Susan Smith Preston Radford to John Preston Johnston, March 14, 1842

[Susan Smith Preston Radford at Greenfield, Fincastle, Botetourt County, Virginia, to John Preston Johnston at West Point, New York, March 14, 1842. Endorsed by Pres: “Rec’d March 21^st 1842. Ansr’d April 18^th 1842.” Box 26, Folder 13, 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. Extra paragraph breaks added for easier reading.]

My dear Preston

I promised myself that I would (by way of setting you a good example) answer you ever-welcome letter the day after I received it, but first one thing and then another has happened to prevent me until I have suffered nearly three weeks to pass without writing.

We have as usual had a lonely and dreary winter one of the mildest we have had for many years every thing begins to wear the face of Spring the fields green, and the peach trees are in full bloom which I much fear will be killed by frost.

Your Uncle Radford returned last evening after a visit of a week to Bedford he left them all well at Father’s. Dr. Radford and his Lady were there I could not go down as we had just got a teacher who boards with us, the little girls are getting on, very well with their studies and I hope will soon be able to write to you, they talk a great deal about you and are always wishing you lived near to us.

Cousin Eliza Carrington has not yet arrived in Botetourt but is expected the last of this month she has been greatly perplexed & harassed & I much fear it is not to end with her removal to Botetourt. It is generally believed that the Gen’l is totally ruined.

Aunt Sally I heard had settled something quite handsome on Cousin Eliza and we heard Mr. Brace had given some ten or fifteen slaves to the children, so that in any event they will be much richer than any of us in this part of the country. She has too you know a very opulent brother, and cousin Tom will be able & I have no doubt willing to do a good deal for them if they should require it, by the by have you heard that Cousin Tom Preston is certainly to be married to our Botetourt Bell [Belle] Miss Elizabeth Watts, since Mr. Holcomb’s marriage he has been a constant visitor and is to be married ere long – the day not fixed but all other preliminaries settled, I hope and trust that he will be happy for I have a sincere affection for him.

I had not heard until you wrote that Eliza had gone to the South pray when you write give me her address I wish to write to her and beg her to spend next summer with me, I know our house and neighborhood offers very few attractions for a young person but to tell you the truth I want to get acquainted with Eliza and she will not be able to stay in the South during the Summer months. I would be sincerely glad to have her with me, tell her as much in your next letter and when I know certainly where she is, I will write to her.

I did hear that cousin Sally Floyd expected to settle in Abingdon but her health is so bad she will hardly continue to keep house long.

Cousin Tom said Aunt Sally would come down as soon as the roads were passable to visit her daughter Mrs. McDowell who is in great affliction as I suppose you have heard of Sally’s separation from her husband Mr. Thomas of Maryland it is a horrible affair but all agree he is entirely to blame.

Mr. Peyton left here last Sunday on is way to Washington with his daughters to put them under the care of your Uncle Edward. I am truly glad to hear you say he is doing so well I hope he will continue to prosper. I think the occupation will suit him much better than teaching did, the old French people have gone to be with him in Washington.

When you see Uncle Joe remember me kindly to him I am not so entirely unacquainted with having met him some years ago in New York and I was exceedingly pleased with him.

Susan Bowyer received your big paper and was exceedingly pleased with it, the boys are going to school to our teacher and I hope are doing well. Tom I think is to be a plantation man. Tell Carleton to write to us we would be very glad to hear from him.

Your uncle and the little girls write with me in kind love to you Liz says she will knit you some socks if a soldier will were [wear] them. Write soon to your affectionate Aunt.

                                             S. S. Radford

                                                         

[S. S. Radford = Susanna (Susan) Smith Preston Radford (1805-1857)

Preston = John Preston Johnston/aka Johnstone (1824-1847), eighteen-year-old cadet at the US Military Academy (Class of 1843).

Dr. Radford and his Lady = Dr. John Blair Radford (1813-1872) and Elizabeth Campbell Taylor Radford (1820-1886).

