Uncle Granville Timberlake
My Uncle
Oh! many weary years have past,
Since thou wast laid so low
Beneath the willow's weeping shade,
Where the murmuring streamlets flow;
And friends have often gathered 'round
With tones of mirth and glee,
Yet never can thine image fade
From my mournful memory.
No! brightly as in days of yore,
Thy much loved form comes back,
A beacon on the dreary waste,
Of time's tempestuous track.
To warm me of the many shoals,
Which lie along the way;
And point me forward to the port
Of everlasting day.
And often, as in childhood's hour,
I see thy silvery hair,
And the furrows on thy manly brow,
Ploughed deep by grief and care,
And I, thy little orphan girl,
So fondly loved by thee,
Am sitting by thy side once more,
As in those days of glee.
I seem to see thy mild blue eyes,
And hear thy gentle voice,
Whose tender tones of love so oft
Have made my heart rejoice.
But thou art gone, dear Uncle,
Gone, to thy place of rest,
And the pale white rose and violet,
Are blooming o'er thy breast.
And the mocking bird is singing
His sweet strains o'er thy head,
When thou art with the voiceless ones,
In the city of the dead.
But far away, thy spirit,
'Mid bright and fadeless flowers,
Doth strike a sweetly sounding harp,
Through never ending hours.
Where all the streets are golden,
And the gates with sapphire shine,
And the walls, of pearl and azure,
Reflect a light divine.
And upward may my spirit,
When life and care are o'er,
Be wafted to thy mansion,
To dwell for-ever-more.
By Nannie Grey
Information
Ellen was an orphan at three years of age. Her parents died during the cholera epidemic in Virginia in the early 1830's. See my blogs for more information.
Her Uncle Granville Timberlake was her guardian who attested to her age of 17 and gave her permission to marry Richard Hundley. Granville may be the uncle she is writing about. He died in 1848.
Mrs. Martha G. Hundley Roane
Obituary for Martha H. Roane
Died in King and Queen County, August the 21st, Martha G. Roane, consort of Lt. Junius B. Roane, in the 33rd year of her age. In all the accomplishments and graces that are beautiful in woman, in all the charms and virtues, which casts a halo of light around her existence, she shone preeminent. Gentle and affectionate in disposition, mild and amiable in deportment, she was at once the idol and ornament of the circles in which she moved. Truly,
Death lies on her, like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, she was all that could be desired. Her health had been delicate for many years, and in January last, the death of her only boy, a bright and interesting child of 10 years, cast a shadow, long and dark, upon her spirits, which time failed to dissipate – and we can but hope, that in a fairer, brighter land, where no grave-shadows fall, the mother and her boy are reunited. On her husband, only daughter, Letitia, and numerous relatives and friends, the blow falls with unwonted force, and Time, with his healing wing, can never obliterate the memory of one so loved and early lost.
Green be the sod above thee,
Friend of my better days,
None knew thee but to love thee,
None named thee but to praise.
By E. D. Hundley
Description
Martha Hundley Roane was Richard Hundley's sister and Ellen's sister-in-law. Richard and Ellen D. Hundley adopted their niece, Letitia after her family died. Martha was also Charles Shober's mother-in-law from his second wife, Letitia Roane. He later married Letitia's cousin, Nannie Lee Hundley,
This stock picture is depicting the young family of four.
Little Johnnie Roane
Lines on the Death of Little Johnnie Roane
And art thy gone, dear Johnnie?
Shall we never see thee more?
Shall the glad tones of thy voice
Never thrill us as of yore?
In the first flush of thy boyhood,
Thou has faded, withered, gone,
And left us in this dreary world
Of sorrow, sad, forlorn.
We miss thy gentle footsteps,
Amid the scenes of mirth -
We miss thy light-toned laughter,
Around the social hearth.
But most of all, we miss thee,
When our daily meals to share,
We draw around the table,
And see thy vacant chair.
We'll miss thee in the springtime,
When the robin's note is heard;
For thou wert ever cheerful,
And caroled like a bird.
We'll miss thee mid the blossoms
The summer air will bring -
We'll miss thee in the woodland,
When the streams are murmuring.
Yes, we will sadly miss thee,
For thou hast fled away
From earth and all its sorrows,
To realms of endless day.
And when this life is ended,
Of sorrow, sin and pain,
In that land of bliss and beauty,
May we meet with thee again.
