The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia Part 27

Addresses were made on that occasion by Judge D. C. Richardson, Mayor Richard M. Taylor, Gov. Chas. T. O'Ferrall and Attorney-General A. J.

Montague, of Richmond, and Gen. Horatio C. King, of New York, and Gen.

Geo. D. Ruggles, of Was.h.i.+ngton.

On the return of the excursionists from Richmond a reception and lunch were tendered them at the Opera House, where they were met by a large number of the ladies and gentlemen of the town, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. Gen. King, secretary of the society, in a brief address, acknowledged the cordial welcome and unbounded hospitality they had met with in our town and the homes of our citizens, extended the hearty thanks of the society to the officials and citizens and stated that the reception was even warmer and more cordial than they had ever before met with.

RESOLUTIONS OF THANKS ADOPTED.

At the business meeting of the society on the first evening the following preamble and resolution, after very complimentary remarks of the town and people, by many of the visitors, were enthusiastically adopted:

The reunion of the Society of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg is of peculiar significance, and the generous sentiment which prompted the invitation, meets with a hearty response from every patriotic soldier of that great army. Every animosity engendered by the conflict is here buried with the more than one hundred and twenty thousand gallant men who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives in their heroic devotion to conviction and to duty. The work done here is an imperishable record of the unsurpa.s.sed courage and bravery of the American soldier: therefore be it--

Resolved, That we tender to the civic authorities and citizens of Fredericksburg, and especially to the efficient local executive committee and Mr. St. Geo. R. Fitzhugh, our most hearty thanks for a welcome that sustains, in the highest, the fame of Virginia hospitality. The generous and unstinted courtesies of all will render this reunion forever memorable, and the most pleasurable emotion will always arise whenever the name of Fredericksburg is mentioned.

As a fitting sequel of this distinguished gathering and the grand reception on the part of the town and citizens, a letter, written by Gen.

Horatio C. King, twenty-five years secretary of the society, en route to his home, in Brooklyn, N. Y., is inserted:

_Captain S. J. Quinn, Secretary Army of the Potomac Committee_:

MY DEAR CAPTAIN--The generous efforts of your citizens to kill us with kindness were well nigh successful, but happily we survive to tell the tale of the most unique and unsurpa.s.sed reunion in the history of the Society of the Army of the Potomac.

Our first meeting on the soil of the South cannot fail to have a most happy effect upon the comparatively few--mainly born since the great conflict--who do not realize that the war ended in 1865.

The sentiments expressed by your orators, Mr. Fitzhugh, your honored Governor Tyler and Judge Goolrick, and by Mayor Taylor, ex-Governor O'Ferrall and Attorney-General Montague, in Richmond, should be printed in letters of gold and circulated all over the nation. Purer or more exalted patriotism has never been expressed.

To the thanks already extended I desire to add my personal obligations for the untiring energy, zeal and efficiency of your local committee, which have made my duties comparatively light and most enjoyable; and I desire to make my acknowledgments especially to you and Brother Corbin for the promptness of your correspondence and unremitting attention.

I am afraid I but feebly conveyed to the audience last evening the warm appreciation of the superabundant and delightful lunch so gracefully provided by your people and so charmingly distributed by your ladies.

Indeed, I cannot find words to express our grat.i.tude for a reception so complete as not to have elicited a single complaint or criticism.

We can never forget it or the good people who carried the reunion to unqualified success.

a.s.sa.s.sINATION OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY.

Visiting Fredericksburg in May, to attend the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and take part in laying the corner-stone of the b.u.t.terfield monument, where he received the most marked demonstrations of the love and loyalty of his people, without regard to party politics, President McKinley returned to our beautiful capital with a grateful heart and a determination to show himself President of the entire country, dispensing justice to all alike. He was proud of his country and rejoiced in its unparalleled prosperity. In September, 1901, he visited the exposition at Buffalo, N. Y., where, while holding a reception on the 6th of September, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated in the midst of the thousands who surrounded him. The sad news was flashed by wire throughout our land and the civilized world, and was received everywhere with unaffected sorrow.

Our City Council was a.s.sembled upon the sorrowful intelligence, and the following preamble and resolutions were adopted, and telegraphed Mrs.

McKinley, which were the first adopted and received by her from any quarter:

"Whereas, we have heard, with great sorrow and indignation, of an attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate his excellency, Wm. McKinley, President of the United States, at Buffalo, N. Y., this afternoon; and, whereas, we rejoice to learn by the latest telegram that his physicians express the firm belief he will survive the wounds inflicted, therefore--

Resolved, by the Mayor and Common Council of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, that we condemn, in the strongest language we can command, this dastardly and wicked act, and call upon the authorities to punish the would-be a.s.sa.s.sin to the full extent of the law.

2nd, That we tender our profoundest sympathy to Mrs. McKinley in her great affliction and earnestly pray that a kind and all-wise Heavenly Father may restore her devoted husband and our much loved Chief Magistrate to perfect health, to her and this united and happy country.

3rd, That our worthy Mayor be requested to communicate by wire this action of the Council to Mrs. McKinley."

