front to rear, on one side of which were double parlors, and on the
other a sitting room, a bedroom and a dining room. In the second story
were a hall and four rooms, similar in all respects to those below, and
above these was a large attic. The interior woodwork was of black
walnut. The walls were white, and the centerpieces in the ceilings of
all the rooms were very fine, being the work of an English artisan, who
had been only a short time in this country. This work was so superior,
in design and finish, to anything before seen in that region that local
artisans were much excited over it; and some offered to purchase the
right to reproduce it, but Boss refused the offer. However, some one,
while the house was finishing, helped himself to the design, and it was
reproduced, in whole or in part, in other buildings in the city. This
employment of a foreign artist was unusual there and caused much
comment. The parlors were furnished with mahogany sets, the upholstering
being in red brocade satin. The dining room was also furnished in
mahogany. The bedrooms had mahogany bedsteads of the old-fashioned
pattern with canopies. Costly bric-a-brac, which Boss and the madam had
purchased while traveling in foreign countries, was in great profusion.
Money was no object to Edmund McGee, and he added every modern
improvement and luxury to his home; the decorations and furnishings were
throughout of the most costly and elegant; and in the whole of Tennessee
there was not a mansion more sumptuously complete in all its
appointments, or more palatial in its general appearance. When all was
finished--pictures, bric-a-brac, statuary and flowers all in their
places, Mrs. McGee was brought home.

In this new house Boss opened up in grand style; everything was changed,
and the family entered upon a new, more formal and more pretentious
manner of living. I was known no longer as errand boy, but installed as
butler and body-servant to my master. I had the same routine of morning