Qass, X ^-. ^ (^ Book > 11 ' ■ HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS VIRGINIA; CONTAINING A COLLECTION OF THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS, TRADITIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, &c. RELATING TO ITS HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES. TOGETHER WITH GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL DESCRIPTIONS. TO WHICH IS APPENDED, AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ILLUSTRATED BY OVER 100 ENGRAVINGS. GIVING VIEWS OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS,— SEATS OF EMINENT MEN,— PUBLIC BUILDINGS,— RELICS OF ANTIQU1TY,-'HIST0RIC LOCALITIES, NATURAL SCENERY, ETC., ETC. BY HENRY H QWJ L [Arms of Virginia.] 1^ [Thus always with tyrants.] CHARLESTON, S. C. PUBLISHED BY WM. R. BABCOCK. 1852. ENTERED, According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, BY BABCOCK & CO. In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of south carolina. PREFACE. Ill PREFACE. The primary object of the following pages is to narrate the most prominent events in the history of Virginia, and to give a geographical and statistical view of her present condition. Similar volumes* have appeared on Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. The favorable recep- tion of these in their respective states, has led to the opinion that one upon Virginia — the mother of states and statesmen, the " Old Dominion," so rich in historic lore — would meet not only the approval of Virginians, but be favorably received by others. Early in the year 1843 we commenced travelling over the state, collecting ma- terials and taking sketches for illustrations. Every section of the commonwealth wa^ visited. The better to effect our purpose, we occasionally journeyed hun- dreds of miles on foot, often sharing alike the hospitality of the planter and the mountaineer, and cheered onward by pleasant interviews with some of her most intelligent citizens. Much valuable inforn^ation has been thus obtained, by obser- vation and inquiry, and interesting but scattered details of her history and anti- quities collected in a form to ensure their preservation. Written communications, moreover, have been received, embodying facts enhancing the value of this publi- cation, and placing us under lasting obligation to their authors. This work has three departments. The first — an outline, or general history — comprises an abstract of leading events from the first settlement of Virginia to the present time ; the first five chapters of which are from the admirably written his- torical sketch in Martin's Gazetteer,! and the last by a gentleman personally familiar with most of the events related. The second consists of miscellanies, intended to throw light upon the past and present condition of the commonwealth. The third and principal department, is arranged in counties, in alphabetical order, where each is successively described. In this are the descriptions of towns, lite- rary institutions, historic localities, seats and memoirs of eminent Virginians, antique structures, natural scenery, anecdotes, local history, and events but glanced at in the outline sketch, fully detailed. * The first — on Connecticut — was published In 1836 ; the one on Massachusetts, 1838.; New York, 1841 ; Pennsylvania, 1843, and New Jersey, 1844. Connecticut and Massachusetts were prepared by John W. Barber— the pioneer in works on this plan ; New York and New Jersey by John W. Barber and Henry Howe ; and Pennsylvania by Sherman Day. t This work, published in 1836, was the first issued descriptive of Virginia, since the celebrated notPiS of Mr. Jefferson. Oar publishers having purchased the copyright, we have availed otuselves of it *j» preparing this volume. / / IV . PREFACE. Thus the volume comprehends a history and a gazetteer. Its advantages over formal histories are, that the events and their localities are given together, serving more strongly to impress the memory ; the past and present are in juxtaposition, and many events given which regular history, in her stately march, does not step aside to notice — events usually considered of minor importance, but forming the undercurrent of history, and useful in illustrating the advancement and conditior of society. Written history forms but a small part of occurrences. The vicissitudes of wai have been considered more worthy of narration, than those things promoting the wellbeing of man. Says an eminent essayist : " The perfect historian considers no anecdote, no peculiarity of manner, no familiar saying, as too insignificant foi his notice, which is not too insignificant to illustrate the operation of laws, of re- ligion, and of education, and to mark the progress of the human mind." The great variety of subjects presented, and the almost impossibility of pro- ducing such a publication witliout errors and imperfections, has created a degree of diflSdence in submitting it to the public. It will doubtless come before manj possesing better means of information, and more knowledge on some subjects introduced, than could reasonably be expected in us. Besides drawing largely from a great variety of publications, we are enabled t( present much not previously published, as well as that inaccessible to the mass of readers. We do not, however, consider ourselves responsible for every sentimen introduced in these pages. In order to form a correct judgment, it is useful t( hear the opinions of those who differ from us in their religious or political senti ments. The drawings for the numerous engravings were, witli a few exceptions onl} taken by us on the spot. We trust they have an honest look, and faithfully repre sent their originals. Some biographical sketches are doubtless omitted, not les important than many inserted, while others have not due prominence. In som few cases we have supposed the reader to be familiar with them, while in otheii it arises from the extreme difficulty of obtaining the desired information. The history of Virginia is of deep interest ; but one imperfectly chroniclec Much is left to the investigation of the antiquarian, and many a thrilling episod is lost in the lapse of generations. Yet enough remains to stimulate to the loflie: patriotism ; while the memory of her illustrious sons is cherished with just prid by our common country. INDEX. ^tCf" Tlie counties being arranged in alphabetical order in this work, supersedes the necU' sity of placing them in the index. CITIES AND TOWNS. Abingdon, 498 Amsterdam, 203 Aldie, 354 Alexandria, 542 Ayletts, 359 Banister, 2S0 Bath, 386 Bassetville, 389 Barboursville, 417 Belville, 516 Bethany, 194 Bcrryville, 233 Berkeley Springs, 386 Beverly, 444 Big Lick, 448 Bowling Green, 215 Bovdton, 378 Blacksville, 382 Blacksburg, 385 Bloomfield. 354 Brookneal, 210 Brucetown, 272 Bridgeport, 301 Brentsvilie, 442 Brownsburg, 448 Buchanon, 203 Buffalo, 360 Cartersville, 237 Ca Ira, 237 Capevilic, 404 Centerville, 254, 496 Charlottesville, 164 Charlestown, 341 Charleston, 343 Christiansbiirg, 385 Chuckatuck, 386 City Poinl, 440 Columbia, 27(L Cold Stream Mill, 291 Competition, 429 Clarksburg, 301 Clarksville, 378 Darksville, 191 Deep Creek, 400 Deaton, 4tiO ])ruinmoiulstown, 163 Dumfries, 442 Dunkirk, 348 Eastville, 404 Edinburg, 467 Edom Mills, 460 Elizabethtown, 368 Elizabeth, 516 Estillvillc, 464 Fairview, 194 Faber's Mills, 388 Fairfax, 237 Fayetteville, 267 Fairmont, 372 Farnisvillc, 432 Falmouth, 484 Fairfield, 448 Fincastle, 202 Flint Hill, 447 Frankfort, 284, 291 Franklin, 428 Fredericksburg, 474 Front Royal, 497 Gap Mills, 383 Gainsboro', 272 Georgetown, 542 Gerardstown, 191 Gosport, 400 Gordonsville. 417 ^ Greenville, 177 Grave Creek, 368 Granville, 382 Guy^ndotte, 209 Gvvyn's Island, 376 Hampton, 248 Hallsboro', 220 Harper's Ferry, 334 Harrisville, 447 Harrisonburg, 460 Heathsville, 404 Hicksford, 289 Hilisburo', 354 Honitown, 163 HoUidav's Cove, 194 Holtsvlilc, 372 Huutersville, 430 Indian Town, 349, 470 Jamestown, 317, 382 Jacksonville, 270, 483 Jefferson, 430 Jeffersonton, 237 Jerusalem, 470 Jonesvilie, 351 Kempsville, 435 Keysville, 220 Kilmarnock, 350 Kingwood, 432 Latvrenceville, 206 Lawnsville, 352 Lafayette, 385 Lewisville, 206 Leesburg, 353 Leesville, 210 Lewisburg, 284 Lewisport, 301 Leetown, 334 Lewiston, 359 Leon, 360 Lexington, 448 Lebanon, 463 Liberty, 188 Little Plymouth, 348 Liberia, 442 Loretto, 253 LovettevLlle, 354 Lovingston, 338 Luray. 425 Lynchburg, 210 Manchester, 229 Martinsville, 315, 496 Martinsburg, 191 Marion, 469 Maysville, 207 ftlarysviile, 220 Middiebrook, 177 Millboro' Spring, 185 Millwood, 235 Middletown, 272 Milf.Td, 301 Middleway, 334 Millville, 349 Middleburg, 353 Milford,372 Middletown, 496 Modist-town, 163 Mount Solon. 177 " Meridian, 177 " Gilead, 35-1 (1*) VI INDEX. Mount Crawford, 460 VIoorefield, 300 VIontville, 354 VIorgaiitown, 381 ^ew Canton, 207 " Glasgow, 176 " Baltimore, 262 « Hope, 177 " London, 210 " Manchester, 194 " Market, 388, 467 "Jewbern, .443 Newtown, 272, 348 Newport, 372 'Norfolk, 394 )ccoquan, 442 )ld Point Comfort, 252 ;*attonsburg, 203 ■'almyra, 270 'arisburg, 278 'addytown, 291 'alatine, 372 J'arkersburg, 516 Petersburg, 242 }*eterstown, 383 Philippi, 187 Philmont, 354 Point Pleasant, 360 Port Royal, 215 " Conway, 349 " Republic, 460 'ortsmouth, 400 1 Princeton, 379 Prunty Town, 487 Pungoteague, 163 Ravenswood, 317 Rapid Ann M"g House, 360 Richmond, 3U3 Ripley, 317 Rocky Mount, 272 Romney, 290 Rough Creek Ch., 220 Salem, 447 Sallville, 469 Scoltsville, 164 Scottville, 430 Shinnstown, 301 Sistersville, 496 Shepherd stown, 336 Somerville, 262 Smithfield, 315, 3S2 Smithville, 430 Snickersville, 354 Spring Hill, 177 Sperryville, 447 Staunton, 177 Stephensburg, 272 Steveusburg, 237 Strasburg, 467 Suffolk, 386 Summerville, 392 Sutton, 193 Tappahannoc, 253 Taylorsville, 427 TciTa Salis, 344 Thoroughfare, 442 Trout Run, 299 Trouts' Hill, 506 Union, 354, 383 Union Hall, 272 Urbanna, 379 Upperville, 261 Warm Springs, 184 Warwick, 229 Waynesboro', 177 Warrenton, 261 Wardens ville, 291 Waterford, 354 Washington, 447 W^ashington City, 534 Wellsburg, 194 Weston, 351 West Union, 368 Westville, 376 West Liberty, 407 White Post, 235 Whitehall, 272 Wheeling, 407 W'iuchester, 272 Williamsburg, 321 Williamsport, 487 Woodstock, 467 Woodville, 447 W}'theville, 514 Yorktown, 519 GENERAL OR OUTLINE HISTORY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION — PROGKESs' OF COMMERCE — ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS. iscovery of America. — England. — Want of commerce in early times. — Voyages of the Cabots. — Progress of English discovery — Frobishey — Gilbert — Raleigh. — Failure of the Roanoke settlements Page 11 CHAPTER 11. SETTLEMENT AT JAMES TOWN — SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONIES — ADVENTURES OP SMITH. ew comiiany raised — its charter. — James Town. — Machinations against Smith. — Difficulties of the colony. — Smith taken prisoner— his release. — Arrival of Newport. — Discovery of ettrth believed to be gold. — Departure of Ne\^ port. — Survey of the Chesapeake and its waters by Smith.— Smith made president. — Second arrival of Newport. — Judicious conduct of Smith. — New chartoiBe-New arrival of emigrants. — Badness of the selection. — New settlements. — Accident to Smith — his departure — his character • Pag-e 22 CHAPTER in. PROGRESS OF THE COLONY — MASSACRE OF 1G22— DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY. ate of the colony at Smith's departure — its conduct and subsequent sufferings. — Arrival of Gates — of Lord De La Ware— his departure. — Arrival of Dale. — Martial law. — Gates governor. — Grants of land to individuals. — Nev\' charter. — Marriage of Pocahontas. — Friendly relations with the Indians. — Culti- vation of tobacco. — Tenure of lands. — Tyranny of Argall. — Propriety of reform in the government. — Yeardley governor. — First coloni^il assembly in ItJJO. — Introduction of women. — Introduction of negroes by the Dutch in K)20. — Constitminn brought over by Sir Francis Wyatt. — Relations with the Indians. — Massacre of the 22d of March, ]tJ-J2 — its consequences. — Struggles between the king and the company. —Commissioners sent to Virgiiiia.— Firmness of tiie Virginians. — Dissolution of the company- -Page 34 INDEX. vii CHAPTER IV. PROGRESS or THE COLONY FROM THE OISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY TO THS BREAKING OUT OF bacon's REBELLION IN 1075. Accession of Char'es I. — Tobacco tnide. — Yeardley governor — his commission favoral)le — his death and character. — Lord Haltiniore's reception. — State of religion — legislation upon the suhject. — Invitation to the Puritans to settle on Delaware Bay. — Harvey governor. — Grant of Carolina and Maryland. — Harvey deposed— restored. — Wyatt governor. — Acts of the legislature improperly censured. — Berkeley governor. — Indian relations. — Opechancanough prisoner — his death. — Change of government in Eng- land. — I'leet and army sent to reduce Virginia. — Preparation for defence by Berkeley. — .Vgreement entered into between the colony and the commissioners of the commonwealth. — Indian hostilities. — Matthews elected governor. — Difficulties between the governor and the legislature — adjusted. — State of the colony and its trade. — Commissioners sent to England. — The Restoration. — General legisla- tion Po^e 51 CHAPTER V. bacon's rebellion — HOSTILE DESIGNS OF THE FRENCH. Indifference to change in England. — Navigation Act. — Convicts. — Conspiracy detected, — Discontents. — Cessation from tobacco planting for one year. — Royal grants. — Virginia's remonstrance. — Success of deputies. — Indian hostilities. — Army raised and disbanded by governor. — People petition for an army — elect Bacon commander — he marches without commission and defeats Indians — pursued by governor, who retreats on hearing of rising at .lamestown. — Governor makes concessions. — Bacon |>risoner — is pardoned. — People force commission from governor. — Bacon marches to meet Indians — hears he is declared a rebel by Berkeley — marches to meet him — he flees to Accomac. — Convention called and free government established. — Bacon defeats the Indians. — Berkeley obtains possession of the ship- ping, and occupies Jamestown — is besieged by Bacon, and driven out. — Jamestown burnt. — Death of Bacon — character of his enterprise. — Predatory warfare — treaty between governor and his opponents. — Cruelty of Berkeley. — King's commissioners. — Depirture of Berkeley and his death. — Acts of Assembly passed during Bacon's influence. — Conduct of king's counuissioners. — Culpeper governor. — Discontents. ♦ — Conduct of Beverly. — Howard governor. — General conduct of Virginia and progress of atiiiirs. — Plan of Callier for dividing the British colonies Page 69 CHAPTER VI. EVENTS FROM THE YEAR 1705 TO THE TERMINATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Gov. Nicholson superseded by Nott, and he by Jennings. — Administration of Gov. Spotswood. — Drysdalo governor — succeeded by Gooch. — Death of Rev. James Blair. — Notice of Col. William Byrd. — Gooch's charge to the grand jury against Presbyterians, Methodists, &c. — Burning of the capitol at VVillianis- burg. — Revision of the colonial laws. — Departure of Gooch. — Dinwiddle governor. — Encroachments of the French. — Mission of George Washington beyond the Alleghanies to the French commandant of a fort — its inauspicious results. — Gov. Dinwiddle prepares to rei)el the encroachments of the French. — Expedition against them under Col. Fry, and the erection of Fort Duquesne. — Washington's skirmish with Juinonyille — he erects Fort Necessity — he surrenders to the French, and inarches back to Vir- ginia. — The Burgesses pass a vote of thanks to him. — Gov. Dinwiddle resolves to pro.secute the war — the futility of his projects. — Arrival of Gen. Braddock. — Braddock's defeat. — Bravery of Washington ana the Virginia troops. — Frontiers open to incursions frimi tlie savages. — Fauquier governor. — Troops destined for the con(iuest of Duquesne rendezvous at Raystown. — Defeat of Major Grant, and heroism of Captain Bullet. — Fort Duquesne evacuated. — End of the war Page 88 CHAPTER VII. FROM THE TERMINATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR TO THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. Encroacliments of Britain upon the American colonies. — Spirited conduct of Virginia thereon. — Patrick Henry's resolution on the right to ta.x America. — Death of Governor Fauquier. — .Vrrival of L,ord Botte- tourt. — Continued aggressions of the mother country. — Death of Bottetourt. — Lord Dunmore governor. — Dunmore's war. — Battle of Point Pleasant. — Speech of Logan. — Endof the Indian war. — Meeting of the Continental Congress. — Dunmore removes the gunpowder of the colony from the magazine at Wil- liamsburg. — Patrick Henry forces the receiver-general to make compensation. — Dunmore flees on board the Fovvey man-of-war. — Meeting of the Virginia Convention. — Dunmore, with the British fleet, attacks Hampton. — Affiir in Princes? Aifne. — Defe.it of the enemy at Great Bridge. — Norfolk burnt. — Delegates in Congress instructed by the General Convention of Virginia to propose the Declaration of Independence. — A constitution for the state government adopted. — Patrick Henry governor. — Dunnioro driven from Gwynn's Island.— First meeting of the legislature under the state constitution. — Indian war. — Col. Christian makes peace with the Creek and Cherokee nations. — Revision of the state laws.^ Glance at the war at the north. — Sir Henry Clinton appointed commander-in chief of the British army. — He transfers the seat of the war to the south. — Sir George Collier, with a British fleet, enters Hampton Roads. — Fort Nelson abandoned. — The enemy take possession of Portsmouth, and burn Sutl'ulk. — They embark for New York. — Gen. Leslie invades Virginia, and lands at Portsmouth. — The government prepares to resist the enemy.— Lesiie leaves Virginia. — Arnold invades Virginia, lands at Westover, and marches to Richmond. — He returns to Westover, and arrives' at Portsmouth. — Washington forms a plan to cut off his retreat. — Clinton detaches Gen. Philips to the assistance of Arnold. — Defenc.elesu situation of Virginia. — Philips takes possession of Petersburg, and commits depredations in the vicinity — Death of Gen. Philips. — Cornwallis enters Petersburg. — Tarleton's expedition to Charlottesville.— Various movements of the two armies. — Cornwallis concentrates his army at York and Gloucester. — Surrender of Cornwallis Page 104 CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT TIME. End of the war. — Action of the Virginia Convention upon the federal constitution. — Origin of the Federal and Democratic parties. — Opposition to the alien and sedition laws in Virginia. — Report of Mr. Madi- son thereon.— War of 1812.— Revision of the state constitution in 18'2!)-.'Jt).— Action of Virginia upon the subject of slavery in 1831-2. — Policy of the state in reference to internal improvement and educa- tion Page I'm "Mil INDEX. MISCELLANIES. Page Academy, the first in the valley of Va 454 Allen's Cave 497 Aii'^cdotes, revolutionary 290 359 Ann, Mad, notice of 173 An her, Col. Wm 173 Archer, Dr. B.T 431 Arnold 243 305 399 At^hley, Gen. Wm. H 431 Austin, Stephen, birthplace of 515 Dncon's Castle 48C B.'.ptist, warrior parson. 258 preacher confined at Fairfax 239 Baptists, history and persecutions of 379 college of 312 487 539 Bai.ks, Linn 360 lliirbour. Gov 424 " Judge 424 Bivlor, Ci.l 293 Blackburn, Gen 186 ri:.Mnerhasset, notice of 516 T'liad, Col. Theodorick 440 " Richard 441 Uiiid Preacher 350 -hi.il, insiilution for the 179 )!!owing Cave 185 IJoH unen, life of 490 B(« leer, Wonder, longevity of 435 'i'.'>;etourt. Lord 320 )>.auy, Capt. Samuel 200 I i'.'a.vton. Carter 348 '!urk, the historian 248 .lutialo Knob 270 (tiirsted Rock, the 428 " Oanipbellites," sketch and college of 193 Campbell, Col. Arthur, biography of 503 Gen. Wm 504 505 Cwrington, Judge Paul 220 Carr, Dabney 358 Can. ly's Castle 292 C.-.t'olic Colleges 312 542 Ceil us of 1840 160 'V t'licates, revolutionary 240 ( lart-h, the Established, abolition of 142 Cb.Tcli, nncient.234 247 255 311 315 317 342 381 395 > ' iipe. Sergeant 3.i2 iricient, relics of an 209 I'enry 293 .. L, Gen. Geo. Rogers 234 Gen.Wm.-.r 234 ' (i.-.t ^lines of Eastern Va 230 ii:ii;id)ianCollege 539 ' : Ml tion, troops of KiS ■ntion of 1788 and 1829-30 3!2 t;. Ik, murder of 304 ..;.!.ry, description of, on the Big Sandy 500 ''r.ii-v Island, attack on 403 Cr-,n:ord, Col 1!I3 C;i;i;i,ngham,Capt. Wm 2:')1 (■; 1; jier minxile-men 237 ( ;, "• pean Tovi'ers 180 Page Dodridge, Rev. J., work of 1[I8 Uunmore's palace 328 Early settlers, customs of in nw. Va 198 372 Eastern shore described 404 monumental inscription on 405 Eggleston, Major 174 Emory and Henry College 498 Emigration to Va. from the North 254 Episcopal church, first in valley of Va 273 Episcopal Theological Seminary 543 Eulen'sleap. .-.■ 366 ..>i!i Commodore 403 ))iiM. he passage of 427 P'lrkr, Gen 340 I't, v.es. Rev. Samuel 293 li!i ■ on, J., anecdote of 435 ■^1.- ■ uulDumb 17;) ':. ..a lion of Independence at Richraond-" • 313 ; ■■! - Voiiuer, heroism of 287 -'i.-inal Swamp 401 ■ ou'idge, Philip, suiecdotes of 197 Fairfax, Lord 235 " stone Foreman, Capt., defeat of Forsyth, Hon. John Fort Donnally, attack on " Henry, siege of " Loudon " Nelson, abandoned " Rice, attack of " Savannah " Seybert, massacre at " Young " at Point Pleasant Forts of early settlers described Fortification, ancient Francisco, Peter Garden, the Devil's Gates, Gen German settlers, customs of Germanna, ancient town of Giles, Gov Gilmer, F. W Gigantic race, relics of a • Girardin, the historian Glass windows, the Grundy, Hon. Felix Greenbrier, early settlements in. Grayson, Hon. Wm Graham, Rev. W., anecdotes of-- Great Bridge, battle of Gwyn's Island, battle at 275 300 368 484 287 409 274 399 201 285 428 172 366 201 270 207 300 19-2 461 475 170 265 409 348 444 193 285 442 4.i5 397 37G Harrison, President 218 " Hon. Benj 218 Hanging Rocks, battle near 292 Hampden Sidney College 433 Henry, Patrick 213 220 295 Ilelphisliiie, Major 275 Henrico, origin of its name 302 Hoge, Rev. M 434 Houston, President 455 Horses, wild 163 Hughs, Jesse, anecdotes of. 301 Huguenot settlement • 431 Ice 5Ionntain 291 Indian incursions 173 204 278 286 468 Indian graves 426 '• mounds 350 456 " relics , 300 Indians, ancient, of Va 135 " relics of in eastern Va 349 470 " skirmish with 300 Insane and idiotic persons, number of in Va. .' . 179 James City, battles in 319 Jefterson, President 168 214 Jerterson's Rock 335 Joe Logston, anecdotes of 445 INDEX. IX Page Johnsons, intrepidity of- 41H Joliiison, Juilge Peter 505 Kanawlia, falls of 2R7 " salt works 344 " gas wells 346 " pictured rocks at 346 Kenton, Gen. Simon 267 Laws, ancient 150 Law, Lynch, origin of 212 Lead Mines of Wythe 515 Lee, Gen. Charles 19] " Francis Lightfoot 511 " Gov. 511 " Richard Henry 510 Lewis, Meriwether 171 " Gen. Andrew 204 " Charles 182 302 " family 181 " Colonel Fielding 482 Life in western Va 152 " in eastern Va l.^C Longevity, list of remarkable cases of 148 Long Island, battle of 501 LitlU'page, Lewis 483 Lucas family 279 Lunatic Asylum 178 321 Luray, cave at 425 M'Nutt,Gov 4.56 Mad Ann 172 Mason, George 260 Marshall, John 262 275 Marshall's Pillar 268 M:issle, Gen. N 2*3 Marriages, poetical notices of 332 MMdison, D. D., James • 333 Madison, President 4-J2 Mammoth mound 370 Matoaca, inscriptions at 229 Medical Colleges 312 539 Mercer, Gen. H 480 Meredith, Capt 251 Monumental Inscriptions at Hampton 249 " " oldest in Virginia 261 " " at Turkey Island 312 " " atNorfolk 396 " " «t York 521 523 " " at Washington 540 Morgan, Gen. D 233 276 " anecdote of 515 Moore family, captivity and murder of 489 Moore's Lamentation, a song 405 Moore, Hon. A 456 Moore liouse • • .530 JVloririie, President, 356 Muhlenburg, Gen. P 468 Natural Pillars 278 " Bridge 457 Tunnel 464 Negro duel 351 Nelson family, seat of 295 " Gov 522 Newspapers, lirst in Va 331 Norfolk, burning of 398 Obituary 148 Old Church 520 " Capitol 305 329 " Dominion, origin of the name 131 " magazine 328 " Raleigh tavern 330 O'Hara, Gen., anecdote of 245 Opechancanough's residence 349 Page, Gov 281 Parson Cummings, anecdote of 499 Pass of the James 176 Peter Wright, the hunter 172 Peaks of Otter 189 Page Petersburg volunteers 145 Pendleton, Edmund 215 Philips, the tory 438 Philips, Gen., death of 244 Pocahontas basin 248 " place where she rescued Capt.Smith 282 Poes, the bravery of 414 Point Pleasant, battle of 361 366 " " song on 366 Powell's Fort Valley 426 Point of Fork, invasion of 271 Pleasants, Gov 283 Preaching, the first in western Va 192 Presbyterian clergyman, the first in America . . 293 Princess Ann, skirmish in 438 Prince William, military events in the vicinity. 442 Quakers, persecution of 151 354 Randolph, John of Roanoke 223 440 Edmund 313 " Peyton 333 " Macon College 378 Reminiscences, revolutionar)' 243 River, the lost 300 Richmond Theatre, the burning of 309 invasion of 305 Roberdenu, (Jen. D. 275 Rice, Dr.J. H 434 Ruinsey, the first steamboat inventor 336 ■189 382 Palt, fossil Scotch-Irish, settlements of Scott, Gen. Charles " Major Josepli " Gen. Winlield Scenery of the valley of Va... . Settlements, early, in nw. Va... " " in sw. Va Simcoc, skirmishes of 217 271 290 306 Sheffey, Daniel Spring, Augusia " Alum " Blue Sulphur " Bottetourt " Dagger's " Fauquier " Grayson HoUton " Hygeian " Howard " Jordan " Orkney • " Red " Salt Sulphur " Shannoudale " Sweet " White Sulphur of Greenbrier Slavery and tobacco Slaughter, Capt Southampton insurrection-.. Spotswood, Gov., visit to the family of Statistics of 1840 Stephens, Gen Stevens, Gen. E Stockton, Isabella, romantic courtship of. Sutfslk, burning of Superstition, anecdotes illustrating it at the present Td «17 Weenis, Parson 255 256 Wetzel, Lewis 413 Weedon, Gen 430 Wirt, William 171 William and Mary College 304 Witchcraft, trial for 435 Woodford, Gen. Wm 215 Wolf-pits, construction of 2OP Wythe, George 302 Zane, Elizabeth, heroism of- 41] OUTLINE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA, CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, PROGRESS OF COMMERCE, ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS. Discovery of Atnerica.— England.— Want of Commerce in early times.— Voyages of the Cabots.— Progress of- English discovery— Frobisher— Gilbert— Raleigh.— Fail, ure of the Roanoke settlements. The claims of the Icelanders, the Welsh, and even the Norwe- gians,* to the discovery of America, seem in modern times to be universally set aside in favor of a native of a milder clime. In- deed, the evidence by which their respective claims were sought to be established was so vague, contradictory, and unsatisfactory,! and their discoveries, if proved, so entirely accidental, and useless to mankind, that it is not at all astonishing that all the merit should be given to that individual whose brilliant genius first de- monstrated a priori the existence of a continent in the western waters, and whose adventurous daring J led him to risk his life in the search of a world, of the existence cf which he was only in- formed by his science, with little aid of any human experience ; or that posterity should give td Columbus the undivided glory of an exploit for which he received only* the ignominy of his contempo- raries, and to Italy the honor due the birthplace of so distinguish- ed a son, from whose brilliant achievements she has received little else. In 1460, the Portuguese discovered the Cape de Verd islands, and afterwards extended their discoveries farther south. This near prospect of an easier and more direct route to India, had already begun to excite the jealousy of the Venetians, who then nearly monopolized the trade of India, and to elevate the hopes of the Portuguese, who expected to enjoy a portion of the wealth and luxury which the Venetians derived from that trade ; w^hen the minds of both, and indeed of all Europe, were turned in another * Winterbotham's America, vol. I. p. 1 and 2, and Hinton's United States. t Bancroft's Hist. U- States, vol. I. p. 6, and notes. X " L'ltalie reparut, avec les divins tresors que les Grecs fugitifs rapportferent dans son sein ; le ciei lui revela ses lois ; Vaudace de ses enfants decouvrit un nouvel hemi» phere." — De Stael — Corinne. 12 OUTLINE nrSTOKY. direction by the occurrence of an event in the history of maritime discovery, compared with which all others sunk into insignifi- cance. This event was the discovery of America, by Christopher Colum- Oof 11 7 4Q2 ^^^' The education of this daring mariner, his dis- ' ■ appointments and dangers, his difficulties and his brilliant success, or the melancholy story of his sad reverses, and the example afforded in him of the ingratitude of langs, it is not the purpose of the writer to narrate. He refrains from recounting so temptingly interesting a narrative, because it would lead him too far from his purpose, which is only to narrate succinctly the progress of navigation and discovery to the time of the first colo- ny settled in Virginia, — and because the same story has been so well told by Robertson, Irving, and others, that it ought to be fa- miliar to all. Notwithstanding the advances in navigation which have been enumerated, the art of ship-building was still in such a rude and imperfect state, that the vessels in which Columbus embarked on an unknown sea, a modern mariner, with all the advantages of modern science, would scarcely venture in, to cross the Atlantic. The largest Mas a vessel of no considerable burden,* and the two others scarcely superior in burden to large boats, and the united crews of the three only amounted to ninetij men, including officers, and a few gentlemen, adventurers from Isabella's court. But notwithstanding these inadequate means for the prosecution of maritime discovery, the ardor of enterprise was so much ex- cited by the brilliant achievements of Columbus, the greedy thirst for gain, and hope of finding some country abounding in gold, to- gether with the eager desire which still prevailed of discovering some passage through the great continent of America, which might lead to India, that in twenty-six years from the first discovery of land by Columbus, the Spaniards had visited all of the islands of the West Indies — they had sailed on the eastern coast of America from the Rio de la Plata to the western extremity of the Mexican Gulf- — they had discovered the great Southern Ocean, and had ac- quired considerable knowledge of the coast of Florida. It is also said that these voyages in search of a nearer passage to the East Indies, had extended much farther north, but not however until that country had been discovered by the seamen of another na- tion, of whose exploits in the field of maritime adventure we shall presently speak. The great interior was still unknown, the whole western and the extreme southeastern coasts were still undiscovered, and the long line of coast from Florida to Labrador had only been seen, and touched upon in a few places. England did not at an early period make those advances in nav- igation, to which the eminent advantages of her insular situation * Robertson — Hist. America, 49. OUTLINE HISTORY. 13 invited, and gave, no promise of that maritime distinction, and commercial wealth, to which the wise policy of her subsequent rulers have led her to attain. From tl- ames of the conquest to the discovery of America, England had been engaged in perpetual wars, either" foreign or domestic; and thus, while the southern por- tion of Europe and the free cities on the llhine were advancing so rapidly in opulence and power, England was destitute of even the germ of that naval strength to which she is so much indebted for her present greatness. Every article of foreign growth or fabric which she consumed, was wafted to her shores in the barks of other nations, and the subsequent mistress of the seas scarcely dared to float her flag beyond the limits of her own narrow juris- diction. Scarcely an English ship traded with Spain or Portugal before the beginning of the lifteenth century, and it required an- other half century to give the British mariner courage enough to venture to the east of the Pillars of Hercules.* Feeble as the marine of England then was, her reigning monarch, Henry VII., did not lack the spirit required for undertaking great enterprises, and accident only deprived him of the glory of being the patron of the discoverer of America. Columbus, after the failure of his own native country of Genoa to encourage his great enterprise, and his second rebulF from his adopted country, Portu- gal, fearing another refusal from the king of Castile, to M'hose court he then directed his steps, dispatched his brother Bartholo- mew to England to solicit the aid of Henry VII., who being' then at peace, was supposed to have leisure to undertake a great enter- prise which promised such renown to himself and emolument to England. Bartholomew was captured by pirates on his voyage, and robbed of all his effects, which, with an illness that followed, prevented him from presenting himself at court, after he arrived in England, until he could provide himself with suitable apparel p, , „„, by his skill irK drawing maps and sea-charts. He ' ' ' brought himself to the notice of Henry by present- ing him with a map, and upon his representing to him the propo- sal of Columbus, he accepted it with " a joyful countenance, and bade him fetch his brother." So much delay had been produced by the circumstances mentioned, that Bartholomew, hastening to Castile, learned at Paris, from Charles, king of France, that his brother Christopher's efforts had already been crowned with the most brilliant success. When we reflect upon the difficulties which were thrown in the way of Columbus at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, even after they became convinced of the practicability of his scheme, * Robertson's Virginia, p. 18, 19. tThis date is preserved in some curious verses upon the map, of which we give a spe- cimen : " Bartholmew Colon de Terra Rubra." " The yeere of Grace, a thousand and four hundred and fourscore" "And eight, and on the thirteenth (tay of February more," " In London published this worke. To Christ all laud therefore." Hacklyt, vol. Ill p. 22. (2) 14 OUTLINE HISTORY. and the yet more arduous difficulties which he encountered on his voyage, from the mutinous timidity of his crew, we may well doubt whether Henry's courage would have sustained him in the actual accomplishment of the enterprise, or whether England at that time afforded mariners sufficiently hardy to have persevered a suf- ficient length of time in a seemingly endless voyage upon an un- known sea. Fortunately, perhaps, for mankind, the courage of England was T 9d 14-Q7 ^^^ P*^^ ^^ *^^ ^^^^ ^^ making the first great adven- ■ ' ture ; and whether she would have succeeded in that or not, she was not destitute of sufficient courage to under- take an enterprise of very considerable magnitude at that day, soon after the existence of land in our western hemisphere had been discovered. The merit of this new enterprise is also due to a native of Italy, and his motive was the same which prevailed in most of the ad- ventures of the time, — the desire to discover a new route to India. Giovanni Gaboto, better known by his anglicised name of John Cabot, a Venetian merchant who had settled at Bristol, obtained from Henry a charter for himself and his three sons, Lewis, Sebas- tian, and Santius, allowing them full power and authoritj' to sail into all places in the eastern, western, or northern sea, under the banners of England, with five ships, at their own proper costs and charges, to discover countries before unknown to Christians, to plant the banners of England in all such places, and to take pos- session of them, to hold as vassals of England, to have the exclu- sive monopoly of the trade of all such places, paying to the king one-fifth of the clear profits of every voyage. All other persons were prohibited from visiting such places, and the Cabols were bound always to land on their return only at Bristol. Under this patent, containing "the worst features of colonial monopoly and commercial restriction," John Cabot, and his cele- brated son Sebastian, embarked for the west. The object of Cabot being to discover the passage to India, he pursued a course more northwardly than any selected by previous navigators, and the first land he reached was the coast of Newfoundland, which on that account he named Prima Vista; next the Island of St. John; and ffiially the continent, among the "polar bears, the rude sav- ages and dismal cliffs of Labrador ;" and this seems to have been the only fruit of the first British voyage to America. In the following year a new patent was given to John Cabot, •pro 140S and the enterprise was conducted by his adventurous ' ' and distinguished son, Sebastian. In this expedition, which Avas undertaken for the purposes of trade as well as dis- covery, several merchants of London took part, and even the king himself. Cabot sailed in a northwest course, in hopes of finding a northwest passage to India, as far probably as the 58th or GOth degree of latitude, until he was stopped by the quantities of ice which he encountered, and the extreme severity of the weather; OUTLINE HISTORY. 15 he then turned his course southward and followed the coast, ac- cording to some writers to the coast of Virginia, and in the opinion of some, as far as the coast of Florida. The only commodities with which he returned to England, as far as our accounts inform us, were three of the natives of the newly discovered countries. He found, upon his return, the king immersed in his preparations for a war with iScotland, which prevented his engaging in any further prosecution of his discoveries, or entertaining any design of settlement. It is not our purpose to notice the Portuguese discoveries under Cotereal, the French under Verrazzani and Cartier, or their abor- tive attempt at settlements in Canada and New England. Nor shall we notice the extensive inland expedition of the Spaniards under Soto from Florida, through the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, across the Mississippi, and into Louisiana, — or the at- tempts of the French at settlement in Florida and the Carolinas, — these matters belong rather to the history of the United States, than to the sketch of the history of Virginia which we propose to give. We pass at once to the British attempts at colonization in America. The progress of maritime adventure extended rapidly. The evidence exists of several English voyages having been made not only to the coast of North America, but the Levant, the harbors , _ .£> of northern Africa and Brazil. The visits to the fisheries of Newfoundland had become frequent ; and the commerce from that source had become of such importance, and had been the subject of such long and oppressive exactions, as to require the action of parliament for their prohibition. India was still the great object with the merchants, and the dis- ,_^^ covery of a nearer passage than that offered by the Cape of Good Hope, the great desideratum with mariners. The northwestern passage had be^n attempted thrice by the Cabots in vain ; a northeastern expedition was fitted out, and sailed under the command of Willoughby and Chancellor. Willoughby with his ship's company were found in their vessel frozen to death in a Lapland harbor ; Chancellor with his vessel entered the port of , ;._ . Archangel, and "discovered" the vast empire of Russia, till then unknown to Western Europe. This discovery led to the hope of establishing an intercourse by means of caravans ■t^ng across the continent to Persia, and thence to the distant empire of Cathay. Elizabeth afforded every encouragement to the maritime enter- prises of her subjects, and especially encouraged the newly estab- j^^g lished intercourse with Russia. The hope of discovering a northwest passage was by no means as yet relinquished. Martin Frobisher, after revolving in his mind the subject for fif- teen years, believed that it might be accomplished, and " deter- mined and resolved within himself to go and make full proof there- of," "knowing this to be the only thing in the world that was lefjt 16 OUTLINE HISTORY. yet undone, whereby a notable mind might be made famous and fortunate." Frobisher was too poor to supply himself with the means of carrying his designs into execution ; but after much solici- tation at court he was patronised by Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who supplied him with two small barks, the one of twenty and the other of twenty-five tons burden, and a pinnace of ten tons. With this little fieet he set sail. The expedition was entirely unfor- tunate. One of his barks deserted and returned home, the pinnace went down in a storm, " whereby he lost only four men :" with such small vessels and crews did the hardy mariners of that day ven- ture to cross the Atlantic. The Admiral's mast was sprung, and the top-mast blown overboard, by the same storm in which he lost the pinnace; but, nothing daunted, he persevered, and entered Hud- son's Bay. The only thing accomplished by the voyage was the taking possession of the cold and barren wilderness in the name of Elizabeth, carrying home some of the gravel and stones, one of the latter of which, resembling gold, or probably having some gold artificially mingled with it after it reached London, caused the gold refiners nearly to go mad, and the merchants to under- take one of the wildest expeditions recorded in the annals of dis- covery ; besides this show of gold, which was pronounced very rich for the quantity, the only other acquisition was a poor native> whose simplicity was imposed upon by the most treacherous de- vices, until he was decoyed to the English vessel, and then seized by force, and carried away from his friends. He bit ofi" his tongue from despair, and died soon after his arrival in England, from cold taken on the voyage. The mania which the story of the little bit of gold produced in , _^« London caused a fleet of several vessels to be fitted out, of which the queen herself furnished one, to bring home the rich produce of these icy mines. , The ships returned with black earth, but no gold. The spirit of avarice was not to be stopped in her career by a - _~j, single failure; a new fieet of fifteen vessels was fitted out, and to Martin Frobisher was given the command. A colony was to be planted for the purpose of working the mines, while twelve vessels were to be sent home with ore. After almost in- credible difficulties, encountered amid storms and " mountains of floating ice on every side," the loss of some vessels, and the deser- tion of others, they reached the norlhern Potosi, and the ships were well laden with the black earth ; but the colonists, being disheartened by their hardships, declined settling on the coast, and all returned to England. We are not informed of the value of the proceeds o^ the cargo. While the British queen and her merchants were indulging themselves in fancies as brilliant and as evanescent as the icebergs which encumbered the scene of the delusion, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of insuperable energy and fearless enterprise, ibimed a design of promoting the fisheries, and engaging in useful colonization. OUTLINE HISTORY. i 7 With this view he obtained a patent of the same character with y 1 1 1 '7Q most of those which were granted to the early pro- ' ■ moters of colonization in America, conferring un- bounded privileges upon the proprietor, and guarantying no rights to the colonists. The lirst expedition, in which Gilbert had , p.,yq expended much of his private fortune, failed, — from what cause is uncertain. The second expedition, undertaken four years afterwards, was ,_g.o still more unfortunate ; for it lost to the world the gallant and accomplished pi-ojector of the expedition. Five vessels sailed from Plymouth on Tuesday, the 11th of June, 1583. Two days afterward, the vice-admiral complained of sickness abo,ard, and returned with the finest ship in the fleet to Plymouth. The admiral, nevertheless, continued his course with his little squadron, and took possession, with the feudal ceremony, of Newfoundland, to be held by him as a fief of the crown of England, in accordance with the terms of his charter. The looseness of morals displayed by the mariners of that day is truly disgusting, and increases our wonder at the during of men who could venture so far from home, in such frail barks, with almost a certainty of encountering on the great highway, in their fellow-men, greater perils than were presented by all the terrors of the deep. Robbery by sea was too common, and often com- mitted in violation of the most sacred obligations, even upon per- sons engaged in the very act of relieving the distress of the depre- dators.* Gilbert seems to have been cursed with a remarkably riotous and insubordinate company. The sick and disaffected were left at Newfoundland to be sent home with the Swallow, and the admiral proceeded with his three remaining barks. On Tuesday the 20th of August they sailed from tlie harbor of St. Johns, and on the 29th, in about latitude 44 degrees, the largest remaining vessel, by the carelessness of the crew, struck, and went to pieces, and the other barks were forced by a high sea and a lee shore to struggle for their own preservation, which they accom- plished with difficulty, — alleging, at the same time, that they could see none of the crew of tlie wreck floating upon timbers, but all seemed to have gone down when the ship broke up. A few, how- ever, escaped, to Newfoundland in the ship's pinnace, as was after- wards discovered. This calamity, followed by continual storms, in an unknown and shoaly sea, enhanced by an extreme scantiness of pro,visious, and want of clothes and comforts in the two little barks which yet . oi remained, induced the admiral, at the earnest solieita- °" * tion of his men, to return homeward. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was vehemently persuaded by the crew of the Golden Hind to remain with them during the voyage ; bufi, as some malicious taunts had been thrown out by some evil-disposed person, accusing * See a remarkable instance in Hacklyt, vol. III., 191, 196, &.c. 3 (2*) 18 OUTLINE HISTORY. him of being afraid of the sea, he chose to continue to sail in his little pinnace, the Squirrel, which was burdened beyond her strength. After the vessels had left the Azores to the south, and reached the latitude of England, they encountered violent and continued storms. On Monda}^ the 9th of September, the Squirrel was nearly cast away, but recovered, and the admiral was seen sitting abaft with a book in his hand, and heard to cry out to those in the Hind, " We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." That same night, at 12 o'clock, the Squirrel being in advance, her light suddenly disappeared, and her hardy crew, with their gallant commander, c . ^-,p sleep forever in the deep. The Hind reached Falmouth ^ * 'in safety, but after encountering eminent peril to the last moment.* The daring spirit of the mariners of that day is amazing. Sir Walter Raleigh, the step-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, so far from being intimidated by the melancholy fate of his relative, or disheartened by the unprofitable and disastrous termination of M h 9^ ^'^f^d ^i^o''t of the voyages to America, undertook in the ' ■ very next year an expedition to the coast of the present United States. He easily obtained one of the usual un- limited patents from Elizabeth, and, leaving the cold north. Avith its barren snows, its storms, icebergs, and certain evils, together with its fmaginary wealth, he spread his sails for the sweet south, where he was sure to iind a fertile soil and a delightful climate, though his ship's company might not all be enriched by the dis- covery of gold. On the second of July they found shoal water, " and smelt so sweet and strong a smell, as if they had been in the midst of some delicate garden abounding M'ith all kinds of odoriferous flowers." On the 13th they entered Ocracock inlet, on the coast of the present state of North Carolina, and landed on Wocoken Island. They commenced an intercourse with the natives, who proved to be bold, confiding, intelligent, and honorable to their friends, but treacherous, revengeful, and cruel towards their enemies. The English explored a little the surrounding islands and bays, and returned home in September, carrying with them two natives, Manteo and Wanchese. The glowing description given by the adventurers, on their return, of the beauty of the country, the fer- tility of the soil, and pleasantness of the climate, delighted the queen, and induced her to name the country of which she had taken possession, Virginia, in commemoration of her unmarried life. It might be expected that so favorable an account Avould soon -_ot- lead to a new expedition. Accordingly, anolher was pre- pared for the succeeding year, consisting of seven vessels. * Hacklyt, III., 184 to 202 OUTLINE HISTORY. 19 Ralph Lane was appointed by Raleigh governor of the colony, which consisted of one hundred and eight persons. Sir Richard Grenville took command of the fleet, and several learned and accomplished men attended the expedition, one of whom has trans- mitted to posterity many interesting particulars of the nature of the country, and the habits, manners, and government of its in- habitants. The English soon began to maltreat the harmless, unpretending, T 1 111 ^sr ^^^ simple natives, and they, on the other hand, to ^ ' ' grow jealous of the power of the overbearing strangers. They soon learned the inordinate passion of the new- comers for gold, and, taking advantage of their credulity, inflicted upon them the labor of many fruitless expeditions in search of pretended mines, — hoping at the same time, by these divisions, to weaken the power of the little colony to such a degree that they might be able to destroy it in detachment ; but the English were too cautious for this, and went too short a distance, and in force too powerful for the Indians to encounter with the great disparity of arms. The greatest advantage which accrued from these expe- ditions, and indeed from the whole attempt at a settlement, was the discovery of Chesapeake Bay. The little colony, flnding no gold, and receiving no supplies from England, had begun to despond, when most unexpectedly Sir Francis Drake arrived, on his return from his expedition against the Spaniards in South America, with a fleet of three and twenty ships. The sagacity of Drake perceived in a moment %vhat was necessary for the colony, and his generosity supplied them with provisions, vessels, and other things necessary to maintain their position, extend their researches, and, if necessary, to return to England ; but the accomplishment of his purpose was defeated by a violent storm which suddenly arose, and nearly wrecked his whole fleet, driving the vessel,of provisions intended for the colony to sea, and destroying the vessels which had been set apart to be left for their use. He would have supplied others ; but the colony, T iq with their governor at their head, earnestly requesting * permission to return to England, he complied with their wishes. Thus terminated the first English settlement in America. This little colony, during its sojourn with the Indians, had ac- quired something of their fondness for the use of tobacco, and learned to regard it with almost the same superstitious reverence, as a powerful medicinal agent. Upon their return, they introduced the use of this plant into England ; and a weed at first disgusting and nauseatiiig to all who use it, has become gradually the favor- ite luxury (and indeed with many a necessary of life) of all classes of society, and of both the young and the old throughout the world, • — and this, after experience has proved that in most cases it is an injury rather than a benefit to the health. A few days after Lane's departure, an English vessel arrived on the coast with every necessary for the colony, but finding it de- 20 OUTLINE HISTORY. serted, returned home. Sir Richard Grenville arrived soon after with three ships, well furnished with stores for the colony ; but not finding it. he also returned, leaving fifteen men on Roanoke Island, to keep possession in the name of Great Britain. The genius of Sir Walter Raleigh was not of a nature to suc- , _cj^ cumb to slight failures, or ordinary difficulties. The suc- ceeding year another colony was dispatched to settle in Virginia ; and that they might consider their settlement perma- nent, and Virginia their home, many persons with wives and fami- lies were sent. J „ A charter of incorporation was granted for a town, to be called the City of Raleigh, a name revived in after times in the present metropolis of North Carolina. John White was appointed governor, and, with eleven assistants, constituted the administration for the control of the colony. Ample provision was made by the noble and liberal proprietor for the comfort of the colonists, and a plentiful stock of instruments of husbandry pro- vided, to enable them to supply their own future wants, and estab- lish themselves on the only footing which could possibly be expected to be permanent. . .-, ^p The company embarked in April, and arrived in July ^ * at the place where they expected to find the tilteen un- fortunate men whom Grenville had left. But their grounds were grown up in weeds, their tenantless dwellings had become the abode of the wild animals of the forest, and their scattered bones, blanching in the sun, were the last sad memorials which told their fate to their anxious countrymen. Whether they fell by civil dis- sensions among themselves, b}' famine or disease, or were yet more miserably cut oft" by the overpowering numbers of a savjige host, taking advantage of their desolate situation, (deprived of sympa- thy, and destitute of the hope of succor.) is one of the mysteries of history which the ken of man may not unravel. The sagacity of Raleigh had directed the new settlement to be made on the shores of the magnificent Chesapeake, and there was the new city to be built ; but the naval officer, prel'erring trade T 1 o then, was their astonishment, when they reached Jamestown, (after a more •' ' " prosperous voyage than tliey could have expected in their crazy vessels,) to meet, instead of the wurm and joyful welcome of their countrymen, in the full fruition of health and plenty, only the greedy cravings of a icw miseruble wretches, begging for a sufficiency of food to preserve their existence. Not anticipating this melancholy situ- ation, they had only provided themselves with enough provision for their voyage, and were unable to relieve the necessities of their fellow-creatures, whose sutierings it was so painful to witness. It was impossible, in this situation, to remain longc;" in the colony. All were embarked on board the vessels, Jamestown wus abandoned, and it was with difficulty that its departing citizens could be prevented from setting fire to the habitations in which they had suffisred so much misery. All the provisions which could be raised did not amount to more than would support them for 16 days, at the most limited allow- ance ; yet with this they set out witii the hope to reach Newfoundland, where they expected to be relieved by the British fishing-vessels. But although it had been the will of Heaven to permit the colo- nists to receive an awful chastisement for their misconduct, yet it was not decreed by the Ruler of all human affairs that the colony should be entirely abandoned, and so much labor and suffering be useless to mankind, or so line a country left in its original wild and unimproved condition. Before Gates and his associates had reached the mouth of James River, they were met by Lord De La Ware, with three ship.s, having on board a number of new settlers, an ample stock of provisions, and everything requisite for defence or cultivation. B}' persuasion and authority he prevailed upon T irx M'in them to return to Jamestown, where they found June 10, 1610. ^. • /■ . j i i • -J their tort and houses and magazines m the same situation in which they had been left. A society with so bad a constitution, and such a weak and disordered frame, required skilful and tender nursing to restore it to vigor. Lord De La Ware was fully competent to his station. He held a long consultation to ascertain the cause of the previous difficulties, and concluded, after listening to their mutual accusations, by a speech full of wholesome advice, recommending the course they should pursue, and assuring them that he should not hesitate to exercise his law- ful authority in punishing the insubordinate, dissolute, and idle. By unwearied assiduit}^ by the respect due to an amiable and beneficent character, by knowing how to mingle severity with indulgence, and when to assume the dignity of his office, as well as when to display the gentleness natural to his own temper, he gradually reconciled men corrupted by anarchy to subordination and discipline, he turned the attention of the idle and profligate to industry, and taught the Indians again to reverence and dread the English name. Under such an administration, the colony began T\/r 1 oQ i^n once more to assume a promising appearance, iviarcn -co, loii. i i .. ,. ., i- ,• ,• i- when, unhappily Jor it, a complication of diseases brought on by the climate obliged Lord De La Ware to quit the country, the government of which he committed to Mr. Percy. The colony at this time consisted of about two hundred men ; but the departure of the governor was a disastrous event, which pro- duced not only a despondency at Jamestown, but chilled the zeal- ous warmtli of the London company, and caused a decided reac- OUTLINE HISTORY. 37 tion in the popular mind in England, which was exhibited in the manner in which popular feeling delights to display itself — by exhibiting the Virginia colony as a subject of derision upon the stage. Before the departure of Lord De La Ware, the company in England had dispatched Sir Thomas Dale with supplies ; and it T.r ,^ was well he arrived so soon, for the company were al- '^^ ■ ready fast relapsing to their former state of idleness and improvidence, and had neglected to plant corn, which he caused to be done immediately. The company having found all their previous systems of government inefficient, granted to Sir Thomas Dale more absolute authority than had been granted to any of his predecessors, — impowering him to rule by martial law, a short code of which, founded on the practice of the armies in the Low Countries, (the most rigid school at that time in Europe,) they sent out with him. This system of violent and arbitrary government was recommended by Sir Francis Bacon, the most enlightened phi- losopher, and one of the most eminent lawyers of his age. It proves the depth of his sagacity ; for it would have been absurd to apply the refined speculative theories of civil government to a set of mutinous, undisciplined, idle, ignorant creatures, shut up in a fort, surrounded by hostile nations, and dependent upon their own exertions for support. Surely, in such a case a strong government was as necessary as in a ship at sea, and more so than in ordinary military stations, where habitual discipline preserves order and ensures respect to the officers. The governor who was now intrusted with this great but neces- sary power, exercised it with prudence and moderation. By the vigor which the summary mode of military punishment gave to his administration, he introduced into the colon}- more perfect order than had ever been established there ; and at the same time he tempered its vigor with so much ^discretion, that no alarm seems to have been given by this innovation. In May, Sir Thomas Dale wrote to England full information of the weakness of the colony, but recommending in strong terms the importance of the place. His favorable representations were fully confirmed by Lord De La Ware and Sir Thomas Gates. The hopes of the company were resuscitated, and in August, Gates arrived at Jamestown with six ships and three hundred emigrants. The colony, which now^ consisted of seven hundred men, was sur- rendered into the hands of Gates ; and Dale, by his permission, made a settlement with three hundred and fifty chosen men upon a neck nearly surrounded by the river, which, in honor of Prince Henry, he called Henrico. One of the greatest checks to industry which had hitherto existed in the colony was the community of property in the provisions and stores. The idle and dissipated, seeing that they were to have a full share, had no stimulus to exertion, and the industrious were disheartened by seeing the larger portion of the fruits of their industry consumed by the idle members of the little society. So discouraging was this state of things to exertion, that frequently, in the best times, the labor of thirty did not accomplish more (4) 38 OUTLINE HISTORY. than was done under a different system by three. Gates perceived the evil and applied the remedy. He distributed a certain portion of land to each individual to be worked for his own benefit, still paying, however, a small portion of his produce to the general store to provide against contingencies. This policy was found so advantageous that every encouragement was afforded to individual enterprise in the acquisition of wealth. But little respect was paid to the rights of the Indians ; for some depredation or injury from the tribe of Apamatuck, they were dispossessed of their corn and their cabins, which, " considering the position commodious," were unceremoniously appropriated by the English tp their own benefit. The colony now having extended considerably, assumed a more regular form, by pur- M Vi 10 ifiio suing a more consistent system of poHcy ; and beginning to promise "' "' permanency, a new charter was granted by James. This confirmed and enlarged all tlie privileges and immunities which had been previously granted, e-xtended the time of exemption from duties, and enlarged their territory and jurisdiction to all islands and seats within tliree hundred miles of the coast. This included the newly discovered, fertile Bermudas, which were soon after sold by the company to one hundred and twenty of its members. This new cliarter made some changes in the constitution of the company, by giving more power to the company itself and less to the council ; it also conferred the power of raising money by lottery for the benefit of the colony, which was the first introduc- M h IfiQI ^'*^" of this pernicious system of taxation into England, and wiiich was ' ■ soon after prohibited by act of Parliament, but not until the company had raised nearly thirty thousand pounds by tiie privilege. As the new system of policy had increased the independence and preserved the num- bers of the colony, so had it increased its strength and the respect of the savages. One ■ jwerful tribe now voluntarily sought British protection, and became British subjects ; nother was brought to a close and friendly alliance by a tenderer tie than fear could tftord. Captain Argall, in a voyage to the Potomac for the purpose of purchasing corn, fell in with an old chief named lapazaws, to whom Powhatan had intrusted Pocahontas, which he disclosed to Argall, and'offered to sell her to him for a copper kettle. The bargain was made, and Pocahontas being enticed on board by the cunning of her guardian, was carried oil" without once suspecting the treachery of the old hypocrite. The authorities at Jamestown availed themselves of the possession of this lucky prize to endeavor to extort from Powhatan a high ransom ; but the old emperor, though he really loved his daughter, seemed to be so highly at- fronted at the indignity offered him, that he preferred fighting those \yho had robbed him of his daughter to purchasing her free- dom. But while this matter was in agitation, a treaty of a difler- ent character was going forward between the young princess her- self and Mr. Rolfe, a highl}^ respectable young gentleman of Jamestown, who, struck by her beauty, and fascinated by her man- ners, so far superior to the rest of her race, wooed and won her affections, and obtained a promise of her hand. The news of this amicable adjustment of all difficulties soon reached the ears of Powhatan, and met with his cordial approbation. He sent the uncle and two brothers of Pocahontas to witness the nuptial cere- monies at Jamestown, which were solemnized with great pomp, according to the rites of the English church. From this marriage several of the most highly respected families in Virginia trace their descent. Happy would it have been for both races, if this amalgamation had been promoted by other instances, but this is the only case upon record. This marriage secured the permanent OUTLINE HISTORY. 39 friendship of Powhatan, and all under his induence ; and the Chickahominies, his next neighbors, when they heard of it, sent deputies, and submitted by solemn treaty to become subjects to King James, and to submit to his governor in the colony, — to pay tribute, — and furnish men to fight against whatever enemies should attack the colony ; only stipulating that at home they should con- tinue to be governed by their own laws. We have already mentioned a partial distribution of landr. by Sir Thomas Dale, for the purpose of encouraging individual indus- try; it may be well to explain more in detail the tenure by \Vhich lands were held by individuals. At the favored Bermudas plan- tation, near the mouth of the Appomattox, either on account of the greater merit, longer service, or some favorable circumstances attending the expense of the emigration of the tenants, the lands were held by a rent of two and a half barrels of corn annually to the general stock, and one month's service, which was not to be in time of sowing or of harvest. Those who had been brought over at the expense of the company, had three acres of land allot- ted them, and two bushels of corn from the public store, and with this scanty allovv^ance were required to support themselves by one month's labor ; the other eleven being required by the company. This species of laborers had decreased in 1017 to fifty-four, includ- ing all classes ; and these were finally released entirely from their vassalage by Sir George Yeardley, in 1G17. The original bounty to emigrants coming at their own expense, or that of others than the company, had been one hundred acres of land; but after the colony became better settled, it was reduced to fifty, the actual occupancy of which gave a right to as many more. The payment of twelve pounds and ten shillings to the treasurer of the company, entitled the adventurer to a grant of one hundred acres, the occu- pancy of which also secured a right to as many more.* The labor of the colony, which had been for a long time misdirected in the manufac- ture of ashes, soap, glass, and tar, in which they could by no means compete with Sweden and Russia, and also in phmting vines which require infinite lahonand atten- tion, and for which subsequent experiments have indicated the climate to be unfit, was at length directed, by the extended use of tobacco in England,! almost exclusively to the cultivation of that article. This commodity always finding a ready price, and af- ^/^,c fairs being now so regulated that each one could enjoy the fruits of his labor, was cultivated so assiduously, as to take off the attention of the planters too much from raising corn, so that it becaine scarce, and supplies had again to be looked for from England, or purchased of the Indians. The fields, gardens, public squares, and * Smith, Book IV. p. 18. Bancroft, I. p. 167. Burke. t Note by Robertson. — •' It is a matter of some curiosity, to trace the progress of the consumption of this uimecessary commodity. Tiie use of tobacco seems to have been first introduced into England about the year 1586. Possibly a few seafaring persons may have acquired a relish for it, by their intercourse with the Spaniards, previous to that period ; but it could by no means be denominated a national habit anterior to that date. Upon an average of the seven years immediately preceding the year 1622, the whole import of tobacco into England amounted to a hundred and forty-two thousand and eighty-five pounds wei'^ht, Stith, p. 246. From this it appears that the taste had spread with a rapidity which is remarkable. But how inconsiderable is that quantity to what is consumed now in Great Britain I" or now I ! 40 OUTLINE HISTORY. even the streets of Jamestown, were planted with tobacco, and thus becoming an ar- ticle of universal desire, it became, to a great extent, the circulating medium of the col- ony. Not only private debts, but salaries and officers' fees were paid in tobacco ; and the statute-book to this day rarely mentions the payment of money, that it does not add, as an equivalent, " or tobacco " Early in the year 1614, Sir Thomas Gates had returned to Eng- land, leaving the colony, which then consisted of about four hun- dred men, under the command of Sir Thomas Dale, who in his turn desiring to visit England and his family, left the colony in 1616, under the protection and control of Sir Thomas Yeardley. With Dale, Mr. Kolfe and his interesting bride, Pocahontas, sailed. By a communication from Smith, her amiable and valua- ble conduct was made known at court, and every attention was shown her, both by the queen and many of the nobility. This ex- cellent princess, whose deportment was so far superior to that wdiich the condition of her race would authorize one to expect, that it won for her universal admiration and esteem, was destined never more to behold her father or her native land. She died at Gravesend, where she was preparing to embark with her husband and child for Virginia. Peace to her gentle spirit ! Her memory will not perish while the commonwealth ojf Virginia endures, or noble and generous actions are valued by her sons, Yeardley's administration was similar to that of his predeces- sors, enforcing obedience from his own men, and the respect of the savages. He was succeeded, in 1617, by Captain Argall, who was a rough seaman, accustomed to the despotic sway of his own ship, naturally tyrannical in his disposition, cruel and covetous, in short, a person utterly unfit to be trusted with the administration of the arbitrary government which then existed in Virginia. For al- though we have considered such a government the only practica- ble one which could have been then established, yet it required the utmost firmness in the governor, tempered b}'' mildness, prudence, and discretion, to make it tolerable. Such had been the case under the adruini^tration of Gates, Dale, and Yeardley, and under them the colony had prospered more than it had ever done before ; but such was not the disposition of this new governor. Instead of holding the severity of the laws in terrorem over them, and not actually resorting to the extent of his power, except in cases of extreme necessity, he sought to bring innocent actions within the letter of the law, which indeed was not very difficult with the bloody military code which then existed. These arbitrary exer- tions of power were principally used in the gratification of his inordinate rapacity, which, in its indiscriminate grasp, sought not only to clutch the property of the colonists, but also trespassed upon the profits of the company. Not satisfied with perverting the labor of the free colonists to his own use or pleasures, he con- sumed the time of the servants of the company upon his own plantations. At length his conduct was so flagitious, in the case of one Brewster, who was left by Lord Delaware to manage his POCAHONTAS. The above is copied from an engraving said to be an exact copy of an original drawing of the " Lady Rebecca," or Pocahontas, as she is usually called. It shows her in the fashionable English dress of the time in which she lived. The following is inscribed around and underneath the original portrait. " Matoka als Rebecca Filia Potentiss Princ : Powhatani Imp : Virginia." " Matoaks als Rebecka, daughter to the Mighty Prince Powhatan, Emperour of Attanough- komouck als Virginia, converted and baptised in the Christian faith, and wije to the wor^^ Mr John Rolff." " ^tatis suce 21 A. D. 161G." OUTLINE HISTORY. 41 estate, and who only sought to prevent Argall from utterly despoil- ing it, that neither the colony nor company could bear his tyranny longer, but he was deposed and Sir George Yeardley sent in his place. Yet he contrived to escape punishment, by the misman- agement of some and the connivance of others, and preserved all of his ill-gotten booty. One of the first acts of Yeardley was to emancipate the remaining servants of the colony. The labor now being free, each man enjoying tlie fruits of his own industry, iciQ ^""^ anxious to increase his store, there was no fear of scarcity, and no time or opportunity for mutiny among the scattered and industrious planters. With the increasing strength and independence* of the colony, all fear of tiie savages had vanished. It is manifest that in these altered circumstances, a modification of the de- spotic government ought to have been made, because its severity was no longer neces- sary, and while the power existed it might be abused, as the colony seriously experien- ced in the case of Argall. The only use of government is to ensure the safety of the state from external foes, to secure justice and the free disposition of person and property to each individual, and sometimes to aid in the prosecution of such objects of general utility as individual enterprise cannot accomplish. The moment the colonists began to take an interest in the country, by the enjoyment of their own labor, and the possession of property, it was right that they should have some share in that government, in the prudent conduct of which they were most interested. Yeardley was aware of this, for without any authority from home which we can trace, he called together a General As- sembly consisting of two members from every town, borough, or hundred, besides the governor and council, which met at Jamestown, near the end of June, 1619. In this assembly seven corporations were represented, and four more were laid off ia the course of the same summer. In this first North American legislature, wherein were " debated all matters thought expedient for the good of the colony," several acts were passed which were pronounced by the treasurer of the company to be " well and judiciously carried," but which are unfortunately lost to posterity. This was an eventful year to the colony, for in addition to their assembly, a college was established in Henrico, with a liberal endowment. King James had exacted :ei5,tJ00 from the several bishops of his kingdom for the purpose of educating Indian children, and 10,0U0 acres of land were now added by the company; and the original design was extended to make it a seminary of learning also for the English. One hundred idle and dissolute persons, in custody for various misdemeanors, were transported by the authority of the king and against the wishes of the company to Virginia. They were distributed through the colony as servants to the planters ; and the degradation of the colonial character produced by such a process, was endured for the assistance derived from them in executing the various plans of industry, that were daily extending themselves. This beginniMg excited in the colonists a desire for using more extensively other labor than their own, an opportunity for the gratification of which, unfortunately, too soon occurred. In this eventful year, too, a new article was intro- duced into the trade of the company with the colony, by the good policy of the treasurer, Sir Edward Sandys, which produced a material change in the views and feelings of the colonists with regard to the countrj'. At the accession of Sir Edwin to office, after twelve years labor, and an expenditure of eighty thousand pounds by the company, there were in the colony no more than six hundred persons, men, women, and children. In one year he provided a passage for twelve hundred and sixty-one new emigrants. Among these were ninety agreeable young women, poor but respectable and incorrupt, to furnish wives to the colonists. The wisdom of this policy is evident, — the men had hitherto regarded Virginia only as a place of temporary sojourn for the acquisition of wealth, and never dreamed of making a permanent residence in a place where it was impossible to enjoy any of the comforts of domestic life. They had consequently none of those endearing ties of home and kindred to bind them to the country, or attach them to its interests, which are so necessary to make a good citizen. This new com- modity was transported at the expense of the colony, and sold to the young planters, and the following year another consignment was made of sixty young maids of virtuous * The savages now sometimes purchased corn of the English, instead of supplying them as formerly. 