Isle of Wight-Southampton-Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives History.....Foxhunt, Feb 1905 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ HUNTED THE FOX AT "FOUR SQUARE" _____ For Fifty Years an Old Virginia Chase Has Been Enjoyed. _____ GIANT OAK STANDING ALONE _____ Mr. Junius O. Thomas Remains of That First Memorable Chase. _____ The most important event that has happened in the United States from a fox-hunter's point of view took place on last Monday at "Four Square," in Isle of Wight county, Va. A half century of fox-hunting by the same master of hounds, with a pack made up of the descendants of the original pack, and with grandsons riding in the place of their grandfathers of fifty years before, marked an occasion without parallel in the annals of sport in this country. The very hunting horns belonged to days of long ago, having been the property of those sportsmen, long since dead, who rode and cheered the hounds in the days when the master of "Four Square" was but a boy, and the last century was in its middle age. It was a privilege to witness the affection and esteem with which Mr. Thomas, the only surviving veteran of those by-gone days, was treated by the sportsmen of to-day, and deservedly, for the 'squire of "Four Square" belongs to that excellent school that taught its pupils to "Ride hard, shoot straight, And, aye, the truth to speak." On last Monday Mr. Junius Octavius Thomas, of "Four Square," celebrated not only his seventy-first birthday, but his fiftieth anniversary of master of his own pack of fox-hounds. Fifty years before, on attaining his majority, he gave a great house party at his ancestral estate of "Four Square," when the days were spent in chasing the wily fox and the nights were all too short to allow a proper discussion of horses, hounds and the glories of the chase. Year after year, on February the 6th, since the year 1855, have these reunions taken place, and one by one have those merry and honest sportsmen, of the original party been called to the "happy hunting grounds." Mr. Thomas, last of them all, called together his friends on last Monday and once again "Four Square" echoed with "the sound of the horn and the cry of the hound." Braved the Weather. The day was cold and bleak, with falling sleet and flurries of snow, but no unfavorable conditions of weather could keep within doors the veteran fox- hunter and his friends on such an anniversary. Early in the morning all Smithfield was awakened by the sound of horn and the deep-toned voice of hounds as the faithful few gathered to offer congratulations to Mr. Thomas. Those who rode out with Mr. J. O. Thomas were his brother, Mr. R. S. Thomas; Mr. A. Libby, Mr. J. R. Jordan, Mr. Watson Jones, Mr. J. H. Holt, Mr. Allen Potts, of Richmond; Mr. E. Addlestein and Mr. Peyton Young. A pack of forty picked hounds was unkennelled and away went the party to the estate of Four Square, led by the veteran of seventy-one years, who rode as lightly and sounded his horn as bravely as did the youngest member of the band. For six hours, through woods and field, over fences and across creeks and ditches, hounds led the field a merry pace, after a stout, hearted fox. Scenting was poor, for the ground was all but frozen, and the hounds over- ran a score of times, only to be harked back and still away once more on the difficult trail. Not until night had begun to fall did hounds run into the fox, and then in an impassable marsh where riders could not follow. Back to "Four Square" rode the hunters, then to meet a host of friends who had gathered to partake of "the 'squire's" generous hospitality. Great log fires burned and crackled in the fireplaces, lighting up the fine old high-pitched rooms and warming the hearts of men who love sport for sport'ssake, and who delight to tell the story ofa famous run, or the exploits of a favorite hound. Mr. "Dick" Thomas, a young brother of the host, read a most interesting paper on "Fox Hunting and Four Square," which was greatly enjoyed by all present. It is printed herewith. Historic Four Square. Mr. Thomas said: On the first day of February, 1664, Anthony Mathews, for the importation of thirteen persons, obtained a patent for 640 acres of land lying and being in the county of Isle of Wight, "beginning at a marked old oak, near the head of Carnegie's Swamp, on tho west side of Edmund Palmer's land, thence west, by north 