68APPENDIX DSALES ACCOUNT OF THE PERSONAL ESTATE OF WILLIAM MOSS—1835
The following list contains the items comprising the personal estate of William Moss, entered at a sale at auction held April 15 and 16, 1835.
The original list appears in Fairfax County Will Book S-1, pages 7-18, and shows the name of the purchaser for each item. In listing the items here, the names of the purchasers have been omitted and the items listed by categories for convenience.
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71
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74APPENDIX E
Transcript of part of an affidavit from Thomas R. Love and Alfred Moss to Judge John Scott of the Circuit Superior Court.
To the Honble John Scott Judge of the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery of the County of Fairfax. Respectfully Complaining Herewith unto your Honor, your Orators Thomas R. Love guardian of Charles R. and Armistead T. Moss, and Alfred Moss guardian of Edgar and John Thomas Moss, the three first infant Children of Thomas Moss decd& the last named the infant son of Jno Moss decdson of Thomas Moss—
That Thomas Moss died intestate on the ____ day of October, 1839, leaving Seven Children and One grand Child in all his Heirs at Law—viz. Anna R. Love the wife of your Orator Thomas R. Love, Robert Moss, Alfred Moss, Thomas Moss & the four infant Children just named—Edgar the Eldest of these infant Children will be 20 years old in November of the present year. Charles R. will be 18 years old in the month of March 1840, Armistead 16 in the month of December in the present year and John Thomas Moss will ____ years old in the month of ____ 18__.
The real Estate of which Thomas Moss died seized in ____ was the tract of land on which he resided at the time of his death situated on both sides of the Little River Turnpike Road about Six miles from Alexandria containing about 320 Acres. This tract of land is the only real Estate to which the Heirs at Law of said Thomas Moss are entitled in the said County of Fairfax or Elsewhere—This tract of land is naturally a thin soil but from a careful course of husbandry for a number of years, is now in a good state of cultivation, the fields well enclosed by good and substantial fencing, the land not in cultivation well taken with grass (clover and timothy) and that in cultivation just sown down in winter grass, and the buildings in a good state of repair, the barn and stables having been Erected in the last two or three years—
Your orators have been advised by persons in the neighbourhood with whom they have conversed, with the view of getting the best advice and information on the subject that the tract of land would not now rent for more than ____ per annum, which would give to each of the Heirs in the shape of rent Twenty five or Thirty dollars annually—while on the other hand owing as your Orators believe to the Convenient distance thence to Alexandria, George Town and Washington and the improved state of the farm in other respects, it would sell upon the usual terms of Sales of land for Twenty five dollars per Acre and thus afford an interest on the sale nearly double the annual rent—In addition to the fact that the rent would greatly fall short of the interest on the sale your orators have been advised that the property in the hands of tenants would in the course of a few years be excessively injured and lessened in value, the soil impoverished, the buildings and fencing neglected and suffered to delapidate perhaps destroyed.
It is obvious that the land cannot be advantageously divided among the heirs Eight in number it would give about forty acres to each heir, and this without regard to improvements—And the consideration deeply affecting the interests of the infant is that this farm must be rented out all the shares together manifestly—if therefore those now of age and those that soon will be of age should sell their shares each share thus sold off, will not only proportionally lessen in value the shares of the other remaining unsold, but will place the younger children as they come of age in the power and at the mercy of the person who shall have purchased the other shares of the co-terminus neighbour. In the End the consequence will be that the two or three younger children will not only be forced to sell, being hemmed in on all sides, and not able to add to their Inheritance but must sell at any price they are offered.75Your orators further state that besides the real Estate before mentioned in which their wards have as interest One Eighth each, after the payment of the debts of Thomas Moss deceased so far as it is practicable to make an Estimate at this time, it is believed that a surplus will be left for distribution of about fifteen or sixteen thousand dollars, which will give to each child say two thousand—
Viewing the present interest as well as the future interests of their wards your orators are of the opinion from the facts hereinbefore stated, that the interests of their wards manifestly require a sale of the real Estate herein before mentioned and that the rights of others will not be thereby violated. And to that end and in pursuance of the Acts of the Gen’l Assembly in such cases made and provided, they pray that said Anna R. Love late Anna R. Moss, Alfred Moss, Robert, Thomas Edgar, Charles R., Armistead and John Thomas Moss be made parties defendants to this bill—that the said Anna R. Love the wife of your orator and Alfred Moss who would be two of the Heirs of either of said infants if they are dead and that said Anna R. be permitted to answer for herself as if feme sole. That the said Anna R. Love, Robert Moss, Alfred Moss, Thomas Moss and all the other infants herein before mentioned who are over fourteen years of age may be compelled to answer this bill in proper person or oath—That a Guardian Ad Litem may be appointed according to Law to defend and answer for those infants as well those over fourteen years, as those under fourteen years of age.—That your orators may have a Decree of the Ct authorizing the sale of the said land in such manner and upon such terms of credit as to your Honor may seem right—And your orators pray for all other & further action by your Honor in the premises as may be right & proper according to the Act of assembly made and provided in such cases—May it please your honor &c.
