John Milton Binckley to Charlotte Stocker Binckley, November 10, 1862

[John Milton Binckley at Washington City to Charlotte Stocker Binckley, November 10, 1862. Extra paragraph breaks added 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 Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

                                                                    Wash DC 10 Nov 62

My dear Mother

I have your letter of the 31 and answer it in bed. I am a little better of about 11 days' illness complicated with some serious derangements of which jaundice is the last shape the thig has taken and I am deeply salivated now I have not for five days & nights partaken of so much nourishment as is contained in a cup of coffee -- not more than a spoonful of which I can take at once. So you see I can fast as well as eat.

I am in no danger but that of losing my patience & breaking down my poor wife.

I would certainly not write now but when I saw the pile of letters & business which have accumulated before me, I am afraid to put off anything.

We were greatly surprised at what you say of naming the newcomer. Knowing your lifelong detestation of what is the dearest name on Earth to me, Charlotte, as well as Sister's equal dislike, it never entered my mind that you would desire it. We did indeed think of giving you the naming of the child according to your fancy, but I was determined that Mary should have her fancy -- not mine, & not anybody's.

I knew she had some name she would prefer, and after my standing and solitary condition, to wit = that it should be a single name & short; I would not permit her to consult about it. 

At last it came out, Rosalie -- and a very pretty name with Binckley, I think, too.  Now she has one child after her fancy. I, one after mine (Ellen). Father's name was almost a devotion, & Allen's naming his John Henry was almost the act of the whole family.

If 40 boys were born in the family, I would be for naming the fortieth John if all the others should die.  

It seems ridiculous to ask why George don't write.  If he will just say he gets my letters, I'll write on.

Poor George! If I could only continue some way for him to live here!

As to your PH -- I deeply deplore the settled gloom which seems to envelop him, & from but which I no more hear  his solemnly melting words.

By this time I suppose you are at Allen's from what you wrote. Tell me in your next all about PH and Allen's children.

If we do not look out better, we will have families grown up about us before they learn each other's names.

Adieu my dear Mother and I will go to my pillow
                                   Milton  

[Mary = Mary Louisa Michel Binckley (1838-1930).
John Milton Binckley (1831-1878).
Mother = Charlotte Stocker Binckley (1788-1877).
Rosalie Binckley (October 1862-June 15, 1864).
Ellen = Ellen/Nellie/Nella Fontaine Binckley (1860-1951).
George = George Michael Binckley (1828-1885).
PH = Philander H. [Henry?] Binckley (1826-1898).
Allen = Allen Otho Binckley (1826-1876).
John Henry = John Henry Binckley (1861-1948), named after John Henry Binckley (1788-1849).]

Sue Henry Michel Taliaferro Death Announcement (1940)

[Sue Henry Michel Taliaferro death announcement in newspaper, Washington, D.C., March 1940.

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 Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

[----]liaferro [...]buried [To]morrow

Native of Virginia, Member of Old Family, Dies Here at 94

The funeral of Mrs. Sue Henry Michel Taliaferro, 94, resident of Washington for more than 50 years and a member of an old Virginia family, will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at All Souls Memorial Church, Cathedral and Connecticut avenues northwest.

Mrs. Taliaferro died Friday at her home, 4707 Fourth street northwest. Mrs. Taliaferro was the daughter of Harvey Michel and Jane Johnston Michel, the latter a sister of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate Army. With them she moved here in her infancy. In later life she frequently recalled for her friends events before and during the Civil War. 

Mrs. Taliaferro was the widow of William Meade Taliaferro, of Amherst County, Va. After his death, she was employed for more than 30 years in the Treasury Department, retiring a number of years ago.

Surviving are a son, Bennet Crawford Taliaferro, and a daughter, Mrs. Herbert Augustine Smith, both of Washington.

[Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel Taliaferro (September 15, 1845-March 15, 1940).
Harvey Michel = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866) and Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891).
William Meade Taliaferro (1840-1913). In fact, he was self-exiled to a soldier's home in Richmond, suffering from post-traumatic stress and related comorbidities; she began working as a clerk many years before his death by suicide.
Bennet Crawford Taliaferro (1868-1943). 
Mrs. Herbert Augustine Smith = Lilian Johnston Taliaferro Conway (1877-1965), married to Smith (1866-1944) at the time.] 