320 poles: thence south, by west, 320 poles; thence east, by south, 320 poles; thence north, by east, long Palmer's line of marked trees to the first station or marked old tree." As there are 320 poles in a mile and as there are 640 acres in a square mile the above tract land acquired and has ever since retained the name of Four Square. The name is an ancient one. All readers of the Bible, will, perhaps, recall, the description of the court, by Ezekiel (40 ch, and 47 v.), which he describes as "an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, four- square," and John's description of the holy city, "which lieth four square and the length thereof is as great as the breadth," (Rev. 21, 16). It runs all through Nnglish song and story, and those familiar with its literature, will, perhaps, recall many recurrences of these expressive words. The heart of every Confederate soldier beats with quicken pulse, when he thinks of the matchless commander of the army of Northern Virginia whose, "Good gray head all men knew, That iron nerve to true occasion, true, That tower of strength That stood Four Square to all the winds that blew." This particular Four Square tract of land above spoken of, was devised by Anthony Mathews to James Baron, by will, bearing date of the sixth of May, 1681, and James Baron sold and conveyed it to Andrew Woodley, by deed bearing date on the twenty-third day of February, 1693, in the exact language of the patent to Anthony Mathews (Deed Book - p. -). This Andrew Woodley came to this county as early, probably, as 1690, for on the 14th day of September, 1691, he bought of Edward Cobb and Dorothy, his wife, two hundred acres of land, in Little Neck, called Jones's (D. B. 1, p. 42). Liked the Country. He liked the county and determined to settle in it. Accordingly, we find an order of the court on the ninth of March, 1693, which says "these may notify that there is due to Mr. Andrew Woodley six hundred acres of land for the importation of himself four times; his wife and two sons, namely Henry and Thomas, and four negroes, namely Cowberry, Isabella, Maria, and Jennie, into this county, being legally proved in court." He had two children that were born after this period: John, who married Frances Wilson; and Mary, who married Joseph Copeland. The six hundred acres of land spoken of in the order of the court of March 9th, 1693, were probably located at the junction of the Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers, where he had land patents, or near Little Neck. It was then, as it is now, very rich and admirably located land. It is separated from the old courthouse, only by a small stream, which flows into Pagan Creek about a mile disstant, and on which may still be seen the evidences of the old courthouse bridge, and the old courthouse wharf. My brother, James F. Crocker, now of Portsmouth, Va., remembers to have seen, in his youth, some of the timbers of the old bridge, and Emmett Allman, now living in Little Neck, remembers to have seen the same, and he remembers when the "old Dick Edwards," of my youth, used to ship wood from the lowest landing on this Neck only a few yards distant from the present county bridge recently erected. I have several times ridden across the small stream spoken of, and along the old courthouse road to and from Little Neck and beyond, and on the fourth of November, 1904, Watson Jones, (who lives on the old Glebe and courthouse tract), and I, rode across that stream early when the tide was coming in and was more than half-flood, when the water came to the knees of our horses. At low tide you can easily ford it dry shod. On the ninth of November, 1699, Edward Cobb conveyed to this Andrew Woodley 202 acres of land in Little Neck, which were patented by Nicholas Cobb, on the twenty-first day of February, 1663, (D. B. 1, p. 236). On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1705, Edward Champeon sold to Andrew Woodley the balance of the 900 acres of the Nicholas Cobb patent of June 17th, 1664, which had not been sold, to John Manning, Thomas Davis, Thomas Took, Richard Woolen, and the Jones place of 200 acres, above spoken of (D. B. 1, p. 28). On the second day of May, 1713, Andrew Woodley and his son, Thomas, patented 400 acres of land in The Upper Parish of Nansemond. (D. B. 10, p. 75). On the 20th day of April, 1712, Andrew Woodley patented sixty acres of land in the same parish (D. B., p. 