University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXX

RECENT TIMES

Capitol Disaster. — A few months after the civil government
of Virginia had been restored, an unexpected catastrophe
spread sorrow throughout the state. A great crowd
had assembled in the chamber of the Court of Appeals to
hear a decision which would determine whether Ellyson,
who had been elected mayor of Richmond, had a right to
the office, or Chahoon, who had been appointed under the
military authorities. While the people were waiting for
the verdict, which was in favor of Mayor Ellyson, the floor
gave way, and the crowd was precipitated into the legislative
hall below. Sixty-five persons were killed and more
than two hundred sustained injuries. A number of the
most prominent citizens were among the killed and
wounded.

Last Days of General Lee. — General Lee spent his last
days in Virginia, which he loved so well. After the war
was over he believed that it was the duty of all who wished
to take part in the restoration of their state to render
allegiance to the Federal government; and so he applied
to President Johnson for amnesty under the terms of the
proclamation issued by him. His example kept many
Virginians from hastily abandoning their state in the hour
of defeat. In the autumn of 1865 Lee accepted the presidency
of Washington College, where for the remainder of
his life he devoted himself as conscientiously to the work

of education, as he had formerly done to the prosecution
of the war. He died in 1870, at the age of sixty-three.
His ability, with the high and noble virtues of his character,
mark him as one of the greatest Americans that the nineteenth
century has produced. Lord Wolseley says he has
met but two men who filled his ideal of what a true hero
should be, and one of these was Robert E. Lee.

Public School System. — Virginia has had much to contend
with in regard to public schools. In colonial days
education was not encouraged except among the higher
classes, Governor Berkeley going so far as to say: "I
thank God there are no free schools nor printing, and
I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning
has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into
the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels
against the best government. God keep us from both."
After the Revolution much interest was manifested by
Thomas Jefferson and others in public education; but the
state did not make adequate provision for its maintenance
till 1870, when the present public school system was
established. This system, since it went into operation,
has, year by year, grown in favor and in usefulness. The
people value the public schools highly, and are thoroughly
alive to the importance of sustaining them.

Higher and Technical Education. — Among the institutions
for higher and technical education that have contributed
greatly to the literary advancement of the state
are the University of Virginia, Washington and Lee University,
Randolph-Macon, Hampden Sidney, Roanoke
College, Richmond College, Emory and Henry, College
of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
State Female Normal School. In addition to the institutions

named above, in every part of the state are to be
found high schools, academies, and female colleges of high
grade which are doing excellent work.

Yorktown Centennial. — The hundredth anniversary of
the surrender of Cornwallis was celebrated at Yorktown
in 1881, and the occasion brought to Virginia visitors from
all over the country and from Europe. The United States
sent a large number of soldiers to Yorktown; and her war
ships gathered in the neighborhood, while from Europe
came representatives of France and Germany and descendants
of the foreign officers who were with the Americans
when the surrender took place. The celebration lasted for
six days, and was characterized by military and naval reviews,
which were witnessed by thousands of the inhabitants
of the state.

The State Debt. — The public debt at the close of the
Reconstruction period was over forty-five million dollars,
one third of which was set aside to West Virginia. The
remainder proved a heavy burden to the state in her
impoverished condition, and was the cause of much discussion
and division among the people. But, happily, in
1892 an agreement was reached between the legislature
and the bondholders by which the debt was adjusted, and
the matter is not likely again to disturb the politics of the
state.

Virginia at the World's Fair. — At the great Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 to commemorate the
four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America,
the Virginia exhibit was displayed in a building which was
an exact representation of the home of Washington at
Mount Vernon, and contained much of the furniture of
that historic structure. It was filled with a rare collection
of relics of the colonial and Revolutionary periods. The

novelty of the building and interesting character of its
contents caused it to attract greater attention than many
others that were far more costly and magnificent.