"Mrs. M. L. Binckley Dies at Age of 92" (January 1930)

[Newspaper clipping, Washington, D.C., January 19, 1930.

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 Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

MRS. M. L. BINCKLEY DIES AT AGE OF 92

Niece of Gen. Johnston, She Was Long Prominent in Society Here.
KNEW HAMILTON'S WIFE

Mrs. Mary Louise Binckley, long among the most prominent women in Washington society, died yesterday at the age of 92 years. She was the widow of John M. Binckley, Assistant Attorney General during the Johnston administration, and at one time an editor of the National Intelligencer.

When she was only 10 years old Mrs. Binckley, then Mary Louise Michel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Michel, enjoyed the intimate friendship of Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, who, then 90 years old, was in Washington to assist Edward Johnston, at that time editor of the Intelligencer, in editing the Hamilton papers. Binckley was a niece of Mr. Johnston, and also of Gen[.] Joseph E. Johnston.

Several years ago Mrs. Binckley started to write her impressions of old Washington, but the task was never completed, although a paper she prepared was read before the Columbia Historical Society in 1928 by John B. Larner.

Mrs. Binckley is survived by three children, Col. George S. Binckley, of Los Angeles, and Miss Nellie F. Binckley and Mrs. Thomas Armat, of Washington.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning by the Rev. H. H. D. Sterrett, rector of All Souls' Espiscopal Church, at the chapel of Oak Hill Cemetery, where burial will be made. 

[Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (February 16, 1838-January 18, 1930).
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton = Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1757-1854).
Edward Johnston = Edward William Johnston (1799-1867). Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Michel = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866) and Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
John Milton Binckley (1831-1878).
Mrs. Thomas Armat = Mary "May" Binckley Armat (1875-1969).
Thomas Armat (1866-1948).
Miss Nellie E. Binckley = Ellen/Nellie/Nella Fontaine Binckley (1860-1951).
Colonel George S. Binckley - George Sydney Binckley (1870-1941).
Rev. H. H. D. Sterrett = Henry Hatch Dent Sterrett, Sr. (1880-1953). ] 

"Mrs. Mary Binckley Succumbs in East" (1930)

[Newspaper clipping, presumably California, circa January 1930.

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 Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

Mrs. Mary Binckley Succumbs in East

Word of the death in Washington, D.C., recently of Mrs. Mary Louis Binckley, formerly resident in San Francisco, at the age of 92 year, was received here yesterday. Mrs. Binckley, long a leader in capital society, as a child was a friend of Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. Mrs. Binckley, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Michel, was the widow of John M. Binckley, assistant Attorney General of the United States during President Johnson's administration. She was buried at Washington. Surviving are Mrs. Thomas Armat of Washington, wife of the inventor of the first moving picture projection machine, and Miss Nellie E. Binckley, also of Washington, and Colonel George S. Binckley of Los Angeles, a son. 

[Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (February 16, 1838-January 18, 1930).
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton = Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1757-1854).
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Michel = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866) and Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
John Milton Binckley (1831-1878).
Mrs. Thomas Armat = Mary "May" Binckley Armat (1875-1969).
Thomas Armat (1866-1948).
Miss Nellie E. Binckley = Ellen/Nellie/Nella Fontaine Binckley (1860-1951).
Colonel George S. Binckley - George Sydney Binckley (1870-1941).] 

Mary Louisa Michel Binckley to Charlotte Stocker Binckley, December 14, 1862

[Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley at Washington [City] to Charlotte Stocker Binckley at [Burlington(?), Iowa], December 14, 1862.  Paragraph breaks added 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.]

                                                           Washington Dec. 14th 1862

My dear mother Binckley

Your most welcome letter was duly received, and the only regret it caused was that you should [not] have thought for an instant that I would allow myself to be hurt by your seeming neglect. No, I know too well how difficult it is for you to write now, and am thankful that you can, and do have the patience to accomplish even an occasional letter. So do not I beg of you, allow that idea to trouble you again, but just write when you feel like it, and be assured I will wait patiently, and receive any thing from your pen gladly.  

It has been so long since I wrote, and I have so many things to talk of, I scarcely know where to begin. Mother had been gone only two weeks and I was just beginning to get the house straight, and myself a little used to housekeeper's harness, when poor little Rosalie made her appearance, at least a month sooner than I had expected. I was alarmed at first, thinking that the unusual exertions I had made after mother went had injured me, but the Doctor assured me every thing was right, and Milton was so glad it was all safely over, that I was glad myself finally.