60). On the twenty-fifth day of September, 1718, he by his will devised to his grandson, John Copeland, the land he bought of William Pope. He probably owned other tracts of land, but the imperfect condition of the early records of our county do not enable us to, ascertain easily, and identify them. The Mansion House. His mansion house was in Little Neck on "ye land bought of Edward Champion and ye land I bought of Edward Cobb, both lying in one patent." (Will September 26th, 1718. Little Neck lies between the two branches of the west branch of Pagan creek which unite and flow into Pagan creek, about a mile and a half by water above the town of Smithfield, where is now the new county bridge. One of these branches runs up to an old mill seat known at different times as Little Mill, and Blair's Mill on the road from Paul Jones's to the James Edwards formerly, now the Leroy Vellines, tract of land, and the other branch runs up to what has recently been known as Wilson's Mill, or Factory pond, formerly Woodley's mill. He was appointed by the county court of Isle of Wight county as surveyor in commission to run and mark the bounding line between Isle of Wight and Surry. Andrew Woodley, the Immigrant, died between September the 25th., 1718, the date of his will, and the twenty-second of August 1720, when it was probated by John Woodley his executor, on the oaths of Alexander Forbes, the rector of the Old Brick Church, and Thomas Wilson, who, with George Bell, were the witnesses to the will. His will, besides his real estate and negroes, speaks of "his silver tankard that holds five pints" and "his surveying book and instruments" which he gives to his son Thomas, of "a silver cup that holds near a pint" that he gives to his daughter Mary Copeland, of his "sea books and instruments" which he gives to his grandson, John Copeland, and of his "chest of linens and woolens lately come from England," landed perhaps, at the lowest wharf on his land - the Dick Edwards landing before spoken of. His will demonstrates that he was a learned surveyor, and a skillful navigator - a great lover of the land and of the sea - a man of great intelligence and of boundless activities. It is the tradition in the family that his wife was an heiress, and brought a great deal of gold and silver with her. Much of this my mother saw in her youth, and played with as a child, and out of the wreck of it she gave the writer a gold pin-cushion which he still has. In the possession of his niece, Mary C. Larus, of Baltimore. On June the 5th., 1714, Andrew Woodley made a deed of gift to his son Thomas "of the 640 acres" known as Four Square which became his chief residence. (D. B. 1, 297.) Thomas Woodley was a justice of the peace and a captain in the county organization. He was appointed a vestryman of the Upper Parish (which then included the present county of Southampton) on the fifteenth of June, 1728 and he thus became a vestryman of The Old Bay church near Smithtfield which was within its boundaries. He was elected one of its wardens on the sixteenth of June, 1720. The Parish of Newport (Isle of Wight) was separated from the Parish of Nottaway (Southamton) by the line of the Blackwater in August, 1734, and Thomas Woodley then became a vestryman of the Old Brick church as well as of the Old Bay church, and continued to be one until 1745. The Old Brick church has a window to his memory. On the second day of April, 1754, he, by his will of that date, devised the 640 acre tract of land to his son John. He also gave him a lot in the town of Smithtfield, number 43, four negroes, his still, worm and cap, the furniture in tha hall one large black walnut looking glass, his surveying instruments, one Fugal gun, one silver hilted sword, one bed and furniture, three leather chairs in the hall, and five silver spoons. Following Four Square. I cannot appropriately speak of his devises and bequests to his son Thomas, to his daughter, Martha, and to his grandchildren, Willis Wilson and Mary Millner, for I am only tracing the history of the ownership of Four Square. This John Woodley, last mentioned, the son of Thomas, married the widow, Catherine Bryant Boykin, the mother of the then infant, Francis Boykin. Under the management and control of this John Woodley the Four Square tract of land became enlarged, and this John Woodley by his bearing date on the 3d of February, 1791, devised it to his