6 (4*) 42 OUTLINE HISTORY. education, young, handsome, and well recommended. A wife in the first lot sold gen erally for one hundred pounds of tobacco, but as the value of the new article became known in the maritet, the price rose, and a wife would bring a hundred and lilty pounds of tobacco. A debt for a wife was of higher dignity than other debts, and to be paid first. As an additional inducement to marriage, married men were generally preferred in the selection of officers for the colony. Domestic ties were formed, habits of thrift ensued, comforts were increased, and happiness diffused ; the tide of emigration swelled : within three years fifty patents for land were granted, and three thousand five hundred persons found their way to Virginia. In the month of August of this year an event occurred which stamped its impress iron upon the constitution of Virginia, and indeed of the whole southern portion of America so deeply, that it will be difficult to erase it save by the destruction of society. This was the introduction of twenty African slaves by a Dutch vessel, which availed itself of the freedom of commerce, which had been released from the shackles of the company's monopoly in the early part of this year, to rivet forever the bonds of slavery upon a portion of tlieir fellow-creatures and their descendants. The indented and covenanted servants which had been long known in Virginia, and whose condition was little better than that of slavery, was a small evil and easily removed, because they were of the same color and country with their masters ; wiien they were emancipated they leaped at once from their shackles to the full dignity of freedom. No one scorned to associate with them, and no one spurned tlicir alliance ; if honorable and worthy in other respects, they were equal to their masters, and might even rise to distinction. But not so the poor African. Nature has fixed upon him a stamp which cannot be erased or forgotten, the badge of his bondage is borne with him, when his fetters have crumbled to the dust. The overbearing disposition of King James created a powerful popular party in England, which being unable to establish a liberal government at home, was determined to secure for free principles a safe asylum in the colonies. The accomplishment of this determina- tion was accelerated by the disposition of the king to intermeddle with this very subject. He was exceedingly jealous of the company, in which the patriot party prevailed, and suspicious of the liberal principles discussed in its meetings with uncontrolled freedom : he feared it as the school of debate, and nursery of parliamentary leaders. Upon the resignation of Sir Edwin Sandys of his office M 17 iron ^^ treasurer, the king determined to try the extent ^ ' '^ ■ of his influence in the election of a successor to this first office in the company. He accordingly sent in a nomina- tion of four individuals, to one of whom he desired the office to be given ; but he proved unsuccessful in his attempt at dictation, and none of his nominees were elected, but the choice fell upon the Earl of Southampton, The compan}^ having thus vindicated its own privileges, pro- ceeded next to guaranty freedom to the colonists, by a constitution remarkably liberal for the time and circumstances. This charter of freedom, the principles of which the Virginians never could be brought subsequently to relinquish, has been preserved to posterity in '"Summary of the ordinance and constitution of the treasurer, council and company in England, for a council of state, and another council to be called the General Assembly in A'irginia, contained in a commission to Sir Francis Wyatt (the ilrst governor under that ordinance and constitution) and his council," dated July 24, 1621. The council of state was to be chosen by the treasurer, council OUTLINE HISTORY 43 and company in England, with the power of removal at pleasure ; their duty was to advise and assist the governor, and to constitute a portion of the General Assembly. This General Assembly was to be called by the governor once a year, and not oftener, unless on very extraordinary and important occasions ; it was to consist, in addition to the council of state, of two burgesses, out of every town, hundred, or other particular plantation, to be respectively chosen by the inhabitants ; in which council all matters were to be decided, determined, and ordered, by the greater part of the voices then present, reserving to the governor always a negative voice. " And this General Assembly was to have full power, to treat, consult, and conclude, as well of all emergent occasions con- cerning the public weal of the said colonj^ and every part thereof, as also to make, ordain, and enact such general laws and orders, for the behoof of said colony, and the good government thereof, as from time to time might seem necessary." The General Assembly and council of state were required to imitate and follow the policy of the form of government, laws, customs, and manner of trial, and of the administration of justice, used in the realm of England, as near as might be, as the com- pany itself was required to do, by its charter. No law or ordi- nance Avas to continue in force or validity unless it was solemnly ratitied in a general quarterly court of the company, and returned under seal ; and it was promised that as soon as the government of the colony should once have been well framed and settled, that no orders of court should afterwards bind the colony, unless they were ratified in the same manner by the General Assembly. When Sir Francis arrived, he found that negligence and security among the colo- nists, which is the inevitable consequence of a long peace. Old Powhatan had died in 1618, honored by the esteem and respect of all who knew him — his own people holding in grateful remembrance his prowess and policy in youth, and his mildness in age — and his English friends and brethren admiring his firm support of his dignity, his paternal afFection, his mild simplicity, and his native intelligence. He was succeeded in his power by Opechancanough, his younger brother, who was cunning, treacherous, revenge, ful, and cruel. He renewed tlie former treaties, with every assurance of good faith, and wore the mask of peace and friendship so successfully as completely to lull the whites to security. But this crafty prince had always viewed with peculiar jealousy and hate the progress of the colony. He had given much trouble, and engaged in frequent hos- tilities, while he was king of Pamunkee, and it was not to be supposed that he would patiently submit to the continued and rapid encroachments of the whites upon his lands, to the entire extermination or banishment of his people, now that he possessed the em- pire of his brother. But to meet them in tbe field was impossible, the disparity in arms was too great, and the numbers in fighting men now equal ; the attempt would be mad- ness and desperation, and lead to that e'xtermination of his race which he wished to avoid. His only resource was to strike some great and sudden blow which should anni- hilate the power of the colony at once. He had applied to a king who resided on the Eastern Shore, to purchase a subtle poison which grew only in liis dominions, but this king being on good terms with the whites, and wishing to enjoy their trade, refused to gratify him. His next resource was in a general massacre, to take effect upon all of the scattered plantations on the same day. The situation of the whites favored this design ; they not only placed confidence in the words of the savages, which had now been so long faithfully kept, but in their weakness and cowardice. They had extended their plantations over a space of one hundred and forty miles, on both sides of James River, and made some settlements in the neighborhtfod of the Potomac ; in short, wher-^ ever a rich spot invited to the cultivation of tobacco, there were they established, and an absence of neighbors was preferred. The planters were careless with their arms, 44 OUTLINE HISTORY. never using their swords, and their fire-arms only for game. The old law making it criminal to teach a savage the use of arms was forgotten, and they were fowlers and hunters for many of tlie planters, by which means they became wtll acquainted with the use of arms and the places in which they were kept. One great object wilh the settlers, and witii the company, in who.se instructions we find it })eipctuallv enjoined, had been the conversion of the Indians to the Christian religion. To promote this pious object, they had always been received in the most friendly manner; they became mar- ket people to the planters, and they were fed at their tables, and lodged in their bed- chambers as friends and brothers. Opechancanough had renewed the treaty with Governor Wyatt, and took ev^ery other means in hi.s power to avoid stLspicion. He told a messenger, about the middle of March, that the sky should fall ere he would violate the treaty of peace ; only two days before the fatal 22d, the English were guided in safety and kindness through the forest by the unsuspected Indians ; and a Mr. Browne, who had been sent to live among them to learn their language, was sent safely to his friends ; — nay, so well was the dread secret kept, that the English boats were borrowed to transport the In- dians over the river to consult on the " devilish murder that ensued ;" and even on the day itself, as well as on the evening before, they came as usual unarmed into the settlements with deer, turkeys, fish, fruits, and other provisions to sell, and in some places sat down to breakfast with the English. The concert and secrecy of this great plot is the more astonishing, when we reflect that the savages were not living together as one nation, and did not have for most purposes unity of action, but were dispersed in little hamlets con- taining from thirty to two hundred in a company ; " yet they all had w^arning given them one from another in all their habitations, March 22 1 fi22 ^^^^^^S^ ^^^ asunder, to meet at the day and hour ' * appointed for the destruction of the English at their several plantations ; some directed to one place, some to another, all to be done at the time appointed, which they did accordingly: some entering their houses under color of trading, so took their advantage ; others drawing them abroad under fair pre- tences, and the rest suddenly falling upon those that were at their labors." The}^ spared no age, sex, or condition, and were so sud- den in their indiscriminate slaughter that few could discern the blow or weapon which brought them to destruction. Their fami- liarity with the whites led them with fatal precision to the points at which they were certain to be found, and that " fatal morning fell under the bloody and barbarous hands of that perfidious and inhuman people, three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children, principally by their own weapons." Not content with this destruction, they brutally defaced and mangled the dead bodies, as if the}^ would perpetrate a nev/ murder, and bore off" the several portions in fiendish triumph. Those who had treated them with especial kindness, and conferred many benefits upon them, who confided so much in them that to the last moment they could not believe mischief was intended, fared no better than the rest. The ties of love ani gratitude, the sacred rights of hospi- tality and reciprocal friendship, oaths, pledges, and promises, and OUTLINE HISTORY. 45 even the recent and solemn profession of fidelity to an ail-merciful and omnipotent God, were broken asunder or forgotten in obedi- ence to the command of their chief, for the execution of a great but diabolical stroke of state policy. With one, and only one, of all who had been cherished by the whites, did gratitude for their kindness and fidelity to his new religion prevail over his allegi- ance to his king and affection for his people. A converted Indian who resided with a Mr. Pace, and who was treated by him as a son, revealed the plot to him in the night of the 21st. Pace imme- diately secured his house and rowed himself up to Jamestown, where he disclosed it to the governor, by which means that place and all the neighboring plantations, to which intelligence could Tje conveyed, M'as saved from destruction ; for the cowardly Indians when they saw the whites upon their guard immediately retreated. Some other places were also preserved by the undaunted courage of the occupants, who never failed to beat off their assailants, if they were not slain before their suspicions were excited. By these means was Virginia preserved from total annihilation in a single hour, by this well-conceived, well-concealed, and well-executed plot of her weak and simple adversaries. The larger portion of the colony was saved : for a year after the massacre it contained two thousand five hundred persons ; but the consternation pro- duced by it, caused the adoption of a ruinous policy. Instead of marching at once boldly to meet the adversary, and driving him from the country, or reducing him to subjection by a bloody retalia- tion, the colonists were huddled together from their eighty planta- tions into eight, the college, manufactories, and other works of public utility were abandoned, and cultivation confined to a space almost too limited, merely for subsistence. These crowded quar- ters produced sickness, and some were so disheartened that they sailed for England. In England this disastrous intelligence, so fac from dispiriting the company, excited their sympathies to such a degree, Ihat it aroused them to renewed exertion, and a more obstinate determination to secure, at all hazards, a country whicii had cost so much blood and treasure. Supplies were promptly dispatched ; and even the king was tnoved to the generosity of giving some old rusty arms from the tower, which he never meant to use, and promising further assistance, which he never meant to render. Serious discussions now took place in the courts of the company as to the course proper to be pursued wilh the Indians, and some advocated their entire subjection, in imitation of the example of the Spaniards, — which policy would surely have been more merciful than that war of extermination which was carried into effect, whether by deliberate de- sign or a system of temporary expedients does not appear. Smith offered the company to protect all their planters from the James to the Potomac, with a permanent force of one hundred soldiers and thirty sailors, wilh one small bark, and means to build several shallops ; and there is no doubt but that he vi^ould have accomplished it, by which means the planters could have employed themselves much more successfully in attending to their crops, than when they had to keep perpetual watch, and occasionally to take up arms to defend themselves or make an attack upon the enemy. Smith received for answer that the company was impoverished, but that he had leave to carry his proposal into effect, if he could find means in the colony and would give the company half the booty he should acquire : upon which answer he observes, that except some little corn, he would not give twenty pounds for all the booty to be made from the savages for 20 years. The colonists, although they could not be soon again lulled to their former se- curity, speedily recovered from their recent panic, and on July of the same year sallied 46 OUTLINE HISTORV. * forth with tliree hundred men to seize the corn and inflict other punishment ou the Indians. But they suffered themselves to be deceived by false pretences until the corn was removed from their reach, so that they got but little ; they succeeded, however, in burning many of their villages and destroying much of their property, by which they said they were likely to suffer much during the ensuing winter. We find that a law was passed on the follov.'ing session, by the General Assembly, requiring that on the beginning of July next, the inhabitants of every corporation should fall upon the adjoin- ing savages, as had been done the last year ; and enacting that those who were hurt should be cured at the public charge, and such as were maimed should be maintained by the country, according to their quality. We find it also further enacted in 1630, " that the war begun upon the Indians be effectually followed, and that no peace be concluded with them ; and that all expeditions undertaken against them should be pros- ecuted with diligence." This state of tierce warfare continued to rage with uninterrupted fury until a peace was concluded in [ti'.i'2, under the administration of Gov. Harvey. In the course of this warfare the Indians were not treated with the same tenderness with whicli they had generally been before the massacre, but their habitations, cleared lands, and pleasant sites, when once taken possession of, were generally retained by the victors, and the vanquished forced to take refuge in the woods and marshes. While these events were transpiring in the colony, an important icoQ change in the character of their government was about to take place in England, The company had been unsuccess- ful : the fact could no longer be denied. They had transported more than nine thousand persons, at an expense exceeding a hun- dred thousand pounds ; and yet, in nearly 18 years, there were only about two thousand per.-;ons in the colony, and its annual exports did not exceed twenty thousand pounds in value. The king took advantage of the present unfortunale state of affairs, to push his plans for the dissolution of the company. He carefully fomented the dissensions which arose, and encouraged the weaker party, which readily sought the aid of his powerful arm. He had long disliked the democratic freedom of their discussions, and had of late become envious of their little profits on the trade of the colonists, which he felt every disposition to divert into his own coffers ; and he determined to make good u.se of the present state of despondency in most of the company, and unpopularity with the public, to effect his designs. Wishing, however, to gain his end by stealth, and lfi2S ^^'^''^t influence wilh their oflicers,. rather than by open vio- lence, he again tried his strength in the nomination of four individuals from whom the company were to choose their treasurer. But he was again signally deieated, and the Earl of Southampton re-elected by a large majority, the king's candidates receiving only eight votes in seventy. Failing in this, it was manifest that the company was not to be browbeaten into submission to his dictation, and he only considered how the charter of the company might be revoked, with the least violation to the laws of England. To effect this wath plausible decency some allegation of improper conduct was to be made, and some proof ferreted out. The first of these objects was effected by two long petitions by members of the royal faction in the company, setting forth at full length every evil which had accrued to the colony, from its earliest establishment to that hour, and charging all upon the mismanagement of the company. For many of these charges there was too much truth, and the faults of OUTLINE HISTORY. 47 the company could be easily seen after the accidents had happened ; but whether they were not necessarily incidental to the situation of things in Virginia, or they might have been avoided by the king or a corporation differently constituted, are questions difficult to answer ; but these petitions contained, mingled with these truths, a great proportion of glaring falsehood as to the physical and moral condition of the colony. They had been prepared and presented with great secrecy ; but the company contrived to obtain copies of them, and refuted their slanders by the most irrefragable testimony, many facts being in the cognizance of the members themselves, and others established by the evidence of respectable persons who had long resided in Virginia. This mass of evidence was laid before the king, in the vain hope that he might be induced to dis- regard the petitions ; but part of his object was now gained, the charges were made, the next step was to procure a semblance of proof : for this purpose, in a few days, in answer to the prayer in one of the petitions, he issued a commission, under the great seal, to seven persons, to inquire into all matters respecting Virginia, from the beginning of its settlement. The better to enable these commissioners to conduct their inves- tigations, by an order of the privy council, all the records of the company, of whatsoever nature, were seized, the deputy treasurer was imprisoned, and on the arrival of a ship from Virginia, all the papers on board were inspected. The report of these commissioners has never transpired, but it n t V. 1ROQ was, without doubt, such as the king wished and expected ; tor by an order in council he made known, that having taken into his princely consideration the dis- tressed state of Virginia, occasioned by the ill-government of the company, he had resolved, by a new charter, to appoint a governor and twelve assistants to reside in England ; and a governor and twelve assistants to reside in VirgiViia ; the former to be nominated by his majesty in council, the latter to be nominated by the governor and assistants in England, and be appointed by the king in council; and that all proceedings should be subject to the royal direction. This was a return at one step to the charter of 1606. The com- pany was called together to consider upon this arbitrary edict, under an alternative similar to the one given to witches upon their trial : if they could swim with a heavy weight about their necks, they were burned as guilty ; if they sunk and drowned, they were acquitted : the king^gave the company the privilege of accepting his proposition and resigning its charter, or of refusing and having the charter annulled. The company, which had refused to gratify tlie king in the clioice of its officers, was less disposed to comply with this suicidal requisition. The astounding order was read over three several times before they could convince themselves that their ears informed them correctly of its purport. At leugth the vote was taken, and one hundred and twelve votes were against the relinquishment, and twenty-six, the precise nu.mber of the king's faction, in favor of it. The company asked further time for a more deliberate decision, as there had not been sufficient notice, few members were present, and it was 48 OUTLINE HISTORY. one of those matters of importance which could not be decided, by the terms of their charter, except at a regular quarterly meeting ; but the council would not listen to the proposition, ordering the company to meet again in three days, and give a clear, direct, and final answer. In obedience to this order, an extraordinary court was summoned, and the question of surrender submitted to their consideration, upon which only nine of the seventy present voted in its favor ; an answer was returned that they would defend their charter. The knowledge of these proceedings transpiring produced a shock to the credit of the company, which palsied for the timff the spirit of commercial enterprise ; to remedy this evil the privy council declared that the private property of every one should be protected, and secured by additional guarantees if necessary ; that they should proceed with their regular business ; and all ships bound for Virginia should sail. To endeavor to discover something more authentic against the company than his secret conclave of commissioners had yet been able to obtain, the king now thought proper to O t OS t f)*? send John Harvey, John Pory, Abraham Piersey, Samuel Matthews, and ' " ' John Jefferson, as commissioners to Virginia, " To make more particu- lar and diligent inquiry touching divers matters, which concerned the state of Virginia ; and in order to facilitate this inquiry, the governor and council of Virginia were ordered to assist the commissioners, in this scrutiny, by all their knowledge and influence." The commissioners early in the ensuing year arrived in the ifi94. colony. In all of this controversy between the king and the * company, the colony not supposing its chartered rights were likely to be violated by either party, and feeling little interest in the discussion of rights which belonged entirely to others, and which they never supposed th<°y were to possess ; had acted with entire neutrality, and cared little whether they were to be under the general superintendence of the courts of the company, or a council chosen by the king, so long as they could regulate their own affairs by their own General Assembly.* In such a mood would the commissioners have found the colony and General Assembly, had they not procured copies of the two slanderous petitions, in spite of all the preca^utions of the king, and the secrecy of his council and commissioners. Although they felt little interest in the controversy, they felt great interest in defend- ing themselves from defamation, and their country from false and malicious representations, well calculated to disparage and depre- ciate it in the estimation of those with whom they wished it to F h 20 ir24 stand fairest. In six days from their meeting they ' ■ had prepared spirited and able answers to these petitions ; declaring in their preamble, " that they, holding it a sin against God and their own sufferings, to permit the world to be abused with false reports, and to give to vice the reward of virtue, — They, in the name of the whole colony of Virginia, in their General Assembly met, many of them having been eye-wit- * The king and company quarrelled, and, by a mixture of law and force, the latter were ousted of all their rights, without retribution, after having expended £100,000 in establishing the colony, without the smallest aid from the government. King James suspended their powers by proclamation of July 15, 1C24, and Charles I. took the government into his own hands. Both sides had their partisans in the colony ; but in truth the people of the colony in general thought themselves little concerned in the dispute. There being three parties interested in these several charters, what passed between the first aiid second it was thought could not aflect the third. If the king seized on the powers of the company, they only passed into other hands, without in- crease or diminution, while the rights of the people remained as they were. Jefferson's Notes on Va., p. 152-3. OUTLINE HISTORY. 49 nesses and sufferers in those times, had framed, out of their duty to their country and love of truth, the following answer given to the praises of Sir T. Smith's government, in the said declaration." They next drafted a petition to the king, which, with a letter to the privy council and the other papers, were com- mitted to the care of Mr. John Pountis, a member of the coun- cil, who was selected to go to England to represent the gen- eral interests of the colony before his majesty and the privy council ; and whose expenses were provided for by a tax of four pounds of the best merchantable tobacco for every male person sixteen years of age, who had been in the country for one year. This gentleman unfortunately died on his passage. The letter to the privy council marks very strongly the value which they set even at that early day upon the right of legislating for themselves ; the principal prayer in it being, " that the governors may not have absolute power, and that they might still retain the liberty of popular assemblies, than which, nothing could more con- duce to the public satisfaction and public utility," A contest of wits was commenced between the commissioners and the Assembly The former, under various pretexts, withheld from the latter a sight of their commission, and the other papers with which tliey had been charged ; and the governor and the Assembly thought proper to preserve an equal mystery as to their own proceedings. In tliis dilemma Mr. Pory, who was one of the commissioners, and who had been secretary to the company, and disciiarged from his post for betraying its councils to the earl of Warwick, now suborned Edward Sharpless, a clerk of the council, to give him copies of the proceedings of that body and of the Assembly. Tliis treachery was discovered, and the clerk was punished with the loss of his ears ; while an account was sent home to the company, expressive of the greatest abhorrence at the baseness and treachery of Pory. The commissit)ners finding their secret manceuvring del'eated, next endeavored, by the most artful wheedling, to induce the Assembly to petition the crown for a revo- cation of the charter. In reply to this the Assembly asked for their authority to make such a proposition, which of course they could not give without betraying tlieir secret instructions, and were compelled to answer tire requisition in general terms and profes- sions. The Assembly took no farther notice of the commissioners, but proceeded with their ordinary legislation. • Thirty-five acts of this Assembly have been preserved to the present time, and exhibit, with great strength, the propriety and good sense with which men can pass laws for the re- gulation of their own interests and concerns. One of these acts establishes at once, in the most simple and intelligible language, the great right of exemption from taxation without representation ; it runs in these words : — " The governor shall not lay any taxes or impo- sitions upon the colony, their lands or commodities, other way than by the authority of the General Assembly, to be levied and employed as the said Assembly shall appoint." By a subsequent act it was declared that the governor should not withdraw the inhabitants from their private labors to any service of his own, upon any color whatsoever and in case the public service required the employment of many hands, before the holding of a General Assembly, he was to order it, and the levy of men was to be made by the governor and whole body of the council, in such manner as would be least burdensome to the people and most free from partiality. To encourage good conduct, the old planters who had been in the colony since the last arrival of Gates, were exempted from taxation or mili- tary duty. Many acts of general utility were passed ; the members of the Assembly were privileged from arrest ; lands were to be surveyed and their boundaries recorded, which is no doubt the origin of our highly beneficial recording statutes ; vessels arriving were prohibited from breaking their cargoes until they had reported themselves ; inspec- tors of tobacco were established in every settlement ; the use of sealed weights and measures was enforced ; provision was made for paying the public debt, " brought on by the late troubles ;" no person was, upon the rumor of supposed change and alteration, to 7 (5) 50 OUTLINE HISTORY. presume to be disobedient to tlie present government, or servants lo their private officers, masters, or overseers, at their uttermost perils. Wise regulations were hkewise made to prevent surprises by the Indians ; every house was to be fortiiied with palisadoes ; no man should go or send abroad without a party sufficiently armed, or to work without their arms, with a sentinel over them ; the inhabi- tants were forbidden to go aboard ships or elsewhere in such numbers as to endanger the safety of their plantations ; every planter was to take care to have sufficient arms and ammunition in good order ; watch was to be kept by night ; and no planter was to sufier powder to be expended in amusement or entertainments. To promote corn-planting, and ensure plenty of provision, no limit was fixed to its price ; viewers were appointed to see that every man planted a sufficiency for his family, and all trade with the savages for corn was strictly prohibited. Having thus given a specimen of colonial spirit, and colonial legislation, we return to the little intrigues of James, who was striving by every means in his power to become possessed of the control of the colony ; partly to gratify his love of arbitrar}^ author- ity and of money, and parti}' to gratify his royal self-complacency, by framing a code of laws for a people with whose character and condition he was utterly unacquainted, and who, from the speci- mens recently given, appeared to be fully competent to the man- agement of their own atfairs, without the dictation or advice of this royal guardian ; who, while he displayed the craft without the talent of a Philip, aspired to the character of a Solon. The recent acts of the king led to a solemn council of the company on the state of their aflairs, in which they confirmed by an overwhelm- ing majority the previous determination to defend their charter, and asked for a restitution of their papers for the purpose of pre- paring their defence. This request was pronounced reasonable by the attorney-general, and complied with. While these papers w^ere in the hands of the compan}', they were transcribed, and the copy has been ibrtunately preserved, and presents a faithful record of many portions of V^irginia history, which it would be otherwise impossible to elucidate.* The king had caused a quo warranto to be issued against the *l\r 10 1H24 company soon alter the appointment of his com- ' ' missioners to go to Virginia, and the cause was tried in the King's Bench, in Trinity Term of 1624. A cause which their royal master had so much at heart could not long be doubtful with judges entirely dependent upon his will for their places ; it is even credibl}^ reported that this important case, whereby the rights of a powerful corporation were divested, and the possibility of a remuneration for all of their trouble and expense forever cut off, was decided upon a mere technical ques- tion of special pleading !f * Burke, p. 274-5. Stith compiled his history principally from these documents. t Note to Bancroft, p. 207. Stith, p. 329, 330, doubts if judgment was passed. The doubt may be removed. " Before the end of the same term, a judgment was de- clared by the Lord Chief Justice Ley, against the company and their charter, only upon Jailer or mistake in pleading." See a Short Collection of the most Remarkable Pas. ■sages from the Original to the Dissolution of the Virginia Company : London, 1651, p. 15. See also Hazard, vol. I. p. 19 ; Chalmers, p. 62 ; Proud's Pennsylvania, vol. I., p. 107. OUTLINE HISTORY. 51 In the mean time the commissioners had returned, and reported very favorably of the soil and climate of Virginia, but censuring deeply the conduct of the company, — recommending the govern- ment of the original charter of 1006, and declaring that a body so large and so democratic in its forms as the company, could never persevere in a consistent course of policy, but must veer about as the different factions should prevail. In this it must be admitted that there was much truth, and all hopes of profit having for some time expired, and the company only being kept up by the distinguished men of its members, from patriotic motives and as an instrument of power for thwarting the king, in which capacity its present unpopularity rendered it of little use — it was now suffered to expire under the judicial edict, without a groan. The expiration of the charter brought little immediate change to the actual gov- ernment of the colony : — a large committee was formed by the king, consisting principally of his privy council, to discharge the functions of the extinct company ; Sir Francis VVyatt was reap- pointed governor, and he and his council only empowered to govern " as fully and amply as any governor and council resident there, at any time within the space of five years last past" — which was the exact period of their representative government. The king, in appointing the council in Virginia, refused to appoint embittered partisans of the court faction, but formed the govern- ment of men of moderation. So leaving Virginia free, while his royal highness is graciously pleased to gratify his own vanity in preparing a new code of laws to regulate her affairs, we pass on to a new chapter. CHAPTER IV. PROGRESS OF THE COLONY FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON COMPANY^ TO THE BREAKING OUT OF BACOn's REBELLION IN 1675. Accession of Charles I. — Tobacco trade. — Yeardley governor — his commission favora- ble — his death and character. — Lord Baltimore's reception. — State of religion — legis- lation upon the subject. — Invitation to the Puritans to settle on Delaware Bay. — Harvey governor. — Grant of Carolina and Maryland. — Harvey deposed — restored. — . Wyait governor. — Acts of the Legislature improperly censured. — Berkeley governor. — Indian relations. — Opechancanough prisoner — his death. — Change of government in England. — Fleet and army sent to reduce Virginia. — Preparation for defence by Berkeley. — Agreement entered into between the colony and the commissioners of tJte commonwealth, — Indian hostilities. — Matthews elected governor. — Difficulties between the governor and the legislature — adjusted. — State of the colony and its trade. — Com- missioners sent to England. — The Restoration. — General legislation. The dissolution of the London Company was soon followed by Marrh 27 Ifi'?^ ^^^ death of James, and the accession of his son, ' " ' Charles I. The king troubled himself little about the political rights and privileges of the colony, and suffered them 52 OUTLINE HISTORY. to grow to the strength of established usage by his wholesome neglect; while he was employed in obtaining a monopoly of their tobacco. This valuable article, the use of which extended with such unaccountable rapidity, had early attracted the avidity of King James. The 19th article of the charter of 1609 had exempted the company, their agents, lactors, and assignees, from the pay- ment of all subsidies and customs in Virginia for the space of one and twenty years, and from all taxes and impositions forever, upon any goods imported thither, or exported thence into any of the realms or dominions of England ; except the five per c«nt. usual by the ancient trade of merchants. But notwithstanding the ex- press words of this charter, a tax was laid by the farmers of the customs, in the year 1620, upon the tobacco of the colony ; which was not only high of itself, but the more oppressive because it laid the same tax upon Virginia and Spanish tobacco, when the latter sold in the market for three times the price of the former. In the same year the same prince was guilty of another violation of the charter, in forcing the company to bring all of their tobacco into England ; when he found that a portion of their trade had been diverted into Holland, and establishments made at Middleburg and Flushing. The charters all guarantied to the colony all of the rights, privileges, franchises, and immunities of native born Englishmen, and this act of usurpation was the first attempt on the part of the mother country to monopolize the trade of the colony. The next year the king, either his avidity being unsatis- fied, or not liking the usurped and precarious tenure by which his gains were held, inveigled the Virginia and Somer Isles com- pany into an arrangement, by which they were to become the sole importers of tobacco ; being bound, however, to import not less than forty nor more than sixty thousand pounds of Spanish vari- nas, and paying to the king, in addition to the sixpence duty be- fore paid, one-third part of all the tobacco landed in the realms. The king, on his part, was to prohibit all other importation and all planting in England and Ireland ; and that which was already planted was to be confiscated. When the company petitioned parliament to prolongits existence, in opposition to the efforts of the king? they failed — but that por- tion of their petition, which asked for the exclusive monopoly of S oq ippd tobacco to Virginia and the Somer Isles, was grant- P' - ' ' f.(j^ and a royal proclamation issued accordingly. Whether this exclusiveness was understood with the limitation in the previous contract between the king and the two companies, it is impossible to say, as the original documents are not accessible to the writer.* But the probabilities are greatly against the limitation. Charles had not been long on the throne before he issued a * Burke, I. 291, and Bancroft, I. 206— quoting Stith, Cobbett's Parliament. Hist and Hazard. OUTLINE HISTORY. 53 A "10 1R9^ proclamation, confirming the exclusive privileges April .), lb^5. ^^ ^j^g Virginia and Somer Isles tobacco ; and pro- hibiting a violation of their monopoly, under penalty of censure by the dread star-chamber. I'his was soon followed by another, in which he carefully set forth the forfeiture of their charter by the company, and the immediate dependence of the colony upon the crown ; concluding by a plain intimation of his intention to become their sole factor. Soon after this, a rumor reached the colonies that an individual was in treaty with the king for an exclusive contract for tobacco ; one of the conditions of which would have led to the importation of so large an amount of .Spanish tobacco, as would have driven that of the colonists Irom the market. The earnest representations of the colony on this subject caused an abandonment of the scheme; but in return, the colony was obliged to excuse itself from a charge of trade with the Low Countries, and promise to trade only with England. But the king's eagerness for the possession of this monopoly was not to be baffled thus. He made a formal proposi- tion to the colony for their exclusive trade, in much the same language as one tradesman would use to another ; and desired that the General Assembly might be convened for tlie purpose of M 2P ^C'2H considering his proposition. The answer by the iViar.^b, lb^». Q^^^^^j ^^^g^l^jy ^^ ^j^j^ proposition is preserved. It sets forth in strong, but respectful language the injury which had been done the planters, by the mere report of an intention to subject their trade to a monopoly : they state the reasons for not engaging in the production of the other staples mentioned by the king ; and dissent from his proposition as to the purchase of their tobacco ; demanding a higher price and better terms of admission, in exchange for the exclusive monopoly which he wished. In the mean time, the death of his father rendered it necessary .p.2« for Sir Francis Wyatt to rfjturn to Europe, to attend to his private affairs; and the king appointed Sir George Yeard- ley his successor. This was itself a sufficient guarantee of the political privileges of the colony ; as he had had the honor of calling the first colonial assembly. But in addition to this, his powers were, like those of his predecessor, limited to the executive au- thority exercised by the governor within five years last past. These circumstances taken in connection with the express sanction given by Charles to the power of a legislative assembly, with re- gard to his proftered contract for tobacco, sufficiently prove that he had no design of interfering with the highly prized privilege of self-government enjoyed by the colonists : and fully justifies the General Assembly in putting the most favorable construction upon the king's ambiguous words, announcing his determination to pre- serve inviolate all the "former interests" of Virginia, which occur in his letter of 1627. Thus were those free principles established in Virginia, for which the mother country had to struggle for some time longer. (5*) 54 OUTLINE HISTORY. The colony rose in the estimation of the public, and a thousand new emigrants arrived in one year; which of course much enhanced the price of provision. , Death now closed the career of Yeardley. The character of his Tsl r ^A ifi07 administration isexhibited in the history of the colony ; ' " ' and the estimate placed upon his character by those who were best acquainted with his conduct, and who were little disposed to flatter undeservedly either the living or the dead, is to be found in a eulogy written by the government of Virginia to the privy council, announcing his death. In obedience to the king's commission to the council, they elected Francis West governor, the day after the burial of Yeardley. He held the commission until the 5th of March, 1G28, when, designing to sail for England, John Pott was chosen to succeed him. Pott did not continue long in office, for the king, when the death of Yeardley M^as known, issued his commission to Sir John Harvey, who arrived some time between October, 1G28, and March, 1629. In the interval between the death of Yeardley and the arrival of Harvey, occurred the first act of religious intolerance which defiles the annals of Virginia. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic nobleman, allured by the rising reputation of the colony, abandoned his settlement in Newfoundland and came to Virginia ; where, instead of be- ing received with the cheerful welcome of a Iriend and a brother, he was greeted with the oath of allegiance and supremacy ; the latter of which, it was well known, his conscience would not allow him to take. Much allowance is to be made for this trespass upon religious freedom before we at- tribute it to a wilful violation of natural liberty. The times and circumstances ought to be considered. The colony had grown into life while the violent struggles between the Romish and Protestant churches were yet rife. The ancient tyranny and oppression of the Holy See were yet fresh in the memory of all; its cruelties and harsh intolerance in England were recent; and yet continuing in the countries in which its votaries had the control of the civil government. The light of Protestantism itself was the first dawn of religious freedom; and the thraldom in which mankind had been held by Catholic fetters for so many ages, was too terrible to risk the possibility of their ac- quiring any authority in government. Eye-witnesses of the severities of Mary were yet alive in England, and doubtless many of the colonists had heard fearful relations of the religious sufferings during her reign, probably some hadsutfered in their own families : most of them had emigrated while the excitement against the Papists was still raging in England with its greatest fury, and continually kept in action by the discovery, or pretended discovery, of Popish plots to obtain possession of the government. Was it wonderful, then, that a colony which, with a remarkable uniformity of sentiment, pro- fessed a ditferent religion, should be jealous of a faith which sought by every means in its power to obtain supreme control, and used that control for the extermination, by the harshest means, of all other creeds ? The colony in Virginia was planted when the incestuous and monstrous connection of church and state had not been severed in any civilized country on the globe ; at a period when it would have been heresy to attempt such a divorce, because it required all the aid of the civil power to give men sufficient freedom to "profess, and by argu- ment to maintain," any other creed than one — and that one the creed of Rome. The anxiety of the British government upon this subject, so far from being unnatural, was highly laudable, since all its efforts were necessary to sustain its new-born power of professing its own creed. The awful effect of (Catholic supremacy, displayed in a neighboring kingdom, afforded a warning too terrible* to be easily forgotten ; and it would have been as unwise to allow the Catholics equal civil privileges at that day, as it would be impolitic and unjust now to exclude them. We find this regard for religious * The massacre of the Protestants by the Catholics on St. Bartholomew's day, in France, in 1572. OUTLINE HISTORY. 55 freedom, (for emancipation from the Pope's authority was a great step in reliofious free- dom,) carefully fostered in the colonies. Every charter requires the establishment of the church of England, and authorizes the infliction of punisliment for drawing off the people from their religion, as a matter of equal importance with their allegiance. For at that period, before any important difTcrences between the Protestants had arisen, when but two religions were struggling for existence, not to be of the church of England was to be a Papist, and not to acknowledge the secular supremacy of the king, was to bow to the authority of the pope. The Catliolics, as the only subject of terror, were the only subjects of intolerance; no sufficient number of dissenters had availed themselves of the great example of Protestantism, in rejecting any creed which did not precisely sat- isfy their consciences, to become formidable to mother church ; nor had she grown so strong and haughty in her new-fledged power, as to level her blows at any but her first great antagonist.* The colony in Virginia consisted of church of England men ; and many of the first acts of their legislature relate to provision for the church. Glebe lands were early laid otf, and livings provided. The mi nisters were considered not as pious and charitable individuals, but as officers of the state, bound to promote the true faith and sound morality, by authority of the community by which they were paid, and to which they were held responsible for the performance of their duty. The very first act of Assembly which was passed, required that in every settlement in which the people met to worship God, a house should be appropriated exclusively to that purpose, and a place paled in to be used solel}- as a burying-ground ; the second act imposed a penalty of a pound of tobacco for absence from divine service on Sunday, without sufficient excuse, and fifty pounds for a month's absence ; the third, required uniformity, as nearly as might be, with the canons in England ; the fourth, en- joined the observance of the holy days, (adding the 22d of March, the day of the Massacre, to the number,) dispensing with some, " by reason of our necessities ;" the fifth, punished any minister absenting himself from his church above two months in the year, with forfeiture of half his estate — and four months, his whole estate and curacy ; the sixth, punished disparagement of a minister ; the seventh, prohibited any man fj'om disposing of his tobacco or corn, until the minister's portion was first paid. This sacred duty discharged, the Assembly next enact salutary regulations for the state. We find at the session of 1629, the act requiring attend- ance Ut church on the Sabbath, specially enforced, and a clause added, forbidding profanation of that day by travelling or work ; also an act, declaring that all those who work in the ground shall pay tithes to the minister. We find requisition of uniformity with the canons of the English church not only repeated, in every new commission from England, but re-enacted by the legislature of 1629-30, and in 1631-32, as well as in the several revisals of the * The persecution of the Puritans was an exception to this. They were persecuted with considerable rigor, but their numbers were small, consisting only of two churches, and most of those who then existed went to Holland with their leaders, John Robinson and William Brewster, in 1607 and 8, and settled in Amsterdam, whence they removed to Leyden in 1609, whence they sailed to America in 1620, and landed in Cape Cod Harbor on the 7th of November, and settled Plymouth on the 31st of December follow iiig. — Holmes' Am. An. 156-203. 56 OUTLINE HISTORY. laws. Ill the acts of 1631-32, we find many acts conveying tlie idea advanced of ministers being considered public officers ; and churchwardens required to take an oath, to present offences against decency or morality, which made them in effect censors of the public morals. In these acts, it is made the duty of minis- ters to teach children the Lord's praj^er, commandments, and the articles of faith ; also to attend all persons dangerously sick, to instruct and comfort them in their distress ; to keep registers of christening, marriages, and deaths; and to preserve in themselves strict moral conduct, as an advancement to religion and an ex- ample to others. We find, also, frequent acts passed providing for the payment of ministers, until the session of 1657-58, when church and state seem to have been effectually divorced ; for, though no act of religious freedom was passed, but all were still expected, rather than compelled, to conform to the church of Eng- land, yet the compulsory payment of ministers was abandoned, and all matters relating to the church were left entirely to the control of the people. From the review which we have given of the religious condi- tion of England and the colony, it must be manifest that the ten- der of the oath of supremacy to Lord Baltimore, was not only a religious but a civil duty in the council, which they could by no means have omitted, without a violation of their own oaths, laws, and charters. But if any further proof were necessary, to show that it flowed from this source, and not from a disposition to reli- gious intolerance — it is afforded by the liberal invitation given in the instructions to Captain Bass to the Puritans, who had settled at New Plymouth, to desert their cold and barren soil, and come and settle upon Delaware Bay, which was in the limits of Virginia. Harvey met his first General Assembly in March, and its acts, lfi2Q ^^ those of several succeeding sessions, only consist of the usual business acts of the colony. We have now ap- proached a period in our history, upon which the few scattered and glimmering lights which exist, have rather served to mislead than to guide historians. It is a period replete with charges made by historians, of the most heinous character, against the gov.ernor, with no evidence upon record to support them. The truth is, that Sir John Harvey was deposed and sent home by the colony for some improper conduct : but what that was, does not fully appear, and historians seem to have thought it their duty to supply the defect in the record, by abusing his administration as arbitrary and tyrannical from the first : the charge is without evidence, and every probability is against its truth. During the whole of his administration, the General Assembly met and transacted their business as usual. The fundamental laws which they had passed, to which we have beibre referred, restraining the powers of the governor, and asserting the powers of the Assembly, were passed again as of course. There could manifestly be no oppression from this source. The General Assembly ordered the building of forts, OUTLINE HISTORY. 67 made the contracts, provided the payments, provided garrisons and soldiers for the field when necessary, and disbanded them when the ocpasion for their services had ceased. The Assembly and the soldiers were planters, and they could be little disposed to oppress themselves, their families and friends. The only evidence which exists against Harvey, is the fact of his being deposed, and sent home with commissioners to complain of his conduct to the king ; but this did not occur until 1635r.after the extensive grants had been made to Lord Baltimore and others, which dismembered the colony, and were so displeasing to the planters ; and we shall see that aid or connivance in these grants were the probable causes of Harvey's unpopularity. The first act of tyranny towards the colony which we find re- corded against Charles, was his grant in 1630 to Sir Robert Heath of a large portion of the lands of the colony — commencing at the 36th degree of latitude, and including the whole southern portion of the United States, under the name of Carolina. But as this country was not settled until long afterwards, and the charter be- came void by non-compliance with its terms, it could not be re- garded as injurious by the colony, except as an evidence of the facility with which their chartered rights could be divested. An- Tp.j.T other instance of a more objectionable character soon oc- curred. Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, obtained a grant of that portion of Virginia which is now included in the state of Maryland, and immediately commenced a settlement upon it, not- withstanding the value which the Virginians set upon it, and their having actually made settlements within its limits. William Claiborne, who had been a member of the council, and secretary of state for Virginia, had obtained a license from the king to " traffic in those parts of America where there was no license," which had been confirmed by Harvey. In pursuance of this au- thority he had settled himself at ]|S^ent Island, near the city of An- napolis, and seemed by no means inclined tamely to relinquish his possessions. He resisted the encroachments of Maryland by force. This was the first controversy between the whites which ever took place on the waters of the Chesapeake. Claiborne was indicted, and found of guilty of murder, piracy, and sedition ; and to escape punishment he fled to Virginia. When the Maryland commission- ers demanded him, Harvey refused to give him up, but sent him to England to be tried. It is highly probable that the conduct of Harvey in giving up instead of protecting Claiborne, incensed the colony against him ; for they clearly thought the Maryland charter an infringement of their rights, and they were little inclined to submit to imposition from any quarter. The account which we have of the trial of Harvey is extremely meager, detailing neither the accusations nor the evidence, but only the fact. The manner of proceeding, however, as it appears on the record, is as little like that of an enslaved people, as it is like a '• transport of popular rage and indignation." The whole 8 58 OUTLIVE HISTORY. matter seems to have been conducted with cahn deliberation, as a free people acting upon the conduct of an unworthy servant. The first entry upon the subject runs thus : " An assembly to be called to receive complaints against Sir John HarVey, on the petition of many inhabitants, to meet 7th of May." Could as much coolness, deliberation, and publicity be given to action against a tyrant who had already trodden liberty under foot ? or is a transport of popu- lar rage so slow in action ? The next entry upon this subject is the following: "On the 28th of April, 1G35, Sir John Harvey thrust out of his government, and Capt. John West acts as gover- nor, till the king's pleasure known." It appears that before the Assembly met which was to have heard complaints against Har- vey, he agreed in council to go to England to answer them ; and upon that, West was elected governor. How long West governed is uncertain ; but it appears by a paper among the records, that Harvey was governor again in Jan- uar}-, 1636. It appears that Charles regarded the conduct of the colony as an unwarrantable piece of insolence, little short of trea- son, and would not even hear them, lest the spectacle of so noble an example might inflame the growing discontents in his own kingdom, which finally rose to such a pitch, as not only to take the same unwarrantable liberty of deposing him, but even laid violent hands upon his sacred person. He accordingly sent the commis- sioners home with their grievances untold, and Harvey was rein- stated in his power without undergoing even a trial. The conduct of the colony appears to have been a salutary lesson to him, and he probably feared that for the next offence they would take justice into their own hands ; for we hear no complaints of him during his administration, which expired in November, 1639. Sir Francis Wyatt succeeded him. In 1634 the colony was divided into eight shires,* which were to be governed as the shires in England: lieutenants were to be appointed in the same manner as in England, and it was their especial duty to pay attention to the war against the Indians. Sheriffs, sergeants, and bailiffs, were also to be elected as in Eng- land. In 1628-9 commissions were issued to hold monthly courts in the different settlements, which was the origin of our county court system. At the first assembly which was held after the return of Wyatt, several acts were passed, which, from the inattention of historians to the circumstances of the times, have received universal repro- bation, but which, when properly considered, will be found to be marked with great shrewdness, and dictated by the soundest policy. The act declares that, " tobacco by reason of excessive quantities being made, being so low, that the planters could not subsist by it, or be enabled to raise more staple com- * Viz., James City, Henrico, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Warwick River, Warroa quoyoke, Charles River, and Accomack. OUTLINE HISTORY. 59 modities, or pay their debts : therefore it was enacted, that the tobacco of that year be viewed by sworn viewers, and the rotten and unmerchantable, and half the good, to be burned. 80 the whole quantity made would come to 1,500,000 lbs., without stripping and smoothing ; and the next two years 170 Ihs. tobacco per poll, stripped and smoothed, was to be made, which would make, in the whole, about 1,31)0,000 lbs., and all creditors were to take 40 lbs. for a hundred.'''' By a second act, it was declared that " no man should be obliged to perform above half his covenants about freighting tobacco in 1639." Nothing could be more absurd than such acts at the present day, and hence they have been pronounced absurd at that time. But let us look to the circumstances. Except the little tobacco made in the Somer Isles, Virginia at that time had the monopoly of the English market. The taste for tobacco was new, existed with few, and could not be suddenly extended ; consequently the consumption could not be increased in propor- tion to the increase of supply, but those who used it would obtain it at a price propor- tionably less. Thus a superabundant supply so glutted the market as to reduce the article to a price ruinous to the planters. On the other hand, with those who had acquired a taste for tobacco, it was nearly indispensable, and if less than a usual crop was made, the demand enhanced the value of the remainder beyond that of the full crop ; hence the propriety of burning half of the good tobacco. This seems to have been perceived, and we have seen no fault found with the first portion of the act ; but the latter'part, forcing creditors to take less than their full dues, has been pronounced flagrantly unjust. But if this had not been done, what would have been the condition of the planter? If he had made a hundred pounds, and owed fifty, the burning and his creditor would deprive him of his whole crop, while the creditor receiving the fifty pounds at its enhanced value, would receive more than double what was due him. This would have been highly oppressive to the debtor, and made the whole act redound en- tirely to the benefit of the creditor. Whereas, making him take forty pounds in the hundred, when that forty was enhanced to more than the value of the hundred, was no hardship. . In the early stages of the colony, the planters wanted the comforts of life from Eng- land, and not money, for money could purchase nothing in America. It would have been wasteful extravagance to have brought it. The Virginians had but one article of export, — all trading vessels came for tobacco, — hence that would purchase every thing, and became, on that account, useful to every man, and an article of universal desire, as money is in other countries, and hence the standard of value and circulating medium of the colony. We find, when money first began to be introduced, as the keeping accounts in tobacco was inconvenient to the foreign merchants who came to trade, an act was passed with the following preamble: — "Whereas it hath been the usual custom of merchants and others dealing intermutually in this colony, to make all bargains, con- tracts, and to keep all accounts in tobacco, and not in money," &c. It then goes on to enact that in future they should be kept in money, and that in all pleas and actions the value should be represented in money. This was in ^633. But it was found so inconvenient to represent value by an arbitrary standard, the representative of which did not exist in the colony, that another act was passed in January, 1641, declaring that, — " Whereas many and great inconveniences do daily arise by dealing for money, Be it enacted and • confirmed by the authority of this present Grand Assembly, that all money-debts made since the 26th day of March, 1642, or which hereafter shall be made, shall not be pleadable or recoverable in any court of justice under tliis government." An exception was afterwards made in 1642-3, in favor of debts contracted for horses or sheep, but money-debts generally were not even made recoverable again until 1656. AVe thus see that tobacco was the currencj', and an excess as injurious as an over-issue of bank-paper, depreciating itself in the market, or, in common parlance, causing every thing to rise. We see, moreover, the cause of the excessive care taken in burning bad tobacco, since that was as important to the uniformity of their currency as the exclusion of counter- feits in a money currency. All the viewings, censorships, inspections, regulations of the | amount to be cultivated by each planter, each hand, — the quantity to be gathered from '{ each plant, — the regulations prescribed as to curing it, — are to be regarded more as 7nint | regulations than as regulations of agricultural industry. Indeed, we find the attempt / to sell or pay bad tobacco, is made a crime precisely as it is now to sell or pay counter- •' feit money. This act of Assembly then allowed debtors to discharge themselves by paying half their debts in amount, did, in effect, make them pay all in value, and can by no means be compared to the acts of states or princes in debasing the coin, and allowing it to retain its old nominal value, or by introducing valueless paper money ; in these cases, the debt is paid nominally, or in words, but not in value, whereas in Vir 60 OUTLINE HISTORY. ginia it was not paid nominally, as it had been contracted for so many pounds of tobacco, but it was paid in fewer pounds, rendered of greater actual value than the debt would have amounted to if paid in pounds before the burning of half the quantity made. Wyatt remained governor only for one year and a few months, when he was succeeded by Sir William Berkeley. Historians who have not been aware of the intermediate administration of Wyatt and have heard no complaint of Berkeley, have delighted to deck his character in the gayest colors, in contrast to the black charac- ter which they have drawn of Harvey. There can be no doubt that he was esteemed an accomplished and chivalric gentleman ; but his accession brought no increase of political freedom to Vir- ginia, and his commission did not ditier from those of his prede- cessors. On the contrary, the instructions which he brought, so far from granting new franchises, imposed new, severe, and un- warrantable restrictions on the liberty of trade ; England claiming that monopoly of colonial commerce, which was ultimately enforc- ed by the navigation act, and which was a perpetual source of contention, until all difierences were finally healed by the revo- lution. Berkeley arrived in February, 1642 ; an assembly met in March, and soon alter passed a solemn protest against a petition Avhich Sir George Sandys had presented to Parliament for the restoration of the company. This paper is drawn with great ability, and sets forth the objections to the petition in very strong and striking terms. They enlarge especially upon the wish and power of the company to monopolize their trade ; the advantages and happiness secured to them by their present form of government, with its an- nual assemblies and trial by jury ; the fact, that a restitution of the power of the company would be an admission of the illegality ot the king's authority, and a consequent nullification of the grants and commissions issued by him ; and the impossibility of men, however wise, at such a distance, and unacquainted with the cli- mate or condition of the country, to govern the colony as well as it could be governed by their own Grand Assembly. The king, in reply to this, declared his purpose not to change a form of govern- ment in which they received so much content and satisfaction. Other important matters were settled at this legislature. A tax for the benefit of the governor was abolished. The punishment by condemnation to temporary service was abolished, which had existed ever since the foundation of the colony ; and this protec- tion to liberty was considered as so im])ortant to the Assembly, that they declared it was to be considered as a record by the inhabitants of their birthright as Englishmen, and that the oppression of the late company was quite extinguished. The governor proba- bly received some benefit from these considerations, lor he is praised for giving his as- sent to an act in which he preferred the public freedom to his particular profit. A near- er approach was made to the laws and customs of England in proceedings of courts and trials of causes. Better regulations were prescribed for discussing and deciding land titles. The bounds of parishes were more accurately marked. A treaty witii Mary- land, opening the trade of the Chesapeake, was matured ; and peace with the Indians confirmed. Taxes were proportioned more to men's estates and abilities than to the numbers, by which the poor were much relieved, "but which through the strang;eness thereof could not but require much time and debating." They published a list of their acts in order to show to the colony that they had not swerved from " the true intent of OUTLINE HISTORY. 61 their happy constitution," which required them to " enact good and wholesome laws, and rcctil'y and relieve such disorders and griev;uices as are incident to all states and re- publics ; jjut that their late consultations woidd redound jrrcatly to the benefit of the colony and tlicir posterity." In the conclusion of that list, they state, that the frracious inclination of his majesty, ever ready to protect them, and now more particularly assu- red to them, together witli the concurrence of a happy Parliament in England, were the motives which induced them to take this opportunity to " establish their liberties and privileges, and settle their estates, often before assaulted and threatened, and lately inva- ded by the corporation ; and to prevent the future designs of mono[)olizers, contractors, and pre-cmptors, ever usurping the benefit of their labors; and they apprehended that no time could be misspent, or labor misplaced, in gaining a firm peace to themselves and posterity, and a future immunity and ease to themselves from taxes and impositions, which they expected to be the fruits of their endeavors." The Indians had been driven back, and weakened by a perpet- ual succes.sion of hostilities, from the time of the great massacre, until the year 1G44. During the latter years of this period, we have little account of their proceedings, btit the rapid increase of the settlements had driven them from the rich borders of the rivers in the lower country, higher into the interior, and the new grants were every day driving them still farther from the homes of their fathers. This incessant warfare, while it weakened them ir44 ^^ ^ nation, had increased their cunning and skill in par- tisan warfiire. Opechancanough, though now so old that he had to be carried in a litter, and so feeble that he con hi not raise his eyelids without assistance, still retained sutlicient strength of mind to embody a combination of the various tribes under his control, and make a sudden and violent attack upon many of the frontier settlements at once. Little is known of the circumstances attending this second great massacre. An act of Assembly of 1645, making the eighteenth day of April a holiday and day of thanksgiving, for escape from the Indians, marks the period of the massacre. Other evidence makes the number of their victims three hundred.* The precautions which the whiles had been taught to take by the previous massacre, in trading with them only at particular places, in always gbing armed, in never admitting them to the same familiarity, effectually prevented them, with all their caution in approach, and violence of attack, from committing as great slaughter as they had upon the former occasion. The whites do not seem to' have been stricken with a panic now as for- merly, but quickly sallied upon their assailants, and drove them back so rapidly that their venerable chieftain himself had to be deserted by his attendants, and was taken by Sir William Berke- ley, at the head of a squadron of light cavalry. He was carried to Jamestown, and manifested, in his imprisonment, the same haughty dignity which had always distinguished him. He pre- served a proud and disdainful silence, and such indifference to the passing scenes, that he rarely requested his eyelids to be raised. In this melancholy condition, he was basely shot in the back by his sentinel, with whom recollection of former injuries overcame * Bancroft, p. 224. — Burke, v. II. p. 55, says — on authority of Beverley — " five hun- dred." (6) 62 OUTLINE HISTORY. all respect for helpless age, or former greatness. The only subject which called forth any show of regret from him was a flash of an- gry indignation, at being exposed in his dying hours to the idle and curious gaze of his enemies. So little regard was now paid to the Indian hostilities, that, on the following June, Sir William Berkeley sailed for England, and the council elected llichard Kemp to occupy his post until his re- turn. In the mean time, the warfare with the Indians continued M^ithout remission. It appears by an act of the latter part of the year 1G44, that many of the inhabitants, probably on the iVontiers, had been collected in large bodies ; but leave was then given them to dispose of themselves *' for their best advantage and conve- nience, provided that in places of danger there should not be less than ten men allowed to settle." Sir William Berkeley again took possession of his government Q , p. ip4« in June, 1645 ; and in the following year a treaty of ' ■ peace was concluded with the Indians, by which Necotowance, the successor of Opechancanough, acknowledged that he held his kingdom of the crown of England, and agreed that his successors should be appointed or confirmed by the king's governor ; on the other hand, the Assembly, on behalf of the colo- ny, undertook to protect him against rebels and all enemies what- soever. In this treaty, the Indians were permitted to dwell on the north side of York River, but ceded to the whites all the country from the falls of the James and York to the bay, forever ; and any Indian coming upon that territory was to suffer death, unless he bore the badge of a messenger. The Indians were also to surren- der all prisoners, negroes, and arms taken. Other articles were added, prescribing the form of intercourse. Thus were the abo- rigines at length finally excluded from their father-land, leaving no monument of their having existed, save the names of the wa- ters and mountains, and the barrows containing the ashes of their ancestors.* Thus the colony of Virginia acquired the management of all its concerns ; war was levied, and peace concluded, and territory ac- quired, in conformity to the acts of the representatives of the peo- ple ; while the people of the mother country had just acquired these privileges, after a long and bloody conflict with their former sovereign. Possessed of security and quiet, abundance of land, a free market for their staple, and, practically, all the rights of an independent state — having England for its guardian against for- eign oppression, rather than its ruler — the colonists enjoyed all the prosperity which a virgin soil, equal laws, and general uniformity * I know of no such thing existing as an Indian monument — of labor on the large scale. I think there is no remain as respectable as would be a common ditch for tiie draining of lands ; unless, indeed, it would be the barrows, of which many are to be found all over the country. That they were repositories of the dead, has been obvious to all ; but on what particular occasion constructed, was a matter of doubt. — JefTerson's Notes on Va., p. 132. OUTLINE HISTORY. 63 of condition and industry, could bestow. Their numbers increased ; the cottages were filled with children, as the ports were with ships and emigrants. At Christmas, 1G48, there were trading in Virginia, ten ships from London, two from Bristol, twelve Hollanders, and seven from New England. The number of the colonists was al- ready twenty thousand, and they, who had sustained no griefs, were not tempted to engage in the feuds by which the mother country was divided. They were attached to the cause of Charles, not because they loved monarchy, but because they cherished the liberties of which he had left them in the undisturbed pos- ■ session ; and after his execution, though there were not wanting some who favored republicanism, the government recog- nised his son without dispute. The loyalty of the Virginians did not escape the attention of T iRt^n the royal exile : from his retreat in Breda he trans- June, lb5U. j^jj-jpfj ^Q Berkeley a new commission, and Charles the Second, a fugitive from England, was still the sovereign of Vir- ginia. But the Parliament did not long permit its authority to be de- nied. Having, by the vigorous energy and fearless enthusiasm of republicanism, triumphed over all its enemies in Europe, it turned its attention to the colonies ; and a memorable ordinance at once empowered the council of state to reduce the rebellious colonies to obedience, and at the same time established it as a law that for- eign ships should not trade at any of the ports " in Barbadoes, Antigua, Bermudas, and Virginia." Thus giving the first example of that wholesale blockade, afterwards rendered so notorious by the celebrated orders in council during the wars of the French revolution. Maryland, which was not expressly included in the ordinance, had taken care to acknowledge the new order of things ; and Massachusetts, alike unwilling to encounter the hostility of Parliament, and jealous of the rights of independent legislation, by its own enactment, prohibited all intercourse with Virginia till the supremacy of the commonwealth should be established, — al- though the order, when it was found to be injurious to commerce, was promptly repealed, even while royalty still flourished at Jamestown. A powerful fleet, with a considerable body of land forces on board, sent out to bring the colonies to submission, having subdued Barbadoes and Antigua, cast anchor before Jamestown. Sir Wil- liam Berkeley and his hardy colonists had not been inactive : the growing strength of the colony had recently been increased by the acquisition of many veteran cavaliers from the king's army, and it now presented no contemptible force. Several Dutch ships which were lying in the river, and which, as trading contrary to the prohibition of Parliament, were armed, to provide against surprise by the commonwealth's fleets, were also pressed into service. This show of resistance induced the commissioners of Parliament to hesitate, before they attempted to reduce the colony to obedience 64 OUTLINE HISTORY. by force, and to offer them fair and honorable terms of submission. The terms offered being such as completely satisfied the Virgini- ans that their freedom was to be preserved inviolate, and their present happy constitution guarantied, while they were to suffer nothing for past conduct, they readil}' acquiesced, since they gained all by such a surrender which they could effect by the most successful warfare. It appears that they never anticipated any thing more than the preservation of their own liberties from wanton violation from the new and untried power which now held the reins of government in England, and could scarcely have been mad enough to hope to effect any thing favorable to the king by their resistance. The articles of surrender are concluded between the commissioners of the common- wealth, and the council of state and Grand Assembly of Virginia, as equal treating with equal. It secures — 1st. That this should be considered a voluntary act, not forced or constrained by a conquest upon the country ; and that the colonists should have and enjoy such freedoms and privileges as belong to the freeborn people of England. 2dly. That the Grand Assembly, as formerly, should convene and transact the affairs of Virginia, doing nothing contrary to the government of the commonwealth or laws of England. 3dly. That there should be a full and total remission of all acts, words, or writings against the Parliament. 4thly. That Virginia should have her ancient bounds and limits, granted by the char- ters of tlie former kings, and that a new charter was to be sought from Parliament to that effect, against such as had trespassed upon their ancient rights. [This clause would seem to be aimed at some of the neighboring colonies.] Stilly. That-all patents of land under the seal of the colony, granted by the governor, should remain in full force. 6thly. Tiiat the privilege of fifty acres of land for every person emigrating to the colony, should remain in lull force. 7thly. That the people of Virginia have free trade, as the people of England enjoy, with all places and nations, according to the laws of the commonwealth ; and that Virginia should enjoy equal privileges, in every respect, with any otlier colony in America. 8thly. That Virginia should be free from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatso- ever ; and that none should be imposed upon them without the consent of their Grand Assembly ; and no forts or castles be erected, or garrison maintained, without their con- sent. 9thly. That no charge should be required from the country on account of the expense incurred in the present fleet. lOthly. That this agreement should be tendered to all persons, and that such as should refuse to subscribe to it, should have a year's time to remove themselves and effects from Virginia, and in the mean time enjoy equ.-.l justice. The remaining articles were of less importance. This was followed by a supple- mental treaty, for the benefit of the governor and council, and such soldiers as had served against the commonwealth in England, — allowing them the most favorable terms. If this was a conquest, happy would it be for most colonies to be conquered. Every privilege was secured which could possibly be asked, and the liberties of the colony were established more thoroughly than they had ever been ; and the conquest was only less favorable to Virginia than her declaration of independence, by having her rights depending upon the pledged faith of another nation, instead of having them entirely under her own control. The correspondence between the rights now secured, and the rights OUTLINE HISTORY. 