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Waverly, Virginia

Waverly, Virginia

Waverly is a town located in Sussex County, Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,309. Popular legend has it that William Mahone (1826-1895), builder of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (now Norfolk Southern), and his cultured wife, Otelia Butler Mahone (1837-1911), traveled along the newly completed Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad naming stations. Otelia was reading Ivanhoe a book written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, Otelia chose the place names of Waverly, as well as Windsor and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small town in neighboring Southampton County. When they could not agree, it is said that they invented a new name, which is how the tiny community of Disputanta was created. The N&P railroad was completed in 1858. William Mahone became a Major General in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and later, a Senator in the United States Congress. A large portion of U.S. Highway 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk is named in his honor.

Geography

Suffolk Waverly is located at 37°2'2" North, 77°5'43" West (37.033914, -77.095355). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²). 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 2,309 people, 880 households, and 570 families residing in the town. The population density is 290.4/km² (752.6/mi²). There are 960 housing units at an average density of 120.7/km² (312.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 36.73% White, 61.76% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. 1.17% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 880 households out of which 29.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% are married couples living together, 20.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% are non-families. 31.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.09. In the town the population is spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 80.4 males. The median income for a household in the town is $33,698, and the median income for a family is $39,792. Males have a median income of $27,414 versus $21,279 for females. The per capita income for the town is $14,848. 15.7% of the population and 11.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.4% of those under the age of 18 and 17.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

Category:Towns in Virginia Category:Sussex County, Virginia

Sussex County, Virginia

Sussex County is a county located in the state of Virginia. As of 2000, the population is 12,504. Its county seat is Sussex6.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,276 km² (493 mi²). 1,271 km² (491 mi²) of it is land and 5 km² (2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.43% water.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 12,504 people, 4,126 households, and 2,809 families residing in the county. The population density is 10/km² (26/mi²). There are 4,653 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 36.39% White, 62.13% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.54% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 0.82% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 4,126 households out of which 28.50% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.00% are married couples living together, 18.90% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.90% are non-families. 28.20% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.40% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.41 and the average family size is 2.94. In the county, the population is spread out with 19.60% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 34.40% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.40% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 135.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 142.30 males. The median income for a household in the county is $31,007, and the median income for a family is $36,739. Males have a median income of $29,307 versus $22,001 for females. The per capita income for the county is $14,670. 16.10% of the population and 12.80% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.30% of those under the age of 18 and 19.20% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Towns


- Stony Creek
- Wakefield
- Waverly

External links


- [http://photos.historical-markers.org/va-sussex/ Sussex County's Historical Markers] Category:Virginia counties

2000

This article is about the year 2000. For other uses of 2000, see 2000 (number) or 2000 (breakdancing move). 2000 (MM) is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Popular culture also holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, however, this distinction falls to the year 2001. This is due to the fact that the first century began with the year 1, and there does not exist a year zero. The first century (or first 100 years AD) was from January 1, in the year one (1 AD) through December 31, in the year one-hundred (100 AD). The second century began on January 1, in the year one-hundred and one (101 AD). The year 2000 is also marked as:
- The International Year for a Culture of Peace.
- The World Mathematical Year. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January


- January 1 - Millennium celebrations take place throughout the world. Y2K passes without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted.
- January 5-January 8 - The 2000 al-Qaida Summit
- January 6 - The last remaining Pyrenean Ibex is found dead.
- January 10 - America On-line announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion. This is the largest-ever corporate merger.
- January 11 - the armed wing of Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the government for an amnesty and disbands in Algeria.
- January 11 - The trawler Solway Harvester sinks off the Isle of Man.
- January 14 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village.
- January 16 - In Sacramento, California a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the state capitol building killing the driver.
- January 24 - God's Army, Karen militia group led by twins Johnny and Luther Htoo, take 700 hostages at a Thai hospital near the Burmese border.
- January 30 - St. Louis Rams 23 defeat the Tennessee Titans 16 to win the Super_Bowl_XXXIV
- January 30 - Off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169. Within a day, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the California coast into the Pacific Ocean, killing 88.
- January 31 - Dr. Harold Shipman in sentenced to life in prison for murder of at least 15 of his patients out of 365 suspected victims.

February


- February 4 - German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with sabotage of German railway lines.
- February 6 - Tarja Halonen is elected the first Finnish female president.
- February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published.
- February 14 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

March


- March 1 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
- March 2 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
- March 8 - Tokyo train disaster.
- March 9 - FBI arrests suspected purveyor of art forgeries, Ely Sakhai, in New York City.
- March 10 - The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5048. ([http://dynamic.nasdaq.com/dynamic/IndexChart.asp?symbol=IXIC&desc=NASDAQ+Composite&sec=nasdaq&site=nasdaq&months=84])
- March 18 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- March 20 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
- March 21 - Pope John Paul II began the first office visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.
- March 21 - US Supreme Court ruled the goverment lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
- March 26 - Presidential elections in Russia: Vladimir Putin elected President.
- March 30 - America's Cup 2000 retained by Team New Zealand near Auckland. Prada Challenge 2000 lost 0-5 in a "best-of-9".

April

April.]]
- April 1 - Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a stroke and falls into a coma.
- April 3 - United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
- April 5 - Yoshiro Mori replaces Obuchi as prime minister of Japan.
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Trepang completes being recycled.
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis dies after a reign of 55 years. He was the longest reigning monarch in the world since the death of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein.
- April 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin becomes Raja of Perlis.
- April 22 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC ending one of the most publicized custody battles in US history.
- April 25 - The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples.

