spoken of as "the handsomest woman in Kentucky."
9, 1756; mariied Sarah Ballard.
6. Abraham, born April
Captain Aaron Fontaine (son of Rev. Peter Fontaine and Elizabeth Wade)
married 1st, May 19, 1775, Barbara Overton Terrill (1756-1796), who traces
her lineage to the royal House of Stuart. She was the granddaughter of Col.
William Overton of Glencairn or "Cairn," Hanover, Virginia. They had issue:
1. Mary Ann, born October 14, 1788; married Judge Fortunatus Cosby, a
graduate of William and Mary College, and second Circuit Judge of Kentucky.
He was a very wealthy man at one time, and owned much of the ground on
which the city of Louisville now stands. Of his daughter Mary, Captain Fontaine said, "When I want a feast of reason and a flow of soul, I go to Mary's1
house." 2. Elizabeth, born 1780; married, May 19, 1799, Hon. Edmund Bullock of Fayette County, Kentucky. He was speaker of the House of Representatives, 1796-1798, and was also a member of the Senate in 1816. 3. Matilda,
born September 8, 1872; married, February 12, 1800, Thomas Prather, president
of a Kentucky bank. 4. Martha, born 1785; married Alexander Pope, one of
the prominent lawyers of his day, and a member of a talented family, being a
brother of Gov. John Pope, M. C. and U. S. Senator of Kentucky, and also of
Judge Nathaniel Pope, U. S. Judge, and District Judge of Illinois. 5. Sarah, born
March 17, 1781; married Capt. George Rogers Clark Floyd of the U. S. Army,
April 16, 1810, a son of Col. John Floyd of the Revolution. 6. Maria, born 1784;
married Sterling Grimes, a banker of Greensboro, Georgia. 7. America, married William S. Vernon, a merchant of Louisville. 8. Barbara married
Charles Cosby of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 9. Ann Overton, born 1796;
died August 13, 1819; married John I. Jacobs, merchant. 10. James Terrill
Fontaine, born March 19, 1776; died 1840; married 1799, Deborah Hobbs, born
1776; died November 4, 1867. 11. Colonel William Maury Fontaine, one of the
first presidents of the Virginia Central Railroad, now a part of the Chesapeake
and Ohio. 12. Peter.
Captain Aaron Fontaine, one of Kentucky's pioneers, was born in his father's
70th year in Charles City County, Virginia. After the death of his father, he
spent his boyhood days in the home of his sister, Mary Ann Fontaine Winston,
wife of Major Isaac Winston. Aaron Fontaine served as captain of a Louisa
County company before the Revolution. In Virginia State Library, in Militia
in Revolutionary War, by J. T. McAllister, on page 214, appears the name of
Aaron Fontaine. The entry shows that on April 13, 1779, he was recommended
to County Court of Louisa County, Virginia, for appointment of Ensign. In
the County Court Records of Louisa County, Virginia, Vol. 8, p. 460, appears
the name of Aaron Fontaine. The entry shows, on March 25, 1784, Aaron
Fontaine received 4—2—8 for services in the Militia of the State of Virginia,
1780. Aaron Fontaine was also captain of a Virginia company in Louisa County
in 1797. (1812 service.)
On January 17, 1814, Captain Aaron Fontaine purchased from William
Lytle, of Cincinnati, a large estate called "Carter's Ferry" on the bank of the
Ohio River. It was afterwards called "Fontaine Ferry," and was laid out in
orchards, lawns, and grass lands. A fine cypress avenue was a famous driveway into this country seat.
Contributed by Mrs. William L. Webb, Missouri Society.
86
PRESIDENT JAMES MONROE'S LETTER TO
CADET CHARLES GUERRANT
Washington,
June 6th, 1816
To Cadet Charles Guerrant,
West Point.
Dear Sir:
I am sorry to find you so much alarmed, with the apprehension of being
removed from the Academy, on account of a deficiency in the knowledge of
arithmetic. There is a rule that none shall be admitted there, who do not possess certain acquirements, and a knowledge of arithmetic is one of them.
This rule has been departed from in many instances, in consetjuyifie of
which, young men have been brought into the Academy from different parts
of the Union, who, as the error was not with them, have done no wrong, and
seem to have a desire to remain there to remedy that defect with the aid of the
Institution, as well as to acquire other and more general knowledge.
Having not spoken to the Secretary of War on the subject, I do not know
that it is intended that any measure shall be adopted to affect the young men
now at present at the Academy.
My advice to you however is, to apply immediately and closely to the study
of arithmetic, every leisure moment you have, as in that case you will soon be
qualified to bear an examination. Capt. Partridge will, I am satisfied, assist you
in a case so important to your future welfare. You may show him this letter,
should you not be sufficiently well known to him to request it.
Having respected your father, who was a Revolntional officer of merit, I
take much interest in your welfare, and hope that you will act in a manner at
the Academy to merit the favorable report of the Professors, and acquire in a
like degree with him, the confidence and regards of your country.
With esteem and good wishes,
Yrs—
James Monroe.
Cadet Charles Guerrant was the son of General John Guerrant of "Ceres,"
Goochland County, Virginia and graduated at West Point in 1820. He was the
Col. Charles Guerrant of "Ceres," Virginia and died in 1852. His father, General John Guerrant, an officer of the Revolutionary War and Lieut. Governor of
Virginia, died at his plantation, "Ceres," Goochland County, Virginia, 1810. The
original letter is in the possession of Peter Guerrant Miller, Clerk of Goochland
County, and Circuit Courts, Goochland C. H., Virginia.
The above is a true copy—Edward O. Guerrant, Dec. 1897.