son, Andrew Woodley, with new boundaries, viz., "beginning at a corner tree Benjamin Chapman's thence a line of marked trees to a corner tree near Constant Davis'; thence along a line of marked trees to a corner tree of Richard Casey's; thence along a line of marked trees that William Bradley surveyed to a corner tree in the little pocosin that William Baldwin made, thence turning to the north running through the great pocosin by gum pond, and when you get through the pocosin you leave following that line, then turning northwardly running down the edge of the pocosin to the first station." John Woodley gave two sons to the war of '76, Thomas and Henry. One died a prisoner of war in "the Black Hole" in London, and not in Calcutta, as has been generally believed, and the other was killed at the storming of Stony Point. The fortune of John Woodley was seriously impaired by that war. When the British troops passed through the country, Andrew, who was then a youth, was sent with the cattle and horses into the depths of the pocosin, but the bar- rels of brandy that were secreted beneath the floor of the porch, and the family silver that was hidden beneath the growing corn in the fields, was by the treachery of some of the slaves, taken and carried away. John Woodley gave to his son Samuel Woodley "the remaining part of his land which is not included in the bounds mentioned to his son Andrew Woodley." He lived where W. A. Edwards now lives, and was said to be the handsomest and best dressed bachelor in the county. Was a Noted Man. This Major Andrew Woodloy was born on the twenty-seventh day of April, 1769, married Elizabeth Hill Harrison November 9th, 1797, and died November 30th, 1829. He was commissioned captain in the twenty-ninth Regiment of Virginia Militia in 1798 and was made major at a later day. He was on the bench of magistrates in 1803, and was for a long number of years its presiding justice. He was for a number of years the sheriff of the county. He restored the fortunes of the family to what they had been in the hey-day of his father, and extended them beyond his acquisitions. He pulled down the old homestead in the field in the rear where his grand- father lived, where he and his father, and our mother, were born, and he, built this house in 1807 as the bricks on the north chimney tell us. My brother James F. Crocker, born in 1828 and, now the head of the house - informs me "that it was Andrew Woodley who laid out the yards, built the spacious barns, smoke-houses, cabins for the servants and the many other out- houses, it was he who built his store and warehouse and shops of various industries that extended on the road from the forks of the road to the gate that led to the barn-yards; which our mother said, looked in her day, like a busy village." All of our Woodley ancestors were brainy and enterprising people - uniting culture with business - influential and useful in their days, but I think our grandfather, Andrew Woodley, excelled them all. We have no idea of how great a man he was in the business and public affairs of the county. His ability and will-power dominated. I the writer have often heard the late N. P. Young give many instances of of this dominating influence. He had eleven children, of whom my mother was the fourth, and her brother Thomas, was the seventh. The eleventh and youngest, was Richard Samuel Woodley, after whom I was named. The original four square tract of 640 acres in 1693 was greatly enlarged by the judicious management of John and of Andrew; and my mother has often told me the landed estate of her father extended from where Turner S. Reynolds now lives on both sides of the road to Bethel Church, a distance of two and a half miles. No one of the eleven children of the Andrew of 1829 could own the whole tract. Eleven hundred and sixty acres of that tract passed into the ownership of Dr. Thomas Woodley, the uncle of J. O. Thomas, and the brother of our mother. As a young practitioner of his profession, he moved to Kinston, Lenoir county, North Carolina, and in 1853 or '54, he contracted to sell this 1,100 acres to J. O. Thomas. The first deed of bargain and sale bears date on the 20th day of June, 1854, and it recites that there was an agreement and contract heretofore made; that the said J. O. Thomas was a minor; that he was to take possession of the property on the 1st of January, 1854; and that he "will not attain his