the matter. Of course, till all is arranged with the Southern public -- who will form, in some sort, the company, the Stockholders of the affair -- he can make no positive arrangement with me; but can only engage for the intentions & efforts of himself and his friends (to whom I may add my own) to fix the matter, with a good sound compensation, upon me.

I should, for reasons that you can easily divine, prefer this position to any other at all attainable to me, even tho' such might be, in point of mere profit & income, a good deal more advantageous. I cannot, in truth, abandon the South without an extreme an extreme reluctance.

In the view, therefore, of securing this matter, my present purpose is, to glance around me here enough to survey the ground against any contrary event, and to pass some 2 or 3 weeks in cultivation of certain general literary objects, that belong to this undertaking. After that, I must get back at my post, and endeavor to assist in furthering the general scheme, as well as in promoting my own particular part in it.

In both these, you and those other friends to whom you can speak, must bestir yourselves for me, without delay. I know that set [line inked out] will fix their eyes upon a totally different person -- namely Legaré. He, however, is lucky, but still little disposed to second them, and more luckily still, is unfit for the thing in every thing but talents. Superior as his are, you know how totally unworthy to be trusted he is, in general political views -- of which this thing is, of course, to be a leading organ: and how dangerous he is, in the Special matter of Slavery -- one of the chief concerns of the plan. In this, his timidity is more to be dreaded than even the treachery of Pinckney.

Preston is more particularly Duff Green's counsellor in his choice of me. You can, therefore, talk with him freely. Afterwards, do whatever, upon consultation, may seem likely to be effectual.

You know that I have been so much occupied, in idea, with this matter, that I am entirely prepared to give it the strongest organization, in point of literary plan and the concert of collaborateurs. Of both of these, I have great confidence in our resources, as I am sure of being able to muster them.

I can secure, at once, 8 or 9 good writers, of different casts, to give an article each, for every number. This is enough for the body of the work. An irregular corps of 30 more can be enlisted; whose contributions will make up all the occasional matter. My plan will be, to make nearly 1/2 the matter of a miscellaneous & popular cast, so that it may in some sort, combine the Review & the Magazine. Syd can tell you more particularly of all this. 

I regret exceedinly the plan of Sausure [De Saussure?], or rather its necessity. Nobody knows better, or loves better, his worth and that of his wife, than Estelle & I. We love them, both for themselves, and as members of a family, who we esteem above all others in Cal'a [Carolina]. I do not except Ellen, whom we regard as misled, though pardonable influence, and whom we entirely excuse, as a child. 

Farewell. If you do not hear from me again, you shall see me. Do not think me negligent of writing, from the example of past. I never am so, except under circumstances that render the contrary almost impossible. My wife sends you her most affectionate remembrance. Neither of us will easily come to form any image of an agreeable life, in which the old familiar, fraternal intercourse with you shall not be a part.

                                                                      Ever truly yours
                                                                      Ed. Wm. Johnston

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867). He had written an article for The Southern Review in 1831 and completed an article for The Southern Literary Messenger in 1836. 
Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848)
Langon Cheves, Jr. (1814-1863), pro-secessionist, later killed in action during the American Civil War. 
Henry = Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Duff Green (1791-1875). Former editor of US Telegraph, pro-Andrew Jackson until he tilted toward John C. Calhoun. Sometime in 1837, he established the short-lived The Reformer.  
Preston = William Campbell Preston (1794-1860), US Senator for South Carolina.
Calhoun = John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850), US Senator for South Carolina.
Hamilton = James Hamilton, Jr. (1786-1857), former Nullifier.
Legaré = Hugh Swinton Legaré (1797-1843), in Europe at the time. Former editor of The Southern Review, which folded in 1832. 
Pickney = probably South Carolina Congressman Henry C. Pinckney
Syd = Algernon Sidney Johnston (1801-1852)
William Ford De Saussure (1792-1870), married to Sarah Jones Davie De Saussure (1793-1854), part of the Columbia socio-political elite.
Ellen = [?]
Note: The Southern Review resurrection project apparently did not come to fruition.]. 

