THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506160234
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
The Norfolk residence of the Gosport shipyard commander, Commodore James Barron, was awash in naval brass. Crowds of officers and their wives swamped the waiting rooms and turned the main hallway and porch into a sea of blue uniforms. No doubt, the birth of Commodore Barron's namesake grandson was a proud occasion as the military community of Hampton Roads welcomed James Barron Hope to this world on March 23, 1829.
Certainly those present came to congratulate the mother, the former Jane Barron, and the new father, Wilton Hope of Hampton, but they also came to see the newest ``Barron'' who was expected to join the family tradition of naval service. Little did they know they were really greeting Virginia's future ``Poet Laureate.''
Had young Hope charted a seagoing profession he would have no doubt risen to a position of leadership as he was the descendant of generations of military men. He was directly related to Samuel Barron I who was the Colonial commandant of Fort George, Old Point Comfort, and captain of the provincial forces of Virginia. Another relative, James Barron I, was instrumental in forming the Virginia Navy during the Revolution and commissioned by Governor Thomas Jefferson as ``Commodore of the armed vessels of the Commonwealth.''
James Barron II is best remembered as the commanding officer of the frigate USS Chesapeake, the man who later killed Stephen Decatur in a duel over his handling of the ship during an attack by the British ship Leopard in 1808.
Samuel Barron II also made his way into the history books as commander of the American fleet in the Mediterranean during the war with Tripoli and later became commander of Gosport shipyard. Samuel Barron III had the unusual distinction of being commissioned into the United States Navy at the age of 2 and going to sea at the age of 12, no doubt holding the record to this day as America's youngest sailor!
During the Civil War, Samuel Barron II earned distinction in the Confederate Navy as well, escorting the ironclad CSS Virginia in her epic battles in March 1862. Samuel Barron IV also distinguished himself in the Confederate Navy and as the owner of one of Norfolk's largest ship brokerages.
Of course, James Barron Hope was raised with family dinner stories that made the men of his family larger than life. And at an early age he was taken with American military history. The growth of the Gosport shipyard was also a mainstay of dinner conversations and the fact that his grandfather was busy supervising the construction of the nation's first drydock and also involved in building the first naval hospital was not lost on the child in later years. But as fate would have it, his father's interest in the family's large land holdings in Hampton influenced the decision to have him enrolled in the town's renowned ``Academy'' under classics master John B. Cary.
At the Academy, Hope was soon recognized as a gifted writer and orator whose interests centered on Greek and Latin instead of shipbuilding and sailing instructions. Breaking a family tradition, he chose the College of William and Mary instead of a naval apprenticeship and was graduated in 1847 with a bachelor of arts degree.
Whether he was keeping an earlier promise to his grandfather or simply bowing to an urge for some adventure, Hope returned to Gosport after college and joined his uncle, Capt. Samuel Barron, on his ship USS Pennsylvania as secretary. After a West Indies cruise aboard USS Cyane in 1852, Hope returned to Hampton and entered politics.
He was elected commonwealth's attorney in 1856 and simultaneously launched his literary career under the pen name of Henry Ellen. Soon his poems appeared with much fanfare and critical acclaim in such national publications as The Southern Literary Messenger. A collection of his romantic poems was published by Lippincott the following year.
The critics liked him and so did the crowds who gathered to hear his public readings. He made notable appearances at the 250th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and at a memorial to George Washington given in Richmond on Feb. 22, 1858. Soon other publications followed and so did the demand for his public appearances for readings in Hampton, Norfolk and Portsmouth.
During the Civil War, Hope joined the other Barrons in siding with the South. However, he chose infantry rather than navy and served as a major under Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. The conflict only deepened his interest in epic poetry and historical subjects. His reputation as a poet had by then grown far beyond Hampton Roads and he was chosen by Congress to be the poet for the Yorktown Centennial in 1881.
Striving for the rest of his life to heal the wounds between the North and the South, Hope was able to get veterans from both sides to march together in the Yorktown celebration. His poetic address, entitled ``Arms and the Man,'' was published the following year.
During the interim, Hope established a local newspaper, The Landmark, which later merged with the Ledger and Virginian-Pilot. Today's newspaper company still bears the name of Hope's original ``Landmark.'' He died on Sept. 15, 1887, just before he was to read his eulogy to Robert E. Lee's memorial in Richmond.
Although it must have riled the Barrons, Hope's interests in writing lyrics and formal oration instead of signing orders and barking commands led to some of the South's finest 19th century poetry .
The Navy's loss became literature's gain, when James Barron Hope chose the pen over the sword. MEMO: EXCERPTS
From ``The Lee Memorial Ode'' by James Barron Hope:
``Truth walked beside him always,
``From his childhood's early years,
``Honor followed as his shadow,
``Valor lightened all his cares:
``And he rode - that grand Virginian -
``Last of all the Cavaliers!''
From ``Three Summer Studies'' in Leoni di Monota and Other Poems, by
James Barron Hope:
The sky has but one solitary cloud,
``Like a dark island in a sea of light;
``The parching furrows 'twixt the corn-rows plough'd
``Seem fairly dancing in my dazzled sight,
``While over yonder road a dusty haze
``Grows reddish purple in the sultry blaze.''
FOR HISTORY BUFFS
Barnabas Baker is available as a consultant on local and state
history from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the
Portsmouth Public Library, 601 Court St.
For more information, call 393-8501.
The Portsmouth Genealogical Society meets at 3 p.m. , also at the
Portsmouth Public Library.
For more information, call 393-1205.
Mail information about meetings and events of historical interest to 307
County St., Suite 100, Portsmouth, Va., 23704-3702; or fax to 446-2607.
Please include a daytime phone number.
ILLUSTRATION: Copy of photo
James Barron Hope broke his family's naval tradition to become a
gifted writer and orator - and Virginia's Poet Laureate.
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