Leonard Stephens Diary, 1857 Trip, Part 1
In 1857 I made another trip to Orange county, the native home of myself and my Brother William, who accompanied me.
June 8th, 1857. This day at 4:00 o'clock P.M. we left Cincinnati on board the Steamer Lebanon for Wheeling City. Our passage cost us nine Dollars, which is regarded as being quite low.
June 9th. The weather on yesterday evening was uncomfortably warm & continued so untill after night. With that exception, however, we had a very pleasant passage. The River was smooth & our Boat made good speed, it being at about the rate of 10 miles an hour. Through the night it rained & this morning is much pleasanter. At daylight we are at Vanceburgh on the Kentucky side & now at 8 o'clock while I write, we are at Pourtsmouth. Myself & Brother William are well & enjoy the River scenery very much. Mr. Jessey Jeffries is with us & is also quite well. He is going to Rappahanock County & I & Brother William are going to Orange on a pilgrimage to out old native home. Two years ago I & Napoleon went there & I then expected little to again go back, but Brother William desired to see it & I am going with him. I earnestly pray God to preserve us in our journey. Also our families in our absence.
June 10th. We are within about forty miles of Parkersburgh, having passed Guayandotte on yesterday evening & also Catlettsburgh about 11 o'clock A.M. & this former about 2 o'clock P.M. & now we are passing the town of Ravenswood. We expect to reach Wheeling about day-light tomorrow morning. Our health this morning is good. The small farms in sight of the River on either side appear to be good & so far all our information from friends on board is the prospect for the wheat crop is flattering.
11th June. We on yesterday about 2 o'clock passed the Town of Parkersburgh & arrived at Wheeling about daylight this morning. On landing we went to the Hotel & after breaking our fasts, procured tickets at the Depot office, for which we paid $19.50 for two to
Washington City. We left the last named place at 9 o'clock & arrived at Washington City this morning at 4 o'clock. At the Depo we took the Omnibus for
Alexandria. Eat our breakfast on the Ferry Boat & on landing found the cars for
Orange train waiting. Went immediately on board & arrived at Orange Court house at 1/2 after one o'clock. At Culpepper Court house we parted with Jessey Jeffries, whom we have agreed to meet on next Monday week in Washington City.
June 12th. After breakfasting we took passage on the stage to Virdiersville, which we found to be the place once occupied by Wright & is about one mile below where old Mr. Ben Hide once lived. We were a good deal disappointed in not being able to procure a conveyance to the old Pamunkey meeting as we expected & were anxious to do, consequently had to go on the stage as before stated. On arriving at Mr. Brockman's, who now keeps at the old Wright place, We endevoured to procure a conveyance to Mr. Reynolds's, our old native house, but not being able to get one, we left our Satchels & walked, the distance being about six miles. On arriving at our old or native home we were received by our old friends Mrs Reynolds & her children with marked Kindness, Mr. Reynolds being absent, having gone to the old Pamunkey meeting. In the evening late he came home & gave us a hearty welcome back to his house. He is a gentleman of excellent qualities, enjoys the society of friends perhaps to a fault, for he seems to relinquish all concern for his business to make his friends feel comfortable. Then when he arrived home we were not about the house, having gone fishing, Mrs. Reynolds said to him, Well Jo. (for so she calls her husband) you cant guess who is here, no said he, is anybody here? She answered yes, & I know you cant guess who it is. We however were approaching the house, & about one hundred yards off, & he looked in our direction, when he at once exclaimed Well if there ain't our old friend Stephens come back again. And he again exclaimed well if this don't beat all. He immediately started to meet us & when he was in speaking distance said to me, well Brother Stephens Ile pull off my coat & you may give it to me good, for I deserve it. I asked him what for & he said for not having answered your letter, but I assured him that I did not entertain the least unkindness for him, for that I had forgiven him long since. He met us in that sort of open frankness that is at once calculated to make one feel at home. I told him that I was disappointed in not getting to meeting. Well said he I am sorry that you were not there today but I will see you are not disappointed tomorrow for you shall certainly have a conveyance to your old place of meeting tomorrow. Brother Billy this evening remarked to little Jo Reynolds that he would like to go fishing. So off ran Jo & dug some worms, fixed a couple of hooks & when they were ready to start invited me to go. Of course I went but had not idea of ketching any fish, but like Brother Billy, desired once more to fish in the old river where fifty odd years ago I used to enjoy myself so well in the sport.
