More Richmond

On Friday in Richmond, in preparation for the trip to Fancy Farm - went to visit two houses of the period so I could compare and contrast. The first was directly behind the library - and was the house of John Marshall. He was the third Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1801 and served until his death in 1835. He was also big in Richmond at the time that Alexander was there and he built this house between 1788 and 1790. He is mentioned in a few letters - so I think we can safely assume that Alexander did visit this house - especially after what I found out later.

The oldest surviving brick house in the city of Richmond. Very interesting to see a town house after all the country houses I have been to. Richmond doesn't seem to attract that many tourists - for my tour of this house and indeed of the next house, Wickham House, I was on my own, which was great, so I got a very thorough tour. Mrs Marshall had 10 children and frequently had migraine headaches (not that frequently judging by the 10 children) and secluded herself away in this house. She apparently also suffered from an unknown chronic disorder that made her uncomfortable in public. She died on Christmas Day 1831 at the age of 65, so did ok for such a frail lady. 

Amazing decanters around the house – many of them original to the house as is much of the furniture – so very interesting to see the style of chairs that Alexander would have had seen at the time, and of course, perhaps the very chairs that he sat in. Marshall comes up later in the document which I found next door about Alexander.

In their bedroom they had some metal quoits on the floor. Quoits was a very fashionable game amongst the gentlemen of Richmond - indeed there was a Quoits club which all the great and the good belonged to and which Marshall was a very keen member of.

Now, wherever Donalds are, they always seem to be quite keen to get into a club - awful bores - only disappointed I have not joined the Quoit Club which is still going in Richmond. There was also another club - The Amicable Society of Richmond -"with the benevolent object of relieving strangers and wayfarers,in distress, for whom the law makes no provision".

Here are some details from their minute books:

"A company of gentlemen having met at the Richmond Coffeehouse, on Saturday, 13th December, 1788, viz.: Alex. Montgomery, John Groves, George Wier, Charles Hopkins, John Graham, and Alexander Buchanan, they resolved to form themselves into a Society, by the name of the Amicable Society of Richmond, on the principles and for the purposes expressed in the Rules, which were then considered and adopted; at the same time, the following gentlemen were considered as members: James Montgomery, Anthony Singleton, George Pickett, Andrew Ronald, Philip Southall, John Cunliffe, and Joseph Higbee.

At a meeting on the 2d May, 1789, the following entry is made on the record of the Society: "It having appeared, by advertisement, that a surplus of a fund arising from a ball on General Washington's birthnight, was to be given to this Society, Mr. AlexanderMontgomery, as a manager of that ball, paid this evening to the treasure, the said surplus, amounting to twenty pounds, sixteen shillings and sixpence."

At this meeting, the following new members were admitted: Thomas Mann Randolph, George Nicolson, and James Brown [Alexander's business partner and more about him later]; and on the 7th November, 1789, James Strange, of Manchester, and Alexander Yuille [presume of Darlieth - quite confusing all the Yuilles, they all seem to have the same first name, but I see that one of them married Patrick Henry's fifth son] - at which time a vote of thanks was given to Alexander Donald for a donation of five pounds.

Now - what I can't work out is if Alexander was blackballed, even though he gave a very generous donation. Dad always had a joke about being blackballed. Someone had not been asked to join a club despite putting his name down, so asked a member - "Blackballed? Just the one?" - The member replied "Caviar". Club jokes – they just get better and better with the telling. That would have got the Quoit Club rolling.

The other house I went to see was slightly newer and was built by John Wickham – another club man of his day. Built in 1812 so I admit that Alexander Donald was tucked up in Chilvers Cotton Church in Nuneaton by this stage, hoping to Rest in Peace until a German bomb blew the church up – and that church couldn't be much further from this style of house. Wickham House is gloriously over the top, with classical friezes all over the house, so the Posh and Becks house of its day. At the very top of the stairs - the centre rose, if that is the right word - looks exactly like the one in Park Terrace spare room to me – except of course that it is white. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures inside of course, so you might have to peer closely at this one to see what I mean. And yes, these stairs are slightly grander than Fancy Farms - but they were in a town house built 40 years later.