CHAPTER XXII.
Hospitality.
-Arrival at McMinnville.
-Preaching.
-Life in Camp.
-R. M. Gano and Brother.
-I go to Knoxville.
-Evacuation of McMinnville.-Dr. Hopson Resigns.
-We go to Richmond.
-Meeting in Richmond.
-Located at Bowling Green.
-Holly Hill.
-C. P. Williamson.
-Life at Bowling Green.
-Housekeeping.
-Cost of Domestic Articles.
-Expenses, $20 a Day; Income, $2,000 a Year.
-Old Mansion.
We had a very cold, disagreeable ride that day. From a light fall of snow
in the morning, it had increased to a cold, driving rain by night; and it
was eight o'clock before we could find any one hospitable enough to open
their doors to strangers. A kind-hearted young couple, by the name of
Denton-I
think it was-took
pity on us, and let us stay all night. There were three of us besides the
driver, and it was quite a tax on any one to entertain all-which
only made us the more grateful to our host and hostess. I realized what a
sad cry was wrung from the Saviour's heart when he said, "The Son of man
hath not where to lay his head."
We had passed many large and pretentious houses, and asked
for shelter from the storm in vain; but these young beginners were the
only ones of whom it could be said, "I was a stranger, and ye took me in."
My prayer has always been that God would prosper them as they deserved.
The next morning the lady had our breakfast ready by the time
we were up, and insisted on our taking a lunch with us, fearing we should
get hungry before we
[book page] 126
reached our destination. Mr. Denton refused all but a pitiful sum for our
entertainment.
We reached McMinnville at 3 P.M., and went at once to Bro. J.
L. Walling's, where for weeks we had a pleasant home.
Dr. Hopson preached every Lord's day in our own church at
McMinnville and often during the week would go out to the camps around the
country, and preach to the soldiers. When in town, he visited the hospital
daily, where the sick and wounded were always glad to see him.
Neither Gen. Morgan nor his command had much time to devote
to religion or religious duties. When at home he was always at church, and
had the greatest respect for a Christian man and his principles; and
nearly all of his officers usually attended.
Dr. Hodgson, Gen. Wheeler's Chaplain, held services in our
church in the afternoon, which gave all who were Episcopalians the
opportunity to enjoy their own exercises.
During February and March there was not much severe fighting,
but constant skirmishing all along the hundred and fifty miles Morgan was
picketing. Almost every day Mrs. Morgan would send for me to come over to
see her, as she was afraid to leave headquarters herself. I would ask her
where Gen. Morgan was. She never could tell. She would say he left for
such a place last night, but may be fifty miles from there now. We never
knew where he was, nor how many men he had under his orders.
The 2nd of April,
Gen. Dick Gano,
on account of ill-health, determined to return to the Trans-Mississippi
Department. It was a source of deep sorrow to the
[book page] 127
Doctor, who loved him very much, and disliked to lose him and his
influence for good.
He and his two brothers, Frank and John, spent the night
before they left with us. We sat up till a late hour, and talked of the
past, with its pleasures; the present, with its trials; and the future,
with its uncertainties.
They retired about eleven o'clock. The Doctor and I still sat
by the fire, and talked some time. Just before we laid down, the Doctor
said, "Let us look on the boys once more." We crossed the hall, and looked
into the room where they lay sleeping. They were all three stretched out
on the floor, with a blanket for a bed and a knapsack for a pillow. We
turned sadly away, thinking of the dear mother and father in the "Old
Kentucky Home" who were praying for these loved ones, and asked God to
spare them all to return safely to their homes.
We lay down without undressing, as we did for many nights
following. We did not know at what moment the pickets might be driven in,
and the few persons belonging to the army be compelled to fly from the
place.
In a few days Mrs. Alex. Morgan, of Knoxville, came to attend
upon and nurse her brother, Thomas Russel, who was wounded at the battle
of Snow Hill.
Dr. Hopson thought I had better return to Knoxville with
Captain Morgan, and remain with Miss Laura Russel during her sister's
absence. He was afraid that my presence would embarrass him in case of
having to run away. I assented, and went to Knoxville, about the 6th or
8th of April. I think the 19th or 20th Gen. Morgan had to leave
McMinnville.
The Doctor said he saw an unusual commotion over
[book page] 128
at headquarters, a hundred yards away. He always kept his horse near him;
he threw his saddle on him, and secured his baggage, mounted, and rode
over. He asked Gen. Morgan what was up. Gen. Morgan said, "Look yonder!"
and about a mile away a long column of Federals were coming towards town.