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June 13, 1857. We this morning fixed up & went to meeting. Mr. Reynolds & Brother Billy rode in his Buggy (or carriage) & I went on horse back. This I prefered to do so that I might see the country. Which I could do much better than by being in a carriage. The old church grounds look familliar, altho there has been a great improvement. They have in the last two years built a good Brick house, which is not quite completed tho they hold meetings in it. There was a congregation of several hundred, & of fine looking folks. Mr. Quarles, who preached a very interesting discourse from the 1st Corinthians, 23rd & 24th verses, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and wisdom of God." It was their sacrament day & the services were conducted in a very appropriate manner, as I thought. I remarked that among the entire congregation there were not more than a half a dozen gray headed men, & we could recognize but two persons, one Mr. Jo Reynolds & a relative of his to whom he introduced us on the way. At the close of the services he introduced us to his father-in-law, Mr. Henderson. We walked round the grounds of the old House & went & drank out of the old spring. At the conclusion we returned to Mr. Reynolds. In the course of the evening Capt. Elijah Morton & Mr. William C. More came over to see us, & we are under a promise to go to each of their houses. The people here are as kind as they can be & we feel entirely assured of their good wishes, which is certainly gratifying our feelings. We have slept two nights in our old Home house & in the very part of it where we have in our boyhood days slept very often. A son of Mr. William Reynolds has also been over & invited us to visit his Father which we intend to do.
June 19, 1857. On June 16th, we, as we expected to do, went to Capt. Morton's and were as kindly received as we could possibly have been by any of our dear friends at home. The entire family treated us with every manifestation of that sort of courtesey which is peculiar to Virginians. For they certainly have a more striking way of making their friends comfortable than most any people that I have visited or mixed among. The family consists of the old people, three aimiable daughters and a son. Their names are Miss. Elizabeth Gooch, Miss. Sally, Miss. Fannie, and their son Charles. In the evening we went over to the Springs. The Mr. Colemans are the proprietors, and one of them received and treated us very courteously. The place is not now resorted as it used to be in olden times. We also went up to where Mr. James Nelson formerly lived. There is not now any buildings left, having all been removed and the only thing that marks the spot where they once stood is the old cellar. We were accompanied there by Capt. Morton and Mr. Reynolds, who had gone to Capt. Morton's with us as his daughter Sallie had also gone with us to Capt. Morton's, but she did not go with us to the Springs. There is indeed a great change in the appearance of the country there now and 50 years ago. The greater part of the farm that was there is now grown up in pine trees that will make from four to eight rails to the cut. As we returned from our excursion to the Springs we called to see Mrs. Nancy Burrows, who was a schoolmate of mine here in my boyhood days, and who's maiden name was Terrill, being a daughter of Mr. William Terrill. She, when told who we were, at once said, having recollected having gone to school with me.
June 17, 1857. We remained at Capt. Morton's all night, being under promise to visit Mr. William More today. After breakfasting, we were about setting out there, when Mr. John Morton, a brother of Captain Morton's, came in, who was a school mate of mine, and whom I desired to see. When I & Napoleon were here two years ago he was living in Illinois. We then concluded to defer our visit until evening, and accordingly, about 4 o'clock, we arrived at Mr. William More's. We found he & Mr. Reynolds at the house, who had been expecting us since early in the morning. When we explained to Mr. More the cause of our not coming earlier he seemed to be satisfied, and with the usual Virginia hospitality he gave us a hearty welcome. We passed the evening very pleasantly and at about sunset, in company with Mr. Reynolds, left for his house, where we were again welcomed by Mrs. Reynolds & Miss Reynolds.