The White House of the Confederacy. — The mansion in
Richmond formerly occupied by President Davis, and
known as the White House of the Confederacy, is now a
museum for the preservation of Confederate relics, and also
the repository of the records of the Southern Historical
Society. Each state that belonged to the Confederacy has
a separate room in which it places its valued relics. In the
Virginia room are to be found memorials of Lee, Jackson,
Johnston, Pickett, Stuart, A. P. Hill, and of other illustrious
sons too numerous to be mentioned here. Among
the documents, preserved in the building by the Southern
Historical Society, are valued autograph letters of the
leading Confederate generals and the copy of the "Paroles
of the Army of Northern Virginia" that was made out for
General Lee. This museum of Confederate relics is not
designed either to arouse or to keep alive sectional feeling,
but to perpetuate the deeds, the hardships, and the self-denial
of a patriotic people. Virginia is thoroughly loyal
to the restored Union, but at the same time she is true
to her past and cherishes tenderly the memory of the
Confederacy.

Patriotism of Virginia Women. — No history of Virginia,
which does not chronicle the influence women have exerted
in shaping the destiny of the state, would be complete.
During the uncertain years of the Revolution and also in
the trying days of the Civil War, they sent their loved
ones to battle for their country with the same heroic spirit
that animated the Spartan mother when she bade her son
farewell with the injunction, "Come back with your shield
or upon it." Nor did they remain inactive at home, but

ministered to the sick and wounded with the most unremitting
care, taking charge of hospitals and sustaining them
largely by their own contributions. At the same time they
encouraged those who were bearing arms in the field, and
rendered them aid in every way that ingenuity could devise.
When all this is taken into consideration, it is evident that
they deserve a share in the state's heroic achievements as
truly as do the most valiant soldiers.

Patriotic Societies. — Such patriotic societies as the
"Colonial Dames," "Daughters of the American Revolution,"
and "Daughters of the Confederacy" are enthusiastically
sustained by Virginia women, who thus in times
of peace keep alive in the memory of the people the
deeds of their forefathers. Though Virginia is the oldest
settlement of English people outside of England, she for
a long time did but little toward saving from destruction
relics of her early history. But in recent years the women
of the state have become interested in the matter, and have
formed a "Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities,"
which is doing much valuable work.

Governors since the War. — The first governor elected by
the people after the war was Gilbert C. Walker, of New
York. Then Governors Kemper, Holliday, Cameron, Fitzhugh
Lee, McKinney, O'Ferrall, Tyler, Montague, and
Swanson have been successively the executive heads of the
Old Dominion. Andrew J. Montague was the first governor
under the present constitution, which went into effect in 1902.

Resources. — The resources of the state, if developed,
would produce wealth enough to enrich an empire. The
Alleghany region abounds in gold, silver, copper, granite,
marble, and coal. Iron ore is found in at least half the
counties, and zinc, lead, and tin exist in quantities that indicate
profitable investment for capital. These are but a

few of the state's mineral resources, which appear to be
almost boundless. The climate and soil present conditions
favorable to the production of nearly all the useful and
profitable agricultural crops of the world. Matthew Fontaine
Maury, Virginia's great scientist, who was well acquainted
with her resources, said: "The more I search the
old state, the more she reminds me of the magic sheaf of
wheat, which the more it was threshed the more it yielded;
for the longer I study her valleys and mountains, her
waters, climate, and soils, the more I am astonished and
impressed at the variety, abundance, and value of her undeveloped
treasure. And the vastness of the wealth which
lies dormant in her borders, waiting for capital and labor
to develop and utilize it, fairly dazzles the imagination."

Progress. — The people are still mainly engaged in
agriculture, but at the same time they realize that this is
not the only source of wealth and advancement, and so
they are paying attention to other branches of industry.
Manufactures are being established, factories are springing
up, blast furnaces are being reared, and mines developed.
Cattle raising and fruit growing are becoming profitable
pursuits, and the newly developed business of truck farming
is giving most encouraging results. Virginia wheat is
of such excellent quality that flour made from it is in great
demand outside of the state, which renders the milling
interest a flourishing one. Many of the cities and towns
have large tobacco factories, the products of which are to
be found in nearly all civilized countries. The machine
shops at Richmond and Roanoke are equal in capacity and
in the work done to any in the United States. Newport
News has unsurpassed facilities for shipbuilding, as was
amply proved in March, 1898, when the Kearsage and the
Kentucky, two formidable battle ships for the United

States Navy, were launched from her shipyard. Small
industries, such as the making of staves, tubs, etc., are
steadily increasing. The shipment of furniture and ornamental
woods is rendering the products of the forests
valuable. All these and many other industrial enterprises
that are being developed mark a new era of progress for
the Old Dominion.