Eliza Carrington = Elizabeth (Eliza) Henry Preston Carrington (1796-1877)

Gen’l Carrington = Edward Codrington Carrington (1790-1855)

Aunt Sally = probably Sarah “Sally” Buchanan Campbell Preston (1778-1846)

Mr. Brace = not sure who this is.

Cousin Tom, Tom Preston = presumably the same person = Thomas Lewis Preston (1812-1903) who married Elizabeth Watts (1822-1843) on September 18, 1842.

Mr. Holcomb = not sure who this is.

Eliza = Eliza Mary Johnston (1825-1909)

Sally Floyd = Sarah “Sally” Buchanan Preston Floyd (1802-1879)

Mrs. McDowell = probably Susanna “Susan” Smith Preston McDowell (1800-1847), married to James McDowell (1795-1851).

Sally = Aunt Sally above? Did she remarry briefly after the death of her husband Francis Smith Preston (1765-1836)? Or is this another Sally?

Mr. Thomas of Maryland = not sure who this is.

Mr. Peyton = probably either William Madison Peyton (1814-1868) or General Bernard Peyton (1792-1854), then serving on the Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors with General Peter Carr Johnston (1793-1877), general in the Virginia militia. Probably Sue and Lizzie Peyton, who had been students of Edward’s at Botetourt Springs, circa 1839-1840.

Edward William Johnston (1799-1867) had moved to Washington City by this point. He was working as a newspaper editor but also, it appears, boarding and tutoring students.

The old French people = Jerome de Cressac Villagrand (1776-1845) and Joséphine Labarrière Costar de Cressac Villagrand (circa 1776-1858), mother of Estelle, Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) (ca. 1802-1848).

Joe = Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891), first lieutenant in the US Corps of Topographical Engineers.

Susan Bowyer = one of the Bowyer clan.

Carlton = Richard Carlton Walker Radford (1822-1886), West Point Class of 1845.

Little girls = Elizabeth (“Liz”) Radford (1832-1898) and Mary Anne Radford (1833-1878).]

[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young 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.]

John Preston Johnston to William Mosely Radford, January 31, 1840

Fincastle, Virginia, circa 1840, from  Howe’s Historical Collection of Virginia

[John Preston Johnston, at United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, to William Mosely Radford at Fincastle, Virginia, 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, partial transcription.]

[In the first two paragraphs, John Preston Johnston gives his uncle Radford a description of the snow-covered area around West Point, and mentions his high standing. 

The third paragraph delves into the female seminary ("Uncle Edward's school") disaster of 1839. Due to this, there was at least a temporary falling out between Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston and her husband Edward William Johnston vs. Harvey Mitchell/Michel and his wife, Edward's sister, Jane Wood Mitchell/Michel. This seems to have been patched up only after John Preston Johnston and Estelle's deaths.]

I am on your account sorry for Lizzy's not returning to Uncle Edward's school, but on hers, I must say that I consider it a commendable thing to do; for I should be most loathe for the influence of "Madame Estelle" to be extended upon her, as it would, in great measure, if not entirely, counterbalance the good effect of Uncle Edward's most excellent example, especially since Aunt Jane has now left: our noble "Madame Estelle Marie Antoine de la Costar," Lizzie has informed me, has rendered herself not able and distinguished in all that Country by her unmistakable fondness for the "Water of life." This then is the secret of Uncle Edward's losing all his scholars. I always knew and always said, even while in Liberty, that the cursed old Hag would ruin him yet: T'would be a blessing to the World if she could be secretly poisoned, a thing, by the way which I would not hesitate to do "pro bon publico." It is really distressing to think that so excellent a man as Uncle Edward must always be clogged by such a "Witch of Hell" and all his fortunes ruined on her account.

I wish most sincerely I could be with you all about this time, feasting on the Glorious fare of Greenfield. I would be rather willing to exchange my tough rations of "corned beef," pickled pork, and "cod fish" for your splendid provisions. I think if you and Aunt Susan intend taking a pleasure trip anywhere next summer, you could not possibly pick upon a more agreeable place than this: during the whole of the Spring and Summer months the place is thronged with visitors, and a now novel and beautiful sight, than the Encampment you will never come across: parties are given by the Corps of Cadets every night and two splendid balls one on the Fourth of July and the other on the 28 August when we strike our tents: the number of visitors is never less than 300 at any time during the Summer and I can show you more Lights than you could find at any place in the Union.