June 18, 1857. After we went over to Mr. William Reynolds, Mr. J. D. Reynolds having accompanied us, we found the former in about the same condition he was two years ago. He has been helpless, as he informs us, for the last five years, from the effects of a burn he received about that long ago. Poor man, I regret very much indeed to find him in that condition as it must be a source of much annoyance to him in his old age, which is now about 83 years. I & Brother Billy went from there over to Mrs. Lancaster's where Brother Waller Stephens lived at one time. The place looked quite familiar to both of us. We went to the old spring and slacked our thirst with the limpid water. After visiting the house we left and returned to Mr. William Reynolds and remained there until after dinner. We left & went to Mrs. Boston's which is the place where Brother Edmund lived before he went to South Carolina. The old dwelling is still standing and is occupied by the family that resides there. From there we went to where brother Ben lived, which is about one mile North of the last mentioned place. There is no appearance of building at that place. There are some scrub apple trees which are the only thing left to show where the buildings once stood. The Plantation that then was, is entirely grown up in pine trees. After satisfying ourselves in looking around we returned to Mr. Reynolds about sun down & found our friends as pleasant as ever.
June 19, 1857. I was somewhat unwell this morning, but hope that it will wear off. With this morning's exception, I have perhaps rarely enjoyed better health than I have since I left home. After breakfast, Mr. James More came over to see us & spent some time in our company. We had intended to go over there this morning to see him & were glad when he came here. We have, as we think, seen everything about the old place that we care to see. We have also seen all the people in the neighborhood that we knew and are ready, as I think, to set our faces homeward, which we expect to do in the morning. Our arrangement is to go to the Plank Road and take the stage to Fredricksburg as we intend to go to Washington City, that we may take the cars at Fredricksburg to Acquiah Creek & go up the Potomac River to the city. Mr. Joseph D. Reynolds family consists of a grown daughter, Miss Sally G. Reynolds, Ann Reynolds, a little girl, Lilly Reynolds about two years old; Joe Reynolds about 13 years old and a grown son in California & Mrs. Reynolds.
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Notes:
William Stephens (1782-1873) had lived for three decades in northern Kentucky near his father and brothers after a brief stint in South Carolina, then followed his sons to Monroe County, Missouri in the late 1830s. Return.
The Lebanon, a 255-ton, wooden-hulled sternwheeler, was built in 1855 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and homeported in Pittsburgh. It was attacked and boarded by Confederate guerrillas on 27 May 1864 on the Mississippi, ten miles below Greenville, Mississippi. Plundered and set afire, it was a complete loss. Way, 281. Return.
Wheeling, on [West] Virginia's panhandle west of Pennsylvania. A table on Mitchell's 1849 New Map of Virginia gives a distance of 358 miles from Cincinnati to Wheeling. Return.
Vanceburg, seat of Lewis County, was dismissed by James as a village of 200 souls. James, 104. Return.
Portsmouth, seat of Scioto County, between the Big and Little Scioto rivers, listed as 103 miles from Cincinnati by Mitchell. It was the southern terminus of the 309-mile Ohio Canal, and in 1856 could boast of 8 or 10 churches and a population of about 5500. James, 104. Return.
Jesse Jeffries, a schoolteacher in his forties who was living in Kenton County. Return.
The Rappahannock County created in 1833 from western Culpeper was the second of that name. An earlier county existed in colonial times from 1656 to 1692 until it was divided into Essex and Richmond. Return.
Guayandotte, where Leonard and Napoleon had caught a steamboat down river in 1855, lies 207 miles from Cincinnati and 151 from Wheeling. See above. Return.
Cattletsburg, seat of Boyd County, Kentucky is located just downstream from the mouth of the Big Sandy River, which marked the boundary with Virginia. Return.
Ravenswood, in Jackson County, [West] Virginia, about halfway between the Great and Little Kanawha, had two churches and a population of about 350. James, 100. Return.
The Baltimore & Ohio rails had reached the Ohio at Wheeling in 1853. Travel by rail could be as hazardous as travel by steamboat; accidents were common, and "Newspapers of the time were constantly filled with illustrations of such events and articles in reference to them." Seymour Dunbar, A History of Travel in America (New York: Tudor. New and revised edition, 1937), 1088, 1058. Return.