65 mentioned in the Declaration of Independence as violated by the British king, is remarkable. All matters were thus happily and amicably arranged ; and, as Sir William Berkeley was too loyal a subject to be willing to take office under Parliament, Richard Bennett, one of the commissioners, was elected governor. A council was also elected, with powers to act in conformity to the instructions they should receive from the parliament, the known law of England, and the Acts of Assembly, and such other powers as the Assembly should think proper from time to time to give them. It was declared, at the same session, that it was best that officers should be elected by the Burgesses, '• the representatives of the people ;" and after discussion upon the propriety of allowing the governor and council to be members of the Assembly, it was determined that they might, by taking the same oath which was taken by the Burgesses. The Assembly thus having no written constitution as their guide, took upon them- selves the office of a convention of the people, and granted or re- sumed powers as it might seem best for the good of the country. The whites and the remnants of the neighboring Indian tribes continued to be upon good terms, and the latter were kindly and humanely treated by the guardian care of the Assembly. A slight irruption of the Rappahannocks seems to have been soon termi- nated. But a new scene in the history of the colony now present- ed itself. The Rechahecrians, a fierce and warlike tribe, came down from the mountains, and took up a strong position on the falls of James River, with six or seven hundred warriors. This excited no little uneasiness, as it had been very difiicult to extir- pate the Indians who had formerly possessed the spot. The first expedition against them failed ; a new one was prepared, and the subject Indians being called upon for aid, furnished a hundred warriors, most of whom, with their chief, Totopotomoi, fell fighting gallantly. When Bennett retired from office, and the Assembly elected Ed- M li •?! ifi^^i w^ard Digges his successor, the commissioners of ' ■ the commonwealth had little to do with control- ling the destinies of Virginia, but were engaged in settling the affairs and adjusting the boundaries of Maryland. The Assembly reciting the articles of agreement with the com- T\/r u lo leco missioners of Parliament, which admitted that March 13, 1658. ., , ^. r u a: c 4.u 1 the election of all ofncers of the colony apper- tained to the Burgesses, the representatives of the people pro- ceeded to the election of a governor and council until the next Assembly ; and the choice fell upon " worthy Samuel. Matthews, an old planter, of nearly forty years standing, — a most deserving commonwealth's man, who kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true lover of Virginia." But this worthy old gentleman seems to have conceived higher ideas of his powers than the As- sembly was willing to allow. The Assembly had determined not to dissolve itself, but only to adjourn until the first of November 9 (6*) 66 OUTLINE HISTORY. They then proceeded with their ordinary business, making, how- ever, one important change in the constitution, — which was, to require that all propositions and laws presented by a committee should be first discussed by the Hotise of Burgesses in private, before the admission of the governor and council. The governor and council, on the first of April, sent a message declaring that they thought fi-t then to dissolve the Assembly, and requiring the speaker to dismiss the Burgesses. To this the Assembly returned for answer, that the act was illegal, and without precedent, and requested a revocation of it, as they expected speedily to finish their business. The house then declared, that any member who should depart should be censured, as betraying the trust reposed in him by his country ; and that the remainder should act in all things, and to all intents and purposes, as an entire house ; that the speaker should sign nothing \vithout the consent of a majority of the house, and that the members should take an oath not to disclose the acts or debates of that body. The governor replied to the communication from the house, that he was willing that the house should conclude its business speedily, and refer the dispute as to the legality of his power to dissolve, to the decision of the Lord Protector. The house unanimously decided this answer to be unsatisfactory, expressed an earnest desire that public business might be soon dispatched, and requested the governor and council to declare the house undissolved, in order that a speedy period might be put to public affairs. In reply to this, the governor and council revoked the order of dissolution, upon their promise of a speedy conclusion, and again referred the matter of disputed right to the Lord Protector. The house, still unsatisfied v^^ith this an- swer, appointed a committee to draw up a report in vindication of the conduct of the Assembly, and in support of its power. In the report, the Burgesses declare that they have in themselves full power of election and appointment of all oflicers in the country, until they should have an order to the contrary from the supreme power in England ; that the house of Burgesses, the representa- tives of the people, were not dissolvable by any power yet extant in Virginia, except their own ; that the former election of gover- nor and council was null, and that, in future, no one should be ad- mitted a counsellor unless he was nominated, appointed, and con- firmed by the house of Burgesses. They then directed an order to the sheriff of James City coun- ty, who was their sergeant-at-arms, that he should execute no war- rant, precept, or command, directed to him by any other power or person than the Speaker of the House. They then ordered, that " as the supreme power of the country of Virginia had been de- clared resident in the Burgesses," the secretar}- of state should be required to deliver up the public records to the speaker. An oath was prescribed for the governor and council to take, and the same governor was elected and most of the same council. Thus were all difiiculties adjusted, and popular sovereignty fully established. OUTLINE HISTORY. 67 Upon the death of Cromwell, the House of Burgesses unani- M- \^ i«f^Q "^ously recognised his son Richard, and adopted an arc , . a^(j(jj.pgg praying a confirmation of their former priv- ileges, in which address the governor was required to join, after solemnly acknowledging, in the presence of the whole Assembly, that the supreme power of electing officers was, by the present laws, resident in the Grand Assembly ; which was alleged to be required for this reason, that what was their privilege now might belong to their posterity hereafter. Matthews died, leaving the colony of Virginia without a gover- i\/r u ^c(in ^°'"' about the same time that the resignation of Marcn, ibbU. j^i^i^g^,.^ Cromwell left England without a head. In this emergency the Assembly, reciting that the late frequent dis- tractions in England preventing any power from being generally confessed ; that the supreme power of the colony should be vested in the Assembly, and that all writs should issue in its name, until such a command and commission should come from England as should by the Assembly be adjudged lawful. Sir William Berke- ley was then elected governor, with the express stipulation that he should call an Assembly once in two years at least, and should not dissolve the Assembly without its own consent. This old roy- alist, probably thinking now that there was a prospect of the res- toration, accepted the office under the prescribed conditions, and acknowledged himself to be but the servant of the Assembly. During the suspension of the royal government in England, Virginia attained un- limited liberty of commerce, which they regulated by independent laws. The ordinance of 1630 was rendered void by the act of capitulation ; the navigation act of Cromwell was not designed for her oppression, and was not enforced within her borders. Only one confiscation appears to have taken place, and that was entirely by the authority of the Grand Assembly. The war between England and Holland necessarily interrupted the intercourse of the Dutch with the English colonies ; but, if after the treaty of peace the trade was considered contraband, the English restrictions were entirely disregarded. ■•(•rr Commissioners were sent to England to^undeceive Cromwell with regard to the ^ ' course Virginia had taken with reference to the boundary of Maryland, with regard to which he had been misinformed ; and to present a remonstrance demanding imlimited freedom of trade ; which, it appears, was not refused, for some months before the Protector's death, the Virginians invited the " Dutch and all foreigners" to trade with them on payment of no higher duty than that which was levied on such English vessels as were bound for a foreign port. Proposals of peace and commerce belween New- Netherland and Virginia were discussed without scruple by the respective colonial gov- ernments ; and at last a special statute of Virginia extended to every Christian nation, in amity with England, a promise of liberty of trade and equal justice. ^(.nr. At the restoration, Virginia enjoyed freedom of com- merce with the whole world. Virginia was the first state in the world composed of separate townships, difTnsed over an extensive surface, where the govern- ,„ ment was organized on the principle of universal suffrage. All freemen, without exception, were entitled to vote. The .p_P right of suff'rage was once restricted, but it was soon after determined to be " hard and unagreeable to reason, that any person shall pay equal taxes and yet have no vote in the elec- tion :" and the electoral franchise was restored to all freemen. 68 OUTLINE HISTORY. Servants, when the time of their bondage was completed, at once became electors ; and might be chosen burgesses. Thus Virginia established upon her soil the supremacy of the popular branch, the freedom of trade, the independence of religious societies, the secu- rity from foreign .taxation, and the universal elective franchise. If in the following years she departed from either of these principles, and yielded a reluctant consent to change, it was from the influ- ence of foreign authority. Virginia had herself established a nearly independent democracy. Prosperit)'' advanced with free- dom ; dreams of new staples and infinite wealth were indulged ; while the population of Virginia at the epoch of the restoration may have been about thirty thousand. Many of the recent emi- grants had been royalists in England, good officers in the war, men of education, of property, and of condition. But the waters of the Atlantic divided them from the political strifes of Europe ; their industry was employed in making the best advantage of their plantations ; the interests and liberties of Virginia, the land which they adopted as their country, were dearer to them than the mo- narchical principles which they had espoused in England ; and therefore no bitterness could exist between the partisans of the Stuarts and the friends of republican liberty. Virginia had long been the home of its inhabitants — " Among many other blessings," said their statute-book, " God Almighty hath vouchsafed increase of children to this colony ; who are now multiplied to a consider- able number ;" and the huts in the wilderness were as full as the birds' nests of the woods. The genial climate and transparent atmosphere delighted those who had come from the denser air of England. Every object in nature was new and wonderful. The hospitality of the Virginians became proverbial. Laoor was valuable ; land was cheap ; competence promptly followed industry. There was no need of a scramble ; abundance gushed from the earth for all. The morasses were alive with water-fowl ; the forests were nimble with game ; the woods rustled with covies of quails and wild turkeys, while they sung with the merry notes of the singing birds ; and hogs, swarming like vermin, ran at large in troops. It was " the best poor man's country in the world." " If a happy peace be settled in poor England," it had been said, " then they in Virginia shall be as happy a people a:s any under heaven." But plenty encouraged indolence. No domestic manu- factures were established; every thing was imported from England. The chief branch of industry, for the purpose of exchanges, was tobacco planting ; and the spirit of invention was enfeebled by the uniformity of pursuit. OUTLINE HISTORY. " 69 CHAPTER V. bacon's rebellion HOSTILE DESIGNS OF THE FRENCH. Indifference to change in England. — Navigation Act. — Convicts. — Conspiracy detected. — Discontents. — Cessation from tobacco planting for one year. — Royal grants. — Virgijiia's remonstrance. — Success of deputies. — Indian hostilities. — Army raised and disbanded by governor. — People petition for an army — elect Bacon commander -he marches without commission and defeats Indians — pursued by governor, who retreats on hearing of rising at Jamestown. — Governor makes concessions. — Bacon prisoner — is pardoned. — People force commission from governor. — Bacon marches to meet Indians — hears he is declared a rebel by Berkeley — marches to meet him — he flees to Accornac. — Convention called and free government established. — Bacon de. feats the Indians. — Berkeley obtains possession of the shipping, and occupies James- town — is besieged by Bacon, and driven out. — Jamestown burnt — Death of Bacon — character of his enterprise. — Predatory warfare — treaty between governor and his opponents. — Cruelty of Berkeley. — King''s commissioners. — Departure of Berkeley, and his death. — Acts of Assembly passed during Bacon's influence. — Conduct of king's commissioners. — Culpeper governor. — Discontents. — Conduct of Beverly. — Howard governor. — General conduct of Virginia and progress of affairs. — Plan of Collier for dividing the British colonies. As Virginia had provided for herself a government substan- tially free, the political changes in England could have little effect upon her repose, provided no attempt Was made to interfere with the freedom of her trade, or her local government. She seemed content to be under the protection, rather than control, of what- ever power the people of England thought proper to place at the head of affairs, provided that power did not seek to extend the conceded authority. In this mood she had adhered to Charles I. until the Parliament, by its commissioners, promised a preserva- tion of all her privileges; she acknowledged Cromwell upon a similar promise, and his son Richard under the same idea ; upon his resignation she held herself aloof, thus proving how perfect and how independent was her owh local government, until the voice of England should declare who should rule ; and upon the accession of Charles 11. she gave in her allegiance to him. As in all these British changes she remained unconcerned and unmoved, so the last caused neither extraordinary joy nor regret. The colo- nists, thus free from external sources of uneasiness, proceeded to legislate upon internal matters ; providing rewards for the en- couragement of silk and other staples ; negotiating with Carolina and Maryland for the adoption of uniform measures for the im- provement of tobacco, and diminishing its quantity ; and provid- ing for the erection of public buildings, the improvement of James- town, and other subjects of general utility. While the colonists were proceeding in this useful occupation, ,„po fhey were alarmed by the intelligence of the re-enaction of the navigation act, odious with new prohibitions, and armed with new penalties. The Virginians had long enjoyed a very beneficial trade with other countries besides England, and had early perceived its advantages, often urging the propriety of 70 OUTLINE PIISTORY. its continuance, and contending that " freedom of trade was the life of a commonwealth." But the object of the navigation act was to confine its trade exclusively to England, for the encourage- ment of English shipping, and the emolument of English merchants, as well as the promotion of the king's revenue ; without regard to the gross injurj^ done to the colony by depriving her of the benefit of competition in her harbors. The colony remonstrated in vain, and continued boldly her trade with all such foreigners as would venture to encounter the riuk of being taken by the English crui- sers, and encountering the penalties of the act. It appears to have been for some time the practice to send fdons and other obnoxious persons to the colony, to expiate their oilences by serving the planters for a term of years. At the restoraiion many of the veteran soldiers of Cromwell, to whom it was antici- pated the return of the ancien regime would not be particularly palatable, were shipped to Virginia to work off their spleen in the cultivation of tobacco. It appears that this new business was not as agreeable to them as they had found the psalm-singing and plundering of the royalists, under the command of their devout leader ; and they accordingly quickly organized an insurrection, by the operation of which they were to change places with such of their masters as were left alive by the process. But this out- breaking, which seems to have been v^ell planned and extensively organized, was prevented by the compunction of one of their asso- ciates, who disclosed the whole afl\iir to the governor the evening before it was to have gone into effect ; and adequate means were -p , , „ taken to prevent the design. Four of the conspirators ^ ■ ■ were executed. But this evil of importing jail-birds, as they were called, increased to such an extent that it was prohib- ited by the General Court, in 1070, under severe penalties. The increase in the amount of tobacco raised by the increase of T K ^('(^c ^^^^ colony and the settlement of Maryland and June 5, lObb. Q^^Qii,-,^^^ |-j^^ outstripped the increase of taste for it, rapid as that was, and caused such a glut of the commodity that its price fell to an amount utterly ruinous to the planter. In this the exclusive privilege of purchase which England enjoj^ed, not- withstanding the extensive contraband trade, no doubt largely contributed ; but this the planters could not prevent, and their only remaining resource was in diminishing the amount of tobacco raised. To etiect this various schemes had been devised, but they were all liable to be evaded, and were, if successful, too partial in their operation to effect the object desired. Nothing could be efficient, short of a total cessation from planting for one year, and this was at last accooplislied after long negotiations with Mary- land and Carolina. Many other staples had been recommended from time to time to the planters, and even encouraged by bounties and rewards, and this year, it was thought, would give them more leisure to attend to the subject. But it is not probable that many engaged in the OUTLINE HISTORY. 71 occupations proposed, which required the investment of capital, the acquisition of skill, and the aid of time to render them profit- able ; and the year's leisure only served to increase the growing discontent, especially as towards its end Maryland began to be suspected of bad faith. There were other causes of discontent which probably prevailed between different classes of society. Loud complaint was made of the manner in which taxes were levied, entirely on persons %vithout regard to property, which, as there must have been a very large class of poor free persons now existing, from the frequent emancipation, and expiration of the terms of those who came over as servants, besides those who were free but poor when they came to the country, must have created considerable excitement. An effort was made to remedy this evil by laying a tax on property, but ineffectually ; the only result being a small export duty on to- bacco, in aid of the general revenue. While the taxes bore thus hard upon the poorer portion of the community, they also had just reason to complain of exclusion from the right of suffrage by an act of 1G70, and from the Legis- lature, to which none but freeholders could be chosen ; as well as of the enormous pay which the Burgesses appropriated to them- selves, of one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco per diem, and one hundred for their horses and servants. The forts were also complained of as a source of heavy expenditure, without any benefit ; their chief use, indeed, being rather injurious, as they kept off traders who violated the navigation acts. But these evils in domestic legislation were trivial, compared with those produced by the criminal prodigality of Charles, who wantonly made exorbitant grants to his favorites of large tracts of lands, without a knowledge of localities, and consequently with- out regard to the claims or even the settlements of others. To cap the climax of royal munificence, the gay monarch, in, perhaps, a merry mood, granted to Lords Culpeper and Arlington the whole colony of Virginia, for thirty-one years, with privileges effectually royal as. far as the colony was concerned, only reserving some mark of homage to himself. This might be considered at court, perhaps, as a small bounty to a favorite, but was taken in a very serious light by the forty thousand people thus unceremoniously transferred. The Assembly, in its extravagance, only took from them a great proportion of their profits ; but the king was filching their capital, their lands, and their homes, which they had inherited from their fathers, or laboriously acquired by their own strenuous exertion. The Legislature sent three deputies to England, to remonstrate with the king against these intolerable grants, to endeavor to pro- cure his assent to some charter which might secure them against such impositions for the future ; and if they should fail in the first of these objects, to endeavor to buy out the rights of the patentees. To bear the expense of these three deputies, Mr. Ludwell, Mr. 72 OUTLINE HISTORY. Morryson, and Mr. Smith, the enormous annual tax of fifty pounds of tobacco was laid upon every titheable person for two years, which, though it was for a popular object, was considered as of itself an intolerable grievance, at which we cannot wonder when we reflect that many who had to pa}^ this tax did not own a foot of land. The amount can only be accounted for, by supposing much of it was to be used as secret service money, with such of his majesty's minions as could only see justice through a golden medium. These deputies exerted themselves with remarkable success, and procured from the king an order for a charter, precisely in conformity to the petition which they presented, and providing against the grievances of which they complained ; especially grants from the crown without information from the governor and council in Virginia that such grants would be of no injury ; de- pendence immediately upon the crown of England, and not on any subfeudatory ; and exemption from taxation without consent of the Grand Assembly. His majesty ordered the solicitor-general and attorney-general to prepare a bill embodying these and the other matters embraced in their petition, in due legal form, for his signature ; but the matter, notwithstanding the most assiduous attention of the deputies, was so long delayed in going through the official forms that it was finally stopped, before its completion, in the Hanaper office, by the news of Bacon's Rebellion. Soon after the deputies left Virginia, the difficulties of the colony had been increased by the addition of an Indian war, which, al- though not now, as formerly, a matter causing danger of destruction to the whole colony, and requiring all its strength to repel it, was yet a subject of great terror and annoyance to the frontier. A standing army of five hundred men, one-fourth of which was ■jyj, ^ ,p^r- to consist of cavalry, was raised by the Legislature, ^^' ' ^' and every provision made for their support and regu- lation ; but after it was raised, and in a complete state of prepa- ration to march against the Indians, it was suddenly disbanded by the governor without any apparent cause. This was followed by earnest petitions to the governor from various quarters of the coun- try, to grant a commission to some person to chastise the Indians, the petitioners offering to serve in the expedition at their own ex- pense. This reasonable request was refused, and the people, see- ing their country left defenceless to the inroads of a savage foe, assembled of themselves in their primary capacity, in virtue of their right of self-defence, to march against the enemy. They chose for their leader Nathaniel Bacon, junior, a young gentleman of highly respectg^ble "family and education, who, although he had returned to Virginia but three years before, from the completion of his studies in England, had already received the honor of a colonel's rank in the militia, and a seat in the Legislature for Hen- rico, in which county his estate lay, — exposed by its situation to the fury of the Indians. He stood high in the colony, and was OUTLINE HISTORY. 73 possessed of courage, talent, and address, which fitted him well for such an enterprise. After Bacon had been selected by this volunteer army as their leader, his first step was to apply to the governor for a commission, in order, if possible, to have the sanc- tion of the legitimate authorities for his conduct. The governor evaded this rational and respectful request, by saying that he could not decide upon so important a matter without his council, which he summoned to consult, at the same time artfully hinting to Ba- con the injury which he might probably do himself by persevering in his course. Bacon dispatched messengers to Jamestown to receive the commission, which he did not doubt would be ulti- mately granted ; and as public impatience would not abide the dilatory proceedings of the governor, and he was probably net- Lied .at the insinuations addressed to his selfishne-s, in the gov- ernor's communication, — he proceeded on his expedition, authoriz- ed only by the will of the people, the danger of the country, and the anxious wish of those who trusted their lives to his control. Sir William Berkeley, (whose conduct, notwithstanding the high encomiums bestowed upon him, seems to have been marked in ordinary times only by a haughty condescension, which in his excellency was called suavity of manners, and in those times of difficulty, by vacillating imbecility.) after temporizing in the most conciliating manner with Bacon until his departure, now denounc- ed him and his followers as mutineers and traitors, for daring to defend their country after his excellency had refused them a com- mission ; and gathering together such forces as he could collect, consisting principally of the wealthy aristocrats in the settled country, who probably liked the mode of taxation which was least injurious to them, and who suffered little from Indian incur- sions upon the frontier, he marched, to put down the rebellious troops. He had not proceeded further than the falls of James River, when he received intelligence of a rising in the neighbor- hood of Jamestown of a more formidable nature than Bacon's, which compelled him to retreat and take care of affairs at home. This new ebullition of feeling was headed by Ingram and Walk- late, and was probably produced by the indignation of the common people at the absurd conduct of the governor in first refusing a commission to Bacon, and then marching to destroy him, while engaged in so useful an occupation. Be this as it may, we find them insisting upon dismantling the forts, which were intolerably oppressive, without producing any good effect against an enemy whose progress was by stealth, whose onset was sudden and furious, and whose retreat was immediate. Against such an en- emy active operations in the field were required, and the vigorous prosecution of the war in his own country. The forts, probably, were regarded by the poor as instruments of power in the hands of the rich ; which they kept up by oppressive acts, while they took measures to put down Bacon's operations, which constituted 10 (7) 74 OUTLINE HISTORY. the only hope which the people had for protection. The governor was obliged to yield to the storm. The forts were ordered to be dismantled, and the obnoxious assembly was dissolved, and writs issued for a new election, in which, for the first time, freemen, as distinguished from freeholders, were elected. In the mean time, Bacon had been very successful in defeating the Indians, destroying their towns, and taking them captive ; and was returning leisurely to Jamestown when he heard of the revolution there. This induced him to leave his little army, and, with a few followers, embark for Jamestown ; but he was taken on his voyage by Gardiner, who was cruising to intercept him, and sent a prisoner to the governor. Bacon had been elected a mem- ber for Henrico in the new legislature, and was pardoned and per- mitted to take his seat upon his confessing the impropriety and disobedience of his conduct, praying pardon of the governor, and promising future obedience. Credible report says, that he was induced to make this full and humiliating acknowledgment upon a promise by the governor, not only of pardon, but of a commis- sion : and, indeed, without supposing it the result of a compro- mise, it is difficult to account either for this act or his subsequent conduct. The causes which induced his next step are not suffi- ciently explained by the historians of the times, but it was proba- bly produced by the solicitations of his friends in the legislature, who found that they could gain no redress of grievances. He collected troops in the country, and marched to Jamestown ; he surrounded the state house with his enraged soldiers, demanding a commission for him ; which, by the earnest solicitation of the council and assembly, was at length obtained from the governor, together with a full act of indemnity for his present conduct, and a letter, highly applauding his designs and his proceedings, ad- dressed to the king, and signed by the burgesses, the council, and the governor. Thus relieved from all former sources of fear, a,nd provided against future contingencies. Bacon again sallied forth towards the frontier. But the governor had not long been relieved from his presence before he dissolved the assembly, and retiring into Glou- cester, again declared Bacon a rebel, and his arm}' traitors, and raised the standard of opposition. Upon being intbrmed of this. Bacon immediately fell back by forced marches upon Gloucester, and compelled his puissant excellency to retreat with precipitation to Accomac. This county was at that time considered as a distinct territory, although under the control of Virginia, and Bacon, taking advantage of this against an unpopular governor, called a con- vention for the purpose of settling the government, declaring that the governor had abdicated. This convention met at Middle Plan- tation on the 3d of August, 1G70, and declared that the govern- ment was vacant by the abdication of Sir William Berkeley, and that, by invariable usage, the council or the people might fill the vacancy until the king's pleasure should be known. Writs were OUTLINE HISTORY. 75 then issued by five* members of the council for a new election of burgesses. The convention next declared Sir William Berkeley guilty of aiding and abetting certain evil disposed persons in fomenting and stirring up the people to civil war ; and that they would aid in discovering all such evil disposed persons, and op- posing their forces, until the king be fully informed of the state of the case ; and that they would aid Bacon and his army against the common enemy, and in suppressing the horrid outrages and mur- ders daily committed by them. Bacon having now provided a regular government for the coun- tiy, proceeded once more against the Indians, who had formed a confederacy and gained several advantages since his retreat. He destroyed the Pamunky, Chickahominy, and Mattaponi towns and their corn, in retaliation of the late excesses. The Indians retreated before him, with occasional skirmishes, until they reach- ed their place of general rendezvous near the falls of James River. He there found their whole force posted on an eminence over- hanging a stream, which, from the sanguinary nature of the con- flict, has been since called Bloody Run. They were protected by a stockade fort, which was storm^^i by the impetuous ardor of Bacon and his followers, who made great slaughter among them, encumbered as they were with their old men, women, and children. In the mean time, Berkeley had not met with that warm recep- tion which he had anticipated among the loyalists of Accomac ; but, on the other hand, he had been presented with a strong and spirited remonstrance against the objectionable acts of Parliament, and a requisition that they should be suspended, at least so far as regarded that portion of the country. How the matter termi- nated we are not informed. The governor was not allowed to remain undisturbed in Acco- mac, until he could again succeed in raising a force which might give trouble. Bacon s party was in possession of all the vessels in the colony, and two of his friends, Giles Bland and William Carver, went with their force to cut off supplies from the governor, or, as his friends surmised, to surprise him. But if such was their object they were defeated, for Captain Larimore, from whom one of the vessels had been taken, gave intimation to the governor's friends that he would betray his vessel into the hands of a party sufficiently strong to keep possession. The proposal was acceded to, and at midnight six and twenty men, obeying Larimore's signal, were along side of his ship, and had possession almost before the crew were aroused I'rom their slumbers ; the other vessels were then easily taken. Thus, Sir William finding himself in posses- sion of the whole naval force of the colony, while Bacon was absent on his expedition against the Indians, he collected together * Burke, vol. II, p. 179, says, " by Bacon and four other members of the council," but the member of the council was Nathaniel Bacon, sen., and the general was Na thaniel Bacon, jun., delegate for Henrico. — Hening, vol. II. p. 544-5. 76 ' OUTLINE HISTORY. a force of some six hundred men, consisting mostly of aristocratfc gentlemen and their servile dependents, and took possession once more of Jamestown. As usual, his first act in returning to power, was to disavow his ads in favor of Bacon as made under duress, and again to declare him a rebel, and his soldiers traitors. Bacon was on his return from his successful campaign when this news reached him ; most of his followers had dispersed, but he hastened on with the remainder, without regard to their fatigues in the recent campaign. He arrived before Jamestown late in the evening, fired his artillery and sounded a defiance, and then coolly dismounted and laid oft' his trenches. His men that very night, by the aid of trees, earth, and brushwood, formed a tolerable breastwork, and the next morning advanced to the-pali- sadoes of the town, and fired upon the guard, without loss. Sir William Berkeley, well knowing that time would increase the force of his adversary, while it diminished his own, next resolved to try the effects of a sally ; and some of his men at first behaved with some show of courage, but the whole body soon retreated in disorder before the well-directed fire of Bacon's men, leaving their drum and their dead as trophies to the victors. Bacon would not allow the victory to be followed up, as it would have placed his men under the range of the guns of the shipping. To prevent the use which might be made by this auxiliary, he planted several great guns so as to bear oh the ships, which served also to alarm, though they could not annoy the town. Now the marked difierence which existed between the charac- ter of Bacon's troops and those of the governor was exhibited, and that, too, in a manner well calculated to exhibit the character of Bacon's proceedings. Berkeley's troops, consisting principally of mercenary wretches, whom he had scraped together by the hopes of plunder, deserted every day when they found that the governor was determined to defend the place, and that they were likely to get more blows than booty in the contest, until at last the governor was left with httle more than twenty gentlemen, whose sense of honor would not allow them to desert his person. Bacon's troops, on the other hand, were daily reinforced by accessions from the country people, who clearly considered him as an intrepid sol- dier, who had delivered them from the butcheries of the savages ; and a patriot, who was now endeavoring to put down an odious and oppressive government. The governor, finding his followers reduced to so small a num- ber that it would be madness to attempt to defend the place, at length yielded to the earnest solicitations of those about him, and deceiving his adversaries as to his real design, by exhibiting evi- dences of a contemplated attack, he went on board a ship at mid- night, and was seen next morning riding at anchor, beyond the reach of the guns in the fort at Jamestown. Bacon, wiih his fol- lowers, after their week's siege, marched into the empty town the next morning, the governor and his party having carried off or OUTLINE HISTORY. 77 destroyed every article of value. The possession of Jamestown, in this situation, was of no advantage to Bacon or his followers. The men who had left their homes to defend their country from the incursions of the Indians, could not remain together for the purpose of defending the capital from their hostile governor, who was quietly waiting in the river for them to depart, in order that he might again resume possession. What could be done with a i;own which could not be defended, and, if defended, was of no value to the possessors ; but which was all-important to the ene- my ? The answer to this question was manifest, and Bacon's- proposal for its destruction was received with acclamation ; seve- ral of his followers, who owned the most valuable houses, apply- ing the firebrand with their own hands to their own property. The sight of the flames started Sir William Berkeley on a cruise to Accomac ; and Bacon having overcome all opposition to the government established by the convention, dismissed the troops to their homes. We liave little account of Bacon's proceedings after this successful termination of his labors ; we presume he did not do much, as he was ill of a disease caught by sleeping exposed in the trenches before Jamestown, which in a short time terminated his exist- ence. He died at the house of a Mr. Fate, in Gloucester county. Thus died the distihguished individual, who overcame both the foreign and domestic enemies of his country, and left it enjoying the blessings of a free government. Had he lived precisely a century later, he would have been one of the distinguished heroes of the revolution, and historians would have delighted as much in eulogizing his condnct, as they have, under existing circumstances, in blackening his character. He accomplished all which it was possible for him to do. He never opposed the British government, but only foreign enemies, and domestic mal-administration, which he succeeded in defeating. He seems always to have acted by the consent and wish of the people, and never to have sought self-aggrandizement. It was manifestly impossible for him to elevate him- self to absolute power in Virginia, without the consent of the government of England, and the people of Virginia ; and the idea of resisting botii of these powers was absurd. For all the evils which accrued to the country after his death, and the restoration of Sir William Berkeley, he has been unjustly made responsible, while he has received no credit for his good conduct, or the beneficial acts passed by the legislature during his ascendency. In short, we can see no difference between his course, and that pursued in the previoiLs expulsion of Sir John Harvey from the government, or the subsequent treat- ment of Lord Dunmore, and many other royal governors, at the commencement of the revolution. The only difference between the patriots of 1676 and 1776, was in the estab- lishment of a free government, subject to the general control of Great Britain, which was all that could be done in 1676, and the establishment of a free government independent of Great Britain, which was accomplished in 1776. The unfortunate death of Bacon, and the power of the mother country, destroyed in a great measure tlie benefit of the exertion of the little band of patriots of the first period, while the benefits of the latter have continued to exist. The loyal writers, alter the re-establishment of Berkeley, sought to hide his pusillanimity by extolling his virtues, and blackening his adversary, in which they have been blindly followed by other writers, who have attributed the subsequent misery to the previous rebellion, instead of to the avarice, malignity, and re- venge of the governor and his party, seeking to overawe and suppress popular indigna. tion, and break the strength of the popular party, by the forcible exertion of arbitrary authority, as well as to avenge themselves for the indignities to which their own folly subjected tliem. On the other hand, the patriots of the revolution have only received the just reward of their merit, in the lavish praises of a grateful posterity ; and the loyal party of their day has been justly handed down to universal execration. The death of Bacon, by leaving the republicans without a head, revived the courage of the governor so far, that he ventured in his ships to move about upon the bay and rivers, and attack the inhabit- (7*) 78 OUTLINE HISTOEY. ants wherever he could find them defenceless, and snatch a little plunder to gratify his needy followers ; always retiring when the opposite party appeared to oppose him. This predatory species of "warfare preventing the quiet pursuit of agricultural labors, and destroying all the comfort and happiness of society, without pro- ducing any benelicial result, soon grew wearisome to both parties. Sir William Berkeley, whose cruelties, especially to his prisoners, had gone far to keep up the enthusiasm of popular excitement, finding ihat his name had ceased to strike that awe which habitual respect for one high in authority had formerly given it, and that his punishments excited indignation rather than terror, felt disposed to take advantage, by milder means, of the returning pacific dispo- sition on the part of a people whose stubborn tempers could not be brought into obedience by force. With this view, he treated his prisoners with more liberality, published an act of general in- demnity, and proposed a treaty of peace to Ingram and Walklate, the principal leaders of the opposing party since the death of Ba- con. So anxious were the people to be relieved from the present confusion and anarchy, and the governor once more to rule with uncurbed sway, that a treaty was speedily concluded, only stipu- lating, on the part of the governor, a general oblivion, and indem- nity of past offences ; and, on the part of his opponents, a surrender of their arms, and a restoration of such property as they had taken. Thus easily did these unfortunate men deliver themselves again into the lion's power, after having defeated him at all points, and inflicted deep and irremediable wounds upon his inflated vanity, and pompous mock-dignity. The governor, when he had his ene- mies in his power, instead. of trying to heal the wounds of the bleeding state by mildness and conciliation, only added to its suf- ferings by a bloody retribution for all the trouble which he had been made to endure. Fines and confiscations, for the benefit of his excellency, became the order of the day, and an occasional execution, as an extra treat to his vengeance. He at first attempted to wrest the honest juries of the county to his purpose, but in vain, — ten prisoners were acquitted in a single day. Finding that his enemies were thus likely to escape his grasp, by the unfiinching integrity and sense of justice prevailing among the people, he determined to avoid the use of a court constituted upon principles of the English constitution, which he found so little subservient to his will, and tried his next victims under martial law. He here found a court of more congenial spirits. The commissioners of the king give an account of some of these trials, such as they were carried on even after their arrival, which mark well the spirit of the times. " We also observed some of the royal party, that sat on the bench with us at the trial, to be so forward in impeaching, accusing, reviling, the prisoners at bar, with that in- veteracy, as if they had been the worst of witnesses, rather than justices of the commission ; both accusing and condemning at the same time. This severe way of proceeding represented to the OUTLINE HISTORY. 79 assembly, they voted an address to the governor, that he would desist from any further sanguinary punishments, for none could tell when or where it would terminate. So the governor was prevailed on to hold his hands, after hanging twenty-three." A notable way which the governor adopted to replenish his purse, after the disasters of the war, was to relieve the rebels from a trial in one of his courts-martial, in which they were to be condemned, upon their paying him a great portion of their estates, by way of compromise. This method of disposing of men's estates, without trial or conviction, was protested against by his majesty's commis- sioners, as a gross violation of the laws of England, but which Sir William's friends seem to think only a just retribution for the losses sustained by himself and the royal party during the rebellion. Enormous tines, payable in provision, were also found a convenient method of providing for the king's troops which had been sent over to subdue the colony. His majesty's commissioners fortunately arrived in time to stay the wrath of the vindictive old man, who would, as an eye-wit- ness says, "he verily believes, have hanged half the county if they had let him alone." They urged him in vain to publish the king's proclamation of a general pardon and indemnity ; and then pro- ceeded to hold their commission for hearing and redressing griev- ances. As the proceedings of the governor diffused a gloom, the generality of which was co-extensive with the immense numbers that were engaged in the rebellion, so did the proceedings of the commissioners spread a universal joy. Crowds of persons now came forward to present their grievances — widows and orphans to ask for the confiscated estates of their husbands and fathers, who had been butchered by the military tribunals of the governor; others came in to complain of the seizing of their estates without the form of a trial ; and many, who had submitted themselves upon the governor's proclamation of indemnity and pardon, complained of subsequent imprisonment and confiscations of their property. The commissioners state in their report to the king and council, that " in the whole course of their proceedings they had avoided receiving any complaints of public grievances, but by and under the hand of the most credible, loyal, and sober persons of each county with caution ; that they did not do it in any mutinous manner, and without mixture of their old leaven, but in such sort as might become dutiful subjects, and sober, rational men to present." When they found that all their representations to Sir William Berkeley, to endeavor to induce him to restore the confiscated es- tates, which were in the possession of himself or his most faithful friends, were in vain, they ascertained as many of the possessors as possible, and made them give security to take care of them until his majesty should determine as to the restitution which they should recommend him to make. The commissioners also devised several matters of utility for the peace, good government, and safety of the colony ; which they recommended his majesty to 80 OUTLINE HISTORY. adopt. Sir William Berkeley returned in the fleet to England, leaving Sir Herbert JeiFries, who had been sent over with the commissioners, as governor. Upon his arrival, he found that his cruel conduct in Virginia was looked upon with horror by most of his former friends and the council, and was not sustained by the king, subservient loyally to whom had been the source and spring of his high-handed measures. The old knight, thus finding himself execrated in Virginia, and despised in England, soon lan- guished and died under the load of infamy with which he had crushed the fair fame of his earlier years. Thus ended the life of Sir William Berkeley — a governor, whose early character historians have delighted to honor, and whose subsequent conduct they have sought to excuse : but of whom we can find nothing better upon record, than the negative merit of not opposing the legislature in its schemes of government in the early part of his reign ; but whose latter years are disgraced by cowardly imbecility, and stained with crime. Before we take leave of the transaction which has been termed, in complaisance to the royal governor, Bacon's rebellion, it may not be amiss to cast a hurried j;lance at the laws passed by the legislature which met under his influence ; which must go far with posterity in determining, whether the name of rebels or patriots would be most consistent with the character of their acts. They strike first at the most important and pressing subject, and the one which had been most neglected — the Indian war. They provide efHcicut means for conducting it, and for regulating the army. Tiie next act prescribed regulations for Indian trading, the abuse of which was thought to have been very mischievous. They next pray his majesty's governor and council, that the lands which had been set apart at the last peace exclusively for the Indians, and which had been or might be subsequently deserted by tiiem, might not be granted away to in- dividuals, but might be used for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the war. The fourth act looks very little like an encouragement of rebellion — reciting that tumults, riots, and unlawful assemblies, had recently been IVequent ; they make it the duty of every otEcer, civil and military, in the country to aid iu suppressing them, and the duty of all citizens to assist such officers under penally of punishment for refusal ; and the governor is specially requested to assemble a force at the public charge with all possible expedition, to suppress such tumults, and mflict condign punishment upon the ofl'enders, which, says the act, "will conduce to the great safety and peace of this country, and enable us the better to defend ourselves against the barbarous and common enemy." This single act sheds more light upon the history of the times, and exhibits inore plainly the history of the views of the principal actors, than any, or perhaps all, other docu- ments ; we see in it the reason why no private persons took advantage of the unsettled state of affairs to disturb the public peace, and that there was no tumult or armed force, except the regular army, raised by the assembly and put under Bacon's command; and no rebellious assembly, except the miscreant crew raised by Berkeley in opposition to the government established by the people. Having thus provided for safety from foes without and for peace within, the assembly next proceeded to the investigation of abuses by civil officers. Uiuler this head they made several provisions for the prevention of abuses, which have been found so well devised, that they have continued iu use to the present day. They next provide against the long continuance of vestries in ollice ; for the election of burgesses by freemen as well as freeholders; and against false returns of burgesses. Their eighth act provides against abuses committed by the justices in laying county levies ; and requires, that a number of discreet men, chosen by the people, eijual in number to the justices appointed by the governor, should act with the justices in laying the county levy. They next empowered the county courts to select their own collectors of county levies and dues ; and prohibit any member of the council from sitting on the county court bench. Passing some acts of less general importance, but which were wise and useful, we come to an act of general pardon and indemnity for all crimes committed between the 1st of March and 25tli of June, passed " out of a hearty and pious desire to put an end to all suits OUTLINE HISTORY. 81 and controversies, that by occasion of the late fatal distractions have arisen," " and to bury all seeds of future discord and remembrance of any thing whereby the citizens might be obnoxious to any pains or penalties whatsoever." Their last act deprives Edward Hill and John Slith for ever of the right to hold any office of trust, judicature, or profit, because it was notoriously manifest that they had been the greatest instruments in raising, promoting, and stirring up the late differences and misunderstanding that had arisen between the honorable governor and his majesty's good and loyal subjects. The acts of thi-s Assembly were signed by Berkeley in all due form, but were subsefjiteiitly all fleclared void, though many of them were re-enacted by the Legislature, which, under the influence and control of Berkeley, declared them void. Although the people of Virginia had laid down their arms, they were not subdued, but continued to manifest, through their Legisla- ture, the same undaunted tenacity of their rights which had ever characterized them. This was exhibited towards the king's com- missioners in one of the boldest defences of privilege which the records of any nation can exhibit, and shows how strongly imbued with the spirit of freedom the people must have been, when they could snuff the approach of tyranny at such a distance, and put themselves on their defence against their friends, lest their ene- mies might take advantage of their concessions. The king's com- missioners were empowered to call for persons and papers, for the purpose of prosecuting more effectually their inquiries into the grievances of the colony. In conformity with their powers they called upon the secretary of the Legislature for its journals, but were surprised to find, that although their proceedings were popu- lar, and their object was to investigate and redress grievances of which these very men complained, that they refused to allow them to inspect their journals, returning for answer, that it was a dangerous precedent, which might be used in violation of their privileges. At this time, the governor and commissioners had complete physical power over the colony, by the entire absence of any thing like organized opposition, and from the presence of the' king's troops ;, and availing themselves of this power, they did not hesitate to wrest the journalsv of the Assembly from the hands of its officer by force. Upon which the Virginia Assembly published a bold and manly declaration, setting forth, "that his majesty's commissioners having called for and forced from the clerk of the Assembly, all the original journals of the Assembly, which power they supposed his majesty would not grant them, for that they find not the same to have been practised by any of the kings of Eng- land, and did therefore take the same to be a violation of their privileges, desiring withal satisfaction to be given them, that they might be assured no such violation of their privileges should be offered for the future." The king was so much displeased with this declaration, that although he pardoned the members of the Legislature, he directed the record of it to be erased, and required the governor to propose a bill to the next General Assembly con- demning the proceeding, and declaring the right of his majesty and his officers to call for all the public records and journals, whenever they shall think it necessary for his royal service. Sir Herbert Jeffries deserves the merit due to an advantageous 11 82 OUTLINE HISTORY. treaty with the Indians, and a successful opposition to the petty intrigues of the loyalists, lie died in 1678, leaving the colony in the hands of the lieutenant-governor. Sir Henry Chickerly, during W'hose administration magazines and forts were established at the heads of the four great rivers, to overawe the savages, and a silly act passed prohibiting the importation of tobacco from Carolina and Maryland, for the purpose of transhipment, which practice, if they had suffered it to continue, might have proved very profitable to the colony, besides putting the tobacco trade more exclusively into its own hands. In the succeeding spring, Sir Henry delivered the government to Lord Culpeper. The first act of his lordship was to declare full and unqualified indemnity to all for their con- duct in Bacon's rebellion, and allowing reparation to those who should be reproached for their conduct upon that occasion. This popular act, added to the pleasing and conciliatory manners of his lordship, so won upon the good-natured simplicity of the Assem- bly, that they passed an act which probably no force could have extorted from them. They raised the duties and made them per- petual, instead of annual, as before, and, what was at once sur- rendering up the great bulwark of that freedom, for the safety of which they had been so long contending, they made the duties henceforth subject to his majesty's sole direction and disposal. The king rewarded Culpeper's address in obtaining this acquisi- tion to his power, by the addition of a thousand pounds to his salary, and one hundred and sixty pounds per annum for his rent. The Assembly, too, as if they could not do enough for a royal gov- enor who could condescend to smile upon them, granted his excel- lency a regular duty proportionate to the tonnage of every vessel trading to Virginia. Culpeper having thus obtained a consider- able increase to his revenue by his trip to Virginia, proceeded to England, to enjoy it, leaving the colony once more with Sir Henry Chickerly. The discontents of the people again began to extend to a degree which could scarcely be kept within bounds. The troops which had been -sent over to suppress Bacon's rebellion were still kept up. There were no barracks, and the people positively refused to receive these idle and troublesome drones into their houses, al- though they were regularly billeted by the government. The low- price of tobacco, too, was a never-failing source of complaint, as well as the commercial regulations which aided in producing it. The colony had urged Culpeper (o exert his influence at court to procure a cessation from planting, to which they had for some time in vain endeavored to obtain the assent of Carolina and Maryland. To these evils another was now added, which struck another blow at commerce. The idea had been conceived that the colony could not prosper without towns, and to promote their grow^th the planters, living principally on the shores of the magnificent Chesa- peake, and the broad navigable rivers of Virginia, were required to bring their produce to particular spots for the purpose of being OUTLINE HISTORY. 83 shipped. Thus taxing the planter with unnecessary freight and commission for the benefit of such idlers as might congregate in the towns. These acts were enforced by heavy penalties, and as they contributed very much to the benefit of the town's people, the penalty for the violation was rigorously enforced. These prose- cutions drove many traders from the country, and the poor plant- ers, to whom it was physically impossible to convey their crops to these paper-towns, were doomed to see their crops rotting on their hands by this injudicious legislation, or, if they attempted to evade the law, have them wrested from them in the shape of penalties. These several subjects of complaint induced the people of several counties to petition the deputy governor to call an assembly, to endeavor to provide a remedy for the evils. At the meeting of the Assembly, there was much debate and declamation upon the con- dition of the country, but no measure of relief was adopted. By order of the king, however, the two companies of infantry were paid off and disbanded, which put an end to one of the subjects of difficulty. The dissolution of the Assembly without effecting any thing, caused the impatience of the poor and ignorant people of several of the counties to break through all restraint, and expend their wrath in the destruction of tobacco-plants, at a season of the year when it was too late to sow more seed. Sir Henry Chickerly, Math commendable moderation, only took measures to stop these misguided people, without resorting to harsh punishments ; but lest it should be drawn into a precedent, the Legislature notjong after- wards made it treason. In the mean time. Lord Culpeper ar- rived, and his haughty bearing to the Council and the I3urgesses soon gave intimation to them that his lordship's feelings towards the colony had undergone a change. He enlarged, in his speech to the Assembly, much upon the favor of his majesty in disband- ing the troops, and spoke of permission which he had obtained to raise the value of the current coin ; he then went on to declare that the colonists did not deserve these gracious favors, but rather punishment for their recent turbulence ; he also expressed his majesty's great dissatisfaction at the refusal of the journals, and desired that that portion of their proceedings should be expunged. The Assembly expressed their gratitude for the concessions which had been made by the king, but at the same time, with admirable good sense, and a knowledge of the prin- ciples of commerce, which shows that they were not acting blindfold with regard to the alterations in the price of tobacco heretofore alluded to, protested, by a large majority, against raising the value of the coin ; stating, as a reason, that the exercise of this dan- gerous power would be made a precedent, and specie, which of course as the standard of other value should be as fixed as possible itself, would be blown about by the breatb of the governor, and the people would have no certainty of the value of the coin in their pockets. They stated, moreover, that it was the duty of the legislature to enact all laws for the regulation of commerce, and, of course, to prescribe the current price of specie, and they accordingly introduced a bill for that purpose ; but this bill, which was necessary, as the coins of many different countries were in circulation, was stopped short in its progress by the governor, who declared that it was trespassing upon executive prerog- ative, and that he would veto any bill which the legislature might pass upon the subject. He then proceeded to fix the value himself by proclamation, raising the current price considerably, but making exception of his own salary and the revenue of the king 84 OUTLINE HISTORY. This exception was, in effect, nothing more or less than a new tax of the most odious and oppressive character, and the colony plainly recognised it as such, and refused to regard the exceptions, but paid the revenue as other debts, according to the new stand ard. And the governor, afraid to bring such a case before any court of law, which he well knew would expose his contemptible meanness, and yet afraid to allow his |)rocla- malion to be openly disregarded, which would have put an end at once to the authority of his edicts, was compelled, by the dilennna, to lower the value of the coin as suddenly as he had raised it. This was at once realizing all the worst anticipations of the legis- lature as to the arbitrary fluctuations in the standard of value, besides being higlily im- just and oppressive to such persons as had made payment of debts according to the new standard, and such as had given credit during the time of the alteration. The gov- ernors had, by some means, been suti'ered to exercise the power of dissolving the Assem- blies, and this having now grown into a usage, was a favorite method of silencing tliclr clamors ; and they having rashly made the provision for the revenue perpetual, and put the control of that subject into the king's hands, were bound hand and foot, and could not control executive usurpation by stopping the wheels of government. The governor now made use of this dangerous power and dissolved the Assembly. The governor, thus left without a watch or control over his actions, proceeded to a vigorous exercise of ex- ecutive powers. The unfortunate plant-cutters, who had merely been imprisoned, and such of them dismissed from time to time as would give assurance of penitence, and promise a peaceable demeanor, were now proceeded against with the utmost rigor, for what the king was pleased to call their treasonable conduct. But the noblest victim for tyrannical persecution was Robert Beverl}', the former clerk of tlie Assembly, who had refused to give up its papers without authority from " his masters, the house of Burgess- es." For some reason, it seems that an inspection of journals was demanded by the council again in 1682, and Beverly again refusing to deliver them, was thrown into pri- son, in a king's ship, the Duke of York, then lying in the river, his persecutors being afraid to trust him to the keeping of the jails among his countrymen. While lie was in prison, a committee of the council was appointed to seize tlie papers, which he, foresee- ing this event, had secreted. The pretences for this imprisonment were tlie most frivo- lous that can well be imagined ; he is accused of fomenting discord, and stirring up the late partial insurrections, but the only specific act of which he was accused, was setting on foot petitions for an Assembly. Under these arbitrary proceedings, he was detained a prisouer, denied the writ of habeas corpus, and hurried about from prison to prison, until the governor at last thought proper, after two years searching for charges, to com- mence a regular prosecution. T^he accusation consisted of three heads: — 1st. That he had broken open public letters directed to the Secretary's office, with the writs enclosed for calling an Assembly, in April, 1682, and took upon him the exer- cise of that part of the government which belongs to the Secretary's office, and was con- trary to his ; — 2d. That he had made up the journal, and inserted his majesty's letter therein (which was first communicated to the house of Burgesses at their prorogation) after their pro- rogation ; — 3d. That he had refused to deliver copies of the journal of the house of Burgesses in 1682, to the lieutenant-governor and council, saying, " that he might not do it without leave of his masters." This was all which could be charged against this faithful officer, after so long an im- prisonment, and so long a preparation for the prosecution. But of course they will not bear scrutiny, being only a flimsy veil thrown over their, designs, rather indicating a wish to hide the naked deformity of the prosecution, than actually concealing it. Before this notable prosecution was ended, Lord Culpeper for- feited his commission, and was superseded by Lord Howard, who took the oaths of oflice on the 28lh of February, 1G84. His first measure was to call an assembly, which, as a popular act, induced the colony to hope some decree of mildness in his administration; but these hopes were soon dissipated. He pursued the unfortunate plant-cutters with renovated vigor, and such of them as had been excepted in a proclamation of general pardon were now executed, and their estates, after paying officer's fees, appropriated to the governor's own use. OUTLINE HISTORY. 85 The assembly met and refused to proceed with business for the want of a clerk, as their former clerk was in prison, and they re- fused to elect another. In this situation of affairs the matter seems to have been compromised, the governor no doubt despairing of his conviction upon the absurd charges made, and Beverly and his friends willing to end his long imprisonment and sufferings, by ask- ing pardon, at the same time not giving up the papers or the prin- ciples for which he suffered. Be this as it may, Beverly threw himself upon the mercy of the court, declining to employ counsel or make any defence, and was pardoned. Probably these long-con- tinued sufferings, with other persecutions afterwards endured, in- jured the constitution of Beverly, for we find that he died prior to April, 1087. His noble conduct induced king James, the then reign- ing monarch, to deprive the Burgesses of the election of their own clerk, ordering the governor to elect him, and requiring the assembly to make the clerk, so elected, the usual allowance for his services. The accession of .James II. was proclaimed with the usual de- ■p , ,_ T^oc monstrations of respect in the colony, and compli- ' ' mentary assurances of loyalty on the one side, and gracious regard on the other, were exchanged between his subjects and the assembly. But nothing was done to secure the freedom of the colony, and Lord Howard took advantage of the succeeding recess of the assembly, to enlarge the fees and perquisites of his office, and to impose new ones without the advice or authority of the assembly. This body, which met in November, immediately took into consideration these arbitrary exactions, and passed spir- ited resolutions in reprobation of them, and made provision for the defence of the citizens from similar encroachments in future. To these acts the governor applied his negative, without assigning any reason. Lord Howard, not satisfied with thus stopping the legisla- tion of the colony, proceeded in effect to acts of executive legisla- tion, by issuing a proclamation, irf obedience, he said, to the king's instructions, repealing several acts of the legislature, which were themselves repeals of former acts, and declaring the acts repealed by that body to be revived, and in full force, as before the passage of the repealing acts. This proclamation the assembly protested against as illegal and unwarrantable, as utterly subversive of the government, annihilating the right of the popular branch, and bringing all to bow in humble submission to the mercy of the pre- rogative. The spirited conduct of the Burgesses could not be en- n 1- 90 irSR clured by the governor, and he prorogued them. ' * The governor had sent to James an account of the conduct of this assembly. This representation produced in reply from James, a furious, quarrelsome order, calling their conduct mutinous, and attributing it to their " unquiet dispositions and sin- ister intentions to protract the time of their sitting to the great op- pression of his subjects, from whom they received wages ;" con- cluding by an order for the prosecution of their clerk Beverly, to whom he ascribes all of these evils. (8) 86 OUTLINE HISTORY. In the same year, several persons were imprisonftd and punished for treasonable expressions. The council was now as servile as the governor could wish, and he proceeded without interruption in his system of arbitrary innovation upon the established usages of the colony, and the liberties of its citizens. The province of New York belonged to the king as proprietor as l\r in irs7 well as sovereign ; and, in order to strengthen this ^^* ' * his own estate, he sent orders for all the other colo- nies to assist in building forts, and supplying garrisons for its west- ern frontier, alleging that these measures were equally necessary for the protection of all. In conformity to these orders a message was received from governor Dungan, requiring the quota of Vir- ginia; but the legislature refused to appropriate a man or a far- thing for purposes from which they were to derive no benefit, but rather an injury, as the protection of the north-western frontier would drive the Indians further south, where they might commit their depredations upon the unprotected citizens with more im- punity. While the colony was contending against their governor, a revo- lAfiQ Intion in England had dethroned the sovereign, and placed ' William and Mary upon the throne. This change, while it placed the council, which had made many loyal professions to James, in an awkward position, was an event producing unalloyed joy to the people of Virginia, as they could now hope for justice to be done to their oppressive governor. Soon after this occurrence, the war broke out between the allied powers and Louis XIV. of France, and the colony was ordered to place itself in the best posture of defence. The complaints of the Virginia legislature against their gover- nor at length were taken up by the privy council, and although the charges against Howard were not tried, yet redress against his usurpation was granted, at the same time that the principles upon which they contended that their riglits had been violated, were de- nied to be correct. Howard pleading ill-health, was not deprived of his commission for not returning to the colony ; but as it was ne- cessary that there should be a governor upon the eve of a war, Sir Francis Nicholson was sent over. His conduct was mild and conciliatory, and consequently popular ; among other highly benefi- cial acts passed under his government, was one for the establish- ment of a college, which was very liberally endowed. He was succeeded by vSir Edmund Andros as governor-in-chief, •^ t 90 irq9 ^^'^^^ is represented to have been actuated in his A ' ' * administration by a sound judgment and a liberal policy ; to have been exact, diligent, and methodical in the manage- ment of business; of a conciliatory deportment, and great gener- osity. Sir Francis Nicholson was again made governor-in-chief, in November, 1698. He was an aml)itious man, who had served in the capacity of a governor and dcj)uty governor in several of the colonies, and taken great pains to become popular, and to make OUTLINE HISTORY. 87 himself well acquainted with the situation of all the colonies, their wants, their trade, and their capabilities, with a view to unite them, if possible, under one government, over which he hoped to obtain the appointment of governor-general. The pressure of war, wilh the combined force of the French and Indians, which seemed now about to fall upon the colonies, and rendered some union necessary for the purpose of defence, seemed highl}' favora- ble to his design. The French, at an early day, conceived a correct idea of the importance of the British colonies in America. The Count De Callier, governor of Montreal, during his residence in Canada, after a long experience, derived I'rom observations on the spot, had formed the bold project of separating in two the English colonies by the capture of New York. The success of this scheme would mani- festly have destroyed that concert so necessary to harmony and efficiency of co-operation, and left the other colonies liable to be cut olf in detail, and would effectually establish the safety of Canada, by enabling the French to keep in check the powerful savage confederation, composed of the Five Nations, which had lately, by a furious irruption, laid waste the country, even to the gates of Montreal and Quebec. This plan of Callier's was adopted <=? t iro9 by the French government. A fleet was sent to the &ept. ibJ^. ^^^^ ^^ p^g^^ York, with orders to retain possession of it until December, when, if no further orders were received, it was 'to sail for Port Royal, land its munition and stores, and return to France. The land force were to have marched from Quebec by the route of the Sorel River and Lake Champlain. This expedi- tion was defeated by a destructive inroad of the Five Nations, which carried death and desolation over the whole country, even to the very gates of the capital. This unforeseen occurrence ren- dered it necessary to retain the whole force at home, in measures of self-defence, and saved New York, without her having to strike a blow in her own behalf The British government, daily becoming more sensible of the importance of the North American colonies, and seeing the danger to which they were exposed by the plan of De Callier, set on foot a plan of general defence in the year 1695. adjusting the quotas of each colony to the ratio of its population, and forwarding the scale to the different governors, to recommend for the adoption of the respective colonial assemblies. Several of the colonies re- jected this scheme, because several of those which were thought most exposed wished to employ it as their own interest dictated. Among the refractory was Virginia, which could not be pre- vailed upon, by all the art and ingenuity of the governor, aided by his great enthusiasm in this his favorite plan, to vote a cent to the enterprise, to his inconceivable chagrin and mortification. Nicholson, finding his owm efforts utterly unavailing, laid the mat- ter before the king, and urged the propriety of forcing Virginia to see her true interests upon this occasion. William, in reply, recom* 88 OUTLINE HISTORY. mended a new consideration of the matter by the General Assem- bly, alleging, upon the authority of Nicholson's report, " that New York was the barrier of Virginia against the Indians and French of Canada ; and as such, it was but justice she should defend it." The assembly deemed it but due respect to his majesty to take the subject again into consideration, but found no reason to change their former opinion, declaring "that neither the forts then in being, nor any others that might be built in the province of New York, could in the least avail in the defence or security of Virginia ; for that either the French, or the northern Indians, might invade the colony, and not come within a hundred miles of such fort." The failure of this great subject irritated the governor beyond expression ; and excited in his mind the most inordinate antipathy to the assembly. He charged the conduct of the assembly to a spirit of rebellion, and inveighed against what he called its parsi- mony, in the most unmeasui'cd terms, offering to pay the quota of A^irginia out of his own pocket, and boasting afterwards that he had done it ; but, at the same time, taking the obligation of the gentleman to whom he gave the bills, that no use should be made of them until the queen should remit money to pay them. This affectation of generosity was designed to gain popularity with the other colonies. CHAPTER VI. EVENTS FROM THE YEAR 1705 TO THE TERMINATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Gov. Nicholson superseded hy Nott, and he hi/ Jennings. — Administration of Gov. Spotswood — he effects a passage over the Blue Ridge. — Drysdale governor — suc- ceeded hy Gooch. — Death of Rev. James Blair. — Notice of Col. Wm. Byrd. — Gouch's charge to the Grand Jury, against Presbyterians, Methodists, ^-c. — Burning of the Capitol at Williamsburg. — Revision of the Colonial Lairs. — Departure of Gooch. — Dinwiddle governor. — Encroachments of the French. — Mission of George Washing- ton beyond the Alleganies, to the French Commandant of a Fort — its inauspicious results. — Gov. Dinwiddle prepares to repel the encroachments of the French — Expe- dition against them under Col. Fry, and the erection of Fort Duqiicsne. — Washing- ton's skirmish with Jamonville — he erects Fort Necessity — he surrenders to the French, and marches hack to Virginia. — The Burgesses pass a vote of thanks to him. Gov. Dinwiddle resolves to ]}rosecute the war — the futility of his projects. — Arrival of Gen. Braddock. — Braddock's defeat. — Bravery of Washington arid the Virginia troops. — Frontiers open to incursions from the savages. — Fauquier governor. — Troops destined for the conquest of Duquesne rendezvous at Raystown. — Defeat of Major Grant, and heroism of Capt. Bullet. — Fort Duquesne evacuated. — End of the War. The first half of the eighteenth century, to the breaking out of the French and Indian war, is extremely barren of incident in the history of Virginia. Very little more can be given than a list of OUTLINE HISTORY. 89 the various colonial governors, with the dates of their appoint- ments and removals, and a synopsis of their characters. This brevity arises from the fact that it was mainly a time of peace, which usually leaves but little of striking incident to record, of marked interest to the general reader, — although a narration of laws, and causes which advance or retard the welfare of society, or those things which exhibit a true portraiture of it, would arrest the attention of the political economist, and, to some degree, of all. Again, the annals of Virginia, during this period, are brief and unsatisfactory ; and, doubtless, much highl}^ valuable material is, in consequence, forever lost. Probably a thorough inspection of documents in possession of the British government would throw much light upon this period, and the colonial history of Virginia generally, and settle some points which, for lack of information, are now in controversy. Gov. Nicholson continued in office until 1705, when he was su- perseded by Edward Nott, who survived his appointment but a few months. The death of Nott devolved the government on Ed- mund Jennings, the president, and the council. A commission, meanwhile, had issued, appointing Brigadier Gen. Hunter lieuten- ant-governor, under the Earl of Orkney ; but he having been taken on his passage by the French, Col. Alexander Spotswood was appointed his successor. ' His administration commenced in 1710. He was an accomplished and enterprising man ; and had his suggestions to the British ministry been fully and promptly executed, they would have proved highly useful to the interests of Britain in America, at a time when France was endeavoring to wrest from her the trade and riches of the new Avorld. Early in his administration, Spotswood, at the head of a troop of horse, effected a passage over the Blue Ridge, which had previously been considered an impenetrable barrier to the ambition of the whites, and discovered the beautiful vdlley which lies beyond. In com- memoration of this event, he received from the king the honor of knighthood, and was presented with a miniature golden horse- shoe, on which was inscribed the motto, " Sic jurat transcendere monies" — " Thus he swears to cross the mountains." In 1723, Spotswood was succeeded by Sir Hugh Drysdale. In 1739, when hostilities were commenced against S^ain, and soon after against France, Spotswood was again called into service, and honored with the command of the colonial troops ; but he did not live to enjoy the returning smiles of royal favor. Drysdale was succeeded in office by Gooch, a brigadier-general on the Brit- ish establishment, who passed acts of the Assembly for the first time in 1727. During his administration, he commanded the colo- nial troops in the unsuccessful expedition against Carthagena. In 1743, died the Rev. James Blair, the first president of William and Mary. He was an eminent and learned divine, to whose exer- tions the institution owed much of its prosperity. His death oc- casioned a vacancy in the council, which was filled by Vv'^illiam 12 (8*) 90 OUTLINE HISTORY. Fairfax, son of the proprietor of the Northern Neck. Col, Wm. Byrd, also a member of the council, died about this period. He was a wealthy gentleman, of extensive acquirements, and one of the commissioners who had been appointed to run the dividing line betu'een Virginia and North Carolina. His journal of the survey, which has descended to our times, is " marked by a spirit of unaf- fected humor, that does equal honor to his heart and understand- ing." In April, 1745, Gov. Gooch made an address to the grand jury of the General Court, in opposition to the Presbyterians, Method- ists, and other denominations of Christians, who had at this time become numerous in Virginia. It illustrates the state of religious intolerance at that time, and, singular as it may seem to us of the present day, it met with the approval of the most gifted minds in the colony, " among whom were some that afterwards became dis- tinguished champions of an unqualified freedom in every thing that related to the human mind."