Give my love to Aunt Susan, whom I hope you will prevail upon to write to me, and you, I beg you, follow her example. Remember me also to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Bowyer, and ask them if I can ever expect a letter or news from either of them.

Most Sincerely
J P Johnstone [nod to Sir Walter Scott] 

Tell Aunt Sarah I shall write to her very soon if she will promise to answer my letter. 

[John Preston Johnston (1824-1847)
William Mosely Radford (1810-1873)
Lizzy = Eliza Mary Johnston (1825-1909)
Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa 1802-1848) 
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866)
Jane Wood Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892)
Aunt Susan = Susanna Smith Preston Radford (circa 1805-1857)
Greenfield plantation = Fincastle vicinity, manor at the time of William and Susanna Preston Radford
Aunt Sarah = Sarah Radford Preston Bowyer (1806-1848)
Uncle Bowyer = Henry M. Bowyer (1802-1893)].

Algernon Sidney Johnston: First Impressions of Columbia, South Carolina, 1827

From John B. Jackson Map of Columbia, ca. 1850, copied in 1931.*

[Algernon Sidney Johnston at Columbia, South Carolina, to "My dear sister" Louisa J. Johnston at Abingdon, Virginia, February 24, 1827, Box 1, John Warfield Johnston Papers, 1778-1890, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University].

This letter is basically composed of two parts. In the first, the twenty-five year old's pining for unrequited love left in Virginia, probably one of his Preston cousins: "a fair-haired, rosy-lipped, blue-eyed maid whom I love better than anything else on earth or in heaven . . ." In the second, there is a brief description of Johnston's early impressions of Columbia. 

"The town is larger than I supposed it would be, and finely situated. The inhabitants are gay, intelligent, and agreeable: The ladies are handsome and excessively fond of dancing . . . I have been to a good many very gay parties; my strongest inducement for going is to get plenty of oranges, which abound at such places." 

Johnston, often referred to as "A.S. Johnston" and "Sid" or "Syd," notes: "With regards to the manner on which we are coming on here, my previous letters to Abingdon explain it sufficiently: I suppose you have seen them . . ." so he won't repeat the details (unfortunately). 

Later in 1827, he and his brother Edward William Johnston set up a book shop. Around the time of Syd's letter, though, they were selling fabrics. 

When did they arrive in Columbia? Possibly as early as sometime in 1826, but certainly by January 1827. The fact that their fabrics came from New York City is intriguing and suggests some of what Edward was up to when he lived in Manhattan, probably with the direct assistance and guidance of Estelle, Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand), whom he had married in 1824, and perhaps with the help of other Villagrands or their connections in New York City.

From the South-Carolina State Gazette & Columbia Advertiser, April 21, 1827, front page (XXXIV: 1883):

E.W. & A.S. JOHNS[T]ON 

HAVE removed their Store to Dr. DELEON'S brickhouse, opposite CLARK'S Hotel, where they are now receiving from New-York a Supply of beautiful Spring and Summer Goods, such as a fine assortment of Calicoes of elegant patterns and fast colours . . . Ginghams, plain and striped . . . Muslins . . . Levantine, Italian and India silks . . . Handkerchiefs, Points and Collars, White and black Bobbinet Lace veils . . . French Frizettes . . . Crazy Jane and Children's Bobbinet Caps, Shell Combs . . . Ladies' Horse-skin, Kid, Beaver and Silk Gloves . . . Ribbons . . . Irish linens . . . wide Circassian . . . Merino Cloths . . .

These, with their former stock, and the further supplies which they will be often receiving, form, they are persuaded, a stock every way worthy of the attention of those who will do them the favor to examine and compare. They have taken the utmost pains to procure articles of the best quality, and offer them at prices which for cheapness cannot be exceeded.