Notwithstanding the best medical skill was employed to remain with the stricken President day and night, who endeavored to locate and extract the pistol ball, and the prayers of the nation, he calmly pa.s.sed away on the 14th of September, eight days after the a.s.sa.s.sin's deadly work. The monster murderer was an anarchist from Ohio, who was condemned before the courts for his wicked act and paid the extreme penalty of the law.

As the news of the President's death was sent to the world with electric speed, and announced in Fredericksburg, the City Council was immediately a.s.sembled again and the following action taken:

"The Mayor and Common Council of the city of Fredericksburg desire to unite with all the world in paying tribute to the memory of President McKinley, as a patriot American, a pure citizen, a fearless Executive and a Christian gentleman.

It is with pride and pleasure that we recall his recent visit to our city and his expressions of gratification at being with us, and this tribute to his memory is to testify and further emphasize our sincere sorrow at his death. It is therefore--

Resolved, That the public buildings of this city be draped in mourning for thirty days; that during the hour of the funeral service that the bells of the city be tolled, and that a committee of three members of the Council be appointed by the Mayor to confer with the ministers of our churches in order to arrange a memorial meeting of our citizens, and that these resolutions be spread upon the records of this council.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, with our expressions of sympathy in this hour of her great bereavement, be forwarded to Mrs.

McKinley, widow of our distinguished President, signed by the Mayor, and attested by the clerk, under the seal of this city."

This action of the Council was one of the few that Mrs. McKinley personally responded to. To it she promptly replied, evincing her grateful appreciation, with the tenderest expressions, for the sympathy tendered to her in her great sorrow. The memorial services were held in St. George's church, the day of the funeral, conducted by the city pastors, Dr. T. S.

Dunaway, delivering the address.

CHAPTER XIX.

_Dr. Walker's Exploration--Bacon's Rebellion, so-called--The Fredericksburg Declaration--The Great Orator--Resolutions of Separation from Great Britain--Virginia Bill of Rights, &c._

It has been said, probably by the facetious or perhaps by the envious--for such are to be found in all communities--that Virginians are noted for their bragging--that find them where you may, at home surrounded by friends and companions, or abroad among strangers and aliens--bragging is their distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristic. It is not probably known whether this charge has ever been investigated and pa.s.sed upon by any competent authority, but if it has been, and the charge was p.r.o.nounced true--or if the truth of the charge were admitted by the parties themselves, they can plead justification, and should be readily excused upon the ground that they really have something to boast of in the patriotism, endurance, sacrifices and achievements of a glorious ancestry. If the people of other parts of the country have whereof to boast, Virginians have more, and those in that part of Virginia in which Fredericksburg is located may well take the lead.

In this and the two succeeding chapters we propose to show what has been accomplished for this great country by the sons of Virginia, who have lived in Fredericksburg and within a radius of sixty or seventy-five miles of Fredericksburg, and show that in the extension of the borders of our infantile country, in protecting the settlers from the ravages of the brutal savages, in agitating, fostering and demanding the rights of the people, in opposing and resisting the unjust laws and oppressions, usurpations and unreasonable exactions of sordid and wicked rulers, in the separation, by solemn resolutions and declarations of this country from Great Britain, in uniting and defending the colonies and in achieving the independence of the country, in forming and administering the government, in numbering it with the family of the nations of the earth, and placing it upon the high road to prosperity and national greatness, Virginians were ever in the van, and others followed their leaders.h.i.+p and reaped the rich fruits of their splendid achievements and their glorious victories. And this we do, not in any spirit of vanity, but that there may be grouped together and brought to public attention, in permanent form, historical facts, if known to the public, long forgotten and unappreciated, that Fredericksburg may be placed, where it rightly belongs, as the most historical spot in the most historical State in this great nation, that will soon, if it does not now, dominate the nations of the earth and fully justify her sons in recounting their deeds, if it shall be termed bragging.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The present Postoffice Building at Fredericksburg. (See page 165)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tombstone marking grave of William Paul, brother of Commodore John Paul Jones, in St. George's burial ground. (See page 237)]

DR. WALKER'S EXPLORATION.

It was Dr. Thomas Walker, of Albemarle county, a Virginian, who, with five companions, in 1750, explored the wild country, which now forms the States of Tennessee and Kentucky, and named that chain of mountains and the beautiful river that flows through the valley, c.u.mberland, in honor of the Duke of c.u.mberland, and then crossed over the country to the head waters of the Kentucky river and gave it its name, which furnished a name for that great and prosperous State.

BACON RESISTS OPPRESSION.

It was Nathaniel Bacon, of Henrico county, a Virginian, who first offered resistance to the colonial authorities in defence of the lives, liberties and property of the people and put forth a declaration of principles, which were the guiding star for those who came after him until independence was achieved, with all of its blessings and glorious fruits.

In his United States History Dr. Howison says: "In the great declaration adopted by them in 1776, just one hundred years after the movements under Bacon, we find embedded not less than five principles among the most weighty and potent that justified the overthrow of the English rule, all five of which were in active movement to produce the uprising of the Virginia people in 1676. These five principles were:

1. The right to civil and religious liberty--'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness';

2. The right to throw off a government which had 'cut off their trade from all parts of the world';

3. Which had 'imposed taxes on them without their consent';