Development of Literature. — American literature had its
beginning in accounts of travel and adventure written by
Captain John Smith and other early settlers. But during
colonial days, and indeed up to the time of the Civil War,
the conditions of life in Virginia were not favorable to the
development of literary activity. The plantation system,
which rendered personal effort unnecessary, encouraged
the educated classes to lead lives of leisure and to regard
literature as an accomplishment rather than as a serious
calling. There was, too, a lack of towns and cities to furnish
centers of literary life, and without these writing as
a profession is never profitable. The ambitious turned to
law and politics as offering easier avenues to distinction.
"Literature stood no chance, because the ambition of
young men of the South was universally turned in the
direction of political distinction, and because the monopoly
of advancement held by the profession of law was too well
established and too clearly recognized to admit of its claim
being contested."[57] The eloquent orations of Patrick
Henry, the able state papers of Washington, Jefferson,
and Madison, the writings of Chief Justice Marshall,[58] and

other productions that might be cited, prove that the lack
of progress in literature was not due to want of intellectual
ability.

The Civil War brought changes in the social, industrial,
and educational conditions. Hardly had the state solved
the most difficult problems that followed the breaking down
of the old régime than it became apparent that literature
had experienced a quickening impulse. One by one Virginia
writers obtained a hearing from the public and won
distinction. The time has not yet come to make an estimate
of the work of these writers, most of whom are still
living. But indications are that as a result of the new
movement the Virginia of the past will be seen again in
memory's soft light, and that the Virginia of the future will
not lack for literary representatives.

Virginia honors her Great Men. — Virginia does not forget
her distinguished men as is shown by the large number
of monuments that have been erected in the state. In
the Capital Square at Richmond there is an equestrian
statue of Washington, and upon its pedestal are grouped
statues of the leaders of the Revolutionary period — Mason
holding the Bill of Rights, Jefferson with the Declaration
of Independence, Thomas Nelson as the representative of
finance, John Marshall, the great jurist with a book of law,
Patrick Henry with his sword drawn, and Andrew Lewis,

rifle in hand. A little distance from this group there is a
statue of Stonewall Jackson, which was presented to the
state by his English admirers; and, in other parts of the
city, an equestrian statue of Lee, a statue of A. P. Hill,
also one in honor of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.
A monument to Stuart stands at Yellow Tavern
where he fell, and in many other parts of the state memorials
have been erected to our heroic dead. The private
soldiers, who are in need, the state pensions as liberally
as her revenue will permit.

Conclusion. — While but few stirring events have occurred
since Virginia resumed her place in the sisterhood
of the states, yet during this period the commonwealth
has been steadily increasing in prosperity. In character
the people are unchanged. They continue to display the
same devotion to duty and principle that has ever characterized
them, and they cherish their rights as strongly
as they did in former years. Whatever changes may
come, it is safe to predict, in the light of the past, that,
when the future history of the free, noble, high-minded
people of the Old Dominion is written, it will contain a
record of deeds that will be worthy of the countrymen
of Washington and Lee.

QUESTIONS

• 1. Describe the Capitol disaster.

• 2. What did General Lee believe to be the duty of all who wished to
  take part in the restoration of the state?

• 3. What position did he accept at the close of the war?

• 4. When did he die, and what is said of him?

• 5. Was education encouraged in colonial days?

• 6. What did Governor Berkeley say in regard to free schools?

• 7. When was the present public school system established, and what
  is said of it?

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• 8. Mention some of the schools and colleges for higher education.

• 9. What was the Yorktown Centennial, and when was it held?

• 10. What is said of the state debt?

• 11. How was Virginia represented at the World's Fair?

• 12. What was the "White House of the Confederacy," and for what is
  it now used?

• 13. What is said of the patriotism of Virginia women?

• 14. Name the patriotic societies that are sustained by them.

• 15. Give the names of the governors since the war.

• 16. Mention some of the resources of the state.

• 17. What does Matthew Fontaine Maury say of the state?

• 18. Mention some of the branches of industry which indicate her
  progress.

• 19. What is said of the development of literature?

• 20. How did the plantation system retard its growth?

• 21. To what professions did the young men turn, and why?

• 22. What proves that there was not a want of intellectual ability?