[Algernon Sidney "Syd" Johnston (October 17, 1801-September 22, 1852)
Louisa Smith Bowen Johnston (1800-1873)
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867) 
Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) (ca. 1802-1848)
William Campbell Preston (1794-1860) - Syd and Edward's cousin and mentor, their biggest Columbia draw
Benjamin "Ben" Franklin Johnston (1808-1834) graduated from South Carolina College in 1830; it's unclear whether he had already arrived in Columbia by the time of Syd's letter] 

For their help and assistance, many thanks to the staff of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. For more information about the John Warfield Johnston Papers, here's a link to the guide. 

*Red circles indicate possible locations of E. W. & A. S. Johnston's store. A clickable version of the full map can be found here, at NOVA NUMISMATICS. 

From Les Cayes and Fond de Île-à-Vache to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City

By 1805, Joséphine Labarrière had evacuated her three children from Les Cayes and Fond de Île-à-Vache (an offshore island of Saint-Domingue), under orders of General Jean-Louis Ferrand (1758-1808), Gouverneur de Saint-Domingue, during the uprisings and revolution. Ferrand remained behind to fight; he eventually committed suicide rather than be captured, though in death he was decapitated and his head placed on a pike. I haven't been able to determine what happened to Paul Valentin Costar, but he seems to have died by 1805, possibly from yellow fever. He was apparently in Philadelphia at the time of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, which involved a large number of refugees from Saint-Domingue's "troubles." Other members of the Costar family also resided at or near Les Cayes and perhaps elsewhere on Saint-Domingue. Known names include Louis Séverin Costar, a military officer, and Marie Félicité Jeanne Isabelle de Costar. See Généalogie et Histoire de la Caraïbe numéro 141: Octobre 2001, p. 3310. 

As of September 9, 1805, Joséphine Labarrière Costar was living in Baltimore with her children. Presumably she married Jerome De Cressac Villagrand sometime between about 1812 and 1815, by which time they lived in New York City. 

Joséphine Labarrière / Josephine La Barriere (ca. 1776-6 April 1858)

1. Dr. Paul Valentine (Valentin) Costar / Costard / Costari (d. ca. 1804)

a. Henry Benjamin Costar (January 3, 1795-Feb 6, 1848) = Aleda G.

Children: 

Lucien Costar (d. July 10, 1865)* 

Athalide Costar = Leger (husband, deceased before 1858)

Henry R. [or P.] Costar (d. Mar 10, 1857) = wife

Children:

Julia Estelle Costar (d. 9 Nov 1890)

Maria Athalide Costar (d. Sept. 12, 1888)

Henrietta J. Costar (d. 2 June 1883)

John Costar (guardian of the above) 

b. Antoine Marie / Anthony M. Costar (d. 15 January 1859)

c. Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar = Edward William Johnston

  

2. Jerome De Cressac Villagrand (1769-1845)

*"COSTAR. -- On Friday, July 7, LUCIEN J., son of Aleda G. and the late Henry Costar, aged 38 years. The relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral, at St. Ann's Church, 8th-st., on Monday morning, at 9 1/2 o'clock." NY Times, July 10, 1865. Link here.

Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and the French Refugees to America, Late 1700s and Early 1800s

Saint-Domingue (Haiti) on left, prior to 1804.

In discovering more information about the family of Edward William Johnston's (1799-1867) first wife, I'm still not entirely sure how it all fits together. Let's begin with their marriage.

"Saturday last [February 7, 1824], by Rev. Mr. Powers, Edward W. Johns[t]on of Virginia to Maria Antoinette Estelle Costar, of this city." (New York Marriage Newspaper Extracts, 1801-1880, Barber Collection). 

And her death. "Died- In Washington City, on Friday, Dec. 15, Mrs. Marie Antoinette Estelle Johnston, wife of Edward William Johnston,"  Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, Tuesday, December 19, 1848.  ("From the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia," film 144).

Find-A-Grave record: "Marie Antoinette Estelle Johnston, Death, December 16, 1848. In this city on yesterday morning after a severe and painful illness, Mrs. Marie Antoinette Estelle Johnston, wife of Edward W. Johnston, Esq. The funeral will take place from her late residence at 2 o'clock this day which the friends of the family are invited to attend. --from the Congressional Cemetery Archives. 