May


- May 3 - A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus. The May 2000 conjunction consisted of: the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
- May 3 - Computer pioneer Datapoint Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- May 12 - The Tate Modern opens in London.
- May 13 - In Enschede a heavy fireworks explosion kills 20 and leaves an entire neighborhood in ruins.
- May 18 - Boo.com collapses due to lack of funds after six months.
- May 25 - Israel withdraws IDF troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years.
- May 28 - The volcano Mount Cameroon erupts.

June


- June 1 - Mark Mendlan, professional wrestler known by his ring name "Kid Gorgeous," is killed while wrestling at a show in New Hampshire.
- June 7 - U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the 4th circuit ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.
- June 10 - The New Jersey Devils defeat the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2 to win the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 10 - The 2000 European Football Championship begins, hosted jointly by Belgium and the Netherlands.
- June 21 - Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality is repealed by the Scottish Parliament.
- June 23 - Palace Backpackers Hostel fire in Childers, Queensland, Australia, kills 15 people.
- June 30 - During a set of the band Pearl Jam at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, 9 die and 26 are injured in the crowd.

July

July
- July 2 - France beat Italy 2-1 to win the 2000 European Football Championship with a golden goal.
- July 2 - Presidential election of Mexico. Vicente Fox wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- July 10 - In southern Nigeria, a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline
- July 10 - Death of Denis O Conor Donn, died 10th July 2000, aged 88; succeded by his son, Desmond as The O Connor Donn
- July 18 - Alex Salmond resigns as the leader of the Scottish National Party
- July 25 - A Concorde carrying Air France Flight 4590 crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 5 on the ground.

August


- August 1 - The Santa Cruz Operation announced that it will sell its Server Software and Services Divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, to Caldera Systems,Inc.
- August 8 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
- August 12 - The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea, resulting in the deaths of all 118 men on board.
- August 14 - The first comic of Megatokyo goes online. This webcomic will later become one of the most popular comics on the web (in terms of page views) and spawn numerous imitators.
- August 25 - the Emulex hoax - wire services publish fraudulent bad news about Emulex
- August 27 - The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.

September


- September 5 - Tuvalu joins the United Nations.
- September 6 - In New York City, the United Nations Millennium Summit begins with more than 180 world leaders present.
- September 6 - The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer United Defense
- September 7–14 - The UK fuel protests take place, with refineries blockaded, and supply to the country's network of petrol stations halted.
- September 8 - Albania officially joins the World Trade Organization.
- September 15 - The 2000 Summer Olympics are opened in Sydney, Australia.
- September 16 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive; this day is taken as the commemoration date of his death.
- September 24 - The American Family Association begins lobbying the U.S. Congress to eradicate the National Endowment for the Arts for funding the controversial book One of the Guys by Robert Clark Young
- September 26 - Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 15,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
- September 28 - Ariel Sharon leads several hundred armed Israelis in a visit to the Temple Mount. Palestinian civil disorder increases into the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
- September 29 - The Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland is closed.

October


- October 2 NBC Today Show expanded it to three hours (7:00–10:00 A.M. Eastern Time/Pacific Time; 6:00–9:00 A.M. Central Time/Mountain Time)
- October 5 - President Slobodan Milošević leaves office after widespread demonstrations throughout Serbia and the withdrawal of Russian support.
- October 11 - 250 million gallons of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky. Considered a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- October 12 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two suicide bombers who placed a small boat laden with explosives along-side the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
- October 21 15 Arab leaders convened in Cairo, Egypt, for their first summit in four years; the Libyan delegation walked out, angry over signs the summit would stop short of calling for breaking ties with Israel.
- October 22 – Mainichi Shinbun exposes Japanese archeologist Shinichi Fujimura as a fraud; Japanese archaeologists had based their treatises of his findings.
- October 26 - Pakistani authorities announce that their police have found an apparently ancient mummy of a persian princess in the province of Baluchistan. Iran, Pakistan and the Taliban all claim the mummy until Pakistan announces it is a forgery in April 17 2001
- October 31 - Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment in the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport - 83 dead.
- October 31 - The last Jeremy clone has shut down.

November

November
- November - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq rejects new U.N. Security Council weapons inspections proposals
- November 1 - Yugoslavia's new democratic government joined the United Nations after eight years of U.N. ostracism under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
- November 3 - Widespread flooding throughout England and Wales after days of heavy rain
- November 4 - President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the leaking of government secrets.
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 2000: Republican challenger George W. Bush defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
- November 7 - Criminal gang raids the Millennium Dome to steal The Millennium Star diamond but police surveillance catches them in the act
- November 7 - Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office
- November 11 - Kaprun disaster, Austria, where 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel.
- November 13 - Richard C. Duncan presents his paper, "The Peak Of World Oil Production And The Road To The Olduvai Gorge", on the Olduvai theory (about the collapse of the industrial civilization), at the Summit 2000 Pardee Keynote Symposia of the Geological Society of America)
- November 14 - Netscape version 6.0 is launched following two years of open source development creating a stable Mozilla web browser upon which it is based
- November 16 - Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting US President to visit Vietnam
- November 17 - Catastrophical landslide in Log pod Mangartom,Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophies in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
- November 17 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru
- November 27 - Canada - Parliamentary elections - Jean Chrétien re-elected as Prime Minister as Liberal Party increases majority in House of Commons
- November 28 - Ukrainian politician Oleksander Moroz touches off the Cassette Scandal by publicly accusing President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

December


- December 1 - Mexico - Vicente Fox becomes the first opposition President to take office since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. He wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- December 28 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
- December 30 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines, within a span of a few hours killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.