By Nannie Grey
Information About This Poem
As mentioned in the obituary for Martha Roane above, Johnnie is the 10 year old son of Junius B. and Martha Roane who died a few months before his mother did.
Picture: https://pixabay.com/en/spring-bird-bird-spring-robin-2295436/
Lt. Junius B. Roane, US Army
In Memory of Lt. Junius B. Roane
Gone! like the spray from the sparking fountain;
Gone! like the dew of the morn;
Gone! like the mist that melts from mountains;
Gone! and left us forlorn.
No more from the heart, so merry and jovial,
Shall laughter swell on the breeze;
No more shall words fall, like apples of silver,
From lips that spoke but to please.
Gone! in the pride and strength of thy manhood;
Gone! like a flower in mid-bloom;
Fallen, alas! in the brightness of noonday;
Fallen and left us in gloom.
'Twas glory that called thee from friends and from kindred,
To join in the battle array;
'Twas love of country, and fame's bright illusions,
That led thy fond footsteps away.
But, green shall the sod spring above thy low dwelling,
And brightly the flowerets shall blow;
And fond hands shall nurse them with care and attention,
And tears shall fall where they grow:
And prayers shall be breathed, where in death thou art sleeping,
That far, far from sorrow and pain,
In a land where the gloom of no death-shadows linger,
Thou'll meet with thy loved ones again.
That thou'll meet there again the sweet babes of thy bosom,
And clasp thy fond wife to thy heart;
In a region of bliss, in a bright land of beauty,
Thou'll meet them, no more to part.
Then rest thee, oh! rest thee, beneath the sod lying,
Repose thee in silence and sleep,
More blest than the friends thou has left here behind thee,
In sorrow to moan and to weep.
By Nannie Grey
The Lieutenant
These lines are dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant Junius Brockenbrough Roane. They were published in the "Whig" in Virginia.
After his son, Johnnie, who was ten, and his wife, Martha, died in 1857, he dedicated himself to the army out west, in Nebraska. He tried to forget the tragedy of losing them, but was unable to carry the pain. He committed suicide two years later while in Iowa in the military. Their only daughter, Letitia Roane, was 16 at the time, and later, at 23, married Charles E. Shober. She died two years after their wedding in 1868.
Mrs. Letitia Roane Shober
In Memory Letitia Landon Roane Shober
I had a fair and brilliant flower,
That budded 'neath a summer sky,
Its charms grew lovelier every hour,
Delighting every passing eye.
It blossomed in the sunny ray,
Bright with the pearly dews of love,
"Twas on a bleak autumnal day,
Transplanted in the fields above.
I had a gem of purest ray,
'Twas by a Heavenly Parent given,
But Angels bore it far away,
To deck the peerless courts of Heaven,
There glittering near the great white throne,
Its lustre all undimmed by time,
My jewel shines. My flower has grown
To beauty in that sun-bright clime.
When earth and all its scenes are past,
My ransomed spirit far shall soar,
To that blessed place where love can last,
And pain and sickness come no more.
There I shall find my fadeless flower,
A thing of never-ending joy,
Blooming amid that amaranth bower,
Which time nor blight can e'er destroy.
There I shall find my priceless gem,
Its rays with Heaven-born lustre bright,
Amid the Savior's diadem,
Glistening with everlasting light.
Oh! Father! while I journey here,
Teach me, through faith in Thy dear Son,
To look above each falling tear,
And humbly say, "Thy will be done."
By E. D. Hundley
About Letitia Roane Shober
"This poem was written in the memory of Letitia Roane Shober, daughter of the late Lt. Junius B. and Martha Roane, of King and Queen County, Virginia. Lettie was very beloved by the family of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Hundley and all who knew her. She was a relative of Dr. Hundley, his niece, orphaned at 16, and adopted by the Hundleys in Richmond, Virginia. She attended Edgewood Seminary, a Presbyterian school in Greensboro, North Carolina, and it was there that Charles E. Shober met and fell in love with her. She became his second wife in 1866. She lived only a short time after marriage, dying of consumption which was so prevalent in that day. She died at their home in Greensboro, North Carolina, October 13, 1868, in the 25th year of her age.
These lines were written on the 23rd of January, 1869, which was the 26th anniversary of her birthdate. They are dedicated to her memory by one who knew her well and loved her most fondly,"
E. D. Hundley.
Picture: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-petaled-flowers-at-golden-hour-174524/