Peter Carr Johnston to Staff Officers, December 30-31, 1814

[Peter Carr Johnston at New York, New York, to staff officers, December 30 and 31, 1814. US National Archives, Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984, Series: Letters Received, 1805 - 1889. Link here.

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

                                                  New York, Dec'r 30th 1814

Sir, 

I was ordered to this place as a witness before the Gen'l Court Martial engaged in the trial of Col. Coles. My testimony is given, and I am now without orders. Anxious, for private considerations important to me, to spend a few days in Virginia, I would request from the General permission to be absent till the 1st of Match next, by which time I will join my Regiment at Buffaloe [Buffalo].

The following is a copy of the Order I received from Maj'r Gen'l Izard:

Extract from Gen'l Orders --

                                            Head Quarters Buffaloe Dec. 10th 1814

Lieut. Johnston 12th Inf'y will proceed to New York agreeably to summons from Washington.

                                            By Order of Maj'r Gen'l Izard
                                                 (Signed)
                                                                [C.] K. Gardner
                                                                       Adj't Gen'l

             I am, Sir, with the highest respect
                            your Ob't Serv't
                                      Peter C. Johnston
                                       Lieut: 12th Inf'y

Maj'r Christie
Asst. Adj't Gen'l  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      New York, Dec'r 31st 1814

Sir, 

I was ordered to this place as a witness in the trial of Col. Coles, now in progress: my Testimony is given, and I am without orders. 

Anxious, for private considerations of importance to me, to spend a few days in Virginia, I would solicit permission to be absent from my Regiment till the 1st of Match next, by which time I will join it at Buffaloe [Buffalo].

The following is a copy of my orders from Maj'r Gen'l Izard:

Extract from Gen'l Orders --

                                            Head Quarters Buffaloe Dec. 10th 1814

Lieut: Johnston 12th Inf'y will proceed to New York agreeably to Summons from Washington.

                                            By Order of Maj'r Gen'l Izard
                                                 (Signed)
                                                                [C.] K. Gardner
                                                                       Adj't Gen'l

             I am, Sir, with the highest 
                            Respect
                               your Ob't Serv't
                                      Peter C. Johnston
                                       Lieut: 12th Inf'y

Gen'l Parker 
Adj't Insp'r Gen'l  

[Lt. Peter Carr Johnston (1793-1877).
Col. Coles = Isaac A. Coles (1780-1841) of the 12th US Infantry, challenged to a duel by Dr. James O. Bronaugh of the same regiment. Coles was a friend of Thomas Jefferson.
Major General Izard = George Izard (1776-1828).
C. K.Gardner = Charles Kitchell Gardner (1787-1869). See also Charles K. (Charles Kitchell) Gardner Papers, 1803-1897 (SC12914), New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections. Link to finding aid here.
Major Christie = probably Thomas Christie of the 23rd US Infantry.
General Parker = Daniel Parker (1782-1846).] 

Frances Callaway Steptoe to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie, October 29, 1815

Federal Hill, near New London, Virginia. Virginia Department of Historic Resources

[Frances Callaway Steptoe at Federal Hill, then Bedford now Campbell County, Virginia, to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie at Nelson County, Virginia, October 29, 1815. Massie Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society. This is my rough, annotated transcription from a copy graciously provided by William Myers. Extra paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.]

                                                   Federal Hill Oct 29 1815

I have never been able to learn whether you got home dead or alive until last night. Sally why did you not write to us, and tell us you got home; out of sight, out of mind, is that the case, I hope not indeed.

Mrs. Reid is run to her eyeballs as Mrs. Miller says, she has been looking for General Jackson and Jacky for a fortnight she has given him out once but she received a letter from him a few days ago; that he should be in to day she has been serving and rubing [robbing] and borrowing from every one in the neighborhood; Jackson[‘s] wife is to stay at Mrs. Reid’s until he returns from the City.

I still talk of going to Richmond if I do go I will write to you again and let you know when I will go to see you. Tom has vacation next month, and I will make him go with me down.

Do write to us Sally and don’t be so selfish, I cannot go on with my letter my hand trembles so badly.

                                                I am your affectionate sister

                                                            F. Steptoe

[Frances Callaway Steptoe (1798-1832) would marry Henry Scarsbrook Langhorne (17901054) on March 13, 1816. She was seventeen at the time of this letter.