Of my troubles during the last two months it is useless to speak now. I think they are pretty much over now and I do hope brighter days are in store for us. Milton has recovered entirely from the severe spell he had when baby was about a month old.

Baby herself is not so cross, does no cry so continually, and I myself am pretty well now. The violent cold and cough I had when I first left my room has left me entirely, with neuralgia to be sure, but that you know one gets used to. 

I have got the house straight at last for the winter do begin to feel as if I could draw a fine breath. Our winter had begin unusually soon -- we have had two snows already and one very cold spell the last week in November. I am sorry for it not only because I dislike cold weather, but fuel is so high this season that fire is a heavy items of expense. 

This is a hard winter for us, but when I think of our family still entirely in the midst of this terrible war which is making so many widows and orphans I must confess that our trials are comparatively easy to bear. Lately especially I have had peculiar cause for thankfulness. The house where mother and Sue were boarding, a fine old-fashioned place, took fire Thanksgiving night and burnt to the ground, and Sue and mother both made narrow escapes. 

Sue had not gone to sleep as early as usual and as the fire broke out just over her room, she would have been surrounded by flames and suffocated if she had gone to bed at the usual time. Poor Susie! Mother says she did behave so well, showed the self possession and energy of a woman and managed to save nearly all their clothes, besides many things belonging to the family. Mother was trying to save things upstairs when the stairway caught, and she just did escape. 

It fills me with horror to think of that night. Poor mother lost a chest packed with all her old relics, mementoes of the past -- old books, drawings, letters, in short every thing of that kind that she valued on earth, and I know what a trial it has been to her by the grief it has caused me. 

They are living now in an old uninhabited house in the neighborhood, but it is cold and comfortless and [they] hope soon to be able to fix up the old house father bought and go with that. I expect mother will write to you soon, when she feels a little more settled, and can get together some writing materials. Every thing of that kind was burnt.

Father is going down to see them for a few days Christmas principally to take down various things which they are in need of. I will have to spend at least two days this week shopping for the Moores and mother, for you know some things are more trouble to get large ones.

I was so disappointed last week. Mr. Field had been trying to get leave of absence to make a visit to his family in Burlington, and for some days thought he could. I was going down [the] street to take my Christmas treat in fixing up a little box to send you by him, when he announced he had been refused leave. Saturday evening he did get leave, but too late for me to do anything, and I had to let him go without one thing for you, knowing too that my only chance was gone for we cannot afford the expenses this year.

[D]ear mother, will you accept from me as the only substitute I can offer, the first money I earned by working a pair of shoulder-straps? I consecrated it to you as I worked, and hope you will get with it some little thing for your own personal use or gratification. I only wish it could be multiplied a thousand times, so that we could transport you to our own fireside.

If we could have you and brother George here it would be Christmas indeed -- my own family have all left me, I cannot have my husband with me, and the social season will be lonely and saddened.

I heard from Willie not long ago through a lady who had just come on -- he was doing well and in better health than he had been for years. All our relations, as far as we can hear are well.

As for news here, I can give you but little; I have not visited, or gone out except on business for months.

Katy Ridgely came by in the carriage 3 months ago to show me her baby -- a fine boy, some six weeks old then. She herself looked badly, had lost her hair and was evidently worsted.

Susie[?] and Mary are well but much occupied -- Mary by constant company, and Susie[?] by nursing first Mary, who had hooping-cough badly in the fall, and now old Mrs. Cromwell who is sick constantly. Emma's bad health makes her of little service.

I suppose Milton wrote to you that we had heard of Erskine Stuart's folks. They had come into possession of the property left Mrs. Stuart* and were in Richmond living in style, and Fannie to be married soon. All were well. I haven't heard from the Alexandria Stuarts. 

I will have to stop . . . baby is crying for me, and I have to keep Nellie in my sight continually or she is in some mischief -- her last exploit was to get the scissors, hide under the table and cut all the hair off one side of her head! [I]t curled so prettily too. I took a good cry.  Good bye
                                                                                             In haste
                                                                                                Lou

[John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).

Mary Louisa Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930).  Children up to that time:  Ellen / Nellie / Nella (Fontaine) Binckley (1860-1951), Rosalie Binckley (October 1862-June 1864). 
Mother Binckley = Charlotte Stocker Binckley (1788-1877).
Mother = Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Father = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866).
Sue = Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel (1845-1940).
Willie = William Manning Mitchell/Michel (1839-1908).
George = George Michael Binckley (1828-1885). 