Unknown Date


- Limited reintroduction of routinely armed police in the UK for the first time since 1936.
- Scientists at University of Szeged's laboratory were first in the world to produce artificial heredity material.
- Millie I. Webb elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Births


- February 23 - Max & Sam Christy, American actors
- March 15- Amy and Emily Walton, English actresses
- April 25 - Jacob & Joshua Rips, American actors
- October 6 - Amanda Pace, American actress
- October 20 - Cooper and Oliver Guynes, American actors
- November 8 - Madison and Marissa Poer, actresses

Deaths

January


- January 2 - Patrick O'Brian, English writer (b. 1914)
- January 15 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
- January 19 - Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
- January 19 - Hedy Lamarr, Austrian actress (b. 1913)

February


- February 9 - Beau Jack, American boxer (b. 1921)
- February 11 - Roger Vadim, French film director (b. 1928)
- February 12 - Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)
- February 12 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)
- February 12 - Charles M. Schulz, American comic strip artist (b. 1921)
- February 23 - Sir Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)

April


- April 6 - Habib Bourguiba, President of Tunisia (b. 1903)
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, King of Malaysia (b. 1920)
- April 25 - David Merrick, American stage producer (b. 1911)
- April 29 - Phạm Văn Ðồng, Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1906)

May


- May 11 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
- May 12 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
- May 14 - Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- May 17 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
- May 19 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut

William Mahone

William Thomas Mahone (December 1, 1826 – October 8, 1895), of Southampton County, Virginia was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. A member of the first graduating class of Virginia Military Institute (VMI), he was trained as a civil engineer. He helped build Virginia's roads and railroads in the antebellum and postbellum (reconstruction) periods. As a Major General of the Confederate Army, Mahone is best known for turning the tide of the Battle of the Crater against the Union advance during the Siege of Petersburg in the US Civil War. Mahone became a political leader in Virginia, led the Readjuster Party and helped obtain funding in 1881 for a teacher's school which later grew to become Virginia State University. Small of stature, he was nicknamed "Little Billy".

Childhood, education

William Mahone was born in Monroe in Southampton County, Virginia on December 1, 1826 to Fielding Jordan Mahone and Martha (née Drew) Mahone. The little town of Monroe was on the banks of the Nottoway River about 8 miles south of Jerusalem (now Courtland), the county seat. Fielding Mahone ran a store at Monroe and owned considerable farmland. In 1840, the family moved to Jerusalem, where Fielding Mahone ran a tavern. There, the freckled-faced youth of Irish-American heritage gained a reputation for gambling and a prolific use of tobacco and profanity. Young Billy Mahone gained his primary education from a country schoolmaster but with special instruction in math from his father. For a short time he transported the U. S. Mail by horseback from his hometown to Hicksford, now Emporia. He was awarded a spot as a state cadet at the newly-opened Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, and graduated with a degree as a civil engineer in the Class of 1847.

Civil engineer, railroad builder, family

Mahone worked as a teacher at Rappahannock Academy in Caroline County, Virginia beginning in 1848, but was actively seeking an entry into civil engineering. He did some work helping locate the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, an 88 mile line between Gordonsville, Virginia and the City of Alexandria. Having performed well with the new railroad, was hired to build a plank road between Fredericksburg and Gordonsville. In 1853, he was hired by Dr. Francis Mallory of Norfolk, as chief engineer to build the new Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P). Mahone's innovative 12 mile-long roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp between South Norfolk and Suffolk employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of the swamp. Still in use 150 years later, Mahone's corduroy design withstands immense tonnages of modern coal traffic. He was also responsible for engineering and building the famous 52 mile-long tangent track between Suffolk and Petersburg. With no curves, it is a major artery of modern Norfolk Southern rail traffic. In 1854, Mahone surveyed and laid out with streets and lots of Ocean View City, a new resort town fronting on the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk County. With the advent of electric streetcars in the late 19th century, an amusement park was developed there and a boardwalk was built along the adjacent beach area. Most of Mahone's street plan is still in use in the 21st century as Ocean View, now a section of the City of Norfolk, is redeveloped. In 1855, Mahone married Otelia Butler (1837-1911), the daughter of the late Dr. Robert Butler from Smithfield. Young Otelia is said to have been a cultured lady. She and William settled in Norfolk, where they lived for most of the years before the Civil War. They had 13 children, but only 3 survived to adulthood, two sons, William T. Jr. and Robert, and a daughter, also named Otelia. The Mahone family escaped the yellow fever epidemic which broke out in the summer of 1855 and killed almost 1 of 3 persons in Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]] by staying with his mother some distance away in Courtland. However, the decimated citizenry of Norfolk had difficulty in meeting financial obligations, and work on their new railroad to Petersburg almost came to a standstill. Ever frugal, Mahone and his mentor Dr. Mallory nevertheless pushed the project to completion. Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe and other books she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, she chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly, and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town. When they reached a location where they could not agree, it is said that the name Disputanta was created. The Norfolk and Petersburg railroad was completed in 1858, and Mahone was named president a short time later. According to some records, in 1860, Mahone owned 7 slaves, all black: 3 male (ages 13, 4, 2), 4 female (ages 45, 24, 11, 1). Nevertheless, during the Civil War and after, he showed an empathy for African American soldiers and former slaves which was atypical for the times, and worked diligently for their fair treatment and education.

