WITH =sk@:cs@1m@sM ms m@:m@@z», Many Prominent Characters Cofineciedwiih its History, ' ANECDOTES, &c., \’_ .103)-‘:59 uc\.- 04:3» _' ‘TRRRY Ai" is __1o7 .“BER'Is'_EL‘EYUNION,". m;AR_TmsBURG, W.‘ VA.’ » 0 ~ 1 8‘7 : :§~.ffir3853°3% %~’ JPREFA OE. moi...­ The unexpected success of a prior and much smaller edition, en­ courages the author to publish his book on a larger scale than for"­ merly. It is hoped that it may prove amusing if not very instructive, ~- and the writer feels.confident that, at least, it will give no ofience.— There is “naught set down in malice,”and while the author does not hesitate to avow strong preferences, he has aimed to do so in the mildest manner possible._ On the other hand, fearing lest he may be accused of flattery in some of his sketches, he will take occasion to remark that those who receive his highest encomiums, happen to be the men who deserve the least from him on account of personal favors. He aims do, at least, JUSTICE,toall and, farther, he de­ sires to say all the good he can of his characters. iiaaas THE ANNAL,sr on HARPER’S 1<”Ja'1eJ.er'., CHAPTER 1. ITS INFANCY. ' tHarper’s Ferry, including Boliver, is a town which, before the re—. bellion, contained a population of three thousand, nine—tenthsofwhom were whites. At the breaking out of the war, nearly all the inhabi­ _tantsleft their homes, some casting their’lots with “the Confederacy,” and about an equal number with the old Government.’ On the res­ toration of peace, comparatively few returned. A great many colored people, however, who came at various times, with the army, fiom Southern Virginia, have remained, so that the. proportion of races is materially changed. ‘ Many soldiers of the National army who mar—. ried Virginia ladies during the war, have, also, settled there, and, con­ sequently, the place, yet. contains a considerable number of inhabi­ tants". The present population may be set down at sixteen hundred whites and seven hundred blacks. ‘ The town is situated in Jefferson '_ County, West Virginia, at the confluence of the Potomac and She­ nandoah, at_the base and in the very shadow of the Blue Ridge moun­ tains. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crosses the Potomac at the place on ‘amagnificent bridge, and the Winchester and Potomac Ra’ —. road has its Northern’ terminus in the town. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, also, is in the immediate neighborhood; , The scene1'y.arou.n“§ltheplace has long been celebrated for its gran­ deur, and J efl'ersonhas immortalized ‘it in a fine description, said to have been written on a remarkable rock that commandsamagnificent view’of both rivers and their junction.‘ <The rpekvitselfis a wonderful freak of ‘nature,and it is Iregarded by the inhabitants with pride for itsvbeinlgagreatnatural cu1*iosity,_ venerationon accountof ­ the traditionvcamongthem, that, ‘seated on it, Jefferson wrote his ‘ n“lN;otes,on‘ It is,therefore,efl'e14son’sliock.7’Itis‘ _composed:of several huge masses of stone piled on one another, the _ upper piece resting on a foundation, some years‘ago, so narrowthat ' "it'migh—teasily‘be"ma'de tovsway back and -forth by a child’s-hand. It , . ‘ 1»-~...‘ ’\.\ ‘ll 1 T-\“~~‘*\». \‘u . ' 6 _ THE ANNALS OF EARPER,S FERRY. is 1iow,~however,supported by pillars placed under it, by order of one of the Superintendents, the original foundation having dwindled to very unsafe dimensions by the action of the weather, and still more . by the devastations of tourists and relic-hunters. It is situated on “Cemetery Hill,” behind the Catholic Church, the lofty spire of which . can be seen at a great_distance, adding very much to the beauty of ' thescene. ' , - _. _ On one side, the Maryland Heights, now so famous in history, and on the other, the Loudoun Heights frown majestically, and imagina­ tion might easily picture them as guardian giants defending the per­ tals of the noble Valley of Virginia. The Maryland Heights rise in successiveplateaus to an ‘altitude of thirteen hundred feet above the surrounding country and two thousand feet above the level of the sea.