Philip Vickers Fithian

“ In many of the apartments there were fine cornices, modillions, and dentils. Delicately fluted pilasters often flanked windows and doors. Elaborately carved cornice and mantel friezes and frets represented the most skilled craftsmanship of the period. Sometimes, as at "Carter's Grove," the miniature carving of the friezes was of exquisite beauty. Motifs such as the egg and dart, the Wall of Troy, and the Tudor rose were employed with fine effect. ”

“ We dined at four o-Clock—Mr Carter kept in his Room, because he breakfasted late, and on Oysters—There were at Table Mrs Carter & her five Daughters that are at School with me—Miss Priscilla, Nancy, Fanny, Betsy, and Harriot, five as beautiful delicate, well-instructed Children as I have ever known!—Ben is abroad; Bob & Harry are out; so there was no Man at Table but myself.—I must carve—Drink the Health—and talk if I can! Our Dinner was no otherwise than common, yet as elegant a Christmas Dinner as I ever sat Down to—The table Discourse was Marriage ”

“ As you have been by Fortune blest,
And born of Fame, & Wealth possest,
Those full-blown Charms the world will see,
And with one common voice agree,
That such perfection is design'd
To be a pattern for Mankind. ”

“ I rose at eight—The morning is fair; all seem quiet—I went to the window before I was drest, having only a Gown thrown about me & enjoy'd a beautiful Prospect of the high Banks of the River Nomini gilded by the morning Sun—I could not help casting my Eyes with eagerness over the blue Potowmack and look homewards.—After having paid my morning secret Devotion to the King of Kings, I sat myself to the correcting and transcribing my Sermon—I had the pleasure to wait on Mrs Carter to Church She rode in the Chariot, & Miss Prissy and Nancy ”

“ As he matured, he became increasingly a serious man of business and of scholarly and cultivated tastes. Returning to Virginia in 1751, he soon married and settled down to the life of a country squire at "Nomini Hall," the manor house his father had built in Westmoreland County.
On a visit to Maryland, Carter had met Frances Anne Tasker, the sixteen-year-old daughter of one of the foremost citizens of that colony. Struck by the beauty, good sense, and fortune of the young girl, he had secured her consent to become his wife. Frances Tasker Carter was an uncommon person. ”

“ That both your Eyes are glowing Darts,
Which only seen do wound our hearts;
That Venus' Son by her command
Waits always at your fair Right-Hand,
And that the Loves in Beauty drest,
Are always hov'ring near your Breast ”

“ Miss Priscilla, and Miss Nancy rode this morning in the Chariot over to Mr Turburvills—Bob, every day at twelve o-Clock, is down by the River Side with his Gun after Ducks, Gulls &c.—Ben is on his Horse a Riding, Harry, is either in the Kitchen, or at the Blacksmiths, or Carpenters Shop. They all find places of Rendesvous so soon as the Beell rings, and all seem to choose different Sports!—To day dined with us Mr Cox the Gentleman at whose House I breakfasted the Day after I came first.—Evening Mr Carter spent in playing on the Harmonica ”

“ Mrs Carter observed that She has heard they have no Souls—Says Miss Priscilla in a moment if I thought so I would not have spent all this morning in Reading; nor would Women, (Said the well discerning Miss) be careful to avoid any Shameful, or Sinful Action—It is not unlikly but those are the private Sentiments of many among the Fair; & no doubt they would be generally and publickly practised if it should be universally admitted that the Soul of a Woman is not to exist after the present Life. ”

“ Mrs Carter observ'd that was she a Widow, she should scruple to marry any man alive; She gave a reason, that She did not think it probable a man could love her grown old when the world is thronged with blooming, ripening Virgins; but in fact Mrs Carter looks & would pass for a younger Woman than some unmarried Ladies of my acquaintance, who would willingly enough make us place them below twenty!—We dined at four; when we rose from table it was growing dark—The wind continues at South East & is stormy and muddy. ”

“ When I am Home I then seem willing to remove, for other places seem to be full as desirable—It is then Society which makes places seem agreeable or the Contrary—It can be nothing else—Adam when he had no troublesome painful thoughts within him ”

“ Through their pages may be seen the great planter-businessmen, the members of their families, the overseers and stewards, the free white artisans, the Negro slaves, and the indentured servants moving about their daily tasks. The master of the plantation in a counting room near his mansion balances accounts, writes letters to his factors in England, or converses with the overseers and stewards from his other plantations who have come for instructions regarding their work. The children of the household and their tutor pass to and from the office used as a schoolroom. ”

“ Whenever he invites you, ride. You may stay, and talk, & drink, & ride to as great excess as he; & may with safety associate yourself with those whom you find to be his intimates. In all other Cases, except when you ride to Church, at least till you are very intimate in the Colony, you had better ride to a certain Stump, or to some noted plantation, or pretty landscape; you will have in this every advantage of exercise, the additional advantage of undisturbed Meditation, & you will be under no Jealous apprehension in point of behaviour, nor any restraint as to the time of your return. ”

“ He has besides five daughters which I am to teach english, the eldest is turned of fifteen, and is reading the spectator; she is employed two days in every week in learning to play the Forte-Piana, and Harpsicord—The others are smaller, and learning to read and spell. Mr Carter is one of the Councellors in the general court at Williamsburg, and possest of as great, perhaps the clearest fortune according to the estimation of people here, of any man in Virginia: He seems to be a good scholar, even in classical learning, and is remarkable one in english grammar ”

