520
RIDLEYS OF OXFORD, NORTH CAROLINA.
Rutherford is one of the finest counties in the State. In many portions the lands
are of rare fertility, and splendid groves of oak, ash, elm, sugar-maple, and umbra-
geous vines give bold and vigorous testimony of richness. The face of the country
is undulating, the rugged aspect of the mountain regions having gradually softened
into gentle, flowing, lovely outlines. Before the desolations of the war, a traveler
on any of the roads leading into Murfreesborough was impressed with the evidences
of thrift, energy, and cultivated taste which he everywhere saw.
"Broad cotton and grain fields, substantial farm-houses and tasteful grounds
were constantly recurring. My father's residence was in one of the most beautiful
sections of the County. Stones River on the east makes a long, narrow curve
through low bluffs of rock and overhanging shrubbery, and appearing again at the
mill still a little east of the houses, runs parallel with the road for half a mile
opposite the 'Fairmont' grounds; here its sloping, grassy banks, inviting seats of
rock, clear, rippling, rushing current with its sheets of foaming water at the mill-
dam, constitute most delightful features of the landscape. The house stood to the
left and north of the road upon an approach from the east. It was situated upon
one of those elevations which seems to have been fashioned by nature for architec-
tural effects, gently sloping on all sides from base to summit, a distance of two
hundred and fifty yards, and reaching in altitude about fifty feet. Flanking the
road and opposite the river is a beautiful lawn containing eighty acres and embrac-
ing half the hill, excepting the yard and garden. It is thickly set with blue grass
and clover, relieved on one side by a clump of small, thick-set trees, growing in
tangled luxuriance over some rocks, and here and there a solitary fruit tree, dotting
the smooth, open surface. The approach to the house is through a gate entering
the lawn to the east and along a drive winding up the hill to the front yard gate,
whence a broad gravel walk, bordered on each side by small cedars tastefully shaped,
leads to the portico. The yard embraces about three acres on the brow of the hill,
and is covered with green turf and adorned with those finest ornaments of all others
-old, majestic, native forest trees, which stand out on the scene with bold, leafy
branches and boughs, continually awakening a sensation of power and protection.
There are two other gates to be seen in front, one opening into the garden on the
left and another on the right into the lawn Gravel walks from the portico lead to
both, with rows of small cedars similar to those in front. The house was con-
structed on the cottage style. It consisted of a main building one and a half stories
high, with wings of one story, eight or ten feet in the rear. The portico was neatly
and elegantly designed, shaded on either side by lattices and sweet-scented vines,
honey-suckle, virgin-bower and roses. The roof was painted, presenting gables
east and west, and in front, on each side of the portico, two dormer windows and
two dormer doors in the centre. Continuing the line of the main building to the
limits of the wings were two small galleries with ornamental railings, and as the
whole building was elevated several feet, there were flights of stone steps leading
from these as well as the front portico. On entering the house, a wide, commodious
hall, extended the full length of the building — about forty-five feet, and at the
end of it a winding stair-case led to the upper hall and attic-rooms. Five doors
besides the front, opened into this hall, from parlors, dining-room, chamber and
back gallery, the latter extending the full length of the building in the rear.
-
"Such was 'Fairmont' in its palmiest days. Now, nothing remains of the house
but blackened ruins. Three chimneys only stand, solitary and dismal, over the
piles of rubbish. They are grim monuments over a grave-a melancholy one to
us of household treasures and dear old familiar places, hallowed by teeming re-
collections. The old stone steps look strangely familiar. They have worn smooth
with the steps of family and friends, and often at night old Carlo sits upon them
and howls piteously over the desolation."
The following account of the burning of "Fairmont" during the Rebell-
ion was written by the same hand and copied from the same paper as the
preceding :-
"You ask me to give you the particulars of the burning of Fairmont,' our old
homestead, and it is with a very sad kind of pleasure I am seated to comply with
that request. In order to understand fully our measure of sorrow' at that time, I
must relate the situation of affairs around us, prior to the burning. Fairmont is
situated immediately on the bank of Stones River, the little stream which will be ever
memorable as in the battle-field upon which Bragg and Rosecrans contended with
