The Richest Man in Virginia [pp. 53]

THE RICHEST MAN IN VIRGINIA. 53
give it pre-eminence over the heaven appointed instrument for the salvation of
men.
The author, we fear, has not taken much pains to inform himself upon many
collateral issues he has raised in his address. He seems to be uninformed of
the fact that the scriptures are read in our churches every Sabbath day, and
those very passages which inculcate the relative duties of masters and servants
in consequence of their textual connexions are more frequently read than other
portions of the bible. We are convinced that it is incorrect to say that the
pulpit is silent upon this point, so far as it is a practical question in morals and
religion.
We are amazed that any person should speak as our author has done in his
last paragraph, who, in the very declarations he makes, shows himself so utterly
unacquainted with church statistics. We say it without fear of success ful contradiction, that there are more pious persons among the blacks than
among any similar class in the world.-Southern Presbyterian.
THIE RICHIEST MAN IN VIRGINIA.
Samuel Hairston, of Pittsylvania, says the Richmond Whig, was, a year or two
ago, the owner of between 1,600 and 1,700 slaves, in his own right, having but a
little while before taken a census. He also has a prospective right to about 1,000
slaves more, which are now owned by his mother-in-law, Mrs. R. Hairston, he hav ing married her only child. He now has the management of them, which makes the
number of his slaves reach near 3,000. They increase at the rate of near 100 every
year; he has to purchase a large plantation every year to settle them on. A large
number of his plantations are in Henry and Patrick counties, Virginia. He has large
estates in North Carolina. His landed property in Stokes alone is assessed at
$600,000. His wealth is differently estimated at from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000;
and I should think it was nearer the latter. You think he has a hard lot, but I
assure you Mr. Hairston manages all his matters as easy as most persons would
an estate of $10,000. He has overseers who are compelled to give him a written
statement of what has been made and spent on each plantation, and his negroes
are all clothed and fed from his own domestic manufacture; and raising his own
tobacco crop, which is immensely large, as so much clear gain every year, beside
his increase in negroes, which is a forture of itself.
And now for his residence. I have travelled over fifteen States of this Union,
and have never seen anything comparable to his yard and garden, except some of
them in the Mississippi delta, and none of them equal to it. Mrs. Hairston has
been beautifying it for years; and a good old minister, in preaching near the
places and describing Paradise, said "it was as beautiful as Mrs. Hairton's;" or,
as a friend who had visited Washington city for the first time, remarked, that
"the public grounds were nearly as handsome as Samuel Hairston's." He is a
plain, unassuming gentleman, and has never made any noise in the world, though
he could vie with the Bruce's, the McDonough's, and Astor's; and it is strange,
that while their wealth is co-extensive with the Union, he is not known 100 miles
from home. I believe he is now the wealthiest man in the Union, as William B.
Astor is only worth about $4,000,000, and the estates of city people are vastly
overrated, while Mr. Hairston can show the property that will bring the cash at
any moment.
Mr. Hairston was raised within a few miles of where he now lives, in Henry
county. He has several brothers, who are pretty well to do in the world. One
of them, Marshall Hairston, of Henry, owns more than 700 negroes; Robt. Hairston, who now lives in Mississippi, near 1,000, and Harden Hairston, who has also
moved to Mississippi, about 600 slaves. George Hairston, of Henry, has given
most all of his property to his children, reserving only about 150 slaves for his
own use. This, I believe, is a correct statement of the circumstances of the Haireton family.