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THE FLOW® COUPON
VOLUME XLIII—NUMBER EIGHT.
JHlanta, Go., Week Ending Jipril 22, 1905.
50c PER YEAR—SINGLE COPY 5c.
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I This Mississippi Home Reflects in Miniature j
■ Chivalrous <SL Stormy Life of Old (EL New South ^ ^ ^ !
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Major Valley and His Fox Honnds.
Waverly as it is Today in the Twilight of its Fortunes.
By L. W. BANKS.
H. tten for FAr Sunny South
ROSSING tlio .Tombigee
river, seven miles north
east of Columbus, J'Owndca
county. .Mississippi, in a
weather-worn flat boat,
used for years as a ferry,
then following a. narrow
graveled road way up the
rugged bank until the top
iif the bluff is reached,
one at a glance gets a fine
view of the old Young
homestead.
The place is known far
cast Mississippi as "Waver -
ly,” a bcfore-the-war, "I.ibcrly Hall."
it is prettily situated, on a comnuutding
elevation a few hundred yards west of
the river, originally it was in Lowndes
county, but is now a part of Clay.
The quaint two-story house, vener
able with age, with its big observatory
boldly towering among the neighboring
trees, makes an imposing picture. There
one seems to breaths an atmosphere of
"other days.” Everything suggests that
life in such a home must have been
ideal in the ante-bellum era of tbe south.
When the visitor looks about the
grounds of tbe homestead It is plain that
sad changes have taken place. The large
flower garden, with its borders of box
wood, which in vanished yea\s was
kept with taste »tnd skill is now neg
lected.
Here and there, weeds have usurped
beds where bright annuals flowered or
odorous perennials bloomed to load the
air with fragrance found only in a
southern clime. Rut once within the por
ta’s, the stranger meets a welcome so
gonial and kindly that it will never b®
effaced. The real joy and happiness dis
pensed there in the entertainment of kith
and kin and friends more than fifty
years ago is beyond the power of pen or
pencil tc> depict. So rarely did the Young
family dine alone, it was said the sweet-
hearted mistress and warm-hearted mas-
ter gave "perpetual house parties."' And
tiius it is at Waverly in tliis commercial
age. Tlio masters of the manse. Major
George Valley Young and Captain Wil
liam I-owndes Young, old bachelors ant-
bo, the former well turned his three
score and ten, and 'the latter a third of a
decade on the other side of the grand
climacteric—are worthy scions of a good
ly stock distinguished for gentle court
esy and gracious hospitality in an age
famous for the princely customs of so
cial life. To tiieir way of thinking there
is naught that walks the eartli or swims
the waters too good for the whilom guest
whether chance or appointment directs
his steps to their demesne.
DOGS OF ALL SORTS.
The wide doors of the .mansion stand
ever open. Chairs built for comfort line
the long front porch facing south. Fine
hunting dogs, of various breeds—hounds
for the chase, setters and pointers for
the field, when quail are ripe—lazily
stetch themselves about the premises.
Chickens dart around the hedges of box
bordering former flower beds in head
long pursuit of the elusive bug.
If the stranger chances to meet upon
any of the roads leafing to the big
house, one of the old negroes and should
inquire, ‘Uncle, where’s Waverly?” the
aged darkey, with a proud smile and hat
in hand, is apt to make reply: "Dis am
Waverly, sir, all ’bout duse fields and
woods is Waverly, but de town uv Wav
erly is ’cross yonder on dat hill, at de
big house, whar Marse Billy and Mr.
Mage liv’s."
The house was built many a long year
ago and is a fine portrayal in architec
ture of country life as it used to be in
{.Mississippi. Passing the wide portico,
visitors enter an octagon hall thirty-two
feet in diameter. On either side of the
hall are winding stairs to the second
floor. On this floor the bed rooms,
twenty-two by twenty-two feet, open
from a balcony hallway from which
other winding stairs lead to the commo
dious observatory. The stairways and
the railings to the stairs and balconies,
are of solid walnut handsomely finish
ed. From the floor of the lower hall is
suspended an elaborate bronze chandelier
which, when tbe lights are turned on.
brilliantly lllumninatcs the big hall. In
tbe hall are two tall pier glasses in heavy
gilt frames and on the walls hang oil
paintings. To the left is the elegantly
furnished parlor, which, despite the wear
and tear of time, is strikingly attractive.