"Little Billy": Hero of the Battle of the Crater

African American As the political differences between northern and southern factions escalated in the second half of the 19th century, Mahone was in favor of secession of the southern states. During the American Civil War, he was active in the actual conflict even before he became an officer in the Confederate Army. Early in the War, in 1861, his Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was especially valuable to the Confederacy and transported ordnance to the Norfolk area where it was used during the Confederate occupation. By the end of the War, most of what was left of the railroad was in federal hands. After Virginia seceded from the Union in April, 1861, Mahone helped bluff the federal troops into abandoning the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth by running a single passenger train into Norfolk with great noise and whistle-blowing, then much more quietly, sending it back west, and then returning the same train again (again with much noise, etc.) creating the illusion of large numbers of arriving troops to the federals listening in Portsmouth across the Elizabeth River (and just barely out of sight). The ruse worked, and not a single Confederate soldier was lost as the Union authorities abandoned the area, and retreated to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads. After this, Mahone accepted a commission as Lt. Col. and later Colonel of the 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army. He commanded the Confederate's Norfolk district until its evacuation. He was promoted to Brigadier General in November, 1861. In May, 1862, after the evacuation of Norfolk by southern forces, during the Peninsula Campaign, he aided in the construction of the defenses of Richmond on the James River around Drewry's Bluff. A short time later, he led his brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines and the Battle of Malvern Hill. He also fought at the Second Battle of Manassas, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of the Wilderness, and Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. William Mahone was widely regarded as the hero of the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864 during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864-1865. Pennsylvania miners with the Union forces tunneled under the Confederate line and blew it up, killing and wounding many Confederates and breaching a key point in the defense line around Petersburg. However, they lost their initial advantage and Mahone rallied the remaining Confederate forces nearby, and repelled the attack. After beginning as an innovative initiative, the Crater scheme turned into a terrible loss for the Union leaders. He was promoted to a Major General as a result, and was with Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia for the surrender at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865. Small of stature, 5 foot 5 or 6 inches, and weighing only 100 lb (45 kg), he was nicknamed "Little Billy". As one of his soldiers put it, "He was every inch a soldier, though there were not many inches of him." Otelia Mahone was working in Richmond as a nurse, when Virginia Governor John Letcher sent word that Mahone had been injured in the Second Battle of Manassas, but had only received a "flesh wound." She is said to have replied "Now I know it is serious for William has no flesh whatsoever." Otelia and their children moved to Petersburg to be near him during the final campaign of the War in 1864-65.

Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad

After the war, Lee advised his generals to go back to work rebuilding. William Mahone did just that, and became the driving force in the linkage of N&P, South Side Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. He was president of all 3 by the end of 1867. He worked diligently lobbying the Virginia General Assembly to gain the legislation necessary to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line comprised of the 3 railroads he headed, extending 408 miles from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia in 1870. The Mahones were colorful characters: the letters A, M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's". The Mahones lived in Lynchburg, Virginia during this time, but moved back to Petersburg in or before 1880. The Financial Panic of 1873 put the A,M & O into conflict with its bondholders in England and Scotland. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern U.S. interests purchased the A,M, & O and renamed it Norfolk and Western. However, although he lost control of the railroad, Mahone was able to arrange for a portion of the State's proceeds of the sale to help found a school to prepare teachers to help educate black children and former slaves. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute near Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University.

Virginia politics: Readjuster Party, U.S. Senate

William Mahone was active in the economic and political life of Virginia after the Civil War for almost 30 years. He was elected to the Virginia General Assembly as a Delegate from Norfolk in 1863 (during the Civil War). He served as mayor of Petersburg. After his unsuccessful bid for governor in 1877, he became the leader of the Readjuster Party, a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and African-Americans seeking a reduction in Virginia's prewar debt, and an appropriate allocation made to the former portion of the state which constituted the new State of West Virginia. Mahone led the successful effort to elect the Readjuster candidate William E. Cameron as the next governor, and he himself was elected to served as a Senator in the U.S. Congress from 1881 to 1887, when he lost his seat to Democrat John W. Daniel. Once he was seated in Congress, Mahone became affiliated with the Republican Party, and led Virginia delegations to the Republican national conventions of 1884 and 1888. In 1889, he ran for governor on a Republican ticket, but lost to Democrat Philip W. McKinney. It was to be 80 more years before Virginia sent another non-Democrat to the Governor's Mansion. (Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr. in 1969). Although out of office, the seemingly tireless Mahone continued to stay involved in Virginia-related politics until he suffered a catastrophic stroke on Washington DC in the fall of 1895. He died a week later. Although Mahone was not to live to see the outcome, for several decades, Virginia and West Virginia disputed the new state's share of the Virginian government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.

Heritage

After suffering a stroke, he died on October 8, 1895 in Washington, DC. He is buried Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. His widow, Otelia, lived until 1911, and was buried with him.
- Otelia and William Mahone's former home in Petersburg now serves as part of the Petersburg Public Library. Virginia State University, which he helped found, is a major community presence nearby.
- A large portion of U.S. Highway 460 in eastern Virginia (between Petersburg and Suffolk) parallels the 52-mile tangent railroad tracks Mahone engineered, passing through some of the towns he and Otelia are believed to have named. Several sections of the road are labeled "General Mahone Boulevard" and "General Mahone Highway" in his honor.
- A monument to Mahone's Brigade is located at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
- The site of the Battle of the Crater is a major feature of the National Park Service's Petersburg National Battlefield Park. In 1927, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected in imposing monument to his memory. It stands on the preserved Crater Battlefield, a short distance from the Crater itself. The monument states: :"To the memory of William Mahone, Major General, CSS, a distinguished Confederate Commander, whose valor and strategy at the Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864, won for himself and his gallant brigade undying fame."

Trivia


- Mahone's middle name was Thomas. However, in his lifetime, he preferred the simpler "William Mahone" used by his ancestors. Beginning with the Mahone immigration from Ireland, he was the fourth individual to be called simply "William Mahone." Even his adversaries seemed to respect this preference, and it is extremely rare to find written accounts using his middle name or initial.
- Mahone was a civilian, and not yet in the Confederate Army, when he orchestrated the ruse and capture of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1861.
- Mahone suffered from acute dyspepsia all of his life. During the American Civil War, a cow and chickens accompanied him in order to provide dairy products.
- An infant child of Mary and William T. Mahone Jr. died on October 8, 1895, the same day General Mahone died.