Sarah “Sally” Tate Steptoe Massie (1796-1828) was married to William Massie (1795-1862) and was the daughter of James Steptoe (1750-1826). There is a massive Massie collection at the University of Texas here.

Federal Hill = James Steptoe estate very close to New London and also Lynchburg, Virginia; about three miles or so away from Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. Was in Bedford County, but now it’s in Campbell County. Picture here.

Mrs. Reid = Not sure who this is, possibly the mother of Lucy and Patsy ‘Reed’ mentioned in a later letter.

Mrs. Miller = Not sure who this is.

General Jackson = Major General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

Wife = Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson (1767-1828)

Jacky = probably Andrew Jackson, Jr. (1808-1865)

Tom = Thomas Eskridge Steptoe (1799-1880).]

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

Frances Callaway Steptoe Langhorne to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie, December 5, 1817

Sandusky. Lynchburg, VA (Nov 2008) by Pubdog: public domain via Wikimedia Commons

[Frances Callaway Steptoe Langhorne at Sandusky, Lynchburg, Virginia, to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie, December 5, 1817. Massie Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society. This is my rough, annotated transcription from a copy graciously provided by William Myers. Extra paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.]

Dear Sally

I expected to have been in Nelson before this, but have been extremely unwell [unwell] ever since I came up. I have not spent one well day for three weeks. I should have had a very severe attack of the billious [bilious] fever, if I had not have taken such a quantity of medicine. I fear very much I shall not be able to return to Cumberland to pack up.

I suppose you have heard that Mr. Langhorne intends living in Lynchburg, he will live in a house belonging to Mr. Hazle, a large brick house near Mr. Dunington’s.

Lucy [and] Patsy Reed and myself came down on sunday [Sunday] and this is friday [Friday] Lucy and Patsy are going up to day but sister Betsey thinks I am too unwell. I was extremely unwell yesterday.

Mr. Johnston intends having a big dinner tomorrow Mr. Jefferson is to be of the party and to dine on venison at least that is a dish they seem to admire most.

Lucy is as fat as she can wallow and Jimmy shorts is as bad; he talks of Captain [and] Aunt Sally and little Tom Thum [Thumb] frequently.

Brother Billy intends spending his christmas [Christmas] with you and if I am well enough I will go down with him.

Kitty Langhorne has a fine son nearly a month old.

Robert Bradfute is to be married the tenth of this month to a Miss Varser of Hallifax [Halifax]. Baldly and Robert have opened a large store in New London.

Davidson has sold his land in Bedford to the Bullocks at fifteen dollars and takes it out in goods they keep store in Mr. White’s store and Robert’s wife is to live upstairs.

John has been as sick as I have been he has had a most shocking cold.

When I began this letter I did not expect to write a dozen lines I felt so unwell.

Lucy Johnston is expected home next week.

I hope you will excuse this miserably written and spelled letter.

My love to Mr. Massie Tom Thum [Thumb] and yourself

                                            I am your affectionate sister

                                              F. Langhorne

[Frances Callaway Steptoe Langhorne (1798-1832) married Henry Scarsbrook Langhorne (1790-1854) on March 13, 1816. Their son William Maurice “Wee” Langhorne (1818-1900) would be born on June 30, 1818.

Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie (1796-1828) was married to William Massie (1795-1862) and was the daughter of James Steptoe (1750-1826). There is a massive Massie collection at the University of Texas here.

Little Tom Thumb = Thomas James Massie (1817-1877), born on March 23, 1817.

Mr. Hazle = unclear who this is.

Mr. Dunington = probably Walter Dunnington (1778-1818) or a close relative of his. 

Lucy and Patsy Reed = not sure who they are.

Mr. Johnston = Charles Johnston (1768-1833). His second wife, Elizabeth “Betsey” Prentiss (aka Prentis) Steptoe Johnston (1783-1820), mother of Frances, would die on February 13, 1820, age thirty-seven, and be buried at the Callaway-Steptoe Cemetery in Bedford County, Virginia.

Before the relocation to Botetourt Springs, Sandusky = Charles Johnston estate from 1808 to 1819, in Lynchburg. For much more, see this link.

