Crestlands: A Centennial Story of Cane Ridge

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A SINGULAR WILL

  Upon reaching Williamsburg, Abner, of course, examined the will of hislate granduncle. It was dated May 2, 1782, when Andrew Hite, beingdangerously ill, thought death imminent.

  Stripped of all legal verbosities, the purport of the document was thatthe testator bequeathed all of his earthly possessions, consisting ofsix hundred and forty acres of land in Henderson County, Kentucky;Crestlands, a Virginia estate of some three hundred acres, and allslaves, cattle, horses, goods and chattels pertaining to this estate,to his niece, Mary Belle Hollis Page, youngest child of Andrew Hite'ssister, Mary Hite Hollis--"provided," so read the will, "Mary BelleHollis Page, wife of Marshall Page, is still living at this date, thesecond day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundredand eighty-two. If, however, said Mary Belle Hollis Page, wife ofMarshall Page, is already deceased, I, Andrew Thurston Hite, ofCrestlands, Sterling County, Virginia, do give and bequeath all myworldly possessions above mentioned to her legitimate offspring, ifany. In case my niece, Mary Belle Hollis Page, be already deceased andhas left no legitimate offspring, I give and bequeath all houses,lands, slaves, live stock, goods and chattels of whatsoever nature ofwhich I die possessed to my niece, Sarah Jane Pepper, of Chestnut Hall,Caxton County, Virginia, only child of my half-sister, Sarah MelvinaThornton Pepper, deceased."

  Dr. Richard Dudley, of Lawsonville, "husband of Frances Hollis,deceased, sister of Mary Belle Hollis Page," was named as sole executorof this will. A codicil dated twenty years later, June 30, 1802, thevery day of Andrew Hite's death, stated that all subsequent willshaving been rendered null and void by the death of the testator'sadopted son, Stephen Balleau Hite, were destroyed, and that thetestator, Andrew Thurston Hite, decreed that the will dated May 2,1782, should be his last will and testament. This codicil also namedRichard Dudley, "late of Lawsonville, now of Williamsburg," as soleexecutor.

  Contrary to his own convictions and the dictum of his physicians,Andrew Hite recovered from his illness in 1782, and five years lateradopted a lad, Stephen Balleau, and reared him as his son. ThisStephen, grown to manhood, but unmarried, was killed in a duel, fourmonths before the death of his adopted father, then an old man ofseventy-six years. After Stephen was killed, Andrew Hite seems to havelost all interest in life, and to have neglected making any provisionas to the disposal of his property, until the very day of his death.Then, instead of making a new will, he on his deathbed, in the presenceof his physician, his old body-servant, and a neighbor, simply addedthe codicil to the will made twenty years before.

  "This strange will still holds good, I presume, eccentric though itbe," Abner said to Dr. Dudley, after reading the document.

  "Certainly," his uncle replied; "for your mother was undoubtedly livingat the date specified in the will."

  "Yes," Abner said, "that can be established by your testimony, which iscorroborated by the inscription on her tombstone at Lawsonville and bythe record in your family Bible--both of which give the date of herdeath as that of August 21, 1782, three months after the will waswritten."

  "And," added the doctor, "even should the will not stand, you, the onlychild of your mother, are justly entitled to this bequest; for all thatAndrew Hite possessed, save that Kentucky land which he in my presencepromised your mother at his death, came through his father, yourgreat-grandfather, Abner Hite; and Sarah Jane Pepper is connected onlythrough her mother, Andrew Hite's half-sister, Sarah Thornton, who wasnot a descendant of old Abner Hite. Therefore, you need have nouneasiness on the score of either the justness or the validity of yourclaim; and you should at once take steps to put you in possession ofyour legacy."

