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The author has compiled this work from histories, public records, letters, diaries, Virginia Gazette newspaper files and periodicals "...to convey an impression (sketch and untechnically, of course) upon a single canvas, of the whole kaleidoscopic scene - military, public, economic, home, hospital, social, literary, even the current jokes - with white persons and negroes, grown persons and children, rich and poor, high and low in their relations to the place and one another." This work is grouped by date, from the Colonial Period (1607-1774) through the War Between the States. Individual chapters are devoted to conflict with Indians, Revolutionary War involvement (including Patrick Henry at the Convention, General Arnold's march up Main Street and the Treaty), architecture and monuments, Richmond as "The City of Churches", with emphasis on the Reverend John Buchanan and the Reverend John D. Blair (the "Two Parsons"), the threat of insurrection headed by former slave "General" Gabriel, the trial of Aaron Burr, the Richmond Theater fire (1811), the War of 1812, Richmond's significance during the Civil War (including the Battle of Seven Pines and the Seven Days Battle), and the Reconstruction. The author has provided a supplementary index of "Places of Special Interest," a listing of homes that are over a century old, and numerous illustrations. Many notable Virginians are examined in the text, including Thomas Jefferson, Colonial Byrd, John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Edgar Allan Poe. Thomas Jefferson's influence, in particular, is felt throughout.
