Mrs. Viola Ruffner,
the wife of General Ruffner, was a "Yankee" woman from Vermont.
Mrs. Ruffner had a reputation all through the vicinity for being
very strict with her servants, and especially with the boys who
tried to serve her. Few of them remained with her more than two
or three weeks. They all left with the same excuse: she was too
strict. I decided, however, that I would rather try Mrs.
Ruffner's house than remain in the coal-mine, and so my mother
applied to her for the vacant position. I was hired at a salary
of $5 per month.
I had heard so much about Mrs. Ruffner's severity that I was
almost afraid to see her, and trembled when I went into her
presence. I had not lived with her many weeks, however, before I
began to understand her. I soon began to learn that, first of
all, she wanted everything kept clean about her, that she wanted
things done promptly and systematically, and that at the bottom
of everything she wanted absolute honesty and frankness. Nothing
must be sloven or slipshod; every door, every fence, must be kept
in repair.
I cannot now recall how long I lived with Mrs. Ruffner before
going to Hampton, but I think it must have been a year and a
half. At any rate, I here repeat what I have said more than once
before, that the lessons that I learned in the home of Mrs.
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