  "That I shall certainly do," said Abner; "and I shall do so, not asAbner Dudley, but as Abner Dudley Logan. In fact, Uncle Richard, asidefrom all question of this bequest, I had already determined to assumemy full name; for, much as I honor you who have been a second father tome, I think it but justice to my own father's memory, now that I havearrived at man's estate, that I should wear his name. You know I wishedto do so before I went to Kentucky; but you were so averse to the ideathat I yielded for the time, contrary to my convictions of justice tomy father's memory and against my own preference. But now I am fullyresolved to be known in future by my full name, Abner Dudley Logan."

  Dr. Dudley sat silent with downcast eyes, a gloomy, perplexed look uponhis face; and his nephew went on:

  "Uncle Richard, I wish you would tell me more about my father and aboutmy mother's early life. You have always been singularly reticent on thesubject. Why! I was a boy of eleven or twelve before I even knew thatmy real name was Logan, and then I discovered it by accident; and itwas not until I read this will of Uncle Hite's that I learned that mymother had married a second time. The time has now come, I think, whenyou should tell me all that you know of my father and mother."

  "Of your father," said Richard slowly, and, it seemed to Abner,reluctantly, "I know little more than the facts already in yourpossession. Briefly told, your mother's history is this: Her mother,Mary Hite, married John Hollis, of Plainfield, New Jersey. To thisunion were born eight children, of whom your Aunt Frances, my firstwife, was the eldest, and your mother, the youngest. The six childrenintervening died in early childhood. Your grandfather, John Hollis,died when your mother was two months old, and his wife survived him butone month. Her half-sister, Sarah Thornton, who had just been marriedto Jackson Pepper, of Chestnut Hall in northern Virginia--a widowerwith one son--took your mother to raise as her own child. This SarahThornton Pepper died ten years later. She had but one child, Sarah JanePepper. Your mother, after her aunt's death, still lived at ChestnutHall until she was about sixteen. Then she greatly offended JacksonPepper by refusing to be betrothed to Fletcher Pepper, the son ofJackson's former marriage. Her home was rendered so unpleasant byJackson Pepper's anger and Fletcher's persistence in his suit, that shewent to live at Crestlands with her old bachelor uncle, Andrew Hite,until a few years later--in 1775, I think--when he went with a party ofadventurers to Kentucky. He expected to be gone a year, and, beforesetting forth, he took your mother to Morristown, New Jersey, to find atemporary home with some of her Hollis connections, two maiden ladies,her father's cousins. When, however, Andrew Hite returned to Virginia,he, instead of recalling his niece and settling down with her atCrestlands, joined the Continental army. So your mother continued withher distant relatives at Morristown until the winter of 1776-77. Afterthe battles at Trenton and Princeton, Washington's army, as you know,went into winter quarters at Morristown. In this army was a youngsoldier, John Logan. He and your mother met and immediately fell inlove with each other; and in March, after an acquaintance of only fiveweeks, they were married. It was an ill-advised, imprudent marriage.Mary had nothing of her own, nor had John Logan; and, besides, he mustnecessarily be away from his young wife a great deal, and leave herunprotected and illy provided for while he was encountering the dangersand hardships of a soldier's life. Mary's relatives at Morristown werebitterly offended because of her marriage to a man of whose antecedentsshe knew nothing, and who was poor, and, still worse, a hatedContinental soldier, for they were strong Tory sympathizers. They wouldhave nothing whatever to do with Mary after her marriage. In thespring, when Washington left his winter quarters, Logan, of course,went with the army, and his wife was left alone at Morristown with apoor old couple of whom your father had rented lodgings. After thedeparture of the troops from Morristown, Logan very rarely could findopportunity to visit his wife, nor could he make adequate provision forher comfort. You were born there in the home of the old couple atMorristown, February 25, 1778. There your mother continued to liveuntil after your father fell in the battle of Monmouth Court-house inJune, 1778. Then she made her way with you, her four-months-old babe,back to your Aunt Frances and me. She lived with us until after thedeath of your Aunt Frances in March, 1781. Then that fall, and aboutfive months before my marriage to Rachel Sneed, your mother was marriedto Marshall Page, and both she and he died the following A
ugust."