Mr. Jefferson = Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).

Lucy = Lucinda “Lucy” Steptoe Penn had married Robert Cowan Penn (1789-1856) in 1814; their daughter Frances “Fannie” Louisa Penn (1818-1879) would be born on June 21, 1818.

Jimmy = James Callaway Steptoe (1781-1827), had married Catherine Mitchell (1780-1850) in Bedford County on September 21, 1808.

Brother Billy = William Steptoe (1791-1860).

Kitty Langhorne = Catherine Callaway Langhorne (1792-1871), married to William C. Lanhorne (1783-1853); their son John Miller Langhorne (1817-1907) was born on November 9, 1817, in Bedford County.

Robert Bradfute (1781-1831) would marry Lucy Ann Vasser (1794-1826) on December 20, 1817.

Davidson = Davidson Bradfute (1781-1831).

$15 in 1817 = about $260 in early 2017.

John = not clear who this is. <Correction, September 11, 2017: John Scarsbrook Langhorne (June 1, 1817-1896).>

Lucy Johnston = Lucy Hopkins Johnston, (1800-1888), who would marry Thomas Marshall Ambler (1791-1825) on April 14, 1819.]

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

Edward William Johnston: "Jefferson -- The Sage of Monticello" (1853). Conclusion

[Edward William Johnston under the nom de plume Il Segretario, “Great Conversationists, Number Four. Jefferson--The Sage of Monticello." New-York Daily Times. Volume II, number 409 (January 8, 1853), page 2.]

[The newspaper was started up with a Whig orientation in 1851. Here is the final part of Johnston's article. Extra paragraph breaks for easier reading.]

Meantime, his face. expressive as it was ugly, was not much less busy than his limbs, in bearing its part in the conversation, and kept up, all the while, the most speaking by-play, an eloquence of the countenance as great as ugly features could well have.

It stood to his conversation like the artful help of well-imagined illustrations, to the text of a book: a graphic commentary on every word, that was as convincing to the eyes as was his discourse to the ears. The impression which it conveyed was a strong auxiliary of all he uttered: for it begat in you an almost unavoidable persuasion of his sincerity -- a virtue of the appearance of which he made good use, and had vast need.

You may have seen his portraits, his busts, the bronze statue -- faithful enough except as to the limbs -- which the Israelite navy-captain bought in Paris at the price of old clothes, and offered to Congress, but which it put by with disdain, as a stroke of speculation, meant to procure professional advancement not earned in any other way.

From all these. one gets a just enough idea of the mere mold of his physiognomy, but none, of course, of that mobility which was its only fine quality, nor of the oddity of his complexion.  

There was much, in its general tint, of the color of cream; but as that substance is one of which you, good people of the great city of Gotham, conceive only as a modification of prepared chalk, let me explain by what they have oftener seen -- the fruity part of a pumpkin pie.

The face looked as if it were battered with such a paste; but in addition to this ghastliness of hue, it was besprinkled with pox-pits, all of which were a lively purple. Bad as was the uncontrasted complexion, you may imagine what its beauty became, when set off by such a foil. 

As to features, he had not one that was good, except the eyes; they were a greyish blue, clear and sparkling. His head was well set and well curried, but had the Jacobean shape and air; his hair was originally reddish, but turned to an ill-bleached foxiness; his forehead was large, but not well modelled in those main frontal regions which bespeak loftiness of thought and creativeness of imagination: it indicated clearness, not greatness.

His brows were neither strong not soft, but irregular and uncertain, as those of one who was wanting in will, and yet had not much feeling.

His nose was mean -- a small tube ending in a sudden bulb; it was much cocked up, and derived from that shape a character of pertness and vulgarity. 

His mouth was rather large, but the lips were thin and not well cut; the expression setting on them bland but not benevolent, conciliating rather than kindly; its meaning assigned his emotions to the manners, not the heart -- to policy, not the temper. The chin was, like the forehead, broader than it was strong. 

Such were his lineaments in detail: quite indifferent, separately; and yet, all together, very expressive and agreeable. As his motions, light and easy, were the contradiction of his ill-made limbs, so was his pleasing and animated countenance that of features, of themselves, ignoble apart.

