Among the noteworthy women of Virginia during the early part of the present century--our comparatively unknown and entirely unsung Southern heroines--was the subject of this sketch. Remarkable for her practical ability and efficiency, her graceful and accomplished taste, the extent and variety of her literary attainments, the unselfish generosity of her heart, and her unostentatious charities, no one was more highly esteemed while living, or was more mourned when, in her bright and useful career, struck down by the hand of death. Nor is there one of those departed Matrons--the peerless women of Virginia,--whose memory is more cherished by those among whom she lived; for, it was her peculiar good fortune to be at once the life and joy of her family, the "bright particular star" of the society in which she moved, and the pride and ornament of the community. Anne Montgomery Peyton was born at the Sweet Springs Monroe County, Virginia, in the year 1802. Her father Major John Lewis, was a man of large fortune, having inherited this extensive and valuable estate from his father, Col. William Lewis, commonly called the "Civilizer of the border." Major Lewis was a distinguished officer of that branch of the military forces of the "Thirteen United Colonies," styled the "Continental line," and served under Washington until the close of the revolutionary war. A little more than two years after the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown, by Lord Cornwallis, October 17th--19th, 1781, namely, in the winter of 1783 when Washington relinquished the command of the army, Major Lewis returned to the Sweet Springs where he spent the rest of his life, improving his property and enjoying the society of his friends. He married, in 1795, Mary Preston, the fourth daughter of Col. William Preston of Smithfield, County of Montgomery. Mary Preston Lewis is reported to have been a woman of great personal charms and of uncommon vivacity of intellect, and of varied accomplishments. As spirited as beautiful, she was one of the true type of that Virginia character which has made itself known and felt throughout the world.[28] [28] When little Anne Lewis left the Sweet Springs for Mr. C's school, she bore the following letter from her mother to him. Sweet Springs, July 23rd, 1811. _Mr. Crutchfield_: _Dear Sir_--With the sincerest pleasure I send my dear little Anne to you again. I hope nothing will happen, not even an indulgence of my affection for her, to cause her coming home again shortly, for to you, I confide with confidence her entire education, and I hope your labors will be crowned with success by Him above, who is able to give abundantly.