References

Books


- Blake, Nelson (1935) William Mahone of Virginia: Soldier and Political Insurgent Richmond, VA: Garrett and Maisie
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469

Websites


- [http://hometown.aol.com/grc6431/myhomepage/heritage.html Mahones of Virginia: The Mahone Family Heritage]
- [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/political/william_mahone.htm official site, Library of Virginia, William Mahone page]

See also


- Confederate Military History, Vol. III, biography of William Mahone.

External links


- [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3701p.rr004910 Map of Norfolk & Petersburg Rail Road, issued by William Mahone]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncpsbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(ABQ7578-0149-92_bib)):: The New Method of Voting] by William Mahone, The North American review. Volume 149, Issue 397, December 1889.
- [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8339&pt=William%20Mahone Photos of William Mahone's tomb] Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William Mahone, William

Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad

The Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was built between Norfolk and Petersburg, Virginia and was completed by 1858. It played a role on the American Civil War (1861-1865), and became part of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O) in 1870. The AM&O became the Norfolk and Western (N&W) in 1881. About 100 years later, the Norfolk and Western was combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to form the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982. In the 21st century, almost all of the original well-engineered N&P, including the corduroy roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp and 52-mile tangent alignment is still in service. It forms part of a major coal export route terminating at Lambert's Point near Hampton Roads. In addition to coal, most of the route is in active use in the 20th century for intermodal container and automobile parts and completed vehicle shipments.

History

Although railroads emerged as a new transport technology in the 1830s, Norfolk was to wait 20 more years for a railroad line. In 1851, the authority to build the line was finally obtained followed many years of lobbying by Norfolk area politicians who were attempting to overcome opposition in the Virginia General Assembly. The representatives of inland port cities such as Richmond and Petersburg correctly foresaw that building the new railroad would lessen their role in export shipping trade. Dr. Francis Mallory (1807-1860) a former Representative in the United States Congress and later a member of the Virginia General Assembly was named the railroad's first president. In 1853, the new Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad hired as its chief engineer 26-year old William Mahone (1826-1895), of Southampton County, and construction began. A civil engineer and graduate of Virginia Military Institute, he is credited with the design and implementation of an innovative roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, Virginia, employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of the swamp. Still in use today, Mahone's design withstands immense tonnages of coal traffic. He is also responsible for engineering and building the famous 52 mile-long tangent track between Suffolk and Petersburg which is a major artery of modern Norfolk Southern rail traffic. In 1855, Mahone married Otelia Butler (1837-1911). She was the daughter of the late Dr. Robert Butler from Smithfield, Virginia, who had been Treasurer of the State of Virginia. Otelia, who was said to have been a "cultured" lady, and William Mahone settled in Norfolk. A Yellow Fever Epidemic swept through Norfolk in 1855 and killed 2,000 of its 6,000 citizens. However, the Mahones went to stay with his mother in Southampton County until the epidemic passed. Construction of the new railroad was delayed for more than a year due to the many deaths and resulting financial hardships. Otelia Mahone became a well-known character of sorts in her own right. Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe a book she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, she chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town. When they reached a location in Prince George County not far from the end of the line in Petersburg, they could not agree. It is said that they invented a name based upon their "dispute", and that is how Disputanta was named. In 1858, the railroad was completed and William Mahone was named its president.

Civil War

By the time the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was completed, the clouds of conflict which would become the American Civil War were already forming. In 1861, the railroad had 85.5 miles of track, 13 stations, 6 wood-burning steam locomotives, and 98 freight and passenger cars. William Mahone became a prominent officer in the Confederate Army, and Otelia worked as a nurse in Richmond. Early in the War, the N&P was valuable to the Confederacy and transported ordnance to the Norfolk area where it was used in during the Confederate occupation. In 1861, Mahone helped bluff the federal troops to abandon the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth by running a single passenger train into Norfolk with great noise and whistle-blowing, then much more quietly sending it back west, and then returning the same train again (again with much noise, etc.) creating the illusion in Portsmouth across the Elizabeth River just out of sight of large numbers of arriving troops. The ruse worked, and not a single Confederate soldier was lost as the Union authorities abandoned the are, and retreated to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads. Later in the War, Union forces controlled most of the N&P and the City Point Railroad (which also ran east from Petersburg). Brigadier General Mahone became the hero of the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864, and was with Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the surrender at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865.

Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad

After the war, Mahone led the rebuilding of the N&P, and soon became involved in the South Side Railroad, which ran from Petersburg to Lynchburg, becoming its president as well. He was the driving force in the linkage of N&P, South Side Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia which was formed in 1870 after several years of lobbying of the Virginia General Assembly by Mahone and his political allies. William and Otelia Mahone moved to Lynchburg, where headquarters were established. The letters A,M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's." The A,M,& O operated successfully for several years, but fell behind in bond payments during the financial panic of 1873. The bondholders worked well with Mahone until 1976, when they had other receivers appointed. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern interests purchased the A,M, & O and renamed it Norfolk and Western. Mahone was able to arrange for the proceeds of the sale of the AM&O (including the former N&P) to help found 2 schools for teachers. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute near Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University. The other school he helped fund became Norfolk State College, which expanded to become Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. The former South Side Railroad was originally one of 3 A,M & O divisions, and was later consolidated with the former N&P into a single division. The A,M & O did well for several years, but fell on hard times in the financial panic of 1873 which negatively impacted almost all of the railroads. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern interests purchased the A,M, & O and renamed it Norfolk and Western. Mahone was able to arrange for a portion of the State's proceeds of the sale to help found a school to prepare teachers to help educate black children and former slaves. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute near Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University.

