_The Works of_
E . P . ROE
HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS WIFE
E. P. ROE
REMINISCENCES OF HIS LIFE
BY HIS SISTER, MARY A. ROE
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK PETER FENELON COLLIER & SON MCM
E. P. ROE
REMINISCENCES OF HIS LIFE
_Copyright, 1899_ BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
Since the death of Edward Payson Roe, in 1888, there have been inquiries from time to time for some record of his life and work, and it is in response to these repeated requests that this volume is issued. While necessarily omitting much that is of too personal a nature for publication, the editor has allowed the subject of these Reminiscences to speak for himself as far as possible, although it has been thought advisable to introduce here and there various papers from outside sources that seem to throw additional light upon his character. It is believed that in this way a clearer picture may be given than would otherwise be obtained of the life of one who was, perhaps, the most popular American author of his generation. The editor's own part of the work has been confined to a simple statement of facts and to supplying connecting links, when such seemed needed, between the various letters and papers.
Thanks are due, and are hereby offered, to all who have kindly contributed material or in other ways assisted in the preparation of this volume.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. BOYHOOD AND COLLEGE DAYS 1
II. LIFE AS CHAPLAIN 13
III. A WINTER CAMP 41
IV. MARRIAGE--THE RAID TOWARD RICHMOND 58
V. HAMPTON HOSPITAL 70
VI. THE HOSPITAL FARM AND CHAPEL 85
VII. PASTORATE AT HIGHLAND FALLS 95
VIII. RESIGNATION FROM THE MINISTRY 118
IX. FRUIT CULTURE AND LITERARY WORK 124
X. HOME LIFE 137
XI. SANTA BARBARA 154
XII. RETURN TO CORNWALL--LETTERS 181
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: E.P. Roe: Reminiscences of his Life by Mary A. Roe
- 2: Cool water at the base of the side hill
- 3: Edward was eager to visit the cellar
- 4: He could not remember the name of the third triumvir
- 5: Of my brother's later school and college days
- 6: Particularly in swimming and skating
- 7: The chaplain of our regiment officiating
- 8: And urge their comrades to do likewise
- 9: As evening approached we came out on Warrenton pike
- 10: Each brigade was placed by itself
- 11: Wagon and ambulance drivers
- 12: Which was the Harris Light Cavalry
- 13: And the floor covered with rubbish of every description
- 14: For the whole army was on the move to Fredericksburg
- 15: At the hospital we found poor Bayard
- 16: Others were torn and mangled by shell and solid shot
- 17: Or a bleak cornfield capable of all degrees of mud
- 18: And went out on picket duty for ten days
- 19: Their chaplain is not with them at present
- 20: And held in the quarters of the new recruits
- 21: Mosby is invariably the author of both alarms
- 22: Just before we crossed the Rappahannock the last time
- 23: My brother returned to his regiment
- 24: Our men then marched to headquarters
- 25: When the rioters broke and ran
- 26: The main Confederate cavalry force on our left
- 27: On the Chesapeake and Hampton Hospitals
- 28: You would send them good cheerful books
- 29: The artery broke and bled again and again
- 30: Early one morning I was hastily summoned to the ward
- 31: And through the festoons and glistening arches
- 32: Making the old walls ring again with Christmas anthems
- 33: 500 bunches of green onions
- 34: Merwin kindly consented to take his place
- 35: They are having a little revival by themselves
- 36: The religion of our Saviour
- 37: Were placed in the sealed box with the Bible
- 38: Or Scouting and Guerrillas
- 39: At length Sharpe had a roster of the whole of Lee's army
- 40: In 1868 the church was completed
- 41: Of thousands of encampments
- 42: Instead of this National Academy
- 43: From frequent intercourse with the Point
- 44: My brother reluctantly decided to retire from the ministry
- 45: And lightening everybody's burden
- 46: Currants came next in his favor
- 47: He was especially successful in fruit culture
- 48: Like the pattering feet of a coming multitude
- 49: Lyman Abbott made his permanent home in Cornwall
- 50: During Edward's residence in Cornwall
- 51: Roe is in the prime of manhood
- 52: ' laughingly replied the novelist
- 53: Roe is extremely retiring in disposition
- 54: The piazza is reached by broad steps
- 55: Roe had left that very morning for New York
- 56: Roe herself is the heroine of this book
- 57: We went half a mile or so farther on to Idlewild
- 58: The favorite suburb of Santa Barbara
- 59: For the orange tree never rests
- 60: Roses and sunshine notwithstanding
- 61: That a great arch spanned Main Street
- 62: It began to pass the balcony of the Arlington Hotel
- 63: Appropriately following the cart
- 64: The number on horseback was very large
- 65: And intricate in their designs
- 66: At the closing centennial ball like dances were repeated
- 67: He expected to come back during the winter of 1889
- 68: Roe to give us a visit at ours
- 69: Dielman to come at the same time
- 70: Gibson can get excellent board at Cornwall
- 71: Stoddard gave me his autograph unsolicited
- 72: Gibson to take some mountain rides with us
- 73: Roe a note of thanks for the flowers
- 74: Roe hurried from one to another of us
- 75: Maupassant says 'A critic should understand
- 76: Illustration TABLET ON BOULDER IN ROE PARK
- 77: Roe has his workshop a long
- 78: And standing at the foot of his veranda steps
- 79: Roe by the members of the Authors' Club
- 80: At its Annual Meeting this club desires to assure Mrs
- 81: Roe brought his manuscript to us one day
- 82: The story is nearly altogether imaginary
- 83: The world bows low to knightly deeds
- 84: Nature's Serial Story was also published in 1884
- 85: Who began his ministry at Cornwall
- 86: Something of that divine manhood