The rich imported furnishings are mar
velously preserved. A dark blue velvet,
flower-sprinkled carpet, made to order
in Paris, about the middle of the last
century, covers the floor, and is yet a
thing of beauty. The parlor furniture,
also imported with the carpet, comprises
many pieces—divans, chairs and ottomans
—all of rose-*wood upholstered In blue
satin damask, brocaded in pale yellow
roses, showing little signs of fading out
after half a century’s service. At the
high windows are heavy blue satin da
mask curtains lined with canary silk,
hanging from massive gilt cornices and
caught back from over the lace curtains
by big silk cords and tassels. Over the
imported Italian marble mantel, carved
in fruits and garlands of flowers, is a
mirrow seventy inches wide, set in a gilt
frame reaching to the ceiling. The open
ing to the fire place is four feet high
with richly chased out glass globes.
In the family sitting room or library fs
a mahogany book case and writing desk
made into the wall. All the window fron-
tals are maSsive and over every door In
the house is a large transom. Scattered
through the rooms are pieces of ma
hogany furniture rich in design.
The fouuder of Waverly was a man of
wealth and culture. Previous to the war
it would have been difficult to have
found in the south a better equipped es
tate. He was an extensive planter and
built upon the river bank a large brick
ware house, where was stored his own
and his neighbors" cotton to await the
Champion Joe Camming, a pen Sketch from Life by Prof. E. H. Ostrum. Winning First Eastern All Age, First Con
tinental All Age, Second XT. S. Trial All Age Champion Stake. Sold by Mr. W. W. Titos to Ifc. Clarence Muriray
the New York Millionaire, for $1,500.
.arrival of boats from Mobile. Many
•'•’Mis people made the trip oir these
steam boats up the river from the aristo
cratic Bay city and in return the young
folks of W averly. joined by merry par
ties at Columbus, made pleasant jour
neys to Mobile in the gay winter months.
On the hill above the river stands Col
onel Young's old office building, where
his overseers reported to him on the
business of the plantations and to the
left of the house was' a low brick build
ing, comprising several rooms in which
he had his private office and law li
brary.
The place boasted a large woolen mill,
flour, grist and saw mill and a hat fac
tory. The first felt saddle blankets made
in the United States were manufactured
In a Waverly factory. There was a tan
yard, where were fashioned all the shoes
worn by the negroes and other leather
goods needed on the place. At the foot
of the hill, south of the home, wajs a batn
house. The swimming pool and fish pona
were filled from the artesian well a few
feet away. The house was lighted by gas
generated on the place. Colonel Young
appreciated in those early times how dif
ficult it was for a house wife to do with-
an ice pit twenty feet deep and covered by
a roomy latticed house. The ice pit was
filled every winter from the frozen
ponds and streams on the plantation. An
extensive orchard and flower .bordered
vegetable garden supplied the table jn
season with choice fruits and vegetables.
NATIVE OF GEORGIA.
The master of Waverly first visited
Mississippi when the Indian was monarch
of all he surveyed in that region. Ho
was attracted to the state by the gov
ernment sales of Indian lands and abouc
1835 decided to make an overland trip
from Georgia to the nw country. Col
umbus lay in his itinerary. The old
town was then in her infancy and gave
slight evidence that in after years she
would win tlhe sobriety "A City of
Homes Beautiful.” Crossing the river at
the small village he passed a few miles
west of it through a thickly settled
Indian settlement. The primitive huts
were half hidden from view by peach
trees in full blossom beneath which were
a number of fat ponies and cows. Then
and there he was struck With t'he possi
bilities of the land, and determined to
buy an estate in that vicinity. This 'he
did the same year and returned to Geor
gia to remove his negroes and stock.
Returning to Mississippi with the as
sistance of his slaves he opened up his
newly acquired lands and built a double
log house a® a temporary home for his
wife and children. It was not until 1840
that Col. and Mrs. Young selected from
their ten thousand acres the site their
permanent home—Waverly—in later years
was to be classed with the south’s deserv
edly famous country places.