• 23. When did Virginia receive a quickening impulse as to literature,
  and what is said of it?

• 24. Who was John Marshall?

• 25. How does Virginia show that she holds her great men in remembrance?

• 26. Mention the names of some of these to whom monuments have
  been raised.

• 27. What can be safely predicted in regard to the future history of
  Virginia?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• 1. Give an outline of the condition of Virginia after the Civil War,
  and of the steps that led to the appointment of a provisional
  governor.

• 2. Why was she refused readmission into the Union, and under what
  rule was she placed by Congress?

• 3. Why did the administration of the government fall into the hands
  of "Carpet-baggers" and "Scallawags," and what is said of their
  rule?

• 4. When did Virginia reënter the Union, and what change did this
  bring in the administration of her government?

• 5. What object did the United States government have in establishing
  

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  the Freedmen's Bureau, and what false expectation did it
  cause among the negroes?

• 6. How long had the plantation system existed, and what caused its
  destruction?

• 7. What spirit have the Virginians always shown, and how did it
  manifest itself during the Reconstruction period?

• 8. How did General Lee, by his example, keep many Virginians from
  leaving the state? How and where did he spend his last years?

• 9. Give an outline of the progress of education from colonial days to
  the present time.

• 10. What did the state debt cause among the people, and when was it
  finally settled?

• 11. Give the history of the present Confederate museum at Richmond.

• 12. Give the resources of the state, and tell what Matthew Fontaine
  Maury says.

• 13. In what ways is the progress of the state shown?

• 14. Explain the reason why literature did not flourish before the Civil
  War, and give its present outlook.

• 15. In what does the Old Dominion especially honor some of her
  distinguished sons?

• 16. What qualities do the Virginians continue to display, and what is
  predicted of their future?

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS (1860-1898)

                                                                                                     

1860.	Abraham Lincoln elected President.
1861.	Southern Confederacy formed at Montgomery, February 8.
1861.	Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Confederacy, February 18.
1861.	Lincoln inaugurated President of the United States, March 4.
1861.	Fort Sumter captured by the Confederates, April 14.
1861.	Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, April 15.
1861.	Secession of Virginia, April 17.
1861.	Confederate capital changed from Montgomery to Richmond.
1861.	Battle of Big Bethel, June 10.
1861.	West Virginia organized a separate government, June 11.
1861.	Confederate Congress assembled at Richmond, July 20.
1861.	First battle of Manassas, July 21.
1862.	Battle between the Virginia and the Monitor, March 9.
1862.	Jackson's Valley Campaign, March-June.
1862.	Battle of Seven Pines, May 31-June 1.
1862.	General Lee made commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in June.
1862.	The Seven Days' battle around Richmond, June 25-July 1.
1862.	Second battle of Manassas, August 29-30.
1862.	Harper's Ferry captured by Jackson, September 15.
1862.	General Lee invaded Maryland in September.
1862.	Battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, September 17.
1862.	Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13.
1863.	Emancipation Proclamation, January 1.
1863.	Battle of Chancellorsville, May 2-3.
1863.	Death of Stonewall Jackson, May 10.
1863.	West Virginia admitted into the Union, June 20.
1863.	Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3.
1864.	Battles of the Wilderness, May 5-6.
1864.	Battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 8-12.
1864.	Battle of New Market, May 15.
1864.	Battle of Cold Harbor, June 3.
1864.	Siege of Petersburg begun, June 15.
1864.	Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by Early in July.
1864.	Mine explosion at Petersburg and battle of the Crater, July 30.
1865.	Richmond evacuated, April 2.
1865.	General Lee surrendered, April 9.
1865.	Provisional government established in Virginia, May 9.
1865.	Assassination of President Lincoln, April 14.
1865.	President Davis taken prisoner, May 10.
1865.	Slavery abolished in the United States.
1866.	Memorial Day instituted.
1867.	Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress.
1870.	Virginia readmitted into the Union.
1870.	The Capitol disaster.
1870.	Public school system established.
1870.	Death of General Robert E. Lee.
1881.	Yorktown Centennial.
1892.	State debt adjusted.
1893.	World's Columbian Exposition, May-October.
1898.	Kearsarge and Kentucky launched at Newport News, March 25.
1902.	New Constitution adopted.