Norfolk and Western, Norfolk Southern

The Norfolk and Western itself grew into a great system, and the former Norfolk and Petersbburg Railroad formed a major piece of the line used to transport bituminous coal from the mines in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia to port at Norfolk, where a huge transloading facility was built at Lambert's Point. The N&W merged with the smaller but also highly efficient Virginian Railway in 1959, facilitating a more favorable route for eastbound coal than offered by the former South Side Railroad west of Burkeville. However, from that point east, the combination brought an increase to the South Side Railroad alignment as former VGN traffic was rerouted through Crewe to connect with the former N & P on its way to Lambert's Point. Norfolk & Western Railway was combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) in 1982. Over 150 years after completion, much of the former Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad route is still in active use and is a vital portion of Norfolk Southern Railway, a Class I railroad which has its headquarters in Norfolk, only a short distance from the coal piers at Lambert's Point.

References

Books


- Blake, Nelson Morehouse, Phd. (1935) William Mahone of Virginia; Soldier and Political Insurgent, Garrett and Massie Publishers; Richmond, VA
- Dixon, Thomas W, Jr., (1994) Appalachian Coal Mines & Railroads. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-08-5
- Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (2002) Appalachian Conquest, Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-79-4
- Lambie, Joseph T. (1954) From Mine to Market: The History of Coal Transportation on the Norfolk and Western Railway New York: New York University Press
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) The Virginian Era. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-09-3
- Prince, Richard E. (1980) Norfolk & Western Railway, Pocahontas Coal Carrier, R.E. Prince; Millard, NE
- Reid, H. (1961). The Virginian Railway (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
- Reisweber, Kurt (1995) Virginian Rails 1953-1993 (1st ed.) Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-11-8
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469
- Traser, Donald R. (1998) Virginia Railway Depots. Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
- Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985

Otelia Butler Mahone

Otelia Voinard Butler Mahone (August 1, 1837-February 21, 1911) was a nurse and the wife of Confederate Major General William Mahone, who was a civil engineer, teacher, railroad builder, and Senator in the United States Congress. A "character" in her own right, strong-willed Otelia Butler Mahone became almost as well-known in Virginia as her famous husband.

Parents and childhood

Otelia Voinard Butler was the daughter of the late Dr. Robert Butler (1784-1853) of the town of Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Virginia and the former Otelia Voinard (1803-1855), originally from Petersburg, Virginia. The Butler family was prominent, and Dr. Butler had been Treasurer of the State of Virginia when he died in 1853. She has been described in published accounts as a "lady of rare beauty with a strong, forceful personality." It was also said that young Otelia Butler came from "cultured" background.

William Mahone: young railroad builder

In the pre-Civil War era, William Mahone was hired in 1853 to build the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P) through Isle of Wight County near her home. She married 29-year old Mahone on February 8, 1855. The couple settled in Norfolk, Virginia.

Naming stations together

Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe, a book she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, Otelia chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town. When they reached a point in Prince George County not far from the end of the line at Petersburg, the two could not agree. It is said that they invented a new word in honor of their "dispute", which is how the tiny community of Disputanta was named. The N&P railroad was completed in 1858, and William was named its president.

American Civil War: the Mahones serve the Confederacy

When he became an officer in the Confederate Army, Otelia served the cause in Richmond as a nurse. Small of stature (5 ft 5 in tall and weighing only 100 lb (45 kg) her husband was nicknamed "Little Billy". When Otelia was notified by Governor John Letcher that her husband had been injured in the Second Battle of Manassas, but had only received a "flesh wound", she replied "Now I know it is serious for William has no flesh whatsoever." Late in the War, during the Siege of Petersburg, Otelia and the children moved to Petersburg to be near him. Mahone himself became the hero of the Battle of the Crater in July, 1864, and was promoted to Major General.

Children and family Life

Otelia and William Mahone had 13 children. Only 3 of their children survived to adulthood, two sons, William and Robert, and a daughter, also named Otelia. :William Thomas Mahone Jr. (1856-1927) attended school at Hanover Academy. He was engaged in the tobacco trade for a time and later served as collector of customs at Petersburg. :Robert Butler Mahone (1859-1914) was assigned to his father as private secretary for a number of years and afterward was in the government service. In 1898, he was appointed by U.S. President William McKinley as Consul of the United States at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across the U.S. border at Laredo, Texas. :Otelia (née Mahone) McGill traveled extensively in Europe and in 1895 married William L. McGill, from a prominent Petersburg, Virginia family. The Mahones lived in Norfolk after their marriage. Late in the Civil War, they relocated to Petersburg. They moved to Lynchburg for several years from 1868 to 1872, returning to Petersburg where they lived the rest of their lives. Their former home in Petersburg became part of the Petersburg Public Library.

Post-war, building the A,M & O

In a meeting at Appomattox about the time of the surrender, defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee urged his generals to go home and start rebuilding. In the post-war period, William Mahone redirected his attention to railroading, quickly rebuilding the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. He became president of the South Side Railroad in late 1865, and was instrumental in combining the N&P and South Side Railroad with the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to form the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad in 1870. Otelia and William moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, headquarters of the A,M & O, whose initials were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's". After the financial panic of 1873, the A,M & O fell behind on its bonds, and Mohone lost control in 1881 to northern financial interests who renamed it the Norfolk and Western Railway.