Burial: Congressional Cemetery, Washington, District Of Columbia, USA Plot: Range 56 site 61." I believe now that Marie (or Maria) Antoinette's mother was named Joséphine Labarrière, and that her father was Dr. Paul Valentine Costar (perhaps shortened from Costari); Jerome De Cressac Villagrand was her step-father. Source: Joséphine Labarrière, veuve de Costard [Costar], en premières noces, et épouse, en secondes noces, du sieur de Cressac de Villagrand. Plantation Owners of St. Domingue, 1789. http://www.domingino.de/stdomin/colons_l.htm Next document: Costari, Henry Benjamin, born Jan. 3d [1795], of Dr. Paul Valentine and Mary Joséphine Labarrier Costari; baptized [April] 7th; sponsors -- Benjamin Prouveur and Henrietta Fabre, French.  Source: American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. Baptismal Records (1887), p. 13: https://archive.org/stream/recordsofamerica22ameruoft#page/12/mode/2up After Dr. Paul Valentine Costar died sometime in the early 1800s (presumably), Joséphine Labarrière Costar married and resided with Jerome De Cressac Villagrand in New York City until sometime in the 1840s, when they moved to Washington City and resided with Edward William Johnston and Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar Johnston. Jerome died in 1845. Joséphine stayed on with Edward after the death of her daughter, but seems to have moved back to New York City around 1857, probably about the time Edward remarried and was living in St. Louis.  Next document: Probate, April 22, 1858, New York, New York. Anthony M. Costar, legatee of last will and testament of Josephine La Barriere de C. Villegrand, widow, deceased (she died April 6, 1858). Anthony M. Costar, her son. Lucien Costar, Athalide Leger, widow, children of Henry Costar, deceased, a son of said deceased, residing No. 9, East 11th Street, New York, NY, Julia Estelle Costar, Maria Athalide Costar and Henrietta J. Costar, minors, New York, NY, children of Henry R [or P] Costar, deceased, a son of Henry Costar, deceased. John Costar, son, New York, NY.  Source: New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999.

The Surprise of the Night-Blooming Cereus . . . in 1825

Some of the fun in conducting research comes from serendipity and synchronicity. In this case, while sleuthing for more about the mysterious 19th century French-speaking Villagrand family in New York City, I came across an advertisement for the also mysterious night-blooming cereus. There's a personal history connected to the latter, but more on that soon. 

From the New York Evening Post (July 18, 1825). Evidently, Castle Garden is the place to be. Online source via here.

Lost and Found: The Villagrand Family, Part II

The search for anything Jerome Villagrand (1776-1845) and his daughter Marie Antionette Estelle Costar Villagrand Johnston (ca. 1802-1848) continues.

Checking through period New York directories, one can find Jerome Villagrand listed for 1815; in 1820, de Cressac is added. In 1827-28, he's listed as Jerome Cressac de Villagrand at 28 and 26 Park-place. For 1829-30, the address is rendered as 30 Chapel. He's listed again as Jerome Villagrand De Cressac in 1835, and in 1839-40, 30 Chapel is again given. By 1845, he's removed to Washington, DC.

I came across a small handful of later accounts pertinent to the Villagrands when they lived in Manhattan.

According to John Franklin Sprague: "About 1812, a refugee Frenchman, Jerome Cressac de Villagrand, kept a hotel in College Place, which was a favorite rendezvous and place for discussion. It was here that Fitz-Greene Halleck, representing the Astor family, received and entertained Prince Louis Napoleon." (Sprague, New York, the Metropolis. The New York Recorder, 1893, page 59).

From an 1890 account: "There is still to be seen at 30 College Place, (old Chapel Street,) on the corner of Park Place, a house, which in olden days was known as Villagrand's Hotel. Jerome Cressac de Villagrand was the Delmonico of those times, and his table d'hôte was much frequented by Frenchmen from 1825 to 1840. The place was the headquarters of all distinguished French refugees. A barber's shop, a bar, and a restaurant are now in the historical old manor where Joseph Bonaparte, as Comte de Survilliers, and numerous other celebrities ate many a meal." ("Former French Visitors: Notable Men Who Have Sought Freedom in America," New York Times, November 9, 1890).

