He kept up a large establishment at his elegant home of Montgomery Hall, having over fifty servants about his premises, entertained a great deal of company in a delightful manner, gave sumptuous dinners and a great many of them, and of other entertainments—in fact, he kept open house, and while he set no bounds to his generous hospitality, there was no ostentation or vain display, though his house and furniture were thoroughly well appointed. His guests were among the most distinguished for talents and acquirements, for rank and station in the State and country. It was said, therefore, that at Montgomery Hall you were sure to enjoy the "feast of reason and the flow of soul." While he entertained so well, he was himself abstemious in his habits and denied himself animal food one day in every week.
He was wise and prudent in forming his intimacies and friendships, but when once a man's friend, unless for some good cause, he was ever constant and unchangeable, and there was no length to which he would not go to serve a friend. On one occasion, when in the Senate, he sacrificed the office of Governor of Virginia, to which he was about to be elected, to serve a friend and to secure the election of his friend, as he did, to the position of Judge. At another time, for he was a friend who "abided in the day of trouble" he offered a friend in distress from pecuniary losses, the occupation, use and proceeds of one of his estates in Alleghany county, of nearly 5000 acres of land and a large number of servants. In this munificent spirit of liberality and generosity, he sought to provide for this unfortunate friend and his dependant family. So constituted was he, that it was often said that if a man's friend, he was the friend of his family, indeed of everybody connected with him—in a word he took the whole tribe to his heart. As a master, he was kind, humane, just and ever mindful of the wants of his servants, provided every family with a good house and garden, extended to them the privilege of raising poultry, pigs, etc., and of enjoying the fruits of such care and industry as they chose to bestow on them, during time allowed for this purpose. And he was so loved and respected by his servants that they considered it a favor, not a task, to do his bidding. But when there was occasion for it, he could be severe, and required a strict account from all.
Every community has its leading spirit, who, to a certain extent, impresses his character upon it and brings it up, in a measure, to what that choice spirit is, and that is precisely what Mr. Peyton did. He was identified with every interest of the people, with their trade and commerce, with the material development of the State, and its moral, educational and religious prosperity. He was honest and upright in the highest degree, and never violated a trust, but was ever faithful to every obligation. His heart was full of that charity which "vaunteth not itself and is not puffed up." The poor, the afflicted, the distressed, whether "in mind, body or estate," were recipients of his kind deeds, and the widow and orphan knew him in their extremity. Principle dictated all his acts and he never departed a hair's breadth from the line of duty.
He was warm hearted, genial, and kindly, was fond of intellectual society, in which he was sure to shine, was given to hospitality and entertained more company probably than any gentleman of his day in Virginia; in fact, lived with open house.
Among other accomplishments, it should be remembered that he was a refined and robust writer, and had his professional and business engagements permitted, he would doubtless have been a famous author. Now and again he indulged, in an hour of leisure, in preparing an article for the British Reviews. They showed eminent literary talents. Those productions were, for the most part, destroyed in the library of his son, Col. J. Lewis Peyton, which was stored for safe keeping during the Civil War, on his Jackson River estate in Alleghany county, where they were burnt by Federal troops. His essays were generally on subjects of utility to the State and country, but some times his disquisitions were on moral and metaphysical science, and were remarkable for their clearness and force—no man, indeed, could have presented his views in a more perspicuous, more forcible or convincing manner. Judge McCue says, "his conception of a great subject and mode of expression were as clear, distinct and demonstrative as were those of Edmund Burke."
In a brief sketch only his salient points can be touched upon. Enough has been said, however, to present a fair idea of the superior mental and moral endowments of this extraordinary man. For his wonderful life-long labors he did not receive, though having a most extensive and fairly lucrative practice—probably the largest of any lawyer in Virginia—a tithe of the annual income of a modern millionaire, but he accomplished great and noble ends, and no language can describe the inward satisfaction, the mental pleasure he must have enjoyed. He rejoiced in what riches cannot purchase, the love, admiration and respect of every one, from the humblest mountaineer to the highest official in the land.
His name has not perished and will not, but will grow greener with years and blossom through the coming ages. This little tribute, it is hoped, will extend and confirm the reputation of a man worthy of universal admiration. May it, however, do more. The fame of the truly great can only be of use when stimulating by example. Let every reader of these pages consider what he can contribute towards the same great cause of social melioration, what sacrifices he will make to reclaim the vicious, instruct the ignorant, cheer the disconsolate, what selfishness and bigotries he will relinquish; what benevolence, justice, charity he will exercise, and what, in a word, he will do to imitate the example of heroic worth given us by this truly wise and good man.
He was struck down by apoplexy in 1845, recovered sufficiently to walk about his house, but was disabled in 1846, by a second attack accompanied by paralysis. His mind, however, continued clear and vigorous, though his voice was indistinct. This was illustrated by his ability displayed on his sick bed, in a conversation with the late Col. John B. Baldwin, in which he gave him the points and elucidated the intricacies of an important and difficult law case, then in progress and cited the authorities. Throughout his illness, he endured his sufferings with patience and meekness, and died at Montgomery Hall, April 3d, 1847, leaving the reputation of having been a perfect gentleman, the soul of honor, and the pink of chivalry.