“ Books provided a ready means of transmitting English standards of life to the colony. The carefully selected volumes in the manor houses clearly reveal their owners' aspiration to become "compleat gentlemen." It was not unusual for the collection of a prosperous planter to number as many as one or two thousand. Works providing guidance in the mode of life they admired greatly predominated, though works of literature were not absent. ”

“ If you design teaching before you get into business, there are now several considerable offers made to young men who are willing to go to Virginia by some of the first gentlemen in the colony; one particularly who will give as good as 60£, the best accomodations, a room to study in and the advantage of a library, a horse kept and a servant to wait upon you.
Dr Witherspoon [28] is very fond of getting a person to send him. ”

“ Graceful garden houses, dovecots, and other miniature structures, carefully placed, sometimes imparted a fanciful atmosphere to the whole. Every estate had its orchard, the fruit of which surpassed the choicest specimens of the homeland. Wildernesses or preserves of transplanted trees might be found at some distance from the residence, and sometimes serpentine drives and walks invited one to explore hidden retreats. ”

“ The great Tidewater proprietors of the Golden Age were, then, no perfumed courtiers spending their days in idleness and diversion and consciously seeking to avoid all "taint of trade." In a very real sense they were capitalists, acute men of business, seriously concerned with managing their estates, tilling their lands and disposing of their produce, and eager to reap a profit through trading with their neighbors. ”

“ To Miss Nancy Carter.
[Letter of Philip V. Fithian to Robert Bladen Carter]
Greenwich Octobr: 16th. 1775.
Sir.
It gives me pleasure to hear by your brother and Mr Peck, that, in continual health, you are growing rapidly to lusty Manhood—I am more pleased to hear that by growing industry you are rising faster in the progress of your education. Diligence overcomes all difficulties, Be diligent, in a proper course of business, and you will be great. ”

“ Houses are the corner of a Square of which the Great-House is the Center—First the School-House is forty five feet long, from East to West, & twenty-seven from North to South; It has five well-finished, convenient Rooms, three below stairs, & two above; It is built with Brick a Story & a half high with Dormant Windows; In each Room is a fire; In the large Room below-Stairs we keep our School; the other two Rooms below which are smaller are allowed to Mr Randolph the Clerk; The Room above the School-Room Ben and I live in; & the other Room above Stairs belongs to Harry & Bob. ”

“ At least you must never suffer your fondness for one Scholar to grow so manifest, as that all your School shall see you look over a fault in him or her which same fault, if commited by another, you severely chastise. ”

“ The conversation at supper was on Nursing Children; I find it is common here for people of Fortune to have their young Children suckled by the Negroes! Dr Jones told us his first and only Child is now with such a Nurse; & Mrs Carter said that Wenches have suckled several of hers—Mrs Carter has had thirteen Children She told us to night and she has nine now living; of which seven are with me. Guns are fired this Evening in the Neighbourhood, and the Negroes seem to be inspired with new Life. [105] The Day has been serene and mild, but the Evening is hazy. ”

“ Ben impatient of staying at home rode out about Eleven, when the weather is more moderate; Bob, Harry & Mr Randolph also are all going out; I seem happy when intirely alone, & have undisturbed liberty to spend in Devotion God's holy Sabbath of Rest.
Before Night it grew fair when on a Sudden all are out, so that we seem like a Town; but most of the Inhabitants are black—We dined at three, no company. Evening Bob returned & brought Mr Turburville's Compliments, with a strong invitation for me to visit him—A little before the Sun went down I took a walk down the Poplar Avenue ”

“ I feel always Sorry when he leaves the Family; his entire good-Nature, Cheerfulness, Simplicity, & Skill in Music have fixed him firm in my esteem—None go to Ucomico Church to day—Towards evening, I took a book in my hand, & strolled down the Pasture quite to the Bank of the River—Miss Stanhope, Priss, Nancy, Fanny & Betsy Carter were just passing by—They walked to the Mill; there they entered a Boat, & for exercise & amusement were rowed down the River quite to the granary, & then went to angling—I walked to them, & together we all marched Home to Coffee. ”

“ They seem all to be free of any terror at the Prescence of Death; Harry in special signified a Wish that his turn may be next. I should be glad if his desire were wise; & he was as fit for the business of the other world, as he seems willing to leave the business of this—In the evening this unexpected Death was the Subject of Conversation in the House—Mr Carter observed, that he thought it the most desirable to die of a Short Illness. ”

“ Every time I reflect on that Place of retirement & Study, where I spent two years which I call the most pleasant as well as the most important Period in my past life—Always when I think upon the Studies, the Discipline, the Companions, the Neighbourhood, the exercises, & Diversions, it gives me a secret & real Pleasure, even the Foibles which often prevail there are pleasant on recollection ”

“ Under so wasteful a system, Virginians had soon realized the necessity of acquiring many times the quantity of land they could cultivate at any one time. Farseeing men, realizing a day would come when fertile soil could no longer be had for a song, wished also to provide sufficient elbow room for their children at a future day. ”

“ Writing at my Sermon—The day cool & agreeable. I was never so much confined as now, not even when I was at College, for I used to go with my sweet mates, as Virgil calls them, about the Fields, or to the Brooks to wash, & often ride to Trenton for exercise & pleasure—& sometimes to Newington & spend an Afternoon with that dear girl Laura—Here in Virginia I have no Call out, people seem sociable & kind but I want Spirit to improve & relish Society Soon, however, soon, if I keep my Health, I shall be again at Liberty. ”