André Joseph Villard Sr. and Family

André Joseph Villard Sr. and Family

André Joseph Villard Sr. was born about 1752 in Paris, France. He died about 1819 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

Very little information is definitively known about André Villard prior to his arrival in America. We can only assume that he married Noelle Agathe Demaux sometime before 1775, which was the year that their daughter Constance Eugenie Etienne Villard was born in Paris, France.

Villard was a native of Paris, France, and was educated at the Royal College of Arts and Sciences. After his graduation, he was chosen by King Louis XVI as one of his guards.

I have found mention of André as a cabinetmaker at the Barrière du Roule in 1784. The Barrière du Roule was a gate built for the collection of taxation as part of the Wall of the Farmers-General [the king's tax collector]; the gate was built between 1784 and 1788 and demolished in 1859.

On February 19, 1790, André Villard and his family left LeHavre, France on board the ship “Patriot.” The list provided the name of the traveler, and their gender, profession, birthplace and age.

Villard, Andre Joseph, m, Cabinet Maker, Paris, age 38
Demaux, Noelle Agathe, f, spouse, Paris, age 29
Villard, Constance, child, f, Paris, age 15
Eustache, Claude, domestic, m, Dauphine, age 27
Dillard, Jean Thierry, domestic, m, Paris, age 16

The relationship of the ‘domestic’ servants to Villard is unknown, but I suspect they may have been apprentices in the woodshop rather than household help. The ship arrived at Alexandria, Virginia, on May 3, 1790.

The “Patriot” was one of several ships that, in 1790, carried many Frenchmen (and their families) that were escaping punishment after the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. These French aristocrats, known as the “French Five Hundred,” which presumedly included the Villard's, were expecting to settle in the new town of Gallipolis (the City of the Gauls), situated on the Ohio River in the Old Northwest Territory. The various ships that carried the French to America transported primarily artisans and craftsmen, including wholesalers, woodcutters, clockmakers, doctors, lawyers, farmhands, tailors, wigmakers and so on. The variety of occupations would have allowed for a town to have been created.

Gallipolis is about 40 miles from both Charleston, West Virginia and Chillicothe, Ohio. Charleston and Chillicothe were both early residences of William Spence Hutt and his wife Constance Villard, before they moved to Little Rock, Arkansas.

However, the French were swindled by the Scioto Company, who had encouraged investors in France to purchase lands in Ohio by describing a virtual Garden of Eden. However, the deeds that they had purchased proved worthless upon their arrival via riverboat. The Scioto Company did not actually own the land, which was not the land of milk and honey that they anticipated. The land that they had purchased actually belonged to the Ohio Company of Associates. Many of the disappointed immigrants returned to the East, probably including the Villard family.

The disillusioned Ohio settlers petitioned Congress and President George Washington for aid, but it was five more years before President Washington stepped in and granted them free land in the French Grant, which was in Scioto County. Those moving to the French Grant had to live on the land for five years in order to own it. Those staying in Gallipolis had to purchase land a second time, this time from the rightful owners, the Ohio Company, who sent a group of woodsmen from Marietta to build 100 log cabins on land that is now the city park.

At that time Gallipolis was pure wilderness and the French were totally unprepared for what they would find. The French faced great difficulties during the early years of the town's settlement. Disease was common in the community due to the town's swampy conditions, and approximately one-third of the French settlers died from these diseases.

Whether the Villard’s travelled to Gallipolis is unknown. If they did, they most likely returned to Virginia to settle, as there is no record of them in Ohio. Sometime after their arrival in America in 1790 and before 1792, their daughter Felicitie Villard was born, most probably in Virginia.. Around this same time it appears that Noelle Demaux Villard died, perhaps in childbirth.

André also remarried, sometime before 1792, to Sophie DeMeaux. The similarity between the last names of these women suggest they may have been sisters or other close relatives.

Also around 1792, their son Richard H. L. Villard was born, most likely in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Richard was most likely named in honor of a near neighbor, Richard Henry Lee. I also believe that this son, Richard H. L. Villard, was the same person as Henry Lee Villard who was later listed as a son of André Villard. Henry Lee Villard was said to have been born in 1793 and rumored to have moved to North Carolina and married, but I have found no trace of him there or elsewhere. Richard Villard moved to the Washington DC area, married, and raised a family.

