University of Virginia Library

Lieut. Lyttleton Fennimore, to C. Wallace, Esq.

“My father was a native of England, who came to
Virginia when he was quite a young man. He was of
a good family, and well educated; if my mother be
considered a competent witness in such a case, he was
even more,—highly accomplished, and remarkably interesting

in person and manners. He brought letters of
introduction, and was well received; and as soon as it
was understood that his extreme indigence was such as
to render it necessary that he should embark in some
employment, to earn a support, he was readily received
as private tutor in the family of a gentleman, residing
not far from Mr. Heyward, the father of the late Major
Heyward, whose melancholy death I have described to
you. Mr. Heyward also employed him to give lessons
in drawing, and the French language, to his only
daughter, then a girl of about sixteen. A mutual
attachment ensued between my father and this young
lady, which was carefully concealed, because the Heywards,
though generous and hospitable, were proud and
aspiring.

“I do not know how it was, that my father became
unpopular among the young gentlemen of the neighborhood.
His manners might not have been sufficiently
conciliating, or his spirit might have been above his
station, and have prompted him to exact attentions
which were not thought due to a private tutor. Perhaps
his attentions to Miss Heyward were suspected, and
regarded as presumptuous. Whatever might have been
the cause, the result was, that he was coolly received in
society, and subjected to many petty indignities. The
younger Mr. Heyward, who had at first treated him
with kindness, no sooner suspected him of paying attention
to his sister, to whom he was tenderly attached,
than he became his violent enemy, and insisted on his
immediate discharge. The elder Mr. Heyward, too
magnanimous to do a deliberate act of injustice, took

time for reflection. During this interval, an event
occurred, which brought matters to a crisis.

“Although the American colonies were at that time
loyal to the British king, and no plan of revolution had
been matured, yet extensive discontents prevailed, and
language of the strongest reprehension against the ministry
was currently used. My father had, in writing to
England, drawn a vivid picture of the state of public
sentiment in Virginia, and the letter having been shown
to a cabinet minister, he was so well pleased with the
spirit displayed in it, as well as with the talents of the
writer, that he intimated a wish that the correspondence
should be kept up. This led to a series of letters,
written by my father, expressly for the eye of the minister.
He was a Briton by birth and allegiance, and
did nothing dishonorable in acting thus, as an agent of
the government; and as he adhered strictly to truth, and
depicted the motives of the colonists even in favorable
colors, he could not be justly considered as violating
hospitality. This correspondence, however, was discovered;
its author was represented as a spy, and loaded
with all the opprobrium which the indignation of an
enraged community could suggest. Nothing but sudden
flight could have saved his life. Miss Heyward was the
first to warn him of his danger. Having already given
him her affections, and being prepared to share his
fortunes, she proved her sincerity and her devotion, by
nobly consenting to elope with him, and become the
companion of his poverty and misfortune. They commenced
their flight at the dawn of day, and before its

close, had indissolubly united their fates by the marriage
bond.

“They retired for a while from notice, hoping that
my mother's friends would become reconciled; but this
expectation proved deceptive. Major Heyward, though
of a generous disposition, was a man of aristocratic feelings;
he loved his sister tenderly, and had, perhaps,
indulged some views in relation to her settlement in life,
which were blasted by her marriage with my father.
He had also a great antipathy to foreigners, and considered
his family degraded by the marriage of one of its
members with a person who, however estimable, was an
alien to our country. For even at that early period,
many of the oldest families among the colonists felt a
pride in their native land, and gloried in the name of
American, though it was then but a name. He refused
to be reconciled to my mother on any terms, and
spoke of my father in language which forbade any subsequent
advance on their part. They settled in Philadelphia,
where they lived in the most retired manner,
supported by the scanty pittance earned by my father
as a merchant's clerk. Of that unfortunate parent I
have no recollection, for he died while I was an infant.
My mother, left penniless in a strange city, was reduced
to a state of extreme necessity, but her pride would not
permit her to return to her father's house, where she
would now undoubtedly have been received with open
arms. You have seen my excellent mother, and you
know that she is a woman of uncommon talents, and
remarkable fortitude. When thus thrown upon her own
resources, she resolved to make the best of her unfortunate

situation. She took a secluded lodging, and applied
herself with unwearied industry to her needle; and being
patronized by several fashionable ladies, maintained
herself creditably, though with extreme frugality, by
fabricating the most elegant and expensive articles of
female dress. Her taste and skill in these delicate manufactures
were unrivalled. I cannot express the feelings
of anguish which I experienced while a mere child,
in witnessing the silent, the incessant toils of my
mother, which were secretly undermining her health;
and the devotion with which all her affections were
concentrated in myself, the only earthly object of her
regard. And I can remember, too, the fervor with
which I mentally vowed to devote my whole life to her
service. The death of a relative of my father in England,
placed us in possession of a small annuity, which
relieved my excellent mother from the necessity of
laboring for a support, and enabled her to educate me in
a manner suitable to her wishes; though we were still
poor, and obliged, as you are aware, to live in the most
frugal manner.

“At the decease of my grandfather, Mr. Heyward,
we learned that a considerable sum of money would fall
to my mother, under the provisions of a settlement made
at the marriage of her parents. But again her pride, and
her wounded feelings, induced her to prefer obscure
indigence rather than make her situation known in any
manner to her family; nor until I became old enough
to take the management of my affairs into my own
hands, would she consent to have her claim investigated.
This was the purpose of my visit to Virginia. I have

detailed to you most of the events attending that visit:
it is enough to add, that my uncle satisfied me that we
had been misinformed. No marriage settlement had
ever existed, his father died intestate, and he, under the
rule of primogeniture, which then prevailed in Virginia,
was the sole heir. Thus a hope long cherished in secret
by my mother, was in a moment blasted.”