He Was the Master of “Fast Talking”

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Chiswell_Langhorne.jpg

Colonel Chiswell Dabney Langhorne
November 4, 1843 – February 14, 1919
(United States Public Domain)

Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, nicknamed “Chillie”, was born into a prestigious, wealthy slave owning family in Lynchburg, Virginia. The “Langhorne” family emigrated from Bristol, England and established the family ancestral home “Gambell” built in 1675. Confederate General James Ewell Brown Stuart was a maternal cousin. He was described as a handsome, Southern aristocrat with a wonderful sense of humor with a jovial laugh and loved to play pranks.

When the Civil War came to Virginia, Chillie enlisted in the Confederate Army serving as a Colonel. One source said he left after a few months, due to a disability {*} while a 2nd source stated that he served as a Confederate Soldier throughout the war. {1}

*
During the last year of the Civil War, the 21-year old Chillie married 16-year old Nancy Witcher “Nanaire” Keene. Between the years 1867-1887 they discovered they could do one thing very well - produce children. They had a total of eleven children (eight surviving into adulthood), three died in infancy. There were many more events that Chillie would be remembered for.

After the war, his fortune was no more so he took work as a hotel clerk in a hotel in Danville, Virginia. One night around 2 am, as the story is told, he was bored so he rang the fire bell and as the guests came running out, Chilly was there with a fire hose ready to use on the guests. He was the only one that laughed and by the next morning he was off looking for another job. After a couple of tries at running a livery (which he got bored with), he discovered he had a talent for talking fast, in a cadence while he added numbers and other sounds. It was a new sound and people were fascinated. Now how to translate this into a career was his next step . . . and he did!!

*

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The Auctioneer

While Chillie was living in Danville the area was a major center for the sale of loose-leaf tobacco. The method of trade was done by an auction held at a warehouse. Chillie had found the job he was meant to have. It is said that he originated the “Auctioneer’s Chant”. It was fast-talking way of moving the merchandise meant to build up excitement and spur the flow of money. It wasn’t long before others began to copy his style.

The auction chant has been called such things as “bid calling", "the auction cry", "the cattle rattle", or simply “auctioneering”. {*} It’s built on rapidly repeating numbers “do I hear two; will you give me two; do I hear three; will you given me three” etc. Chillie had the personality and was successful at his task.

*​

Another little bit of trivia - auctioneer’s are also called “Colonel” and this has a Civil War connection. According to several web sites (but this one had the briefest explanation)

“After a bloody battle the winning side would scour the battlefield and collect all the equipment and personal belongings of the vanquished. These items were then displayed in a central area. The winning soldiers were allowed to view all these items. The items were then “auctioned off”. The person in charge of the auction was always a Colonel. Now all auctioneers have the honorary title of Colonel.” {5}

But Chillie being Chillie, a man that got bored quite easily soon tired as an Auctioneer so he jumped at the chance offered him by former Confederate General Kyd Douglas to join a lucrative career in the railroad industry. It was here that he regained a large part of his fortune, but he changed the auction industry, for after he left, only “fast talking, entertaining, with comedic talents are the only people that needs to apply.

*​

One of his daughters, Nancy Langhorne (1879-1964) proved to the world that “the apple did not fall far from the tree”. In 1906 she entered into her 2nd marriage when she wed American born but then living an aristocratic life in England - Waldorf Astor. By all accounts the marriage appeared to be happy and they were well matched. On November 28, 1919 Mrs. Astor made history when she became the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. It was a post she held until July 5, 1945. She is perhaps best remember for a famous comment made to Winston Churchill and his reply:

"If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea," to which he responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it." {*}


* * *​



Sources
1. Remembering North Carolina Tobacco, by Billy Yeargin, (Link)
2, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9080382/chiswell-dabney-langhorne
3. http://clipart-library.com/clipart/444465.htm
4. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Chiswell_Langhorne_(4)
5. https://blackdiamondauctions.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/why-are-auctioneers-called-colonel/
*Wikipedia- Chiswell Dabney Langhorne/Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor/Auction Chant
 
Winston Churchill's retort
He didn't fall far from the family tree -
 
View attachment 356746
Colonel Chiswell Dabney Langhorne
November 4, 1843 – February 14, 1919
(United States Public Domain)

Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, nicknamed “Chillie”, was born into a prestigious, wealthy slave owning family in Lynchburg, Virginia. The “Langhorne” family emigrated from Bristol, England and established the family ancestral home “Gambell” built in 1675. Confederate General James Ewell Brown Stuart was a maternal cousin. He was described as a handsome, Southern aristocrat with a wonderful sense of humor with a jovial laugh and loved to play pranks.