majority of the age of twenty-one years until the 6th day of February, 1855. Thus, then this Four Square property of 1,160 acres was bought by J. O. Thomas of his uncle, Dr. Thomas Woodley, when he was probably eighteen yours of ago; he had a deed for it twenty months and six days before he reached his majority, and he was in the actual possession of it thirteen months and six days before he was twenty-one years old. His Love of Land. He inherited his love of land from both the maternal and paternal sides of his house, and now, notwithstanding all the dire disasters of our late war the 1,160 acres of 1854 have grown into a compact body of 3,000 continuous and contiguous acres in 1905. Through those acres in the large and small pocosins mentioned by John Woodley in his will of February 3, 1791, J. O. Thomas has this fall made numerous paths and put up (37) thirty-seven finger boards for our convenience and pleasure so that we may easily follow the startled deer, or the skulking fox, from his place of fancied rest. That 3,000 acres added to the very large and valuable property of our host in the town of Smithfield and in the city of Newport News, shows that he has been no laggard in the race of life, and that he has not been excelled in useful activities by any ancestor on either side of his house. On the 6th uf February, 1855, J. O. Thomas gave a fox hunt at Four Square to celebrate his twenty-first birthday. From a paper read by John W. Gray on the 6th of February, 1904, we are in- formed, that there were present on that day (February 6, 1855), James M. Jordan, who died in 1869; Dr. George H. Jordan, his son, who died in 1889; Dr. W. P. Jordan, who died in 1865; A. A. Jordan, his brother, who died in 1898 (both sons of W. P. Jordan, who became your brothers-in-law in November, 1855); Dr. Thomas J. Cheatham, who died in Chesterfield, his native county, in 1901; John Gregory, his brother-in-law, who is also dead; C. C. Chalmers, who died in 1893; John D. Chalmers, his brother, who died in 1899; R. H. Latimer, who died in 1901; Berbin Jones, who died in 1875; Simon Adkins, who died in 1873; B. J. Gray, brother of J. W. Gray, who died in 1895; William M. Crocker, your nearest neighbor, who died in 1869; John P. Thomas, who died in 1872; Abram Vellines, who died in 1885; Edwin Bunkley, who died in 1887, and John W. Gray, himself, who died on the 15th day of September, 1904. And thus, you, my brother, are left the sole survivor of that celebrated fox hunt of fifty years ago, which continued for two or three days. Men of Noble Mould. From that paper we learn that James M. Jordan, the "big Jim," of his day, was a staunch Democrat, a veteran politician, familiar with every political question that had stirred the hearts of men from the Convention of 1776 to the secession of 1861; that Dr. George H. Jordan, his son, the good physician, the bright Mason, the genial gentleman, took to good deeds and to politics by right of birth; that Dr. Thomas J. Cheatham was as kind a man as ever drew the breath of life, and as fine a huntsman as ever rode to hounds; that Dr. W. Pendleton Jordan, the brother of your wife, beneath a quiet demeanor and soft speech, concealed all the loveable and sterling qualities of the scholar and the gentleman; that Jack Thomas, Abram Vellines and Billy Crocker raced horses, fought chickens, played cards, rode to hounds and dispensed a generous hospitality their whole life long, and that Ned Bunkley - good, dear old Ned - carried in his face and in his heart the radiance of the sun. There were with you on your hunt of February 6, 1904, John W. Gray, the brother of B. J. Gray; James R. Jordan, the son of Dr. George H. Jordan, and the grandson of the "Big Jim" of 1855; James M. H. Jordan, the brother of George H. Jordan; Thomas J. Chapman, the husband of Nina, the daughter of William M. Crocker; Al. Libby, the near neighbor of good old Ned Bunkley, his brightest pupil and the holder of his mantle; Watson Jones, A. Adelstein, W. A. Edwards, Waverly Edwards, James Stringfield. L. L. Vellines, A. B. Scott, Stephen Whitley, J. Waverly Thomas, and R. S. Thomas. They are all with you to-day. From that paper, and otherwise, we have learned that it has been your yearly habit when the war, sickness and the weather did not prevent, to givo a fox-hunt at Four Square, and we are gathered here to-day, at your ancestral home, which since 1693 has not been