The Doctor asked him which way to go. He pointed to the Sparta road, out
which his ambulances containing the sick and wounded, and his telegraph
operator, and Mrs. Morgan and sister were flying. The Doctor was soon
following as rapidly as his horse could carry him. Morgan and his men were
close enough behind for him to hear the whizzing of the balls sent after
them. He said he felt more and more convinced that non-combatants had no
business in a fight. They all got off safely but two of the officers.
During the winter months Gen. Morgan had been acting on the
defensive. In the spring he made preparations to commence active
operations. As soon as the Doctor was assured of the fact, he determined
to resign his position and join me in Knoxville, and proceed to Richmond
and devote his time to evangelizing in Virginia.
He resigned the 1st of May. Gen. Morgan insisted on his
retaining the office and receiving his pay, even if he did not wish to
remain with the command. The Doctor declined. He said he had been
appointed to the chaplaincy without his consent; had reported, did his
duty faithfully, and felt that he could retire honorably.
He came at once to Knoxville, and from there we went to
Richmond, arriving about the middle of May. The Doctor held a two weeks'
meeting for Bro. Pettigrew. We found a very cordial welcome, not only from
[book page] 129
him and his good wife, but from all the brethren and sisters.
The Doctor had the pleasure of greeting many of his old
friends from Kentucky and Missouri. Their influence, added to that of the
brethren, gave him a crowded house to preach to during his stay in the
city.
An old gentleman, a member of the Episcopal Church, heard him
frequently. After a sermon in which he assailed infant baptism as
unscriptural, some one asked the gentleman what he thought of the sermon.
"Oh," said he, "the Doctor proved that it was not authorized by the Bible;
but it is an old Virginia custom, and he need not think we are going to
give it up." Often hundreds of persons were turned away from the church,
unable to find standing-room even in the galleries. One gentleman had been
disappointed several times, and at length told his wife that he would not
come home to supper, but she must fix him a lunch instead, and he would be
at the church in time to get in. When the sexton went to unlock the door
to light up the house, the gentleman was sitting on the steps, and walked
in and got a seat in time.
During the meeting Sister Pichegru Woolfolk came down to
Richmond on a visit, though Bro. Pettigrew said she had smelled a
protracted meeting. He said she was never so happy as when in a protracted
meeting, and, when she got to heaven the first thing she would want to
know would be when they were going to begin one. She remained through the
meeting and returned to Bowling Green, her home, and the next week the
Doctor received a call to come up and make his home among the brethren
there.
The Doctor was delighted to leave the great city and
[book page] 130
the crowd and the bustle, the noise and confusion of tramping hosts, and escape to the quiet country. Sister Woolfolk took us to her own home. Dear old Holly Hill, "when I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cunning." After the tossings and tortures of the last year, what a sweet, peaceful asylum it seemed. Our family circle consisted of Sisters Pichegru Woolfolk, senior and junior; Sister Williamson, and Charlie and Gay, her two children, daughter and grandchildren of Sister Woolfolk; Sister Wm. Woolfolk, Mrs. Gen. Alexander, whose husband was Chief of Artillery in the Confederate Army, and her little daughter, Bessie; Dr. Hopson and myself. He and Master Charlie Williamson were our bodyguard and the only male members of the family at home. Sister Woolfolk had five sons in the army. Occasionally our home was enlivened with a visit from one or the other of the boys, but their stay was brief Charlie was our errand boy, our mail carrier, our driver, if necessary. It was never too cold or too hot, too wet or too dry, too sunny or too cloudy, for him to do our behests. He was always courteous and polite, a special favorite with the Doctor. He was remarkably well informed for his age-only fourteen-and a great reader. His mother and grandmother were both very intellectual and cultured women. I feel this much is due to the boy, who, left fatherless at an early age, and by the misfortunes of others stripped of the little he might have possessed, has, by his own exertions, raised himself to an enviable position as President of a flourishing Female College, and associate editor of a popular religious paper. C. P. Williamson, of the Apostolic Guide, is widely and favorably known to our brethren. He came to Kentucky some time in 1872 or 1873, to
[book page] 131
attend the University at Lexington. He made us a visit as he was on his
return to Virginia. We were then living in Louisville. His friends in
Virginia were urging him to adopt the law as a profession. Dr. Hopson
insisted upon his returning to Kentucky University and studying with a
view to the ministry. Before he left us he had almost decided to accept
the Doctor's advice, which he did subsequently.