* In the year 1746, the public buildings in Williamsburg were burnt ; and the subject was shortly after agitated of removing the seat of government to some more central part of the colony. In the session of 1748, the assembly appointed the following named gentlemen a committee to revise the colonial laws : — Peyton Ran- dolph, Philip Ludwell, Beverly Whiting, Carter Burwell, and Ben- jamin Waller. Gooch, who had been governor of Virginia for upwards of 20 years, sailed for England in 1749, " amidst the bless- ings and tears of the people, among whom he had lived as a w^ise and beneficent father." The government now devolved on Robinson, the president of the council. At his death a few days after, Thomas Lee, who had succeeded him in the presidency, was advanced to the chair of government. In the year 1752, Governor Dinwiddie arrived in Virginia. Since the failure of De Callier's design upon New York, in 1692, the French in Canada and Louisiana, acting in concert, continued to extend their forts and strengthen their power by alliances with the Indians : thus at once endeavoring to unite their possessions, to monopolize the Indian trade, and to limit the British settlements. Gov. Dinwiddie, viewing with just alarm the encroachments of the French, in Oct., 1753, dispatched George Washington, then but 21 years of age, on a mission to the French commandant of a fort on a branch of French Creek, about 15 miles south of Lake Erie. This commission was delicate and hazardous, and required experience in the modes of travelling through the woods, and a knowledge of the Indian character. The dis- tance was nearly bOO miles, over rugged mountains and mostly through a howling wil- derness. The party consisted of eiglit persons : Jacob Vanbraam, interpreter, Mr. Gist, guide, and four others, two of whom were Indian traders. After much toil in an inclement season, in marching over snow-covered mountains and crossing rivers on frail rafts, they at length reached the junction of the Monongahela with the Allegany. Wasliington examined the place, and by his recommendation the fortification was erected there that afterwards became so much celebrated. * For this address see Burke's History of Va., vol. III., p. 119. OUTLINE HISTORY. 91 Twenty miles below the Forks of the Ohio, at Lofrstown, he called together some of the Indian chiefs and delivered to them the governor's message, soliciting a guard to the French encampments. The principal sachem was Tanaeiiarison, alias the Half-King. The sachems having met in council, Washington addressed them, explaining the objects of his mission. The Half-King made a pacific reply, and, in company with him and three other Indians, Washington finally set off and reached the French fort. M. de St. Pierre, the commandant, received him courteously. Washington presented his commis- sion and letter from Gov. Dinwiddie. This letter asserted that the lands on the Ohio belonged to the Britisli crown, and urged a speedy and peaceful departure of the French. St. Pierre's reply was respectful, but uncomplying and determined. He said that the message should have been sent to the Fr-^nch governor in Canada, and that he would not retire unless ordered by him. Wliile there, Washington was very politely enter- tained ; but the French commandant used artifice to detain the Indians. Finally, after much perplexity, the whole party embarked in a canoe on their return, and proceeded down as far as Venango, which they reached in six days. The passage was full of peril from rocks, shallows, and drifting trees. At Venango they found their horses, in an emaciated condition. To lighten their burden, Washington proceeded on foot, in an Indian walking dress, in company with Messrs. Gist and Vanbraam, the horses being under the direction of the drivers. After three days travel, Washington, with Mr. Gist, left the party and went on ahead, each with a loaded knapsack and a gun. The next day they met an Indian, whom they engaged to pilot them to the forks of the Allegany. The Indian acted very suspiciously, and it was soon conjectured from his conduct that he intended to murder them. They managed, however, to get rid of him, and travelled all night. The next evening, at dusk, they arrived at the Allegany river. Weary and exhausted, they passed the night on the bank, making their bed on the snow, and ex- posed to the inclemencies of the weather. When morning arrived they prepared to cross the river. " There was no way of getting over," says Washington, " but on a raft ; which we set about making with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after sunsetting. This was a whole day's work. We next got it launched, and went on board of it ; then set off. But, before we were half way over, we were jammed in the ice in such a manner, that we expected every moment our raft would sink, and ourselves perish. I put out my setting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by ; when the rapidity of the stream threw it with so much violence against the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet water. But I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft- logs. Notwithstanding all our efforts, we could not get the raft to either shore, but were obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our raft and make to it." This was a desert island. They passed the night in extreme suffering, from the in- tense cold, and Mr. Gist's hands and feet were frozen. When morning dawned, a gleam of hope appeared. The ice had congealed to the eastern shore sufficiently hard to allow them to cross to it. At length, after an absence of sixteen weeks, they arrived at Williamsburg. The iiitention.s of the French being now understood, the Gov- ernor of Virginia acted with energy to resist their encroachments. The journal of Washington was also published. It was reprinted in London, and considered by the government as unfolding the hostile views of the French, and the first proof of their intentions. A regiment was raised in Virginia, under the command of Colonel Joshua Fry, for the purpose of erecting a fort at the forks of the Ohio. Washington was appointed second in command, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. A small party of Captain Trent's company was hastily sent forward to commence the fort, but were interrupted by the arrival of Captain Contrecoeur, with a thousand French and Indians, who drove away the English, and erected Fort Diiquesne. This was the first act of open hostility. The news reached Colonel Washington while he was poste^i at Will's creek (at which place Fort Cumberland was afterwards erected) with three companies, waiting the arrival of Colonel Fry with the 92 OUTLINE HISTORY. remainder of the regiment and the artillery. He wrote immedi- ately for reinforcements, and pushed forward with his companies towards the Monongahela, as last as the process of cutting a new road through the wilderness would permit. His intention was to reach the mouth of Redstone, there to wait for the arrival of the artillery and reinforcements under Colonel Fry. and then drop down the Monongahela by water, to the Forks. He had designed to descend the Yough'ogheny, but after an examination of the falls, abandoned the design. " Learnincr that the French were coining out to meet him, Wasliing-ton hurried for- ward to the Great IMeadows, and threw up a hasty iiitrenchment. Tliis place is ten miles east from Uniontovvn, a few rods south of the present national road, between the fifty-second and fifty-third miles from Cumberland. Commanded, as it is, by elevaied ground on both sides, witliin one jiundred yards of the fort, it would seem to be injudi- ciously chosen for defence ; but Washington knew the French and Indians could bring no artillery, and the meadows being entirely free from timber, the enemy would be com- pelled to emerge upon the open plain, beyond the protection of the woods, before he could efficiently attack the fort. SV^ashington learned from Tanacharison, the half-king, a chief of the Six Nations, and from Mr. (jist, that La Force was out, from Fort Duquesne, with a party of French and Indians, and their tracks had been seen within five miles of the Great Meadows. He immediately dispatched a party of seventy-five on horseback, to reconnoitre their position, but they were not to be found. Washington writes on 2i1th May, 1754 : " About nine o'clock the same night, I received an express from the half-king, who was encamped with several of his people about six miles off, that he had seen the tracks of two Frenchmen crossing the road ; and that, behind, the whole body were lying not far off, as he had an account of that number passing Mr. Gist's. I set out with forty men before ten, and it was from that time till near sunrise before we reached the In- dians' camp, having marched in small jjaths through a heavy rain, and a night as dark as it is possible to conceive. We were frequently tumbling one over another, and often so lost that fifteen or twenty mirmtes' search would not find the j)ath again." " When we came to the half-king, I counselled with him, and got his assent logo hand in hand and strike the French. Accordingly he, Monocawacha, and a few other In- dians, set out with us, and when we came to the place where the tracks were, the half- king sent two Indians to follow their tracks, and discover their lodgment, which they did at half a mile from the road, in a very obscure place surrounded with rocks. I thereupon, in conjunction with the half-king and Monocawacha, formed a disposition to attack them on all sides — which we accordingly did ; and, after un engagement of about fifteen minutes, wc killed ten, wounded one, and took twent^'-one prisoners. The principal officers taken, are M. Drouillon and M. La Force, of whom your honor has often heard me speak, as a bold, enterprising man, and a person of great subtlety and cunning. With these are two cadets." " In this engagement we had only one man killed, and two or three wounded, (among whom was Lieutenant Waggener, slightly) — a most miraculous escape, as our right wing was much exposed to their fire, and received it all." In his journal he had also noted : " As I marched on with the prisoners, (after the action,) they informed me tliat they bad been sent with a summons for mc to depart — a specious pretext, that they might discover our camj), and reconnoitre our force and situation. This was so evident, that I was astonished at their assurance in telling me that they came as an embassy. By their instructions, they were to obtain a knowledge of the roads, rivers, and country, as far as the Potomac. Instead of coming as ambassadors — public, and in an open man- ner — they came secretly, and sought out the most hidden retreats, much better suited for deserters than ambassadors. Here they encamped ; here they remained concealed for whole days together, within five miles of us. They sent out spies to reconnoitre our camp. The wliole body then moved back two miles. Thence thuj- sent messengers, as directed in the inslructlons, to acquaint M. Contrecopur with the place we were in, and with our disposition, that he might forward his detachments to enforce the summons as soon as it should be given. An ambassador has no need of spies ; his character is, always sacred. Since they had so good an intention, why should they remain two OUTLINE HISTORY. 93 days within five miles of us, without giving me notice of the summons, or of any thing which related to their embassy ? This alone would be sufficient to raise the strongest suspicions; and the justice is certainly due them, that, as they wished to conceal themselves, they could not have chosen better places than they did." " They pretend that they called to us, as soon as we were discovered ; which is abso- lutely false — for I was at the head of the party in approaching them, and I can affirm, that as soon as they saw us they ran to their arms, without calling, which I should have heard if they had done so." And in a subsequent letter to Governor Dinwiddle, Washington says, speaking of some deserters from the French : " These deserters corroborate what the others said, and we suspected. La Force's party were sent out as spies, and were to show that summons if discovered or overpowered by a superior party of ours. They say the commander was blamed for sending so small a party."* " Washington having sent his prisoners to the governor, prepared his intrenchments, by erecting a stockade, for receiving a more formidable attack from the French, which he had good reason to expect, after they should have heard of the loss of Junionville's party. To this .stockade he gave the name of Fort Necessity. Colonel Fry had died in Virginia, and the chief command devolved on Colonel Washington. Captain Mackay, of the royal army, with an independent company of one hundred men, arrived at the Great Meadows. Washington, leaving him in command of the fort, pushed on over Laurel-hill, cutting the road with extreme labor through the wilderness, as far as Gist's jjlantation. This tedious march occupied them two weeks. During the march, they were joined by the Half-king, and a numerous body of Indians, with their families, who had espoused the English cause. " A strong detachment was at length announced, as being on their march from Fort Duquesne, under the command of Monsieur de Villiers. It was at first determined to receive them at Gist's ; but on further information of the enemy's force, supposed to * " No transaction in the life of Washington has been so much misrepresented, or so little understood, as this skirmish with Jumonville. It being the first conflict of arms in the war, a notoriety was given to it, particularly in Europe, altogether disproportioned to its importance. War had not yet been declared between Great Britain and France, and, indeed, the diplomatists on both sides were making great professions of friendship. It was the policy of each nation to exaggerate the proceedings of the other on their colonial frontiers, and to make them a handle for recrimination and complaints, by throwing upon the adverse party the blame of committing the first acts of aggression. Hence, when tlie intelligence of the skirmi.sh with Jumonville got to Pans, it was offi- cially published by the government, in connection with a memoir and various papers ; and his death was called a murder. It was said, that while bearing a summons, as a civil messenger, without any hostile intentions, he was waylaid and assassinated. The report was industriously circulated, and i^ained credence with the multitude. Mr. Thomas, a poet, and scholar of repute, seized the occasion to write an epic, entitled, ' Juinoninllc,' in which he tasked liis invention to draw a tragical picture of the fate of his hero. The fabric of the story, and the incidents, were alike fictitious. But the tale passed from fiction to history, and to this day it is repeated by the French histo- rians, who in other respects render justice to the character of Washington ; and who can find no other apology for this act than his jouth and ine.tperience, and the ferocity of his men. " The mistakes of the French writers were not unknown to Washington ; but, con- scious of having acted in strict conformity with his orders and military usage, he took no pains to correct them, except in a single letter to a friend, written several years afterwards, which related mostly to the errors in the French account of the subsequent action of the Great Meadows. Unfortunately, all his correspondence, and the other papers which he wrote during this campaign, were lost the next year at the battle of the Monongahela, and he was thus deprived of the only authentic materials that could be used for explanation and defence. Tlie most important of these papers have recently been found, [by Mr. Sparks, in his researches in England.] and they afford not only a complete vindication of Colonel Washington in this aflikir, but show that it met with the unqualified approbation of the governor and legfislature of Virginia, and of the British ministry." — Sparks'' Life and Writings of Washington — where the incidents of this campaign are ably and fully delineated, and the conduct of Washington, both in this affair and the capitulation at the Great ^Meadows, are clearly explained and tri amphantly vindicated against the charges of the French. 94 - OUTLINE HISTORY. be nine hundred men, it was determined to retreat to Fort Necessity, and, if possible, to Wills' creek. Their provisions were short, their horses worn down, and it was with excessive labor and t'atiorue that they reached the fort, after a forced march of two days. Here only a small quantity of flour was found ; but supplies were hourly ex- pected, and it was tlierefore determined to fortify the place as well as circumstances would permit, and abide the event. " On the 3d July the enemy appeared, and commenced firing from the woods, but without effect. Washinorton had drawn up his men outside of the fort, with the view of inviting an encounter in the open field. This the French and Indians declined, hoping to draw him into the woods. It rained constantly during the day, and the muskets became wet, and were used with diflicultv- Washington's troops withdrew within the trenches, and fired as opportunities occurred. In the evening the French proposed a parley, which Washington at first declined, suspecting a design to gain an entrance to the fort, and discover his weakness ; but he afterwards consented to send an officer to them. Captain Vanbraam, a Dutchman, who pretended to un- derstand French, was sent to them, and returned with proposals, in the French lan- guage, lor capitulation. These proposals, after being modified in some particulars by the besieged party, were agreed to. The garrison was to be permitted to leave the fort with the honors of war, taking their baggage, except their artillery, with them. They were not to be molested by'the French, nor, as far as it could be prevented, by the In- dians. Since their cattle and horses had been killed in the action, they were to be })er!iiittcd to conceal such of their efTects as could not be carried away, and to leave a guard with them until they could return with horses to take them away ; but ou condition that they should not, within one year, attempt any establishment there, or on that side of the mountains. The prisoners taken at the time of Jiimonville^s death * were to be re- turned, and Captains Vanbraain and Stobo were to be retained by the French as hos- tages, until the return of the prisoners.! On the following morning, Washington, with * " In the French proposals this expression was insidiously written, ' a I'assassi/iat de M. JumunviLle ;'' and as Vanbraam, the stupid interpreter, did not explain the force of the expression to Washington, the capitulation was signed in that shape.'' t It seems (according to Burke) that La Force, one of the prisoners taken by Wash- ington in the skirmish in May, had made strenuous exertions to instigate the Indians to hostilities, and that he had been travelling on the frontiers of Virginia to obtain informa- tion of its resources. When taken, there were found upon him papers, in part disclos- ing the designs and policy of France. Viewing him in the character of a spy. Governor Dnivv.ijie threw him into prison at Williamsburg. To redeem this man, was the principal design of De Villicr in demand- ing these hostages. La Force escaped from prison, and the people of the country were alarmed. " The opinion," says Burke, " that before prevailed of his extraordinary address and activity, his desperate courage, and fertility in resources, was by this new feat wrought into a mingled agony of terror and astonishment. Already had he reached King and Queen courthouse, without any knowledge of the country through which he passed, without a compass, and not daring to ask a question, when he attracted the notice of a back-woodsman. Their route lay the saineway ; and it occurred to La Force, that by the friendship and fidelity of this man, he might escape in spite of the difficulties and dangers of his situation. .Some questions proposed by La Force, relative to the distance and direction of Fort Duquesne, confirmed the woodsman in his suspicions, and he arrest, ed him as he was about to cross the ferry at West Point. In vain did La Force tempt the woodsman with an immediate offer of money, and with promises of wealth and pre- ferment, on condition that he accompanied him to Fort Duquesne. lie was proof against every allurement, inconsistent with liis duty, and he led him back to Williamsburg. The condition of La Force, after this attempt, became in the highest degree distressing. He was loaded with a double weight of irons, and chained to the floor of his dungeon. " Such was the situation of aflfiiirs when Colonel Washington, after his resignation, ar- rived in Williamsburg. Here, for the first time, he heard of the imprisonment and per- secution of La Force, and he felt himsell" compelled to remonstrate with Mr. Dinwiddle against them, as an infraction of the articles of capitulation, and of the laws of honor acknowledged by soldiers. His application was strongly backed by the sympathy of the people, which now began to run strongly in favor of the prisoner ; but the governor was inexorable. jNIeanwhile, the hostages, Stobo and Vanbraam, had been ordered, for greater security, to Quebec, and in retaliation of the sufferings of La Force, they too were confined in prison, but without any additional severity. Almost at the same moment that La Force had broken his prison, Stobo and Vanbraam, by efforts equally extraor- OUTLINE HISTORY. 95 the garrison, left the fort, taking such baggage as they could carry, and transporting the wounded upon their backs. Tlie Indians, contrary to the stipulation, annoyed them exceedingly, and pilfered their baggage. Alter a toilsome march, they at length arrived at Wills' creek, where they found rest and refreshment." From thence Washington proceeded to Williamsburg, and com- municated the events of" the campaign to Governor Dinwiddie. As soon as the House of Burgesses assembled, they passed a vote of thanks to Col. Washington and his officers, for their brave- ry and gallant conduct. Thus ended the first campaign of Wash- ington. " Although as yet a mere youth, with small experience, unskilled in war, and relying on his own resources, he had behaved with the prudence, address, courage, and firmness of a veteran commander. Rigid in discipline, but sharing the hardships, and solicitous for the welfare of his soldiers, he had secured their obe- dience and won their esteem, amidst privations, sufferings, and perils, that have seldom been surpassed." Gov. Dinwiddie resolved to prosecute the war, but being wholly ignorant of military afiairs, his preliminary measures, in underta- king to organize an army, were injudicious. In August, he wrote to Washington, who was at Winchester, to fill up the companies of his regiment by enlistment, and lead them without delay to Wills' creek, where Col. Innes, Avith some troops from the Caro- linas and New York, were building Fort Cumberland, From thence, it was the governor's project that the united forces should immediately cross the Alleganies and drive the French from Fort Duquesne, or build another fort beyond the mountains. Washing- ton, astonished at the absurdity of the scheme, contemplated at a season when the mountains would be covered with snow, and the army enfeebled and destitute of supplies, made such a strong re- monstrance that the project was abandoned. The governor was opposed by the assembly, who would not yield to all his demands, and he never^ceased to complain of their " re- publican way of thinking." He had lately prorogued them, to punish their obstinacy, and Avrote to the ministry that he was sat- isfied the French would never be effectually opposed unless the colonies were compelled, independently of assemblies, to contribute to the common cause. When the Burgesses again met, they con- tributed £20,000 for the public service, which was soon increased to £30,000 by specie sent from England. In possession of funds, the governor now enlarged the army to ten companies of 100 men each, and placed them upon the estab- lishment of independent companies, by which the highest officers in the Virginia regiment, among whom was Washington, would be dinary, had escaped from Quebec, and were passing the cause-.vay leading from the city, at the moment that the governor of Canada was airing in his carriage. Stobo succeeded in effecting his escape ; but Vanbraam, fainting with fatigue and hunger, and despairing of being able to effect his escape, called out to tlie governor from beneath the arch of the causeway, where he concealed himself, and desired to surrender. The governor received him in his carriage, and remanded him to prison, but without any extraordinary severity. Even these facts were not unknown to Mr. Dinwiddie ; yet, without being touched by 60 generous an example, he persisted in liis unjustifiable rigor towards La Force." 96 OUTLINE HISTORY. captains. He thereupon resigned his commission and retired from the service. Early in the ensuing spring, (1755,) Major-Gen. Edward Brad- dock arrived in the country with the 44th and 48th regiments of roj'al troops, under Sir Peter Halkett and Col. Dunbar. The peo- ple seemed elated with joy, and in their imagination the intruding French seemed about to be driven back like a torrent upon the frontiers of Canada. Col. Washington, who now was to take an active part in the fearful scenes to be enacted, accepted the ap- pointment of aid-de-camp to Gen. Braddock. At Wills' Creek, (Fort Cumberland,) the royal forces were joined by about 1000 Virginians, but the army was detained for want of horses, wagons, and Ibrage. By the energy of Dr. Franklin, then postmaster-gen- eral of the provinces, the deficiency was supplied. The army mov- ed at length on the 8th and 9th of June, but soon found them- selves so encumbered with baggage and wagons, that it was de- termined, at the suggestion of Washington, to divide the force, pushing forward a small, but chosen band, with such artillery and light stores as were necessary, leaving the heavy artillery, bag- gage, &c., to follow by slow and easy marches. The o^eneral, with 1,200 chosen men, and Sir Peter Halkett, as hrio^adier, Lient. Col. Gage, (afterwards Gen. Gage,) Lieut. Col. Burton, and Major Sparks, went forward, leaving Col. Dunbar to follow with the remainder of the troops and baggage. Col. Washington, who had heen very ill with a fever, was left in charge of Col. Dunbar, but with a promise from Gen. Braddocli that he should be brought up witli tlie advanced corps before tliey reached Fort Duquesne. He joined it at the mouth of the Yough'- ogheny, on tlie 8tli July. On the Dth, the day of Braddock's defeat, he says, " I at- tended the general on liorscback, though very low and weak. The army crossed to the left banii of the Monongahela, a little below tlie moutli of Yough'ogheny, being prevent- ed by rugged hills from continuing along tlie right bank to the fort." " VVasliington was often lieard to say during his lifetime, that tlie most beautiful spec- tacle he ever beheld was the display of the British troops on this eventful morning. — Every man was neatly dressed in full uniform ; the soldiers were arranged in columns and marched in exact order ; the sun gleamed from their burnished arms ; the river flowed tranquilly on their right, and the deep forest overshadowed them with solemn grandeur on their left. Officers and men were equally inspirited with cheering hopes and confident anticipations." " In this manner they marched forward until about noon, wherj they arrived at the second crossing place, ten miles from Fort Duquesne. They halted but a little time, and then began to ford the river and regain its northern bank. As soon as they had crossed they came upon a level plain, elevated only a few feet above the surface of the river, and extending northward nearly half a mile from its margin. Then commenced a gradual ascent at an angle of about three degrees, which terminated in hills of a considerable height at no great distance beyond. The road from the fording place to Fort Duquesne led across the plain and up this ascent, and thence proceeded through an uneven country at that time covered with wood. " By the order of march, a body of 300 men under Col. Gage made the advanced party, which was immediately followed by another of 200. Next came the general with the columns of artillery, the main body of the army, and the baggage. At one o'clock, the whole had crossed the river, and almost at this moment a sharp firing was heard upon the advanced parties, who were now ascending the hill, and had proceeded about a imn- dred yards from the termination of the plain. A heavy discharge of musketry was poured in upon their front, which was the first intelligence they had of the proximity of an enemy, and this was suddenly followed by another on the right flank. They were filled with the greater consternation, as no enemy was in sight, and the firing seemed to proceed from an invisible foe. Tliey fired in turn, however, but quite at random, and obviously without effect. OtrLINE HISTORY. 97 " The general hastened forw-ard to the relief of the advanced parties ; but before he could reach the spot which they occupied, they gave way and fell back upon the artil- lery and (he other columns of the army, causing extreme confusion, and striking the whole mass with such a panic that no order could afterwards be restored. The general and the officers behaved with tiie utmost courage, and used every effort to rally the men, and bring them to order, but all in vain. In this state they continued nearly three hours, huddled together in confused bodies, firing irregularly, shootinsj down their own officers and men, and doing no perceptible harm to the enemy. The Virginia* provincials were the only troops who seemed to retain their senses, and they behaved with a bravery and resolution worthy of a better fate. They adopted the Indian mode, and fought each man for himself, behind a tree. This was prohibited by the general, who endeavored to form his men into platoons and columns, as if they had been manoeuvring on the plains of Flanders. Meantime the French and Indians, concealed in the ravines and behind trees, kept up a deadly and unceasing discharge of nmsketry, singling out their objects, taking deliberate aim, and producing a carnage almost unparalleled in the annals of modern warfare. The general liiraself received a mortal wound, t and many of his best officers fell by his side. " During the whole of the action, as reported by an officer who witnessed his conduct, Col. Washington behaved with ' the greatest courage and resolution.' Captains Orme and Morris, the two other aids-de-camp, were wounded and disabled, and the duty of distributing the general's orders devolved on him alone. He rode in every direction, and was a conspicuous mark for the enemy's sharpshooters. ' By the all-powerful dispensa- * Washington said — " The Virginia troops showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly all killed ; for, I believe, out of three companies that were there, scarcely 30 men are left alive. Capt. Peyrounj', and all his officers down to a corporal, were killed. Capt. Poison had nearly as hard a fate, for only one of his was left. In short, the das- tardly behavior of those they call regulars, e.vposed all others that were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death ; and, at last, in despite of all the effiirts of the officers to the contrary, they ran as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was impossible to rally them. .... It is conjectured, (I believe with much truth,) that two-thirds of our killed and Wounded received their shot from our own cowardly regulars, who gathered themselves into a body, contrary to orders, ten or twelve deep — would then level, fire, and shoot down the men before them." t " There had long existed a tradition that Braddock was killed by one of his own men, and more recent developments leave little or no doubt of the fact. A recent writer says : " ' When my father was removing with his family to the west, one of the Fausetts kept a public liouse to the eastward from, and near where Uniontown now stands, as the county seat of Fayette, Penn. This man's house we lodged in about the tenth of October, 1781, twenty-six years and a few months after Braddock's defeat, and there it was made any thing but a secret that one of the family dealt the death-blow to the British general. " ' Thirteen years afterwards I met Thomas Fausett in Fayette co., then, as he told me, in his TOtli year. To him I put the plain question, and received a plain reply, " / did shoot him .'" He then went on to insist, that, by doing so, he contributed to save what was left of the army. In brief, in my youth, I never heard the fact either doubted or blamed, that Fausett shot Braddock.' " Hon. Andrew Stewart, of Uniontown, says he knew, and often conversed with Tom Fausett, who did not hesitate to avow, in the presence of his friends, that he shot Gen. Braddock. Fausett was a man of gigantic frame, of uncivilized half-savage propensi- ties, and spent most of his life among the mountains, as a hermit, living on the game which he killed. He would occasionally come into town, and get drunk. Sometimes he wouW repel inquiries into the af!;iir of Braddock's death, by putting his fingers to his lips and uttering a sort of buzzing sound ; at others, he would burst into tears, and appear greatly agitated by conflicting passions. " In spite of Braddock's silly order, that the troops should not protect themselves behind trees, Joseph Fausett had taken such a position, when Braddock rode up, in a passion, and struck him down with his sword. Tom Fausett, who was but a short dis- tance from his brother, saw the whole transaction, and immediately drew up his rifle and shot Braddock through the lungs, partly in revenge for the outrage upon his brother, and partly, as he always alleged, to get the general out of the way, and thus save the remainder of the gallant band, who had been sacrificed to his obstinacy, and want of experience in frontier warfare." — Day's Penn. 13 (9) 98 OUTLINE HISTORY. tions of Providence,' said he, in a letter to liis brother, ' I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot,uiidernie, yet I escaped unhurt, althoufrh death was levelling my companions on every side of me."* So bloody a contest has rarely been witnessed. The number of officers in the engagement was 86, of whom 26 were killed, and 37 were wounded. The killed and wounded of the privates amounted to 714. On the other hand, the enemy's loss was small. Their force amounted, at least, to 850 men, of whom 600 were Indians. According to the returns, not more than 40 were killed. They fought in deep ravines, concealed by the bushes, and the balls oi, the English passed over their heads. " The remnant of Braddock's army being put to flight, and having re-crossed the river, Col. Washington hastened to meet Col. Dunbar, and order up horses and wagons for the wounded. Three days were occupied in retreating to Gist's plantation. The enemy did not pursue them. Satiated with carnage and plunder, the Indians could not be tempted from the battle-field, and the French were too few to act without their aid. The unfortunate general, dying of his wounds, was transported first in a tumbril, then on a horse, and at last was carried by the soldiers. He expired the fourth day, and was buried in the road near Fort Necessity. A new panic seized the troops ; disorder and confusion reigned ; the artillery was destroyed ; the public stores and heavy baggage were burnt, no one could tell by whose orders ; nor were discipline and tranquillity re- stored, till the straggling and bewildered companies arrived at Fort Cumberland. " Such was the termination of an enterprise, one of the most memorable in American history, and almost unparalleled for its disasters and the universal disappointment and consternation it occasioned. Notwitiistanding its total and even disgraceful failure, the bitter invectives everywhere poured out against its principal conductors, and the re- proaches heaped upon the memory of its ill-fated commander, yet the fame and charac- ter of Washington were greatly enhanced by it. It was known that he gave prudent counsel to General Braddock, which was little lieeded. During the march, a body of Indians otTcred their services, which, at the earnest request and recommendation of Wash- ington, were accepted, but in so cold a manner, and the Indians were treated with so much neglect, that they withdrew, one after another, in disgust. On the evening pre- ceding the action, they came again to camp and renewed their ofFer. Again Col. Wash- ington interposed, and urged the importance of these men as scouts and outguards, their knowledge of the grounds and skill in fighting among woods. Relying on the prowess of his regular troops, and disdaining such allies, the general peremptorily refused to re- ceive them, in a tone not more decided than ungracious. Had a scouting party of a dozen Indians preceded the army after it crossed the Monongahela, they would have detected the enemy in the ravines, and reversed the fortunes of the day."t After the defeat of Braddock, Col. Dunbar, who succeeded to the command, marched his troops to Philadelphia. The whole Iron- tiisr, even to the Blue Ridge, was now harassed and horror-strick- en by the bloody incursions of the French Indians. Col. Wash- ington, in his capacity as adjutant-general of militia, circulated orders for them to assemble in their respective districts for exer- cise and review. Volunteer companies were organized, and the martial spirit of the people revived. Addresses were made to them from the pulpit, in one of which, the eloquent Samuel Davies of Hanover, after complimenting the bravery shown by the Vir- ginia troops, added the following encomium, which seems almost * When Washington went to the Ohio, in 1770, to explore wild lands near the month of the Kenhawa River, he met an aged Indian chief, who told him, through an inter- preter, that during the battle of Braddock's field, he had singled him out as a cons})icu- ous object, fired his rifle at him many times, and directed his young warriors to do the same ; but none of his balls took effect. He was then persuaded that the young hero was under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, and ceased firing at him. He had now come a long way to pay homage to the man who was the particular favorite of heaven, and who could never die in battle. t Sparks' Life of Washington, from which much important information relating to this war is inserted in this chapter. OUTLINE HISTORY. 99 prophetic. " As a remarkable instance of this, I may point out to the public that heroic youth, CoL Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country." In consequence of the desperate state of affairs, Gov. Dinwiddle convened the Assembly on the 4th of August. They voted £40,- 000 for the public service, and enlarged their regiment to sixteen companies. Money was also granted to Col. Washington and the other officers and privates, •' for their gallant behavior and losses," in the late disastrous battle. To Col. Washington was given the command of all the forces raised and to be raised in Virginia, with the unusual privilege of selecting his own field-officers. He now applied himself with his wonted energy to the discharge of the high responsibility conferred upon him. Lieut. Col. Adam Ste- phens, and Major Andrew Lewis, were the field officers next in rank. Washington's head quarters were at Winchester. After putting affairs in train, he performed a tour of inspection among the mountains, visiting all the outposts in the frontier, from Fort Cumberland to Fort Dinwiddle, on Jackson's river. He then start- ed for Williamsburg, to confer with the governor on the plan of operations, when he was overtaken below Fredericksburg by an express, announcing a new irruption of the savages upon the back settlements. He hastened back, mustered a force, and gave a timely and effectual check to the invaders, but not such as to quiet the fears of the settlers, many of whom, with their families, fled into the lower country, and increased the general terror. The defects of the militia system were such as to put the pa- tience of Col. Washington to a severe trial. He represented in strong language, to the government of the colony, these delects, and their fatal consequences, and at last prevailed. A new law was passed providing a re;medy, but too late in the year for him to undertake offensive operations. "^ In April of the ensuing year, (1750,) when the Assembl}^ again met at Williamsburg, Col. Washington hastened thither to mature a plan for defence during the summer. Had the several colonies united, the intruding French might have been driven from the Ohio ; but local jealousies prevented a union, and Virginia saw that the most strenuous exertions were necessary to defend their long line of frontier. The Assembly determined to augment the army to 1500 men. A bill was passed for drafting militia to sup- ply the deficiency of recruits. Col. Washington returned to Win- chester. But a few men were stationed there, most of the regi- ment being scattered at different posts for the better protection of the frontiers. The enemy, encouraged by the successes of the pre- ceding year, were continually on the alert, and accounts were daily received of fresh massacres by them. Scouting parties, and even forts were attacked, and some of the bravest troops killed. Serious apprehensions were felt for the safety of Winchester. The ninnber of troops was wholly insufficient for the protection of the L.ifO. 100 OUTLINE HISTORY. settlers. Col. Washington, deeply affected by the scenes he wit- nessed, addressed a letter to the governor, in which he said : " I see their situation, I know their danger, and participate their sufferings, without having it in mj^ power to give them further rehef than uncertain promises. In short, I see inevitable destruction in so clear a light, that, unless vigorous measures are taken by the Assembly, and speedy assistance sent from below, the poor inhabitants now in forts must unavoidably fall, while the remainder are flying before the barbarous foe. In fine, the melancholy situation of the people, the little prospect of assistance, the gross and scandalous abuses cast upon the officers in general, which is reflecting on me in par- ticular, for suffering misconduct of such e.xtraordmary kind, and the distant prospect, if any, of gaining reputation in the service, cause me to lament the hour that gave me a commission, and would induce me, at any other time than this of imminent danger, to resign, without one hesitating moment, a command from which I never expect to reap either honor or benefit ; but, on the contrary, have almost an absolute certainty of incurring displeasure below, while the murder of helpless families may be laid to my ac- count here. " The supplicating tears of the women, and moving petitions of the men, melt me with such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, I could oflTer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to the people's ease." These agonizing sensations were heightened by base calumnies against the army, and indirectly against the commander-in-chief, which seemed for a while to gain public credence. " By degrees," says Sparks, " the plot was unravelled. The governor, being a Scotch- man, was surrounded by a knot of his Caledonian friends, who wished to profit by this alliance, and obtain fur themselves a larger share of consideration than they could com- mand in the present order of things. The discontented, and such as thought their merits undervalued, naturally fell into this faction. To create dissatisfaction in the army, and cause the officers to resign from disgust, would not only distract the councils of the ruling party, but make room for new promotions. Col. Innes, the governor's favorite, would ascend to the chief command, and the subordinate places would be re- served for his adherents. Hence false rumors were set afloat, and the pen of detraction was busy to disseminate them. The artifice was easily seen through, and its aims were defeated by the leaders on the patriotic side, wlio looked to Col. Washington as a pillar to support their cause." The campaign being solely a defensive one, no opportunities were allowed lor obtaining laurels. The scenes of the past year were re-enacted, the savages continued their murderous incursions, there was the same tardiness in enlistments, the same troubles with the militia, and to increase the dilliculties, the governor, tenacious of his authority, intrusted insufficient power to Col. Washington. " Totally unskilled in military afiairs, and residing 200 miles from the scene of action, he yet undertook to regulate the principal operations ; sending expresses back and forth, and issuing vague, contradictory orders, seldom adapted to circumstances — ii-equently impracticable. The summer and aut umn were passed in skirmishes with the Indians, repairing the old Ibrts, and building new ones. By the advice of Col. Washington, a large fort was begun at Winchester, as a depository lor the military stores, and a rallying point lor the settlers and troops, should they be driven from the frontiers. It Avas called Fort Loudoun, in honor of the Earl of Loudoun, who had now succeeded Gen. Shirley in the American command." Traces of this fortification remain to the present day. As the vear drew to a close, Col. Washington drew up a paper OUTLINE HISTORY. 101 of the military affairs of the province, which he transmitted to Lord Loudoun. It contained a history of the war and valuable suggestions for future operations. It was courteously received. In March, (1757,) Washington attended a meeting, at Philadelphia, of several governors and principal officers, summoned by Lord Loudoun, to consult upon a comprehensive plan for the next cam- paign. It was decided that the principal efforts should be made on the lakes and Canada border, while the southern and middle colonies were left on the defensive. Col. Washington strenuously recommended an expedition against Fort Duquesne. Had his views been adopted it would have saved the expense of another campaign, and secured the borders from the savage incursions. From this conference Washington returned to Winchester, where he had spent the two preceding years. His routine of duties was the same. The Indians still continued their hostilities. The assembly, prorogued to the 27th of October, (1757,) was dis- solved on the 9th of November, and writs were issued for a new assembly to meet on the 22d of the same month. A day of fasting and prayer was appointed. While the Assembly were deliberating upon measures of de- fence, the French general, Montcalm, took the posts of Oswego and Ontario, and his savage allies continued their murderous in- roads upon the frontiers. Col. Armstrong, at the head of about 300 provincials, attacked one of their towns situated about 25 miles above Fort Duquesne, killed 40 Indians, and rescued eleven prisoners. Dinwiddle sailed for England in January, 1758, much to the satisfaction of the people of Virginia. Originally a petty clerk of customs in the West Indies, he had brought himself Under the notice of government by the detection of an enormous system of fraud on the part of his principal, and was thereupon immediately rewarded by the appointment "of governor of Virginia. In this situation, charges were brought against him of extorting illegal fees, and appropriating the public funds to his private purposes. His public course was vacillating, his deportment arrogant, and he was wholly devoid of those qualities becoming his station, and particularly requisite at the perilous time he was intrusted with such high powers. Lord Loudoun had been commissioned as his successor, but his military duties at the north prevented him from entering upon the duties of his office. His place was filled, temporarily, by John Blair, president of the council, until the arri- val, on the 7th of June, of Gov. Francis Fauquier. Mr. Pitt having acceded to the British ministry in the spring of this year, (1758,) he resolved to prosecute the war with energy in America. Gen. Forbes was appointed to the command of an ex- pedition against Fort Duquesne. To further his plans, he wrote a circular letter to several of the colonies to incite them to action, and olfering certain supplies at the expense of the king. The Virginia Assembly augmented their force to 2000 men. They (9*) 102 OUTLINE HISTORY. "Were divided into two regiments : the first under Col. Washing- ton, who still continued commander-in-chief of all the Virginia troops ; the second under Col. Byrd. Early in Jul}^ Washington marched from Winchester with the principal part of the Virginia troops, to Fort Cumberland, Six companies of the 1st regiment proceeded by another route, and joined Col. Boquet at Raystown, the general place of rendezvous for the 6000 troops destined for the conquest of Duquesne. While at Fort Cumberland, Col. Washington learned that Gen. Forbes thought of constructing a new road to Duquesne, instead of following the one made by Braddock. He made the most strenuous objection against the plan, " when," as he said, there was " scarce time left to tread the beaten track, universally confessed to be the best passage through the mountains." His efforts were in vain. Col. Boquet was or- dered by Gen. Forbes, who was absent, to send forward parties to work upon the new road. " Six weeks had been thus spent, when Gen. Forbes arrived at Raystown, about the middle of September. Forty-five miles only had been gained by the advanced party, then constructing a foit at Loyal Hanna, the main army being still at Raystown, and the larger part of the Virginia troops at Fort Cum- berland. At that moment the whole army might have been before the walls of Fort Duquesne, if they had marched as advised by Washington. An easy victory would have ensued ; for it was ascertained that the French at that time, including Indians, num- bered not more than 800 men." From Loyal Hanna, Colonel Boquet rashly detached Major Grant, a British officer, with a force of 800 men, to reconnoitre in the vicinity of. Fort Duquesne. " This officer reached a hill near the fort during the nir^ht, and having- posted his mei\ in different columns, he sent forward a party to examine the works and discover tlie situation of the enemy. He also detached Major Andrew Lewis with a baggage guard about two miles in his rear ; and having made such other arrangements as he deemed necessary, he believed himself secure, and, with more parade than prudence, ordered the reveille, or alarm, to be beaten. During all this time silence reigned in the fort, which ' Grant imputed to the terrors imposed by his appearance. But the calm was a dreadful precursor of a storm, which burst with resistless fury and unexpected ruin. The mo. ment the Indians and French were ready for the attack, they issued from the fort, spread- ing death and dismay among the provincial troops. As soon as the attack was an- nounced by the firing of guns. Major Lewis, with his rear-guard, advanced to the assistance of Grant, leaving only fifty men, under the command of Captain Bullet, to guard the baggage. Their united forces, however, were unable to withstand the impetuous assault of the savages, whose warwhoop is always a forerunner of havoc and destruction. The fire of the rifle requires coolness and deliberation, whereas the tomahawk and scalping- knife are fitted for sanguinary dispatch. No quarter was given by the Lidians. Major Grant saved his life only by surrendering to a French officer. Li the same way the brave Major Lewis escaped, after defending himself against several Indians succes- sively. The two principal officers being now iti the hands of the enemy, the rout be- came general among their, troops. In their pursuit, the Indians exercised every cruelty which savage ferocity could inflict upon tlie haple.ss victims whom the sad i'ortune of the day delivered into their hands. The situation of the retreating troops, at this time, must appear truly desperate. They were in an enemy's couiitry, far from any English settlement, as well as trom any immediate prospect of succor ; routed and dispersed by a bloody and vindictive foe, whose intimate knowledge of the woods and superior agility seemed to threaten a total destruction of the party. Their escape, however, was effected by the frudence and heroism of Captain Bullet, of the baggage guard, by a manoeuvre OUTLINE HISTORY. 103 no less fortunate for his men than honorable to himself. This officer, immediately on discovering the rout of the troops, dispatched on the strongest horses the most neces- eary part of tiie baggage, and disposing the remainder on an advantageous part of the road, as a kind of breastwork, he posted his men beiiind it, and endeavored not only to rally the fugitives as they came up, but by a well-directed fire to check the violence of the pursuers. Finding the enemy growing too strong to be withstood by his feeble force, he ordered his men, according to previous agreement, to reverse their arms and march up in front of their assailants, holding out a signal for capitulation, as if going to surrender. The impatience of the Indians to bathe their tomahawks in English blood, would scarcely allow them to suspend their attacks, while the latter appeared in the act of suing for mercy. The moment they had arrived within about eighty yards of the enemy, Bullet gave the word to fire: — a dreadful volley was instantly poured upon the Indians, and was followed by a furious charge with fixed bayonets. The enemy were unable to resist this bold and unexpected attack, and believing that the army of the English was at hand, they fled with precipitation ; nor did they stop until they reached the French regulars. Bullet, instead of pursuing them, wisely retreated towards the main body of the army, collecting in his march the wounded and wandering soldiers, who had escaped from the field of battle without knowing whither to direct their course In this fatal action, about twenty officers, and two hundred and seventy-three private soldiers, were either killed or taken prisoners. " The Virginia troops on this occasion behaved with courage, and suffered severely in the action ; but the gallant conduct of Captain Bullet is almost without a parallel in American history. His situation, after the defeat of Grant, to an officer of less discern- ment must have appeared desperate. To resist the triunij)hant savages with a handful of men, would seem madness ; and to have fled without any hopes of escape, would have been folly. In this dilemma, with scarcely time to deliberate, Bullet adopted the only plan which could preserve himself and his men from the most cruel death, or the most distressing captivity." The dilatory and unwi.se method of carrying on the expedition alarmed the Virginia As.sembly for the fate of the expedition, and they resolved to recall their troops and place them upon the pro- tection of their own frontier. But subsequent information occa- sioned them to revoke these resolves. On General Forbes' arrival at Raystown he called a council of war, and, at his desire. Col. Washington drew up a line of march. Washington, at his own request, was placed in the advance, with a division of 1000 men. "The month of November had set in before General Forbes, with thie artillery and main body of the army, arrived at Loyal Hanna. More than 50 miles, through pathless and rugged wilds, still intervened between the army and Fort Duquesne. A council of war was held, and it was decided to be unadvisable, if not impracticable, to prosecute the campaign any further till the next season, and that a winter encampment among the mountains, or a retreat to the frontier settlements, was the only alternative that remained. Thus far all the anticipations of Washington had been realized." A mere accident reversed this decision. Three prisoners were taken, who gave such representa- tions of the weak state of the garrison that it was determined to push on. On the 25th of November, 1758, the army took peaceable pos- session of Fort Duquesne, or rather the place where it stood, for the enemy had burnt and abandoned it the day before, and gone down the Ohio in boats. This fortress, after being repaired and garrisoned, was named Fort Pitt, now the site of the flourishing city of Pittsburg, which place was then considered within the 104 OUTLINE HISTORY. jurisdiction of Virginia. The remains of Major Grant's men were buried by Gen. Forbes in one common tomb, the whole army assisting at the solemn ceremony. Gen. Forbes returned to Philadelphia, where he died in a few weeks, and Washington soon directed his course to Williamsburg, as a member of the General Assembly from Frederick county. The capture of Duquesne restored quiet and general joy through- out the colony. The war was soon prosecuted at the North with vigor. In the succeeding summer of 1759, Niagara and Crown Point fell into the possession of the British crown, and on the 18th of September, Quebec surrendered to the brave and gallant Wolfe. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November, 17G2, put an end to the war. CHAPTER YII. FROM THE TERMINATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR TO THE SUR- RENDER OF CORNWALLIS. Encroachments of Britain upon the American colonies. — Spirited conduct of Virginia thereon. — Patrick Henry's resolution on the right to tax America. — Death of Gover.- nor Fauquier. — Arrival of Lord Bottetourt. — Continued aggressions of the mother country. — Death of Bottetourt. — Lord Dunmore governor. — Dunmore's war. — Bat- tle of Point Pleasant. — Speech of Logan. — End of the Indian war. — Meeting of the Continental Congress. — Dunmore removes the gunpowder of the colony from the magazine at Williamshurg. — Patrick Henry marches down at the head of a body of volunteers and forces the Receiver. general to make compensation. — Battle of Lexing- ton. — Dunmore flees on board the Fowe.y man-ofwar. — Termination of the Royal government in Virginia. — Meeting of the Virginia Convention. — Dunmore, with the British fleet, attacks Hampton. — Affair in Princess Anne. — Defeat of the enemy at Great Bridge. — Norfolk burnt. — Delegates in Congress instructed by the General Convention of Virginia to propose the Declaration of Independence. — A Constitution for the State Government adopted. — Patrick Henry governor. — Joyous reception in Virginia of the neios of the Declaration of Independence. — Dunmore driven from Gwynn's Island. — First meeting of the Legislature under the Stale Constitution. — Iridian war. — Col. Christian makes peace with the Creek and Cherokee nations. — Revision of the State laws. — Glance at the war at the north. — Col. Rogers Clark takes Kaskaskias and Fort St. Vincent. — Illinois erected into a county. — Vir- ginia cedes her Western Territory to the United States. — Sir Henry Clinton appointed Commander-in-chief of the British army. — He transfers the seat of the war to the south. — Sir George Collier, with a British fleet, enters Hampton Roads. — Fort Nelson abandoned. — The enemy take possess/on of Portsmouth, and burn Suf. folk. — They embark for New York. — The reduction of Virginia determined on by the enemy. — Gen. Leslie invades Virginia, and lands at Portsmouth. — The gov- ernment prepares to resist the enemy. — Leslie leaves Virginia. — Battle of the Cow- pens. — Arnold invades Virginia, lands at Westover, and marches to Richmond. — He returns to Westover, and arrives at Portsmouth. — Washington forms a plan to cut off his retreat. — Clinton detaches Gen. Philips to the assistance of Arnold. — Defence- less situation of Virginia. — Philips takes possession of Petersburg, and commits de- predations in the vicinity. — Death of Gen. Philips. — Cornwallis enters Petersburg. — 7\trleton's expedition to Charlotteville. — Various viovements of the two armies.^ Cormvallis concentrates his army at York and Gloucester. — Surrender of Corn, wallis. " Questions touching the power of the British Parliament to in- terfere with the concerns of the colonies had arisen more than once OUTLINE HISTORY. 105 before the war, and during its continuance the delicate question arose, of the propoitions which the several colonies should pay for the common defence. Th» British ministry pro})osed that deputies should meet and determine the amount necessary, and draw on the British treasury, which in turn should be reimbursed by an equal tax on all the colonies, to be laid by Parliament ; but the colonies were afraid to let the lion put his paw in their pockets, even to take back his own ; and this being no time to raise difficul- ties, the colonial legislatures were left to their own discretion in voting supplies, which they did with a liberality so disproportioned to their ability, as to excite the praise, and in some instances to induce a reimbursement on the part of the mother country. Vir- ginia had always resisted any interference on the part of Parlia- ment, especially in the navigation acts, and asserted as early as 1624, that she only had the undoubted right ' to lay taxes and im- positions, and none other,' and afterwards refused to let any mem- ber of the council of Governor Berkeley, in the height of his popu- larity, assist them in determining the amount of the public levy. Again in 1076, even stronger language was used and acquiesced in by the king, to whom it was immediately addressed. " The slight taxes imposed for the regulation of commerce, and the support of a post-office, were borne by the colonies without a murmur, being considered only a fair compensation for a benefit received. In March, 1764, the ministers declared it 'expedient to raise a revenue on stamps in America, to be paid into the king's'^ exchequer.' The discussion of this was postponed until the next year in Parliament, but commenced immediately in America, and the proposition was met by every form of respectful petition and indignant remonstrance ; which were, however, equally unavailing, and the stamp act passed in 1765. The passage of this act excited universal and indignant hostility throughout the colonies, which was displayed in the forms of mourning and the cessation of busi- ness ; the courts refused to sanction the act by sitting, and the bar by using the stamps. In the succeeding Virginia legislature, Patrick Henry introduced and carried, among others, the following resolution : — " Resolved, That the General Assembly of this colony, together with his majesty, or substitute, have, in their representative capacity, the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony : and that every at- tempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom." " After the passage of Henry's resolutions, the governor dissolved the Assembly ; but the people re-elected the friends, and excluded the opposers of the resolutions. The spirited conduct of Virginia fired the ardor of the other colonies ; they passed similar resolu- tions, and a general Congress was proposed. The deputies of nine states met in New York on the 1st of October; they drafted a declaration of rights, a petition to the king, commons, and lords 14 106 OUTLINE HISTORY. The stamp act was repealed, and Virginia sent an address of thanks to the king and parliament." Francis Fauquier, Lieut. Governor of«Virginia, died in 1767, and the government devolved on John Blair, until the arrival of Lord Bottetourt, the following year. " The joy of the colonics at the repeal of the stamp act was short-lived. British ministers imagined that they could cheat the colonies out of their opposition to taxation without representation, by laying an import duty instead of a direct tax; and accordingly, a duty was laid upon glass, tea. paper, and painter's colors ; but this was equally against the spirit of the British constitution, and met with a warmer and more indignant resistance on the part of the colonies, who now began to believe they had little hope fron;! the justice of parliament. The legislature of Virginia passed very spirited resolutions, which it ordered to be sent only to the king ; upon the passage of which the governor dissolved it; and the members immediately met and entered unanimously into a non- importation agreement. " The British ministers perceived their error, afld determined to pause in their violence ; to effect this object the governors were directed to inform the colonies, that his majesty's ministers did not intend to raise a revenue in America, and the duties objected to should be speedily repealed. These assurances, made to Virginia by Lord Boltetpurt, a governor whom they highly respected, served, with his own good conduct, for a time to allay her suspicions of the ministry ; but the course they pursued towards Massachusetts was more than sulHcient to rekindle her jealousy. She passed a protest, declaring that partial remedies could not heal the present disorders, and renewed their non-importation agreement. In 1771 Bottetourt died, and Virginia erected a statue to his memory, which still stands in the town of Williamsburg. Wm. Nelson, then president of the council, occupied the chair of government until the arrival of Lord Dunmore, in 1772. The delay of Lord Dun- more in New York for some months after his appointment to the gubernatorial chair of Virginia, excited the prejudices of the col- ony, which his sending a man of some military distinction as a clerk, and raising a salary and fees for him out of the colony, were by no means calculated to dissipate. The first legislature that met compelled the governor to dispense with the emoluments of his secretary, Capt. Foy ; and the next, after thanking him tor his activity in apprehending some counterfeiters of the colony paper, strongly reproved him for dispensing with the usual forms and ceremonies with which the law has guarded the liberty of the citizen. The same legislature, having j .-ovided for the soundness and security of the currency, the punishment of the guilty, and required the governor to respect the law, turned their eyes to their sister colonies, and appointed a committee of correspondence* to * TJiis committee were Peyton Randolpli, Robert Carter Nicholas, Richard Bland, OUTLINE HISTORY. 107 inquire into the various ^nolations of their constitutional rights by the British ministry. While Virginia was employed in animating her sister states to resistance, her governor was employed in the ignoble occupation of fomenting jealousies and feuds between the province, which it should have been his duty to protect from such a calamity, and Pennsylvania, by raising difficult questions of boundary, and exciting the inhabitants of the disputed territory to forswear allegiance (o the latter province ; hoping thus, by afford- ing a more immediately exciting question, to draw off the atten- tion of these two important provinces from the encroachments of Great Britain. This scheme, as contemptible as it was iniquitous, wholly failed, through the good sense and magnanimity of the Virginia council. Lord North, full of his feeble and futile schemes of cheating the colonies out of their rights, took off J;he obnoxious duties with the exception of three pence per pound on tea ; and, with the ridiculous idea that he might fix the principle upon the colonies by a precedent, which should strip it of all that was odious, offered a draw-back equal to the import duty. This in- duced the importation of tea into Boston harbor, which, being thrown overboard by some of the citizens, called down upon their city all the rigor of the celebrated Boston port bill. A draft of this bill reached the Virginia legislature while in session; an ani- mated protest, and a dissolution of the assembly by the governor, of course followed. On the following day the members convened in the Raleigh tavern, and, in an able and manly paper, expressed to their constituents and their government those sentiments and opinions which they had not been allowed to express in a legisla- tive form. This meeting recommended a cessation of trade with the East India Company, a Congress of deputies from all the col- onies, ' declaring their opinion, that an attack upon one of the colonies was an attack upon all British America,' and a convention of the people of Virginia. The sentiments of the people accorded with those of their late delegates ; they elected members who met in convention at Williamsburg, on the 1st of August, 1774. This convention went into a detailed view of their rights and grievan- ces, discussed measures of redress for the latter, and declared their determination never to relinquish the former; they appointed dep- uties to attend a general Congress, and they instructed them how to proceed. The Congress met in Philadelphia, on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1774. While Virginia was engaged in her efforts for the general good, she was not without her peculiar troubles at home. The Indians had been for some time waging a horrid war upon the frontiers, when the indignation of the people at length compelled the reluctant governor to take up arms, and march to suppress the very savages he was thought to have encouraged and excited to hostility by his intrigues. Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Carey, and Thomas Jefferson. 108 OUTLINE HISTORY. " LordDunmore marched the army in two divisions : the one un- der Col. Andrew Lewis he sent to the junction of the Great Kana- wha with the Ohio, while he himself marched to a higher point on the latter river, with pretended purpose of destroying the In- dian towns and joining Lewis at Point Pleasant ; but it was be- lieved with the real* object of sending the whole Indian force to annihilate Lewis' detachment, and thereby weaken the power and break down the spirit of Virginia. If such was his object he was signally defeated through the gallantry of the detachment, which met and defeated the superior numbers of the enemy at Point Pleasant, after an exceeding hard-fought day, and the loss of nearly all its officers. The day after the victory, an express arrived from Dunmore with orders for the detachment to join him at a distance of 80 miles, tiirough an enemy's country, without any conceivable object but the destruction of the corps. As these orders were given without a knowledge of the victory, Col. Lewis was pro- ceeding to the destruction of the Shawanese villages, when he was informed the governor had made peace. " When the treaty was commenced, Cornstalk, the celebrated Shawanese chieftain, made a speech, in which he charged upon the whites the cause of the war, in conse- quence, principally, of the murder of Lorran's family. Loijan was a Mingo chief. ' For magnanimity in war, and greatness of soul in peace, few, if any, in any nation, ever surpa.ssed Logan.' ' His form was striliiug and manly, his countenance cahu and noble, and he spoke the English language with fluency and correctness.' Logan did not make his appearance among the Indian deputies. ' He disdained to be seen among the suppliants. But, lest the sincerity of a treaty should be disturbed, from which so distinguished a chief absented himself, he sent, by Gen. John Gibson,t the following speech, to be delivered to Lord Dunmore.' " ' I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat : if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed, as they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap,t the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and child- ren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many : I have fidly glutted my vengeance : for my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? — Not one.' " The affairs between Britain and her American colonies were now verging to a crisis. The hostile attitude of the latter, soon occasioned orders to be issued to their governors to remove the military stores out of their reach. Accordingly, on the 20th of April, 1775, Dunmore secretly removed the gunpowder from the * See Memoir of Indian wars, &-c., by the late Col. Stuart of Greenbrier, presented to the Virginia Historical and Philomiphical Society by Charles A. Stuart, of Au- gusta county, and the Chronicles of Border Warfare, by Alexander C. Withers, for a strong corroboration of these suspicions. t The authenticity of this speech has been much questioned. The reader will find the deposition of Gen. Gibson in the American Pioneer, which gives full and satisfactory confirmation of its genuineness. t Various evidence is given, in the Pioneer, that it was Capt. Michael Cresap, not Col. Cresap, who murdered the Indians on the Ohio. OUTLINE HISTORY. 109 magazine at Williamsburg, to the Magdalen man-of-war, anchored oif Yorktown. Thereupon, the volunteers of Williamsburg imme- diately flew to arms, and could with difficulty be restrained from seizing the person of the governor. The people of the town sent a deputation to Dunmore, who remonstrated with him for this act, especially at a time when they feared an insurrection of the slaves. His reply " was everywhere considered as a mean and scandalous evasion." Fearful of the consequences of his conduct, he estab- lished a guard of negroes at his palace. Exasperated to the high- est degree, he openly swore, " by the living God," that if any injury was offered to himself, or the officers \yho had acted under his direction in the affair of the gunpowder,'he would proclaim free- dom to the slaves, and reduce Williamsburg to ashes. These savage threats wrought the indignation of the people to the high- est pitch, which spread like electricily throughout the colony. Over six hundred people of the upper country armed themselves, assembled at Fredericksburg, and offered their services to defend, if necessary, Williamsburg from the threatened attack of Dunmore. Thousands also, in ail parts of Virginia, stood read}^, at a moment's warning, to lend their aid. In the mean time, those ardent patriots, Peyton Randolph and Edmund Pendleton, transmitted their advice to the Fredericksburg meeting to abstain, for the present, from hostilities, until Congress should decide on a general plan of resist- ance. " On the receipt of this advice, they held a council, consisting of over one hundred members, who, by a majority of one only, concluded to disperse for the present. They, however, drafted an address, whicli was almost tantamount to a declaration of independ- ence, in which they ' firmly resolved to resist all attempts against their rights and privi- leges, from whatever quarter they might be assailed. They pledged themselves to each other to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to reassemble, and, by force of arms, to defend the laws, the liberties, and the rights of this or any sister colony, from unjust and wicked invasion. They then sent dispatches to troops assembled in Caroline, Berkeley, Frederick, and Dunmore counties, thanking them for their offer of service, and acquainting them with their determinations." The address was read at the head of each company, and unanimously approved. It concluded with these impressive words GOD SAVE THE LIBERTIES OF AMERICA!'" The volunteers of Hanover, however, determined to recover the powder, or perish in the attempt. With Patrick Henry at their head, they marched from Hanover town to Doncastle's ordinary, within 16 miles of the capitol, their numbers swelled by accessions of volunteers from King William and A^ew Kent. They here disbanded, (May 4th,) and returned to their homes, Patrick Henry having received ample compensation for the powder from Richard Corbin, the king's receiver-general. Two days after the above, Dunmore issued a proclamation against " a certain Patrick Henry, of the county of Hanover, and a number of deluded followers," and forbade all persons to countenance him, or others concerned in like combinations. On the 11th, Henry left Virginia to attend the Continental Congress, of which he was a member. By this time, every county in Virginia was fairly aroused to the dangers that beset them. County committees were formed, who (10) 110 OUTLINE HISTORY. anticipated measures of defence, by arming and raising minute* men, and talking all practicable means to make an effectual resist- ance. The people sympathized with the sufierings of the Bos- tonians, and the citizens of Williamsburg assembled, and unani- mously resolved to subscribe money for their aid. The news of the battle of Lexington reached Virginia about this time. The proclamation of Dunmore had scarce made its appearance, when some persons privately entered the magazine and carried away a great number of arms and military equipments. New causes of irritation between the governor and the people were con- tinually arising. When Patrick Henry marched down to make reprisals for the gunpowder, Dunmore dispatched a messenger to the Fowey man- of-war, anchored off Yorktown, for aid. A detachment of 40 ma- rines and sailors was sent to Williamsburg, where they remained about 10 days. Previous to their landing at Yorktown, Capt. Mon- tague sent a letter from on board the Fowey to Col. Thomas Nel- son, threatening to fire upon the town if the troops were molested or attacked, — a message which still further increased the indigna- tion of the people. On the 1st of June the governor convened the Assembly, and addressed them in a speech. With this commenced a political correspondence between him and the House of Burgesses, which was, on the part of the latter, a clear and forcible defence of the rights of the colonies. On the 8th of June, the governor, with his family, fled on board the Fowey, off Yorktown, from ill-grounded apprehensions of his safety at Williamsburg. Several communi- cations passed between him and the Assembly, relative to public business generally, the late disturbances respecting the removal of the gunpowder, and the governor's proclamation and course of conduct. Dunmore " refused, upon invitation of the Assembly, to return to his palace or to sign bills of the utmost importance to the colony, and refused to perform this branch of duty, unless the Assembly would come and hold their meetings under the guns of his ship at Yorktown. In this emergency, the governor was declared to have abdicated, and the president of the council appointed to act in his place. His lordship, on the termination of the intercourse between himself and the Assembly, which was towards the close of June, sailed down the river." Thus ended the royal government in Vir- ginia. The Assembly now dissolved, and, pursuant to agreement, the delegates, on the 17th of July, met in convention at Ilichmond, to organize a provincial form of government and a plan of defence. The following illustrious characters composed the committee of safety : — Edmund Pendleton, George IMason, John Page, Richard Bland, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, James Mercer, Carter Braxton, William Cabell, and John I'abb. The convention made arrangements to raise troops for defence* OUTLINE HISTORY. Ill and the general committee met at Hanover Town, in Hanover county, on business connected with the military establishment, and then adjourned to Williamsburg about the last of September. Previously, the committee of safety recommended to the dis- trict committees to direct the contractors in each district to pro- vide, among other things, a stand of colors, bearing on one side the name of the district, on the other," Virginia for Constitutional Liberty:' In October, by Dunmore's orders, a party of men, under cover of their men-of-war, landed at Norfolk, and forcibly carried on board their vessels the press and types of a newspaper imbued with the patriotic principles of the day. Shortly after, Dunmore marched to Kempsville, in Princess Anne, destroyed some fire-arms deposited there, and took prisoner Capt. Matthews, of the minute-men. About this time an attack was made on Hampton, by some vessels com- manded by Capt. Squires, who had threatened to burn the town. The enemy were beaten off with loss, while not a single Virginian was killed. In the mean time, numbers of armed people from the upper country were arriving at Williamsburg. Dunmore, hearing that the 2d Virginia Regiment and the Culpeper Battalion had been ordered to Norfolk, directed the Kingfisher and three large tenders to move up to Burwell's Ferry, to prevent their crossing the James. These vessels, on their arrival, finding an American skipper at the landing, commenced firing upon her, and in a peremptory tone or- dered her to come alongside the Kingfisher, Some Virginian riflemen, on the bank, directed her master not to obey the order. Upon this the man-of-war commenced a brisk fire upon the vessel, but without effect. Twice the Kingfisher sent a large boat full of men to take possession, and twice they were beaten off by the unerring aim of the riflemen. Foiled in this attempt, the enemy the next day attempted to land ti boat filled with armed men at Jamestown. They were again repulsed by some rifle sentinels on the shore. In this month (November) Dunmore, with a superior force, surprised about 200 militia of Princess Anne, on their march to join the troops. Their colonel, with several others, was made prisoner. Under date of November 7th, Dunmore issued his proclamation, in which he proclaimed martial law, declared all capable of bear- ing arms who did not resort to his majesty's standard traitors, and oifered freedom to all slaves " appertaining to rebels" who would join his majesty's troops. On this Dunmore had staked his best hopes. Had he had a formidable force at hand to execute his threats, some apprehensions might have been excited. But as it was, it only harmonized public opinion, increased public irritation, and engendered a burning detestation of the means to which their late governor unblushingly stooped to awe them into submission. His lordship set up his standard in Norfolk and Princess Anne, issued orders to the militia captains to raise a body of troops to oppose 112 OUTLINE HISTORY. the colonial army, prescribed, and, in some eases, extorted an oath of allegiance. A multitude of motle}^ partisans flocking to his standard, he designed to destroy the provisions collected at Suf- folk for the Virginia troops. To prevent this. Col. Woodford, on the 20th of November, detached 215 light troops, under Col. Scott and Major Marshall, to that: place, and on the 25th arrived there with the main body of the Virginia troops. About this time evidence was brought to light of a diabolical scheme, matured by Dunmore, agahist that colony of which he pretended to be a friend. This was a co- operation of the various Indian tribes with the tories on the frontiers, John Connelly, a Pennsylvanian, an artful, enterprising rnan, was the projector of the intrigue. la July he nearly matured the plan with the governor. Ample rewards were offered to the militia captains inclined to the royal cause, and willing to act under Connelly. To con- nect its extensive ramifications, he was dispatched to General Gage, at Boston, and returned about the 15th of October, with instructions from the latter. These invested him with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of a regiment of loyalists, to be raised on the fron- tier. Fort Pitt was to be the rendezvous of all the forces to act under him, among which were several companies of the Royal Irish, then at Fort Gage, in the Illinois country. From thence they would march through Virginia, and join Dunmore on the 20th of April at Alexandria, where an army was to land under the cannon of ships-of-war and possess themselves of the town. For a time, fortune favored this formidable plot, in the prosecution of which Connelly often travelled long distances in various directions. Sus. picions were at length aroused : an emissary of the governor's was arrested, upon whom were found papers partly disclosing the plot. These led to the arrestation of Connelly He, with two confederates, Allen Cameron and Dr. John Smyth, both Scotchmen, were taken near Hagerstown, Maryland, on their way to Detroit. Upon searching their bag- gage, a general plan of the whole scheme was found, with large sums of money, and a letter from Dunmore to one of the Indian chiefs. " Thus was a plot, originally con- trived with profound and amazing secrecy, and in its subsequent stages managed with consummate skill, brought by patriotic vigilance to an untimely issue." The only avenue from Suffolk to Norfolk — to which place he was destined — by which Col. Woodford could march, was by the Great Bridge, about 12 miles from the latter. The enemy were posted there in a stockade fort, on his arrival with the Virginian troops. Woodford constructed a breastwork within cannon-shot of the fort. On the 9th of December, Capt. Fordyce, at the head of a party of British grenadiers, in attempting to storm the breastwork, was repulsed by a most destructive and bloody fire. Alitor this, Dun- more, with most of his followers, took refuge on board his vessels. The Virginians marched into Norfolk, and annoyed the enemy by firing into the-ir vessels. In retaliation, Dunmore cannonaded the town, and on the night of the 1st of January, 1776, landed a party, who, under cover of their cannon, set fire to the houses on the river which had sheltered the provincials. The committee of safety ordered Col. Robert Howe to destroy the remainder of the town, to prevent the British from making it a permanent post. Norfolk, then the most populous town in Virginia, contained near 6,000 inhabitants. Colonels Woodford and Stevens assisted Col. Howe in the com- mand at Norfolk. Besides the two regiments already raised, the Convention resolved to raise seven more. Six of these were placed on the continental establishment, to whose ofHcers Congress granted OUTLINE HISTORY. 