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| Cannonball, Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Virginia. (lori05871 from Rural Vermont, Wiki Commons) |
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.
This is the final section of the transcription annotated by P.D. Binckley.]
In the spring, Cousin Eliza Hughes invited me to visit them in Norfolk. I had not been there since I was a little girl. I dismissed my classes and hied me joyfully to that lovely city.
It was so nice to see them again. The Judge and Cousin Eliza had two sons. Cousin Robbie was married to a girl he'd known in his student days at William and Mary College at Williamsburg. I think he graduated at the University of Virginia also. Floyd was the other son and still at home, but engaged to a lovely girl, Nannie Ricks, whom Cousin Eliza adored.
I had a gorgeous time, of course. Floyd's friends called on me and took me out. They had a queer custom in Norfolk, which still survives I think. Floyd would hang around the house till ten o'clock in the evening before starting out to make a call. And I'd be thinking of going to bed when a gentleman would be announced. They had a very much nicer custom, though. The first time a young man took me to the theatre, Cousin Eliza told me to ask him in when he brought me home, and take him to the dining room for a little supper. We found on the table a beautiful cake and brandied peaches.
On [Sunday] we went to church, old Christ Church with the British cannon ball, still plainly visible, embedded in its front wall.
One of the young men I'd met at Alleghany Springs was from Norfolk, I remembered and I mentioned it to Floyd. He told me he afterward inquired about him, but he did not belong to any of the clubs. Which evidently disposed of him. I didn't care as I'd only danced with him. I never bothered with him in the daytime.
Then I went to Grandmother in Salem. [Before 1883, since Jane died in that year. -- P.D.B.] [Correction: Jane Johnston Mitchell/Michel died January 6, 1892, at age eighty.]
In spite of Aunt Charlotte, Grandmother and Aunt Sue were not going to stay put, it seemed. Grandmother's only surviving brother, Uncle Joe and his wife, Aunt Lily [Lydia McLane -- M.J.B.] who had lived in Washington for years, wanted them to come to Washington to live and be near them. Uncle Joe had promised to get Aunt Sue a government clerkship. So they were going. And they wanted me to join them there. I had a couple of portraits to paint and then I could go.
[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 artist's full signature name, Nella Fontaine Binckley.
Cousin Eliza Hughes = Eliza Mary Johnston Hughes (1825-1909), daughter of Eliza Madison Preston Johnston (1803-1828) and Charles Clement Johnston (1795-1832).
The Judge = Robert William Hughes (1821-1901).
Cousin Robbie = Robert Morton Hughes, Sr. (1855-1940), married to Martha "Mattie" Louisiana Smith Hughes (1853-1944) since 1879).
Floyd = Floyd Hughes (1861-1940).
Nannie Ricks = Annie M. Ricks (1862-1891). Married Floyd on April 8, 1885, in Norfolk.
Aunt Charlotte = Charlotte Elizabeth (Griffin) Mitchell/Michel (1829-1921).
Grandmother = Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel Taliaferro (1845-1940).
Uncle Joe = Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891).
Aunt Lily = Lydia Milligan Sims McLane (1822-1887).]
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