Memories of Virginia
The days are never quite so long
As in Virginia,
Nor quite so filled with happy song
As in Virginia,
And when my time shall come to die,
Just take me back and let me lie
Close where the James goes rolling by
Down in Virginia."
My Dear Friend:
I have made a discovery, the author I long have sought, and can give, with much pleasure, the pedigree of the beautiful poem Virginia, that has touched hearts with the emotional sentiment of "Home Sweet Home." It was written by Mr. Harry Curran Wilbur, a son of Prof. George E. Wilbur, of Bloomsburg, Penna., who graduated at old Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penna. The poem was published in the Wheeling Register, June, 1903. He is now editor of the Times Union, Jacksonville, Florida. He married Miss Dorothy Thornton Maloney, "A Daughter of Virginia," and from this fact it is easy to understand that when a man is in love with his wife it is easy for him to adopt her sentiments of state. You know I speak from experience, you will observe that I wrote of him "A Son of Louisiana," but now that the author and authorship is known, I am happy to give "A Son of Pennsylvania," and "A Son-in-Law of Virginia," an assured welcome in Memories of Virginia, nor do I accept the parody you sent me on the dear old State. She may be slow in the present, but she is sure of her past, nor can it be taken from her.
F. A. D.
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