Another son, André Joseph Villard, Jr. was born in 1792, at sea on board a ship from France travelling to Virginia. I can only guess that perhaps after the death of his first wife, Andre went back to France to remarry. On the return voyage, his son from this second marriage died, either during birth, or at a very early age.

Back in Virginia, André Villard was working as a cabinetmaker for the wealthy neighbors who could afford these luxuries. “Light Horse” Harry Lee, a cousin of the afore mentioned Richard Henry Lee, made several modifications to the home after marrying, in 1793, Ann Hill Carter, “including a roof walk, two semi-circular porches, and employed the craftsman André Joseph Villard to change some of the woodwork, add a stairs to the lower floor, widened some of the doors, and created an arch that connected the Cherry Tree Room/parlor to the dining room, while also expanding the dining room and closing off a fireplace.”

In November of 1796, another daughter, Sophia S. Villard, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. We also find mention in some tax records for 1800 of Andrew Joseph Villard of Westmoreland County.

A Federal-style Cylinder Secretary Desk and Bookcase, circa 1800, now located in The Walter Thurston Gentlemen’s Lounge, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State Building in Washington, D.C., is attributed to André Joseph Villard. [see photo]

“Among the numerous French artisans who sought refuge in the United States in the unsettling times following the French Revolution, Villard introduced Washington, DC, to the prevailing Louis XVI fashions as interpreted by such master ébenistes as Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763) and Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806). This example stands alone in its fine crotch and plum pudding mahogany as a singular American work by this French cabinetmaker.”

Another piece of furniture attributed to Villard was a minature chest of drawers that was displayed in a Virginia antique dealers shop in 2007. Sadly, there was no photographs or further information of this item.

Sometime after the turn of the century, Villard retired from the cabinet making trade, either because business was slow, or as I suspect, at an age of nearly 50, André was getting a little long in the tooth to continue the exacting detail work of custom furniture making.

“As early as the year 1804 Andrew J. Villard, a Frenchman, began his long term of service at the Washington arsenal, where he invented a disappearing carriage for cannon.” The Washington arsenal was a distributing centre for guns and cannon, “as well as armament that had seen service. Men were employed to mend and clean guns and to provide fittings and carriages for the cannon.”

In December of 1805, a petition of André Joseph Villard was presented to the United States House of Representatives, stating that he has discovered a new method of mounting heavy cannon, and praying that his improvement may be adopted throughout the United States. The petition was referred to a committee for examination and that they should report their findings back to the House.

Representative Joseph Varnum, reported back from the committee in March of 1806, stating in the official records [with paragraphs added by this author, for ease of reading], that:

“Mr. Villard appears to be the inventor of a new method of mounting heavy cannon for the defence of forts and batteries, which exhibits the probability of being very useful. By this method of mounting cannon, a gun with a caliber which will carry a twenty-four pound shot, is raised two feet from its natural bed in fifteen seconds, by the labor of four men, and let down from its elevated position to its bed on the carriage in the same space of time, and with the same number of men.

“In the common mode of mounting cannon for the defence of forts and batteries, they cannot be elevated more than from four to five feet from the platform on which they are placed, without subjecting the gunners to great inconvenience in loading them; hence they can only be levelled over the parapet, and can only be aimed through the embrasures of the rampart; in which case the gun and the men who attend it are constantly exposed to the enemy's fire through the embrasures.

“By the method proposed by Mr. Villard embrasures will not be necessary. The rampart may be carried up in a solid mass, seven feet above the platform on which the guns are placed. The expense in building the walls will be considerably diminished, and yet they will form a much stronger bulwark against an enemy's fire. The men who manage the gun will be much more secure from danger. The gun will not be exposed to an enemy's shot, except at the very instant when it is levelled and fired. It is elevated above the top of the rampart, and by means of a swivel-wheel, on which the rear part of the carriage rests, can instantly be aimed in any direction. The moment it is discharged, it is lowered down to its safe position behind the rampart.