For many months the Doctor had been deprived of studying.
When at McMinnville we had no light at night by which to read, except fire
light, as candles and lamps were a great luxury. Now the first thing in
the morning we would see him with his book and chair, hunting the shade,
where he would read until breakfast, after which he would return to his
perch for the day. I never knew him to enjoy himself more than he did
those few months of comparative rest at Holly Hill. Every Sunday morning
the old family coach was brought out and filled with church-goers, off for
Bowling Green, one and a half miles away, where the preacher was listened
to by an unusually cultivated and intelligent audience. The Maurys,
Woolfolks, Dejarnetts, Tylers, Whites, Tunstalls, Ropers, Parishes,
Hudgins, and others, made up a community rarely excelled.
We were forty miles from Richmond and twenty from
Fredericksburg, on the main line of travel between the two places; and
while hundreds of troops were passing and repassing, we seldom saw any
soldiers, they usually going up on the railroad a hundred yards back of
Holly Hill.
We remained at Sister Woolfolk's until October. When the
roads became bad and the weather disagreeable we moved into Bowling Green;
so as to be near the
[book page] 132
church. The Doctor held two meetings while at Holly Hill-one near Guinea's
Depot, where we were the guests of Bro. Chandler and wife, at whose house
Stonewall Jackson died, and one in King and Queen county. He had twelve or
fourteen additions at the former and twenty-five at the latter. He was in
receipt of a salary of two thousand dollars from the church, and the
Doctor rented a cottage in Bowling Green and we went to house-keeping on
that sum. Sister Jourdan Woolfolk loaned us a bed, bedstead, some blankets
and a comfort; Sisters Roper and White some sheets; another sister let us
have a dutch oven and skillet. Among the rest we raised a few dishes,
knives, forks, etc. Silverware had almost disappeared from this part of
the country, having been sent where it would not be liable to lead any one
into temptation.
No two young people ever enjoyed going to house-keeping more
than we did. There was no market to go to, but somehow our larder was well
supplied. Bro. J. H. Dejarnett made us a present of a barrel of flour
which cost him two hundred dollars. Bro. John White sent us a bushel of
meal worth two or three dollars. Bro. Daniel Dejarnett and Robert sent us
some nice hams and breakfast bacon. Two or three sisters sent me some
chickens worth two dollars each; and every Sunday morning, when Sister
Jourdan Woolfolk came in to church, she would bring me two or three pounds
of sweet, golden butter, worth eight dollars a pound. Every time a beef
was killed, or a mutton, some of it would always find its way to our
house. We were well supplied with vegetables, including the delicious yam,
which never tasted as good to me anywhere else. Dr. Roper furnished us
with all the wood we needed; and,
[book page] 133
to cap the climax of our bliss; Bro. Wm. S. Rogers, an old Kentucky
friend, gave us twenty pounds of genuine coffee and, twenty-five pounds of
white sugar. Coffee was then worth $20 a pound and sugar $16. We were
fifteen miles from Port Royal, from which place loads of oysters and fresh
shad and bass were brought. every day. Oysters were from $10 to $12 a
gallon. When we could keep them frozen, as we often could, a gallon would
last us a week. Fish was the cheapest dish we could have, and we enjoyed
the fresh shad at two dollars a pair: We were not forgotten at Holly Hill.
Sister Pichegru Woolfolk rarely ever came to Bowling Green that, hid away
somewhere in the old coach, there was not a pound of butter or a bottle of
cream or a dozen eggs for the Doctor.
By this description you can see how a preacher could live off
a $2,000 salary in Confederate money. We were never forgotten at the old
mansion, by Sister White. A nice loaf of bread, a roast of beef, a nice
piece of tripe, a few eggs, a jug of cream, were always finding their way
to our table.
We kept no servant. I did our cooking, with the Doctor's
help. For our breakfast we would have a nice dish of brown toast, a
johnnycake baked on a board, a good cup of coffee, and fish or oysters
broiled on the coals. We would draw our little table up to the fire
between us, and I would tend the johnnycake to see, when it needed
turning, toast the bread and butter it, and the Doctor would lay the
oysters in the shell on the hot coals, knowing just when to take them off,
and how large a piece of butter and how much salt and pepper was needed to
add to the delicate morsel. Does any one wonder that we were happy? I
never knew the Doctor to enjoy
[book page] 134
home as much. There was 'but one drawback to our happiness: we could not hear from Sadie or mother, but we tried to feel that all would be well.
[book page] 135