­ The Loudoun Heights are not _so lofty, but the ascent to them is difficult, and consequently, as the foot of man seldom treads them, ' they present "amore primeval appearance of ruggedness than the Ma­ ryland mountain--a circumstance which compensates, to the tourist, for their inferiority in height. Between these two ramparts, in a gorge of savage grandeur," the lordly Potomac takes to his embrace the beautiful Shenandoah. ' The former river rises in Western’ Vir— ginia,and fromthe Alleghaniesinan impetuousvolume, traverse's’the'Northern extremity of the Valley of Virginia, forming the boundary between the “Old \Dominion’’and the State of Mary­ land. At Harper’sFerry,it encounters the B ue Ridgeat right angles, and receives the tiibutary_Shenandoah, ‘which, rising in the upper part ‘ofthe Valley,flowsin a Northerly course,at the very base, the m'ou.utain,“andunitesitsstreiigth with the Potomac to cut a passage to the ocean. This is the scenery of"whichJeiferson said, thata sight ofiit was worth a voyage across the Atlantic, and no person with the least poetry his soul will considerhis assertionextravagant. ‘It is, truly, a sublime spectacle, andimagination. lends its aid to the really ' wonderful appearance of the scene. -‘Onthe rugged clifi'son the Ma­ ryland and Loudoun sides, are supposed ‘tobe seen sculptured by the hand of Nature," various shapes "and“faK-.es,theappearance of which ­ changes with the‘ "season,and as they»are more or.less concealed by the verdure of the trees}; The Giant; Dwarf, Centaur, ‘andevery ani— ­ . mal of nature or fable is here portra‘yed'to the eye of‘Eaith. Ion one‘ _rock, on theLMaryland»side,'is atolerably good face, with an expres­ ' sionofgravity, which,‘-withsomeother points of resemblance, remind you of George »Washington, and ‘atalmost any hour of any day may be seen strangersggazing intently on the mountain in search _of this-likeness. Frequentlyfithe vBaldgEaglewill wheelhin majestic circles i1nmediatelf:above this rock, and then,-_indeed, tlieillusion is VI" 4 rrs INFANCY. ' , 7 ' _complete. George Wasliington chiseled by the‘hand of nature in the living rock, on the summit of the Blue Ridge, with the Bird of Vic­ toryprosaic fanning matte fis oi bro/w,is fact is out too of much the question. poetry to‘ be thrown ‘ away, and _‘It is supposed by many that the whole Valley of Virginia. was, at I one time, a vast sea, and ‘that during some convulsion of nature, the imprisoned waters found an. outlet at this place. There are many -things to give an appearance of truth to this theory, especially the fact of complete sea. shells, or exact likenesses of them‘,being found, at various points in -the Alleghany and Blue Ridge mountains. Be this as it may, it is a scene of awful sublimity, and itwell deserves the many panegyrics it has received from orator and poet. Robert Harper, from whom the place gets it name, was a native of Oxford, in England. He was born about the year 1703, and at the age of twenty he emigrated to Philadelphia, where he prosecuted the business of architecture and mi1l—wrighting. ‘He erected a church for the Protestant Episcopalians, in Frankfort, which. edifice was, however, afterwards lost’ to the congregation for which it was built, through some defect of title. In 1747 he was engaged by some mem­ J bars of the Society of “Friends” to eiect a church for that denemina— tionon the Opequon river, near the present town of Winchester, Vir­ ginia, and while on his way through the then almost unbroken wil­ derness, to fulfil his contract, he lodged, one night, at a.lonely inn on the site of the present city of Frederick, Maryland. While staying at this tavern, he met a Germ'an named 'Hofi'man, to whom, in the course of conversation, he .com"municated the. business that took him on his journey, as also his intention to proceed to his destination by way of Antietam, a name now so famous in our history. for the terri­ ble battle fought there during the late rebellion. Hofl'man informed ‘ himthat there was a shorter route by way of what he called “The Hole," and as an additional inducement, he promised him a sight of it some wonderful scenery. Harper agreed to go by the way of “The Hole” and, next night, he arrived at that point and made the acquain. ' tance of a man _na.m.e_dPeter.‘Stevens who had squatted at that place which was included in the Great Fairfax estate. Harper wasso much pleased with the appearance of the place that he bought out Stevens for the sum of fifty British Guineas. ~As, however, he could.only buy Stevens good will,the real ownership being vested in Lord Fairfax,he, next year,”p'a.idavisit to Greenway,the residenceof that Nobleman and, item him or his agent, heobtained a patent for thelands»formerly 'oc4 cupied.by.Stevens onthe precarious tenure of “Squatter Sovereignty.” 4 Stevens had-occupied the place for thirteen. years‘andthe ‘Agentsof ‘hadexperiencedgreattroublgv“{tom _Theywere 8 - ~ ‘THE ANNALS OF HARPER’S FERRY. therefore, very glad to get rid of him. AHarper settled down there ' and established a ferry, whenthe place lost the undignified name of “The Hole” and acquired the more euphonious title of “Harper’s Fer­ ry” by whichit has,sincebeen lmownand by which,no doubt, it . he designated-by the remotest posterity. ' At-that time, there was but one dwelling there-—the Stevens Cabin—'—whichwassituated on what is, now, called Shenandoah street, on the Site of the house, at present, occupiedby Mrs.