  "What of this Marshall Page, my stepfather?" asked Abner. "Where was hefrom? Was he a man calculated to make my mother happy?"

  "He was a brave, honest, hard-working fellow," acknowledged Richard,"from Maryland; but he had only a limited education, and had not beengently reared. I was not well pleased with the marriage; and had yourAunt Frances lived, I do not think Mary would have married him. But asI was a widower, and no blood relation to your mother, my house washardly any longer a suitable refuge for her and her babe. When she andMarshall Page died the following summer, we--my second wife, Rachel,and I--took you as our own. It was your mother's dying request that youshould, if possible, be spared all knowledge of her sad history, and bereared as our own child."

  "Nobly have you and Aunt Rachel tried to fulfill that dying request!"said the young man in a choked voice and with tears in his eyes, as hearose and threw his arm across his uncle's shoulder.

  "And nobly have you repaid our love and care, my boy," the older mananswered huskily. "You have given us filial love and obedience, andhave never crossed our wishes in anything, except when you persisted ingoing off to Kentucky, instead of staying here and becoming a lawyer.But there! there! you were right, I dare say. You had no liking for alegal profession, and that new country across the mountains is a betterplace than this old, aristocratic State for a young, energetic fellowwho has nothing but his native ability and a good education to assisthim forward. So enough of these saddening recollections," he added in amore cheerful tone, rising briskly and crossing the room to a tablewhereon were scattered various papers. "Now for the business pertainingto this fine fellow, Abner Dudley Logan, as he must be called infuture, I suppose, and who has just come into a rich inheritance."

  "Of which inheritance," said Abner, joining his uncle at the table andpicking up one of the papers, "the most valuable part, I'm inclined tothink, will prove to be this Kentucky land. As for this Virginianestate, I fear from what you tell me that I can realize very littlefrom it."

  "That is true," agreed Richard. "Owing to the recklessness andprodigality of Stephen Hite, and the neglect and mismanagement of Col.Andrew Hite during the last ten years of his life, the estate iswell-nigh worthless. Besides being heavily mortgaged, the land is worn,and the grand old brick mansion built over a hundred years ago by yourgreat-grandfather, Abner Hite, is sadly out of repair--in fact, isalmost in ruins."

  "'Lord of Crestlands, an ancestral estate in the proud old dominion ofVirginia,' sounds rich and grand," laughed Abner; "but is only as'sounding brass and tinkling cymbals,' after all, without money to liftmortgages and to repair the breaches made by the prodigality andcarelessness of my predecessors. And, uncle, how about the negroes I amto inherit?" taking up the copy of the will, and reading therefrom, "'Igive and bequeath all houses, lands, slaves, live stock, goods andchattels of whatsoever nature of which I die possessed, etc.' How manyof these dusky retainers are there remaining in my ancestral halls?"

  "Only three," the doctor answered, "out of the troops of slaves whichAndrew Hite owned twenty years ago. The others, I find, have been soldfrom time to time, to pay the gambling debts and for the other vicioushabits of the precious Stephen, I presume. And of the three negroesstill left, two are old and decrepit, which leaves but one ofmarketable value. But, Abner, my boy," jokingly added Dr. Dudley, "whenyou have realized a fortune out of that Henderson County land which youthink so valuable, you can use this wealth to lift mortgages and torebuild this home of your forefathers; so that you will be, after all,'lord of Crestlands,' the ancestral home of the family."

  "That plan doesn't appeal to me," said the young man, stoutly. "For onething, I do not consider Crestlands as my ancestral estate. MyGrandmother Hite lived there only until her marriage, and neitherHollises nor Logans had part or lot in it. No, my ancestral halls shallbe of my own rearing," he said promptly. "I intend indeed to be one dayknown as 'Logan of Crestlands;' but not of that ramshackle old manorhouse in southeastern Virginia, but of a new Crestlands in thattransmontine paradise, Kentucky. Crestlands!" he said musingly. "Yes, Ilike the name. It has a pleasing sound, and I mean that in itssymbolical sense it shall be appropriate; for I intend that life inthis home I shall found shall be one of purity, truth, love, and highideals."