113 cojnmissions, in order, beginning with Col. Henry, of the 1st, and ending with Col. Buckner, of the 6th Regiment.* Col. Patrick Henry resigned his commission, much to the regret of the regiment, and was thereupon chosen a member of the Con- vention from Hanover. The General Convention of Virginia met at the capital. May 6th, 1776, and appointed Edmund Pendleton, President, and John Tazewell, Clerk. Since the flight of Dunmore, the House of Bur- gesses had met twice, pursuant to adjournment, but on neither occasion was there a quorum. They now met on the same day with the Convention, but " did neither proceed to business, nor adjourn as a House of Burgesses." Considering their meeting as illegal, not in conformity with a summons from a governor, they unanimously dissolved themselves. " Thus was the tottering fabric of the royal government utterly demolished in Virginia; to substi- tute in its stead a structure of more elegant and more solid form, was now the task of the Convention." On the 15th of this month, the convention, after appealing to " the Searcher of hearts" for the sincerity of their former declara- tions in favor of peace and union with the mother country, adopted unanimously the following resolution : " Thiit the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress, be in- structed to propose to that respectable body, to declare the united colonies free and inde- pendent States, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence on the crown or parlia. ment of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent of this colony to such declaration, and whatever measures may be thought necessary by Congress for forming foreign alliances, and a confederation of the colonies, at such time, and in the manner that to them shall seem best : provided, that the power of forming governments for, and the regulations of the internal concerns of each colonj', be left to the colonial legislatures." The convention appointed a committee to prepare a Declaration of Rights, and a P/an of Government, for the colony. The former was adopted on the i2th of June. On the 29th a constitution was unanimously adopted ; " i\e first which was framed with a view to a permanent separation from Great Britain since those of South Carolina and New Hampshire, which alone preceded it, were to continue only until a reconciliation could be effected be- tween the mother country and the colonies. This plan of govern- ment was proposed by the celebrated George Mason,f and had been adopted in committee before the arrival of one which Mr. Jefferson, then in Congress, had prepared. They however ac- cepted Mr. Jefferson's preamble, which is nearly the same as the recital of wrongs in the Declaration of Independence."J * The following were appointed field-officers : — Regiment. Colonels. Lieut.-Colonels. Majors. Third, Hugh Mercer, George Weedon, Thomas Marshall. Fourth, Adam Steven, Isaac Read, R. Lawson. Fifth, William Peachy, Wm. Crawford, J. Parker. Sixth, Mordecai Buckner, Thomas Elliott, J. Hendricks. Seventh, Wm. Dangerfield, Alex. M'Clanahan, Wm. Nelson. Eighth, Peter Muhlenburg, A. Bowman, P. Helvistone. Ninth, Thomas Fleming, George Matthews, M. Donavon. t The Declaration of Rights was also drawn up by him. t Tucker's Life of Jefferson 15 (10*) 114 OUTLINE HISTORY. The following appointments were made under the constitution : Patrick Henry, Esq., governor. John Page, Dudley Digges, John Tayloe, John Blair, Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, Barthol- omew Dandridge, Charles Carter of Shirley, and Benjamin Harri- son of Brandon, counsellors of state. Thomas Whiting, John Hutchings, Champion Travis, Thomas Newton, jun., and George Webb, Esquires, commissioners of admiralty. Thomas Everard. and James Cocke, Esquires, commissioners for settling accounts. Edmund Randolph, Esq., attorney-general. On the 5th of July the convention adjourned. Though the ses- sion was brietj it was an important one. Among other acts besides the formation of a government, they passed an ordinance for erect- ing salt works in the colony : for establishing a board of com- missioners to superintend and direct the naval atfairs of the colony : for raising six troops of horse : for arranging the counties into districts for electing senators, &c. They also resolved to expunge from the litany such parts as related to the king and royal family, and substituted, in the morning and evening service, such forms of expression as were better suited to the new state of affairs. The Declaration of Independence, so strongly recommended by the Virginia convention, was passed in Congress on the 4th of July, 1770; and, agreeably to an order of the privy council, it was proclaimed on the 25th of the same month at the capitol, the court-house, and the palace at Williamsburg, amidst the acclama- tions of the people, and the firing of cannon and musketry. The energetic measures that had been adopted by the Virginia troops in precluding the flotilla of Dunmore from obtaining sup- plies, had at last obliged them to burn the intrenchments they had erected near the ruins of Norfolk, and seek a refuge on board their ships, where disease and hunger pursued them. The presence of his lordship in the lower country had given countenance to the disaffected, who were there numerous. A vigorous course was ordered to be pursued towards them. Col. Woodford, stationed at Kemps' Landing, (now Kempsville, Princess Anne,) humanely executed these orders, which were intrusted to him by the commit- tee of safety, through Maj. Gen. Chas. Lee. Dunmore, with his fleet, left Hampton Roads about the 1st of June, landed and erected fortifications on Gwynn's island, within the limits of what is now Matthew's county. On the 9th of July he was attacked by the Virginians, under Brig. Gen. Andrew Lewis, and forced to abandon the island. Shortly after, Dunmore dispatched the miserable remnant of his followers to Florida and the West Indies, and sailing himself to the north, forever left the shores of Virginia. The nefarious plot of Connelly was only part of an extensive scheme of operations, which the British had meditated in seeking an alliance with the savages. By their instigation the Indians were harassing the frontiers of the southern states to such a de- gree that a combination was formed to destroy their settlements OUTUNE HISTORY. 115 on the borders. Col. Christian, on the part of this state, marched with a body of Virginia troops into the Cherokee country, burnt four of their towns, and compelled them to sue for peace. On the 7th of October, 1776, the Assembly of Virginia met for the first time ; Edmund Pendleton was chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates, and Archibald Carey of the Senate. One of the earliest of their labors was the repeal of all acts of Parliament against dissenters, which was the first direct blow struck at the established church in the state. In the session of this fall, the Assembly appointed Thomas Jef- ferson, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, and Thomas Ludwell Lee, Esquires, a committee to revise the State laws, and prepare a code more suitable to the new state of affairs : the execution of the work devolved on the three first. At the north, the war was progressing with various success. The Americans had been defeated at Long Island, New York came into the possession of the British, and General Montgomery fell before the walls of Quebec, and his army retreated from Canada. Washington's army, "reduced to 3,500 effective men, retreated through New Jersey, before the overwhelming force of the enemy, and crossed the Delaware. On the 2oth of December, 1776, Washington recrossed the Delaware, and the victories of Trenton and Princeton, the first on the Sfith of December, and the last on tlie 3d of January, at this the darkest period of the revolution, reanimated the hopes of the friends of liberty. The principal object of the British in the campaign of 1777, was to open a commu- nication between New York city and Canada, and to separate New England from the other states. Early in the year, Burgoyne was sent for this purpose, with 7,000 men, from Canada. He was arrested by Gen. Gates, and on the 17th of October, was com- pelled to surrender his whole army to him. The capture of Burgoyne spread joy through- out the country. Washington, in the mean while, was in anxious suspense, watching the operations of Sir Wm. Howe, who had sailed from New York with 18,000 men, and a large fleet commanded by Lord Howe. Apprehensive it was a ruse, designed to draw him to the south, and leave the north open to their attacks, Washington proceeded to Bucks CO., Penn., and there waited the destination of the enemy. The British fleet sailed up the Chesapeake, and landed the army in Mai-yland which soon after defeated the Americans at Brandywine and Germantown. In the former action, the Virginia brigades, under Wayne and Weedon, distinguished themselves. The British did not follow up these victories with vigor. While the Americans lost only a few hundred men, these conflicts improved them in disciphne, and better fitted them for the contest. Although the seat of the war was for so long a period transfer- red from Virginia, her soil was doomed soon to be again trod by the foot of the invader. Previous, however, to giving an abstract of the military operations which occurred here in the last few years of the revolutionary struggle, we shall glance at a few mat- ters too important to be omitted in even this brief sketch of her history. While the events above alluded to were transpiring at the north, Virginia was exerting every nerve, in furnishing additional men and means, for the common cause, and adopting energetic measures against the disaffected within her own bosom. Among them were many British merchants, settled in the towns, in whose hands was much of the trade. These were compelled to leave the state, or be taken in custod)'. An oath of allegiance to the com- monwealth, was also required of all free-born male inhabitants 116 OUTLINE HISTORY. over 16 j-ears of age. At this time, a taste for elegant literature and profound research prevailed throughout Virginia. The learned Dr. Small, of William and Mary College, had chiefly contributed to the diffusion of that taste before the war, through the encour- agement of Gov. Fauquier, " the ablest character who had then ever filled the chair of government in Virginia." A literary and scientific society v^^as instituted, amid the excitement of revolution- ary scenes, of which Mr. John Page* was president, and Prof. James Madisonf one of the secretaries. They held a meeting in the capitol, and several valuable philosophical papers were read. The calls of war, unfortunately, prevented a ripe development of the association. A loan-ofhce was opened at Williamsburg, to effect two resolu- tions of Congress for the obtaining a loan of continental money for the use of the United States. Another loan-office was estab- lished by the state, for borrowing, on the part of the commonwealth, one million of dollars, to supersede the necessity of emitting more paper money. It was fortunate for Virginia that she had at this time, on her western borders, an individual of rare military genius, in the person of Col. George Rogers Clarke, " the Hannibal of the West,^'' who not only saved her back settlements from Indian fury, but planted her standard far beyond the Ohio. The governor of the Canadian settlements in the Illinois country, by every possible method, instigated the Indians to annoy the frontier. Virginia placed a small force of about 250 men under Clarke, who descending the Ohio, hid their boats, and marched northwardly, with their provisions on their backs. These being consumed, they subsisted for two days on roots, and, in a state of famine, appeared before Kasliaskias, unseen and unheard. At midnight, they surprised and took the town and fort, which had resisted a much larger force ; then seizing tlie golden moment, sent a detachment who with equal success surprised three other towns. Roche- blave, the obnoxious governor, was sent to Virginia. On his person were found written instructions from Quebec, to excite the Indians to hostilities, and reward tliem for the scalps of the Americans. The settlers transferred their allegiance to Virginia, and she, as the territory belonged to her by conquest and charter, in the autumnal session of 1778 erected it into a county to be called Illinois. Insulated in the heart of the Indian coun. try, in the midst of the most ferocious tribes, few men but Clarke could have preserved this acquisition. Hamilton, the governor of Detroit, a bold and tyrannical personage, determined, with an overwhelming force of British and Indians, to penetrate up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, to sweep all the principal settlements in his way, and besiege Kaskaskias. Clarke despaired of keeping possession of the country, but he resolved to preserve this post, or die in its defence. While he was strengthening the fortifications, he received information that Hamilton, who was at Fort St. Vincent, had weakened his force by sending some Indians against the frontiers. This information, to the geniu-s of Clarke, disclosed, with the rapidity of an electric flash, not only safety but new glory. To resolve to attack Hamilton before he could collect the Indians, was the work of a moment, — the only hope of saving the country. With a band of 150 gallant and hardy comrades, he inarched across the country. It was in February, 1779. When within nine miles of the enemy, it took these intrepid men five days to cross the drowned lands of the Wa- bash, having often to wade up to their breasts in water. Had not the weather been remarkably mild, they must have perished. On the evening of the 23d, they landed in sight of the fort, before the enemy knew any thing of their approach. After a siege of eighteen hours it surrendered, without the loss of a man to the besiegers. The governor was sent prisoner to Williamsburg, and con.siderable stores fell into the posses- sion of the conqueror. Other auspicious circumstances crowned this result. Clarke, intercepting a coiivoy from Canada, on their way to this post, took the mail, 40 prisoners, and goods to the 'value of ^45,000 ; and to crown all, his express from Virginia arrived * Afterwards governor of Virginia. t Subsequently bishop of the Episcopal Church OUTLINE HISTORV. 117 with the thanks of the assembly to him and his gallant band, for their reduction of the country about Kaskaskias. This year Virginia extended her western establishments, through the agency of Col. Clarke, and had several fortifications erected, among which was Fort Jefferson, on the Mississippi. On the 2d of January, 1781, the assembly, in conformity to the wishes of Congress, ceded to the United States her large territory northwest of the Ohio. To this liberal measure, Virginia was induced by a desire of accelerating the general ratification of the articles for the confederation of the Union. On the accession of Sir Henry Clinton, in the place of Sir Wil- liam Howe, to the chief command, the war was carried on with greater energy. The reduction of the south seemed an object less difficult, and of as much value as the north ; hence the plan of conquest was somewhat altered. Georgia was threatened with subjection by an expedition under Lieut. Col. Campbell, while Sir Henry Clinton prepared, in person, to invade South Carolina. The central position of Virginia had hitherto, in a measure, saved her from the incursions of the enemy. Sir Henry Clinton saw that the resistance of the southern states would depend much' upon Virginia, and he was determined to humble her pride and destroy her resources. For this purpose an expedition was planned, and early in May, 1779, their squadron, under Sir George Collier, anchored in Hampton Roads. Fort Nelson, just below Portsmouth, was abandoned to them, and on the 11th, the British general, Matthews, took possession of Portsmouth. The enemy destroyed large quantities of naval and military stores at Gosport and Norfolk ; burnt Suffolk, and many private houses, and destroy- ed upwards of 100 vessels. The army shortly embarked for New York with their plunder. " This destruction of private property, which ought to be held sacred by civilized nations at war, called for the interference of the Assembly. A resolve was passed in that body, requiring the governor to remonstrate against this cruel mode of carrying on the war. The fall of Charleston, aiid the success of the British arms in the south, under Lord Cornwallis, portended much evil to Vir- ginia. Her reduction was determined on by the commander-in- chief, and a plan, apparently big with success, was laid for that purpose. As soon as Clinton was informed of the defeat of the southern army by Lord Cornwallis, he dispatched Brigadier- General Leslie, with a force of about three thousand men, against Virginia. The co-operation of this detachment with the army under Cornwallis, who was expected to enter Virginia on the south, appeared fully adequate to the object in view. " Leslie arrived in the Chesapeake bay in October, 1780, and landing at Portsmouth, took possession of such vessels and other property as could be found on the coast. The defeat of Major Ferguson, who had been ordered to manoeuvre through the north- ern parts of South Carolina, and was expected to join Cornwallis at Charlotte, caused the latter to alter his plans, and pievented his junction with Leslie. Some time elapsed beibre Leslie could ob- tain information of the situation of Cornwallis, and the circum 118 OUTLINE HISTORY. Stances that occurred to prevent the important junction with that officer. Meanwhile the governor of Virginia was earnestly em- ployed in preparing to oppose the invaders. Thomas Jetl'erson, successor of Patrick Henry, was then governor of the stale, and the assembly, composed of men selected for their wisdom and patriotism, was in session. At this crisis, General Greene, who had been appointed to succeed Gates in the command of the south- ern army, arrived in Richmond, on his way to the south. As much reliance had been placed on the supplies to be received from Vir- ginia, Greene was not a little embarrassed to find her in such a weak and exposed situation. After making such arrangements as he deemed necessary, he continued his journey to the south, leav- ing Baron Steuben to direct the defence of the state. General Gates had removed his head-quarters to Charlotte, and there he~ surrendered into the hands of Greene the command of the southern army. In the mean time, General Leslie, leaving the shores of Virginia, sailed for Charleston, where he found orders requiring him to repair with his army to Camden. On the 19th of Decem- ber he began his march, Avith about fifteen hundred men, to effect a junction with the army under Cornwallis. This he accomplished without difiiculty. On the 11th of January, Cornwallis advanced towards North Carolina. Wishing to disperse the force under General Morgan, who had been manoeuvring in the western parts of the state, he dispatched Colonel Tarleton in pursuit of him. The splendid victory of the Cowpens checked the ardor of the pursuers, and revived the drooping spirits of the Americans. The southern army was, however, unable to face their enemy in the field ; and the movements of Cornwallis indicating a design to bring Greene to action, compelled the latter to retreat towards Virginia. This he safely accomplished, notwithstanding the vigor- ous pursuit of the British general, who had destroyed his baggage in order to effect his movements with more celerity. The van of the British army arrived just after the rear of the American had passed the Dan, which forms the dividing line between the two states. The next day General Greene wrote to Mr. Jefferson, governor of Virginia, and to Baron Steuben, giving information of his situation, and requesting reinforcements. " Earl}^ in December, 1780, Governor Jefferson received a letter from General Washington, informing him that preparations were making by the enemy at New York, for an expedition to the south, which was probably designed against Virginia. On the 30th, Brigadier-General Arnold, with near fifty sail of vessels, arrived in the Chesapeake, and embarking in lighter vessels, proceeded up James River. On receiving news of this approaching squadron, Mr. Jefferson dispatched General Nelson to collect and arrange a force with as much haste as possible, while Baron Steuben, with about two hundred men, marched to Petersburg. On the 4th of January, Arnold landed his force, consisting of about nine hundred men, at Westover, the seat of Mr. Byrd, and marched to Richmond OUTLINE HISTORY. 119 without Opposition. Thus was the metropolis of Virginia exposed to the insult and depredation of a- traitor ; her stores and archiv^es plundered, and her governor compelled to seek security by imme- diate flight. From Richmond, Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe was dispatched to Westham, where he destroyed the only cannon foun- dry in the state. At this place they also destroyed the military stores, which had, on the alarm caused by Arnold's approach, been removed from Richmond. After two days spent in pillaging public and private property, General Arnold returned to Westover, where on the 10th he re-embarked his men, and descended the river. On his way he landed detachments at Mackay's mill, and at Smithfield, where they destroyed some public stores ; and on the 20th, arrived at Portsmouth. " Major-General Steuben, assisted by General Nelson, having collected a considerable force, marched in pursuit of Arnold. But the movements of the latter were too rapid to be interrupted by the tardy advances of undisciplined militia. They were, however, able to prevent similar incursions, and by remaining in the vicinity of Portsmouth, they confined the enemy to their entrenchments. On hearing of the invasion of Virginia by the traitor Arnold, and his encampment at Portsmouth, General Washington formed a plan to cut off his retreat. He intimated to Count Rochambeau and Admiral D'Estouches, the importance of an immediate movement of the French fleet to the Chesapeake ; and at the same time de- tached the Marquis De la Fayette, with twelve hundred men, to Virginia. The French admiral, not entering fully into the views of Washington, detached only a small part of his squadron, who, from their inability to effect the desired purpose, returned to the fleet at Rhode Island. The situation of Arnold had induced Sir H. Clinton to detach to his aid Major-General Phillips, to whom the command of the British fofces in Virginia was committed. The united detachments under Arnold and Phillips formed a body of about three thousand five hundred men. Being able to act on the offensive, General Phillips left one thousand men in Portsmouth, and proceeded with the remainder up James River, for the purpose of completing the destruction of the internal strength and resources of the state. Opposite to Williamsburg he landed, and from thence sent to Yorktown a detachment, who destroyed the naval stores in that place. Re-embarking, they ascended the river to City Point, where James River receives the waters of the Appamattox. At this place Phillips landed, and directed his march to Petersburg, which stands on the bank of the last-mentioned stream, about twelve miles from its junction with the former. " Virginia was at this time in a defenceless situation ; all the regular force of the state was under Greene, in South Carolina, and her whole reliance was upon militia, of whom about two thou- sand were now in the field. This force, half of which was stationed on each side of James River, was under the command of Baron Steuben and General Nelson. Steuben directed the southern divi- 120 OUTLINE HISTORY. sion, on whom the defence of Petersburg devolved, and from which place he was compelled to retreat by the superior force of Phillips. During his stay in Petersburg, General Phillips destroyed the ware- houses, and spread terror and devastation, the constant attendants of British invasion, through the town. Leaving Petersburg, he crossed the Appamattox into Chesterfield, and detaching Arnold to Osborne's to destroy the tobacco at that place, he proceeded him- self to Chesterfield court-house, where he destroyed the barracks and stores which had been formed there for the accommodation of recruits designed for the southern army. The two divisions of the army uniting again, marched into Manchester, where was renewed the scene of pillage and devastation transacted in Petersburg and Chesterfield. The fortunate arrival of the Marquis De la Fayette at Richmond, with a body of regular troops, saved the metropolis from a similar fate. From Manchester, General Phillips proceeded down the river to Bermuda hundred, opposite City Point, where his fleet remained during his incursion. Here he re-embarked his troops, and fell down the river, while the marquis followed on the north side to watch his movements. He soon learned that Phillips, instead of returning to Portsmouth, had suddenly relanded his army on the south side of the river, one division at Brandon, and the other at City Point, and was on his march to Petersburg. It immediately occurred to the marquis, that a junction with Corn- wallis, who was then approaching Virginia, was the object which Phillips had in view, and to prevent which he determined to throw himself, by forced marches, into Petersburg before the arrival of that general. Phillips, however, reached that place first, and La- fayette halting, recrossed the river, and posted himself a few miles below Richmond. The death of General Phillips, soon after his arrival in Petersburg, devolved the command of the army again on General Arnold. " Cornwallis was now on his way to Petersburg, and having crossed the Roanoke, he detached Colonel Tarleton to secure the fords of the Meherrin, while Colonel Simcoe, with the rangers, was sent for the same purpose to the Nottoway. The enemy eflTected his passage over these rivers without interruption, and on the 20th of May entered Petersburg. In addition to this united force, which seemed fully sufficient to crush every germ of opposition in Vir- ginia, General Leslie had again made his appearance on the coast, with a reinforcement of two regiments and two battalions, part of which was stationed in Portsmouth, under the comm.and of that officer. The Marquis De la Fayette continued near Richmond, with a force of about four thousand men, nearly three-fourths of whom were militia. Steuben, who was on the south side of James River, proceeding with about six hundred levies to reinforce Gen- eral Greene, was suddenly recalled, and ordered to take a position at the Point of Fork, where were deposited some military stores. General Weedon was requested to collect a force near Fredericks- burg, for the purpose of protecting an important manufactory of OUTLINE HISTORY. 121 arms at Falmouth. In addition to these different forces, General Wayne was on his way to Virginia, with a detachment from the northern army of about nine hundred men. The strength of the enemy was, however, too great for any force Virginia could bring into the field, and her fate, as far as superior numbers and disci- pline could influence it, seemed now to be decided. " Cornwallis, after resting four days in Petersburg, proceeded down the south side of Appamattox and James rivers, until he came opposite Westover, where he determined to cross. Lafay- ette," informed of the enemy's movement, left his encampment below Richmond, and retreated behind the Chickahomony River, keeping the direction towards Fredericksburg. The enem}' pursued him across that stream, anxious to bring him to battle before his junction with Wayne. Lafayette, however, escaped the impend- ing blou', and hastening across the Pamunky and Mattapony, the confluence of whose streams form York River, he endeavored to gain the road on which Wayne was approaching. The British commander, failing in his project of bringing the marquis to battle, thought proper to change his course, and determined to penetrate with his detachments the interior of the state. Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe was directed to attack Baron Steuben at Point of Fork, (a point of land formed by the junction of the Rivanna and Fluvanna rivers,) and destroy the stores at that place ; while Colonel Tarle- ton advanced to Charlottesville, where the General Assembly was then convened. " Simcoe succeeded in driving Steuben from his post, and destroy- ing the magazines under his protection ; while Tarleton pushed on to Charlottesville, eager to add to his numerous exploits the capture of a corps of republican legislators. His approach, however, was discovered by the Assembly in time for the members to make their escape. Mr. Jefferson, the governor, on hearing of their approach, sought an asylum in the wilds df the mountain adjacent to his house. After destroying some military stores, which had been deposited in Charlottesville as a place of safety, Tarleton proceeded down the Rivanna, towards the Point of Fork, near to which Cornwallis had arrived with the main body of the army. Uniting with his army the difl'erent detachments, the British commander marched to Richmond, which he entered on the 16th of June. Meanwhile Lafayette had formed a junction with Wayne, and was watching with a cautious eye the movements of the foe. " After halting a few days in Richmond, Cornwallis resumed his march towards the coast, and on the 25th of the month arrived in Williamsburg, while the marquis, with a force of between four and five thousand men, follovi^ed close on his rear. From that place the British commander detached Colonel Simcoe to the Chicka- homony, for the purpose of destroying some boats and stores on that river. Colonel Butler, with a detachment from the American camp, was immediately sent against this party, and a severe con- flict ensued, in which each side claimed the victory. After remain 16 (11) 122 OUTLINE HISTORY. ing about a week in Williamsburg, the British commander pre- pared to cross the river, and selected James City island as the most eligible place to effect a passage. In the mean time, Lafayette and the intrepid General Wayne pressed close on his rear, with a view to strike as soon as the enemy should be weakened by the van having crossed the river. Under a mistaken belief that the separation of the enemy's force had actually taken place, an attack was made on the whole strength of the British army drawn up in order of battle. The approach of night saved the American army, who effected a retreat after losing, in killed, wounded and prison- ers, upwards of a hundred men. From a belief that a grand at- tack was intended on New York by the combined army, Sir H. Clinton had ordered Cornwallis to take a position near Portsmouth or Williamsburg, on tide- water, with a view to facilitate the trans- portation of his forces to New York, or such aid as might be deemed necessary. In obedience to this command, Cornwallis selected York and Gloucester as the most eligible situations, where he immediately concentrated his army. The bold and discerning mind of Washington soon formed a plan to strike his lordship while encamped at York — a plan no less wisely devised than successfully executed. The arrival of the French fleet in the Chesapeake, at this juncture, contributed essentially to the completion of his de- signs. Count De Grasse, on obtaining intelligence from Lafay- ette of the situation of the enemy, immediately detached four ships of the line to block up York River. Washington, fearful that Cornwallis might attempt to retreat to the south, sent orders to La- fayette to take effective measures to prevent his escape ; and also wrote to Mr. Jefferson, who was still governor of A^irginia, urging him to yield every aid which his situation could afford, and which the importance of the object required. On the 14th of September, General Washington arrived in Williamsburg, which was now the head-quarters of Lafayette, and proceeding to Hampton, the plan of siege was concerted with the Count De Grasse. About the 25th of the month the troops of the north arrived, and formed a junction with those under De la Fayette. The whole regular force thus combined, consisted of about twelve thousand men. In addition to these, there was a body of Virginia militia under the command of the brave and patriotic General Nelson. The trenches were opened by the combined forces on the 6th of October, at the dis- tance of six hundred yards from the enemy's works. On the 19th the posts of York and Gloucester were surrendered to the combined forces of America and France." The news of the surrender of Cornwallis spread universal joy throughout the country. The termination of the war was evidently near, — a war for constitutional liberty. In its trying scenes, Vir- ginia was among the foremost. When the colonies had gone too far to allow a hope for an honorable submission, she was the first to adopt a perfectly independent constitution — the first to recom- mend the Declaration of Independence : her great son was the first OUTLINE HISTORY. 123 among the leaders of the armies of the nation, and her officers and soldiers, whether in the shock of battle, or marching half-clad, ill-fed, and barefooted, amid the snows of the north, through pestilential marshes, and under a burning sun at the far south, evinced a bravery and fortitude unsurpassed. CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT TIME. End of the war. — Action of the Virginia Convention upon the Federal Constitution. — Origin of the Federal and Democratic parties. — Opposition to the Alien and Sedition Laws in Virginia. — Report of Mr. Madison thereon. — War of 1812. — Revi.sion of the State Constitution in 1829-30. — Action of Virginia upon the subject of Slavery in 1831-2. — Policy of the state in reference to Internal Improvement and Education. Although active military operations were prolonged in various parts of the country, especially at the south, after the capture o Cornwallis's army, it may be said that the war was effectually extinguished in Virginia by that memorable event. Most of the troops which had been raised for the defence of the state were in a short time disbanded, and although the negotiations for peace be- tween the two countries were rather slow in their progre.s.s, yet the conviction soon became general, that the signal defeat of the enemy at Yorktown would lead to that happy result. The states- men of Virginia took an active part in the discussions which fol- lowed the treaty of peace, growing out of the acknowledged in- competency of the articles of confederation to bind the states to- gether by ties sufficiently strong. The firmest patriots were alarm- ed at the symptoms of approaching dissolution, and none were more conspicuous in their elforts to avert that catastrophe than the great man who led the armies of the Republic, and achieved its in- dependence. The Convention which assembled in Richmond, in June, 1788, to ratify the federal constitution, was composed of some of the most illustrious men in the state. The names of Mar- shall,* Madison,* Monroe,* Mason,f Nicliolas,J Kenry,§ Ran- * Chief-Justice Marshall, and Presidents Madison and Monroe. t There were two Masons in the convention : George Mason, a man of transcendent talents, and an active participator ia the formation of the first Constitution of Virginia, in 1776 ; and Stevens Tliompson Mason, who was also a man of fine abilities, and a Sena- tor in Congress during Washington's administration. X There were two gentlemen of the name of Nicholas ; Wilson Carey Nicholas, af- terwards governor of Virginia, and George Nicholas, his brother, who removed to Ken- tucky, and was a prominent man in that state. They have an only surviving brother Judge Philip N. Nicholas, of Richmond. § The celebrated Patrick Henry. 124 OUTLINE HISTORY. dolph,* Pendleton,! Lee,J Washington,§ Wythe, |i Innes,"l[ Har- rison,** Bland,tt Grayson,JJ and a host of others, slied a lustre upon the deliberations of that august body, which has never been surpassed in the annals of the commonwealth. " The de- bates as given to the public, though no doubt imperfect, exhibit a display of eloquence and talents, certainly at that time unequalled in the country."§§ Yet it may appear strange to the present generation, that such was the diversity of opinion which prevailed, and so serious were the apprehensions entertained by many, that too much power was conceded to the general government by the instrument proposed for adoption, that it was only ratified by a lean majority often, out of 168 members, who voted on the final question. The opposite political opinions which were developed on that occasion, were strongly impressed upon the public mind, and traces of their influ- ence may be easily distinguished in the subsequent history of par- ties in Virginia. The name of federalist, which was originally ap- plied to those who were in favor of adopting the Constitution, was afterwards used to designate the party which favored that construction of the instrument supposed to give greater efficiency to the powers it conferred ; while those, for the most part, who were hostile to the new form of government, preferred to be distin- guished by the title of democrats, or republicans. |||| These dis- tinctions, were aggravated and widened by the subsequent action of Congress, and especially bjr the passage of the Alien and Sedi- tion laws, in Mr. Adams's administration. These measures en- countered the most decided opposition in Virginia. Mr. Madison, who was one of the ablest and most distinguished advocates of the federal constitution, conceived that its true meaning had been grossly perverted by the measures referred to — and having been * Edmund Randolph, a distinguished lawyer ; governor of Virginia, and a member of Washington's first Cabinet. t Edmund Pendleton, an eminent jurist, and president of the Court of Appeals. t Henry Lee, an active partisan officer of the revolution, and aftervi^ards governor of the state. He was the historian of the Southern war. § Bushrod Washington, nephew of George Washington, and a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. II The venerable Judge Wythe, Chancellor of the state. 'i James Innes, an eloquent and eminent lawyer, and attorney-general of the state. ** Benjamin Harrison, the father of President Harrison ; a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of the state in 1781. t+ Theodorick Bland, an activeofficer of the revolution, in the family of Wasliington. t\ Mr. Grayson, an eminent lawyer and statesman, of surpassing merit. §§ Political and Civil History of the United States ; by the Hon. Timothy Pitkin, of Connecticut. nil The great orator, Patrick Henry, was one of the most prominent opponents to the adoption of the federal constitution ; but after its adoption, he determined to support the government in the exercise of those powers which he believed to have been legitimately conferred, but against the giving of which he had so earnestly contended. Accordingly he was elected to the Legislature, in the spring of 1799, resolved to sustain in that body the constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition laws. His death, which occurred before the meeting of the Legislature, spared him the great and perhaps unequal conflict. — See Wirfs Life of Henry. OUTLINE HISTORY. 125 elected to the state legislature for the session of 1799, prepared his celebrated report, which received the sanction of that body, by a considerable majority. This report, ever since its adoption, has been regarded by the state-rights, or democratic party, as a political text-book, or authoritative exposition of the federal con- stitution ; yet it is atfirnKid by their opponents, that its reasons and deductions have been frequently applied to cases which were not within the contemplation of its original framer, or of many oth- ers, who sanctioned its application to the Alien and Sedition laws. Passing over the minor events in the annals of the state, it may be sufficient to observe, that she gave a constant and cordial sup- port to the measures of her presidents. Jefferson and Madison, which were preliminary to the war of 1812, declared against Great Britain. During the existence of that war, she contributed liber- ally her treasure, and the services of her people, to the defence of the country. To say nothing of the distinguished men and nu- merous recruits with which she supplied the land and natal forces of the Union, instances were not wanting of the display of heroic valor within her own borders, in repelling the predatory and san- guinary depredations of the enemy. Hampton, Craney Island, the White House, and various other points on the Potomac, will long be remembered as scenes of gallant enterprise or patient endurance of the hardships of war. Her sons from the mountains and val- leys of her extensive western domain, marched with alacrity to the seaboard, and submitted, without murmuring, to the toils and perils of the camp ; and hundreds paid the forfeit of their lives in a climate which, to them, habit and nature had rendered uncon- genial and fatal. Although the state was a cordial and zealous supporter of the war, and perhaps suffered less than some of the more exposed of her sister commonwealths, yet sire was by no means disinclined to peace ; although, in the opinion of many, the terms upon which that blessing was acquired were not precisely consistent with the objects for which the war was declared. This, however, is one of the usual contingencies upon which the mortal conflicts of nations are waged. They fight for principle, but are obliged to make peace from necessity ; and there is no truth which is taught us by experience more salutary, than that peace, even with its at- tendant disadvantages, is more tolerable than war, w^hich places every thing at hazard, and is always followed by multiplied hor- rors. Nothing, perhaps, occurred of sufficient consequence to be no- ticed by the general annalist or historian, after the peace of 1815, until the period which brought about the General Convention of 1829, assembled for the purpose of revising the state constitution; a frame of government which had been established prior to the Declaration of Independence, and which was, therefore, consecrated in the affections of a large portion of the people by being asso- (11*) 126 OUTLINE HISTORY. ciated with revolutionary scenes and recollections. It is not to be denied, however, that some of the complaints of those who were clamorous for reform, were in themselves reasonable, even if no serious inconvenience and mischief had been experienced in prac- tice. The grievance which had been most earnestly dwelt upon in the popular discussions, was the great inequality of representa- tion in the state legislature. Counties of unequal size, wealth, and population, were represented in the state councils by an equal number of delegates ; and although perhaps the interests of large sections or divisions were fully protected in the practical operation of government, yet the sense of local wrong was too powerful to be resisted. The call of a convention was sanctioned by a ma- jority of the people, and that body assembled in Richmond in Oc- tober, 1829. No set of men of more varied talents, or of riper experience and wisdom, had been organized as a public body in Virginia, since the meeting of the state convention which ratified the federal constitution ; and there are many conspicuous names found in the proceedings of both those distinguished assemblies.* How strikingly dilferent were the results of the deliberations of the two conventions ! The first in the order of time contributed essentially to cement the union of the states, by the substitution of a solid fabric of government for a feeble confederation, which, in the language of the day, had been aptly compared to a " rope of sand." The labors of the latter, in the opinion of able minds, have not only resulted in no essential good, but in much practical mis- chief. Whether the opinion be or be not well-founded, it is not necessary to decide ; but it is certain that the amended constitu- tion has dissatisfied many, and that propositions have already been made to the legislature to adopt preliminary measures for a third convention. Virginia having the most extensive territory of any of the states of the Union, and being the largest slaveholder, has always been peculiarly sensitive in regard to that species of property. As far back as the first administration of Gov. Monroe, at the commence- ment of the present xjentury, a well-organized insurrection of the slaves in the immediate vicinity of the seat of government, was only prevented from resulting in the most frightful consequences to the persons and property of the whites, by the timely interposi- tion of Providence. From the best authenticated accounts, found- ed upon evidence taken at the time by the constituted authorities, a large body of slaves, supposed to be a thousand in number, head- ed by skilful leaders, and provided with the means of offensive * Ex-presidents Madison and Monroe, and Chief-Justice Marshall, were mem- bers of both conventions. Among the conspicuous leaders in the last, may be men- tioned the names of B. W. Leigh, and his brother, Judge Leigh, John Randolph of Roanoke, Gov. Giles, Cli^pmun Johnson, Judge Philip P. Barbour, Judge Stanard, Charles F. Mercer, Jno. R. Cooke, Richard Morris, Judge Summers, Judge Scott, Pliilip Dodridge, Judge Green, Littleton W. Tazewell, Gen. Robert B. Taylor, Gov. Pleas ants, Judge Abel P. UpsJiur, and many others. OUTLINE HISTORY. 127 warfare, assembled by preconcert, in the night, about six miles from Richmond, and resolved to attack the town before daybreak. No suspicion having been excited, the police was feeble and inert ; the inhabitants were lulled into perfect security, and nothing, it is believed, saved them from massacre and pillage, but a sudden and violent storm, aAompanied by heavy rains, which rendered impas- sable a stream lying between the insurgents and the city. A young negro, attached to his master and family, was seized with compunction for his criminal designs, and swam the stream, at the hazard of life, to give information of the ^lot. The whole city *vas roused — troops were ordered out — the insurrection was sup- pressed, and the ringleaders expiated their offence on the gallows. The severity of the punishment inflicted upon these unhappy suf- ferers, it was supposed, for a long period of time, would prevent any similar disturbance in the state ; but unhappily, in the year 1831, during the administration of Gov. Floj^d, a still more alarm- ing insurrection occurred in the county of Southampton, which was attended by the most tragical results. A fanatical slave by the name of Nat Turner, with his brother, who was still more fa- natical, and who styled himself the prophet, rallied a band of des- perate followers, and, in open day, carried death and desolation into all the surrounding neighborhoods. Whole families of men, women, and children, were slaughtered without mercy, under cir- cumstances of peculiar barbarity ; and the insurrection was only suppressed by the prompt interlerence of the military authority. After the fullest investigation, the conduct of these sanguinary wretches could not be accounted for upon any of the usual mo- tives which govern men in a servile condition. As slaves, they were not treated with particular unkindness or severity ; and the only plausible solution of the problem is to be found in the sug- gestions of a wild superstition, excited by the unnatural and extra- ordinary appearance of the suh at that particular period — a phe- nomenon which was recorded at the time, and is still well recol- lected. This painful and startling event made a deep impression upon the public mind. Men began to think and reason about the evils and insecurity of slavery ; the subject of emancipation was dis- cussed both publicly and privately, and was prominently introduced into the popular branch of the legislature at the ensuing session of 1831-32. The House of Delegates contained, at that time, many young members of shining abilities, besides others of ma- ture r years and more established reputation ; and the debate which sprang up, upon the abstract proposition declaring it expe- dient to abolish slavery, was characterized by all the powers of argument and all the graces of eloquence. It was a topic emi- nently fitted to arouse the strongest passions of our nature, and to enlist the long-cherished prejudices of a portion of the Virginia people. After an animated contest, the question was settled by a kind of compromise, in which the evils of slavery were distinctly 128 MISCELLANIES. recognised, but that views of expediency required that further action on the subject should be postponed. That a question so vitally important would have been renewed with more success at an early subsequent period, seems more than probable, if the cur- rent opinions of the day can be relied on ; but there were obvious causes in operation which paralyzed the friends ♦f abolition, and have had the effect of silencing all agitation on the subject. The abolitionists in the northern and eastern states, gradually increas- ing their strength as a party, became louder in their denunciations of slavery, and more and more reckless in the means adopted for assailing the constitutional rights of the south. The open and avowed security given to fugitive slaves, not only by the efforts of private societies, but by public official acts in some of the free states, together with the constant circulation of incendiary tracts, calculated to endanger the safety of slave-holding communities, have awakened a spirit of proud and determined resistance ; and it is now almost impossible to tell Vv'hen the passions shall have sufficiently cooled for a calm consideration of the subject. If Virginia has not successfully rivalled some of the more wealthy and populous states in the cause of general education, and in works of internal improvement, she has at least devoted to those important objects all the resources she could command with- out impairing her credit by too great a pecuniary responsibility. It is an honorable trait, that she has been careful to fulfil her en- gagements in the most embarrassing times. MISCELLANIES, HISTORICAL, STATISTICAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE. The annexed concise geographical and statistical description of Virginia, is abridged from Sherman & Smith's Gazetteer of the United States, and contains the results of the Statistics and census of 1840, published by the general government. Virginia is 370 miles long, and 200 broad at its greatest width, containing 64,000 square miles, or 40,960,000 acres. The population in 1790, was 747,610 in 1800, 880,149; in 1810, 974,622 ; in 1820,1,005,366; in 1830, 1,211,272; in 1840, 1,239,797, of which 448,987 were slaves. Of the free white population, 371,223 were white males; 309,745 ditto, females; 23,814 were colored males; 26,020 ditto, females. Employed in agriculture, 318,771 ; in commerce, 6,361 ; in manufactures and trades, 54,147 ; navigating the ocean, 582 ; ditto, canals, rivers, and lakes, 2,952 ; learned pro- fessions, &c., 3,860. The state is divided into 123 counties and 2 districts — Eastern and Western. The Eastern district comprises that part of the state east of the Blue Ridge, and has 67 counties. Population in 1840: whites, 369,398 ; free colored, 42,294; slaves, 395,250 ; total, 806,942. The Western district comprises that part of the state west of the Blue Ridge, and has 56 counties. Population: whites, 371,570; free colored, 7,548; slaves, 53,737 ; total, 432,855. Richmond is the capital of the state, situated on the north side of James River, at the head of tidewater, and just below its lower falls. This state has a great variety MISCELLANIES. ^ 129 of surface and soil. From the Atlantic to the lower falls on the river, which includes a tract of from 110 to 130 miles in width, tiie country is low and flat, in some places marshy, but extensively sandy, covered with the pitch-pine. On the margin of the rivers, the soil is often rich. This is denominated the low country, and is unhealthy from August to October. Between the head of tidewater and the Blue Ridge, the country becomes uneven and hilly, and more so as it approaches the mountains. The soil in this region is some of it sandy and poor; some of it is fertile, particularly on the margins of the rivers. Towards the mountains the country is stony and broken, though the soil is often rich. The first ridge of mountains in this state is generally about 150 miles from the ocean. Beyond this the country is mountainous, traversed by successive ridges of the Alleghany, which occupies a greater breadth of country in Virginia than in any other state. Between the various ridges, however, there are long valleys or table- lands, parallel with them, often of considerable breadth, and containing some of the best and most pleasant land in Virginia. The farms are here smaller than in other parts of the state, better cultivated, and there are fewer slaves. The climate in this region is very healthy. The soil in the tidewater country is generally poor, producing Indian corn, oats, and peas. Wheat is raised in some parts of it, and a little rice in the swamps in its southern part. Between tidewater and the mountains is the tobacco-country ; but in the northern upland counties wheat has extensively superseded tobacco ; and south of James River, sufficient cotton is raised for home consumption. The southeastern counties produce apples and peaches in great abundance. Among the mountains, the farmers raise large numbers of cattle and hogs. Indian corn is cultivated throughout the state. The country west of the mountains, towards the Ohio, is rough and wild — sometimes, but not generally, fertile ; but very rich as a mineral region. There were in this state in 1840, 326,438 horses and mules ; 1,024,148 neat cattle; 1,293,772 sheep; 1,992,155 swine; poultry to the value of $754,698. There were produced 10,109,716 bushels of wheat ; 87,430 of barley ; 13,451,062 of oats ; 1 ,482,799 of rye ; 243,822 of buckwheat ; 34,577,591 of Indian corn ; 2,538,374 pounds of wool ; 10,597 of hops ; 65,020 of wax ; 2,944,660 bushels of potatoes ; 364,708 tons of hay; 25,594 of hemp and flax ; 75,347,106 pounds of tobacco; 2,956 of rice; 3,494,483 of cotton; 3,191 of silk cocoons; 1,541,833 of sugar. The products of the dairy were valued at $1,480,488; of the orchard $705,765; value of lumber produced $538,092 ; 13,911 gallons of wine were made. The mineral wealth of Virginia is very great. Gold, copper, lead, iron, coal, salt, lime- stone, and marble are found, together with a number of valuable mineral springs. An atten- tion to the business of mining has recently been excited, and in 1840, 2,000 persons were employed in it. The belt of country in which gold is found, extends through Spotsylvania county and the adjacent country, and in a southwest direction passes into North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. The gold in this state is not sufficiently concentrated to render it profitable, excepting in a few places, to engage in mining it. The coal fields in Virginia are very extensive, and afford both the bitumin- ous and anthracite. Large quantities have been obtained and exported from the vicinity of Richmond. Salt springs have been found in various places, and salt has been ex. tensively manufactured on the Great Kanawha River, near Charleston. The state abounds in mineral springs, which are much resorted to; the principal are, the White • and Blue Sulphur, in Greenbriar; the Salt and Red Sulphur, and Sweet, in Monroe; Hot and Warm, in Bath ; Berkeley, in Morgan ; Fauquier White Sulphur, in Fauquier ; Shannondale, in Frederick ; Alum, in Rockbridge ; Jordan's White Sulphur, in Freder- ick ; Red, in Alleghany ; Grayson, in Carroll ; Bottetourt, in Roanoke ; Holston, in Scott ; Augusta Springs ; and Daggers Springs, in Bottetourt. The staple productions of the state are wheat and tobacco. The Potomac River separates this state from Maryland. James River is the largest which belongs to this state. It is 500 miles in length, and flows from the mountains in the interior, behind the' Blue Ridge, through which it passes. It is navigable for sloops 120 miles, and for boats much further, and enters into Chesapeake Bay. The Appomattox is 130 miles long, and enters James River 100 miles above Hampton Roads, and is navigable 12 miles, to Petersburg. The Rappahannock rises in the Blue Ridge, is 130 miles long, is nav- igable 110 miles for sloops, and enters into the Chesapeake. York River enters the Chesapeake 30 miles below the Rappahannock, and is navigable 40 miles for ships. The Shenandoah enters the Potomac just before its passage through the Blue Ridge. Of the rivers west of the mountains, the Great Kanawha rises in North Carolina, passes through this state, and enters the Ohio. The Little Kanawha also enters the Ohio. The Mo. nongahela rises in this state, though it runs chiefly in Pennsylvania. 17 130 MISCELLANIES. The lower part of Chesapeake Bay lies wholly in this state, is 15 miles wide at its mouth, and enters the Atlantic between Cape Charles and Cape Henry. Norfolk, 8 miles from Hampton Roads, has a fine harbor, much the best in the state, spacious, safe, and well defended ; and it is the most commercial place in Virginia ; but Richmond and Petersburg are more populous, and have an extensive trade. Besides these, Wheeling, Lynchburg, Fredericksburg, and Winchester, are the principal places. The exports of this state, in 1840, amounted to ,14,778,220 ; and the imports to $545,685. There were 31 commercial and 64 commission houses engaged in foreign trade, with a capital of $4,299,500 ; 2,736 retail drygoods and other stores, with a cap- ital of $16,684,413; 1,454 persons employed in the lumber trade, with a capital of $113,210; 931 persons engaged in internal transportation, who, with 103 butchers, packers, &.C., employed a capital of $100,680; 556 persons employed in the fisheries, with a capital of $28,383. Tlie manufactures of Virginia are not so extensive as those of some states inferior to it in territory and population. There were, in 1840, domestic or family manufactures to the amount of $2,441,672 ; 41 woollen manufactories and 47 fulling-mills, eniploymg 222 persons, producing articles to the amount of $147,792, with a capital of $1 12,350 ; 22 cotton manufactories, with 42,262 spindles, employing 1,816 persons, producing arti- cles to the amount of $446,063, with a capital of $1,299,020 ; 42 furnaces producing 18,810 tons of cast-iron, and 52 forges &c., producing 5,886 tons of bar-iron, the whole employing 1,742 persons, and a capital of $1,246,650; 11 smelting houses employed 131 persons, and produced gold to the amount of $51,758, employing a capital of $103,650 ; 5 smelting houses employed 73 persons, and produced 878,648 pounds of lead, employing a capital of $21,500 ; 12 paper manufactories, producmg articles to the amount of $216,245, and other paper manufactories producing $1,260, the whole em- ploying 181 persons, and a capital of $287,750 ; 3,342 persons manufactured tobacco to the amount of $2,406,671, employing a capita! of $1,526,080; hats and caps were manufactured to the amount of $155,778, and straw bonnets to the amount of .$14,700, the whole employing 340 persons, and a capital of $85,640 ; 660 tanneries employed 1,422 persons, and a capital of $838,141 ; 982 other leather manufactories, as saddleries, &-C., produced articles to the amount of $826,597, and employed a capital of $341,957 ; 4 glass-houses and 2 glass-cutting establishments employed 164 persons, producing ar- ticles to the value of $146,500, with a capital of $132,000 ; 33 potteries employed 64 persons, producing articles to the amount of $31,380, with a capital of $10,225; 36 persons produced drugs, paints, &c., to the amount of $66,633, with a capital of $61,727 ; 445 persons produced machinery to the amount of $429,858 ; 150 persons produced hardware and cutlery to the amount of $50,504 ; 262 persons manufactured 9,330 small-arms ; 40 persons manufactured granite and marble to the amount of $16,652; 1,004 persons produced bricks and lime to the amount of $393,253; car- riages and wagons were manufactured to the amount of $647,815, employing 1,592 persons, and a capital of $311,625 ; 1,454 distilleries produced 865,725 gallons, and 5 breweries produced 32,960 gallons, employing 1,631 persons, and a capital of $187,212 ; 764 flouring-mills produced 1,041,526 barrels of flour, and with other mills employed 3,964 persons, producing articles to tlie amount of $7,855,499, with a capital of $5,184,669 ; ships were built to the amount of $136,807 ; 675 persons manufactured furniture to the amount of .$289,391 ; 402 brick or stone, and 2,604 wooden houses were built, employing 4,694 persons, and cost $1,367,393 ; 50 printing offices, and 13 binderies, 4 daily, 12 semi-weekly, and 35 weekly newspapers, and 5 periodicals, em- ployed 310 persons, and a capital of $168,850. The whole amount of capital employed in manufactures in the state was .$11,360,861. William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, is the oldest in the state, and one of the oldest in the country, and was founded in 1691. Hampden Sidney College, in Prince Edward comity, was founded in 1783, and is flourishing. Washington College, at Lexington, was founded in 1812. Randolph Macon College, was founded at Boydton in 1832. Emory and Henry College, Wa.shington county, was founded in 1839. Rec- tor College, Prunty Town, Taylor county, was founded in 1839. Bethany College, Brooke county, was founded in 1841. There are theological schools at Richmond, in Prince Edward county, and in Fairfax county. But the most important literary institu- tion in the state, is the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, founded in 1819. Its plan is extensive, its endowment has been munificent, and it is a prosperous institution. In all these, with a few smaller institutions, there were in 1840, 1,097 students ; there were in the state, also, 382 academics, with 11,083 students ; 1,561 common and primary schools, with 35,331 scholars; and 58,787 white persons over 20 years of age who could neither read nor write. MISCELLANIES. 131 The Baptists, the most numerous religious denomination, have about 437 churches ; the Presbyterians 120 ; the Episcopalians, 65 ministers ; the Methodists 170. There are also a few Lutherans, Catholics, Unitarians, Friends, and Jews. In January, 1840, there were in this state 8 banks and branches, with a capital of $3,637,400, and a circulation of $2,513,412. At the close of the same year the pub- lic debt amounted to $6,857,161. There is a state penitentiary located at Richmond. The first constitution of Virginia was formed ia 1776. This was altered and amended by a convention assembled for that purpose, in 1830. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected b}- the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He is chosen for three years, but is ineligible for the next three. There is a council of state, elected in like manner for three years, the seat of one being vacated every year. The senior councillor is lieutenant-governor. The senators can never be more than 36, and the delegates than 150; and both are apportioned anew among the counties every 10 years, commencing with 1841. The senators were elected for 4 years, and the seats of one fourth of them are vacated every year. The delegates are chosen annually. All appointments to any office of trust, honor, or profit, by the legislature, are given openly, or viva voce, and not by ballot. The judges of the supreme court of appeals, and of the superior courts, are elected by the joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, and hold their oflices during good behavior, or until removed by a joint vote of two- thirds of the legislature. The right of suflirage is extended to every resident white male citizen of 21 years of age, entitled to vote by the former constitution ; or who owns a freehold valued at $25 ; or a joint interest in a freehold to that amount ; or who has a life-estate, or a reversionary title to land valued at $50, having been so possessed for 6 months ; or who shall own, or be in occupation of, a leascliold estate, having been recorded 2 months, for a terrrwnot less than 5 years, to the annual value or rent of $200 ; or who for 12 months shall have been a housekeeper and head of a family, and paid the taxes assessed by the common- wealth. Virginia has undertaken several important works of internal improvement, by char- tering private companies, several of which have been liberally aided by the state. The Dismal Swamp Canal connects Chesapeake Bay with Albemarle Sound, extending from Deep Creek to Joyce's Creek, 23 miles, at a cost of $879,864. It has branches of 11 miles. The Alexandria Canal extends 7^ miles, from Georgetown to Alexandria. The James River and Kanawha Canal extends 146 miles, from Richmond to Lynch- burg. The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad extends 75 miles, to Aquia Creek. Louisa branch, 25 miles from Richmond, proceeds 49 miles, to Gordons- ville. Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, from Richmond, extends 23 miles, to Peters- burg. Petersburg and Roanoke Railroad extends from Petersburg, 59 miles, to Weldon. Greensville Railroad extends from near Hicksford, for 18 miles, to Gaston, N. C. City Point Railroad extends from Petersburg, 12 miles, to City Point. Chesterfield Railroad extends from Coal Mines, 13^ m^les, to Richmond. Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad extends from Portsmouth, 8 miles, to Weldon, N. C. Winchester and Poto- mac Railroad extends from Harper's Ferry, 32 miles, to Winchester. ORIGIN OF THE APPELLATION "OLD DOMINION."* There is in the possession of the INIassachusetts Historical Society, a coin of the fol- lowing description : on one side is a head, and the words " Georgius HI. Rex. ;" on the other side is a shield, on which are quartered the arms of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Virginia. The whole surmounted by a crown, and encircled with the word, " Vir- ginia, 1773." A similar coin was dug up a few years since, and the following statement was pub- lished with the description of it : During the usurpation of Cromwell, the colony of Vir- ginia refused to acknowledge his authority, and declared itself independent. Shortly after, finding that Cromwell threatened to send a fleet and an army to reduce Virginia to subjection, and fearing the ability of this feeble state to withstand this force, she sent, in a small ship, a messenger to Charles II., then an exile in Breda, Flanders Charles accepted the invitation to come over, and be king of Virginia, and was on the eve of embarking when he was recalled to the throne of England. As soon as he was restored to the crown of England, in gratitude for the loyalty of Virginia, he caused her coat of arms to be quartered with those of England, Scotland, and Ireland, as an inde- pendent member of the empire. * From the Savannah Georgian. 132 MISCELLANIES. The above coin is clearly confirmatory of these facts. Hence the origin of the phrase " Old Dominion,'' frequently applied to Virginia. i History does not confirm all these statements, though it establishes some, and suffi- ciently discloses, in the conduct of Virginia during the Protectorate of Cromwell, a cause for the origin of the name Old Dominion, frequently applied to Virginia. The facts, as gathered from a variety of creditable historians, appear to be these : After the death of king Charles I., and the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Protec- tor, the colony of Virginia refused to acknowledge his authority ; and Parliament having subdued opposition elsewhere, were not disposed to submit to such a resistance of its authority by the 20,000 inhabitants of Virginia. It issued an ordinance declaring them notorious robbers and traitors ; prohibited all intercourse with the refractory colonists, either by the people of England, the inhabitants of the other American settlements, or with foreign nations ; and finally, sent over a fleet, under Sir George Ayscue, to over- power the provincial royalists, and extinguish the last traces of monarchial authority that still lingered in extremities of the empire. The connnissioners appointed to ac- company this expedition were empowered to try, in the first instance, the efficacy of par- dons and other conciliatory propositions, in reducing the colonists to obedience ; but if their pacific overtures should prove ineffectual, they were then to employ every species of hostile operations. From Barbadoes, Captain Ayscue dispatched Capt. Dennis with a small squadron to the Chesapeake, to land his forces, and drive Sir William Berkeley out of Virginia ; for during the whole preceding struggle of Charles I. and the Parliament, the Virginians were firm on the side of their king, and enacted a declaration, " that they were born un- der a monarchy, and would never degenerate from the condition of their birth, by being subject to any other government." After the king was beheaded, tliej' acknowledged the authority of the fugitive prince, and actually continued the provincial government under a commission which he sent to Sir William Berkeley from his retreat at Breda. The young prince was not, however, actually invited over to establish a kingdom in Virginia ; though, according to Clarendon, Sir William Berkeley was so assured of the loyalty of the inhabitants, and so impressed with confidence of ultimate success, that he wrote to him, " almost inviting him to America .'" In these acts consisted the enmity of the Parliament to the governor ; and for this open defiance of its power, Virginia was to be ravaged by a fleet in her waters, and insidious assassins on her soil. Histo- rians differ greatly as to the proceedings of Sir William, after the arrival of the fleet within the Capes of Virginia. Several, as Beverly, (p. 45 ;) Oldmixon, (i. 375 ;) Burke, (European Settlements, ii. 223 ;) Graham, (i. 99,) have asserted that he made a great show of resistance, assisted by the Dutch ships in the harbor, and the royalists, who were a majority of the population. Bancroft, (i. 223,) citing contemporary autliorities of the highest value, says, no sooner had the Guinea frigate entered within the waters of the Chesapeake, than (quo- ting from Clarendon) all thoughts of resistance were laid aside. It marks, continues Bancroft, the character of the Virginians ; that they refused to surrender to force, but yielded by a voluntary deed and mutual compact." " By the articles of surrender a com- plete indemnity was stipulated for all past offences ; and the colonists "recognising the authority, were admitted into the bosom of the English commonwealth, and expressly assured of an equal participation in all the privileges of the free people of England. In particular, it provided that the Provincial Assembly should retain its wonted functions, and that the people of Virginia should have as free trade as the people of England to all places and all nations," and " shall be free from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatsoever, without the consent of their own Assembly." Berkeley disdained to make any stipulation for himself, with those whom his principles of loyalty taught him to re- gard as usurpers. Without leaving Virginia, he withdrew to a retired situation, where he continued to reside as a private individual, universally beloved and respected till a new revolution was to summon him once more to defy the republican forces of England and restore the ascendancy of royalty in the colony. This was in March, 1652: and affairs continued much m this state until 1660. In the mean time, Richard Bennet, Edward Digges, and Samuel Matthews, had been sever- ally elected by the Burgesses, Governor of Virginia, luuler allegiance to Oliver Crom- well, and on his death, 1658, to Richard Cromwell. But in 1660, Gov. Matthews died ; and the people, discontented with some commercial restrictions imposed by the Protec- torate, did not wait for a new commission from England, but elected Sir William Berke- ley, and " by an obliging violence compelled him to accept the government." He, however, refused to act under the usurpation of the Cromwells, and would not consent, unless they joined with him in joining their lives and fortunes for the king who was then an exile. MISCELLANIES. 