Historic Fredericksburg: The Story of an Old TownGoolrick, John T. (John Tackett)
History
Historic Fredericksburg: The Story of an Old Town
Goolrick, John T. (John Tackett)
Fredericksburg (Va.) -- History
An incident brought the great singer Patti to Fredericksburg, to remain
for some time. When she was a girl of sixteen, just beginning to train for
her great career in Grand Opera, her brother Carlo Patti expected to
institute a school of music and was here for that purpose when he was
taken suddenly ill. She came with her sister Madam Strackosh to see her
brother. He remained ill for months and his sisters were with him during
the entire time. They boarded at the Old Exchange Hotel on Main Street,
now the Hotel Maury, and gave more than one concert at what was known then
as "The Citizens Hall." If there are few here now who remember her, there
is still among us one woman, a little child at the time, whom the singer
often held in her arms and caressed. The parents of the child were
boarding at the Hotel temporarily and the mother and Adelina became great
friends and remained so for many years. Madam Strackosh and her famous
sister said they enjoyed "real life" in our little Southern town. Carlo
after regaining his health went farther South, joined a Confederate
Company, and again as one of the boys in gray under the stars and bars,
was in Fredericksburg and was well known to the writer. He entertained the
weary boys in camp when the hard days were over, with his beautiful songs.
John Forsythe referred to in the above order was born in 1781 in a frame
house, now standing at the corner of Prince Edward and Fauquier Streets.
He graduated from the Princeton Academy early in life, moving later with
his family to Georgia where he studied law, practiced and in 1808 he was
elected Attorney General, and in 1812 was chosen Congressman and served
until 1818.
In 1819 he was appointed Minister to Spain and while acting as Minister,
he was instrumental in the ratification of the treaty with the Country
for the cession of Florida to the United States.
In 1827 he was elected Governor of Georgia and in 1829 became a member of
the Senate and was in that body when he accepted the office of Secretary
of State, which position he occupied to the end of Van Buren's
administration. He died in the City of Washington, October 21, 1841, and
is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
[Illustration: NATIONAL CEMETERY
_And Monument to the Fifth Corps. Here Sleep Thousands Who Died in the
Battles About Fredericksburg_]
[Sidenote: _Joe Hooker Comes Again_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account