Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel: Notes on Family (1870+), Part II

[Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel: Notes on Family (1870+), Part II. My rough transcription. 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.]

Lucy Henry, my grandmother, was the wife of Col: Valentine Wood, who held, for forty years, the office of Clerk of Goochland. He, his father & his grandfather, were each only sons. His parents were both English, & came of a good family. He was a wealthy & influential man. 

Unfortunately, his sons were not worthy descendants of an honorable pair. They squandered the large estate he left, & brought my grandmother, in her old age, to comparative poverty & neglect. They prevented her, by their unworthy insinuations & their crafty deceit, from coming to live with my parents, who were most anxious to have her in their care.

At last, she who had been the centre of attraction in a wide circle, and the possessor of large wealth, was removed by her sons to a miserable old dwelling in the midst of deep woods, far away from friends & society. There the last years of her life were spent in uncomplaining endurance.

She had an original, rigorous mind, well stored with knowledge – a cheerful, serene temper & earnest piety. These sustained her in her lone old age.

I must not omit, however, to mention one comfort that was left her -- & a truly remarkable one it was.

She had a servant, a woman named Sukey, whose faithful & affectionate attentions did much to soothe her years of helpless infirmity. Sukey was not only a most devoted attendant, but quite an interesting companion: being remarkably intelligent for one of her color, & having always lived in the family. She stayed beside her beloved mistress day & night, with a tender fidelity that was never worn out. So did her niece towards my mother.

Elizabeth Henry, the only one of my mother’s aunts that I ever saw, married first Gen. William Campbell, the hero of the battle of King’s Mountain. He was a most gallant officer, & a devoted patriot. Died early in life, leaving a son who died in early youth; & one daughter, Sally Campbell, who was an heiress, & a celebrated beauty. Surrounded by lovers before she was well grown, she chose Francis Preston & was married to him while two others of her suitors had gone off to N. Carolina to fight a duel on her account. She was a wife at the age of fourteen, & reared ten children, of whom the eldest was my beloved cousin William Campbell Preston. 

One of the daughters is known to you as Mrs. Floyd. These relatives of my mother being the only ones within her reach (their usual abode being in Abingdon) were always most intimately associated with our family, and the friendship remained unbroken till dissolved by death.

Of all my kindred, none outside my own immediate family was so loved and admired as William Preston. I wish I could describe him so truly as to give a just conception of his character. But no words of mine can tell what he was. As an orator, he was considered equal if not superior to Henry: excelling the latter, no doubt, in cultivation & exquisite polish – while he possessed all the fire, the force, and the genius of his illustrious kinsman. He had the advantage of a splendid person, & a fine face, with a manner all grace & elegance.  

I have heard some of the most noted orators of America, but none, with the exception of Henry Clay, could compare with Preston. Yet it is not as a statesman or an eloquent speaker that I would praise him. These were the least of his excellences. It was that large, loving heart, that governs noble nature, which won the fervent affection of all who knew him.

He was my ideal of a man. I could see no imperfection in him, though I was admitted to the closest intimacy in his household, of which I was a privileged member. He offered me a home in his house on the death of my father, & he and his charming wife did all they could to induce me to take there the place of an elder daughter.

His first wife gave him seven children, of whom one only survived. The last wife lost her only child in early infancy – but they lived to see the last one laid in the grave. I was able, at one time, to be a real comfort to them; and they never forgot me.

Penelope Davis, cousin William’s second wife, was the most brilliant and interesting woman I ever knew in society. “Grace was in all her steps” – her manners irresistibly winning. She was as charming at home, in the quiet of her sick room (she was long a great sufferer) as she had been when the most admired of all her circle, she shone the brightest star. She was full of all womanly qualities – sweet, gentle, tender. Finally sunk, a willing victim to her wifely devotion by devoting herself too assiduously to tending her sick husband.

Dear cousin William! [B]est and kindest of friends! Let his loved name be a household word, earnestly, tenderly spoken by my children.

My aunt Elizabeth becoming a widow while still young, formed a second marriage with General Russell. By this marriage she had two daughters, Mrs. Frank Smith, & Mrs. William Thompson, both of whom died early. Gen: Russell was a harsh, tyrannical man, & the second marriage was probably not a happy one. He, however, died in a few years; & from that time she lived mostly in a small house near the Washington Salt Works.

She was a great enthusiast in religion, a Methodist of the Whitefield stamp. She made her house the home of all the travelling preachers, and an established place of worship. One of her two lower rooms being fitted up with a pulpit and seats, was constantly used for public services. She herself often led these services, praying with a fervor & an eloquence worthy of a Henry. It was her habit, whenever a friend called to see her, to call on him or her to join in prayer.

On one occasion, the late Thomas Benton turned from the road to pay her a brief visit. According to her custom, she invited him in to unite with her in prayer. He, though not delighting in such exercises, knelt down; and the old lady poured forth such a stream of earnest, pathetic supplication, as melted his heart completely, and he burst into a passion of tears.

She considered it wrong to have any luxuries, & made it a point to live in the plainest way, although she had ample means. Her peculiar dress & her stately, grave manner made a lasting impression on my young mind. I looked upon her with awe.

[Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Lucy Henry = Lucy Winston Henry (1743-1826).
Valentine Wood (1724-1781).
Sukey = possibly the same person named in Peter Johnston, Jr.'s will as "Suckeye." Link here.
Her niece = not sure of her name.
Elizabeth Henry = Elizabeth Anne "Betsy" Henry (1749-1825).
William Campbell (1745-1781).
Sally Campbell = Sarah Buchanan "Sally" Campbell (1778-1846).
William Campbell Preston (1794-1860).
Francis Preston (1765-1836).
Mrs. Floyd = Sarah Buchanan Preston (1802-1879), who married JOhn Buachanan Floyd (1806-1863).
Henry Clay (1777-1852).

His first wife = Maria Eliza Coalter (1792-1829).
Penelope Davis (1805-1853).
General Russell = William Washington Russell (1735-1793).
Mrs. Frank Smith = Elizabeth Henry Russell (1785-1804), who married Francis "Frank" Smith (circa 1782-1851?) in 1804.
Mrs. William Thompson = Jane Roberston Russell (1788-1816), who married Dr. William Preston Thompson (1788-1848) in 1805.
Whitefield stamp = George Whitefield (1714-1770). 
Thomas Benton = Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858).

Portrait of Elizabeth Anne "Betsy" Henry Campbell Russell from George Morgan, The True Patrick Henry, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1907, between pages 236 and 237.]