133 "This," says Beverly, "was their dearest wish, and therefore, with a unanimous •voice, they told liim that they were ready to hazard all for the king." Now, this was actually before the king's return to England, and proceeded from a broad principle of*- loyalty for which they had no example. Sir William Berkeley embraced their clioice, and forthwith proclaimed Charles II. king of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Vir- ginia, and caused all processes to be issued in his name. Thus his majesty was actu- ally king in Virginia before he loas in England. On the restoration of the king he sent Sir William a new commission, and granted him permission to visit England. He was receive^ by the monarch with much kindness ; and there is recorded a tradi- tion, that the king, in compliment to that colony, wore at his coronation a robe made of the silk which was sent from thence. Such is a condensed narration of the causes and incidents which gave to Virginia the honored title of the " Old Dominion.'' SLAVERY AND TOBACCO. The following relates to the introduction of slaves, and the cultivation of tobacco, with their influence on the character and condition of the inhabitants of Virginia. It is drawn from the Life of Jefferson, by Prof. George Tucker, of the University of Virginia; a work written with perspicuity and candor, and incidentally elucidating important points in the civil and political history of the state. In 1744, at the period of the birth of Mr. JefTerson, the settlements had extended about 200 miles from the sea-coast, and in the northern part of the colony, had passed the Blue Ridge. The population was then about 200,000, of whom from a quarter to a third were slaves. The cultivation cff tobacco, and the introduction of slaves, soon after Virginia was set- tled, have had a marked influence upon the habits, character, and -fortunes of the coun- try. The introduction of tobacco, in England, about 20 years before the settlement of Jamestown, led to a rapid extension of its use. A demand being thus created, and a heavy price paid, encouraged the first settlers of Virginia to cultivate it for market, to the neglect of other crops. It long continued the sole article of export, and from the in- adequate supply of the precious metals, it became ihe general measure of value, the prin- cipal currency of the colony. In 1758, the quantity exported had increased to about 70 millions of pounds, since which time the product has somewhat diminished. •' As this plant requires land of the greatest fertility, and its finer sorts are produced only in virgin soil, which it soon exhausts, its culture has been steadily advancing west- wardly, where fresh land is more abundant, leaving the eastern region it has impoverish- ed to the production of Indian corn, wheat, and other grain. Its cultivation has thus generally ceased in the country below the falte of the great rivers, and in its progress to the west, the centre of the tobacco region is now two hundred miles from the coast. " The business of cultivating tobacco, and preparing it for market, requires such contin- ual attention, and so much, and so many sorts of handling, as to allow to tlie planter little time for any of the other useful processes of husbandry ; and thus the management of his dairy and orchard, and the useful operatians of manuring, irrigation, and cultivating arti- ficial grf-asses, are either conducted in a slovenly waj^, or neglected altogether. The to- bacco district nowhere exhibits the same external face of verdure, or marks of rural comfort and taste, as are to be seen in those countries in which its culture has been abandoned. " But the most serious consequence of the tobacco cultivation is to be found in the in- crease of slaves ; for though it did not occasion their first introduction, it greatly en- couraged their importation afterwards. It is to the spirit of commerce, which in its un- distinguished pursuit of gain, ministers to our vices no less than to our necessary wants, that Virginia owes this portentous accession to her population. A Dutch ship from the coast of Guinea entered James River, in 1620, thirteen years after the first settlement ot Jamestown, and sold twenty of her slaves to the colonists. "The large profits which could be made from the labor of slave?, while tobacco sold at three shillings sterling a pound, equal to about ten times its ordinary price now, greatly encouraged their further importation, by giving to the planters the means of purchasing as well as the inclination; and the efTect would have been much greater, if they had not been continually supplied with labor from the paupers, and sometimes the convicts, who were brought from England and sold to the planters for a term of years, to defray the expenses of their transportation. (12) 134 , MISCELLANIE3. " This supply of English servants, together with the gradual fall in the price of tobacco, had so checked the importation of slaves, ihat in the year 1671, according to an official communication from the governor, Sir William Berkeley, while the whole population was but 40,000, the number of indented servants was 6,000, and tliat of the slaves was but 2,000. The importations of the latter, he says, did not exceed two or three cargoes in seven years, but that of servants, of whom he says, ' most were English, few Scotch, and fewer Irish,' he estimates at 1,500 annually. " But in process of time, slave labor was found preferable to that of indented white ser- vants, partly because the negro slaves were more cheaply fed and clothed than the labor- ers who were of the same race as the masters, but principally because they were less able to escape from bondage, and were more easily retaken. The colonial statute book af- fords abundant evidence of the frequency and facility with which the indented servants ran away from their masters ; and the extent of the mischief may be inferred from the se- verity ot'its punishment. In 1642, runaway servants were liable, for a second offence, to be branded on the cheek ; though fifteen years afterwards the law was so far mitigated as to transfer this mark of ignominy to the shoulder. In 1662, their term of service, which did not often exceed four or five years, might, for the offence of running away, he pro- longed, at the discretion of a magistrate, and the master might superadd ' moderate cor- poreal punisiiment.' In the following year, this class of persons, prompted by the con- victs who had been sent over after the restoration of Charles the Second, formed a con- spiracy of insurrection and murder, which was discovered just in time to be defeated. Seven years afterwards, in 1670, the governor and council took upon themselves t(»pro- hibit the further importation of convicts, whom they call ' jail birds ;' and they assign this conspiracy as one of their motives for the order. The privilege, too, enjoyed by the servant of complaining to the magistrate for the harsh treatment of his master, either as to food, clothing, or punishment, formed, no doubt, a further ground of preference for slaves, who had no such inconvenient rights. " Under tiie united influence of these circumstances the number of-negro slaves so in- creased, that in 17.32, the legislature thought proper to discourage their further importa- tion by a tax on each slave imported ; and not to alarm the commercial jealousy of Eng- land, the law, conforming to the notions of the age, formally provided for what no mode of levying the tax could have prevented, that the duty should be paid by the purchaser. This duty was at first five per cent, on the value of the slave, but in a few years after- Wards, (1740,) it was increased to ten per cent., from which it was never reduced. It did not, however, prevent large im])ortations, for we find the number to have increased in 119 years, in the ratio of 1 to 146 ; that is, from 2,000 in the year 1671, to 293,427 in 1790 ; while in the same pe "iod the wiiites had increased only as 1 to 12, or from 38,000 to 454,881. In the forty years which have elapsed, from the first to the last census, it is gratii'ying to perceive that the increase of the free population in Virginia has been some- what greater than that of the slaves, in the proportion of 63 per cent, to 60, and that this comparative gain seems to be gradually increasing. " As Eastern Virginia is everywhere intersected by navigable rivers, which are skirted on either side by rich alluvial lands, the early settlers, whose plantations were principally along the margins of the rivers, were able to carry on a direct intercourse with foreign countries, from their separate dwellings. Thus commerce, by the very diffusion of its most important natural facilities, did not here concentrate in a few favorable spots, and foster the growth of towns, as in most of the other colonies ; and at the beginning of the revolution, Williamsburg, the seat of government, and the largest town in Virguiia, itself the most populous of the colonies, did not contain 2,000 inhabitants. But as the bees which form no hive, collect no honey, the commerce, which was thus dispersed, accumu- lated no wealth. The disadvantages of this dispersion were eventually perceived by the colonists, and many etlbrts were made by the legislature to remedy the mischief by authorizing the establishment of towns on selected sites, and giving special privileges and immunities to those who built, or those who resided on them. Their purpose was also favored, and even stimulated by the government, from fiscal considerations. But most of these legislative efforts failed, and none were very successful. Thus in 1680, as many as twenty towns were authorized by act of assembly, being one for each county ; yet at not more than three or four of the designated spots is there even a village remaining to attest the propriety of the selection. " There were indeed wanting in the colony all the ordinary constituents of a large town. Here were no manufactories to bring together and employ the ingenious and in- dustrious. The colonists, devoting themselves exclusively to agriculture, owned no ship- ping, which might have induced them to congregate for the sake of carrying on their foreign commerce to more advantage : here was no court, which by its splendor and MISCELLANIES. 1 35 amusements might attract the gay, the voluptuous, and the rich : there was not even a class of opulent landlords, to whom it is as easy to live on their rents in town as in the country, and far more agreeable. But the very richest planters all cultivated their own land with their own slaves ; and while those lands furnished most of the materials of a generous, and even profuse hospitality, they could be consumed only where they were produced, and could neither be transported to a distance, nor converted into money. The tobacco, which constituted the only article of export, served to pay for the foreign luxuries which the planter required ; yet, with his social habits, it was barely sufficient for that purpose, and not a few of the largest estates were deeply in debt to the Scotch or English merchants, who carried on the whole commerce of the country. Nor was this system of credit more eagerly sought by the improvident planter, than it was given by the thrifty and sagacious trader ; for it afforded to him a sure pledge for the consign- ment of tbe debtor's crop, on the sales of which his fair perquisites amounted to a liberal profit, and if he was disposed to abuse his trust, his gains were enormous. The mer- chants were therefore ready to ship goods, and accept bills of exchange on the credit of future crops, while their factors in the colony took care in season to make the debt safe by a mortgage on the lands and slaves of the planter. Some idea of the pecuniary thraldom to which tiie Virginia planter was formerly subjected may be formed from the fact, that twice a year, at a general meeting of the merchants and factors in Williams- burg, they settled the price of tobacco, the advance on the sterling cost of goods, and the rate of exchange with England. It can scarcely be doubted that the regulations were framed as much to the advantage of the merchants as they believed it practicable to execute. Yet it affords evidence of the sagacious moderation with which this deli- cate duty was exercised, that it was not so abused as to destroy itself. "This state of things exerted a decided influence on the manners and character of tho colonists, untrained to habits of business and possessed of the means of hospitality. They were open-handed and open-hearted ; fond of society, indulging in all its pleas- ures, and practising all its courtesies. But these social virtues also occasionally ran into the kindred vices of love of show, haughtiness, sensuality — and many of the wealthier class were to be seen seeking relief from the vacuity of idleness, not merely in the al- lowable pleasures of the chase and the turf, but in the debasing ones of cock-fighting, gaming, and drinking. Literature was neglected, or cultiva:ed by the small number who had been educated in England, rather as an accomplishment and a mark of distinc- tion, than for the substantial benefits it confers. "Let us not, however, overrate the extent of these consequences of slavery. If the ha- bitual exercise of authority, united to a want of steady occupation, deteriorated the char- acter of some, it seemed to give a greater elevation of virtue to others. Domestic slave- ry, in fact, places the master in a state of moral discipline, and according to the use he makes of it, is he made better or worse. If he exercises his unrestricted power over the slave, iu giving ready indulgence to his humors or caprice — if he habitually yields to impulses of anger, and punishes whenever hd is disobeyed, or obeyed imperfectly, he is certainly the worse for the institution which has thus afforded aliment to his evil pro- pensities. But if, on the other hand, he has been taught to curb these sallies of passion, or freaks of caprice, or has subjecied himself to a course of salutary restraint, he is con- tinually strengthening himself in the virtues of self-denial, forbearance, and moderation, and he is all tbe better for the institution which has afforded so much occasion lor the practice of those virtues.* If, therefore, in a slave-holding country, we sec some of the masters made irascible, cruel, and tyrannical, we see many others as remarkable for their mildness, moderation, and self-command ; because, in truth, both the virtues of the one and the vices of the other are carried to the greater extreme by the self-same process of habitual exercise." INDIANS OF EASTERN VIRGINIA.t According to the account of Captain John Smith, that part of Virginia that lies be- tween the sea and the mountains, was inhabited by forty-three different tribes of Indians. Thirty of these were united in a grand confederacy under the emperor Powhatan. The dominions of this mighty chief, who was long the most powerful rival, and most impla- * The character of the- Presidents which Virginia has furnished, may be appealed to for a confirmation of this view ; and many living illustrations will readily present them- selves to all who have a personal knowledge of ihe southern states. t This article is froiji the various histories of Virginia. 136 MISCELLANIES. cable foe, with whom the English had to contend, extended over that part of the counlry that lies south of the Potomac, between the coast and the falls of the rivers. In comparison with civilized countries, this extensive territory contained but a scanty population. The Powhatan confederacy consisted of but about eight thousand inhabit- ants. Indian in a summer dress. Indian Priest. Besides this confederacy, there were two others which were combined against that ol Powhatan. These were tlie Mannahoacks and Manakins ; the former of whom, con- sisting of eiglit tribes, occupied the country lying between Rappahannock and York rivers ; and the latter, consisting of five tribes, was settled between York and James rivers, above the falls. Besides these, were the Nottoways, the IMcherricks, the Tute- loes, and several other scattering and independent tribes. The hereditary dominions of Powhatan lay on James River, which originally bore his name.* He had a seat on this river, about a mile below the falls, where Richmond now stands, and another at Werowocomoco on the north side of York River, within the present county of Gloucester. This monarch was remarkable for the strength and vigor of his body, as well as for the energies of his mind. He possessed great skill in intrigue and great courage in bat- tle. His equanimity in the career of victory, was only equalled by his fortitude in the hour of adversity. If he had many vices incident to the savage life, he had some vir- tues seldom found among the civilized. He commanded a respect rarely paid by sav- ages to their werowance, and maintained a dignity and splendor worthy the monarch of thirty nations. He was constantly attended by a guard of forty warriors, and during the night a sentry regularly watched his palace. Though unlimited by custom in the number of his wives, his seraglio exhibited the apathy of the Indian character. When he * Powhatan, Arrowhattock, Appamattock, Pamunkey, Youghtanund, and Mattapo- ment, descended to him from his ancestors. MISCELLANIES. 1 37 slept, one of his women sat at his head and another at his feet. When he dined they attended him with water, or brought him a bunch of feathers to wipe his hands. His regalia, free from the glitter of art, showed only the simple royalty of the savage. He wore a robe composed of skins, and sat on a throne spread with mats, and decked with pearls and with beads. The furniture of his palace, like the qualities of his mind, was adapted to war, and the implements of death, rather than of pleasure, garnished his halls. The figures in the annexed engraving, representing an Indian in his summer dress, and an Indian priest, were copied from those giv#ii in Beverly's History of Virginia, published in London, in l~-22. The figure on the left, (the Indian in his summer dress,) is thus described : The upper part of his hair is cut short to make a ridge, which stands up like the comb of a cock, the rest is either shorn off or knotted behind his ear. On his head are stuck three feathers of the wild turkey, pheasant, hawk, or such like. At his ear is hung a fine shell, with pearl drops. At his breast is a tablet or fine shell, smooth as pol- ished marble, which also hath sometimes etched on it a star, half-moon, or other figure, according to the maker's fancy ; upon his neck and wrists iiang strings of beads, peak, and roenoke. His apron is made of a deer skin, gashed around the edges, which hang like tassels or fringe ; at the upper end of the fringe is an edging of peak, to make it finer. His quiver is of a thin bark ; but sometimes they make it of the skin of a fox, or young wolf, with the head hanging to it, which has a wild sort of terror in it ; and to make it yet more warlike they tie it on with the tail of a panther, buffalo, or such like, letting the end hang down between their legs. The pricked lines on his shoulders, breast, and legs, represent the figures painted thereon. In his left hand he holds a bow, and iu his right an arrow. The mark upon his shoulder-blade, is a distinction used by the Indians in travelling, to show the nation they are of — and perhaps is the saiisc with that which Baron Lahontan calls the arms and heraldry of the Indians. Tlius, the several lettered marks are used by several other nations about Virginia, when they make a journey to their friends and allies. The habit of the Indian priest, is a cloak made in the form of a woman's petticoat ; but instead of tying it about their middle, they fasten the gatherings about their neck, and tie it upon the right shoulder, always keeping one arm out to use upon occasion. This cloak hangs even at the bottom, but reaches no lower than the middle of the thigh ; but what is most particular in it is, that it is constantly made out of a skin dressed soft, with the pelt or fur on the outside, and reversed ; insomuch tliat when the cloak has been a little worn, the hair falls down in flakes, and looks very shagged and frightful. The cut of their hair is likewise peculiar to their function ; for 'tis all shaved close, except a thin crest, like a cock's comb, which stands bristling up, and runs in a semi- circle from the forehead up along the crown to the nape of the neck. They likewise have a border of hair over the forehead, w^iich, by its own natural strength, and by the stifl^ening it receives from grease and paint, will stand out like tlie peak of a bonnet. The face of the Indian, when arrived at maturity, is a dark brown andchesnut. By a free use of bear's grease, and a continual exposure to the sun and weather, it becomes harder and darker. This, however, is not the natural complexion. In infancy they are much fairer.* Their hair is almost invariably of a coal black, straight, and long ; their cheek bones are high, and their eyes black and full of a character of wildness and fero- city that mark their unappeasable thirst of vengeance, and their free and uncontrolled in- dulgence of every fierce and violent passion. But the education of an Indian, which com. mences almost with his birth, teaches him that dissimulation, which masks the thought and smooths the countenance, is the most useful of virtues ; and there is a continual eftoit to check the fierce sallies of the eye, and keep down the consuming rage of his bosom His eye, therefore, is generally averted or bent downwards. The terrible complacency of the tiger is no inapt illustration of an Indian visage. The figure of an Indian is admirably proportioned beyond any thing that has hitherto been seen of the human form. Tall, straight ; their muscles hardened by the continual action of the weather ; their limbs supple by exercise, and perhaps by the use of oil, they * " They are very swarthy," says Charlevoix, speaking of the Canadians, " and of a dirty dark red. But this is not their natural complexion. The frequent frictions they use give them this red, and it is surprising that they are not blacker ; being continually exposed to the smoke in winter, to the great heat in summer, and in all seasons to the inclemencies of the air." 18 (12*) 138 MISCELLANIES. outstrip the bear, and run down tlie buck and the elk. No such thing is to be found ag a dwarfisii, crooked, bandylegged, or otiierwise misshapen Indian. The power and qualities of their minds are such as we should expect from their state of society. In a state of nature the mind of man differs but little from the animals around him. Occu])ied in supplying his wants or gratifying his resentments, he has but little time or inclination for the labors of calculation or the refinements of abstraction. The sensible objects with which he is most conversant, impress themselves on his memory in the order and degrees of their importance ; but their classification, and the faculty of generalizing them by an idea a»d term that shall take in all the particulars and classes, are the result of deep thought and intense reflection. For this, leisure and ap- plication are necessary. Bat the time of the Indian, after returning successful from the chase, or victorious from the battle, is too valuable to be employed in such trifles. His duty it is to spread the feast ; to hear the praises of the old men, and the congratula- tions of the women ; to attend the great council of the nation, and to sing the history of his own exploits. If any time remain after discharging those duties, he exercises him- self in shooting the arrow or throwing the tomahawk ; or stretched at length along the grass, enjoys that luxury of indolence which constitutes the supreme blessing of his ex- istence. The idea of numbers is, therefore, very limited among tiie tribes. Some of them can reckon a thousand, while others cannot exceed ten ; to express any greater number they are compelled to resort to something indefinite. As numerous as the pigeons in the woods, or the stars in the heavens, is a mode of expression for any greater number. For the same reason, their language has no term for the abstract ideas of time, space, univer- sal, &-C. There is, however, a conjecture, which, if true, will prove that the Indians- of Virginia had a more copious arithmetic. It is suggested that Tomocomoco or Uttomac- comac was sent to England by Powhatan, for the purpose of procuring an exact account of the number of the people of England. Tomocomoco made the attempt till his arith- metic failed ; but before he would be sent on such an errand, he must have been able to reckon the Powhatans, and these, according even to the lowest estimates, amounted to eight thousand. It has been said that the Indian is the most improvident of animals ; that, satisfied with his present enjoyments, he wastes no thought on the morrow, and that repeated calamities have added nothing to his care or foresight. This may have been true of some of the tribes in South America, or in the islands. The North American, and more especially the Virginian, always had their public stock hoarded. Powhatan and the other sachems carried on a continual trade with the first colonists for corn, and we find that Raleigh, Baltimore, and Penn, derived their principal support from similar sources. But the quantity of labor and industry required for raising this superfluity was compara- tively nothing. A few did not, as in established societies, work for the support of the whole, and for the purpose of enabling the rich to vend their surplus commodities in for- eign markets. Here every man labored for himself, or for the common stock, and a few days in every year were sufficient for tiie maintenance of each man, and by conse- quence, of all the members of the tribe. The Indians of Virginia have no written laws, but their customs, handed down from age to age in the traditions of their old men, have all the force of the best-defined and positive institutions. Nor is this respect acquired by the fear of punishment. The aborigines of Virginia, whatever may be pretended, enjoyed complete freedom. Their sachems made their own tools and instruments of husbandry. They worked in the ground in common with the other Indians. They could enter into no measure of a pub- lic nature without the concurrence of the matchacomoco or grand council ; and even after this body had decided on the merits of the question, the consent of the people at large was necessary to sanction their proceedings. If the voice of this council be in favor of war, the young men express their approbation by painting themselves of various colors, so as to render their appearance horrible to their enemies. In this state they rush furiously into the council-: they begin tbc war dance, accompanying their steps with fierce gestures, expressive of their thirst of vengeance ; and describing the mode in which they will surprise, wound, kill, and scalp their enemies. After this they sing their own glories ; they recount the exploits of their ancestors, and the ancient glories of their nation. The Indian festival dance, says Beverly, is performed by the " dancers themselves forming a ring, and moving round a circle of carved posts, that are set up for that pur- pose ; or else round a fire, made in a convenient part of the town; and Ihen each has his rattle in his hand, or what other thing he fancies most, as his bow and arrows, or his tomahawk. They also dress themselves up with branches of trees, or some other strange MISCELLANIES. 139 accoutrements. Thus they proceed, dancing and singing, with all the antic postures they can invent ; and he is the bravest fellow that has the most prodigious gestures." Indian Festival Dance When any matter is proposed in the national council, it is common for the chiefs of the several tribes to consult thereon apart with their counsellors, and when they have agreed, to deliver the opinion of the tribe at the national council, and as their govern- ment seems to rest wholly on persuasion, they endeavor, by mutual concessions, to obtain unanimity. Their only controls are their manners and their moral sense of right and wrong, which, like tasting and smelling, in every man makes part of his nature. An offence against these is puiiisbed by contempt, by exclusion from society, or when the case is serious, as in murder, by the individuals wliom it concerns. The Indians of Virginia had no idea of distinct and exclusive property ; the lands were in common, and every man had a right to choose or abandon his situation at pleasure. Their mode of computation, as with us, was by units, tens, and hundreds. There Is no light on the records by which wc may discover its limits or extent. Analogy affords no helps on this occasion. The Iroquois could reckon a thousand, while other tribes, al- most in their neighborhood, could count no further than ten. They reckon their years by winters, or cohonks, as they call them, which was a name taken from the note of the wild geese, intimating so many times of the wild geese com- ing to them, which is every winter. They distinguish the several parts of the year by five seasons, viz. : the budding or blossoming of the spring ; the earing of the corn, or roasting ear time ; the summer, or highest sun ; the corn-gathering, or fall of the leaf; and the winter, or cohonks. They count the months by the moons, though not with any relation to so many in a year as we do ; but they make them return again by the same name, as the moon of stags, the corn moon, the first and second moon of cohonks.'' They have no distinction of the hours of the day, but divide it only into three parts, the rise, the power, and lowering of the sun ; and they keep their accounts by knots on a string, or notches on a stick, not unlike the Peruvian Quippoes. If we believe the accounts of Smith and Beverly, the Indians of Virginia were grossly superstitious, and even idolatrous. The annexed engraving is a representation of their idol Okee, Qaioccos, or Kiwasa, copied from one in Beverly's History. " They do not look upon it as one single being, but reckon there are many of the same nature ; they likewise believe that there are tutelar deities in every town." Although they have no set days for performing the rites of religion, they have a num- ber of festivals, which are celebrated with the utmost festivity. They solemnize a day for the plentiful coming of their wild fowl, such as geese, ducks, teal, &.C. ; for the re- turns of their hunting seasons ; and for the ripening of certain fruits. But the greatest annual festival they have is at the time of their corn-gathering, at which they revel several days together. To these they universally contribute, as they do to the gathering of the corn : on this occasion they have their greatest variety of pastimes, and more especially of their war dances and heroic songs ; in which they boast that their corn being now gathered, they have store enough for their women and children, and hav9 nothing to do but go to war, travel, and to seek for new adventures. 140 MISCELLANIES. There is a second annual festival, conducted with still greater solemnity. It com- mences with a fast, which exceeds any thing of abstinence known among the most mor- tified hermits. This fast is succeeded by a feast. The old fire is put out, and a new fire, called the drill fire, elicited by tlie friction of two pieces of wood. They sprinkle sand on the hearths, and, to make the lustration complete, an emetic is taken by the whole nation. At this meeting all crimes, except murder, are pardoned, and the bare mention of them afterwards is considered as disreputable. At the close of this festival, which continues four days, a I'uneral procession commences, tlie signification of which is that they bury all the past in oblivion, and the criminals having tasted of the decoction of casina, are permitted to sit down by the men they have injured. The ceremony of Imskanawing returns after an interval of fourteen or sixteen years, or more frequently, as the young men happen to arrive at maturity. This is intended as a state of proljation, preparatory to their being initiated into the class of warriors and counsellors. Tiie candidates are first taken into the thickest part of the forest, and kept in close and solitary confinement for several months, with scarcely any sustenance besides an infusion or decoclioh of some intoxicating roots. This diet, added to the severity of the discipline, invariably induces madness, and the fit is protracted for eighteen days. During the paroxysms they are shut up in a strong enclosure, called an huskanaw pen, " one of which," says Beverly, " I saw belonging to the Pamaunkie Indians, in the year 1694. It was in siiape like a sugar-loaf, and every way open like a lattice for the air to pass through." When their doctors suppose they have drunk a Indian Idol. sufficient portion of the intoxicating juice, they gradually restore them to their senses by lessening the quantity of the potion, and before they recover their senses they are brought back to the town. This process is intended to operate like Lethe on their mem- ory : " To release the youth from all their childish impressions, and from that strong partiality to persons and things which is contracted before reason takes place. So that when the young men come to themselves again, their reason may act freely without be- ing biased by the cheats of custom and education. Thus they also become discharged from any ties by blood ; and are established in a state of equality and perfect freedom, to order their actions and dispose of their persons as they think proper, without any other control than the law of nature." Marriaffe, or the union of husband and wife, stood precisely on the same footing as amono- the other American tribes. A man might lieep as many wives as he could support : but in general they had but one, whom, without being obliged to assign any reason, they might at any time abandon, and immediately form a new engagement. The rights of the woman are the same, with this ditTerence, that she cannot marry again until the next annual festival. MISCELLANIES. 141 Courtship was short, and, like their marriage, unembarrassed by ceremony. If the presents of a young warrior are accepted by his mistress, she is considered as having agreed to become his wife, and without any further explanations to her family, she goes home to his hut. The principles that are to regulate their future conduct are well under- stood. He agrees to perform the more laborious duties of hunting and fishing ; of felling the tree, erecting the hut, constructing the canoe, and of fighting the enemies of the tribe. To her, custom had assigned almost all the domestic duties ; to prepare the food ; to watch over the infancy of the children. The nature of their lives and circumstances added another, which, with more propriety, taking in a general view, should have been exercised by the male. It belonged to the women to plant the corn, and attend all the other productions of an Indian garden or plantation. But the labor required for raising these articles was trifling, and tlie warriors, being engaged in hunting and war, had neither leisure nor inclination to attend to objects of such inferior consideration. To compensate for this seeming hardship or neglect, the women had several valuable privileges, that prove their importance, and the respect entertained for them by the men. All the honors of an Indian community are maternal, and the children, in the event of a separation, belong to the wife. The husband is considered only as a visitor; and, should aiiy difference arise, he takes up his gun and departs. Nor does this sepa- ration entail any disgrace upon the parties. If any credit be due to the accounts of our early historians, the women in the Pow- hatan confederacy had considerable weight. Some of the tribes had even female sachems, a regulation which could not have been tolerated by freemen and warriors, if, as has been imagined by some historians, they had been regarded only as objects of con- tempt and ill-usage. What agitation and sorrow were not excited by the death of Poca- hontas, and how anxious the inquiries of her family respecting her health and her feel- ings, her content and her return 1 It was no uncommon spectacle to see groups of young women, almost naked, frisking with wanton modesty in the wild gambols of the dance. Even the decent Pocahontas did not disdain to mingle in those pastimes. Crowned' with a wreath of leaves and flowers, she sometimes led the chorus and presided in the dance. Nor should this be regarded as a deviation from the rules of modesty and innocence. They acted agreeably to the usage of-their country and the dictates of nature. Every object inspired happi- ness and content, and their only care was to crowd as many pleasures as possible into the short span of a fleeting existence. The following summary account of the Indians in Virginia, as they were about the year 1700, is from Beverly's History of Virginia. The Indians' of Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, are almost wasted, but such towns or people as retain their names and live in bodies, are hereunder set down ; all which together cannot raise five hundred fighting men. They live poorly, and much in fear of the neighboring Indians. Each town, by the articles of peace, 1677, pays three Indian arrows for their land, and twenty beaver-skins for protection, every year. In Accomack are eight towns, viz : Matomkin is much decreased of late by the small- pox, that was carried thither. Gingoteque ; the few remains of this town are joined with a nation of the Maryland Indians. Kiequotank is reduced to a very few men. Matchopungo has a small number yet living. Occahanock has a small number yet living. Pungoteque ; governed by a queen, but a small nation. Oanancock has but four or five families. Chiconesscx has very few, who just keep the name. Nanduye : a seat of tlie empress ; not above twenty families, but she hath all the nations of the shore under tribute. In Northampton, Gangascoe, which is almost as numerous as all the foregoing nations put together. In Prince George, Wyanoke is extinct. In Charles City, Appamattox, extinct. In Surry, Nottawaj's, which are about a hundred bowmen, of late a thriving and increasing people. By Nansamond : Menheering, has about thirty bowmen, who keep at a stand. Nansamond : about thirty bowmen : they have increased much of late. In King William's county, Pamunkie has about forty bowmen, who decrease. Chickahomonie, which had about sixteen bowmen, but lately increased. In Essex: Rappahannock, extinct. In Richmond: Port Tabago, extinct. In Northumberland: Wiccomocco has but few men living, which yet keep up their kingdom, and retain their fashion ; yet live by themselves, separate from all other In- dians, and from the English. 142 MISCELLANIES. The following able article, from Tucker's Life of Jefferson, relates to the " Abolition of Entails. — Primogeniture. — Their etiects considered. — Church establishment in Vir. ginia — its gradual abolition. — Entire freedom of religion." On the 11th of October, 1776, three days after Mr. Jefferson had taken his seat in the legislature, he brouglit in a bill for the establishment of Courts of Justice, wliich was subsequently approved by the House and passed. Three days afterwards, he intro- duced a bill to convert estates in tail into fee-simple. This, he avows, was a blow at the aristocracy of Virginia. In that colony, in the earlier periods of its history, large grants of land had been ob- tained from the crown by a few favored individuals, which had been preserved in their families by means of entails, so as to have formed, by degrees, a patrician class among the colonists. These modes of continuing the same estates in the same family, found a protection here which they could not obtain in the mother country ; for, by an act passed in the year 17(t5, the practice of docking entails, which had previously prevailed in Virginia as in England, was e.\-pressly prohibited ; and whenever the peculiar exigen- cies of a family made it necessary tliat this restraint or alienation should be done away, it could be effected only by a special act of Assembly. The class which thus piovidcd for the jw-rpetuation of its wealth, also monopolized the civil honors of the colony. The counsellors of the state were selected from it, by reason of which the whole body commonly had a strong bias in favor of the crown, in all questions between popular right and regal prerogative. It is but an act of justice to this class to state, tiiat although some of them might have been timid and hesitating in the dispute with the mother country — disposed to drain the cup of conciliation to the dregs — yet, others were among the foremost in patriotic self-devotion and generous sac- rifices ; and there was but a small- ])rQportion of them who were actually tories, as those who sided with tireat Britain were then denominated. Mr. Jefferson was probably influenced less by a regard to the conduct of the wealthy families in the contest, than by the general reason which he thus gives: "To annul this privilege, and instead of an aristocracy of wcaUh, of more harm and danger than benefit to society, to fcakc an opening for the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society, and scattered with an equal hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a well-ordered republic." The repeal of this law was effected, not without a struggle. It was opposed by Mr. Pendleton, who, both from age and temper, was cautious of innovation ; and who, find- ing some change inevitable, proposed to modify the law so far as to give to the tenant in tail the power of conveying in fee-simple. This would have left the entail in force, where the power of abolishing it was not exercised ; and he was within a few votes of saving so much of the old law. This law, and another subsequently introduced by Mr. Jefferson, to abolish the prefer- ence given to the male sex, and to the first-born, under the English common law, have effectually answered their intended ))urpose of destroying the gross inequality of for- tunes which formerly prevailed in Virginia. They have not merely altered the distribution of that part of the landed property, which is transmitted to surviving relatives by the silent operation of the law, but they have also operated on public opinion, so as to influ- ence the testamentary disposition of it by the proprietors, without which last ctl'ect the purpose of the Legislature might have been readily defeated. The ca.ses are now very rare, in which a parent makes, by his will, a much more unequal distribution of his pro- perty among his ehildrcu than the law itself would make. It is thus that laws, them- selves the creatures of public o])lnion, often i)owerfully react on it. The effects of this change in the distribution of property are very visible. There is no longer a class of persons possessed of large inherited estates, who, in a luxurious and ostentatious style of living, greatly exceed the rest of the community ; a much larger number of those who are wealthy, have acquired their estates by their own talents or enterprise ; and most of these last are commonly content with reaching the average oi that more moderate sland-.'.rd of expense which public opinion requires, ratlicr than the higher scale which it tolerates.* Thus, there were formerly many in Virginia who drove a coach and six, and nmv * A large portion of the matter on this page was appropriated by Lord Brougham, in his Miscellanies, without any acknowledgment whatsoever. MISCELLANIES. 143 Buch an equipage is never seen. There- were, probably, twice or three times as many four-horse carriages before the revolution, as there are at present ; but the number of two-horse carriages may now be ten, or even twenty times as great, as at the former period. A few families, too, could boast of more plate than can now be met with ; but the whole quantity in the country has now increased twenty, if not fifty fold. Some nice but querulous observers, have thought that they perceived a correspondent change in the manners and intellectual cultivation of the two periods ; and, while they admit that the mass of the people may be less gross, and more intelligent than the back- woodsman, the tobacco-roller,* or the rustic population generally under the regal govern- ment, yet they insist that we have now no such class as that which formerly constituted the Virginia gentleman of chivalrous honor and polished manners — at once high-minded, liberal, delicate, and munificent; and that as to mental cultivation, our best educated men of the present day cannot compare with the Lees, the Randolphs, the Jeffersons, Pcndletons, and Wythes, of that period. This comparison, however, cannot easily be made with fairness; for there are few who have lived long enough to compare the two period.s, and those few are liable to be biased on one side or the other, according to their early predilections and peculiar tastes. But apart from these individual influences, there is a general one to which wc are all exposed. Time tlirows a mellow light over our recollections of the past, by which their beauties acquire a more touching softness, and their harsher parts are thrown into shade. Who that consults his reason can believe, if those scenes of his early days, to which he most fondly looks back, were again placed before him, that he would again see them such as memory depicts them? His more discrinn'nating eye, and his less excitable sensibility, would now see faults which then escaped his inexperience, and he would look tranquilly, if not with indifference, on what had once produced an intoxica- tion of delight. Yet such is the comparison which every one must make between the men and things of his early and his later life ; and the traditionary accounts of a yet earlier period are liable to the same objection, for they all originate with those who de- scribe what they remember, rather than what tiiey actually observed. We must, there- fore, make a liberal allowance for this common illusion, when we arc told of the superior virtues and accomplishments of our ancestors. The intellectual comparison may be more satisfactorily made. While it is admitted that Virginia could, at the breaking out of the Revolution, boast of men that could hold a respectable rank in any society ; yet, after making allov/ance for the spirit-stirring occasion, which then called forth all their talents and faculties, there seems to be no reason to suppose that there is any inferiority in the present generation. It must be re- collected, that by the more general ditiusion of the benefits of education, and the con- tinued advancement of mental culture, we have a higher standard of excellence in the present day than formerly, and in the progressive improvement which our country has experienced in this particular, the intellectual efforts which in one generation confer dis- tinction, would in that which succeeds it sJiarcely attract notice. It may be safely said, that a well-written newspaper essay would then have conferred celebrity on its author, and a pamphlet would then have been regarded as great an achievement in letters as an octavo volume at present. Nor does there pass any session of the legislature, without calling forth reports and speeches, which exhibit a degree of ability and political infor- mation, that would, forty years ago, have made the author's name reverberate from one end of British America to the other. The supposed effect of this change in the distri- bution of property, in deteriorating manners, and lowering the standard of intellectual merit, may then well be called in question. Another law, materially affecting the polity of the state, and the-condition of so- ciety, owes its origin in part to Mr. Jefierson. This was the act to abolish the church establishment, and to put all religious sects on a footing. The means of effecting this change were very simple. They were merely to declare that no man should be com pelled to support any preacher, but should be free to choose his sect, and to regulate his contribution for the support of that sect at pleasure. From the first settlement of Virginia, the Church of England had been established * The tobacco was formerly not transported in wagons, as at present, but by a much simpler process. The hc^shead, in which it was packed, had a wooden pin driven into each head, to which were adjusted a pair of rude shafts, and thus, in the way of a gar- den roller it was drawn to market by horses. Those who followed this busines of to- bacco-rolling, formed a class by themselves — hardy, reckless, proverbially rude, and often indulging in coarse humor at the expense of the traveller who chanced to be well- dressed, or riding in a carriage. 144 MISCELLANIES. in the colony. The inhabited parts were laid off into parishes, in each of which was a minister, who had a fixed salary in tobacco, together with a glebe and a parsonage house. There was a general assessment on all the inhabitants, to meet the expenses. Mr. Jefferson thus explains the success of rival sects : — " In process of time, however, other sectarisms were introduced, chiefly of the Pres- byterian family ; and tlie established clergy, secure for life in their glebes and salaries, adding to these generally the emoluments of a classical school, found employment enough in their farms and school rooms for the rest of the week, and devoted Sunday only for the edification of their flock, by service and a sermon, at their parish church. Their other pastoral functions were little attended to. Against this inactivity, the zeal and industry of sectarian preachers had an open and undisputed field ; and by the time of the Revolution, a majority* of the inhabitants had become dissenters from the estab- lished church, but were s(ill obliged to pay contributions to support the pastors of the minority. This unrighteous compulsion, to maintain teachers of what they deemed religious errors, was grievously felt during the regal government and without a hope of relief." The successive steps by which an institution, which was deeply rooted in the affec- tions of many of the principal citizens, was deprived of its power and propcrtj', without disturbing the public tranquillity, may be not unworthy of notice. In the bill of rights which was drawn by George Mason, June 12, 1776, the principle of religious freedom is distinctly asserted in the last article, which' declares, " that reli- gion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can only be directed by reason and conviction, not by force or violence ; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of con- science." But the constitution itself, passed June 29th, is silent on the subject of reli- gion, except that it renders " all ministers of the Gospel" incapable of being members of either House of Assembly, or of the Executive Council. At the first session of the legislature, in the same year, under the new constitution, numerous petitions were received for abolishing the general assessment for the estab- lished church ; and at this session, Mr. Jefferson drafted and supported a law for the relief of the dissenters, which, he says, brought on the severest contests in which he was ever engaged. Here, too, he encountered the formidable opposition of Mr. Pendle- ton and Mr. 11. C. Nicholas, both zealous churchmen. The bill finally passed, but modified by its opponents. It declared all acts of Parliament, which proscribe or punish the maintenance of any opinions in matters of' religion, the forbearing to repair to church, or the exercising any mode of worship whatsoever, to be of no validity within the commonwealth ; it exempts dissenters from all contributions for the support of the established church ; and, as this exemption might in some places make the support of the clergy too burdensome on the members of tiie church, it suspends, until the end of the succeeding session, all acts which provide salaries for the clergy, (except as to ar- rears then due,) and leaves them to voluntary contributions. But, at tlie same time, it reserves to the established church its glebe lands and other property, and it defers "to the discussion and final determination of a future Assembly," the question, whether every one should not be subjected by law to a general assessment for the support of the pastor of his choice ; or, " every religious society should be left to voluntary contribu- tions." The church party had previously succeeded so far as to obtain a declaration in committee, " that religious assemblies ought to be regulated, and that provision ought to be made for continuing the succession of the clergy, and superintending their conduct." In the following years, the qu(jetion of providing for the ministers of religion by law, or leaving it to individual contributions, was renewed ; but the advocates of the latter plan were only able to obtain, at each session, a suspension of those laws which pro- vided salaries for the clergy — the natural progress in favor of liberal sentiments being counterbalanced by the fact, that some of the dissenting sects, with the exception of the Baptists, satisfied with having been relieved from a tax which they felt to be both unjust and degrading, had no objection to a general assessment ; and, on this question, voted with the friends of the church. But the advocates of religious freedom" finally prevailed, and after five suspending acts, the laws for the support of the clergy were, at the second session of 1779, unconditionally repealed. And although Mr. Jefferson was not then a member of the leg-islature, it is probable that his influence, as governor of the commonwealth, was sufliciently exerted towards its repeal. But to protect the rights of conscience, it was not deemed enough to remove past injustice, it was thought also prudent to prevent its recurrence. Among the bills, therefore, reported by the re- * This probably greatly overrates their number. MISCELLANIES. 145 risers, was the celebrated act of religious freedom, drawn by Mr. Jefferson ; which not merely reasserts the principles of religious liberty contained in the bill of rights, but aims to give them permanence, by an argument equally clear, simple, and conclusive. This bill, with many others, was not acted upon by the legislature for several years ; but in the mean time, the friends of Ihe Episcopal church prepared to make one more effort to recover a portion of its ancient privileges, by a general assessment. Their first object was to get an act of incorporation for the church, to enable it the better to retain and defend the large property it held, as well as to facilitate further acquisitions. A re- solution having passed by a large majority, in favor of incorporating " all societies of the Christian religion" which desired it, leave was immediately given to bring in a bill " to incorporate the Protestant Episcopal Church," by which tlie minister and vestry in each parish were m:ide a body corporate, for holfling and acquiring property, and re- gulating the concerns of the church, and which finally passed into a law. The plan of a general assessment met with more difficulty. The petitions whicii had been got up among the people gave it the show of popularity, and it received the powerful aid of Patrick Henry's eloquence. Thus supported, it seemed likely to obtain a majority, when those who were opposed to the measure on principle, for the purpose of gaining time, proposed to refer the matter to the people before the "legislature acted upon it, and they succeeded in postponing it. George Mason, George Nicholas, and others of this party, Ihen proposed to Mr. Madison to prepare a remonstrance to the next Icgi.slature against the assessment, to be circulated tlirough the state for signatures. Thi.s was done, and the paper whicli he prepared e.viiibited the same candid, dispassionate, and forcible rea- soning, which had ever characterized the productions of his pen, convincing those who before doubted, so that there was a general disapprobation of the measure among all sects and parties ; and, at the next session, the fctble could scarcely hold the petitions and remonstrances against the proposed assessment. Such a manifestation of the pub- lic will was not to be resisted. The measure was abandoned, and Mr. Jefferson's bill, with some slight alterations, was then passed without difficulty. To conclude this history of religious establishmcjits in Virginia : the law could not fairly claim the praise of impartiality, so long as a single church had the benefits of in- corporation ; and the injustice was the greater, if, as the other sects maintained, most of the large property it held it owed to the public bounty. In two years afterwards the act allowing religious incorporations was repealed, but with a saving to all religious so- cieties of the property they possessed, with the right of appointing trustees for its man- agement. In 1799, all these laws, as well as those made for the benefit of the dis- senters and the church, were repealed, as inconsistent with the bill of rights and the principles of religious freedom ; and lastly, in 1801, the overseers of the poor in each county were authorized to sell all its glebe lands, as soon as they shall become vacant by the death or the removal of the incumbent for the time ; but reserving the rights of all private donations before 1777. By the execution of this act, the last vestige of legal privilege which this church had over other wets, was completely eradicated. LISTS OF VIRGINIANS WHO HAVE HELD HIGH PUBLIC STATIONS. List of Governors of the State of Virginia. iune 29, 1776. " 1, 1779. " 12, 1781. Nov. 30, 1781. Dec, 1784. " 1786. " 1788. " 1791. " 1794- " 1796. " 1799. " 1802. " 1805. " 1808. Jan. 4, 1811. Dec. 5, 1811. Jan. 3, 1812. Decv, 1814. .Patrick Henry. .Thomas JelTerson. .Thomas Nelson. . Benj. Harrison. . Patrick Henrj'. . Edmund Randolph. . Beverley Randolph. . Henry Lee. • Robert Brooke. .James Wood. .James Monroe. • John Page. . Wm. H. Cabell. ■ John Tyler. . James Monroe. .Geo. W. Smith, burnt in the thea tre, Dec. 26. .James Barbour. .Wilson Carey Nicholas Dec, 1816 James P. Preston. " 18)9.... Thomas M.Randolph. " 1822 James Pleasants. " 182.5- . . . John Tyler, (late Pres. of U. S.) March, 1827. ...Wm. B. Giles. " 1830.. ..John Floyd. " 1834 — Littleton W. Tazewell; resigned 30th April, 1830. April, 1836 Wyndham Robertson, Lieut.-Gov- ernor — acting Governor. March, 1837. .. • David Campbell. " 1840 Thomas W. Gilmer; resigned, March, 1841. " 1841 John Rutherford, Lieut.-Governor and acting Governor. " 1842 John M. Gregory, Lieut.-Governor and acting Governor. Jan., 1843 — James McDowell. 19 (13) 146 MISCELLANIES. The following are lists of Virginians who have held high public stations under the general govern tnent. They are complete only to the year 1842. Presideyits of the United States.— Georse Washington, elected 1789 ; died Dec. 14, 1799, aged 67. Thomas .lefTerson, elected 1801 ; died July'4, 1826, aged 8.3. .lames Madison, elected 1809; died June 28th, 1836, aged 84. James Monroe, elected 1817 ; died July 4, 1831, aged 72. William Henry Harrison, elected in 1841 ; died April 4, 1841, aged 68. John Tyler, 1841. Vice-Presidents of the United States.— ThouKLi Jefferson, elected 1797. John Tyler, elected 1841. Secretaries of .S«a«e.— Thomas Jetferson, 1789. Edmund Randolph, 1794 ; died Sept. 12, 1813. John Marshall, 1800 ; died July 6,1835, aged 79. James Madison, 1801. James Monroe, 1811. Henrv Clay, (born in Va.,) 1825. Abel P. Upshur, 1843 ; died Feb. 28, 1844. John Forsyth, (born in Va.,.) 1834 ; died Oct. 22, 1841, aged 61. Secretaries of War. — James Monroe, 1814. James Barbour, 1825 ; died June 8, 1842, aged 66. Secretaries of the JVaii;/.— Abel P. Upshur, 1841. Thomas W. Gilmer, 1843 ; died Feb. 28, 1844. John Y. Mason, 1844. Jl it orvey— Generals.— 'Eiinmml Randolph, 1789. Charles Lee, 1795 ; died June 24, 1815, aged 58. William Wirt, (D. C) 1817 ; died Feb. 18, 1834, aged 61. Peter V. Daniel, appointed in 1833, but de clined. Chirf-.Tiistices of the Supreme Court. — John Marshall, 1801 to 1835. dissociate rfo.— John Blair, 1789 to 1790; died Aue. 31, 1800, aged 08. Bushrod Washington, 1798 to 1829 ; died June 14, 1832, aged 73. Thomas Todd, 1807 to 1826 ; died Feb. 1826. Philip P. Barbour, 183G to 1841 ; died Feb. 2.5, 1841, aged 00. Peter V. Daniel, 1841. Foreign Ministers. — James Monroe, Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain in 1803, 1806, and 1808. James Barbour, do. to do. in 1828. Andrew Stevenson, do. to do. in 1836. William Short, Charg6 de Af- faires to France in 1790. James Monroe, Minister Plenipotentiary to do. in 1794. Patrick Henr)', Min. Plen. to do. in 1799; did not accept. Wm. C. Rives, MIn. Plen. and Envoy Extraordinary to do. in 1829. Wni. Short, Minister Resident in Spain, 1794. James IMonroe, iMin. Plen. to Spain, 1804. John Forsyth, (born in Va.,) Min. Plen. 1819. Hugh Nelson, Min. Plen. and En. E.\. to Spain, 1823. Wm. Short, Min. Bes. to Netherlands, 1792. John Graham, Min. Plen. to Brazil. 1819. Thomas L. L. Brent, Charg6 de Affaires to do., 1825. Henry Clay, (born in Va.,) to Prussia, 1823. John Randolph, about 1831, Min. Plen. to Russia. Richard C. Anderson, Min. Plen. to Colombia, 1823. Wm. Boulware, Charg6 de Atiaires Two Sicilies, 1841. Wm. Brent. Charg6 d'Aljaires to Buenos AjTes, 1844. Henry A. Wise, Minister to Brazil in 1844. Wm. M. Blackford, Charg6 *'Atfaires to New Grenada, 1842. Wm. Crump, C'harg6 d' Affaires to Chili, 1844. U. S. Senators, from the adoption of the Constitution. — Wm. S.' Archer, 1842 to 1847. James Barbour, 1815 to 1825. Richard Brent, 1809 to 1815. John W. Eppes, 1817 to 1819 ; died Sept. 1830, aged 50. Wm. B. Giles. 1804 to 1816; died Dec. 8, 1830. William Grayson, 1789 to 1790 ; died March 12, 1790. Richard H. Lee, 1789 to 1792 ; died 19th June, 1794, aged 62. Benjamin Watkins Leigh, 1834 to 1838. A. T. Mason, 1815 to 1817 ; died 6th Feb. 1819, aged 33. James Monroe, 1790 to 1794. Andrew Moore, 1804 to 1809. Wilson C. Nicholas, 1799 to 1804 ; died 10th Oct. 1820. James Pleasants, 1819 to 1822. John Ran- dolph, 1825 to 1827 ; died 24th May, 1833, aged 60. William C. Rives, 1832 to 1834, 1836 to 1839, 1842 to 1845. John Tavlor, about 1803. Henry Tazewell, 1794 to 1799. Littleton W. Tazewell, 1824 to 1833. John Tyler, 1827 to 1836. Abraham B. Venable, 1803 to 1804 ; perished in the Richmond Theatre, 26lh Dec. 1811. John Walker, 1790. Members of the Old Con irress from 1774 to 1788, inclusive. — ^Thomas Adams, 1778 to 1780. .Tohn Banis- ter, 1778 to 1779. Richard Bland, 1774 to 1776 ; died in 1778. Theodorick Bland, 1780 to 1783 ; died in 1790, aged 48. Carter Braxton, 1776; died 1797, aged 61. Edward Carrington, 1785 to 1786; died 1810, aged 61. Jolm Fitzhugh, 1779 to 1780 ; died in 1809, aged 83. Wm. Grayson, 1784 to 1787. Cyrus Grif- fin, 1778 to 1781, 1787 to 1788 ; died in 1810. aged 02. Samuel Hardy, 1783 to 1785. John Harvie. 1778 to 1779. Benjamin Harrison, 1774 to 1778; died in 1791. James Henry, 1780 to 1781 : died in 1805. Pat- Hck Henry, 1774 to 1776. Thomas Jetferson, 1775 to 1777, 1783 to 1785. Joseph Jones, 1777 to 1778, 1780 to 1783. Arthur Lee, 1781 to 1784; died 14th Dec. 1782, aged 42. Francis L. Lee, 1775 to 1780; died 1797, aged R3. Henry Lee, 1785 to 1788; died in 1818, aged 62. Richard H. Lee, 1774 to 1780, 1784 tfl 1787 ; died in 1794, aged 62. James Madison, jr., 1780 to 1783, 1786 to 1788 ; died in 183t3. James Mercer, 1779 to 1780. James Monroe, 1783 to 1786 ; died July 4, 1831.'1-Xhuma§_Nelson, 1775 to 1777, 1779 to 1780; died Jan. 4. 1789. aged .50. Mann Page, 1777. Edmund Pendleton, 1774' to 1775 ; died in 1823, aged 82. Edmund Randol[)h, 1779 to 1782 ; died in 1813. Peyton Randolph, 1774 to 1775 ; died 22d Oct. 1775, aged 52. Meriwether Smith, 1778 to 1782. George Washington, 1774 to 1775. George Wythe, 1775 to 1777 ; died 6th June, 1806, aged 80. Members of the Convention from Va. which formed the Constitution of the United States. — John Blair, James Madison, Jr., George Mason, .Tames M'Clurg, Edmund Randolph, George Washington, and George Wythe. Messrs. Mason, M'Clurg, Randolph, and Wythe, did not sign the constitution. List of members from Virginia, of the U. S. House of Representatives, from the adoption of the Federal Constitution to the 4th of March, 1845. Alexander, Mark Allen, .Tohn J. Allen, Robert Archer, Wm. S. Armstrong, Wra. Atkinson, A. Austin, Archibald Baker, John Ball, Wm. L. Banks, I^inn Barbour, John S. Barbour, Philip P. Barton, Richard W Bassett, Burwell ]819-331Bayley, T. H. 1833-35 Bayley, Thomas M. 1827-33 Beale, J. M. H. 5 1820-33 Beirne, Andrew Bland, Theodore Botts, John M. Bouldin, Thomas T. Bouldin, J. W. Breckenridge, James Brent, Richard } 1833-35 1825-33 184.3-45 1817-19 1811-13 1817-24 1837-43 1823-33 5 1814-25 \ 1827-30 1841-43 ( 1805-13 < 1815-19 t 1821-31 Browne, John Burwell, Wm. A. Cabell, Samuel J. Caperton, Hugh Cary, George B. Chapman, A. A. Chinn, Joseph W. 1843 I Chilton, Samuel 1813-15 Claiborne, John 1833-37 Claiborne, Nathaniel H. .-■ g'gQjClaiborne, Thomas 1839-43[Clark, Christopher 1829-33 Clay, Matthew Clopton, John Coke, Richard Coles, Isaac Coles, Walter Colston. Edward Craig, Robert B. Craig. Robert Crump, John Davenport, Thomas 1833-39 1809-17 1795-99 1801-03 1789-92 1806-21 1795-03 1813-15 1841-43 1843 1831-35 1843 180,5-08 182.5-37 ( 1793-99 i 1801-OJ 1804-06 1797-13 I 179.5-99 [ 1801-16 1829-33 i 1789-91 I 1793-97 1835-45 1817-19 1829-33 18.35-41 1826-27 1825-35 MISCELLANIES. 147 Dawson, John Doddridge, Philip Draper, Joseph Dromgoole, Geo. C. Eggleston, John Eppes, John \V. Estill, Benjamin Evans, Thomas Flovd, John Fulton, John H. Garland, David S. Garland, James Garnett, James M. Garnet, Robert S. Gholson, Thomas Gholson, James H. Giles, VVm. B. Gilmer, Thomas W Goggin, VVm. L. Goode, Samuel Goode, W. O. Goodwin, Peterson ""Gordon, Wm. F. Gray, Edwin Gray, J. March 2. — In Bath co.,Va., aged about 77, Gen. Samuel Blackburn, a soldier of the revohuion, an eminent lawyer, and for many years a conspicuous member of the legislature. At his death he libera- ted his slaves, forty-six in number, charging his estate w ith the expense of transporting them to Liberia. April 7. — At Philadelphia, in his 73d year, .Tames Brown, who was born in Virginia in Oct. 17tj(i. In 1812, he was elected a member of the U. S. Senate from Louisiana, and in 1823 appointed minister to France. He was distinguished as a lawyer and a statesman. April 25. — .^ged about 40, Jonathan P. Cnshinri-. President of Ilampden-Sidney College, which office he had held for fourteen years. He was born in New Hampshire. The institution over which he pre- sided was greatly indebted to his well-directed zeal, talents, and influence, and he was highly esteemed for his virtues. By his will he emancipated his slaves, sixty in number, providing amply for tlwir removal to Liberia ; and also gave about $40,000 to estiiblish schools in Albemarle, and the adjoining county May 13. — In Brunswick county, in his 84th year. Rev. Edward Dromgoole, father of the Hon. George C. Dromgoole ; a minister of the gospel sixty-three years, and a magistrate and member of the county court forty-live years. July 1. — .W. Richmond, in his 77th year, J\Iaj. James Gibbon, collector of customs of the port of Rich- mond, and a gallant othcer of the revolutionary army, known as "the hero of Stony-Point." Col. Gib- bon, on the IGlh of July, 1779, then a lieutenant, led one of the two "forlorn liopes," of twenty men, when Gen. Wayne carried the fortress of Stony-Point by storm. Of his twenty men, seventeen were killed or wounded. He was greatly respected and esteemed, and his remains were interred with the highest honors. July 6.— At Philadelphia, in his 80th year, .Tohn Marshall, Chief-Justice of the tfnited States. June 28. — .\t Baltimore, Md., aged about 50, of a fractured skull, from the tall of a chimney, Thomas Jilarshall, of Fauquier Co., the eldest son of Chief-Justice Marshall, beinu on a jotirney to attend tho death-bed of his father. He gradutited in Princeton in 1803; was distiniruished as a scholar, a law- yer, and a member of the legislature ; and was highly esteemed for liis talents, his many virtues, and his exemplary and useful life. May 26. — At Columbia, S. C, aged 70, Gen. Fraiieis Preston, of Washington Co., Va., a member of Congress from 1793 to 1797, and father of the Hon. William C. Preston. Nov. — At Lexington, Va., Georire Baxter, a distinguished lawyer. Nov. — In Caroline co.. aged about 48, .!olin Diekenson, an eminent lawyer. Oct. 7. — In Alabama, Charles Tail, in his fi8th year. He was born in Louisa county, but removed at an early age to Georeia, where he was, for several years, a judge of the Superior Court, and a senator in Congress, from 1809 to 1819. Dec. 3. — At AV'ashington city, aged 47, Riehard JVallack, a distinguished lawyej. 1836. March 22. — .Kt Washington, D. C, in his 82d year. Gen. Mountjoy Baily, an officer of the revolution. Jan. 28. — At .Abingdon, John H. Falton, a respected member of liie 23d Congress. April 29. — In Logan Co., Ohio, Gen. Simon Kenton, aged 82, a native of Virginia. He was a compan- ion of Col. Boone, in exploring the west, and in commencing its settlement, and he endured many hard- ships. March 25. — At Belmont. Loudon Co., Va., aged 70, Ludwell Lee, second son of Richard Henry Lee, a gentleman liighly respected. MISCELLANIES. 149 Nov. 9. — At his residence, in Goochland co., Va., aged 67, James Plcnsants, M. C. from 1811 to 1819; U. S. Senator from 1819 to 18-?2 : governor of Virginia from 1822 to 1825, and a member of the conven- tion for 182!J-30, for amending ihe state conslitulion. He was twice appointed to the bench, but declined, from a distru>t of his own qu'ilifications. He was a man of rare modesty, greatly respected and esteemed for public and private virtues Oct. 10. — In Albemarle CO., Va., aged upwards of 70, Mrs. Martha Randolph, widow of Gpv'. Thomas M. Randolph, and the last surviving daughter of Thomas Jefferson ; a lady distinguished for her talents and virtues. 1837. Jan. 8.— At his seat in Culpeper co., aged 63, iJaUney Carr, a judge of the Virginia Court of Ap- peals ; a man much respected and esteemed for his amiable character, his talents, learning, industry, solidity of mind, and uncommonly fine colloquial powers. Aug. 16.— At the Sweet Springs, John Floyd, M. C. from 1817 to 1819, and governor of Virginia from 1829 to 1834. April 12. — In Beaver co., Penn., Gen. Mner IjOcocI:, in his 67th year. He was born in Virginia, re- moved enrly in life to Pennsylvania, and was, from 1813 to 1819, a member of the U. S. Senate. June 2«, I83C.-At Montpclier, Orange co. Va. in his 86th year, James Madison, the 4th President of the United States. March 18, 1836.— In Albemarle, Va, Hugh JVelson, formerly si)eaker of the House of Delegates, a judge of the General Cnurt, a member of Congress from 1811 to 1823, and afterwrirds U. S. Minister to Spain. June 3. — In Virginia, in his 53d year, .^llen Taylor, judge of the General Court, 17th Circuit. Jan. 7. — At Needham, in his 70th year. Creed Taylor, late chancellor of the Richmond and Lynch burg District. Nov. 5. — Aged 57, David Briggs, an eminent attorney, formerly mayor of Fredericksburg, and coun- sellor of state. Nov. 20. — At his father's residence, in Bedford co., .Tohn Thompson Brown, of Petersburg, Va., aged 36. He was lijr several years a very distinguished member of the legislature, was rising rapidly at the bar, and was regarded as one of the most eminent men of his age in the state. Oct. 7. — At Yorktown, aged 64, Major Thomas Griffin, second in conmiand at the battle of Hampton, and M. C. in 1803-5. Nov. 30. 1836. — At Bellegrove, Major Isaac Hite, an officer in the revolutionary war. Dec. 15. — At Gosport, in his 85th y<':ir, Capt. John Coz, who, early in the revolution, was commissioned as a captain in the naval service of Virginia, and was one of tlie most distinguished and efiicient patriots in the contes-t. Dec. 2. — In Goochland co., aged 62, Dr. Jlndrcw Kean, one of the most eminent physicians of Vir- ginia. Sept. 8. — In Albemarle co., aged 85, Mrs. Lncy Marks, the mother of Meriwether Lewis, who, with William Clarke, explored the Rocky Mountains ; a woman of uncommon ciiersry and strength of mind. Sept. 19. — At Clinton, Fauquier co., aged 83, Capt. IVilliam Payne, who commanded the Falmouth Blues for several years in the early part of the revolution ; and a compaay of volunteers at the siege of Yorktown. July 22. — In Kanawha co., aged 71, Philip R. Thompson, M. C. from Virginia in 1801-7. 1838. March 26. — In Missouri, Gen. William U. AslUey, first lieutenant-governor of that state, and a native of Powhatan CO., Va. May 7. — At Washington, D. C, Ahrnhnm Bradley, for many years assistant postmaster-general. Feb. 2. — In Staft'ord Co., John Conitcr, formerly a judge of the Circuit Court and Court of Appeals. Jan. 9. — At Staunton, aged 30, John J. Craig, a man much respected ; distinguished for liis talents as a lawyer, and a member of the legislature. Feb. 6. — At Charlotte, C. H., aged 40, J^ash Le Grand, for several years a member of the state council. Jan. 6. — At Richmond, Va., suddenly, aged about 35, Edward V. Sparhawh, editor of the Petersburg Intelligencer p a gentleman of fine talents, e.xtensive^acquirements, and a highly respectable and usefiU member of society. Dec. — At Richmond, aged 60, John Brockenbroyrrh, judce of the Court of Appeals. Sept. 1. — At St. Louis, in his 69th year, IVil/ium Clarke, a native of Virginia, companion of Meri- wether Lewis in the expedition across the Rocky Mountains, and governor of Missouri Territory, from 1813 to 1830. Sept. 15. — At Huntsville, Ala., Col. IVilliam Lindsay, a native of Va., and a highly respectable man and officer of the U. S. army. Dec. 21. — At Alexandria, D. C., Thompson F. Jl/aaore, judge of the Criminal Court of the District of Columbia. 1839. April 8. — At Wheeling, Alexander Caldwell, judge of the U. S. Court in the Western District of Va. Nov. 3. — In Hanover co., in his 72d ye:ir, suildenly, while feeling the pulse of a dyins! patient. Dr. • Carter Berkeley, a lineal descendant of Sir William Berkeley, a graduate of the Edinburuh Medical School, a distinguished physician, and much respected for his upright, benevolent, and religious character. Nov. 20. — At Lynchburg, in his 69th year, William Daniel, a conspicuous member of the legislature in 1798-99 ; and, for the last twenty-three years, a judge of the General and Circuit Courts ; a man much respected for his talents and legal knowledge. Nov.— At New Orleans, Capt. Gilbert T. Francis, a native of Va. His life was romantic and eventful, and he passed through surprising adventures in foreign countries. Thouiih of defective education, his great energy of character and extensive travels made him the most entertaining of companions. Oct. 2. — in Culpeper co.. in his 88th year. Col. David Jameson, an active militia officer of the revolu- tion ; afterwards a member of the House of Delegates, a respected magistrate, and a member of the county court. 1840. May 20.— At Richmond, aged about 75, Daniel Call, brother-in-law to Chief-Justice Marshall, an able and eminent lawyer, author of 6 vols. o|' law reports, known as " Call's Reports." Jan. — At Richmond, aged aliout i'i^, Ckns. Sliirle.y Carter, an eminent lawyer and advocate, attorney of the state in the Circuit Court of Henrico co. ; .formerly a distinguished member of the legislature. Oct. — At the University of Virginia, aged about 48, Chas. Bonnycastle, Prof, of Mathematics. He waa (13*) 1 50 MISCELLANIES. a native of England, and a son of John Bonnycastle, the author of a celebrated algebra. He was a man of profound and vigorous mind, and author of a valu;ible work upon Inductive Geometry. Nov. 14. — At the University of Va., (of a pistol-shot discharged by a disguised student,) aged 39, John Ji. G. Dai^is, Prof, of Law in the University. He was a man of a high order of intellect, of untiring in- dustry, of amiable and philanthropic character, and he was an e.vemplary inendjer of the Episcopal church. He published, in 1838, a valuable law-book — " A Treatise on Criminal Law, and a Guide to Justices of the Peace." As a successful instructor, he could hardly be surpassed ; and it is thought, since graduates of his law-school have taken their places at the bar, the profession in Virginia has breathed a more enlarged spirit, and displayed a wider and a higher tone. Dec. — At Nashville, Tcnu., Felix Gruniiij, a native of Berkeley co., Va., and a distinguished member of the U. S. Senate from Tennessee. Nov. — In Va., aged about 63, Richard E. Parker, a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Jan. 19. — At Morven, Loudon co., in his 7.5111 year, Thomas Swan, an eminent lawyer, and formerly attorney of the U. S. for the Dist. of Columbia. " He attained the highest rank in his profession, uniting to the most extensive learning the most efl'ective eloiinenco as a pleader. His influence over juries, aris- ing from this cause, and partly from the universal confidence in the purity of his character, is believed to have been seldom, if ever, surpassed, in the instance of any other American advocate." 1841. Feb. 25. — At Washington, D. C, aged about 60, Philip P. Barbour, of Orange co., an associate judge of the Supreme Court of the U. S. April 24. — In Va., aged 77, George Baxter, D.I)., Prof, in the Union Theo. Sem. in Prince Edward co. ; formerly president of Wash. College, at Lexington, and one of the most eminent and respected Presbyte- rian clergymen in Virginia. Oct. 22. — At Washington, D. C, (of bilious fever,) aged Gl, John Forsyth, of Georgia, a man of talents and eloquence, and secretary of state in JVlr. Van Buren's administration. He was born in Fredericks- burg, Va., in 1781. April 4. — At Washington city, in his 69th year, William Henry Harrison, President of the U. States. He was born in Charles City co., Va., on the 9th of Feb. 1773. June 10. — \i Washington city, in his 92d year, Richard Harrison, late auditor of the treasurj', and a man highly respected. April 27. — At Washington city, aged about 80, Rni. Andmc T. McComish, & respected clergyman, for 23 years minister of the first Episcopal church formed in Washington. June. — At Washington city, Georrre tVasliinn-ton Jlonta-omery, who was born in Valencia, in Spain, of a distinguished Irish t'lmily, and a man of superior talents and education. He came in early life to this country, and was lung employed in the department of Siate. He was the author of Bernardo del Carpio, "an exquisite historical novel of the 8th century, anil the translation of Irving's Conquest of Granada." Sept. 1. — Near Georcetown, D. C, in his 88th year, Joseph J^ourse, register of the U. S. Treasury from 1789 to 1829, and one of the vice-presidents of the American Bible Society, and a man much respected. He was born in London in 17.54; emigrated with his family to Viririnia, and entered the revolutionary army in 1776, and served in ' vegetable they clioose to cultivate, besides raising pumpkins, broom-corn, &c. in their masters' corn-fields. Most of them arc permitted to raise a hog, to dispose of as they please; and these hogs are invariably the largest and fattest on the farm. They also raise fowls of every description, and sell them for the most part to their owners, at a fair price. Their allowance of food is never dimijiished on these accounts. Their hog, their fowls, their vegetables, their brooms, and baskets, and tlag-cliairs, and many other articles, they are allowed to sell, for the purpose of purchasing Sunday clothes and finery, to show off at meetings and other public occa- sions. In this way, those who are at all industrious, are enabled to appear as well dressed as any peas- antry in the world. " 6. ' The provision made for their food and clothing, for those who are too young or too old to labor. The slaves always prefer Indian corn-meal to flour. Of this, the old and young, in this pan of Virginia, are allowed just as much as they can eat or destroy. They have, besides, a certain quantity of bacori given out every week, amounting to about half a j>ound a day for each laborer or grown person. When they have beef or fish, the allowance of bacon is less ; but, as it is the food they love best, they have always a portion of it. Besides this, they have milk and vegetables on most farms in abundance, with- out touching their own stores. The old and infirm fare like the rest, unless their situation re- quires cortee, sugar, &.C., which are always provided. The young slaves have also their meats, but less in quantity, and they depend more upon bread, milk, and vegetables. To look at them, you would see at once they are well fed. On small farms the slaves fare better than on large ones, there beiiis.' little dif- ference in the food of the whites and l)lacks, except in articles of mere luxury. But, on the largest, their usual allowance is that which I have mentioned. They have three meals a day, and it is rare to iee them eating what they call dry bread at any one. " Their allowance of clothing is quite uniform ; and consists of a hat, a blanket, two stiits of clothes, three shirts or shifts, and two pair of shoes, a year. The winter suit is of strong linsey cloth ; the sum- nier, of linen for the men, and striped cotton for the women. The men's cloth is dressed and fulled. The children have linsey and cotton garments, but no shoes or hat, until they are ten or eleven years old, and begin to do something. Their beds are sometimes of feather, generally of straw, and are well furnished ; some prefer to lie like the Indians, on their blankets. "Comparing their situation with respect to food and clothing with our own white laborers, I would say that it is generally preferable. In each case, unicB depends on the industry and management of the^ party ; but there is this difiTerence, that the slave, however lazy or imi)rovident, is furnished with food and clothing at regular periods, which the white man of the same temperament is unable to procure. When the white man, too, is so old and infirm that he can no longer labor, his situation is truly deplo- rable, if he has laid up nothing for support. Bt the old and infirm slave is still supported by his master, with the same care and attention as before. He cannot even set him free without providing for his maintenance, for our law makes his estate liable. "7. ' Their treatment when sick.' Being considered as valuable property, it might naturally be con- cluded that they would be properly attended to when sick. But better feelings than any connected with their value as property, prompt the white family to pay every attention to the sick slave. If it is deemed at all necessary, a physician is inuuediately caHed in. On large farms he is frequently employed by the year ; but, if not, he is sent for whenever there is occasion for his services. If the slave is a hireling, our law compels the owner, not the hirer, to pay the physician's fees, so that the latter has every motive of interest to send for a physician, without being liable for the expense. Where there are many slaves together, the proprietor sometimes erects an hospital, provided with nurses and the usual accommoda- tions. In all cases coming under my observation, whatever is necessary for the comfort of the sick is furnished, as fiir as the master has means. They are frequently visited by the white family, and what- ever they wish to have is supplied. Such indulgence, and even tenderness, is extended to them on these occasions, that it sometimes induces the lazy to ieign sickness ; but I have never known them, in tliese suspected cases, to be hurried to their work until their deception became manifest, or the report of the physician justified it. It is my decided c nviction, that the poor laborers of no country under heaven are better taken care of than the sick slaves in Virginia. There may be, and no doubt are, exceptions to many of these observations; but I speak of their general treatment as I have known it, or heard it reported. "8. 'Their rewards and punishments.' Of rewards, properly speaking, the slaves have few— of in- dulgences they have many ; but they are not employed as rewards, for all usually partake in them with- out discrimintition. The system of rewards has not, to my knowledge, bef n lairly tried. Sometimes slaves who have conducted themselves well, or labored diligently, are allowed more time than others to attend to their own artairs, or permitted to trade on their own account, paying some small sum ; and they are treated, of course, with greater respect and confidence than the idle and worthless. But I know of 160 MISCELLANIES. no instance in which specific rewards have been ofl'ered fo;- specific acts of good conduct. In this respecsl they are treated iiuicli like soldiers and sailors. " As to tlieir punislinients, they are rare, and seldom disproportioned to the oflencc. Onr laws are mild, and make little discrimination between slaves and tree whites, e.vcept in a lew political otlences. . The punishments intiiclcd by the master partake of the same character. The moral sense of the com- munity would not tolerate cruelty in a master. I know of nothing that would bring him more surely into disgrace. On a farm where there maybe one hundred slaves, there will not, perhaps, be one pun- ished on account of his work during the year, although it is often done in a careless, slovenly manner, and not half as much as a white laborer would do. For insolent and unruly conduct to their overseers, for quarrelling and lighting with e;icli otlier, for theft and other otlences, which would send the white man to the whipping-post or penitentiary, they are punished more frequently, but always with modera- tion. Very often thev escape allogelher, when the white man would certainly be jjunished. 