At the southern corner of the diamond-shaped Federal District, Alexandria and nearby Arlington had been ceded back to Virginia in 1846, after 57 years under Federal jurisdiction. Ferries to Alexandria ran from the foot of 7th and L Streets SW. William H. Boyd, Boyd's Washington and Georgetown Directory [1858] (FHL 6044627), 423. Return.
The route of the newly-completed Orange & Alexandria Rail Road ran in an arc from the banks of the Potomac through Manassas Junction (where it connected to the Manassas Gap RR), Bristow Station, Culpeper Courthouse, Orange Courthouse, and on to Gordonsville, where it met the Virginia Central line from Richmond to Charlottesville. See Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Plate 100. Return.
Probably not Old Virdiersville, which seems to have been bypassed by the Orange-Fredericksburg Turnpike before the 1850s. Return.
Mr Wright not identified. Return.
See above, 6 Jun 1855. Return.
Mr Brockman not identified. Return.
The Stephens brothers seem to have been in good physical condition: William was almost 75 years old, and Leonard 66. Even at a standard US Army pace of 120 steps per minute, the walk would have taken two hours. Return.
Joseph B. Reynolds (1842-1864). Their teenage fishing companion later rode with Co. I of the 6th Virginia Cavalry. He was wounded in 1863 and killed in the "Buckland Races," 19 Oct 1864. He is remembered by an inscription on the Confederate monument at the courthouse in Orange. Return.
Dr. Charles Quarles, who merited mention in a footnote in Semple, Baptists in Virginia, 220. Return.
John Henderson (1775?- —) had married Sarah Quisenberry (1795?- —) in 1811. According to his great-great-granddaughter he lived to be more than a hundred. Sparacio, Supp. I, Brockman family, 13. Return.
Elijah Morton (1789- —), son of John and Mary Tandy Morton (see above, 1855), had married Mary G. Webb (1794?- —) in 1812. See below for their family. Return.
William C. Moore (1802- —). He had died by 1865. See above, 22 Oct 1865. Return.
William Reynolds (1785-1859), an uncle of Joseph. His son may have been William Jr., who would have been about 40. Return.
Sallie, who was 18 in 1850, had married James A. Beazley in 1860. Mary Elizabeth Morton had married William T. Gooch in 1849. The young Mrs. Gooch and two children (Morton L., 12, and William E., 9) were living with her brother William in 1860, as were her parents Elijah and Mary Morton. In the fall of 1865 Leonard wrote to William Stephens, "I have received a letter from [Mrs. Elizabeth] Gooch, Elijah Morton's daughter. Her father is still living, tho he has not walked a step in six years. Her brother in law Beasley who married Sarah was killed in the army and also her brother William." 22 Oct 1865. What became of Charles in not known. Return.
James Nelson (1759-1837) was the father-in-law of two of Leonard's brothers. Elizabeth Nelson had married William Stephens, and Agnes Nelson wed their elder brother, Benjamin Stephens, Jr. Return.
Ann Terrill (1795- —), who had wed Joseph Burrus (1795- —) in 1823. She sued for divorce in 1837. 1850 found her living with three of their five children, Thomas, William, and Catherine. Sparacio, Supp II, Burrus Family, 7, 12. Return.
In 1860 John Morton (1895?- —), possibly a widower, was living next to Elijah and Mary, then in their seventies. Return.
Mary, widow of Thomas Lancaster. See above. Return.
See above. Return.
See above, 6 June 1855. Return.
Either the elderly James B. Moore, who had married Nancy James in 1803, or his son, James S. Moore, who had married Jane Slaughter in 1834. Return.
Sally Reynolds married Daniel Quisenberry the following year. Her little sister Ann married a cousin, William H. Reynolds, in 1867, and young Lillie (1856-1933) married William James Faulconer (1847-1924) in 1874. The son who went to California is not identified, and may be confused with two of Joseph's brothers, Philip (1806- —) and Charles Dent Reynolds (1819-1901), who did go to California. Charles settled in Stanislaus County, where he recorded his recollections in 1893. A transcript is at the Orange County Historical Society. Return.
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Transcription and editorial matter copyright © 2000, Neil Allen Bristow.
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This page updated 18 June 2001.