“It is contemplated, in the Department of War, to mount a considerable number of heavy battery cannon on carriages of this new construction. Mr. Villard is now employed in making those carriages, at the same rate of pay as would be allowed any other man qualified for superintending the mounting of cannon on common battery or travelling carriages. He seems desirous that the United States should enjoy the benefits resulting from his invention; but, at the same time, conceives himself justly entitled to some compensation for it. The committee are of opinion that justice, as well as policy, requing that the invention should be rewarded by the public. They therefore submit the following resolution:

“Resolved, That there be paid to Andrew Joseph Villard one thousand dollars out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, in full compensation for his invention and improvement in the mode of mounting heavy battery cannon.”

André Villard wrote to Rep. Varnum, explaining the use of his design for cannon mounts:

“In obedience to your commands, I beg leave to state the advantages arising from my improvement in the mode of mounting cannon for fortifications. In the usual mode of mounting cannon it is necessary to have embrasures, which are expensive, liable to be torn by the enemy's shot, and leave (he guns and men exposed to the enemy's fire.

“When cannon are mounted on my plan, a solid bank of earth, seven feet six inches high, from the platform, without the masonry and embrasures, completely protects the guns and men, except at the very instant when the gun is levelled and fired, and even then only one man is exposed.

“On the usual construction the enemy can see where the guns are placed, and can aim to destroy them; by my invention, the guns are completely out of sight, and cannot be injured but by a random shot.

“Where there are embasures, the guns can only be fired in a direct line; by my invention, each wing of the battery can flank an enemy advancing in front; or, if advancing in the rear, or on the flanks of the battery, the guns can be instantaneously wheeled about to bear upon them.

“I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, A. J. Villard.”

After many debates, committee meetings, and the usual government red tape, the petition was brought to a vote and approved on January 4, 1809. The petition now became “An Act for the Relief of Andrew Joseph Villard.”

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be paid to Andrew Joseph Villard, the sum of one thousand dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for his extra services and expense, in the mode of mounting heavy cannon for batteries, on a new construction, for the use and benefit of the United States.”

Representative Thomas Newton, Jr., of Virginia, was instrumental in getting this bill passed.

We next hear of Villard in a petition dated August 13, 1808 to the Honorable William Cranch Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, in which he is seeking to settle a dispute with John Darby regarding compensation for a male slave, James, whom Villard sold to Darby for the sum of ninety-six pounds. James died shortly after the sale. Consequently, Darby brought suit against Villard. Villard requested and received an injunction to prevent further proceedings until the matter is settled.

A portrait of André Joseph Villard now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum was painted circa 1810-1812 by David Boudon. This portrait provides the only view we have of Villard. The miniature was done in silverpoint and watercolor on an oval piece of paper measuring 2 7/8 x 2 1/4 in. (7.3 x 5.7 cm). The portrait was a gift to the Smithsonian by Frederick W. Cron.

While Cron was not a direct descendant of André Villard, Sr., he was a second cousin, one time removed to this writer, with the common ancester being Francisa Elizabeth Gaines, who must have acquired it through her second husband, Andre Joseph Hutt, Jr., of Little Rock.

Around 1812, André Villard bought a farm (probably located in Westmoreland County, Virginia), from an old neighbor, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. The once wealthy Harry Lee had fallen onto hard times, and was sent to debtors prison around this time.

Villard must have been doing okay, money-wise, to afford the farm. He was still working at the Washington Arsenal, so perhaps he spent his “cannon money” to buy a place in the country.

The family seems to have friends in high places, besides the Lee’s, for in May of 1813, Andrew Jackson, the recent hero of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the future U. S. President, “went to visit Mr. Villard & family at the Navy yard.”

In February of 1814, daughter Sophia Villard married Colonel Jacinth Laval (1762-1822) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

During the British attack on Washington D. C. of August, 1814, the same attack that torched the White House and other government buildings, the house at Greenleaf's Point belonging to André Joseph Villard was also destroyed by fire.


In a Congressional investigation, it was reported that upon the approach of the enemy in August, 1814, Villard was ordered by the ordinance department, where he had been employed for many years, “to take immediate charge of a wagon loaded with public property, and conduct it to a place of safety in the interior. With this order he complied, being allowed no time to provide for the safety of his own property, nor room in the wagon but for a few articles belonging to him.


“That he remained with the public property committed to his care at Leesburg, Virginia till he was recalled, and on his return found the house he had occupied, his furniture, and tools, entirely consumed by fire. The loss thus sustained is estimated at $580, and indemnification to that amount is asked of Congress.