Lastly, his conversation: he certainly was one of the best talkers I have ever listened to; copious in the extreme, without ever growing tedious; easy yet compact; flowing but never loose; very variously, and to all appearance soundly informed, and continually dealing out his information, but rather as if to gratify you, not himself; his mind seemed to me, then, a great repository of the wisdom that must come from one's self.

Trained in what was once its best school -- the Parisian saloons [salons] -- he understood conversation thoroughly as an art; and he made the most of it, as an engine of personal influence and for the propagation of his party opinions. Towards the inculcation of these, his conversation, whatever the subject, was usually bent; except when a scientific matter was in question; either he knew no literature, law, history, philosophy, morals nor theology, or he could not talk of them, unless as connected, in some direct or indirect way, with Democratic theories. 

His power, indeed, of winning and of controlling men, always lay chiefly in his skill of personal communication; for, even in public bodies, he rarely made speeches; nor have we any record of his having ever shone as an orator. In short, not feeling himself strong enough to attack men's convictions by the front gate of manful eloquence, he stole in by the back-door of address and of insinuation in private. 

At least, however, he got in; which is, no doubt, the great end; and when the end is great, few people are delicate about the means. His were, perhaps, a little burglarious; but then I must confess that the picklock of his talk was admirable. 

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)]

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

Edward William Johnston: "Jefferson -- The Sage of Monticello" (1853). Part III

[Edward William Johnston under the nom de plume Il Segretario, “Great Conversationists, Number Four. Jefferson--The Sage of Monticello." New-York Daily Times. Volume II, number 409 (January 8, 1853), page 2.]

[The newspaper was started up with a Whig orientation in 1851. Here is a sampling of the third part of Johnston's article. Extra paragraph breaks for easier reading.]

Dressed, within doors, as I saw him last, no longer in the red breeches, which were once famous as his favorite and rather conspicuous attire, but still vindicating by a sanguine waistcoat; his attachment to the Republican color; in gray shorts, small silver kneebuckles, gray woolen stockings, black slippers, a blue body-coat, surmounted by a gray spencer; tall, and though lithe of person and decidedly graceful and agile of motion and carriage, yet long and ill-limbed, MR. JEFFERSON's figure was commanding and striking, though bad, and his face most animated and agreeable, although immensely ugly.

His legs, you perceive, by no means shunned observation; yet they were scarcely larger at the knee than in the ankle, and had never been conscious of a calf. Still, without strength, they had always borne him along with vigor and suppleness.

These bodily qualities and a health almost unfailing; he preserved, in a singular degree, to the very close of his long life. 

At the time I speak of, when he was in his eighty-first year, he not only mounted his horse without assistance and rode habitually some ten miles a day, but, dismounting at a fence breast-high, would leap over it, by only placing his hand on the topmost rail.

He walked not only well and swiftly, but with lightness and springiness of tread, such as few young men even have.

It was a restless activity of mind, which informed all this unusual mobility of body; and the two, I think were, in him, greatly alike. For his intellect had, like his person, more size than force, more suppleness  than solidity, and affected its ends by continuity of action not mass of power; by manipulation not muscularity. You may batter to pieces with a small hammer than which a cannon-ball would not shiver.

He was never idle: nay, hardly a moment still. He rose early and was up late, through his life; and was all day, whenever out on foot or a horse-back, at study, at work, or in conversation.

If his legs and fingers were at rest, his tongue was sure to be a-going.

Indeed, even when seated in his library in a low Spanish chair, he held forth to his visitors in an almost endless flow of fine discourse, his body seemed impatient of keeping still for his mind, shifted its position all the while, and so twisted itself about that you might almost have thought he was attitudinizing . . .

[Next post: final part of article.]   

[Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)]

[Image credit: Michel Sokolnicki (1760–1816) after Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817). Thomas Jefferson A Philosepher A Patriote and a Friend. Copyprint of colored aquatint. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Here is a link]

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

Edna Jones Collier, “The Old Virginia Gentleman" (1911)

Edna Jones Collier, “The Old Virginia Gentleman.” The American Monthly Magazine, Vol XXXVIII JANUARY, 1911, No. I. Compressed. 

