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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