After the cleared lands had been plant
ed in corn and when the first harvest-:
ing season time arrived Col. You rug dis
covered a remarkable piece of cunning
on the part of the lower class of Indian,
Wlhen the corn was full in the ear the
Indian would catch a firm hold to the
outward end and by a dexterous move
ment of the wrist insert a sharp blade
knife, make a long incision in the shuck,
cuf the tender corn cob stem and slip
out the ear. He would so cleverly close
up the shuck it was beyond detection
unless handled. Corn sold at that time
for SI.75 and S2.00 per bushel in the
sfttuck.
The section of land covering the home
plantation originally belonged to* the
Choctaw Indian and was largely occu
pied by the Pichlyns of that tribe. For
years after the land had passed from
their hands ■ .any of m m loitered in the
aijuccnt to rests. -\.j muic patnctii /
story has been written than that of the
unlettered people's love for the land
of their birth and the last resting place
of their beloved dead. A grief unspeak
able fell upon them when the progress
of the pale face robbed "them of their
country. Even after General Andrew
Jackson’s name had been effectually
used -to accomplish a treaty and the
Indian finally parted from his lands, lor
a paltry sum. they lingered sadly and
sorrowfully near their former homes m
Mississippi. So at Waverly, the kindly
master, who some years after the rati
fication treaty came into possession of
field and forest over which in years
agone they had happily roamed, ho found
many of them. After the first few years
he had no trouble with them, but gained
their affectionate friendship which lasted
until the last of tile tribe had disap
peared.
Among the Indian whose allegiance to
the land of bis people which ended only
with iiis passing into that "change which
never changes” was one Peter Pitchlyn
known as one of the {great chiefs of the
Choctaw tribe. When death claimed tne
red warrior, in an adjoining county,
following the custom of his tribe his
remains were brought back to Waverly
that his last resting place might be in
the shadow of his birth place. The fact
that the family of Peter Pitchlyn le-
turned with his remains in order that he
might enter the "happy hunting ground’’
on the border of Waverly’s woodland
was proof that his youth was passed
there, for it was a tradition that when
one of the died from his early home, no
matter how far, and was brought back
to be burned it proved conclusively that
the same vicinity had originally belonged
to his family or tribe.
AN INDIAN BURIAL.
The lamented Judge Gohlson. of Aber
deen. chanced to be at Waverly when
the followers of -their great chief, wh i
knew no fear of death, were about to
inter his body. lie gave a touching ac
count of the pathetic' and tragic scene
he witnessed at t'he grave of the noted
brave. His magnificent white horse was
brought forth to he buried with him.
Already his "tenement of clay” held his
gun and other implements of war. Juirte
Gohlson pleaded through an interpreter
for the life of the splendid steed by
telling them that their mighty chief ha 1
passed into the happy hunting grounds
where he had found awaiting him a more
magnificent horse than the one they
desired to bury witli him. Finally they
wore persuaded lo listen to him- After
they had ceased their weird heart stir
ring lamentations they dispersed taking,
with them tile white horse.
A few years later the descendants of
Pitchlyn went to the far west. Yearly
•they wrote back to Colonel Young to
know if the grace of their ancestor had
•been disturbed. He would promptly re
ply and tell them it was as they had loft
it. When the family departed for the
west they bought from Colonel Young
a negro named Ray. He left his wife
and children to follow tlio Indian into
an unknown country. Twice they sent
Ray back to Waverly across the country
to look after the sacred mound and re
port if it had been molested.
It has been long years since any in
quiries Ueve come from across the father
of waters so it is surmised the children
of the brave Peter Pitchlyn have joined
him in tlio spirit World.
From the motind marking his last
resting place sturdy oaks have grown
and spread protecting; arms to shade his
lonely lowly bed from the burning sun.
It seems fitting giant oaks should stand
sentinel over the last home of a "stoic
of the woods” whose unfaltering loyalty
to his race and love of country com-
n anded the admiration of civilized man
and the devotion of his tribe until death
set a seal upon his lips.
CONTINUED ON LAST PAGE.
Major Valley Young and His Niece and Her guests from Columlras, Miss.
Misses Anna Banks, Cornelia Hudson and Billips Harris, Mr Frank Philips
and Miss Yonge of Columbus, Oa.