Politics

Willaim Mahone was also active in Virginia politics for almost 30 years. He was elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1864 while still serving in the Confederate Army. After he failed in a bid to become governor in 1877, he organized Readjuster Party the following year. His chosen candidate William E. Cameron was elected as governor, serving from 1882-1886. Mahone himself served as one of Virginia's two Senators from 1881-1887 in the United States Congress.

Heritage

William Mahone died in 1895 in Washington DC. Otelia lived for 11 more years, and died in Petersburg, Virginia on February 20, 1911 at the age of 74. They are buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg. A large portion of U.S. Highway 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk, parallels the 52 mile tangent line of the railroad William engineered. As the road passes through the towns he and Otelia are thought to have named, it is locally-known as General Mahone Boulevard and General Mahone Highway.

References

Books


- Blake, Nelson (1935) William Mahone of Virginia: Soldier and Political Insurgent Richmond, VA: Garrett and Massie
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469

Websites


- [http://hometown.aol.com/grc6431/myhomepage/heritage.html Mahones of Virginia: The Mahone Family Heritage]
- [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/political/william_mahone.htm official site, Library of Virginia, William Mahone page] Mahone, Otelia B. Mahone, Otelia B. Mahone, Otelia B.

Walter Scott

:For the first Premier of Saskatchewan see Thomas Walter Scott :For the first Lord Scott of Buccleuch see Walter Scott, 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch :For the Australian rules footballer with Norwood, see Walter Scott (footballer). Walter Scott (footballer)]] Sir Walter Scott, Bart (August 14, 1771 – September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time. In some ways Scott was the first author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and (to a lesser extent) his poetry are still read, but he is far less popular nowadays than he was at the height of his fame. Nevertheless many of his works remain classics of English literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Lady of the Lake, Waverley and The Heart of Midlothian.

Early days

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1771, the son of a Scottish solicitor of limited means, the young Walter Scott survived a childhood bout of polio that would leave him lame in his right leg for the rest of his life. To restore his health he was sent to live for some years in the rural Scottish Borders region at his grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe. Here he learned the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends which characterized much of his work. Also, for his health, he spent a year in Bath, England. He also learned by heart James Macpherson's Ossian poems, which it was claimed at the time were translations dating back to the Middle Ages, but later discredited when this was found to be untrue. After studying law at Edinburgh University, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyer's clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction. He was admitted advocate in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, who married Sir William Forbes.

Literary career launched

At the age of 25 he began dabbling in writing, translating works from German, his first publication being rhymed versions of ballads by Bürger in 1796. He then published a three-volume set of collected Scottish ballads, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. This was the first sign of his interest in Scotland and history from a literary standpoint. Scott then became an ardent volunteer in the yeomanry and on one of his "raids" he met at Gilsland Spa Margaret Charlotte Charpentier (or Charpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France who he married in 1797. They had five children. In 1799 he was appointed sheriff deputy of the county of Selkirkshire, based in the town of Selkirk. In his earlier married days, Scott had a decent living from the monies he earned at the law, his salary as deputy sheriff, his wife's income, some revenue from his writing, and his share of his father's rather meagre estate. After Scott had founded a printing press, his poetry, beginning with The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1805, brought him fame. He published a number of other poems over the next ten years, including in 1810 the popular Lady of the Lake set in the Trossachs, portions of which (translated into German) were set to music by Franz Schubert. One of these songs, Ellens dritter Gesang, is popularly called "Schubert's Ave Maria". Another work from this time period, Marmion, produced some of his most quoted (and most often mis-attributed) lines. Canto VI. Stanza 17 reads: :Yet Clare's sharp questions must I shun, :Must separate Constance from the nun :Oh! what a tangled web we weave :When first we practise to deceive! :A Palmer too! No wonder why :I felt rebuked beneath his eye; In 1809 his Tory sympathies led him to become a co-founder of the Quarterly Review, a review journal to which he made several anonymous contributions.

The novels

When the press became embroiled in pecuniary difficulties, Scott set out, in 1814, to write a cash-cow. The result was Waverley, a novel which did not name its author. It was a tale of the "Forty-Five" Jacobite rising in the United Kingdom with its English protagonist Edward Waverley, by his Tory upbringing sympathetic to Jacobitism, becoming enmeshed in events but eventually choosing Hanoverian respectability. The novel met with considerable success. There followed a large set of novels in next five years, each the same general vein. Mindful of his reputation as a poet, he maintained the anonymous habit he had begun with Waverley, always publishing the novels under the name "Author of Waverley" or attributed as "Tales of..." with no author. Even when it was clear that there would be no harm in coming out into the open he maintained the façade, apparently out of a sense of fun. During this time the nickname "The Wizard of the North" was popularly applied to the mysterious best-selling writer. His identity as the author of the novels was widely rumoured, and in 1815 Scott was given the honour of dining with George, Prince Regent, who wanted to meet "the author of Waverley". George, Prince Regent
Alternate View]] In 1820 he broke away from writing about Scotland with Ivanhoe, a historical romance set in 12th-century England. It too was a runaway success and, as he did with his first novel, he unleashed a slew of books along the same lines. As his fame grew during this phase of his career, he was granted the title of baronet, becoming Sir Walter Scott. At this time he organised the visit of King George IV to Scotland, and when the King visited Edinburgh in 1822 the spectacular pageantry Scott had concocted to portray George as a rather tubby reincarnation of Bonnie Prince Charlie made tartans and kilts fashionable and turned them into symbols of national identity.