“The petitioner further states that the house containing his property was destroyed by authority under the control of Government; that, by his prompt attention to the safety of public property, he was prevented from having his own transported across the river beyond the reach of the conflagration; and that, on leaving Greenleaf's Point, he had the promise of the commanding officer that his effects should be removed, if necessary; but of this last statement he has adduced no proof.”

Similar petitions were presented in Congress by Representative Thomas Newton, Jr. (previously mentioned) and Senator Armistead Mason, both of Virginia. It was debated in Congress over many months, with the eventual denial of all claims by Villard, based on two main points: First, the house Villard had lived in was government property, and, second, that duty to country trumps ‘personal affairs.’


“The petitioner [Villard] was superintendent of artificers in the service of Government, and never can it be supposed that he should have been permitted, in the hour of danger, to prostitute the dignity of his office, or to neglect the service required of him, to attend to his own private affairs. The order of Government that he should superintend the transportation of public property to a place of safety, was requiring of him the performance of no more than a common duty incident to his profession, which he was bound to execute at the hazard of his private property. The order of Government was, therefore, perfectly correct, and the officer has no right to complain of its consequences. As to the promise of the commanding officer that the petitioner's property should be removed if necessary, it matters not in the present case, even if it had been proved; such promises are always to be understood conditionally, not absolutely. No doubt this promise would have been complied with if it had been practicable.


“The fact that the buildings and other public property were destroyed by the order of Colonel Wadsworth is also immaterial in the present case. The residence of the petitioner in the houses of Government was no doubt both a privilege and a benefit conferred on him. If he derived such advantages from that situation, he ought unquestionably to take upon himself all the risk and danger to which it was liable. In the progress of a war, Government may often find it prudent, as in this case, to destroy their own property; and if the property of officers and soldiers should meet a similar fate, it is a misfortune to be lamented, but for which no compensation can be demanded.


“In the present instance, the property destroyed was of that character which it would be difficult to separate from the person and profession of an officer or soldier. For its destruction, then, he has no more right to complain than for the loss of his life. He must find his reward in the honor and profits of his profession in the one case as well as in the other. Such losses are always numbered among the accidents of war, for which no Government can be held responsible.”


The name of André Joseph Villard must have carried some weight in Washington circles. In a letter to the Secretary of War James Monroe (who later became President), dated September 14, 1814, Villard recommends his grandson John Hutt for appointment to the military academy. The first Governor of Ohio, and later Senator Edward Tiffin had also written a testimonial for Hutt. It was usual, and, in fact, quite necessary for academy candidates, to have a letter of recommendation from a congressman, so Villard’s letter must have been considered a strong endorsement. It suggests that Villard and Monroe had more than a casual relationship.


John Hutt of Ohio was later dismissed from the Military Academy of the United States at West Point in 1818. I have found no reason for the dismissal, and doubt it will ever be found.


André Joseph Villard died sometime around 1819, probably in Westmoreland County, Virginia. I ahve found no will or probate record, though there may be one in District of Columbia records.


Sophia DeMeaux Villard, the second wife of André, was born in Lyons, France. The only record I find with her name on is a receipt for the purchase of a mahogany coffin on June 22, 1825, in Georgetown, Virginia. Mrs. Sopia Villard is most likely the purchaser of the coffin, though there is the possibility that Sophia was the deceased.


André and Noelle’s first daughter, Constance Eugenie Etienne Villard, was born about 1775 in Paris, France. The family was exiled from Paris at the time of the French Revolution. She came to America with her parents in 1790.


Constance married William Spence Hutt, the son of Gerrard Hutt and Catherine (Caty) Spence, on June 18, 1794 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Constance died sometime between 1860 and 1870, probably in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.


William Hutt was born on January 11, 1773 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and died on May 7, 1855 in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. He was buried in Mount Holly Cemetery, in that city.


William and Constance lived in Westmoreland County for a period of about ten years, before moving to Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. Tax records in Ross County from 1807 to 1817 show Hutt living there. The Hutt’s are enumerated on the 1820, 1830 and 1840 Federal censuses of Kanawha County, Virginia (West Virginia, after 1861) . They had ten children over a period of thirty years, from about 1795 to about 1826. Surprisingly, only two of these children died young, leaving the other eight to marry and have their own families. I will be writing of this family in more detail in the future.