*Frances "Fannie" Elizabeth Glenn Stewart (1825-1913) – wife of James Erskine Stewart (1814-1890), who served as law clerk with the US Department of the Interior, 1852-1861; Frances “Fannie” Stewart (ca. 1845-?) was their daughter.]

John Milton Binckley to "My Dearly Beloved Aunt," March 21, 1865

[John Milton Binckley at Washington, D.C., to "My Dearly Beloved Aunt," at [n.p.], March 21, 1865. Paragraph breaks added 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.]

                                                                Washington DC
                                                                    21 March 1865
My Dearly Beloved Aunt,

How long it has been since I wrote to you I am afraid to recollect. I only know it has been too long, and though I confess that I do not think of you as often as I once did, for time brings such thousands of things & persons to drive older and better memories out of my head, yet when I do think of my dear old Aunty, it is with very warm love and with so much feeling that it always makes me long to go right to you. 

Believe me, I am still as fond of thinking of the days of my youth as if they had but yesterday passed away. Yet how long has been the time that now seems so short, since in 1844 and 1845 I used to be with you. It will, I think, be 21 years next harvest since that summer when I staid so long with you.

Oh what changes have been wrought in that time! The many places I have travelled, the people I have known, have hated, have forgiven, have loved, have forgotten! The many heartaches, the many dreams, the many disappointments, the many temptations -- alas, not always resisted!  

Yet you have changed but little. I know it. I could now go to you a man of thirty-four, with my wife and my two children, and with the sweet memory of the one that God took, and could forget it all and be, as I looked upon you, the same boy of fourteen that I was in the harvest of 1845.

I have seen much of the world, of fine cities, of rich & splendid folks, of bright and beautiful things, but ah! My dear mother's sister, I have seen nothing since my boyhood that I love so much as what I saw then. This world is all false, and the most of its splendor & finery is empty show that dries up the heart and starves the soul.

My family, including Mother, are down on the Eastern shores, where I have rented a plantation. I am here practicing law and have also been one of the Editors of the Daily Chronicle. I sent my family down there partly because my wife's health required her to be in the country & partly because [the cost of] living was so very high in the city and besides, I had a notion to take a trip to the Rocky Mountains, where brother George us -- that is, in the Pike's Peak country, now called Colorado. But I did not go.

In the fall, we will all be back in my own house in the city. I have a large garden with a right nice house in the midst, which, thanks be to God, is my own property. So with a comfortable home over my dear mother's head in her old age, I fear nothing. 

                                        God bless my dear Aunty
                                                          Milton  

[John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).
Aunt = possibly Eva Catharina "Kitty" Stocker Croskey (1784-?).Mary Louisa Michel (1838-1930).  Children up to that time:  Ellen / Nellie / Nella (Fontaine) Binckley (1860-1951), Rosalie Binckley (1862-1864), Harvey Mitchell Binckley (1864-1928). 
Mother = Charlotte Stocker Binckley (1788-1877).
George Binckley (1828-1885)]

Mary Louisa Michel Binckley to Charlotte Stocker Binckley, October 1859

Mary Louisa/Lou/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930)

[Mary Louisa Mitchell/Michel Binckley at Washington City to Charlotte Stocker Binckley, [October 1859]. 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.]

                                                                  Washington City
Dear mother Binckley

We have just returned, Milton and I, from our trip to the North -- feeling very much worn out bodily with the fatigue of travelling constantly for more than two week[s], but conscious of having acquired knowledge and experienced pleasure that will be a constant source of delight for the rest of our lives -- the remembrance of well spent happy hours in scenes of beauty and refinement will be riches that no one can take away from us.

To be sure, the weather was often raining and dark, troubling Milton not a little, but when I look back now, I seem to remember only the bright days.

In Boston we spent nearly a week with one of Milton's artist friends of whom you may have heard him speak -- Mr. Wall, an Englishman who lived some years ago in this city -- he and his wife were very kind and attentive, and as I had friends in Boston and the sight-seeing [was] peculiarly interesting from historical associations, we had a most pleasant time there. 

While there Milton received your last letter and we were glad to hear that you were well. I was particularly pleased to find that bother George had received my letter, and hope soon to hear from him. Give to him and my mother brothers my best love.