Financial woes

Beginning in 1825 he went into dire financial straits again, as his company nearly collapsed. That he was the author of his novels became general knowledge at this time as well. Rather than declare bankruptcy he placed his home, Abbotsford House, and income into a trust belonging to his creditors, and proceeded to write his way out of debt. He kept up his prodigious output of fiction (as well as producing a non-fiction biography of Napoleon Bonaparte) until 1831. By then his health was failing, and he died at Abbotsford in 1832. Though not in the clear by then, his novels continued to sell, and he made good his debts from beyond the grave. He was buried in Dryburgh Abbey where nearby, fittingly, a large statue can be found of William Wallace—one of Scotland's most romantic historical figures.

Assessment

From being one of the most popular novelists of the 19th century, Scott suffered from a disastrous decline in popularity after the First World War. The tone was set early on in E.M. Forster's classic "Aspects of the Novel" (1927), where Scott was savaged as being a clumsy writer who wrote clumsy, badly plotted novels. Scott also suffered from the rising star of Jane Austen. Considered merely an entertaining "woman's novelist" in the 19th century, in the 20th Austen began to be seen as perhaps the major English novelist of the first few decades of the 19th century. As Austen's star rose, Scott's sank. Scott's many flaws (ponderousness, prolixity, lack of humour) were fundamentally out of step with Modernist sensibilities. Nevertheless, Scott was responsible for two major trends that carry on to this day. First, he essentially invented the modern historical novel; an enormous number of imitators (and imitators of imitators) would appear in the 19th century. It is a measure of Scott's influence that Edinburgh's central railway station, opened in 1854 for the North British Railway, is called the Waverley station, and two noted Rose Street pubs are the Waverley and the Ivanhoe bars, both named after his English characters. Second, his Scottish novels followed on from James Macpherson's Ossian cycle in rehabilitating the public perception of Highland culture after years in the shadows following southern distrust of hill bandits and the Jacobite rebellions. As enthusiastic chairman of the Celtic Society of Edinburgh he contributed to the reinvention of Scottish culture. It is worth noting, however, that Scott was a Lowland Scot, and that his re-creations of the Highlands were more than a little fanciful. His organisation of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 was a pivotal event, leading Edinburgh tailors to invent many "clan tartans" out of whole cloth, so to speak. After being essentially unread for many decades, a small revival of interest in Scott's work began in the 1970s and 1980s. Ironically, postmodern tastes (which favoured discontinuous narratives, and the introduction of the 'first person' into works of fiction) were more favourable to Scott's work than Modernist tastes. Despite all the flaws, Scott is now seen as an important innovator, and a key figure in the development of Scottish literature. Scott was also responsible, through a series of pseudonymous letters published in the Edinburgh Weekly News in 1826, for retaining the right of Scottish banks to issue their own banknotes, which is reflected to this day by his continued appearance on the front of all notes issued by the Bank of Scotland. Many of his works have been illustrated by his friend, William Allan.

Works


- The Chase (translator) (1796)
- William and Helen, Two Ballads from the German (translator) (1796)
- Goetz of Berlichingen (translator) (1799)
- The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802-1803)
- The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)
- Ballads and Lyrical Pieces (1806)
- Marmion (1808)
- The Lady of the Lake (1810)
- The Vision of Don Roderick (1811)
- The Bridal of Triermain (1813)
- Rokeby (1813)
- Introductory Essay to The Border Antiquities of England and Scotland (1814-1817)
- Waverley (1814)
- The Field of Waterloo (1815)
- Guy Mannering (1815)
- The Lord of the Isles (1815)
- The Antiquary (1816)
- Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk (1816)
- Tales of my Landlord, 1st series, The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality (1816)
- Harold the Dauntless (1817)
- Rob Roy (1818)
- Tales of my Landlord, 2nd series, The Heart of Midlothian (1818)
- Provincial Antiquities of Scotland (1819-1826)
- Tales of my Landlord, 3rd series, The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose (1819)
- Ivanhoe (1819)
- Tales from Benedictine Sources, consisting of The Abbot and The Monastery (1820)
- Kenilworth (1821)
- Lives of the Novelists (1821-1824)
- The Fortunes of Nigel (1822)
- Halidon Hall (1822)
- Peveril of the Peak (1822)
- The Pirate (1822)
- Quentin Durward (1823)
- Redgauntlet (1824)
- St. Ronan's Well (1824)
- Tales of the Crusaders, consisting of The Betrothed and The Talisman (1825)
- Woodstock (1826)
- Chronicles of the Canongate, 1st series, The Highland Widow, The Two Drovers and The Surgeon's Daughter (1827)
- The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1827)
- Chronicles of the Canongate, 2nd series, The Fair Maid of Perth (1828)
- Religious Discourses (1828)
- Tales of a Grandfather, 1st series (1828)
- Anne of Geierstein (1829)
- History of Scotland, 2 vols. (1829-1830)
- Tales of a Grandfather, 2nd series (1829)
- The Doom of Devorgoil (1830)
- Essays on Ballad Poetry (1830)
- Tales of a Grandfather, 3rd series (1830)
- Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1831)
- Tales of my Landlord, 4th series, Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous (1832)
- Young Lockinvar
- The Bishop of Tyre

Quote

Breathes there a man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! from The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Walter Scott

Reference


- Sir Walter Scott, John Buchan, Coward-McCann Inc., New York, 1932

See also


- Alexandre Dumas
- Karl May
- Baroness Orczy
- Rafael Sabatini
- Emilio Salgari
- Samuel Shellabarger
- Lawrence Schoonover
- Jules Verne
- Frank Yerby

External links


- [http://www.eswsc.com The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club]
- University of Pennsylvania [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?amode=start&author=Scott%2c%20Walter e-texts of some of Walter Scott's works]
-
- University of Edinburgh library's [http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/index.html digital archive of Scott's works and memorabilia] Scott, Walter Scott, Walter Scott, Walter Scott, Walter Scott, Walter Scott, Walter S