NAWSA GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Bishop, Mrs. L.B. L. Brackett Bishop 4329 Drexel Bldb Chicago, Ill. Catherwood Hall on the St. John's River Picolata, Florida (Post Office St. Augustine) Dear dear Miss Blackwell:- Your lovely Easter Card is on my desk: - Its sublime quotations are for each of us, - I shall have a small pane for my Card - that others may get the Sunset glow. - How I wish you were here with me, - I'm spending a few weeks, in this old "Dent House" where Julia Dent Grant, the Sister of Gen. Dent lived. I enclose a short sketch Mr. Bishop made of the place. Next week the D.A.R.'s and the Woman's Club are coming out, Also members of the Historical Society: - Then we are going a hungting. Mr. Ranson has the history back to 1785 but these are maps speaking of this part of our Country one thousand years ago, - Well, this is such a beautiful place that I'd like to sit with you, on this gallery and watch the western sun go down on the other side of the River (8 miles wide) and in doing so it makes a shiny path-way to our door. - The Cloud effects are more wonderful every day - Could you come & rest when there is nothing of civilization to distort Gods natural picture No photograph No radio No flying machine No lights "No water in the home" [it just?] 1861 - I'm trying to make it a retreat of this for semi-invalids, who just want Peace, - It is every where - Could you be my guest for a while? Devotedly Mrs. L. Brackett Bishop Mrs. L Brackett Bishop Catherwood Hall A Historical Romance of Florida By L. Brackett Bishop The great oaks, over 500 years old, with hanging moss, which stand like Sentinels on either side of Catherwood Hall, never saw a fairer sight than the wedding of General Dent of the U.S.A. and the beautiful Mrs Lynde. Wise old trees, not a word have they uttered in all these hundreds of years of the sights they have seen, as the panorama of life unfolded before them for Catherwood Hall is in Picolata, one of the important places in old Florida, and Picolata is rich in historical interest during the 400 years it has been known to the white man. In the days when it was young the country surrounding was wild, unsettled and infested with roaming bands of Indiansand it became necessary for the settlers to have some protection so they built a fort, the ruins of which still remain. First the Spaniards were there then the English fought with the Spaniards and finally it became a part of the United States when Florida was ceded over. Catherwood Hall is just seventeen miles due west from St. Augustine. People say it seems a long seventeen miles because it was measured off with a "coon skin" and they made a mistake and counted in the "tail too". The ride is through the woods where bear, deer, quail, and other game still reward the successful hunter. A sign a few miles from St. Augustine reads "In 1847 a theatrical company was massacred, by the Indians". That's the way they treated bad actors in those days. Catherwood Hall is an Estate of 26 acres on the East bank of the St. John's River, which at this point is three miles wide. Up the river, a short distance is the winter home of Harriet Beecher Stowe. On the Estate are orange groves, fig trees, grape vines and pine forests. Shortly after the Civil War Lieutenant Lynde of the U.S. Army and his wife built Catherwood Hall on the bank of the river. Some of the rooms are very large, thirty feet long and twenty feet high, with open fireplaces in each room and wide porches about the house. At this time other large estates and orange groves were on each side along the river. Lord Etheridge of England occupied the one next to Catherwood Hall. The town of Picolata was very active, steamers arriving to take away the oranges and other fruit. About 1872 General Dent, whose sister married General U. S. Grant, was made the head of the Army Post at St. Augustine. Society people of Jacksonville and St. Augustine often visited Catherwood Hall and the other estates on the St. John's River. General Dent became acquainted with the sister of Lt. Lynde and on April 2, 1873 they were married at Catherwood Hall. The Episcopal Bishop of Florida performed the ceremony under a dais erected on the lawn. Many distinguished people were present. The guests of honor being President Grant and Mrs. Grant. After the wedding a great dinner was served on the lawn and during the afternoon games were played and as evening came all paused to see one of the wonderful sunsets whose gorgeous coloring on the St. John's River rival those of Egypt. It was a fitting setting for a notable wedding. All were impressed with the beauty of the place. "Far from its crowd's ignoble strife", they felt only "the penalty of nature the seasons differences". And like the banished Duke and his followers in the Forest of Arden, they could say "this our life exempt from public haunt finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything I would not change it". Then came the dancing which lasted almost 'till midnight. Then as they looked at the heavens they saw a rare sight "The Southern Cross". -The End- Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.