The second daughter of André and Noelle, Felicitie Villard, was born sometime before 1792, probably in Virginia. She may have been living with her sister Constance Hutt’s family in the 1820 Kanawha County census. She married Amable Demorlaine on December 17, 1823 in Kanawha County, Virginia.


I have been unable to find anything more about this couple.


The first child of André and Sophia Villard was André Joseph Villard, Jr., who was born and died around 1792. Records show only that he was buried at sea on a voyage from France to America in 1792.


The next child of André and Sophia Villard was Richard. H. L. Villard, born about 1792 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and who was, as previously mentioned, most likely the same person as Henry Lee Villard, who was born in 1793. The only mention of Henry Lee Villard is one that says he married and moved to North Carolina. Richard died in Washington, D. C. on March 5, 1849 of dyspepsia, also know as a upset stomach or indigestion. His funeral took place at his late residence on Bridge Street on March 7, 1849.

 Richard Villard married on September 13, 1815 in Washington, D.C., Mary Ann Mulhollen, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around 1798, and died in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 1851, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Louisa Delany [sic], on Missouri Avenue. Her furneral took place the next day at Trinity [Episcopal] Church, at the corner of Third and C streets.

 In the Georgetown census of 1820, Richard and his wife are listed there with a male child, most likely his first son who died in July of 1820. A female, aged 45 or older, was probably his widowed mother Sophia (DeMeaux) Villard. Richard also had three slaves living with the family.


Richard H. L. Villard was a noted silversmith in 1833 with a shop on Bridge Street (now M Street) in Georgetown. His marks are known in two versions: ‘Villard’ in a rectangle; and ‘Villard’ in italics within a rectangle. This author owns spoons bearing both marks.

 Richard and Mary Ann had four children, the first dying young in July of 1820. Mary Villard was born about 1821 and married John Hedges on May 17, 1843. I haven’t tracked this family, as yet.


The third child, Sophia Louisa Villard, was born about 1823 and died in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri on May 4, 1895. She had married Michael Delaney on December 28, 1841, in Washington, D.C. They had three children: Richard H. Delaney, born about 1843; Thomas Delaney, born about 1846; and Nora Delaney, born about 1850.


The youngest child was Thomas Jefferson Villard, who was born around 1825 in Washington, and married there on October 25, 1848 to Caroline C. (perhaps Columbia) Bryan. Villard was a dentist and watchmaker in Georgetown, D.C., with his shop on the north side of Bridge Street, between Congress and High streets. The Washington and Georgetown Directory, 1853. The address may have been the same as his fathers shop, which was also on Bridge Street. The couple are enumerated in the 1850 Georgetown and the 1860 Washington censuses. No children are listed in either rolls.


The youngest child of André Joseph Villard and Sophia DeMeaux was Sophia S. Villard, who was born on November 10, 1796 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. She died on 8 Nov 1875 in Lake City, Columbia County, Florida. She was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in the same city.


Sophia Villard married twice. Her first marriage was to Colonel Jacinth Laval on February 26, 1814 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Jacinth was born in 1762 in Paris, France. He died on September 2, 1822 in Harper's Ferry, Jefferson County, (West) Virginia. He was buried in Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, (West) Virginia.


Laval, a fellow Parisian, came to America in 1780 during the American Revolution with General Lafayette’s troops, and served in General Rochambeau army as Cornet of Dragoons, which was a mounted infantry, trained in both horse riding and infantry fighting skills.

After the war he stayed in American, moving to Charleston, South Carolina where he married Miss Rebecca (Hartley) Withers. He was a Catholic, she was a Episcopalian. They had four children between 1788 and 1806. Rebecca died in October of 1810 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.


Laval was enumerated in the 1790 Federal census at St. James Goose Creek Parish, Charleston District, South Carolina. He was serving as sheriff of Charleston during this time, and also owned Lowndes Grove Plantation on the Charleston peninsula. The plantation is still there today as a bed-and-breakfast, and a romantic site for weddings.


He was later appointed Captain of dragoons in the United States Army, May 3, 1809. He became Major on February 15, 1809, Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Light Dragoons, June 7, 1813, and Colonel on August 1, 1813. During the War of 1812 he commanded a battalion of cavalry, and was personally engaged several times. He was called a gallant officer and a much esteemed man. From May 21, 1821, until his death he held the post of military storekeeper.