out of your family, to celebrate your fiftieth anniversary of your majority, to congratulate you upon your long and useful life and to wish you many years yet, of health, happiness and prosperity. Love Sport and Work. You have been fond of sport, and you have been fond of work. You know when to do both; and you have hunted as you have worked - with your whole heart, when the day and hour came. A man, who, at your ago, can rise at 5 o'clock in the morning, feed his own horse, cook his own breakfast, be in the field with the first man, stay there with the longest, and be in the saddle till 11 o'clock at night, resting only for dinner, is of uncommon stamina. Fox-hunting has been to you only a diversion. It has been to you only what the violin was to Luther; the flute to Goldsmith, the organ to Milton, the mathematical problem to Brougham, the axe to Gladstone and the rod to Watson. All men, of all times, have loved the chase. The wilder the game, the greater the excitement. The blood more stirs to rouse the lion Than to start the hare. From the days of Nimrod "the mighty hunter," and of Esau, "the cunning hunter, a man of the field," the men of all times and of all nations with good lungs and strong limbs, have loved the chase of the lion, the tiger, the bear, the boar, the fox, the deer, the animal native to their country. Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian and Israelitish history is full of it. It is written in their books and is pictured on the walls of their tombs. If my memory be correct and my eyes did not deceive me, it is written on the walls of the Tombs of the Kings of the buried city of Thebes. The stone that smote the head of Goliath had gained its celerity and its ac- curacy in combats with the lion and the bear. Herod killed forty head of game - the bear, the wild ass and the deer in one day. Homer and Virgil frequently describe the Grecian and Roman love of the chase. Arojos, the favorite hound of Ulysses, wagged his tale and scraped his ears in recognition of his master's return, and in that moment of ecstasy, died of joy. "Alfred the Great" was an active hunter, and excelled in all branches of that noble art to which he applied with incessant labor and amazing success. William the Conqueror "loved the high game as if he were their father," and protected it with severe penalties; and when our ancestors crossed the ocean they brought the love of hunting with them. The horn I wear is said to have been worn by Major Andrew Woodley. Fox-hunting has ever been tho sport of kings, of princes, of those of aristocratic blood and of gentlemanly leisure. When Theseus was about to lead Hippolita to the altar, the grandest enter- tainment he could devise for her was to bid one of his attendants Go, one of you, find out the forester; For now our observation is performed, And since we have the van ward of the day, My love shall hear the music of my hounds, Uncouple in the western valley; go, Dispatch, I say, and find the forester. We will, fair Queen, up to the mountain top, And mark the musical confusion Of hound and echo, in conjunction. To which Hippolita, with enthusiasm, replied: I with with Hercules, and Cadmus once When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear With hounds of Sparta; never did I hear Such gallant chiding; for, besides the groves, The skies, the fountains, every region near Seemed all one mutual cry; I never heard So musical a discord; such sweet thunder. And Theseus fond of the strain of his hounds rejoined: My hounds are bred of Spartan kind, So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung With ears that sweep away the morning dew, Crooked-kneed, and dew lap'd like Thes- salian bulls, Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells, Each under each. A cry more tuneable Was never holloa'd, nor cheer'd with horn. In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly. So All the World Over. As it was in the woods near Athens, so it was in the forests near Padua. The Lord bade his huntsman to- "Couple Chowder with the deep mouth'd bitch (Merriman) and asked him Saw'st thou not, boy; how Silver made it good At the hedge corner in the coldest fault?" To which the huntsman replied: Why Belman is as good a dog as he, my Lord; He cried upon it at the merest loss, And twice to-day picked up the dullest scent. Trust me, I take him for the better dog. Lord - Thou are a fool; if Echo