(Certified by J. B. Hunter, a Justice of the Peace, 29 October 1839)
76Appendix FFairfax County (Va.) Will Book T-1, page 223:
December 2, 1839 Thomas Moss’ slaves divided among the several heirs.
77APPENDIX GA Visit from Mr. Polevoy
THE NEW REPUBLIC
Soviet newspapers are bitter about the insincerity of American visitors to their country. While in the USSR, they say, Americans are lavish with their praise, but on returning home, they speak quite differently of Russia to their fellow Americans. Our newspapers in turn maintain that Soviet delegations to this country wear a mask of friendliness but once back in Russia present a hostile and unrecognizable picture of the United States.Do visiting Soviet delegations present a true picture of their travels here to their own people? The editors ofThe NRhave been given an opportunity to test this question. A delegation of leading Soviet writers visited the United States in October, 1955, under the chairmanship of Boris Kampov-Polevoy, a Soviet novelist and Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers. Mr. Polevoy and four members of his delegation spent one evening at the house of theNReditor-at-large. In the third of his articles on his journeys through the US published in the March issue of the Soviet monthly,Oktyabr, Mr. Polevoy describes the occasion as he remembers it. A translation of his article, and our comments follow.
Soviet newspapers are bitter about the insincerity of American visitors to their country. While in the USSR, they say, Americans are lavish with their praise, but on returning home, they speak quite differently of Russia to their fellow Americans. Our newspapers in turn maintain that Soviet delegations to this country wear a mask of friendliness but once back in Russia present a hostile and unrecognizable picture of the United States.
Do visiting Soviet delegations present a true picture of their travels here to their own people? The editors ofThe NRhave been given an opportunity to test this question. A delegation of leading Soviet writers visited the United States in October, 1955, under the chairmanship of Boris Kampov-Polevoy, a Soviet novelist and Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers. Mr. Polevoy and four members of his delegation spent one evening at the house of theNReditor-at-large. In the third of his articles on his journeys through the US published in the March issue of the Soviet monthly,Oktyabr, Mr. Polevoy describes the occasion as he remembers it. A translation of his article, and our comments follow.
In the evening we were invited to be the guests of Mr. Michael Straight, editor of the magazineThe New Republic, at his out-of-town villa bearing the poetic name of “Green Spring Farm.” This tiny villa was in no way different from the small suburban houses of well-to-do members of the “intelligentsia” which we already had the opportunity of visiting. Alone the huge agglomeration of books on long shelves—quite unusual for an American home—and the beautiful pictures on the walls revealed that the owners of this house had a passion for literature and an artistic taste which could enable them to discriminate between works of genuine art and the militant flatness, which under the mask of innovationism has impertinently seized the key positions in American art. There were canvasses and drawings which not only prompted one to wonder on passing by, but which induced a desire to stop, to admire and to think.
The people who had gathered at the house were interesting too—journalists who had traveled a great deal, who had witnessed many events, who were able to think. A unionist leader was also present—an observing, aggressive, skeptical man.