And another: "The one house that may be found in the lower part of the city which is associated with any distinguished person already mentioned is the large, old-fashioned manor house, No. 30 College Place (old Chapel Street), on the corner of Park Place. This place was Villagrand's Hotel. Everybody knew Villagrand's from 1825 to 1840. Jerome Cressac de Villagrand served the best French cookery in town. [NYC's approximate population in 1830: 202,589]. All the French refugees made the place their headquarters. Jerome Bonaparte, ex-king of Naples, and known while in exile as Count Survilliers, was frequently a guest at this house; and politics were often discussed there over the throwing bowl till far into the night. And it was at Villagrand's that Fitz-Greene Halleck lodged and lived nearly all the years he managed the business of Mr. Astor in Vesey and Prince streets. It was at Villagrand's that Halleck gave a dinner to Prince Louis Napoleon in 1837, when he too was a wandering exile and lived at the old City Hotel in Broadway. The building is all that remains of antiquity in the neighborhood; and it still maintains a public character, for there is a well-patronized bar and restaurant in the basement and barber-shop on the first floor. Fifty years ago some of the wealthiest men in the city lived in the immediate vicinity."   (F.B. Stanford, "Where Noted Men Have Lived in New York," The Illustrated American, October 25, 1890, pages 242-243).

Last but not least, the observations of "the American Byron," Fitz-Greene Halleck, circa 1816-17: "Finding that there were too many Americans at Madame Berault's, and that my wish of learning the French language was in vain while I continued there, I left her house on the 1st of February, and went to Mons. Villagrand's, in Chambers Street, where I still reside. Nothing but French is spoken here, and I have already nearly completed my knowledge of it. I now speak it with facility, and have often been taken, or rather mistaken, for a Frenchman by Frenchmen themselves. The family consists of the husband and wife, two sons, and a daughter. The wife and daughter are very agreeable, and both rather pretty. The former is somewhere from thirty to one hundred. One can never distinguish between youth and old age in a French woman. The dress of mother and daughter is alike, even to the roses on their hats and the morning paper-curls for their hair. The same amusements is common to each, each moves in the same social circle, and one would rather believe them playmates and companions than mother and child. I shall probably remain with them for years, until circumstances may render some other residence necessary."  (James Grant Wilson, The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1869, page 175).

(Illustration above: Les Modes Parisiennes, circa early-to-mid 1840s, via costumes.org) 

Note: as of the time of this posting, I can be reached at efrance23@gmail.com

Lost and Found: The Villagrand Family, Part I

On my January 30, 2012 post, I left by asking what had happened to Estelle Villagrand Johnston, wife of Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)? She was not with Edward in St. Louis in the last decade of his life, so perhaps she'd already died, or gone away from him, or had been sent away?

Thanks to Mary Louise (aka Louisa) Michel (aka Mitchell), Estelle's niece, I was able to pursue a new line of investigation -- and find answers.

Many decades after the fact, Mary Louise remembered being allowed to stay with her Uncle Edward in Washington, DC, when she was ten. She was probably a little bit older than ten, but no matter:

"Years before, in New York City, he [Edward William Johnston] had met and befriended one of those unfortunate French gentlemen who had been driven from Haiti by the negro insurrection. They became warm friends and, eventually, my uncle married his daughter." As noted in the above-mentioned blog post, the wedding had taken place on February 7, 1824, probably in New York City. "Now, after many years, she [Estelle] had died. Her widowed mother had long before been taken by my uncle into his home, and he had been to her a true son. Because the poor old lady was grief-stricken and lonely my uncle wished to borrow me for the winter, in the hope that a child's companionship might brighten life for them." (John B. Larner, "Some Reminiscences of Mrs. John M. Binckley of Early Days in Washington," Records of the Columbia History Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 29/30, 1928, pages 348-349).