[Thanks to D. Travis Brand, Library Specialist, South Caroliniana Library (SCL), University of South Carolina (USC), for providing a scan of the original that also included a partial typed transcript. Thanks also to Jessica Crouch, Archivist at USC as well as to Mike Berry of the SCL.]

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

"Edward William Johnston And Roanoke Female Seminary" (1969), Part 2

[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. They worked with Professor Louis Decimus Rubin, Jr. (1923-2013) at Hollins; I worked for him for a couple of years at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill before becoming a professional librarian, and he often spoke of Hollins-connected writers.]

With the breakup of the Roanoke Female Seminary in the early 1840s, Edward William Johnston resumed his work as a writer and newspaper editor. At some point, he acquired a residence in Washington City.

So it is with some surprise to read that in the 1840s, Edward "spent several years at 'Lauderdale,' the house of his cousin, Judge Edward Johnston. This farm is about twenty miles from Hollins College. We have in the Hollins Archives a letter written by Edward William Johnston from 'Lauderdale' on Feb. 14, 1844, to Dr. John H. Griffin of Salem about the recurring illness of his wife, Estelle . . ." (page 21).

"In 1848, Edward William Johnston was made a corresponding member of the Virginia Historical Society, along with Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury and other distinguished Virginians. After the death of his first wife, Johnston married a Mrs. Woolley of Louisville, Kentucky, and just before the outbreak of the Civil War went to St. Louis, where he served as librarian of the Mercantile Library . . ." (pages 21-22).

Other Johnston family connections to Hollins down the generations: 

Caroline Hughes Neal, Hollins Class of 1953 (Edward William Johnston's great great niece). [Caroline Wright Hughes, b. 1931, may still be alive. She was married to John Jenette Neal, Jr. (1927-2006)]
Alice Johnston Williams, Class of 1892
Virginia Williams Lee, A.B. 1928
Jane Williams, B.M., 1930
Eloise Johnston [(1872-1943)], attended 1888-1890. Sister of the novelist Mary Johnston [(1870-1936)]
Helen Converse Putzel, A.B. 1963, granddaughter of Agnes Hughes Johnston hailing from Abingdon (page 22).

In the Bibliography: "Papers marked 'Literary Remains.' These seem to be class lectures. Some are in Johnston's own handwriting, others were copied for him by a member of his family. The subjects are literary and historical" (page 24). Presumably these are held by Hollins University.

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Estelle = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848).
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 died on September 2, 1845, in Washington City, undoubtedly while living in the Edward William Johnston household there.
Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866)
Jane = Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892)
Judge Edward Johnston (January 10, 1807-May 1, 1853) died of pneumonia. He was married to Emeline Sophia Bowyer (1809-1893).
Dr. John Hook Griffin (1803-1878) was the brother of Elizabeth Hook Griffin (circa 1801-1829), Harvey Mitchell/Michel's first wife and mother of Charlotte Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell (1829-1921)]


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

"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.]

Edward William Johnston: Rules of the Roanoke Female Seminary, 1839 (Part 1)

[Edward William Johnston, RULES OF THE ROANOKE FEMALE SEMINARY (1839). An original copy of this circular can be found at Hollins Digital Commons, Hollins University, here; and in Box 1, John Warfield Johnston Papers, 1778-1890, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. A transcribed version can be found here: "Notes on Hollins College," The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 9, Number 4 (October 1929), pages 330-332].

RULES OF THE ROANOKE FEMALE SEMINARY

1.  There must be prompt and cheerful obedience to the written Rules, and to all injunctions of the Teachers and Governesses.

2.  In school, at study hours, during Religious Duties, and after going to bed, there must be strict Silence.

3.  Noise with the feet, with desks, or with Chairs; disorderly Running, in the House or School; and all Cries or clamorous Laughter, are forbidden.

