Banister Lodge July 7th 1853
My dear Mother
I would have written to you sooner, but since I arrived here
I have been going about visiting so much that I have hardly had
time. As it may interest you some little I will give you some account
of our journey. We reached Richmond in safety about sundown,
Wednesday evening. We staid at Mrs. Bruce's, who lives, I think
on Schockoe hill. We spent a day there, & the next day we got on
the care to come here. Mrs. Bruce came also, as she was on the way
to Mr. Charles Bruce's. Besides us, there were on the cars Mr. Logan
& Mrs. Tom Coleman both of whom I knew very well. Mr. Logan had his
sister with him, who had been going to school in Richmond. She is
a very pretty girl indeed. Mr. Coleman had his cousin also, who is
very pretty too. After we had travelled about 70 miles by rail-road
we had to proceed by stage the remainder of the journey. In the
stage I was introduced to the 2 young ladies I mentioned by their
cousin Mr. Coleman, & we had a very pleasant journey, altho' the
weather was excessively warm. I reached this place friday evening,
late at night. I found Mrs. Clark to be a very kind & cordial lady,
& she made me feel at home directly. Mr. Clark also is a very kind
& hospitable gentleman, he told me to tell Pa that he would be very
glad if he would pay him a visit. Mrs. Clark performs beautifully
on the piano. She has a great variety of tunes, it is a great treat
indeed to listen to her. I have not heard her perform on the harp
yet but she promised me she would play for me as soon as she could.
She is now at Mr. Charles Bruce's. She has several little daughters,
who seem to inherit their mothers taste for music, & they play very
well indeed for their ages. I have had a very pleasant time indeed
since I have been here. We drive all around here visiting in a buggy
with two horses. Monday the presbyterians had a fair at Halifax
C.H. & we all went there. There was a very large assembly indeed. I
saw a great many very pretty young ladies. I never saw so much money
made at a fair in my life, they made $650 in one day. We went the
other evening to Mr. Carringtons to pay a visit & found there only
7 young ladies. Wednesday we went to Mr. Grammer's (the Episcopal
clergyman) & found there 5 young ladies. I met there Mrs. Barksdale
who said she knew you & invited me to come & see her. Mr. Tom Lee
came up & was introduced to me last Monday, & he told me also that
he knew you very well & invited me to come & see him. After leaving
Mr. Grammer's we went to see Averett & took dinner with him. After
dinner we went to John Clark's brother-in-law's Mr. Tom Bruce's
where we spent the night. This morning we went over to see Mr. Logan
Old Mr. Logan told me he knew Grandpa Tucker very well. Mr. James
Bruce sent word also that he wd be glad to see me. So you see I
have been very well attended to, since I have been here. The people
here are far more stylish than those about Charlottesville. I have
met a great many persons who knew Grandpa Tucker & also many who
were old students. Mr. Claiborne, son-in-law of Mr. Clark, asked me
after Uncle Rush, he lived, I think, next door to Mr. Broadus office
Perhaps you recollect him. John Clark requested me to give you his
best respects. I wd be much obliged to you if you will tell Tom to
ask Elijah about John Clark's hat, he left a hat & a cup at the
University-he wishes Tom to take care of it for him. As it is late I
must conclude. Write to me soon. Give my love to Pa, Maria, Mary,
Edward & the rest of the children & family, (see preced. g p.)
P. S. Address your letter to Halifax C.H. care of W.H. Clark. With love
to all I remain, Your affectionate Son