Sophia Villard and Jacinth Laval had only one known child, Louisa H. Laval. Louisa married on January 26, 1828 in South Carolina to Samuel Ewart, a native of Ireland, and a younger brother to David Ewart, who married Sophia Villard Laval, Louisa’s mother. This would have made David Ewart step-father to his brother Samuel.


Samuel and Louisa had one child, Robert Edwin Ewart of Columbia, South Carolina. Louisa died in 1833 somewhere between South Carolina and Alabama.


Mrs. Sophia Laval [nee Villard] married in March 30, 1826 in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, David Ewart, by the Rev. Mr. Folker.


David Ewart was born in 1786 in County Antrim, Ireland, the son of Samuel Ewart and Mary Heron. He died on July 8, 1868 in Lake City, Columbia County, Florida at the age of 82, and was buried there in Oaklawn Cemetery.


David Ewart had married twice previously, both dying in their early 20's. He had two children by his second wife, but only James, born in 1821, survived.


An early historian of Columbia wrote that the “court house stood at the Northeast corner of main and Washington streets.... There it joined to ‘Uncle Sammy Herring’s’ [Heron’s] grocery and hardware establishment, which, when he moved to Boundary street, was continued with great success by his nephew David Ewart, a little, crooked, energetic and well informed Irishman. Unfortunately, in his old age, he got to dabbling in cotton, and, with his positive, dogmatic temperament, assumed to know more about the state of the market, both at home and abroad, than any one else. As in the case of others holding such opinions, he backed his judgment, and that to an extent that, when his calculations failed, cost him all that he was worth and much more. Besides this, a fire, commencing in his back store, burnt up his goods and buildings, with nearly half the rest of the square. He had erected a hotel adjoining the court house lot....”

In the 1850 Columbia, South Carolina census, it shows David Ewart, age 65, merchant, and his wife Sophia Ewart, age 53 (who claimed $3,500 in real estate, probably from her previous marriage), and their two children, daughter Sophia L. [Louisa] Ewart, age 22, who was born in South Carolina, and son David E. [Edmunds] Ewart, age 20, who was also born in South Carolina and studying medicine.

Ewart and his wife removed from Columbia to Florida around 1854 or 1855, after his reverses in cotton speculationforced him into bankruptcy.

By the time the couple were enumerated in the 1860 Ocala, Marion County, Florida census, they had rebounded, with a reported $6,000 in real estate. The children were no longer at home, but they did have a “hireling” living with them.

The tombstone of David Ewart at Oak Lawn Cemetery, reads: Sacred to the Memory of David Ewart. Was born in Antrim, Ireland, A.D. 1786 and died in Columbia Co., Fl, July 8th, A.D. 1868.

Sophia Villard Ewart’s tombstone reads: “Sacred to the memory of Sophia Ewart. Was born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, Nov. 10th A.D. 1796 and died in Columbia Co., Fla, Nov. 8th A.D. 1875. Aged 78 years, 11 months, and 28 days.”

An obituary in the local [unnamed, but probably Columbia] newspaper provided a brief biography of Sophia.

“Died November 8, 1876 at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Dr. William Bates [actually Dr. George Michael Bates]; Mrs. Sophia S. Ewart, relict of the late David Ewart of Columbia, SC and daughter of Andre Joseph and Sophia DeMeaux Villard of Westmoreland Co., Virginia in the 79th year of her age.

“Possessed of brightest talents and a mind thoroughly cultivated and refined, this estimable lady was the admiration of a large circle of friends.

“During her life she saw many sad reverses and though at one time surrounded by all the luxuries that wealth could give, she was ever the humble Christian ready to alieviate the wants of the needy and to give sympathy sweet to the distressed and sad at heart.

“During the late war, like many others, she lost all, but with true Christian patience, she bowed meekly beneath the rod and accepted with greatest cheerfulness the lot before her.

“Gently, softly, like autumn kissed flowers, she faded away from earth to receive the reward of eternal happiness. May God comfort the sorrowing hearts gathered together in that saddened house and give them that consolation that comes not of earth.”

[A footnoted version of this article is available by request.]