1 have lived in different parts of Virginia for more than 30 years, since my atteiuion has been directed to such sub- jects ; and I do not rnollect half a dozen instances in which 1 ever saw a grown slave stripped and whipped. Such a spectacle is almost as rare as to see a similar punishment intlicted on a white man. When it is considered tli it, except for the highest grade of crimes, the punishment of the slave is left prettv much (practically) to his master's discretion, I am persuaded it will be luund that they are in this respect in no worse condition than laborers elsewhere. No other punishment is inflicted except stripes or blows. They are not imprisoned, or placed upon short allowance, or condeumed to any cruel or un- usual punishments from which white persons are exempted. "The worst feature in our society, and the most revolting, is the purchase and sale of slaves; and it is this which renders their situations precarious and uncomfortable, and occasions them more uneasiness than all other causes combined. On this subject I will submit a i"ew observations before I close this let- ter. So far as the traffic is confined to the neighborhood, it is of little consequence, and is often done for the accommodation of the slave. It breaks no ties of kindred, and occasions only a momentary pang, by transferring the slave from the master who, perhaps, is no longer able to keep him, to one as good, who is able, or who purchases because he owns his wife or child, &c. It is the sale to negro-buyers by profession, which is in general so odious to the slave, although there are instances in which these artful men prevail with them to apply to their owners to be sold. Such sales, except in the rare instance just alluded to, are never voluntarily made of slaves whose cimduct and character are good. Masters will not part with their slaves but from sheer necessity, or for flagrant delinquencies, which in other countries would be punished by deportation at least. Thousands retain them when they know full well that their pecuniary condition would be greatly improved by selling, or even giving them away. It is tlie last pro- perty the master can be induced to part with. Nothing but the dread of a jail will prevail with him. Negro-traders, although there are many among us, are universally despised by the master, and detested by the body of the slaves. Their trade is supported by the misfortunes of the master, and the crimes or misconduct of the slave, and not by the will of either party, except in a few instances. Sometimes the slave, al'ter committing a theft or other crime, will abscond, for fear of detection ; or will be enticed away fr(nn his master's service by holding out to him false hopes ; and perhaps the negro-buyer himself is the decoy. If caught, he is generally sold, for the sake of the example to other slaves. From these sources the negro-buyers are supplied ; but it does not happen, in one case out of a thousand, that the master willingly sells an honest, faithful slave. The man doing so would be looked upon as a sordid, inhumaa wretch; and be shunned by his neighbors and countrymen of respectable standing. "I believe, if any plan could be fillen upon to remove our slaves to a place where they would be willing to go, and where their condition would be probably improved, that many, ver>' many masters would be ready to manumit them. An opinion is entert lined by increasing numbers, that slave labor is too expensive to be continued in a grain-growing state, if its place can be supplied by freemen. In other words, that the free laborer would cost less, and work harder, than the slave. But the slaves themselves are unwilling to go to Liberia, and very few would accept their freedom on that condition. Some, already emancipated, remain in the stale, incurring tlie constant risk of being sold as slaves. To send them to any part of our own country without worldly knowledge or capital, is deemed by most masters false humanity; and to retain tfiem here in the condition of free negroes is impossible. "Until some plan can be suggested to remove these difficulties, under the guidance and direction of the constituted authorities, we are averse to all agitation of the subject. We know it will be attended with danger to one class, and %vill increase the burdens and privations of the other. Hence our indigna- tion at the movements of the Northern abolitionists, who are meddling with a subject they know norhing about. Let them come among us, and see the actual condition of the slaves, as well as of the whites, and I am persuaded that all whose intentions are really good, would, on their return, advise their de- luded co-operators to desist from agitation." STATISTICS AND CENSUS OF THE COUNTIES OF VIRGINIA. The subjoined statistical tabic of the various counties of Virginia, is from the U. S. statistics and census of 1840. It presents a view of the relative agricultural, manu- facturing, and mercantile wealth of the various counties. Explanation of the Table. — The columns of neat cattle, sheep, and swine, sliow the number of thousands of those animals. Tlie columns of wheat, rye, Indian corn, oats, and potatoes, give the number of thousand bushels annually produced. The columns of tobacco and cotton, give the number of thousand jioumls produced. The columns of capital in stores, and in manuractures, give the number of thousand dollars thus invested. The column of scholars in schools and academies, as well as those of the slaves and population, are carried out in full. It will be observed there are some blanks. These are left so, either from the fact that there are no statistics of sufficient amount for record, or that the marshals employed to take them, made no returns to the general government. MISCELLANIES. 161 Counliea 1 a. . S 1 S c — « l| ll i & 1 14 PS •5 S. 0.3 0" = m n a. Accomac . . 14 1027 643 453 113 125 73 751 4,630'l7,096| Albemarle . 152135 327 117712 216 29 2409 302 261 786:13,809 22,924 Alleghany . 3i 4! 5 25 9i 71 59 9 42 2 29 88l 547i 2,749 Amelia . 6l 8 13 51 i245 106 58 1871 6 42 21 206j 7,023 10,320 Amherst . . 8 6,17 113 11381 145 2106 2 78 112 674] 5,577 12,576 Autrusta . 21120.34 324 92 384 245 48 117 138 693; 4,145 19,628 Bath . g'lil 8 31 27 118 79 32 32 40 196 347 4,300 Bedford . 16 15:31 206 7537 22 3442 70 11 197 8,864 20,203 Berkley 9 13 25 287 38 391 136 123 356 727 1,919,10,972 Botetourt 9 13 21 197 22 299 185 708 152 23 2,925 11,679 Braxton 31 3 6 9 67 21 4 11 21 O64I 2,575 Brooke 534:11 140 5 135 144 63 83 450 746 091 7,948 Brunswick . 11 6 19 27 329 116 2141 13 56 25 282 •8,805:14,346 Buckingha m 12 15 22 169 1439 227 21 2453 11 191 226 656 10,014[18,786| Cabell . 9 10 20 39 i379 96 171 6 67 32 339 567 1 8,163 Campbell . . 11 14 21 178 |482 228 23 3257 4 1G90 398 585 1,045 21,030 Caroline •. 10 9 19 81 13 576 120 19 774 20 132 5 589 9,314 17,813 Charles Ci ty 2 2 6 36 118 45 4 2 16 11 140 2,433 1 4,774 Charlotte . 10 15 22 65 509 247 15 4181 19 134 44! 585 9,260 14,595 Chesterfiel d . 7 7 17 34 285 156 10 680 6 20 935 420 6,781 17,148 Clarke . 6 8 15 258 17 267 91 20 60 281 3,325 6,353 Culpeper . 11 15 20 122 14390 128 21 29 126 78 769 6.069 11,393 ("umberlan d . 6 10 10 61 247 122 • 2896 23 163 107 263 6,781 110,399 Dinwiddle . 10 820 37 284 137 18 2219 71 1921 781 894 9,947 22,558 Elizabeth ( ::ity 2 1 5 19 80 14 11 h 46 23 274 1,708 3,706 Essex . 7 7 13 74 i4l9 40 15 4 15 140 53 378 6,756 11,309 Fairfax . 13 6 10 27 6 158 67 8 13 265 3,4.53 9,370 Floyd . 6 8 13 24 13 73 77 20 18 11 4 160 321 4,453 Fauquier . 26 35 37 362 35 670 307 57 55 381 126 1521 10,708 21,897 Fluvanna 5 6 9 62 182 71 8 1279 126 97 418 4,146 8,812 Franklin . 12 12 32 97 7 430 184 18 2508 3 119 74 367 15,832 Frederick 7 13 13 173 31 300 135 37 237' 226 274 2,302 14,242 Fayette 4 5 7 11 4 105 64 15 20 30 133 3,924 Giles 7 10 13 45 35 163 69 17 13 34 33 223 574 5,307 Gloncester . 8 5 14 56 307 62 13 8 87 28 314 5,791 10,715 Goochland . 6 511 80 259 170 10 4501 5 80 2 139 5,500j 9,760 Grayson . 14 18 22 28 ]7 219 143 ^34 40 5 252 4921 9,087 Greene 3 3 7 40 1^ 124 33 8 490 1 21 24 372 l,740i 4,232 Greenbrier . 14 19 12 69 43 207 198 32 112 69 231 1,214 8,695 Greensville 5 4 16 9 230 93 11 346 573 39 27 200 4,102 6,366 Halifax . 14 17 31 78 598 281 16 6209 22 171 209 809 14,216 25,936 Hampshire . 15 27 18 179 52 471 174 71 158 63 577i l,403ll2,295| Hanover . 10 9 14 48 18 350 177 26 615 23 20 36 417 8,39414,968 Hardy . . 24 15 13 87 18 411 41 i 32 69 75 218 1,131 1 7,622 Harrison . . 5 3 33 136 7 421 226| 62 23 99 131 436 69347,699 Henrico 5 2 12 39 3 248 138 12 33 1 5340 1384 1862 13,237 33,076 Henry • 6 5 16 40 206 74 12 1623 3 33 14 466 2,852 7,335 Isle of Wij rht 6 i'23 4 291 29 77 31 67 36 397 3,786 9,972 Jackson . . 5 3!ll 28 117 40 5 5 16 2 153 87 4,890 James Cit y . 3 1 5 17 86 35 3 8 6 21 6 129 1,947 3,779 Jefferson . . 12,67 72 517 43 99 72 151 320 344 737 4,157 14,082 Kanawha . . 7 4 8 14 203 23 8 117 50 408 2,560 13,567 King and ( 3ueen 8 3 3 343 36 14 8 42 21 60 ■548 5,937 10,862 King Geor ge . 5 5 7 38 4 254 37 6 23 4 21 189 3,3821 5^927 1 King Will iam 6 5 13 59 6 350 45 17 11 56 54 51 349 5,780 9,258 Lancaster . 3 2 8 26 44 7 10 30 2 140 2,478 4,628 Lee . . . . io:io!34 37 7 446 103 23 23 17 31 138 580 8,441 Lewis . . . 12 15 20 47 5 253 80 24 12 59 31 219 124 8,151 Logan . . . 5l 2I1O 7 871 28 11 9 281 370 150 4,309 21 (14*) 162 MISCELLANIES. Counlies. i c i s f ^ i i || i m 39! i A •5 H 0" 6i m 1 3 i5 Loudon . . Ti 32 573 §2 892 225 53 1 275 196 1274 5.273 20,431 Louisa . . 11 13 20 221 1 158 15 2431 111 70 591 9,010 15,433 Lunenburg . 7 9 16 27 275 138 10 2640 19 111 230 6,707 11,055 Madisoa . . 7 9 13 101 24 272 33 13 149 9 48 133 397 4,308 8,107 Mason . . 8 9 17 70 2 299 20 9 33 , 8 241 808 6,777 Marshall . . 5 7 9 83 2 146 103 30 19 13 70 46 6,937 Matthews 4 2t 9 9 171 54 17 25 34 35 349 3,309 7.442 Mecklenburg 14 14 32 77 472 224 25 4124 19 303 50 520 11,915 20,724 Mercer 3 4 5 13 5 50 28 8 3 4 65 24 98 2,233 Middlesex 4 3! 7 17 1 122 21 8 1 3 26 29 202 2,209 4,392 Monongalia 16 29 20 166 6 381 320 62 15 66 43 653 260 17,368 Monroe . . 12 20 14 68 39: 209 124 23 229 65 179 868 8,422 Montgomery- 10 13 17 106 21 209 114 18 241 126 59 442 1,473 7,405 Morgan . . 3 4 38 14 63 42 17 1 44 9 347 134 4,253 Nansemond . 7 4 23 5 316 34 80 154 157 70 424 4,530 10,795 New Kent 4 ^i 9 22 140 51 8 4 21 2«7 3,385 6,230 Nicholas . . 4 A 5 4 3 56 38 11 4 40 7 77 72 2,515 Norfolk . 8 3 19 260 35 35 1 1985 250 1085 7,845 21,092 Northampton 4 5' 12 i 297 197 52 6 39 41 186 3,620 7,715 Nortliumberl' ad 6 4! 12 28 179 55 20 12 56 10 180 3,243 7,924 Nottoway 6 7 10 42 249 70 8 2213 21 55 49 195 7,071 9,719 Nelson 8 8, 20 128 36 327 91 19 2229 1 258 50 345 5.967 12,287 Ohio . . 4 27 10 125 2 254 146 43 465 520 1089 212 13.357 Orange . . 7 11 15 98 8 395 92 21 416 2 95 115 348 5,364 9,125 Page . . 5 13 105 30 156 29 15 7 99 87 257 781 6,194 Patrick . 7 6 24 28 3 223 69 13 618 21 14 120 1,842 8,032 Pendleton 14 21 13 66 36 130 51 36 63 51 235 462 6,940 Pittsylvania 19 19 42 142 6 679 334 24 6439 18 200 222 1012 11,588 26,398 Pocahontas 7 10 5 18 21 41 50 21 12 28 133 219 2,922 Powhatan 5 7 9 54 189 138 7 1850 28 43 219 5,129 7,924 Preston 7 12 9 3 18 43 130 35 4 109 45 91 6,866 Prince Edwai d 8 12 15 57 304 129 13 3107 11 124 204 517 8,576 14,069 Princess Ann e 11 7 21 7 299 85 37 1 2 10 238 3,087 7,285 Prince Willia m 7 8 9 47 4 180 105 6 5 66 22 118 2,767 8,144 Prince Georg 3 3 3 6 31 177 35 6 115 23 5 12 117 4,004 7,175 Pulaski 7 10 12 46 17 144 80 15 54 32 136 954 3,739 Randolph . . 10 14 9 27 7 151 87 30 7 65 27 108 216 6,208 Rappahannoc k 9 13 18 180 310 94 24 5 93 35 502 3,663 9,257 Roanoke . 5 6 11 141 14 182 98 6 599 47 40 196 1,553 5,449 Rockbridge 13 20 26 264 70 505 249 36 294 169 131 883 3,510 14,284 Rockingham 20 24 39 375 91 470 248 41 37 304 174 844 1,899 17,344 Russell . . . 14 15 27 59 8 294 142 21 29 29 41 700 7,878 Scott . . . 10 14 24 40 2 294 112 17 7 31 22 206 344 7,303 Shenandoah . 11 12 16 164 32 298 105 35 186 178 355 1,033 11,618 Smythe 9 11 16 52 7 221 178 34 29 8 298 838 6,522 Southampton 10 8 44 10 3 554 71 88 25 851 56 6 449 6,555 14,525 Spottsylvania 8 8 12 58 303 102 10 353 4 395 153 649 7,590 15,161 Stafford . 5 5 9 31 4 212 68 12 34 760 18 2 195 3,596 8,454 Surrey 4 i 4 ^\ 9 185 36 34 5 64 47 7 186 2,853 6,480 Sussex 9 \ 8 24 19 405 104 176 477 36 6 363 6,384 11,229 Tazewell . . 10 11 15 34 13 150 126 16 45 41 11 786 6,290 Tyler . . 6 12 13 53 223 58 35 1 29 42 416 85 6,954 Warwick . • 2 1 4 11 46 9 2 1 63 218 52 831 1,456 WaiTen 5 7 13 148 17 219 58 16 83 115 234 1,434 5,627 Washington '. l' 19 32 107 8 397 296 60 304 43 551 2,058 13,001 Westmorelan d I i 4 6 1 60 1 244 28 7 1 5 67 10 163 3,590 8,019 Wood . . E 14 12 ! 71 204 85 22 87 99 17 626 624 7,923 Wythe . . U H8 23 86 47 234 152 38 173 72 309 1,618 9,375 York . . 1 170 4,720 ACCOMAC COUNTY. 163 ACCOMAC COUNTY. This is the northernmost of (he two counties forming the " east- ern shore of Virginia," which is cut off from the rest of the state by Chesapeake Bay. Accomac was formed from Northampton CO., in 1672. The term Accaicmacke — as it was anciently spelt — is derived from a tribe of Indians who once inhabited this region. It is about 48 miles long, and 10 wide ; its surface is level, and the soil, though generally light, is in many parts fertile. It produces well, wheat, corn, cotton, oats, &c., and an abundance of table vegetables. Pop. 1830, 19,650; 18i0, whites 9,518, slaves 4,630, free colored 2,848 ; total 17,096. Accomac C. H., or Drummondstown, in the heart of the county, 212 miles e. of Richmond, contains about 40 dwellings. Horn- town, Modest-town, and Pungoteague, are small villages. Upon the Atlantic coast are numerous islands, stretching along the whole length of the " eastern shore." The two northernmost are Chincoteague and Assateague. The first is about 8 miles long, and contains nearly a hundred families. About one-third of their bread-corn is raised upon the island ; the sea and wrecks furnish the remainder of their subsistence. Assateague, though many times larger, has but few inhabitants, and is unfit for the cultiva- tion of corn. Its rich bent-growing lands are subject to inunda- tion from the spring tides. The scenery around Chincoteague is in many places inexpressibly sublime, and the view of the ocean and the surrounding cluster of islands, from the elevated sand-hills of Assateague, is enchanting. The Farmer's Register, from which this article is abridged, says that the Hebrides of Scotland, so pro- fitable to their proprietors, do not possess a hundredth part of the advantages of these Atlantic islands for all the purposes of com- fortable living and extensive stock-raising ; yet, for want of enter- prise, they are neglected. These islands are flat, sandy, and soft, producing abundance of excellent grass. Some thirty years since, an immense number of wild horses were raised upon these islands, with no other care than to brand and castrate the colts. Their winter subsist- ence was supplied abundantly by nature. The tall, heavy rich grass of the flatlands affording them green food nearly the whole of the winter, the tops of which alone were killed by the frosts, mild as usual so near the ocean. It was customary to have annual gatherings in June, to drive these wild horses into pens, where they were seized by islanders accustomed to such adventures, who pushed fearlessly in among them. On being broken, more docile and tractable animals could not be found. The horses have been gradually diminishing, until on one island they are nearly extinct, and the rustic splendor, the crowds, and the wild festivity of the Assateague horse-pennings, are among the things that were. The multitudes of both sexes that formerly attended these occasions of festal mirth were astonishing. The adjoining islands were literally emptied of their simple and frolic-loving inhabitants, and the peninsula itself jcontributed to swell the crowd. For fifty miles above and below the point of meeting, all the beauty and fashion of a certain order of the female population, who had funds or favorites to command a passage, were sure to be there. All who loved wild adventure, whose hearts danced at the prospect of a distant water excursion, and a scene of no ordinary revel, where the ocean rolled his billows almost to their feet ; all who had a new gown to show, or a pretty face to exhibit, who could dance well or sing ; belles that sighed fof beaux, or beaux that wanted 164 ALBEMARLE COUNTY. sweethearte ; all who loved to kiss or be kissed, to caress or be caressed ; all, in shor* whose hearts delighted in romance without knowing its name, hurried away to this anxiously-expected scene of extravagant jollity, on the narrow thread of beach that the ocean seemed every moment to usurp. 'J'iie imagination can scarcely conceive the ex- travagant cntliusiasui with which this exciting sport was anticipated and enjoyed. It was a frantic carnival, without its debauchery. The young of both sexes had their imaginations inflamed by the poetical narratives of their mothers and maiden aunts, who in their more juvenile days were wont to grace those sylvan fetes of the mad flight of wild horses careering away along a narrow, naked, level sand-beach, at the top of their speed, with manes and tails waving in tlie wind, before a company of mounted men upon the fleetest steeds, shouting and hallooing in the wildest notes of triumph, and forcing the animals into the angular pen of pine logs prepared to enclose them. And then the deafening peals of loud huzzas from the thousand hall'-lrenzicd spectators, crowding into a solid mass around the enclosure, to behold the beautiful wild horse in all his native vigor, subdued by man, panting in the toils, and furious with heat, rage, and fright ; or hear the clamorous triumpiis of the adventurous riders, each of whom had performed more than one miracle of equestrian skill on that day of glorious daring ; and the less discordant neighing of colts that had lost their mothers, and mothers that had lost their colts, in the melee of the sweeping drive, with the maddened snorts and whinnying of the whole gang — all, all together formed a scene of unrivalled noise, up- roar, and excitement, which few can imagine who liad not witnessed it, and none can adequately describe. But the play of spirits ended not here. The booths were soon filled, and loads of sub- stantial provision were opened, and fish and water-fowl, secured for the occasion, were fried and barbecued by hundreds, for appetites whetted to marvellous keenness by early rising, a scanty breakfast, exercise, and sea air. The runlets of water, and tJie jugs of more exhilarating liquor, were lightened of their burdens. Tlien softer joys succeeded ; and music and dance, and love and courtship, held their undisputed empire until deep in the night, when all sought shelter and rejtose on board of their boats, moored by the shore, or among their island friends, who gladly entertained them with cliaracteristic hospitality. Many a winter's evening tale did the incidents of those merry-making oc- casions supply, and many a peaceful young bosom, of retired rural beauty, was assailed with other emotions than the rough sports of an Assateague horse-pemiing inspired ; and from one anniversary of this half-savage festivity to another, all was talk of the joy and transports of the past, and anti,cipations of tlic future. ALBEMARLE. Albemarle was formed, in 1744, from Goochland. Its length, from sw. to ne., is 35 miles, and its mean width 20 miles. The northern part is drained by the Rivanna and its branches ; the southern by the Hardware and its branches. The surface is gener- ally hilly or mountainous, the scenery picturesque, and much of the soil highly productive in corn and tobacco. Pop. 1830, 22,618 ; 1840, whites 10,512, slaves 13,809; total 22,924. Scottsville is on the n. bank of the James River canal, 20 miles from Charlottesville, and 79 from Richmond. It is the largest and most flourishing village on the canal, between Richmond and Lynchburg, and does a heavy business ; it contains 1 Presbyte- rian, 1 Methodist, and 1 Reformed Baptist qhurch, and about 160 houses. Charlottesville, the county seat, is 121 miles from Washington City, and 85 northwesterly from Richmond. It is beautifully situated in a fertile and well-watered valley, on the right bank of the Ri- vanna River. It contains many mercantile and mechanical estab ALBEMARLE COUNTY. 165 lisliiiients, and has greatly improved within the last few years. The religious societies are Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist. The population is not far from 2U00 : much of the society of the town and county is highly refined. Albemarle has given birth to several eminent men : amon^ whom may be men- tioned Jefferson, the late Gov. Gilmer, Dr. Gilmer, author of " Sketches and Essays of Public Characters," Meriwether Lewis, and others. The University of Virginia is one mile west of Charlottesville, and although of a deservedly high reputation, it is an institution of recent origin. The legislature of the state, at the session of 1817-18, adopted mea-sures for establishing the university, which, however, did not go into operation until 1825. The institution was erected and endowed by the state ; and it owes its origin and peculiar organization to Mr. Jefferson. It has a ffne collection of buildings, consisting of four parallel ranges about 600 feet in length, and 200 feet apart, suited to the accommodation of 9 pro- fessorships, and upwards of 200 students ; which, together with the real estate, cost over -^300,000. It possesses valuable libraries, amounting to 16,000 vols., and is amply provided with philosophi- cal and chemical apparatus, together with a fine cabinet of min- erals and fossils, and an anatomical and miscellaneous museum. The observatory, a short distance from the university, is furnished with the requisite astronomical instruments. "The plan of the uni- versity differs materially from that of other institutions in the Union. The students are not divided into four classes, with a course of studies embracing four years; but the different branches are styled schools, and the student is at liberty to attend which he pleases, and graduate in each when prepared. In order to attain the title of " Master of Arts of the University of Virginia," the student must graduate in the several schools of mathematics, ancient languages, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, chemistry, and in some two of the modern languages. The chairman of the faculty is annually chosen from the faculty, by the board of visit- ors. This board is appointed by the governor and council every four years, and chooses its own rector. This institution is, in every respect, organized and justly regarded as an university of the first class. The number of students, including the law and medical departments, is not far from 200." The British and German prisoners taken at Saratoga, in the revolution, and known as the '• Convention troops,'^ were sent to Charlottesville in the beginning of the year 1779. On their first arrival a momentary embarrassment was felt for the want of ne- cessary accommodations. A British officer by the name of Anbu- ry, whose travels have been published, was among the prisoners. On this point he says : But on our arrival at Charlottesville, no pen can describe the scene of misery and confusion that en- Kued ; the officers of the first and second brigades were in the town, and our arrival added to their dis- tress ; this famous place we had heard so much of, consisted only of a court-house, one tavern, and 166 ALBEMARLE COUNTY. * about a dozen houses; all of which were crowdftl with officers, — those of our brigade, therefore, were obliged to ride about the country, and entreat the inhabitants to take us in. As to the men, the situation was truly horrible, after the hard shifts they had experienced in their march from the Potomaik ; they were, instead of conifnrtable barracks, conductel into a wood, where a few log huts were just be;;un to be built, the most part not covered over, and all of them full of snow; these the men were obliged to clear out, and cover over to secure themselves from the inclemency of the weather, as quick as they could, and in the course of two or three days, rendered them a habitable, but by no means a comfortable retirement. What added greatly to the distresses of the men, was the want of provisions, as none had as yet arrived for the troops, and for six days they subsisted on the meal of Indian corn made into cakes. The person who had the management of every thing, informed us that we were not expected till spring. Never was a country so destitute of every comfort; provisions were not to be purcjfased for ten days: the officers subsisted upon salt pork and Indian corn made into cakes ; not a drop of any kind of spirit, what little there had been, was already consumeil by the first and second brigades ; many officers, to comfort themselves, put red pepper into water, to drink by way of cordial. Upon a representation of our situation, by Brig.idier-fJeneral Hamilton, to Colonel Bland, who com- manded the American troops, he promised to render the sitaiition of the men as comfortable as possilile, and with all expedition. As to the officers, upon signing a p:irole, they might go to Richmond, and other adjacent towns, to procure themselves quarters; accordingly, a parole was signed, wljich allowed a cir- cuit of near one hundred miles. And .after the ollicers had drawn lots, as three were to remain in the barracks with the men, or at Charlottesville, the principal part of them set oil" for Richmond, many of them are at plantations, twenty or thirty miles from the barracks. I am quartered with Major Master and four other officers of our regiment, at this plantation, about twenty miles from the barracks; the owner has given up his hou^e, and gone to reside at his overseer's, and for the use of his house, we pay him two guineas a week. On the arrival of the troops at Charlottesville, the officers, what with vexa- tion, and to keep out the cold, drank rather freely of an abominable liquor, called peach brandy, which, if drunk to excess, the fumes raise an absolute delirium, and in their cups, several were guilty of deeds that would admit of no apology ; the inhabitants must have actually thought us mad, for in the course of three or four days, there were no less than six or seven duels fought. The Baroness de Riedesel was also with the convention troops. This gifted and heroic lady, also says, in her memoirs : At first they suflered many privations; they were billeted in block-houses without windows or doors, and but poorly defended from the cold. But they went diligently to work to construct better dwellings, and in a short time the place assumed the appearance of a neat little town. In the rear of each house they had trim gardens, and enclosed places for poultry. Afterwards, when the old provisions were con- sumed, they received fresh meat, and flour to make bread ; and as this latter was of wheat, they could even make cakes and pies. They wanted nothing but money, of which the English sent but little ; and as it was difficult to purchase any thing on credit, the soldiers were in many perplcvities on that ac- count. Mr. Jefferson, who then resided in the vicinity, did his utmost to render the situation of the troops and officers as pleasant as possi- ble. To the latter, he ofiered the hospitalities of his mansion, threw open his library for their inspection, and contributed, by neighborly intercourse and attention, to render them happy. His efforts in their behalf called forth the strongest expressions of gratitude and esteem. These troops remained here until October, 1780, when the state being invaded by Leslie, the public safety de- manded the removal of the British portion of them to Fort P'red- erick, in Maryland. The Germans, however, continued longer. In May, 1781, when Cornwallis invaded Virginia, the legisla- ture adjourned from Richmond to Charlottesville, as a place of greater safety. In June, the celebrated partisan officer, Tarleton, was detached to Charlottesville, with 180 cavalry of his legion, and 70 mounted infantry, with directions to surprise the General Assembly, seize the per.-^on of Jefferson, then the governor, and to do other mischief. He was then to join Simcoe, who had been detached to the Point of Fork, in Fluvanna county. The subjoin- ed details of this event, are from Tucker's Life of Jefferson : "' A gentleman who was in the neig^hborhood of the British army, and who suspected Tarleton's object, was able, by means of a fleet horse, and a nearer road, to give two hours notice of his approach.* As it was, all the members of the Assembly, except * Anotlier incident contributed to defeat Colonel Tarleton's purpose. The following ALBEMAELE COUNTr. 1G7 eeven, effected their escape, and reassembled on the 7th of June, at Staunton, about forty miles west of Charlottesville. Turleton, hearing that there were many gentlemen of the lower country then at the houses of Dr. Walker, and Mr. John Walker, which lay near his route, for a moment lost sight of his principal object, and resolved to make them prisoners. He accordingly divided his force, and sent a part to Mr. John Walk- er's, while he himself stopped at the house of Dr. Walker. Several gentlemen were here made captives. When Tarleton approached within ten miles of Charlottesville, he detached a party of horse, under captain M'Leod. to Monticello, to seize Mr. Jefferson. But he had, about sunrise, received the intelligence of Tarleton's approach. Several members of the legis- lature, including the speakers of both houses, were then his guests, and they hastened to Charlottesville, to adjourn the legislature. Mrs. Jefferson and her three children hurried off in a carriage to Colonel Edward Carter's, about six miles to the south. Mr. Jefferson followed afterwards on horseback, and had not left his house ten minutes be- fore the British entered it. His property, books, and papers, were all respected, with the exception of the waste which was committed in his cellars, by a few of the men, with- out the knowledge of the commanding officer. Tarleton entered Charlottesville on the 4th of June, four days after Mr. Jefferson's term of otfice expired. He, on the next day, rejoined Lord Cornwallis, who had established his head-quarters at Elk Hill, a planta- tion near the Point of Fork, belonging to Mr. Jefferson. Here every sort of wanton mischief was perpetrated. Besides making a free use of the cattle, and carrying off all the horses fit for service, as was to be expected, the throats of the young horses were cut, the growing crops of corn and tobacco were destroyed ; those of the preceding year, together with the barns which contained them, and all the fences on the plantation were burnt. Other plantations shared a similar fate, though not to the same extent. Thirty thousand slaves were taken from Virginia by the British in these invasions, of whom twenty-seven tho'usand were computed to have died of the small-pox, or camp lever. The whole amount of property carried off, and destroyed, during the six mouths prece- ding Cornwallis's surrender, has been estimated at i^S, 000,000 sterling. Monticello,* the seat of Thomas Jefferson, is three miles south- east of Charlottesville. The annexed glowing description, is from Wirt's Eulogy upon Adams and Jefferson : The Mansion House, at Monticello, was built and furnished in the days of his prosperity. In its di- mensions, its architecture, its arrangements and ornaments, it is such a one as became the character and fortune of the man. It stands upon an elliptic plain, formed by cutting down the apex of a mountain , and, to the west, stretching away to tlie north and the south, it commands a view of tlie Blue Ridge for a hundred and fifty miles, and brings under the eye one of the boldest and most beautiful horizons in the world ; while on the east, it presents an extent of prospect bounded only hy the spherical form of the earth, in which nature seems to sleep in eternal repose, as if to form one of her finest contrasts with tlie rude and rolling grandeur of the west. In the wide prospect, and scattered to the north and south, are several detiiclied mountains, which contribute to animate and diversify this enchanting landscape ; and among them, to the south Willis's mountain, which is so interestingly depicted in his Notes. From this summit, the philosopher was wont to enjoy thiU spectacle, among the sublimest of Nature's operations, the looming of the distant mountains ; and to watch the motions of the planets, and the greater revolu- tion of the celestial sphere. From this summit, too, the patriot could look down with uninterrupted vis- ion, upon the wide expanse of the world around, for which he considered himself born ; and upward to the open and vaulted heavens, which he seemed to approach, as if to keep him continually in mind of his high responsibility. It is indeed a prospect in which you see and feel, at once, that nothing mean oi little could live. It is a scene fit to nourish those great and high-souled principles whicli formed the ele- ments of his character, and was a most noble and appropriate post for such a sentinel, over the rights and liberties of men. Approaching the house on the east, the visiter instinctively paused to cast around one thrilling glance at this magnificent panorama : and then passed to the vestibule, where, if he had not been previously facts are stated on the authority of a gentleman who received them from Qr. W^alker himself: On Tarleton's arrival at his house, he had ordered breakfast to be pre'pared" for the colonel and the officers ; but the operations of the cook appearing to be unusu- ally tardy, and his guest manifesting great impatience, he went to the kitchen himself to inquire the cause of the delay ; and was there told by the cook that he was then engaged in preparing the third breakfast, the two first having been taken from him by some of Colonel Tarleton's men ; on which the doctor told his guest, that if he wished for break- fast, he must place a guard of soldiers to protect the cook, which was accordingly done. The time that was thus lost, it appeared, on comparing notes afterwards, saved the del- egates from capture. * Monticello, in Italian, signifies " Little Mountain.^' 168 ALBEMARLE COUNTY- informcd, he would immediately perceive that he was entering the house of no common man. In the sp.tcious and lofty hall which opons Ijefore him, he ni:uks no tawdry and uniiipaninf; ornaments : but be- fore, on the rijfht, on the left, all around, the eye is struck and gratified by objects of science and taste, so classed and arranged, as to produce their finest elTect. On one side, specimens of sculpture set out in such order as to exhibit, at a coup d'ceil, the liistorical progress of that art, from the first rude attempts of the aborigines of our country, up to that exquisite and finished bust of the great |)atriot himself, from the master hand of Carracci. On the other side the visiter sees displayed a vast collection of specimens of the Indian art, their paintings, weapons, ornaments, and manufactures; on another an array of the fossil productions of our country, mineral and animal ; the polished remains of those colossal monsters that once trod our forests, and are no more ; and a variegated display of the branching honors of those "monarchs of the waste," that still people the wilds of the American continent. Monticello, the seat of Thomas Jefferson. From this hall he was ushered into a noble saloon, from which the glorious landscape of the west again bursts upon his view ; and which, within, is hung thick around with the finest productions of the pencil — historical paintings of the most striking subjects, froxn all countries, and all ages ; the portraits of distinguished men and patriots, both of Europe and America, and medallions, and engravings in end- less profusion. While the visiter was yet lost in the contemplation of these treasures of the arts and sciences, he was startled by the approach of a strong and sprightly stej), and turning with instinctive reverence to the dooj of entrance, he was met by the tall, and animated, and stately figure of the patriot himself— his counte nance beaming with intelligence and benignity, and his outstretched hand, with its strong and cordial pressure, confirming the courteous welcome of his lips. And then came the charm of manner and con- versation that passes all description — so cheerful — so unassuming — so free, and easy, and frank, and kind, and gay, — that even the young and overawed, and enibarraesed visiter forgets his fears, and felt himself by the side of an old and familiar friend. '^^. The subjoined memoir of the autiior of the Declaration of American Independence is abridged principally from the American Portrait-Gallery. Thomas Jefferson was born at Shatlvvell, in this county, April 2d. 1 74.S. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Virginia, and his father, Peter Jefferson, was an in- 'fliiential public man, who, at his death, left his son an am- FdC-similcof Titomas Jeffer sorts Signature. pie fortune. Jefferson passed through his collegiate course at William and Mary, with distinction, and became a student of law under the celebrated George Wythe. When of age, he was admitted to the bar, and was soon elected a representive from Albemarle to the legislature. From youth his mind was imbued with the most liberal political sentiments. On one of his seals, about this time, was engraved the motto, " Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." These feelings strengthened with the position of public afFairs. In 1772 he married Miss Wayles, an amiable and accomplished lady. She died in about ten years, leaving two infant daughters. In 1773, Jefferson devised and arranged ALBEMARLE COUNTY. 169 Uie first organized system of colonial resistance, which was the formation of committees of correspondence in the different j)rovinces. Its adoption was strikingly beneficial. As the crisis of public affairs approached, not content with his constant labors as a member of the legislature, he wrole and published " A Summary View of the Rights of British America." For this publication Lord Dunmore threatened to prosecute him on a charge of high treason, and dissolved the legislature who had sustained the same doctrines. When the conciliatory propositions of the British ministry were sent out in the following year, the committee of the legislature presented a reply from the pen of Jefferson, which has ever been considered a state paper of the highest order. In June, 1775, he took his seat as a delegate to the General Congress. In the succeeding sum- mer, Jefferson was chairman of the committee, and drew up the Declaration of Inde- pendence, which, after a few alterations, was adopted by Congress, July 4th, 1776. In the autumn of this year, he was appointed one of the commissioners to the court of France ; but ill-health, and considerations of a public nature, prevented iiis acceptance. He shortly after resigned his seat in Congress, and being elected to the first legislature under the new constitution of Virginia, he introduced, and, with the aid of able coadju- tors, carried through important laws, I'oundcd on just and great principles of the social compact. The first of these was a bill preventing the inij)orfation of slaves ; this he followed up by destroying entails and abolishing the rights of primogeniture, the over- throw of the church establishment, which had been introduced in imitation of that of England. Besides these, he reduced to a system the various irregular enactments of the colonial government and mother country. It was a most severe labor. It consisted of 126 bills, comprising and remodelling the whole statutory law ; and though not all enacted as he contemplated, they have formed the admirable basis of the jurisprudence of Virginia. In June, 1779, he was elected governor of Virginia, and re-elected the next year. It was a season of imminent peril ; the state was invaded by Tarleton and Arnold, and lie himself made the object of particular pursuit. At the expiration of his term, the legislature passed a unanimous resolution expressive of their high opinion of his ability and integrity. In June, 1783, he wis again elected to Congress, and there prepared the beautiful address, made by Congress to VVashington, on taking leave of public life. He was, also, the chairman of a connnittee appointed to form a plan for temporary govern- ment in the vast and then unsettled' western territory. He introduced a clause for- bidding the existence of slavery in it after the year 1800. In the summer of 1784, he was sent as a minister plenipotentiary to France. He remained in Europe until Nov., 1789, during which time he visited England, and, in concert with Mr. Adams, ineffec- tually endeavored to effect a commercial treaty with Britain. While in France, he was engaged in many diploniatic negotiations of considerable importance to his country. Among men of letters, and high political distinction, he was received with marked kind- ness, and he graced the nicest brilliant social circles of Paris. When he returned to the United States, he occupied the office of seci'etary of state under Washington, instead of resuming, as he had intended, the post of minister to France. Of the great mass of the constitution, which had been formed during his absence, he approved, though there were points in it, in which lie thouglit there was no adequate security for political rights. In its practical interpretations, he adopted tjie more popular view ; and he became the head of the party which sustained it. While in the department 'of state, he laid down the great, and ever since approved, maxims relative to our foreign int(ucourse. Among other negotiations, he became especially engaged in one with the iniiiistens from the French republic, which seriously involved the political rights of the United States as a neutral nation, and led to the adoption of that policy of preserving peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, but entering into entangling alliances with none. His report on an uniform system of currency, weights, and measures, was one of those measures of domestic policy appropriate to his office, and is said to have abounded with the most enlightened views. He also presented to Congress a valuable memoir on the subject of the cod and whale fisheries. His last act as secretary of state, was a report on the nature and extent orl the privileges and restrictions of the commercial intercourse of the United States with other countries, and on the best means of counteracting them. It attracted much attention, and was a document of great ability. It was the founda- tion of a series of resolutions proposed by Mr. Madison, sanctioning the views it em- braced, and it became, in fact, the ostensible subject on which the federal and repubhcan parties distinctly arrayed themselves against each other. In Dec, 1793, Jefferson resigned his office and retired to Monticello. The Duke de Liancourt, a French traveller, has given in his work a pleasing narrative of the manner in which the life of the retired statesman was passed. " His conversation," he says, (15) ^^ 170 ALBEMARLE COUNTY. " is of the most aereeable kind, and be possessrs a stock ofinformation not inferior to any other man. In Europe he would hold a distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has already appeared there. At present, he is employed with activity and perseverance in the management of his farms and buildings ; and he orders, directs, and pursues, in the minutest detail, every branch of business relating to them. I found him in the midst of iiarvest, from which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance. His negroes are nourished, clothed, and treated as well as white servants could be. Every article is made on his farm ; his negroes being cabinet-makers, car- penters, and masons. The children he employs in a nail factory ; and the young and old negrcsses spin for the clothing of the rest. He animates them all by rewards and distinctions. In fine, his superior mind directs the management of his domestic con- cerns with the same abilities, activity, and regularity, which he evinced in the conduc* of public affairs, and which he is calculated to display in every situation of life." I was at this period of retirement that he was unanimously elected president of tho American Philosophical Society. Jefferson was not, however, long permitted to enjoy the tranquillity of private life. On the retirement of Washington from the presidency, Mr. Jefferson was selected by the democratic party as their candidate for that office, and Mr. Adams by the federal party. The highest number of votes appearing for the latter, lie was declared president and Jefferson vice-president. For the succeeding four years most of his time was passed tranquilly at Monticello. When the period for another election arrived he was again a candidate for the presidential chair. On canvassing the votes of the electors, it was found that Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr had each seventy-three votes, Mr. Adams sixty- five, and C. C. Pinckney sixty-four. As the constitution provided that the person having the greatest number of votes should be president, and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr, having an equal number, it became the duty of the House of Representatives, voting by states, to decide between these two gentlemen. The ballot was taken several days in succession. The federal party, generally, supported Mr. Burr ; the democratic party Mr. Jefferson. On the thirty-sixth ballot Mr. Jefferson was elected president, and Mr. Burr vice-president. On the 4th of March, 1801, Mr. Jefferson entered on his first presidential term. In his inaugural address, he stated, with great eloquence of language and admirable clearness and precision, the political principles by which he intended to be governed in the administration of public affairs. His administration embraces a long and interesting period in the history of our coun- try, and measures of lasting importance were Carried through. The aggressions of the Tripolitans were promptly chastised ; the encroachments of the agents. of the Spanish government to deprive us of the right of navigating the Mississippi, were repelled ; Louisiana was purchased ; the internal policy of the Union underwent important changes ; measures were adopted for the speedy discharge of the public debt ; the judi- ciary was restored to the original plan ; strict economy was ob.served in carrying on the government, and useless offices suppressed. So much was his administration approved, that when his term of service expired, he was again elected by a very large majority. He had scarcely entered on his office when the conspiracy of Burr was discovered. The foreign relations of the Union, however, assumed an importance exceeding all domestic affairs. The aggressions of Great Britain and France upon our commerce left no honorable course but that of retaliation. On the 22d o? December, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed, on the recommendation of Mr. Jefferson. In January, 1809, overtures were rftade by the British government in- dicative of a disposition to recede from the ground they had assumed ; and these were preceded by a repeal of their most objectionable measures. In this situation were the foreign relations of the United States when Mr. Jefferson's second term of office expired, on the 3d of March, 1809, and his political career closed. He had been engaged, almost without interruption, for forty years, in the most ardu- ous public duties. From this time, until his death, he resided at Monticello. His home was the abode of hospitality, and the seat of" dignified retirement; he forgot the busy times of his political existence, in the calm and congenial pleasures of science, and his mind, clear and penetrating, wandered with fresh activity and delight through all the regions of thought. Among the plans for the public welfare in which he was engaged, the establishment of the University of Virginia was with him a favorite scheme. The legislature approved of his plan, and appointed him rector. Until the time of his death, his most cherished hopes and endeavors were for its success. Mr. Jefferson died July 4th, 1826, at the age of 8.3 years. His family and servanta were called around liis dying bed. After declaring himself gratified by their affectionate ALBEMARLE COUNTY. . 171 solicitude, and having distinctly articulated these words, " I resign myself to my God, and my child to my country," he expired without a groan. The neighborhood of Monticello affords innumerable monuments of the benevolence and hberality of Mr. .lefFersou ; and on his own estate, such was the condition of his slaves, that in tiieir comfort, his own interest was too often entirely forgotten. His at- tachment to his friends was unvarying, and few public men have had warmer. His do- mestic liabits were simple, his api)licatlon was excessive, and he conducted all liis bu- siness with great exactness and method. His correspondence was wonderfully exten. sive. In person, Mr. Jefferson was six feet two inches in height, erect and well formed, though thill ; his eyes were light, and full of intelligence ; his hair, originally of a yel- lowish red, was in his latter years silvered with age ; his complexion was fair, his fore- head broad, and the whole face square and expressive of deep thinking ; his countenance was remarkably intelligent, and open as day, its general expression full of good will and kindness, and when the occasion excited it, beaming with enthusiasm ; his address was cordial, confirming the good will of his lips ; his motions were flexible and easy, his step firm and sprightly ; and such were his strength and agility, that he was accustomed in the society of children, of which he was fond, to practise feats that few could imitate. His manner was simple, mingled with native dignity, but cheerful, unassuming, frank, and kind; his language was remarkable for vivacity and correctness ; and in his con- versation, which was without apparent effort, he poured forth knowledge, the most va- rious, from an exhaustless fountain, yet so modestly and engagingly that he seemed rather to -seek than to impart information. He lies buried in a small burying, near the road, which winds around it to Monti- cello. It has a slight enclo.sure, and is surrounded by the native wood. In it lie the remains of members of the family, some two or three of whom have tablets of marble. ■On his own grave, his executor has erected a granite obelisk, eight feet high, and on a piece of marble, inserted on its southern face, are inscribed the three acts for which he thought he best deserved to be remembered by posterity. This inscription was found among his papers after his death, in his own handwriting, and it is in these words : HERE LIES BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, And Father of the University of Virginia. " Mr. Jefferson's religious creed," says Tucker, " as described in his correspondence, cannot perhaps be classed with that of any particular sect, but was nearer the .Socinian than any other. In the last years of his life, when questioned by any friends on this subject, he used to say he was a Unitarian." Meriwether Lewis, the son of a wealthy farmer, was born near Charlottesville, in 1774. At 18 years of age, he relinquished his academic studies and engaged in agricul- ture. Two years after, he acted as a volunteer, to suppress the whiskey insurrection, from which situation he was removed to the regular sewice. From about 1801 to 180.3, he was the private seo-retary of Mr. Jefferson, when he, with Wm. Clarke, went in their celebrated exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Jefferson, in recommend- ing him to this duty, gave him a high character, as possessing courage, inflexible perse- verance, intimate knowledge of the Indian character, fidelity, intelligence, and all those peculiar combinations of qualities that eminently fitted him for so arduous an underta- king. They were absent three years, and were highly successful in the accomplishment of their duties. When, shortly after his return, in 1806, he was appointed governor of the territory of Louisiana, and finding it the seat of internal dissensions, he by his moder- ation, firmness, and impartiality, brought matters into ^ systematic train. He was sub- ject to constitutional hypochondria, and while under the influence of a severe attack shot himself on the borders of Tennessee, in 1809, at the age of .35. This event was ascribed to the protest of some bills, which he drew on the public account. The account of his expedition, which he wrote, was published in 1814. The mother of Mr. Lewis died in this county, only a few years since. She possessed very strong powers of mind. William Wirt, the distinguished author of the British Spy, who was born at Bladens, burg, for a time resided in this county. In 179:2, when 20 years of age, he commenced the practice of law at Fairfax, in the neighboring county of Culpeper. 172 ALLEGHANY COUNTY. " In 1795, he married tlie eldest daughter of Dr. George Gilmer, a distinguished phjsi- cian, and took up his residence at Pen Park, the seat of lus father-in-law, near Char- lottesville ; and here he was introduced to the acquaintance of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and other persons of celebrity. " In 1799 his wife died, and he was soon after elected clerk of the House of Delegates. Having performed the duties of hisothce two years, he was in 1802 appointed chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia, and then took up his residence at Williamsburg ; and the same year he married the daughter of Col. Gamble, of Richmond. He soon after resigned his chancellorship, and at the close of the year 18U3 removed to Norfolk, and entered upon the assiduous ])ractice of jiis profession. Just before he removed to Norfolk, he wrote the letters published in the Richmond Argus, under the title of ' the British Spy,' which were afterwards collected in a small volume, and have passed through many editions. In 1806 he took up his residence in Richmond, and in the following year he greatly distinguished himself in the trial of Col. Burr. In 1813 he wrote the greater part of a series of essays, which were originally published in the Richmond Enquirer, under the title of ' The Old Bachelor,' and have since, in a collected form, passed throuo^li several editions. The ' Life of Patrick Henry,' his largest literary production, was first published in 1817. In 181() he was appointed, by Mr. Madison, the U. S. Attorney for Virginia; and in 1817, by Mr. Monroe, attorney-general of the United States, a post which he occupied with distinguished reputation until 1829, througli the entire adminis- trations of Monroe and Adams. In 1830, he took up his residence in Baltimore for the remainder of his life. He died Feb. 18th, 18.34, at Washington City, in his 62d year. As a public and professional man, Mr. Wirt ranked among the first of his time ; and in all the relations of private life, as a man and a Christian, he was most exemplary, and was regarded with singular affection and veneration." ALLEGHANY. Alleghany was formed in 1822, from Bath, Bottetomt, and Monroe. Its mean length is twenty-six, mean breadth twenty miles. Most of this county is a high mountain valley, drained by the head waters of the James. The main Alleghany chain forms its boundary on the west ; Peter's mountain and Warm Spring mountain divide the county into two nearly equal parts, having only a narrow gap at Covington, and Middle Mountain and Rich Patch form its southeastern boundary. The passage of Jackson's River through Waite's mountain, is a sublime feature of the natural scenery of the county. Population in 1830,2,810; 1840, whites 2,142, slaves 517, free colored 60 ; total, 2,740. Covington, the county-seat, lies one hundred and ninety-six miles west of Richmond, at the head of the James River navigation, on Jackson's River, fifteen above its confluence with the CoAv-Pasture, both of which by their union constitute the James. It contains, at present, about fifty dwellings. At some future period, it is con- templated that the James River Canal will be continued to here ; in which case, it will be the depot between the land and water communication in the chain of the James River and Kanawha improvements, and will then command the trade of a large and fertile region of country. Near Covington, a fort, called Fort Young, was built in the early settlement of the country, as a pro- tection against the Indians. Peter^s Mountain derived its name from Peter Wright, a famous hunter at the time of the first settlement, who was aocustomed to hunt upon it. He resided near the AMELIA COUNTY. 173 present site of Covington. Near the house of Mr. John Lewi's, there is, on the roadside, a. large shelving rock, called Peter's Rock, where, says tradition, he sought shelter in a snow storm. There he lay for several days, until the snow was four feet deep, when he was obliged to eat his moccasins to prevent starving. He at length discovered and shot a deer, which furnished him with food. He left, at his death, two sons, both of whom emigrated to the west many years since. There was an eccentric female, who lived in this section of the country towards the latter part of the last century. Her name was Ann Bailey. She was born in Liver, pool, and had been the wife of an English soldier. She generally went by the cogno- men of Mad Ann. During the wars with the Indians, she very often acted as a messenger, and conveyed letters from the fort, at Covington, to Point Pleasant. On these occasions she was mounted on a favorite horse of great sagacity, and rode like a man, with a riHc over her shoulder, and a tomahawk and a butcher's-knife in her belt. At night she slept in the woods. Her custom was to let her horse go free, and then walk some distance back on his trail, to escape being discovered by the Indians. After the Indian wars she spent some time in hunting. Slie pursued and shot deer and bears with the skill of a backwoodsman. She was a short, stout woman, very masculine and coarse in her appearance, and seldom or never wore a gown, but usually had on a petti- coat, with a man's coat over it, and buckskin breeches. The services she rendered in the wars with the Indians, endeared her to the people. Mad Ann, and her black pony Liverpool, were always welcome at every house. Often, she gathered the honest, sim- ple-hearted mountaineers around, and related her adventures and trials, while the sympathetic tear would course down their checks. She was profane, often became in- toxicated, and could box with the skill of one of the fancy. Mad Ann possessed considerable intelligence, and could read and write. She died in Ohio many years since. In 1764, a party of about fifty Indians came into this region, and then dividing into two, one went towards the Roanoke and Catawba settlements, and the other in the direc- tion of Jackson's River, where each committed murders and depredations. Captain Paul, who commanded at Fort Dinwiddle, went in pursuit of the latter party, and acci- dentally came upon the other, about midnight, encamped on New River, at the mouth of Indian Creek. In an instant after firing upon them. Captain Paul and his men rushed forward to secure the wounded and prevent further escapes, as most of them had ran. One of the party raised his tomahawk to strike, as he supposed, a squaw, who sat composedly awaiting the result. As the tomahawk was descending, Captain Paul threw himself between the assailant and his victim, and received the blow on his arm, exclaiming : " It is a shame to hurt a woman, even a squaw !" She proved to be Mrs. Catharine Gunn, an English woman, an acquaintance of Captain Paul, taken prisoner on the Catawba a few days before, when her husband and two children were killed. On being asked why she had not made known she was a prisoner, by crying out, she re- plied : " I had as soon be killed as not — my husband is murdered — my children are slain — my parents are dead. I have not a relation in America — every thing dear to me here is gone — I have no wishes, no hopes, ntj fears — I would not have risen to my feet to have saved my life." AMELIA. Amelia was formed in 1734, from part of Prince George. Its length is about 30, mean breadth 10 miles. It is drained by the Appomattox. The surface is agreeably diversified ; the soil on the hills poor and usually much worn, on the bottoms fertile, and it has generally much deteriorated from its original fertility, owing to the injudicious modes of cultivation pursued by its early set- tlers. Pop. 1830, 11,031; in 1840, whites 3,074, slaves 7,023, free colored, 223 ; total, 10,320. There are no villages in the county of any note. Amelia C. H., which is centrally situated, 45 miles sw. of Richmond, contains but a few dwellings. William Archer, (^ol. -commandant of the county, made himself so conspicuous by his zeal in the revolutionary cause, that he was made prisoner by Tarleton, on his return (15*) 174 AMELIA COUNTY. from his excursion to New London. He was conveyed to one of the prison-ships at Nor. folk, so well known for the suft'erings of which they were the scenes. There lie was re- tained until he became a victim of the small-pox. He was finally permitted to land, but in so advanced a stage of the disease that he died in a few days, without restora- tion to his family. One of his sons, I,ieut. Joseph Archer, was killed at the battle of Brandywine. Another of his sons, Major John Archer — the father of the present mem- ber of the U. S. Senate, the Hon. Wm. S. Archer — was an aid to one of the American generals. He was sent to remove public stores, when a detachment from the army of Lord Cornwallis made the celebrated dash on Charlottesville. Delayinjr too lono- in the discharge of his duty, he was overtaken in the rapid advance of the euemj'. The Eng- lish officer to whom he surrendered his sword, received and passed it entirely through his body. The speedy retreat of the enemy permitting inunediate assistance, he had the good fortune to recover, and lived many years. Major Joseph Eggleston was a native of Amelia. He was a highly meritorious of- ficer of Lee's legion, and served through the whole of the southern campaigns. At the conclusion of the war he turned his attention to literature. He was a member of Con- gress in 1798-9, where he served with credit. He was cut off in the flower of his age, by the effects of an amputation of a disordered limb. The residence of the late distinguished William Branch Giles, was near the margin of the Appomattox, in this county. He sprang from humble, hut respectable parentage, and was educated at Princeton. He was for many years a member of Congress from Virginia, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, where he arrived, as a debater, to very high rank. " He resigned his seat in the Senate, in 1815. He was governor of Virginia from 1826 to 1829, and died in 1830, at an advanced age. He published a speech on the embargo laws in 1808 ; political letters to the people of Virginia, in 1813; a series of letters, signed a Constituent, in the Richmond Enquirer of Jan. 1818, against the plan for a general education ; in April, 182 1, a letter of invective against President ftlonroe and Henry Clay, for their ' hobbies,' the South American cause, the Greek cause. In. ternal Lnprovements, and tlie TarifF in Nov. 1825 ; he addressed a letter to Judge Marshall, disclaiming the expressions, not the general sentiments in regard to Washing- ton, ascribed to him in the Life of Washington. He has also appeared before the public as the correspondent of John Quincy Adams." Mr. Giles was also one of the most dis- tinguished members of the convention that revised the constitution of Virginia, in 1830. In 1843, there died in this county, at an advanced age, a negro preacher of considera- ble local celebrity, who went by the name of Uxcle Jack. He was kidnapped, and brought from Africa at seven years of age, and landed at Osborne's, on James River, from what it is supposed was the last slave-ship which deposited its cargo in Virginia. Such was his worth of character, that, on the death of his master, several benevolent individuals by their contributions purchased his freedom. One, who knew him well, said, "I regard this old African as a burning light, raised up by Christian principles alone, to a degree of moral purity seldom equalled and never exceeded in any country." The late Rev. Dr. Rice also remarked, •' The old man's acquaintance with the scriptures is wonderful. Many of his interpretations of obscure passages of scripture are singularly just and striking. In many respects, indeed, he is the most remarkable man I ever knew." His views of the leading doctrines of Christianity were thorough and evangelical. His preaching abounded with quotations surprisingly minute, and his illustrations were vivid and correct. His knowledge of human nature was profound ; and hence his extensive usefulness among the African population, as well as an extensive circle of whites. His language was pure English, without the vulgarities of the blacks. In his intercourse with all classes he was governed by Christian humility, and he abhorred cant and grimace. " He uniformly opposed, both in public and private, every thing like noise and disorder in the house of God. His colored audience were very prone to indulge themselves in this way. But, whenever they did, he uniformly suspended the exercises until they became silent. On one of these occasions, he rebuked his hearers substan- tially, as follows : ' You noisy Christians remind me of the little branches after a heavy rain. They are soon full — then noisy — and as soon empty. I had a great deal rather see you like the broad, deep river, which is quiet because it is broad and deep.' " Of this worthy and strong-minded old man, we take the liberty of annexing a few AMHERST COUNXy. 175 anecdotes, drawn from his memoir in the Watchman of the South. In speaking of the excitement and noise at a protracted meeting, he remarked, " I was reminded of what I have noticed in the woods : when the wind blows hard, the dry leaves make a great deal more noise than the }rrcen ones." When persons scoffed at liis religion, his usual diffidence and reserve would give way to a firm and dignified defence, and most happily would he " answer a fool according to his folly." A person addicted to horse-racing and card-playing stopped him one day on the road, and said — " Old man, you Christians say a great deal about the way to heaven being very narrow. Now, if this be so, a great many who profess to be travelling it will not find it half wide enough." " 'I'hat's very true," was the reply, " of all who have merely a name to live, and all like you." " Why refer to me?" asked the man ; '■ if the road is wide enough for any, it is for nie." '" By no means," replied Uncle Jack ; " when you set out you will want to take along a card-table, and a race-horse or two. Now, there's no room along this way for such things, and what would you do, even in heaven, without them?" An individual accus- toniL-d to treat religion rather sportively, and who prided himself upon his morality, said to him, " Old man, I am as good as 1 need be ; 1 can't hel]) thinking so, because God blesses me as much as he does you Christians, and 1 don't know what more 1 want than he gives me." To this the old preacher replied, with great seriousness, " Just so with the hogs. I have often looked at them, rooting among the leaves in the woods, and finding just as many acorns as they needed ; and yet I never saw one of them look up to the tree from whence the acorns fell." In speaking of the low state of religion, he said, " there seems to be great coldness and deadness on the subject of religion every, where ; the fire has almost gone out, and nothing is left but a few smoking chumps, lying about in places." The laws of Virginia prohibit religious as well as other assemblies of slaves, unless at least two white persons are present. Such, however, was the universally acknow- ledged happy influence of Uncle Jack's meetings, that in his case it was not deemed necessary to enforce the law. On one occasion, some mischievous persons undertook to arrest and whip him and several of his hearers. After the arrest, one of the number thus accosted Uncle Jack: "Well, old fellow, you are the ringleader of all these meet- ings, and we have been anxious to catch you ; now, what have you got to say for your- self?" "Nothing at all, master," was the reply. "What! nothing to say against being whipped ! ho\^ is that ?" " I have been wondering for a long time," said he, " how it was that so good a man as the Apostle Paul should have been whipped three times for preaching flie gospel, while such an unworthy man as I am should have been permitted to preach for 20 years, without ever getting a lick." It is hardly necessary to add, that these young men immediately released him. His influence over the members of his church was almost unbounded. As evidence of the fact, take the following : — A gentleman who resided in the neighborhood, on walking c!ut over" his farm, detected one of his servants, who belonged to Uncle Jack's flock, in sonie very improper conduct. The only notice he took of it, was to threaten that he would inform that spiritual man. When he arose on the following morning and came to the door, he found this servant waiting and anxious to see him. " Why, Tom," said he, " what is the matter; why don't you go to your work ?" "Why, master," replied the servant, "if you would please whip me yourself, and don't tell Uncle Jack." We would like to extend this notice, but want of space forbids. Uncle Jack died at the age of nearly 100 years. He was one of those characters, that, under propitious circumstances, might have left an undying name. But in the limited sphere of his in- fluence, his humble and consistent life won for him the affections of the best people in the community AMHERST. Amherst was formed in 17G1, from Albemarle. It is about 22 miles long, and 19 wide. The James River forms its sw. and se. boundary, and the Blue Ridge its northwest. The James River Canal passes through the se. part of the county. The soil is naturally fertile, and of a dark, rich, red hue, and the scenery 176 AMHERST COUNTY. beautifully diversified. Pop. in 1830, 12,072; in 1840, whites 6,426, slaves 5,577, free colored 373 ; total, 12,576. Amherst C. H., on the road from Lynchburg to Charlottesville, about 15 miles n. of the former, and New Glasgow, are small villages. Pass of the James River through the Blue Ridge. The pass of the James River through the Blue Ridge, is on the line of this and the county of Rockbridge. There a canal, seven miles in length, has been constructed around Balcony Falls, which will form the bed of the James River Canal, whenever that work is continued westward. The stage road from Lynchburg to the Natural Bridge winds along the side of the mountain, through wild and romantic scenery, which, to the lowlander accustomed only to the flatlands and pine-barrens of eastern Virginia, is Striking. As he enters the gap from the east, the road gradually AUGUSTA COUNTY. 1^7 follows its tortuous course up the mountain's side, until it gains an elevation of hundreds of feet above the river, which it appears to nearly overhang. Gigantic mountains hem him in on every side ; while far, from the dark ravine below, comes up the roar of the rapids. A little mountain rivulet, from amid the primeval forest, dashes across his path, and, leaping from rock to rock, hur- ries on to swell the stream below. Emerging from the pass, a beautiful and fertile country opens before him, and still westward the blue outlines of distant mountains in Rockbridge meet his view. AUGUSTA. Augusta was formed from Orange, in 1738. " Previously, all that part of Virginia lying west of the Blue Ridge was included in Orange ; but in the fall session of this year it was divided into the counties of Frederick and Augusta. Frederick county was bounded by the Potomac on the north, the Blue Ridge on- the east, and a line to be run from the head spring of Hedgman to head spring of the Potomac, on the south and west ; the remainder of Virginia, west of the Blue Ridge, to constitute Augusta. This immense ter- ritory, at the present time, comprises four entire states, and nearly 40 counties in western Virginia. As the population increased, the limits of Augusta were reduced until it reached its present boundaries in 1790." It is about 35 miles long, and 30 broad. The surftice is generally uneven, and in the e. and w. mountainous. There are, however, some extensive bottoms of very fertile land. It is drained by tributaries of the James and Shenandoah rivers. Pop. 1830, 19,925; 1840, whites 1^,072, slaves 4,145, free colored 421 ; total 19,628. There are several fine villages in the county, besides the large and flourishing town of Staunton. Greenville and Middlebrook, the first 12 mifes ssw. and the last 11 miles sw. of Staunton, contain each about sixty dwellings. Waynesbort)', at the western base of the Blue Ridge, on the main stage road from Charlottes- ville to Staunton, 12 miles easterly from the latter, is a wealthy and flourishing village, containing about 100 dwellings. Mount Sydney, 10 miles ne. of Staunton, contains about 40 dwellings. Mount Solon, Spring Hill, Mount Meridian, and New Hope, are small places, at the first of which there is considerable manufac- turing carried on. There the Moss Creek Spring rises from a hill, and furnishes the power for a forge, a furnace, and 1 paper and 1 merchant mill. The Augusta Springs are 12 miles nw. of Staunton. The water is strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, and is said to equal the celebrated springs of Harrowgate, England. The improvements at this place are ample, and the situation extremely 23 178 /CGUSTA COLTNTV. picturesque. About 12 miles sw. of Staunton, is one of those ebbing and flowing springs, so common in western Virginia. Virginia Lunatic Asylum at Staunton. Staunton, the county-seat, lies 116 ms. northwesterly from Rich- mond, 163 from Washington City, on one of the extreme head branches of the e. fork of Shenandoah River, in a fine valley be- tween the Blue Ridge and north mountain chains. Institution for the Deaf and Dumb amd the Blind, at Staunton, Va. It contains 1 newspaper printing office, 2 female seminaries, 2 male academies, 1 Presbyterian,! Episcopal, 1 Lutheran, and '1 Methodist church, and a population of about 2,200. It has many mercantile and mechanical establishments, and does a large business with the surrounding country. An excellent mac- AUGUSTA COUNTY. 179 adamised road leads from here to Winchester. The Western Lu- natic Asylum is located at this place, and is a noble pile of brick buildings. By the U. S. census of 1840, the whole number of in- sane and idiotic persons in Virginia was 892, or 1 to every 8G6 per- sons. The Virginia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, has been established within a few years. A beautiful brick building is now erecting for it, near the town, on an elevated and picturesque site. By the U. S. census for 1840, the number of deaf and dumb in the state was 603, or 1 to every 2,056 of the population ; the number of blind 802, or one to every 1390 of the population. " When Tarleton, in the war of the revolution, pursued the legis- ture to Charlottesville, to which place they had adjourned from Richmond, they again fled and met at Staunton, where they finish- ed their session. At some future day it will probably become the seat of government. It was at this place that two large conven- tions were held, to deliberate on forming the constitution of Vir- ginia. The last met in July, 1825, and made an appeal to the legislature, who thereupon submitted the question to the people, and it finally resulted in the adoption of the new constitution." This county has been the birth-place or the residence of several prominent characters. Among them may be mentioned the Hon. Daniel 8heffey ; Gen. Robert Porterfield, a gallant officer of the revolution ; and Judge Archibald Stuart, father of the Hon. Alex. H. H. Stuart. Daniel Sheffey was born at Frederick, Md., in 1770, and was bred a shoemakeriin his father's shop. His education was inconsiderable ; butpossessinfjan ardent desire jfor I knowledge, he passed his leisure in reading, and became particularly fond of astroncln- ical and mathematical studies. Arrived at manhood, he travelled on foot, with liis " kit" on his back, to Winchester. From thence he walked through the valley of Vir- ginia, stopping at various villages on his route, and earning sufficient money by his trade, to pay his expenses, until he at last ^arrived at Abbeville, Wythe county. He was a stranger, friendless and destitute. " Here he commenced his trade once more. The novelty and originality of his character, and the flashes of genius which enlivened his conversation, often compelled his new-tried friends to look on the eccentric youth with wonder." Becoming popular, he was received into the office of Alexander Smyth, Esq., and after being admitted to the bar of Wythe county, was employed in the most important suits. After some years he settled in Staunton, and obtained a lucrative practice. He often represented Augusta in the House of Delegates, and, in 1811, wa3 chosen as a member of Congress. " His speech, in favor of a renewal of the charter of the first bank of the United States, was a masterly combination of sound judgment and conclusive facts : for tliree hours profound silence reigned ; and the most experienced statesmen were astonished at this exhibition of his talents." He was opposed to the declaration of war in 1812. On one occasion, he gave John Randolph, whose bitter j) sarcasm few could withstand, a most severe retort. In commenting upon a speech of ;j Mr. Sheffey's, he said that "the shoemaker ought not to go beyond his last." In an,'/ instant Sheffey retorted, " if that gentleman had ever been on the bench, he never would\ have left it." Mr. Sheffey was a plain man ; his accent German, his pronunciation not agreeable ; yet the most refined audience always paid him profound attention. He seized upon the strong points of a case, and maintained them with unconquerable zeal. " Like Patrick Henry, he was the artificer of his own fortune, and like him, in after-life, lamented that * Kercheval's MSS. for a 2d edition of his History of the Valley. 180 AUGUSTA COUNTY. in his early days the lamp of life had shed but a feeble ray along the path which it was his destiny to travel."* He died in 1830. Cyclopean Towers, Augusta Co. The Cyclopean towers, which are near the Augusta Springs, are among the greatest curiosities of nature in the Union. Yet for many years they were known only in the vicinity, and bore the rude appellation of " the chimneys." They are about 60 or 70 feet in height. We annex the following from a published description by a gentleman who visited the towers in 1834, and gave them * Southern Literary Messenger. AUGUSTA COUNTY. 