were as fleet I would esteem him worth a dozen such. But sup them well, and look unto them all To-morrow I intend to hunt again. Shakespeare was born in that beautiful county of Warwick. It was in the domains of Sir Thomas Lucy and in the forest of Charlecote that he enjoyed the delights of the chase. It was this, probably, that suggested to him the beautiful forests of Arden, named, perhaps, after his mother, in which the banished Duke wandered, and on whose branches Orlando and Rosalind hung their verses of love. Full of the love of nature and of sport he died in enchanting Warwick in 1616, and from that day to this, never a hunt has been given without a high debate, whether Silver or Belman is the better dog at the coldest fault. Well do I remember the enthusiastic debates between Cheatham, Crocker, Gray and Thomas, whether Kitter, Music, Pluto or Mary were the better dog at "the dullest scent." The point always debated was never settled; but Cox's Wheezer and Sneezer generally led the pack, until Lufra of "Four Square," named after Ellen Douglas's "Playmate," "The swiftest hound of all the North," came upon the scene, and with move- (Continued on Sixth Page.) HUNTED THE FOX AT "FOUR SQUARE" (Continued from Third Page.) ments more easy and graceful than Stringfield's Beulah, shot to the front, and became "a thing of beauty and a joy forever." And to-day the debate waxes equally as warm between Libby, Jordan and Thomas, whether the best nose is possessed by Trimbush, Hark, or indomitable Little Jack. As Between Noble Dogs. However that may be, as between as noble dogs as ever put nose to the ground, when the trail is hot, and the game is up, perhaps, the honors of fleetness will be awarded to the "Blue Speckled Tramp" of Jordan, or Logan of the writer. Swift and close-packing behind these will come the deep mouth of Gamester and of Richmond, the flute-like note of Wise, the strange bass of King, the clear treble of peerless Ida and of Early and the maddening cry of all the others, excited to the highest pitch, making "as musical discord" as "sweet thunder" as - "With hark and whoop and wild halloo" We assail the fields and pierce the for- ests, as "Was ever halloa'd to or cheered with horn, In Crete, in Sparta or in Thessaly." And though, in this wild chase over the fields, and through the primeval for- ests, where every man's whip and spur and voice is his own, our horses are not such as the Dauphin bestrode at Agincourt, whose "entrails were hairs," who "soared like a hawk," who "trotted the air," making "the earth sing as he touched it," "the basest horn of whose hoof was more musical than the pipe of Hermes," yet, they are certainly superior to the one that Petruchio rode for his crusty Kate; and the pink coat, the beaver hat, and the top-boot would fare badly in any heroic effort to equal or excel them. And when "Our hounds shall make the welkin' an- swer them, And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth," our generous host will be found in the midst of them, as much of a boy as he was in 1855 - fifty years ago. May he live long and prosper. R. S. THOMAS. February 6, 1905. Presents Silver Spurs. Mr. J. R. Jordan then arose and in an eloquent speech presented "the squire" with a beautiful pair of silver spurs, amid the continued cheers of the sportsmen. Mr. Jordan said: My honored friend: On the 6th day of February, 1855, assembled in your ancestral halls to commemorate with mirth and good cheer, the fact that you were free, white and twenty-one, was a noble band of gallant gentlemen and warm-hearted fox-hunters. None more worthy ever gathered around the festal board or rode to tho cry of a well trained, sure-to-catch pack of hounds. Of that goodly company all save our honored host have laid aside the saddle and the horn. Their oars are deaf to the once thrilling music. Their voices are no longer heard in triumphant shouts as some favorite dog forges to the front and leads across the open while a dozen others strain every nerve and muscle to gainthe coveted place. No longer do we hear their accents of exultation and pride, recounting the wonderful speed of "Juno," the bottom and nose of "Mary;" of how "Wheezer" and "Sneezer," running like a couple of race horses, lead the pack across Captain Crocker's field; of how "Jeff Davis," with bristles up and blood in his eye, never let up till the fox was dead. That was, indeed, a time of