These memories led me to find the following: "Died- In Washington City, on Sept. 2, at the house of his son-in-law (Edward William Johnston), Josephe Magnac DeCressae Villagrando [sic], a native of Magnac, France, aged 69 years and nearly 6 months," Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, Friday, September 5, 1845. ("From the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia," film 144).

Though the name is muddled, this was the father of Estelle Johnston. Other variations I've since come across in other records: Jerome D. Villagrand, Jerome Villagrand de Cressac and Jerome Villagrand. The above obituary notice gives us a helpful lifespan for Monsieur Villagrand: 1776-1845.

And what happened to Estelle?  "Died- In Washington City, on Friday, Dec. 15, Mrs. Marie Antoinette Estelle Johnston, wife of Edward William Johnston,"  Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, Tuesday, December 19, 1848.  ("From the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia," film 144).  Estelle's name, like her father's, has multiple variations, but now we can better estimate her lifespan: circa 1802-1848.

In the next post, more on the Villagrands when they resided in Manhattan.

Picture source: F.B. Stanford, "Where Noted Men Have Lived in New York," The Illustrated American (October 25, 1890), page 244.

The Times of Harvey Mitchell: Take I

When we last left Harvey Mitchell (January 31, 2012 post), he was being blamed by Estelle Villagrand Johnston for ruining the Roanoke Female Seminary in Botetourt Springs, Virginia, in 1839 because of a $1,000 debt. Now let's turn to a very different perspective.

". . . Mary Louise Michel (pronounced Mitchell) . . . was the daughter of Harvey Michel, of Bedford County, Virginia, and Jane Johnston Michel . . . . Mr. Michel was a charming man, an artist of some reputation, who received his education at Harvard and was noted among a very large circle of friends for his advanced views and delightful wit. Their home was a gay one and drew to its hospitable doors the pleasantest and most interesting of the people in the little city of Washington . . ." (John B. Larner, "Some Reminiscences of Mrs. John M. Binckley of Early Days in Washington," Records of the Columbia History Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 29/30, 1928, page 343).

According to several online library catalogs, Harvey Mitchell was born ca. 1801 and died ca. 1863. Let's try to breath even more life back into him, shall we?  

On July 22, 1828, he married Elizabeth Griffin in Lynchburg, Virginia, presided over by the Rev. Mr. William S. Reid. (Source:  Richmond, Virginia Visitor and Telegraph, August 2, 1828; from the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia).

On May 15, 1829, Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell died in Charleston, Massachusetts, "they [Elizabeth and Harvey Mitchell] having left Lynchburg about 12 months ago." (Source: Lynchburg Virginian, June 4, 1829; from the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia).

“Married – in Washington County [Virginia], by Rev. D.R. Preston, Harvey Mitchell, formerly of Lynchburg, to Miss Mary Jane Wood Johnston, only daughter of the late Judge Peter Johnston.” (Source: Lynchburg Virginian, October 4, 1832; from the marriage and obituary citations compiled by Bernard J. Henley from Virginia newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Virginia). My Johnston family notes indicate that the actual wedding date was September 24, 1832, and that Jane Mary Wood Johnston was born on November 26, 1811, making her just under twenty-one years old at the time of the wedding.    

It appears that Harvey Mitchell had taken up painting (mostly portraits) as early as the 1820s, and also worked as a teacher, certainly at the Bedford Female Seminary in Bedford County, Virginia, by 1837, and then at the Roanoke Female Seminary, Botetourt Springs, in 1839. Sometime between 1850 and 1860, Harvey and Jane Mitchell moved from Virginia to Washington, D.C., with three kids in tow: Mary Louisa (sometimes Louise), born in or around 1836; William M., born circa 1840; and Susan Henry Mitchell, born circa 1846.  In Washington, Harvey and Jane would probably have worked as tutors and teachers, I suspect. In any case, more to come . . .

Special thanks to: Anne Benham at the University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville (Reference); Lorenza Amico, Reference/Reserve Manager, Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library (UVA); Joey Klein and Dyron Knick, Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Library.

Pictures: Library of Congress. Top: Washington, D.C., circa 1849. Fashion plate: Shankland's American fashions,1849. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.