Part 16 (2/2)
Caene H Lynch] and Mr Gouverneur unite
Believe me, yours most truly,
M D GOUVERNEUR
Needwood, May 22nd, 1854
I accepted the invitation and, while I was Mrs Gouverneur's guest,places at the home of Colonel John Lee, whose wife's hter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and their home was the former residence of another ancestor, Governor Tho my visit at Needwood I renewed the acquaintance of my future husband, which I had for of Miss fanny Monroe and Douglas Robinson, of which I have previously spoken It is unnecessary to refer to his appearance, which I have already described, but I am sure it is not unnatural for me to add that a year after the conclusion of the Mexican War he was brevetted for gallantry and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco While his general bearing spoke well for his , his mind was a storehouse of information which I learned to appreciate more and more as the years rolled by But of all his fine characteristics I valued and revered hirity Like his mother, Mr Gouverneur was literary in his tastes and occasionally gave vent to his feelings in verse In 1852 Oak Hill, the stately old Monroe place in Virginia where he had spent much of his early life, was about to pass out of the family He was naturally much distressed over the sale of the home so intimately associated with his childhood's memory, and a few days prior to his final departure wrote the following lines In after years nothing could ever induce him to visit Oak Hill
FAREWELL TO OAK HILL, 1852, ON DEPARTING THENCE
The autu fast, Earth, the heavens are overcast; The rushi+ng winds ood-bye; To each fond remembrance farewell and forever, Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!
The hty oaks beneath whose shade In boyhood's happier hours I've played, Bend to thespray they seerown tree farewell and forever, Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!
The little rown, On the bosom of which my tears have oft flown, Where , O'er the; To that hallowed spot farewell and forever, Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!
Oh, ho and wild throbs my heart; Home of my manhood, oh! would I had died And lain ue could have uttered farewell and forever, Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!
Mr Gouverneur's pathetic allusion to the graves of histhat in 1903 the Legislature of Virginia appropriated a sum of money sufficient to rehter, Mrs Gouverneur, from Oak Hill They now rest in Hollywood Cerave of James Monroe
The friendshi+p of Mr Gouverneur andement I armly welcomed into the Gouverneur fa letter:
I can not longer defer, ratification I experienced when Saained your heart It is reeable to me that you of all the women I know should be the object of his choice How little I anticipated such a result from the short visit you made us last summer Sa letter from him, of course all about his lady love I think you too have every reason to anticipate a life of happiness, not more marred than we must all look for in this world Sam is very warm-hearted and affectionate and possesses a fineto wish for These are his own sentiree with hiratified and both wrote and toldto Baltiton If I do you will see me soon after I arrive there I feel as if I should like so hter I take the war Sa with thankfulness to you for having contributed so much to it
Please remember me in the kindest otten, and to the girls My sincere congratulations to Margaret who Mary [Lee] writesEllen desires aret
Believe me, very sincerely yours,
M D GOUVERNEUR
Needwood, Feb 14th
I was ton in the old G Street house, and the occasion was made especially festive by the presence of many friends from out of town We were married by the Rev Dr Smith Pyne, rector of St John's Episcopal Church, and I recall his nervous state of otten to inquire whether a e license had been procured; but when he was assured that everything was in due for those who ca were General Scott; hter, now the wife of Rear Admiral John H Upshur, USN; and Miss Sally Strother and her mother Miss Emily Harper and Mrs Solomon B Davies, as Miss Bettie Monroe, my husband's relative, came from Baltimore and, of course, Mr and Mrs Gouverneur and Miss Mary Lee from Needere also present
My own fa children were in Venezuela, where her husband was the US Minister; but I was er sisters, Margaret and Charlotte, and my brothers, James and Malcolm Mr
Gouverneur's only sister, Elizabeth, who some years before had eon General of the Army, accompanied by her husband and son, the late Ja youth, were also there A and Stephen A Douglas, none of whoton, then assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and a relative of ht, who shortly thereafter e d'affaires_ froht, of Newark; John G Floyd of Long Island; Jahters; Williahter, Miss Cornelia Marcy, subsequently Mrs
Edmund Pendleton; Baron von Grabow and Alexandre Gau of the Prussian Legation, the latter of who year; Mr and Mrs William T Carroll; Lieutenant (subsequently Rear Admiral) James S Palmer of the Navy; Jerome E Kidder of Boston, and General Williae I received the following letter from Edward Everett:--