joy and royal good fellowship. Standing Alone Now. A half century has rolled by and wrought many changes. All of those genial friends of your bright young manhood have, one by one, crossed the river and joined the "great majority." You my friend, stand forth as the giant oak, in bold relief, defying tho storms of life and the ravages of time, the sole sur- vivor of that auspicious day. Therefore, it is meet that we, the sons and grandsons of those men of by-gone days, who, for two days and nights made the walls of "Four Square" resound with mirth and revelry, should be here to-day with glad hearts and happy faces, to do honor to him, who, for three generations, hath maintained the bloom of youth in his heart, cultivated good- fellowship and dispensed a generous hospitality. As a token of our esteem and appreciation of those qualities which have given us a friend, ripe in years and honor, though young and buoyant in every emotion of the heart, I present you this pair of spurs, with the fervent hope that time may deal gently with you. That the fragrance of youth may continue to animate your heart, invigorate your body and enable you to ride long and hard for years to come in a glorious old Virginia fox-hunt. In the dining-room a regular old fashioned Virginia supper was served and the fine old Smithfield hams were not forgotten. Fox-hunting and "the 'squire's" health were drunk in old Virginia toddy, songs were sung, stories were told and finally hounds were brought in. It was an evening long to be remembered, never to be forgot. The spirit and sport of other days were there linked with that old Virginia hospitality that warms the heart and blood and is ever dear to the hearts of sportsmen the wide world over. Here's to the "'squire of Four Square" and may he live a thousand years to hunt his hounds and entertain his friends! ALLEN POTTS. _____ "The Times-Dispatch," (Richmond, VA), Sun., Feb. 12, 1905, Sect. A, p. 3, col. 1-7 & p. 6, col. 5-6 Additional information: "Junius" throughout the article should read Julius. This article is cited as a source in King's "Historical Notes," but the date is given as Feb. 6, 1905 (Julius' birthday), and no publication is cited. The work includes a photo of Four Square mansion, and one of Julius O. THOMAS and his bride Martha W. JORDAN, on their wedding day, 27 Nov 1855, and further information on Four Square and the WOODLEY family. Richard S. Thomas is also cited for an article on the SMITH family (VMHB, vol. 3 {1896}, pp. 194-98). King, Helen Haverty, et al. "Historical Notes on Isle of Wight County, Virginia." Isle of Wight, 1983: Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors. The Thomas brothers' mother Frances H. WOODLEY 1m. 24 Jan 1822 James CROCKER, and 2m. 19 Aug 1830 Samuel THOMAS, both in Isle of Wight Co. (FamilySearch.org "Virginia Marriages") Julius died 27 Mar 1927 and was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery, Smithfield. Photos of his engraved slab & a detail from the wedding picture are posted with his Find A Grave Memorial, #20249855. R.S. (15 Mar 1837 - 19 Sep 1914) also was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery. Photos of his monument & Smithfield home are posted with his Find A Grave Memorial, #6091451. The Four Square mansion is now (Apr 2017) operated as a Bed & Breakfast. Four Square Plantation, 13357 Foursquare Rd., Smithfield, VA 23430 The only WOODLEY patent (of those mentioned in the article) in the Land Office Patent Books is for the 400-acre tract granted 2 May 1713 to Andrew & [son] Thomas Woodley, which lay between the Blackwater & Nottoway Rivers, in that portion of Nansemond Co. which later ceded to Southampton Co. (PB10:75) Thomas Woodley had also patented a 65-acre tract granted 26 Apr 1712, adjoining "his Own & his Fathers Land." The first leg of the two patents are identical, so this tract apparently was included in the later grant. (PB10:60) Nicholas COBB patented the 900-acre tract granted 17 Jun 1664 (PB5:452), having been assigned it 3 Jan 1661 by William Tuke [TOOKE], son & heir of James Tuke, dec., who had patented the tract 11 Sep 1640. That TOOKE grant is not recorded in the Patent Books, but a 178-acre tract to the west was granted to him 14 Sep 1653 (PB3:213). Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com) [line breaks mine {except poetry}]. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/news/19050212td.txt