Indiana and her father were quite accustomed to reading to each other daily and then
discussing the material. This was what they were doing on the morning of March 15, 1858,
when Elijah Fletcher took an "unusual long breath" and died in his daughter's
arms. He seemed to be in no pain at the time of his death according to Indiana so he
probably succumbed to a heart arrest.
Indiana at this time was nearly thirty years old, and her father's death marked a major,
albeit tragic, turning point in her life. In a letter to her Uncle Calvin two days after
Elijah's death Indiana wrote: "It has cost me many tears to write this, although my
thoughts dwell ever in the past, treasuring up the wise council, wishes, and noble
examples of a beloved father. I feel privileged and blessed to have been near him on his
last days on earth, and alas! If it must have been to have received his last mute adieu!
But when I look around and view this lovely home, these fields and groves so loved and
cared for by him, where I have dwelt so many years, happy alone in his loved
companionship, to think that every morrow will bring but grief and absence before me
require a fortitude which does not come to me, the magnitude of a loss too difficult to
realize, and I only pray, that resignation may be sent me."
Indiana felt totally bereft, and when her sister Elizabeth married William Hamilton Mosby
of Lynchburg the following year and eventually moved away, she was quite alone at Sweet
Briar. The first thing she prepared to do was to sell the Sweet Briar plantation and the
townhouse in Lynchburg. What her plans were for housing herself are unclear but she did
succeed in selling the Lynchburg property. When she advertised "The Estate of the
late Elijah Fletcher Esq. For Sale" in the Lynchburg paper of January 6, 1860, the
Civil War was looming on the horizon and no interest was shown in a large central Virginia
plantation. A scant 11 months later, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and within
five weeks the rest of the southern states followed. Indiana was obliged to spend the next
four years managing the plantation alone, as best she could. She had able assistance from
her brother Sidney, who did not rush off to the conflict. Sidney was past forty years of
age and remained at Tusculum.
There is little information to tell of her experiences on the plantation during this
period. It is known that she was financially able to weather the storm and the plantation
undoubtedly functioned much as it had in preceding years. She had adequate slave labor and
she hired an overseer, but her travels north were halted and toward the end of hostilities
she gave food shelter and sanctuary to several of her Lynchburg women friends and their
children, when Lynchburg came under attack. Luxury goods disappeared with the blockading
of southern ports, by Union forces and many of life's necessities were hard to come by or
had disappeared completely. One of the first things to go was metal coinage; another was
coffee and tea, dress fabrics and buttons. Although Sweet Briar was not raided, the war
came as close as eight miles distant with action on the Tye River in Amherst county.
Federal raiders were driven away by General Jubal Early and a railroad bridge was saved.
Union General Sheridan's cavalry was in action in the southern part of the county about
fifteen miles away, but Sweet Briar was safe. The war ground to a halt just across the
James River in Appomattox.
The weeks following the war were disorganized and hectic. The owners of large farms and
plantations had difficulty in defining their new roles. Their previously free labor now
demanded wages at a time when southern money was worthless. Sweet Briar Plantation,
although no information is directly available as to conditions immediately after the
cease-fire, undoubtedly faced the same problems as its neighbors. Many former slaves
stayed on the plantations, especially the elderly and children. They didn't know where to
go and didn't know what to do. They were mostly illiterate and untrained, so they
continued to be supported by their former owners, causing great hardship for everyone.
Elizabeth Payne, Indiana's friend, kept a journal of those days. The following is a
revealing passage about conditions on her family farm near Lynchburg.
"We heard from our men of the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. We felt then
that the struggle was over. Though General Johnson's surrender did not take place until
the 26th of April. The country was in the greatest state of unrest and anxiety and we did
not know what was coming. The Negroes of course were freed, but we did not seem to regard
that, but our money was worthless and we had nothing to pay the laborers. My father's
Negroes as a rule behaved remarkably well, were quiet and respectful but indisposed to
work The railroad which had been destroyed was being rebuilt to Lynchburg and there was
demand for laborers, so a good number of my father's men went to work on the railroad
leaving their families to be supported by him. My father had offered them a part of the
crop if they would work for him but they wanted ready money. We finally induced them to
save the wheat crop, or most of it. These same men and their families would have suffered
the following winter when the railroad stopped work but for the goodness of my father and
mother who fed and clothed them as usual and furnished them houses and fuel."
Indiana persevered and began the reorganization of her personal world into the new order.
She did not readvertise the plantation for sale. It is not known whether she had
difficulties with the carpet baggers and scalawags who came into Virginia in droves, but
she did manage, probably better than others, to keep the plantation operational. Income
from her father's many astute northern investments undoubtedly paved the way for her
continued operation of Sweet Briar in the first difficult weeks after the Civil War.
In early August of 1865 the Reverend James Henry Williams appeared on the front porch of
the Sweet Briar House. Indiana had known him before the war on her visits in the north.
After his graduation from General Theological Seminary in New York in 1858, he spent six
years as Pastor of Zion Episcopal Church in Dobbs Ferry, New York. This tall redheaded
Irishman had come to press his suit for marriage with Indiana with whom he had obviously
been enamored with all that long time. Indiana did not procrastinate. On August 23, 1965,
they were married at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg They left immediately
following the service for New York City. The wedding took place at 10 o'clock in the
morning, so they could catch the only train of the day which left before noon.
James Henry gave up his pastorate, and as partners he and Indiana went into the
apartment/hotel business. In later years Indiana told Elisabeth Payne, "He didn't
have to work and we didn't need the money, but I am afraid that I ruined an excellent
preacher." James Henry did occasionally preach in Amherst and Lynchburg when they
came to Virginia. Those who heard him claimed he was a fine and inspirational preacher.
James Henry and Indiana had a fine relationship. They were mature individuals in their
late thirties when they were married. Both were shrewd in business and enjoyed the same
things. They were cultural enthusiasts and shared a love of music, art, travel and fine
things. In the depositions of 1901 it was revealed that many of the quality things that
were inventoried in the Sweet Briar House had been purchased by James Henry. He purchased
items that caught his fancy: clocks, pictures, furniture, silver, bronzes, and other
luxury items. James Henry was something of an entrepreneur in investments and had built up
a considerable estate of his own. When his will was probated in 1889 it was discovered
that he had left his wife more than $100,000.
It was also noted in the depositions that Sweet Briar House was filled to capacity with
furnishings, bric-a-brac, carpets, china, silver, and pictures "so plentiful that one
could barely see the walls." Mrs. Payne explained that Indiana was so sentimental
that she could not part with anything. Everything had special meaning for her in her
loneliness at the end of her life. Lawyers for the nieces and nephew at the hearings tried
to use the overabundance of personal possessions as a form of "greed and mania."
They submitted the opinion that only a very unbalanced individual would choose to live in
such clutter. Mrs. Payne explained that Indiana's possessions were her security and
pleasure and that she had little else in her loneliness to remind her of happier days.
The odd but huge collection found in the house of hundreds of yards of dress goods,
towels, napkins, pillowslips, stockings, and cutlery were apparently for her future school
and students.
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