Many of you have no doubt heard or read the famous lecture of Dr. Bagley, entitled "Bacon and Greens," and chuckled over his vivid description of "The Old Virginia Gentleman." You may be interested in knowing that a portrait of the Hon. James Steptoe, of Federal Hill, Bedford Co., Va., painted by Harvey Mitchell in 1826, was the inspiration of this interesting lecture. This "Old Virginia Gentleman" was a worthy representative of the House of Steptoe, whose forefathers played an important part in the history of the "Old World" . . .

The Hon. James Steptoe, the original "The Old Virginia Gentleman," was born in the year of 1750, at "Homany [Hominy] Hall," Westmoreland Co., Va. He was educated at William and Mary College, and while there was a fellow student of Thomas Jefferson. They formed a close friendship, which continued throughout life. It was through the influence of Jefferson that James Steptoe was appointed to an office under Secretary Nelson, after which he was transferred in 1772, at the early age of 22, to the clerkship of the District Court at New London, in Bedford Co., Va. This position he held until his death in 1826, having served fifty-four years. He married Frances Calloway, a daughter of Col. James Calloway, of Bedford Co.

The Hon. James Steptoe built the manor house known as "Federal Hill,'' and it was here that he spent his useful life surrounded by his family, and noted for his sincerity and hospitality. This mansion was situated three miles from "Poplar Forest," the abode of his friend, Thomas Jefferson, who loved to seek seclusion there during his intervals of rest from public service. . . [Federal Hill is located near Forest, Campbell County, Virginia]

James Steptoe was not only noted for his hospitality and justness, but also for his charity. Driving along in his coach and four, he passed the house of a certain widow, Mrs. Chaffee. Upon noticing a crowd gathered around, he sent his coach man, Ben, to inquire the cause. Hearing that the poor woman was being sold out for debt he descended from his carriage, stopped the auction, paid the mortgage, and added one more noble act of charity to his record.

James Steptoe was beloved by everyone, and especially so by his slaves, whom he had taught different trades that they might support themselves after his death when, by his will, they were all set free. [This strongly deserves a follow-up investigation. What became of them after freedom?]

A handsome monument in the old family burying ground in Bedford Co. bears this inscription, "James Steptoe, born 1750, died 1826, for fifty-four years the Clerk of Bedford County." The office of clerk of the Court of Bed ford Co. has been held by the Steptoe family in its lineal and collateral branches for more than a hundred years. The character of James Steptoe may be described in a few words, integrity, independence, and the strictest form of republican simplicity. 

Though descended, as has been shown, from a long line of the better class of English gentry, he never alluded to it himself; in fact, it was not known in his family until after his death, when they learned it through his correspondence. He was a man who held very decided opinions on all subjects, and would at times express them as to men and public affairs in very strong language, being strong in his friendships and equally strong in his dislikes.

As a clerk, he was everything that could be desired, polite and obliging, as all Old Virginia Gentlemen are, careful and attentive in the business of his office and in court, and ever ready at all times to give information and advice to those who needed it.

The Hon. James Steptoe and his wife, Frances Calloway, were the parents of five sons and four daughters, thus — Major James, who succeeded his father as Clerk of Bedford, and who married Catherine Mitchell; Dr. William, of Lynchburg, who married first Nancy Brown, and second Mary Dillon; George, of Bedford Co., who married Maria Thomas; Robert, of Bedford Co., who married Elizabeth Leftwich; Thomas, who inherited the old home, married Louise C. Yancy; Elizabeth Premise [Prentiss], who married Hon. Charles Johnston, of Richmond, Va.; Frances, who married Henry S. Langhorne, of Lynchburg, Va.; Sallie, who married William Massie, of Nelson Co., Va.; Lucy, who married Robert Penn, of Bedford Co., Va. James Steptoe's descendants are scattered throughout the United States, and are among our most distinguished citizens. He has also descendants in England.

The old portrait by Harvey Mitchell is now owned by the Rt. Rev. James Steptoe Johnston, Bishop of Western Texas; and a fine copy of the same is owned by Mrs. William Waldorf Astor, of Cliveden-on-the-Thames, England. 

[James Steptoe (July 16, 1750-May 30, 1826)

Frances Calloway (1760-1807)

Harvey Mitchell (1799-February 26, 1866)

Charles Johnston (1769-1833)

Elizabeth Prentiss Steptoe (1783-1820)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)]