Milton will doubtless send some message when he comes home and finds I am writing.

The little flower I enclose mother pressed to send you thinking you might like to keep among your other pressed flowers one worn on her wedding day by your Milton's bride.

I was looking over my box you gave me and found that the bunch of pressed flowers had Frannie Stewart's name written on the back. I will send or give them to her soon.

There are so many things I would like to write about our trip which might interest you, but to-day [I] feel very tired, and will give you in my next letter what would be very stupidly written to-day. It will be several days yet before I get my wits fairly about me.

All desire to be remembered to you. Farewell for awhile --
                                                      Your new daughter
                                                                     Mary

[JMB note:]  Mary holds the  . . . & I points out this spot has me write on, and I tell her I have to use it all in repressing my indignation for not giving me more.

[Mary Louisa Michel (1838-1930).
John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).
Mother Binckley = Charlotte Stocker Binckley (1788-1877).
Mother = Jane Mary Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
George = George Michael Binckley (1828-1885).
Mr. Wall = Joseph Wall.]

Jane Johnston Mitchell/Michel to John Milton Binckley, June 20, 1868

Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930)

[Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel at Abingdon, Virginia, to Hon. John M. Binckley, Assistant Atty. Gen., at Washington City, D.C., June 20, 1868. My rough transcription. 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 (as well as a scan of the above photograph), and in turn many thanks to Peter Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

                                                         Abingdon, 20^th June 68.

My dear son,

The news contained in your brief but comprehensive note of Thursday night has filled me with joy & thankfulness. For many days past, I have been weighed down with anxious dread; fearing that my beloved child might be dangerously ill, as she so often spoke of being sick, and suffering with her back. My uneasiness was increased by knowing that, out of tenderness for me, much of her ailments would be concealed as long as possible – and then I have had, all the time, the feeling of a prisoner, chained just out of sight of what he most wishes to see. Thanks be to God! I can at last feel at rest.

You & I, my dear son, fully sympathize in devout thankfulness for the happy result. We know the worth of the beloved one whose life has been in jeopardy, & we know how to be grateful that the precious life is spared, to cheer & bless over.

I am glad that the new darling is a boy: hope he may be as fine a fellow as Harvey, though that is hardly probable. And now for the name. I want it to be John, with whatever addition you may like best. Henry, I suppose, would please your mother most. If you still are set against John, my next choice would be Joseph Johnston. I believe you admire our hero as much as your Mary loves him – however, I am volunteering advice uncalled for – but I could not help putting in a word for the name I think the boy ought to bear. Your father’s name! [M]ay he be worthy of it!

Sue joins me in love & congratulations. I wish her trouble were equally well ended. Many thanks for your counsel with regard to her & her husband. I will try to do for the best.

With fond affection, my dear Milton, truly your Mother

[Jane Mary Wood Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).

John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).

Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930).

The new darling = Francis M. [Mitchell or Milton?] Binckley (June 18-July 9, 1868).

Harvey = Harvey Mitchell Binckley (1864-1928).

Please your mother = Charlotte Stocker Binckley (1788-1877), widow of John Henry Binckley (1788-1849).

Joseph Johnston = after Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807-1891).

Sue = Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel Taliaferro (1845-1940).

Her trouble = Bennet Crawford Taliaferro (1868-1943), born on July 8, 1868.

Her husband = William Meade Taliaferro (1840-1913), traumatized survivor of the American Civil War.]

Nella Fontaine Binckley: "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter VIII, Part 3

Cannonball, Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Virginia. (lori05871 from Rural Vermont, Wiki Commons)

[Nella Fontaine Binckley, "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter VIII, part 3. 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." or "M.J.B." (Milton Johnston Binckley, 1902-1991). 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.

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).]

Nella Fontaine Binckley: "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter II, Part 3

[Nella Fontaine Binckley, "Odds and Ends from an Artist's Life," Chapter II, part 3. 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 of the photograph of Harvey Mitchell/Harvey Michel), and in turn many thanks to Peter Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]

We spent a month in Tazewell County one summer and Mother made sketches of the quaint sunbonneted women with their slimpsey (calico) dresses. Mother liked the mountain people, but found them shy with city folk, till they got acquainted. One day, we saw a woman hiding behind some bushes near the house. Mother invited her over to the porch, but she wouldn't come. When Mother urged her, she bashfully faltered, "I'm too timorsome to be venturesome." Mother picked up a queer old folksong they sung around there, and after we went home amused the family by singing mountain fashion, through her nose, her lovely contralto voice changed into a twang.