When the Civil War came to Virginia, Chillie enlisted in the Confederate Army serving as a Colonel. One source said he left after a few months, due to a disability {*} while a 2nd source stated that he served as a Confederate Soldier throughout the war. {1}

*
During the last year of the Civil War, the 21-year old Chillie married 16-year old Nancy Witcher “Nanaire” Keene. Between the years 1867-1887 they discovered they could do one thing very well - produce children. They had a total of eleven children (eight surviving into adulthood), three died in infancy. There were many more events that Chillie would be remembered for.

After the war, his fortune was no more so he took work as a hotel clerk in a hotel in Danville, Virginia. One night around 2 am, as the story is told, he was bored so he rang the fire bell and as the guests came running out, Chilly was there with a fire hose ready to use on the guests. He was the only one that laughed and by the next morning he was off looking for another job. After a couple of tries at running a livery (which he got bored with), he discovered he had a talent for talking fast, in a cadence while he added numbers and other sounds. It was a new sound and people were fascinated. Now how to translate this into a career was his next step . . . and he did!!

*

View attachment 356747
The Auctioneer

While Chillie was living in Danville the area was a major center for the sale of loose-leaf tobacco. The method of trade was done by an auction held at a warehouse. Chillie had found the job he was meant to have. It is said that he originated the “Auctioneer’s Chant”. It was fast-talking way of moving the merchandise meant to build up excitement and spur the flow of money. It wasn’t long before others began to copy his style.

The auction chant has been called such things as “bid calling", "the auction cry", "the cattle rattle", or simply “auctioneering”. {*} It’s built on rapidly repeating numbers “do I hear two; will you give me two; do I hear three; will you given me three” etc. Chillie had the personality and was successful at his task.

*​

Another little bit of trivia - auctioneer’s are also called “Colonel” and this has a Civil War connection. According to several web sites (but this one had the briefest explanation)

“After a bloody battle the winning side would scour the battlefield and collect all the equipment and personal belongings of the vanquished. These items were then displayed in a central area. The winning soldiers were allowed to view all these items. The items were then “auctioned off”. The person in charge of the auction was always a Colonel. Now all auctioneers have the honorary title of Colonel.” {5}

But Chillie being Chillie, a man that got bored quite easily soon tired as an Auctioneer so he jumped at the chance offered him by former Confederate General Kyd Douglas to join a lucrative career in the railroad industry. It was here that he regained a large part of his fortune, but he changed the auction industry, for after he left, only “fast talking, entertaining, with comedic talents are the only people that needs to apply.

*​

One of his daughters, Nancy Langhorne (1879-1964) proved to the world that “the apple did not fall far from the tree”. In 1906 she entered into her 2nd marriage when she wed American born but then living an aristocratic life in England - Waldorf Astor. By all accounts the marriage appeared to be happy and they were well matched. On November 28, 1919 Mrs. Astor made history when she became the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. It was a post she held until July 5, 1945. She is perhaps best remember for a famous comment made to Winston Churchill and his reply:

"If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea," to which he responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it." {*}


* * *​



Sources
1. Remembering North Carolina Tobacco, by Billy Yeargin, (Link)
2, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9080382/chiswell-dabney-langhorne
3. http://clipart-library.com/clipart/444465.htm
4. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Chiswell_Langhorne_(4)
5. https://blackdiamondauctions.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/why-are-auctioneers-called-colonel/
*Wikipedia- Chiswell Dabney Langhorne/Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor/Auction Chant
Any relation to Foghorn Langhorne? He was a comic character in his own.He was a Rhode Island Rooster in the comics of the 1960s There was a dog that he just called DOG and a chicken hawk
 
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