At the outset—as it is the custom in the United States—the host showed us around his house. The five of us were jammed in for quite a while on the second floor in the tiny bedrooms of his two sons. David, the eldest, a fair-haired, healthy looking youngster, had his little room in a state of complete disorder. The radio was roaring, the gay green parakeets were screaming. Some radio parts together with books, screwdrivers, tubes of glue, bookbinders and knives were heaped on the table. The little occupant, apparently ready to go to bed, was sitting on his bed without his shirt and was reading something. At the sight of strangers he felt bashful, grabbed his shirt, started putting it on and when his head eventually emerged through its collar, his face and his ears were flushed and his brow pearled with sweat. However, having dressed, he immediately regained his composure and, as though nothing had happened, stretched out his hand with earnest poise. David—he introduced himself.
His younger brother, Mikey, had an artistic temperament. His table was all smeared with water-colors and pictures were hanging on the walls—fantastic tanks, ships, sinister profiles of Indians, noble-featured cowboys wearing hats of incredible dimensions. Mikey was evidently successful in this hobby of his and, after looking at his drawings, one could tell him without false flattery that he was an artist of the realist school and that many of his pictures were more accurate and perfect as to form than whatever is being exhibited by quite adult “uncles” at the opening of exhibitions of the so-called “new art.”
Mikey dressed, too, and we came down in a group to the living room where Gribatchov was having an argument with our American colleagues. The topic was familiar, I should even say a classical one—the freedom of the press. In the heat of the dispute theNRpublisher proposed to Gribatchov an exchange of articles on important international topics under reciprocal terms—once a week the editor ofThe New Republicwould78publish an article in theLiterary Gazettepresenting the American viewpoint on some specific problem and once a week a representative of theLiterary Gazettewould give the Soviet point of view in an article inThe New Republic. Apparently this idea seemed very attractive to our American colleague, and he was attacking Gribatchov with quite a lot of energy.
I did not have a chance to hear the argument to its end. The fair-haired David, with whom I had become quite friendly, dragged me away to the next room. We conversed in the manner of cavemen, using dramatic gesticulations and incoherent sounds, and yet we somehow managed to understand each other. David even managed to convey that he had built that radio himself, and that he likes to listen to Russian music. In proof of this he even sang, with boyish diligence and with a broken juvenile “basso,” a melody taken out ofSwan Lake. However, he rendered it with a foxtrot rhythm.
I really liked that lively American youngster with his tall build, his curly fair hair, his rooster-like voice and his absent-minded disposition which strongly reminded me of my eldest son.
David showed me his favorite books, and then he suddenly produced a peculiar-looking magazine printed with a multigraph. He prodded his chest in a self-satisfied manner to demonstrate to me that this was his own magazine. He showed me a caricature drawing with his finger and then pointed his finger at Mikey, thus making clear that his brother was the artist.
Then the children ran back to the living room and came back dragging their father with them and M. M. Lopuchin, whom they had literally abducted out of an interesting conversation with the ladies. It was then that I came to hear the story of the magazine, which bore the romantic nameThe Green Spring-Menemsha Gazette.
Michael senior, the children’s father, evidently liked their undertaking. He sat down on the carpet next to us and as he was turning the pages of the magazine, he told us that out of a wish to imitate their father, the children had decided to start a publication. They wrote articles and other items, prepared illustrations and caricatures and arranged the whole material inside a copybook. They kept quiet so long that their parents wondered what their rowdy boys were doing. The parents went upstairs and found the boys busy over a heap of papers; theGazettewas already being “paged up.”
David, the editor of the publication, knew from his father’s experience that every printed organ must have readers. The children begged their father to give them a typewriter and when they got it, began to type patiently, with one finger, one page after the other, learning the art of typing in the process of their work.
Seeing that the children’s interest did not abate, the father gave them a present—a cheap toy “Shapirograph”—to print their magazine. Having secured production equipment, the editorial staff began to work with renewed energy. David, who up to that time was sharing his interest among many pursuits, forsook his former preferences. Even the little green parakeets, whom he loved dearly, were left without food quite often and sadly chattered in their cage. David had the jobs of editor, author of articles and typographer. The sturdy Mikey was the publisher, artist and supplier of funny stories. A neighbor’s little girl, Xandra Babel, was responsible for the news and special events—indispensable departments of every American editorial unit worthy of this name.
At any rate, no matter how, the magazine eventually appeared. It was even printed in 75 copies, diligently bound and, the following year when the family left for the beach during the hot season, to the mother’s great dismay, the whole issue and even the typographic equipment consisting of the typewriter and the multigraph as well as the paper stocks were taken along.