  "And from the light in your eyes, and that hopeful, exultant smile, Isuspect," said Uncle Richard, "that you have found the fair damsel whois to reign queen of this goodly domain, this new Crestlands. Is it notso?"

  "I see visions and dream dreams of such a consummation," acknowledgedthe young man, flushing warmly; "but at present I am on probation withthis lady fair. I shall know my fate when I return in November for herverdict. But, uncle, whatever my hopes in that direction, there'sanother hope almost equally dear--that my loving foster parents shouldshare my prosperity. Leave this old home which must be lonely to youand Aunt Rachel now that I am gone and your daughters both married andgone from the home nest. You have toiled hard, and have borne theburden and heat of the day, and now in your declining years I wouldhave your life all ease and sunshine. Come to me, and share my newhome. I promise you comfort, cheer and happiness. Will you not come?"

  "No, my boy," answered his uncle. "'Ephraim is joined to his idols.' Iam too old to transplant to a new soil, however vigorous and genial itmay be; and your Aunt Rachel would never consent to go so far from herdaughters and their children. But some day, when that saucy, black-eyedsiren (I'm certain she is saucy and black-eyed) shall have come toreign as mistress of your hearth and home, I'll cross the mountains,old as I am, to spend a few months with you. But all this is far in thefuture, and we have too much business still to transact before we canhope to get you thoroughly established in your rights, to plan so farahead."

  "As to this Kentucky land, Uncle Richard," said Abner, presently, "whenand how did Uncle Hite acquire it?"

  "Back in 1775, I believe, when he went out there on that exploringtrip. Under the provisions of the 'Henderson grant' made that sameyear, Andrew Hite purchased, as I see from these papers, a tract offour hundred acres in that part of the Green River valley now known asHenderson County. But, instead of remaining in Kentucky and settling onhis land, he returned to this State and joined the army. Now, this'Henderson grant' was annulled in 1778 by the Virginia Assembly, butthe next year, when the war burdens were beginning to press heavily onthe country, the Assembly enacted a new land law which, besidesarranging for the sale of lands in her western territory, also offeredas military bounty tracts of these western lands to her soldiers. So,Hite, then a colonel in the Continental army, applied for and receivedfrom the State of Virginia this same land he had purchased under theold Henderson grant, and sixty acres adjoining. His title, therefore,was made doubly secure, and he seems to have been little troubled, asso many others were, by rival claimants. He was wounded in the battleof King's Mountain, and after his wound had healed, before rejoiningthe army, he managed to make another short visit to Kentucky. Upon hisreturn, on his way to join Lafayette at Yorktown just beforeCornwallis' surrender, Hite stopped at Lawsonville. It was soon afteryour Aunt Frances died, and when your mother was on the eve of marryingMarshall Page. After the war, Hite went to France, where he found thiswaif, Stephen Balleau, and brought him home as his adopted son, a yearor so later. That is all I know about Andrew Hite. After that flyingvisit to Lawsonville I never saw him, nor heard anything more directlyof him, until I was notified last May of his death, and asked to bepresent at the reading of his will.

  "This paper shows me," said Abner after a pause, "that Uncle Hiteplaced the management of his Kentucky affairs in the hands of anattorney, Anson Drane. Now, I know a young lawyer of Lexington namedJames Anson Drane. It must be the son of this old attorney."

  "Yes," said Dr. Dudley, handing his nephew another document, "and fromthis paper you will find that this son, your James Anson Drane, wasemployed after the death of the father to act as Hite's factor. So yourfirst step, when you return, will, of course, be to communicate withthis young Drane."