Uncle Willie had become engaged to Miss Maynard of Virginia. [Old family tree says "Lucy Dennis." Maybe she was a widow, Lucy Maynard Dennis since their son was named William Maynard Michel per the family tree -- M.J.B.]* When black Henry in the galley of the Mississippi River steamboat got word of the approaching marriage, he vowed that nobody [should] cook "Marse Willie's" wedding breakfast but himself. So back he came to Virginia and cooked it, to the eminent satisfaction of everyone concerned. Uncle Willie and his bride went to California to live. [Died 1908 in Ferndale near Eureka -- per M.J.B.]

Then Aunt Sue married Major William Taliaferro, a very handsome man who had fought gallantly and been wounded in the Confederate army. He belonged to an old and distinguished Virginia family, which had originally come from Italy. The name had been spelled Tagliaferro.

Every summer we spent much time with Grandmother and Aunt Charlotte, Mother's half sister. Grandfather had been married twice. His first wife had been Miss Griffin of Salem, Virginia. She died when Aunt Charlotte was born. Her sister took the baby. She [Charlotte Griffin, born circa 1808-1810] married Judge Wingfield [Gustavus Adolphus Wingfield (1808-1888) in 1831]. (I don't suppose he was a judge then). So Aunt Charlotte was brought up in their home. Seven children were born and then Mrs. Wingfield died. Aunt Charlotte brought up the Wingfield children. 

About six [three] years after he lost his [first] wife, Grandfather married my grandmother. Aunt Charlotte was devoted to her stepmother and visited her father now and then. But her home was always with the Wingfields. She was independent, having inherited a small fortune from her mother. We were much attached to the Wingfields and called them cousin, though of course they were not blood kin of ours, in spite of being first cousins of Aunt Charlotte.

The old Wingfield mansion was in a Bedford County [town] called Liberty. The name was changed some years later to Bedford. It faces the famous Peaks of Otter, those beautiful twin mountains which form the western edge of  the Blue Ridge range. 

The Wingfield house stood on a hill about three quarters of a mile from town. It was surrounded by magnificent trees, with a glorious view of the Peaks, and was appropriately named Bellevue.

Virginia was settled by the British mostly, so Virginians named their estates after the English fashion. I always loved the Peaks. They were a part of my life in my childhood and early youth. In later years I have seen some of the great mountains of our country: Pike's Peak, the Rockies, Mount Shasta, and the High Sierra. But for sheer loveliness I have never seen any mountains to surpass the Peaks of Otter. The big mountains are magnificent, epic. The Peaks are lyric.

When I knew it, Bellevue was much the same, I fancy, as it had been in earlier years. In the huge bedrooms upstairs, the great [bedsteads] were all four posters and some even still had their curtains -- are relic of bygone days. It is [an] art to make up a feather bed. But the darkie maids were experts, and their resulting roundness and smoothness were a joy to behold. Each bed had a tiny set of steps beside it, so small folk could mount to its towering height and sink into its downy depths. It's many a long year since I slept in a feather bed, but I still remember its luxurious softness -- like sleeping on a cloud. I wonder if any feather beds still survive anywhere?

[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. 

Grandfather = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866).
Grandmother = Jane Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Mother = Mary Louisa/Louise Mitchell/Michel Binckley (1838-1930).
Father = John Milton Binckley (circa 1831-1878).


*I moved this internal note to its proper position, based on context.
Uncle Willie = William Manning Mitchell/Michel (1839-1908).
Miss Maynard = conflated with an aunt of Lucy's, apparently. See this 1869 letter written by Mary Louisa mentioning the Maynard name. Lucy A. "Lulie" Dennis (1845-1923) married Willie on August 23, 1867.
Harvey/Harry Maynard Michel (1869-1959).

Black Henry = formerly enslaved, emancipated by Harvey Mitchell/Michel before the American Civil War. 

Aunt Sue = Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel (1845-1940).
William Taliaferro = William Meade Taliaferro (1840-1913); married Sue on October 16, 1867.

Aunt Charlotte = Charlotte Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell/Michel (1829-1921).
Aunt Charlotte's mother = Elizabeth Hook Griffin Mitchell (1801-1829), who married Harvey in 1828.]