4.  The Roll will be called at Morning and Evening Prayers. No absence will be allowed. The Dress will be inspected, on both these occasions.

5.  In the interval between Morning Prayers and Breakfast, young ladies must make their beds, and put their Rooms in order for Inspection.

6.  One pupil, in each room, will be selected, as Inspectress. She will be answerable for all Irregularities, of which she does not report the authors; and will give out and receive back clothes from the Wash.  

7.  Each pupil will bring from home an exact list of her clothes. They shall, every week, be compared with it, by the Inspectress of her room.

8.  A Monitress will be appointed in each Class; who will be answerable for all disorders, in study-hours, that she does not report.

9.  Five minutes after the ringing of the bell, will be allowed, for Pupils to be in their places, at Table, or in School.

10. At Table, the quietest Good-Manners must be observed. No Greediness or Daintiness must be discovered. Pupils must learn either to speak French, or be silent.

11. There must be no familiarity with Servants; nor, on the other hand, must they ever be treated uncivilly.

12. Going out without a bonnet, or quitting your Seat, or the School-room without leave, will always incur a mark of Ill-conduct.

13. The careless Destruction of any part of the Property of the Establishment will [be] subject to a Bad Mark, and must, besides, be paid for.

14. Nothing belonging to the House must be used, without leave.

15. Each class will have its Garden-ground, its tools and Seeds and Plants. These must not be entered nor touched, by one of another class, without leave.

16. The same respect for the property of others must be practised in every thing -- books, stationary, clothes, &c. &c.

17. The Public Road, the Gardens of the Proprietor, the Cultivated Fields, the Fruit trees, and the Creek are, without leave, strictly forbidden ground.

18. Pupils must, in general, do nothing which, known abroad, would injure the character of the School, or their own.

19. Tale-bearing, Rudeness of Speech, Quarreling, Nick-names, attempts to frighten or to teaze [tease] each other, all sporting with the Truth, and all refusing to speak to each other, will be punished.

20. There must be no Idleness. Pupils must endeavor to render their Recreations useful. When not taking Exercise, they must read or work. No Plays will be suffered, in the House, unless with the Governess's permission.

21. Pupils will not be allowed to go home, except on Holidays -- (2 days at Christmas, 1 at Easter, and 1 on the 4th of July), or as a reward for unusual Diligence. But Parents, visiting them, will always be entertained with pleasure.

22. Saturday must be occupied in mending Clothes, attending to some house-hold Art, or something improving.

23. Sunday must be dedicated to Moral and Religious Studies and Duties; and must be profaned by no Noise or Play.

24. The Morning Bell will ring at Day-break. Prayers 20 minutes after, Breakfast 1 hour after Prayers. School will open 30 minutes after the Breakfast bell, and continue 3 hours. There will then be a Recess 'till 1 P. M. -- the Dinner hour. School will re-open at 2, and continue 'till 5. Supper at 6 in winter, and 7 in Summer. After Supper, Study resumes 'till 9 -- the hour of Evening Prayers. 30 minutes will then be allowed for going to bed. No light permitted, after that.

25. The ordinary Punishments and Rewards will consist of Marks of Good or Ill Conduct. Of these, a Register will be kept, and the Comparative Result reported, monthly, to the Parents. Idleness, Falsehood, Ill-temper, Disobedience, want of Cleanliness, and Immodesty, and slighter faults habitually committed, will be punished by, 1st. Loss of Recreation; 2nd. Restrictions in the quality of Food; 3rd. Confinement. Pupils committing gross Improprieties, or who show themselves, after sufficient trial, incorrigible, will be expelled. 

[The rules give a pretty good idea, no doubt, of actual student behavior, while brief descriptions of the facilities provide a general idea of the resources available in and around Botetourt Springs, Virginia, formerly owned by Edward's uncle, Charles Johnston.]

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Charles Johnston (1769-1833)
One of the Governesses would have been Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848)]

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