181 their present name. It comnmences with a description of the country as he approached towards them : After passing over a hilly and picturesque country, the road opened upon a fertile valley, which though in places narrow, was of considerable length — and when seen from an elevated position, appeared like the bed of an ancient lake, or as it really is, the alluvial border of a flowing stream. The strata of limestone hills followed their usual order of parallel lines to the great mountains of our continent, as though a strong current had once swept through this magnificent valley, forming in its course islands and promontories, which are now discoverable in numerous short hills and rocky bluffs, that are either nake'd and barren, or covered with a growth of stately trees. It was at such a projection, that we first descried the gray summits of what seemed a ruinous castle — resembling those which were raised in feudal times to guard the passes of the Rhine, or like such as are still seen in mouldering majesty on many an Alpine rock. These summits or towers, of which there were seven, lifted their heads above the lofty elms, like so many antique chimneys in the midst of a grove ; but, on approaching them nearer, our pleasure was greatly increased to find them rise almost perpendicularly from the bed of a stream, which, winding around their base, serves as a natiu-al moat to a building not made with mortal hands. These rocks in their formation resemble the palisades on the Hudson River — but are more regular in their, strata, which a])pears to have been arranged in huge masses of perfect workmanship, with projections like cornices of Gothic afchitecture, in a state of dilapidation. Those who are acquainted with the structure of the Cyclopean walls of the ancients, would be struck with the resemblance. A narrative of the circumstances connected with the settlement of Augusta county, by the Lewis family, collected from authentic rec- ords, and traditions of the family, and communicated for this work by a gentleman of the county : John Lewis was a native and citizen of Ireland, descended from a family of Hugue- nots, who took refuge in that kingdom from the persecutions that followed tiie assassina- tion of Henry IV., of France. His rank was that of an Esquire, and he inherited a handsome estate, which he increased by industry and friigality, until he became the lessee of a contiguous property, of considerable value. He married Margaret Lynn, daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, who was a descendant of the chieftains of a once powerful clan in the Scottish Higlilands. By this marriage he had four sons, three of them, Thomas, Andrew, and William, born in Ireland, and Charles, the child of his old age, born a few months after their settlement in their mountain home. The emigration of John Lewis to Virginia, was th«; result of one of those bloody af- frays, which at that time so often occurred to disturb the repose, and destroy the hap- piness of Irish families. The owner of the fee out of which the leaSlhold of Lewis was carved, a nobleman of profligate habits and ungovernable passions, seeing the prosperity of his lessee, and repenting the bargain he had concluded, under pretence of entering for an alleged breach of condition, attempted by tlie aid of a band of ruffians, hired for his purpose, to take forcible possession of the premises. For this end, he surrounded the house with his ruffians, and called upon Lewis to evacuate the premises without de- lay, a demand which was instantly and indignantly refused by Lewis ; though sur- prised with a sick brother, his wife, and infant children in the house, and with no aid but such as could be afforded by a few faithful domestics. With this small force, scarce equal to one-fourth the number of his assailants, he resolved to maintain his legal rights at every hazard. The enraged nobleman commenced the affray by discharging his fowling-piece into the house, by which the invalid brother of Lewis was killed, and Mar- garet herself severely wounded. Upon this, the enraged husband and brother, rushed from the house, attended by his devoted little band, and soon succeeded in dispersing the assailants, though not until the noble author of the mischief, as well as his steward, had perished by the hand of Lewis. By this time the family were surrounded by their sym- pathizing friends and neighbors, who, after bestowing every aid in their power, advised Lewis to fly the country, a measure rendered necessary by the high standing of his late antagonist, the desperate character of his surviving assailants, and the want of evi- dence by which he could have established the facts of the case. He therefore, after drawing up a detailed statement of the affair, which he directed to the proper authorities, embarked on board a vessel bound for America, attended by his family and a band of (16) 182 AUGUSTA COUNTY. about thirty of his faithful tenantry. In due time the emigrants landed on the shores of Virginia, and fixed their residence amid tlie till then unbroken forests of west Augusta. John Lewis's settlement was a few miles below the site of the town of Staunton, on the banks of the stream which still bears his name. It may be proper to remark here, that when the circumstances of the affray became known, after due investigation, a par- don was granted to John Lewis, and patents are still extant, by which his majesty granted to him a large portion of the fair domain of western Virginia. For many years after the settlement at Fort Lewis, great amity and good will existed between ihe neighboring Indians and the white scttlers,*whose numbers increased apace, until they became quite a formidable colony. It was then that the jealousy of their red neighbors became aroused, and a war broke out, which, for cool though desperate cour- age and activity on the part of the wliites, and ferocity, cunning, and barbarity on the part of the Indians, was never equalled in any age or country. John Lewis was, by this time, well stricken in years, but his four sons, who were now grown up, were well quali- fied to fill liis place, and to act the part of leaders to the gallant little band, who so no- bly battled for the protection of their homes and families. It is not my purpose to go into the details of a warfare, during which scarcely a settlement was exempt from monthly attacks of the savages, and during which Charles Lewis, the youngest son of John, is said never to have spent one month at a time out of active and arduous service. Charles was the hero of many a gallant ex])loit, which is still treasured in the memories of the descendants of the border riflemen, and there are few famihes among the Allegha- nies where the name* and deeds of Charles Lewis are not familiar as household words. On one occasion, Charles was captured by the Indians while on a hunting excursion, and after having travelled some two hundred' miles, barefoot, his arms pinioned behind him, goaded on by the knives of his remorseless captors, he effected his escape. While travel. Ung along the bank of a precipice some twenty feet in height, he suddenly, by a strong muscular exertion, burst the cords vvliicli bound him, and plunged down the steepinto the bed of a mountain torrent. His persecutors hesitated not to follow. In a race of several hundred yards, Lewis had gained some few yards upon his pursuers, when, upon leaping a prostrate tree which lay across his course, his strength .suddenly failed, and he fell pros- trate among the weeds vi'hlch had grown up in great luxuriance around the body of the tree. Three of the Indians sprang over the tree within a few feet of where their prey lay concealed ; but with a feeling of the most devout thankfulness to a kind and superin- tending Providence, he saw them one by one disappear in the dark recesses of the forest. He now bethought himself of rising from his uneasy bed, when lo I a new enemy appear- ed, in the shape of an enormous rattlesnake, who had thrown himself into the deadly coil so near his face that his fangs were within a few inches of his nose ; and his enor- mous rattle, as it waved to and fro, once rested upon his ear. A single contraction of the eyelid — a convulsive shudder — the relaxation of a single muscle, and the deadly beast would have sprung upon him. In this situation he lay for several minutes, when the reptile, probably supposing him to be dead, crawled over his body and moved slowly away. " I had eaten nothing," said Lewis to his companions, after his return, " for many days; I had no fire-arms, and I ran the risk of dying with hunger, ere I could reach the settle- ment ; but rather would I have died, than made a meal of the generous beast." During this war, an attack was made upon the settlement of Fort Lewis, at a time when the whole force of the settlement was out on active duty. So great was the surprise, that many of the women and children were captured in sight of the fort, though far the great- er part escaped, and concealed themselves in their hiding places, in the woods. The fort was occupied by John Lewis, then very old and infirm, his wife, and two young wo- men, who were so much alarmed that they scarce moved from their seats upon the ground floor of the fort. John Lewis, however, opened a port-hole, where he stationed himself, firing at the savages, while Margaret reloaded the guns. In this manner he sustained a siege of six hours, during which he killed upwards of a score of savages, when he was relieved by the appearance of his party. Thomas Lewis, the eldest son of John Lewis and Margaret Lynn, labored under a defect of virion, which disabled him as a marksman, and he was, therefore, less efficient during the Indian wars than his brethren. He was, however, a man of learning and sound judgment, and represented the county of Augusta for many years in the House of Burgesses ; was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the Uni- ted States, and formed the constitution of Virginia, and afterwards sat for the county of Rockingham in the House of Delegates of Virginia. In 1765, he was in the House of Burgesses, and voted for Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions. Thomas Lewis had four sons actively participating in the war of the revolution; the youngest of whom, TJiomas, who is now living, bore an ensign's commission when but fourteen years of age. AUGUSTA COUNTY. 183 Andrew, the second son of John Lewis and Margaret LA-nn, is the Gen. Lewis who commanded at the battle of Point Pleasant. (See his memoir in Bottetourt co.1 Charles Lewis, the youngest of the sons of John Lewis, fell at the head of his regi- ment, when leading on the attack at Point Pleasant. Charles was esteemed the most skilful of all the leaders of the border warfare, and was as much beloved for his noble and amiable qualities as he was admired for his military talents. View in Weyer's Cave. William, the third son, was an active participator in the border wars, and was an offi- cer of the revolutionary army, in which one of his sons was killed, and another maimed for life. When the British force under Tarleton drove the legislature from Charlottes- ville to Staunton, the stillness of the Sabbath eve was broken in the latter town by the beat of the drum, and volunteers were called for to prevent the passage of the British through the mountains at Rockfish Gap. The elder sons of Wm. Lewis, who then re- sided at the old fort, were absent with the northern army. Three sons, however, were at home, whose ages were 17, 15, and 13 years. Wm. Lewis was confined to his room by sickness, but his wife, with the firmness of a Roman matron, called them to her, and bade them fly to the defence of their native land. " Go my children," said she, " I spare not my youngest, my fair-haired boy, the comfort of my declining years. I devote you all to my country. Keep back the foot of the invader from the soil of Augusta, or see my face no more." When this incident was related to Washington, shortly after its oc- currence, he enthusiastically exclaimed, " Leave me but a banner to plant upon the mountains of Augusta, and I will rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding country from the dust, and set her free." I have frequently heard, when a boy, an anecdote related by an old settler, somewhat to this efTect : The white, or wild clover, is of indigenous growth, and abounded on the banks of the rivers, »Si:c. The red was introduced by John Lewis, and it was currently reported by their prophets, and believed by the Indians generally, that the blood of the red man slain by the Lewises and their followers, had dyed the trefoil to its sanguine hue. The Lidians. however, always did the whites the justice to say, that the red man was the aggressor in their first quarrel, and that the white men of western Virginia had always evinced a disposition to treat their red brethren with moderation and justice. Weyer's Cave, is 17 miles N. of Staunton, in a hill a short dis- tance west of the Blue Ridge. It derives its name from Bernard Weyer, who discovered it in 1804, while hunting. 184 AUGUSTA COUNTV. Within a few hundred yards of it, is Madison's cave, described by Jefferson. This, however, has superior attractions. No lanu^uage can convey an adequate idea of the vastness and sublimity of some, or the exquisite beauty and grandeurof otiier of its iimu- merable apartments, with their snowy-white concretions of a thousand various forms. Many of these, with their striiiing and picturesque objects, have names exceedingly in- appropriate, which to mention wouhl degrade any description, however well written, by the association of the beautiful and sublime, with the vulgar and hackneyed. Washing- ton Hall, the largest apartment, is 250 feet in length. A foreign traveller who visited the cave at an annual illumination, has, in a finely written description, the following no- tice of this hall : " There is a fine sheet of rock- work running up the centre of this room, and giving it the aspect of two separate and noble galleries, till you look above, where you observe the partition rises only '20 feet towards the roof, and leaves the fine arch expanding over your head untouched. There is a beautiful concretion here, standing out in the room, which certainly has the form and drapery of a gigantic statue ; it bears the name of the Na- tion's Hero, and the whole place is filled with those projections, appearances which ex- cite the imagination by suggesting resemblances, and leaving them unfinished. The general effect, too, was perhaps indescribable. The fine perspective of this room, four times the length of an ordinary church ; the numerous tapers, when near you, so encum- bered by deep shadows as to give only a dim religious light ; and when at a distance, appearing in their various attitudes like twinkling stars on a deep dark heaven ; the ama- zing vaulted roof spread over you, with its carvAi and knotted suriacc, to which the streaming lights below in vain endeavored to convey their radiance ; together with the impression that you had made so deep an entrance, and were so entirely cut off from the living world and ordinary things ; produces an effect which, perhaps, the mind can re- ceive but once, and will retain forever." " Weyer's Cave," says the writer above quoted, " is in my judgment one of the great natural wonders of this new world ; and for its eminence in its own class, deserves to be ranked with the Natural Bridge and Niagara, while it is far less known than either. Its dimensions, by the most direct course, are more than 1,600 feet ; and by the more winding paths, twice that length; and its objects are remarkable for their variety, for- mation, and beauty. In both respects, it will, I think, compare, without injury to itself, with the celebrated Grotto of Antiparos. For myself, I acknowledge the spectacle to have been most interesting; but, to be so, it must be illuminated, as on this occasion. I had thought that this circumstance might give to the whole a toyish effect ; but the influ- ence of 2,000 or 3,000 lights on these immense caverns is only such as to reveal the ob- jects, without disturbing the solemn and sublime obscurity which sleeps on every thing. Scarcely any scenes can awaken so many passions at once, and so deeply. Curiosity, apprehension, terror, surprise, admiration, and delight, by turns and together, arrest and possess you. I have had before, from other objects, one simple impression made with greater power; but I never had so many impressions made, and with so much power, before. If the interesting and the awful are the elements of the sublime, here sublimity reigns, as in her own domain, in darkness, silence, and deeps profound." There died in this county, in February, 1844, a slave, named Gilbert, aged 112 years. He was a servant to Washington at the time of Braddock's defeat, and was afterwards present, in the same capacity, at the surrender of Cornwalhs. BATH. Bath was formed in 1701, from Augusta, Bottetourt, and Green- briar. It is about 35 miles long and 25 broad. It is watered by the head-branches of the James, Cow Pasture and Jackson Rivers. Some of the valley lands are very fertile, but the greatest propor- tion of the county is uncultivated, and covered Avilh mountains. Pop. 1830, 4,008 ; 1840, whites 3,170, slaves 317, free colored 83; total 4,300. Warm Springs, the county-seat, is 1G4 miles W. of Richmond, and 40 miles N. E. of the White Sulphur Springs of Greenbriar. BATH COUNTY. 185 Besides the county buildings, and the elegant hotels for the accom- modation of visiters at the springs, there are but a few dwellings. The situation of the place is delightful, in a narrow and fertile valley, between two high mountains, and offers numerous attrac- tions to its many visiters. The tradition respecting^ the discovery of the springs is, that a party of Indians hunt- ing, spent a night in the valley. One of their number discovering the spring, bathed in it, and being much fatigued, he was induced, by the delicious sensation and warmth imparted by it, to remain all night. The next morning he was enabled to scale the mountain before his companions. As the country became settled, the fame of the waters gradually extended : and at first, visiters from the low country dwelt here in rude huts. For a long time, both this and tiie Hot Spring were only surrounded by brush, and open at top. The subjoined analysis of these waters was made by Prof. Rogers : " The bath is an octagon, 38 feet in diameter, and 16 feet 9 inches inside — its area ia 1163.77 feet. The ordinary depth of water being 5 feet, the cubic capacity is 5818.86 feet, or 43533.32 gallons. Notwithstanding the leaks, this quantity of water will flow into the reservoir in one hour. The average temperature of the bath is 98 deg. Fahrenheit. The gas which rises in the bath consists of nitrogen, with minute quantities of sulphur- etted hydrogen and carbonic acid. " Besides this gas, each gallon of water contains 4.5 cubic inches of gas, consisting of nitrogen, 3.25 cubic inches ; sulphuretted hydrogen, 0.25 do. ; carbonic acid, 1.00 do. " The saline contents of one gallon of the water, arc as follows : muriate of lime, 3.968 ; sulphate of magnesia, 9.984 ; carbonate of lime, 4.288 ; sulphate of lime, 5.466 ; a trace of soda, no doubt, in the state of muriate. " While the Warm Springs afford the most luxurious bath in the world, they contain neutral salts and various gases, which act as a gentle aperient, diuretic and sudorific, and give tone and vigor to the human system. It is well ascertained in other countries, that waters of a high temperature tend more to strengthen the digestive organs than those of a low temperature ; but it is found, by actual experiment, that the water at the Warm Springs retains a considerable portion of its useful qualities when bottled in the spring, and then cooled by immersing the bottles in cold water, or even ice ; and this plan ia adopted by many of those who have a repugnance to the use of warm water." The approach to the Warm Springs from the east, is over the mountain of the same name. The road which leads across it i.s five miles, four-fiflhs of which is on the east side of the ridge, where to the traveller a succession of deep precipices and glens present themselves, environed with gloomy woods and obscure bottoms. From the summit of the mountain at the Warm Spring Rock, which is much visited, there is a sublime view of parallel ridges of mountains, extending for 40 or 50 miles, one behind the other, as far as the eye can reach, " like a dark blue sea of giant billows, instantly stricken solid by nature's magic wand." Some 70 years since, the principal route of emigration was across this mountain, at which time there was no wagon-road over it. The emigrants came in wagons to " the camping-ground," a level spot near what is now Brinckley's tavern, at the eastern base of the mountain. From thence they transported their baggage to the west on pack-horses, while their wagons returned east loaded with venison, hams, &c. One mile west of the little village of Milboro' Spring, and 12 miles east of the Warm Springs, on the road between the two places, in a high ledge on the bank of the Cow-Pasture River, is the celebrated " hlowing-cave," described in Jefferson's Notes. The mouth of the cave is 20 or 30 feet above the road, in shape semi- circular, and in height about 4 feet. It has been explored for a 24 (16*) 186 BARBOUR COUNTY. considerable distance. It is said that a small dog who entered found his way out through some unknown passage. When the internal and external atmosphei'e are the same, there is no percep- tible current issuing ironi it. In intense hot weather, the air comes out with so much Ibrce as to prostrate the weeds at the entrance. In a warm day in June, in 1843, as Dr. John Brockenbrough, the principal proprietor of the Warm Springs, was passing in his carriage, he sent a little child to the mouth of the cave, who let go before it a handkerchief, which was blown by the current over the horses' heads in the road, a distance of 30 or 40 feet. In in- tense cold weather, the air draws in. There is a floivinu; and ebb- ing spring on th(5 same stream w^ith the blowing-cave, which sup- plies water-power for a grist-mill, a distillery, and a tan-yard. It flows irregularly. When it commences, the water bursts out in a body as if let loose from a dam. Gen. Samuel Blackburn, who resided in this county, was born about the year 1758. He was one of the most successful orators and criminal lawyers of liis time in Viririnia. He was the father of the anti-duelling law of tiic state, which we believe was the first passed in tlse country after the war of the revolution. Amonjr other penalties, it pro- hibited any one who had been pngagcd in a duel from holding oHices of trust in the gift of the state. Some years after, a gentleman who iiad challenged another was elected to the legislature. When he came forward to take tlie customary oath, his violation of tliis law was urged against him. Some, however, contended that the circumstances of the case were so aggravating that its j)rovisioi>s ought to be disregarded, and fears were enter- taiued that this sentiment might prevail. Then it was that Gen. Blackburn, who was a member, came forward with a speech of great power in opposition. The result was the triumph of the law in the rejection of the member. Gen. B. died in 1835, aged about 77. He was a man of much benevolence. At bis death, he by will manumitted all his slaves, and provided for their transportation to Liberia. The Hot Springs are 5 miles irom the Warm, in the same beau- tiful valley with the latter. These springs stand high in public favor. There are several baths here, called the Hot Spouts. Their highest temperature is 106 degrees. " The beneficial effects of hot spouts, topically applied, are so miraculous, in many painful and obstinate complaints, that words cannot adequately describe them ; therefore the prisoners of pain are strongly recommended to expose tiieir rheumatic joints, gouty toes, and enlarged livers, to thi; comfortable outpourings of these healing steams. The water of the Hot Springs contains nitrogen and carbonic acid, carbonate of lime, sulphate of lime, sulphate of soda, sulphate of magnesia, muriate of soda, silica, and a trace of oxide of iron. It may be taken internally with mucii advantage, particularly as a sure and gentle diuretic. " Tiio eftect of this bath on rheumatic and gouty affections, and on old deep-seated and chronic complaints, that medicine does not seem to reach, is very beneficial. It restores the surface to a good condition, and promotes the healthy action of the .skin; and every person who drinlis the water of the various sidpliur springs, should afterwards stop here two or three weeks, and try the virtue of the boiler. There are, near the hotel, a hot and cold spring issuing so near cacli otiier, that you can dip the thumb and fore- finger of the same hand into liot and cold water at the same time." BARBOUR. Barbour was formed in 1843, from Harrison. Lewis, and Ran- dolph, and named from the distinguished Barbour family : it is 30 BARBOUR COUNTY. 187 miles long and 15 wide. The eastern part is mountainous, the western hilly, and much of the soil is fertile and adapted to gra- zing. It is thickly settled at the heads of Simpson's and Elk creeks, and on Buchannon and Tygart's Valley Rivers. Estimated population 5,000. Philippi, the county-seat, — formerly Boothe's Ferry of Randolph, — is situated 240 miles nw. of Richmond, and 30 SE, of Clarksburg, on the east bank of Tygart's Valley River, in a fertile country. It contains about a dozen dwellings, and has in its vicinity an abundance of coal and iron ore of an excellent quality. The tract of country comprehended in the limits of this county, was the first permanently settled in norfhwestern Mrginia. The following, relating to the settling of this portion of Virginia, is drawn Irom Withers' Border Warfare, published in 1831, — a work from which we have obtained considerable information respecting this portion of the state. The comparative security which succeeded the treaty of 1765, contributed to advance the prosperity of the Virf;inia frontiers, and soon induced the settling of several places on the Monongaliela and its branches, and on the Oliio river. The first settlement was that made on the Buchannon, a fork of the 'Vyi^nn's Valley River, and was induced by the flattering account given by two brothers, who had dwelt there under rather uni)leasant circumstances. In 1701, four soldiers deserted from Fort Pitt, and after some wanderings, encamped in the glades over to the head of the Vougho'gany, where they remained about twelve months. Two of them, in an excur- sion among the settlers at Looney creek, were recognised and apprehended as deserters ; but John and Samuel Pringle escaped to their camp in the glades, where they remained till some time in the year 17f>4. During this year, and while in the employ of John Simpson, (a trapper who had come there in quest of furs,) tliey determined on removing further west. Simpson was induced to this by the prospect of en joying the woods free from the intrusion of other hunters, (the glades having begun to be a common hunting-ground for the inhabitants of the South Branch ;) while a regard for their personal sali:;ty, caused the Pringles to avoid a situation in which they might be exposed to tlic observation of other men. In jciunieying through the wilderness, and after having crossed ( liiat Kiver, at the Horse-Slioe, a quar- rel arose between Simpson and one of the Pringles; and nolwilbstanding that peace and harmony were so necessary to their nmtual safety and comfort, yet each so far indulged the angry passions which had been excited, as at length to produce a separation. Simpson crossed over the Valley Kiver, near the mouth of Pleasant creek, and passing on to the head of another water course, gave to it the name of Simpson's creek. Thence he went westwardly, and fell over on u stream which he called Elk : at the moutli of this lie erected a camp, and continued to reside for more than twelve months. During this time be neither saw the Pringles, nor any other human being ; and at the expiration of it, went to the South Branch, where he disposed of bis furs and skins, and then returned to and continued at his encampment at the mouth of Elk, \wtil permanent settlements were made in its vicinity. The Pringles kept up the Valley River till they (il)served a large right-hand fork, (now Buchannon,) whirehensive that he had been recognised, taken to Fort Pitt, and would probably never get back. With his remaining load of powder, however, he was fortunate enough to kill a tine buffalo; and John soon fttler returned with the news of peace, both with the Indians and French. The two brothers agreed to leave their retirement. Their wilderness habitation was not left without some regret. Every object around had become more or less endeared to them. The tree, in whose hollow they had been so frequently sheltered from slorm and tempest, was regarded by them with so great reverence, that they resolved, so soon as they could prevail on a few others to accompany them, again to return to this asylum of their exile. In u. population such as then composed the chief part of the South Branch settlement Uiis was no dif • 188 BEDFORD COUNTY. ficult matter. All of them were used to the frontier manner of living ; the most of them had pone thith- er to acquire laiiil : many had tailed entirely in tliis olyect, while others Were ohliged to occu|)y poor and broken situations or!' the river, the fertile hottoms having been previously located. Add to this the pas- sion for hunting, (which was a rulinj; one with many,) and the coiiiparatixr scarcity of game in their neighborhood, and it need not excite surprise that the jiroposition of tlic I'rin^les to (iirm a settlement in such a country as they represented that on Buchannon to be, was eajrerly embraced by many. In the fall of the ensuing year, (I7('i8.) Samuel Pringle, and several others who wished first to examine for themselves, visited the country which had been so long occupied by the Pringles iilone. Being pleas- ed with it, they in the follou ing spring, with a few others, repaired thither with the view of cultivating as much corn as would serve their families the first year alter their emigration. And having examined the country, for the ]>urpose of selecting the most desirable situ;itions, some of them proceeded to im- prove the spots of their choice. Jolm .lackson (who was accompanied by his sons, (;eorge and Edward) settled at the mouth of Turkey run, where his daughter, Mrs. Davis, now lives — John Hacker higher up on the Buchannon River, where Bush's t<)rt was afterwards established, and Nicholas Heavenor now lives — Alexander and Thomas Sleeth, near to Jackson's, on what is now known as the Forenash plantation. The otiiers of the party (William Hacker, Thomas and Jesse Hughes, John and William Kadciifl", and John Brown) appear to have emplnyed their time exclusively in hunting; neither of them making any improvement of land for his own benefit. Yet were they of very considerable service to the new settle- ment. Those who had conunenced clearing land, were supplied by them with abundance of meat, while in their hunting excursions through the country, a better knowledge of it wa^ obtained, than could have been acquired had they been engaged in making ini|irovements. In one of these expeditions they discovered, and rave name to Stone-coal creek ; which flowing west- wardly, induced the supposition that it discharger thirty miles distant, are distinctly visible on a clear day, and also Willis' Mountain away down in Buckinghiuii county. I had often visited Bedford, and had been more or less familiar with it from childhood ; but at our elevation, distances were so annihilated, and appearances so changed, that we could scarcely recognise the most familiar objects. After some difficulty, we at length made out the residence of Dr. M., we had that morning left, and at that moment rendered more than usually interesting, by containing, in addition to the other very dear relatives, two certain ladies, who sustained a very interesting conne.xion with the doctor and myself, and one of whom had scarcely laid aside the blushes of her bridal hour. A little beyond this, I recognised the former residence of a beloved sister, now living in a distant southern state. It was the same steep hill ascending to the gate, the same grove around the house, as when she lived there, and the same as when I played there in my boyhood. And it was the first time I had seen it since the change of owners. I then saw it from the Peaks of Otter: but it touched a thou- sand tender cords ; and I almost wept when I thought, that those I once there loved were far away, and that the scenes of my youthful days could not return. Myself and companions had, some time before, gotten on different rocks, that we might not interrupt each other in our contemplations. I could not refrain, however, from saying tg one of them, " What little things we are 1 how factitious our ideas of what is extensive in territory and distance !" A splendid estate was about the size I could step over; and I could stand and look at the very house whence I used often to start in days gone by, and follow with my eye my day's journey to the spot where, wearied and worn down, I dismounted with the setting sun. Yet I could look over what seemed so great a space, with a single glance. I could also look away down the Valley of Virginia, and trace the country, and, in imagiiKititin, the stage-coach, as it slowly wound its way, day and night for successive days, to reach the terniiniUion of what I could throw my eye over in a moment. I was impressively reminded of the extreme littUness with which these things of earth would all appear, when the tie of life which binds us here is broken, and we shall be able to look back and down upon them from another world. The scene and place are well calculated to excite such thoughts. It is said that John Randolph once spent the night on these elevated rocks, attended by no one but his servant ; and that, when in the morning he had witnessed the sun rising over the majestic scene, he turned to his servant,' having no other to whom he could express his thoughts, and charged him, "never from that Jime to 'jelieve any one who told him there was no God." I confess, also, that my mind was most forcibly carried to the judgment-day ; and I could hut call the attention of my companions to what would, probably, then be the sublime terror of the scene we now beheld, when the mountains we saw and stood upon, should all be melted down like wax; when the flames should be driving over the immense expanse before us ; when the- heavens over us should be " passing away with a great noise ;" and when the air l)eneath and around us should be filled with the very inhabitants now dwelling and busied in that world beneath us. BERKELEY. Berkeley was formed in 1772, from Frederick. Its mean length is 22^ miles ; mean breadth, 13 miles. The surface is much broken and mountainous. Back and Opequan creeks run through the county and empty into the Potomac. Some of the land bordering these streams and the Potomac River, is very fertile. Anthracite coal is found in the western section of this county. Population: 1830, 10,528; 1840, whites 8,760, slaves 1,919, free colored 293; total BERKELEY COUNTY. 101 10,972. Darksville and Gerardstown contain each from 30 to 40 dwellings. Martinshurg, the county-seat, lies on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 169 miles nnw. of Richmond, 77 from Washington, and 20 from Harper's Ferry. Central View in Martinshurg. It is compactly built, and contains 2 newspaper printing offices ; 7 stores ; a market; 1 Presbyterian, 1 Lutheran, 1 Episcopal, 1 German Reformed, 1 Methodist, and 1 Catholic church ; and a population of about 1700. This town was laid out by Adam Stephen, Esq., and established by law in 1778, when the following gentlemen were appointed trustees : James M'Alister, Joseph Mitchell, Anthony Noble, James Strode, Robert Carter Willis, William Patterson, and Philip Pendleton. It derived its name from the late Col. T. B. Martin. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road passes through the village. The public building, in the centrfe of the view, is the court-house, which was built a year after the formation of the county, in the reign of George III. The jail at this place is rarely tenanted, and but one individual has been sent to the penitentiary within the last 12 years. Traces of the road cut by Braddock's army on their unfortunate expedition to the west, are discernible near the town. In St. Clair's defeat, about 80 citizens of the county were killed. In the vicinity of Leetown, (in the adjoining county of Jefferson,) there lived within a few miles of each other, after the war of the revolution, three general officers of the American army — Alexan dii* Stephens, Horatio Gates, and Charles Lee. The will of the latter is now in the clerk's office, in this county. The accompany- ing extract from it, is in keeping with its eccentric author : " I desire most earnestly that I may not be buried in any church or church-yard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabap- tist meeting-house, for since I have resided in this country, I have kept so much bad company while living, that 1 do not choose to continue it when dead»" 192 BERKELEV COUNTY. General Lee's unbounded am.bition led him to envy the great fame of Washington, and it was supposed his aim was to supersede him in tlie supreme command. He wrote a pamphlet, filled with scurrilous imputations upon the military talents of the com- mander-in-chief. In consequence, he Was challenged by Col. Laurens, one of Wash- ington's aids, and was wounded in the duel which ensued. Degraded in the opinions of the wise and virtuous, he retired to this section of country, where, secluded from so- ciety, he lived in a rude hovel, without windows or plastering, or even a decent article of furniture, and with but few or no companions but his books and dogs. In 1780, Congress resolved that they had no further occasion for his services in the army. In the autumn of 1782, wearied with his forlorn situation and broken in spirits, he went to Philadelphia, where, in his lodgings in an obscure public-house he soon died, a martyr to chagrin and disappointment. In his dying moments, he was, in imagination, on the field of battle : the last words he was heard to utter were, " Stand by me, my brave grenadiers !" Gen. Gates, of whom the prediction of Gen. Lee was verified, " that his northern laurels would be covered with southern willow," was, after the disastrous battle of Camden, suspended from mili- tary command until 1782, when the great scenes of the war were over. Gates was one of the infamous cabal who designed to sup- plant Washington : but he lived to do justice to the character of that great man. After the war, Gates lived about seven years on his plantation in Virginia, the re- mainder of his life he passed near New York city. In 1800, he was elected to the legislature of that state by the anti-federal party. He died in 1806, aged 78 years. " A few years before his death, he generously gave freedom to his slaves, making provision for the old and infirm, while several testified their attachment to him by remaining in his family. In the characteristic virtue of a planter's hospitalit)^ Gates had no com- petitor, and his reputation may well be supposed to put this virtue to a hard test. He had a handsome person, and was gentlemanly in his manners, remarkably courteous to all, and carrying good humor sometimes beyond the nice limit of dignity." Both Lee and Gates were natives of England, and all three, Lee, Gates, and Stephens, had com- mand of Virginia troops. Many of the early settlers of the county were Scotch-Irish, who were Presbyterians. " It is said that the spot where Tuscarora meeting-house now stands, is the first place where the gospel was publicly preached and divine service performed, west of the Blue Ridge. This was, and still remains, a Presbyterian edifice. Mr. Semple, in his history of the Virginia Baptists, states that in the year 1754, Mr. Stearns, a preacher of this denomination, with several others, removed from New England. ' They halted first at Opequon, in Berkeley county, Va., where he formed a Baptist church, under the care of the Rev. John Gerard.' This was probably the first Baptist church founded west of the Blue Ridge." There is an interesting anecdote, related by Kercheval, in his account of Indian in- cursions and massacres in this region, of a young and beautiful girl, named Isabella Stockton, who was taken prisoner in the attack on Neally's fort, and carried and sold to a Canadian in Canada. A young J^rencliman, named Plata, becoming etiamored with her, made proposals of matrimony. This she declined, unless her parents' con- sent could be obtained — a strong proof of her filial atfeclion and good sense. The Frenchman conducted her home, readily believing that his generous devotion and at- tachment to the daughter would win their consent. But the prejud'ces then existing against the French, made her parents and friends peremptorily reject his overtures. Isa- bella then agreed to elope with liini, and mounting two of her father's horses, they fled, BROOKE COUNTY. 193 but were overtaken by her two brothers in pursuit, by whom she was forcibly torn from her lover and protector and carried back to her parents, while the poor Frenchman was warned that his life should be the forfeit of any farther attempts. The Hon. Felix Grundy was born on the 11th of Sept., 1777, in a log house on Sleepy Creek, in this county. His father was a native of Eno;land. When Felix was but two years of age, his family removed to what is now Brownsville, Penn., and in 1780 to Kentucky, where he lived from childhood to maturity, and in 1807 or 1808, re- moved to Tennessee. Mr. Grundy was one of the most distinguished lawyers and statesmen of the western states. When in the councils of the nation, he had but few superiors. He was always a zealous and most efficient supporter of the democratic party. " His manners were fimiable, his conversation instructive, abounding in humor and occasionally sarcastic. His cheerful disposition gained him friends among his political opponents, and rendered him the delight of the domestic circle. His morals were drawn from the pure fountain of Christianity, and, while severe with himself, he was charitable to others. Integrity and justice controlled his transactions with his fellow-men." " CoL. Crawford emigrated from Berkeley county in 1768, with his family, to Penn- sylvania. He was a captain in Forbes' expedition, in 1758. He was the intimate friend of Washington, who was frequently an inmate of his humble dwelling, during his visits to the then west, for the purpose of locating lands and attending to public busi- ness. Col. Crawford was one of the bravest men on the frontier, and often took the lead in parties against the Indians across the Ohio. His records and papers were never preserved, and very little else than a few brief anecdotes remain to perpetuate his fame. At the commencement of the Revolution, he raised a regiment by his own exertions, and held the commission of colonel in the continental army. In 1782, he accepted, with great reluctance, the command of an expedition to ravage the Wyandott and Mo- ravian Indian towns on the Muskingum. On this expedition, at the age of 50, he was taken prisoner, and put to death by the most excruciating tortures." BRAXTON. Braxton was formed in 1836, from Lewis, Kanawha, and Nicho- las, and named from Carter Braxton, one of the signers of the Declaration of American Independence : it is about 45 miles long, with a mean width of 20 miles. It is watered by Elk and Little Kanawha Rivers, and their branches. The country is rough, but well watered, and fertile. Pop. 1840, whites 2,509 : slaves 64 free col'd. 2 ; total, 2,575. Sutton, the county-seat, on Elk River, 289 miles w. of Rich- mond, is a small village ; the only public buildings being those belonging to the county. The locality called Bulltown, where there is a post-office, was so named from the fact that about sixty years since, it was the residence of a small tribe of Indians, the name of whose chief was Captain Bull. BROOKE. Brooke was formed from Ohio co., in 1797. It is the most north- erly county in the state, and is a portion of the narrow neck of land lying between Pennsylvania and the Ohio River called the " pan- handle." Its mean length is 31 miles, mean breadth 6 1-2. The sur 25 (17) 194 BROOKE COUNTY. face is hilly, but much of the soil is fertile. The county abounds in coal. Large quantities are quarried on the side hills on the Ohio. There is not at the present time, (Sept. 1843,) a licensed tavern in the comity, for retailing ardent spirits, and not one distillery ; nor has there been a criminal prosecution for more than two years. Pop. 1830,7,040 ; 1840, whiles 7,080, slaves 91, free col'd. 77 ; total, 7,948. Fairview, or New Manchester, lies on the Ohio, 22 miles n. of Wellsburg, on an elevated and healthy situation. It contains about 25 dwellings. The churches are Presbyterian and Methodist. Holliday's Cove is a long and scattering village, about 7 miles above Wellsburg, in a beautiful and fertile valley, of a semi-cir- cular form. It contains 1 Union church, 1 Christian Disciples' church, an academy, and about 00 dwellings. Flour of a superior quality is manufactured at the mills on Harmon's Creek, in this valley. Bethany is beautifully situated, 8 miles e. of Wellsburg. It contains a few dwellings only. It is the residence of Dr. Alex- ander Campbell, the founder of the denomination generally known as " the Campbellite Baptists :" a name, however, which they themselves do not recognise, taking that of " Disciples, or Christian Baptists." Bethany College, Brooke County. Bethany College was founded by Dr. Alexander* Campbell, in 1841. Its instructors are the president, (Dr. Campbell,) and 4 pro- fessors. The institution is flourishing, numbering something like a hundred pupils, including the preparatory department. The buildings prepared for their reception are spacious and conve- nient. The following historical sketch of " the Disciples of Christ," with a view of their religious opinions, is from Hay ward's Book of Re- ligions : BROOKE COUNTY. 195 The rise of this society, if we only look back to the drawing of the lines of demarcation between it and other professors, is of recent origin. About the commencement of tlie present century, tlie Bilile alone, without any human addition in the form of creeds or confessions of tiiith, began to be preached by many distinguished ministers of ditierent denominations, both in Europe and America. With \iirious success, and with many of the opinions of the various sects imperceptibly carried with them from the denominations to which they once belonged, did the advocates of the Bible cause plead for the union of Christians of every nairic, on the broad basis of the apostles' teaching. But it was not until the year 18ij:! that a restoration of the original gospel and order of things, began to be advocated ia a periodical edited by Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, entitled " The Christian Baptist." He and his father, Thomas Camplicll, renounced the Presbyterian system, and were immersed, in the year 181-2. They, and the congregations which they had formed, united with the Redstone Baptist As- .sociation, protesting against all human creeds as bonds of union, and professing subjection to the Bible alone. This union took place in the year 1813. But, in pressing upon the attention of that society and the public the all-sulticiency of the sacred Scriptures for every thing necessary to the perfection of Christian character, — whether in tlie private or social relations of life, in the church, or in the world, — they began to lii' o|iposer| by a strong creed-party in that association. After some l(!n years' debating and contending for the Hilile alone, and the apostles' doctrine, Alexander Campbell, and the church to which lie beJongeil, united with the Mahoning association, in the Western Reserve of Ohio; that association being more favorable to his views of reform. In his debates on the subject and action of baptism with Mr. Walker, a seceding minister, in the year 1820. and with Mr. M'Calla, a Presbyterian minister of Kentucky, in the year 18'23, his views of reforma- tion began to be developed, and were very generally received by the Baptist society, as far as these works were read. But in his " Christian Baptist," which began July 4, 1823, his views of the need of reformation were more fully exposed ; and, as these gained ground by the pleading of various ministers of the Baptist de- nomination, a party in opposition lieuan to evert itself, and to op|K)se the spread of what they were pleased to call heterodoxy. But not till altergreat numbers began to act njion these principles, was there any attempt towards separation. Alter the .Mahoning association appointed Mr. Walter Scott, an evan- gelist, in the y(^ar 1827, and when gre it imiiilirrs began to be immersed into Christ, under his labors, and new churches began to Ix! erected iiy him and oihi r laborers in the field, did the Baptist associations be- gin to declare non-fellowship with the brethren of the reformation. Thus, by constraint, not of choice, they were obliged to form societies out of those communities that split, upon the ground of adherence to the apostles' doctrine. The distinguishing characteristics of their views and practices are the follow- ing :— They regard all the sects and parties of the Christian world as having, in greater or less degree, de- parted from the simplicity of faith and manners of the first ('liristians, and as forming what the apostle Paul calls '• the apostacy." This defection they attribute to the great varieties of speculation and meta- physical dogmatism of the countless creeds, formularies, liturgies, and books of discipline, adopted and inculcated as bonds of union, and platforms of communion in all the parties which have sprung from the Lutheran reformation. The effect of these synodical covenants, conventional articles of belief, and rules of ecclesiastical polity, has been the introduction of a new nomenclature. — a human vocabulary of reli- gious words, phrases, and technicalities, which has displaced the style of the living oracles, and affixed to the sacred diction ideas wholly unknown to the apostles of Christ. To remedy and obviate these aberrations, thiiy propose to ascertain from the Holy Scriptures, accord- ing to the commonly received and well-established rules of interpretation, the ideas attached to the lead- ing terms and sentences found in the Holy Scriptures, and then to use the words of the Holy Spirit in the ajiostolic acceptation of them. By thus expressing the ideas communicated by the Holy Spirit, in the terms and phrases learned from the apostles, and by avoiding the artificial and technical language of scholastic theology, they propose to restore a pure speech to the household of faith; and, by accustoming the family of God to use the lan- guage and dialect of the Heavenly Father, they expect tn promote the sanctificationof one another through the truth, and to terminate those discords and debates which have always originated from the words ■which man's wisdom teaches, and from a reverential regard and esteem for the .style of the great masters of polemic divinity; believing that speaking the sanife things in the same style, is the only certain way to thinking the same things. They make a very marked difference between faith and opinion ; between the testimony of God and the reasonings of men ; the words of the Spirit and liuman inferences. Faith in the testimony of God, and obedience to the commandments of .Icsas, are their bond of union, and not an agreement in any ab- stract views or opinions upon what is written or spoken by divine authority. Hence all the speculations, questions, debates of words, and abstract reasonings, loutid in human creeds, have no place in their reli- gions lellowship. lleijarding Calvinism and Arminianism, Trinitarianism and Unitarianism, and all the opposing theories of religious sectaries, as extremis begotten by each otlier, they cautiously avoid them, as ecjuidistant from the simplicity and practical tcnib-ncy of the promises and precepts, of the doctrine and facts, ol'the exhortations and precedents, of tlic Christian institution. They look tor unity of spirit and the bonrls of peace in the practical acknowledgment of one faith, one Lord, one immersion, one hope, one body, one Spirit, one God and Father of all; not in unity of opinions lior in unity of forms, ceremonies, or modes of worship. The Holy Scriptures of both Testaments they regard as containing revelations from God, and as all necessary to make the man of God perfect, and accomplished for every good word ;ind work ; the New Testament, or the living oracles of .lesus Christ, they understand as containing the Christian religion ; the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and .lohn, they view as illustrating and proving the great proposi- tion on which our religion rests, viz., that .Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the only begotten and well- beloved Son of God, and the only Saviour of the world ; the Acts of the Apostles as a divinely authorized narrative of the beginning and prosyess of the reign or kingdom of Jesus Christ, recording the full develop- ment of the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, and the procedure of the apostles in setting up the Church of Christ on earth; the Epistles as carrying out and applying the doctrine of the apostles to the practice of individuals and consregations, and as developing the tendencies of the gospel in the behavior of its professors; and all as torming a complete standard of Christian faith and morals, adapted to the interval between the ascension of Christ and his return with the kingdom which he has received from God ; the Apocalypse, or Revelation of Jesus Christ to John, in Patmos, as a figurative and pros- pective view of all th(! fortunes of Chri^;tianity, from its date to the return of the Saviour. Every one who sincerely believes the testimony which God gave of Jesus of Nazareth, saying, "This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight," or, in other words, believes what the evangelists and apos- tles have testified concerning him, froni his conception to his coronation in heaven as Lord of all, and 196 BROOKE COUNTY. who is willins to obey him in every thing, they regard as a proper siilijpct of immersion, and no one ehe. They consider immersion into the name of tin; Father, Son, and Holy t^[iiiit, alter a imlilir, sincere, nnil intellieent confession of the faith in Jesus, as necessary to admission to tlir privileges of llie kingdom of the INIessiah, and as a solenm pledge, on the part of Heaven, of the actual remission of all past sins, and of adoption into the family of God. The Holy i^piritis promised only to those who believe and obey the Saviour. No one is taught to ex- pect the reception of that heavenly ftlonitor and Comlijrter, as a resident in his heart, till he obeys the gOs[)el. Thus, while they proclaim faith and repentance, or faith and a change of heart, as preparatory to im- mersion, remissii)M, .ind ihe Holy Spirit, they say to all penitents, or all those who believe and repent of their sins, ,is I'ctir saiil to the tirst audience addressed after the Holy Spirit was bestowed, after the glori- fication of .K'sus, " )?e iiiiiriir-cil, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gilt of the Holy Spirit." They teach sinners that God conmiands all men, everywhere, to ret'orm, or tioii to (iod; that the Holy Spirit strives with them, so to do, by the apostles and i)rophets : tli;il ('.ih\ beseeclies tluiri to be reconciled, through Jesus Christ; and that it is the duty of all men toliclieve the gos|icl, and turn to God. The iiiiiiM iseil believers ,ire congregated into societies, according to their propinquity to each other, and taught to meet every fnst day of the week, in honor and connnemoratiou of the resurrection of Jesus, and to break the loaf, wbiili cDinmeniorates the death of the Son of God, to read and hear the living oracles, to teach and admonish one another, to unite in all prayer and praise, to contribute to the necessities of saints, and to |)erfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Every congregation chooses its own overseers and deacons, who preside over and administer the aflfairs of the congregations; and every church, either from itself, or in cooperation with others, sends ont, as opportunity oHers, one or more evangelists, or proclaimers of the word, to preach the word, and toinnuerse those who believe, togather congregations, and toe.ttend the knowledge of salvation where it is necessary, as faras their means allow. But every church regards these evangelists as its servants; and, therefore, they have no control over any congregation, each congregation being subject to its own choice of presi dents or elders, whom they have appointed. Perseverance in all the work of faith, labor of love, and pa- tience of hope, is inculcated, by all the disciples, as essential to admission into the heavenly kingdom. Such are the prominent outlines of the faith and practices of those who wish to be known as the Disci- ples of Christ ; but no society among them would agree to make the preceding items either a confession of tiiithora standard of practice, but, for the information of those who wish an acquaintance with them, are willing to give, at any time, a reason for their faith, hope, and practice. View of Wellsburg, Brooke County. Wellsburg, the seat of justice for the county, is beautifully situated on the Ohio River, 337 miles from Richmond and 16 above Wheeling. It is a thrivins:, business place, and contains 9 mercantile stores, 2 academies, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, 1 Christian Baptist, and 1 Episcopal church, 1 white Hint-glass works, 1 glass-cuttingestablish- ment, 1 paper-mill, 1 large cotton factory, 2 extensive potteries, 1 steam saw-mill, 5 large warehouses, 1 ne\yspaj)er printing-office, 6 extensive flouring-mills in it and the vicinity, 1 woollen factory, a branch of the N. W. A a. Bank, and a ])0))ulation of over 2,000. Inexhaustible beds of stone-coal abound on all sides of the place, which is furnished at a few cents per bushel to the numerous rnanu- BROOKE COUNTY. 197 factories located here. About 50,000 barrels of flour are annually exported from here to New Orleans, in steam and flat boats. Wellsburg was laid out in 178flf, by Charles Prather, the original proprietor, from whom it was named Charleston. There being two other towns in the state of a similar name, it was afterwards changed to its present name from Alexander Wells, who built a flour warehouse at the point, the first ever erected on the Ohio. The first settlers came belbre the revolution : they were three brothers, Isaac, George, and Friend Cox, who built a fort, as a protection against the Indians, about a mile above the village. Most of the early settlers were from New England. The inhabit- ants in the town and vicinity, at an early date, whose names are recollected, were Wm. M'Farland, Capt. Oliver Brown, Capt. Sam- uel Brown. Dr. .Joseph and Philip Dodridge, James and Thomas Marshall, Major M'Mahon, who was killed in Wayne's campaign, Samuel Brady, the famous Indian hunter, James and Hezekiah Griffeth, Isaac Reeves, and James Perry. About a mile below town, on the river, at a place now called Indian Side, a Mrs. Buskirk was killed and scalped by the Indians. The Mingo tribe of Indians had a settlement three miles above Wellsburg, on the opposite .side of the river. Philip Dodridge, who died at Washington, in 1832, while a member of Congress, was from Wellsburg. He was scarcely less celebrated in western Virginia, for his eloquence and splendid talents, than was Patrick Henry, in his day, in the oldest portions of the state. Dr. S. P. Hildreth, in the American Pioneer, has given the subjoined sketch : Mr. Dodridge, as is well known to the early inhabitants of western Pennsylvania and Virginia, was for many years one of the most noted men in that region, for hia splendid talents at the bar ; and lias probably never been excelled, if he has been equalled, for his discrimination in fathoming the depths of an intricate case, or his powerful and logical reasoning in unfolding it. Hi.s father was among the earliest set. tiers of northwestern Virginia, in the vicinity of what was then called Charleston, but now Wellsburg. His constitution being not very robust, at the age of sixteen or eighteen years he was taken from the plough, put to school, and commenced the study of Latin. His vigorous mind drank in knowledge with the rapidity of thought, or as a dry sponge absorbs water. It soon became a habit with him to exercise liis memory, in changing the com- mon conversation around liim info the idiom of his studies ; and following his father in his evening and morning devotions, he soon learned to render liis prayers into very good Latin, and to converse with his teacher fluently. This close application to his books, although it invigorated his mental powers, yet enfeebled his body, and it became neces, sary for a while to suspend his studies. At this period, the region in which he lived had become so much improved as to afford considerable surj)lus produce beyond the wants of the inhabitants, the only market for which was to be I'ound on the Mississippi River or at New Orleans. Some of his cousins, young men of his own age, having loaded a boat with flour, invited him to go with them, and recruit his enfeebled frame by a voyage to the south. Nothing very interesting occurred until they reached Natchez, at that time in the possession of the Spaniards. They were very strict in their police, forbidding any strangers or boatmen to go up into the town, seated on a high blutF, without a written permission from the commandant or governor of the place. Young Dodridge feeling the ill eflx:cts of confinement to the narrow limits of the boat, and that he needed exercise, determined to take a walk and visit the town on the hill. He had ascended about half way, when he was met by a well-dressed man, who accosted him in the Sjjanish language. Dodridge did not fully understand him, bi.it thought it similar to the Latin, and answered him in that tongue. It so happened that the individual who (71*) 198 BROOKE COUXTY. • addressed him was no less a personage than the governor of Natchez, and was wert versed in the Latin, having been liberally educated in Spain. They soon fell into a very familiar and animated discourse, witbgut Philip's once suspecting the station of his new acquaintance. Learning thit he had visited the IVIississippi country on account of his delicate health, and that he was now walking for exercise, after long confinement to the boat, and withal astonished and delighted to have discovered so learned a man in an up-country boatman, he invited him to his house. The sprightly wit and uncommon intellect of the young stranger soon won his whole heart, and interested the Spanish commandant deeply in his welfare. His admiration was not the less- excited, from having pointed out to iiim on a large map of the western country, which hung against the wall, the spot near the head of the Oliio River, where he was born, and from whence he departed on the present voyage. While thus agreeably engaged, a black servant drove up to the door with a neat Spanish carriage and pair of horses, accompanied with an invitation from the governor to step in and ride as far as he pleased. With many thanks, not the less acceptable to his benefactor from their being clothed in the Latin tongue, Philip accepted the offered kindness, and extended his ride to some distance around the suburbs of Natchez. VV^hen about to depart, he was i.ivited to call every day as long as he re- mained, and the carriage and servant should be ready for his service. This pleasing in- tercourse was continued for about a week ; and when he finally took his leave, the governor gave him letters of introduction to several of the first men in New Orleans, accompanied with many flattering expressions of his admiration for his uncommon ac- quirements, and the pleasure his acquaintance had afforded him ; thus demonstrating the homage that is ever paid by the wise and good to learning and worth, even when accompanied with poverty and among strangers. His companions looked with wonder and astouishment at the gracious reception and attention paid to their cousin by the governor, while they were barely allowed to step on shore, and not suffered to leave the vicinity of the landing. Philip laughingly told them it was all owing to his good looks, which they could hardly believe, as in this particular they were decidedly superior to their cousin. On reaching New Orleans, his letters procured him ready admission to the tables and the society of the most prominent men in the city ; and the few weeks he staid there were passed in a round of amusements, freely bestowed by the hospitable Span- iards. At liis departure they loaded him with their good wishes and assurances, that they should never forget his name, or the pleasure they had received from the brilliant sallies of his humor and wit. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Dodridge, a brother of the above, was an Episcopal clergyman, in Wellsburg. He was the author of the work, entitled, " Notes on the settlement and Indian Wars of the western parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania, from the year 1763 until the year 1783, inclusive, together with a view of the state of society and manners of the first settlers of that country." From this interesting and graphic volume, we have, in our work, made several extracts. We here present the reader with his de- scription of the weddings among the early pioneers : For a long time after the first settlement of this country, the inhabitants in general married young. There was no distinction of rank, and very little of fortune. On these accounts the first impression of love resulted in marriage ; and a family establishment cost but a little labor, and nothing else. A description of a wedding, from the beginning to the end, will serve to show the manners of our forefathers, and mark the grade of civilization which has succeeded to their rude state of society in the course of a few years. At an early period, the practice of celebrating the marriage at the house of the bride began, and, it should seem, with great propriety. She also had the choice of the priest to perform the peremony. A wedding engaged the attention of a whole neighborhood ; and the frolic was an. ticipated by old and young with eager expectation. This is not to be wondered at, when it is told that a wedding was almost the only gathering which was not accompanied with the labor of reaping, log-rolling, building a cabin, or planning some scout or campaign. In the morning of the wedding-day, the groom and his attendants assembled at the house of his father, for the purpose of reaching the mansion of his bride by noon, which BROOKE COUNTY. 199 was the usual time for celebrating the nuptials, which for certain must take place before dinner Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without a store, tailor, or mantua- maker, within a hundred miles ; and an assemblage of horses, without a blacksmith or saddler within an equal distance. The gentlemen dressed in shoe-packs, moccasins, leather breeches, leggins, linsey hunting-shirts, and all home-made. The bidies dressed in linsey petticoats, and linsey or linen bed-gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handker- chiefs, and buckskin gloves, if any. If there were any buckles, rings, buttons, or ruf- fles, they were the relics of old times ; family pieces, from parents or grand-parents. The horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles or halters, and pack-saddles, with a bag or blanket thrown over them ; a rope or string as often constituted the girth, as a piece of leather. The march, in double file, was often interrupted by the narrowness and obstructions of our horse-paths, as they were called, for we had no roads; and these difficulties were often increased, sometimes bv the good, and sometimes by the ill-will of neighbors, by falling trees, and tying grape-vines across the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was formed by the wayside, and an unexpected discharge of several guns took place, so as to cover the wedding-party with smoke. Let the reader imagine the scene which fol- lowed this discharge ; the sudden spring of the horses, the shrieks of the girls, and the chivalric bustle of their partners to save them from falling. Sometimes, in spite of all that could be done to prevent it, some were thrown to the ground. If a wrist, elbow, or ankle happened to be sprained, it was tied with a handkerchief, and little more was thought or said about it. Another ceremony commonly took place before the party reached the house of the bride, after the practice of making whiskey bf^gan, which was at an early period ; when the party were about a mile from the place of their destination, two young men would single out to run for the bottle ; the worse the path, the more logs, brush, and deep hollows, the better, as these obstacles afforded an opportunity for the greater display of intrepidity and horsemanship. The English fox-chase, in point of danger to the riders and their horses, is nothing to this race for the bottle. The start was announced by an Indian yell ; logs, brush, muddy hollows, hill and glen, were speedily passed by the rival ponies. The bottle was always filled for the occasion, so that there was no use for judges ; for the first who reached the door was presented with the prize, with which he returned in triumph to the company. On approaching them, he announced his victory over his rival by a shrill whoop. At the head of the troop, he gave the bottle first to the groom and his attendants, and then to each pair in succession to the rear of the line, giving each a dram ; and then putting the bottle in the bosom of his hunting-shirt, took his station in the company. The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which was a substantial back- woods feast, of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes venison and bear-meat, roasted and boiled, with plenty of potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables. During the dinner the greatest hilarity always prevailed, although the table might be a large slab of timber, hewed out with a broadaxe, supported by four sticks set in auger-holes ; and the furni- ture, some old pewter dishes and plates ; the rest, wooden bowls and trenchers ; a few pewter spoons, much battered about the edges, were to be seen at some tables. The rest were made of horns. If knives were scarce, the deficiency was made up by the scalping-knives, which were carried in sheaths suspended to the belt of the hunting-shirt. After dinner the dancing commenced, and generally lasted till the next morning. The figures of the dances were three and four-handed reels, or square setts and jigs. The commencement was always a square four, which was followed by what was called jigging it off; that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accompanied with what was called cutting out ; that is, when either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation the place was supplied by some one of the company without any interruption of the dance. In this way a dance was often continued till the musician was heartily tired of his situation. Towards the latter part of the night, if any of the company, through weari- ness, attempted to conceal themselves, for the purpose of sleeping, they were hunted up, paraded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to play, " Hang out till to-morrow morning." About nine or ten o'clock, a deputation of the young ladies stole off the bride, and put her to bed. 'In doing this, it frequently happened that they had to ascend a ladder instead of a pair of stairs, leading from the dining and ball-room to the loft, the floor of which was made of clapboards, lying loose, and without nails. As the foot of the ladder was commonly behind the door, which was p-urposely opened for the occasion, 200 BROOKE COUNTV. and its rounds at the inner ends were well hung; with huntingj-shirts, petticoats, and other articles of clotliinjj, the caudles being ou the opposite side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed but by few. Tliis done, a deputation of young men in like manner stole off the groom, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The dance still continued ; and if scats happened to be scarce, which was often the case, every young man, when not engaged in the dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls ; and the offer was sure to be accepted. In the midst of this hilarity the bride and groom were not forgotten. Pretty late in the night, some one would re- mind the company that the new couple must jtand in need of some refreshment ; black Betty, which was the name of the bottle, was called for, and sent up the ladder ; but sometimes black Betty did not go alone. I have many times seen as much bread, beef, pork, and cabbage, sent along with her, as would afford a good meal for half a dozen hungry men. The young couple were compelled to eat and drink, more or less, of whatever was offered them. It often happened that some neighbors or relations, not being asked to the wedding, took offence ; and the mode of revenge adopted by them on such occasions, was that of cutting off the manes, foretops, and tails of the horses of the wedding company. On returning to the infare, the order of j)rocession, and the race for black Betty, was the same as before. The feasting and dancing often lasted for several days, at the end of which the whole company were so exhausted with loss of sleep, that several days rest wer^ recjuisite to fit them to return to their ordinary labors. Should I be asked why I have presented this unpleasant portrait of the rude manners of our forefathers — I in my turn would ask my reader, why are you pleased with the his- tories of the blood and carnage of battles ? Why are you delighted with the fictions of poetry, the novel, and romance ? I have related truth, and only truth, strange as it may seem. I have depicted a state of society and manners which are fast vanishing from the memory of man, with a view to give the youth of our country a knowledge of the advantages of civilization, and to give contentment to the aged, by preventing them from saying, " that former times were better than the present." Capt. Samuel Brady resided at one time at Wellsburg. He was tall, rather slender, and very active, and of a dark complexion. When in the forest, engaged in war or hunting, he usually wore, instead of a hat, a black handkerchief bound around his head. He bore towards the Indians an implacable hatred, in consequence of the murder of his father and brother by them, and took a solemn oatJi of vengeance. Gen. Hugh Brady, of the U. S. army, is either a brother or nephew of him. He was at the siego of Boston; a lieutenaut at the massacre of Paoli ; and in 1779-S0-81, while Gen. Broadhead held command at Fort Pitt, was captam of a company of rangers. To fully detail his adventures would require a volume, and we have space but for a few anecdotes, drawn from various sources, illustrative of his courage and sagacity, A party of Indians having made an inroad into the Sewickly settlement, and com- mitted barbarous murders and carried off some prisoners, Brady set otT in pursuit with only five men and his pet Indian. He came up with them, and discovered they wereen- campedon the banks of the Mahoning. Having reconnoitred their position, Brady returned to and posted his men, and in the deepest silence all awaited the break of day. When it appeared, the Indians arose and stood around their fires; exulting, doubtless, in the scalps they had taken, the plunder they had ac(iiured, and the injury they had inflicted on their enemies. Precarious joy — short-lived triumph ! The avenger of blood was beside them ! At a signal given, seven rifles cracked, and five Indians were dead ere they fell. Brady's well-known war-cry was heard, his party was among them, and their guns (mostly empty) were all secured. The remaining Indians instantly fled and disappeared. Brady being out with his party, on one occasion had reached Slippery Rook Creek, a branch of the Beaver, without seeing signs of Indians. Here, however, he came on an Indian trail in the evening, which he followed till dark without overtaking the In- dians. The next morning he renewed the pursuit, and overtook them while they were engaged at their morning meal. Unfortunately for him, another party of Indians were in his rear. They had fallen upon his trail, and pursued him, doubtless, with as much ardor as his pursuit had been characterized by ; and at the moment he lired upon the Indians in his front, he was, in turn, fired upon by those in his rear. He was now be- tween two fires, and vastly outnumbered. Two of his meu fell ; his tomahawk was sliot from Ills side, and the battle-yell was given by the party in his rear, and loudly re- turned and repeated by those in his front. There was no time for hesitation ; no safety BROOKE COUNTY. . 201 in delay ; no chance of successful defence in their present position. The brave captain and liis rangers had to flee before their enemies, who pressed on tlieir flying: footsteps with no lagging speed. Brady ran towards the creek. He was known by many, if not all of them; and many and deep were the scores to be settled between him and them. They knew the country well : he did not ; and from his running towards the creek they were certain of taking him prisoner. The creek was, for a long distance above and be- low the point he was approacliing, washed in its channel to a great depth. In the cer- tain expectation of catching him tlicre, the private soldiers of his party were disregarded ; and throwing down their guns, and drawing their tomahawks, all pressed forward to seize tlieir victim. Quick of eye, fearless of heart, and determined never to be a captive to tlie Indians, Brady comprehended their object, and his only chance of escape, the moment he saw the creek ; and by one mighty effort of courage and activity, defeated the one and effected the other. He sprang across the abyss of waters, and stood, rifle in hand, on the opposite bank, in safety. As quick as lightning his rifle was primed ; for it Was his invariable practice in loading to prime first. The next minute the pow- der-horn was at the gun's muzzle ; when, as he was in this act, a large Indian, who had been ibremost in the pursuit, came to the opposite bank, and with the manliness of a generous foe, who scorns to undervalue the qualities of an enemy, said in a loud voice, and tolerable English," Blady make good jump !" It may indeed be doubted whether the compliment was uttered in derision ; for the moment he had said so betook to his heels, and, as if fearful of the return it might merit, ran as crooked as a worm-fence — some- times leaping high, at others suddenly squatting down, he appeared no way certain that Brady would not answer from the lips of his rifle. But the rifle was not yet loaded. The captain was at the place afterwards, and ascertained that his leap was about 23 feet, and that the water was 20 feet deep. Brady's next effort was to gather up hia men. They had a place designated at which to meet, in case they should happen to be separated ; and thither he went, and found the other three there. They immediately commenced their homeward march, and returned to Pittsburg about half defeated. Three Indians had been seen to fall from the fire they gave them at breakfast. In Sept., 1782, immediately after the Indians had been defeated in their attempt to take the fort at Wheeling, they sent 100 pick- ed warriors to take Rice's Fort, which was situated on Buffalo Creek, about 12 or 15 miles from its mouth. This fort* consisted of some cabins and a small blockhouse, and, in dangerous times, was the refuge of a few families in the neighborhood. * " The reader will understand by this term, not only a place of defence, but the residence of a small number of families belonging to the same neighborhood. As the Indian mode of warfare was an indiscriminate slaughter of all ages, and both sexes, it was as requisite to provide for the safety of the women and children as for that of the men. " The fort consisted of cabins, blockhouses, and stockades. A range of cabins com- monly formed one side at least of the fort. Divisions, or partitions of logs, separated the cabins from each other. The walls on the outside were tenor twelve feet high, the slope of the roof being turned wholly inward. A very few of these cabins had puncheon floors, the greater part were earthen. The blockhouses were built at the angles of the fort. They projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches every way larger in dimension than the under one, leaving an opening at the commencement of the .second story to prevent the enemy from making a lodgment under their walls. In some forts, instead of block- houses, the angles of the fort were furnished with bastions. A large folding gate, made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins, and blockhouse walls, were furnished with port-holes at proper heights and distances. The whole of the outside was made completely bullet-proof. " It rnay be truly said that necessity is the mother of invention ; for the whole of this work was made without the aid of a single nail or spike of iron ; and for this reason, such things were not to be had. In some places, less exposed, a single blockhouse, with a cabin or two, constituted the whole fort. Such places of refuge may appear very trifling to those who have been in the habit of seeing the formidable military garrisons of Europe and America ; but they answered the purpose, as the Indians had no artillery. They seldom attacked, and scarcely ever took one of them." — Dodridge's Notes. 26 202 BOTETOURT COUNTY. The Indians surrounded the fort at nig-lit ere they were discovered, and soon made an attack, which continued at intervals until 2 o'clock in the morning. In the intervals of the firing- the Indians frequently called out to the people of the fort, " Give up, give up, too many Indian. Indian too big. No kill." They were answered with defiance. " Come on, you cowards ; we are ready for you. Show us your yellow hides and we will make holes in them for you." They were only six men in the fort, yet such was their skill and bravery, that the Indians were finally obliged to retreat with the loss of a number of their men. " Thus was this little place defended by a Spartan band of six men, against 100 chosen warriors, exasperated to madness by their failure at Wheeling Fort. Their names shall be inscribed in the list of the heroes of our early times. They were Jacob Miller, George Lefier, Peter Fullenweider, Daniel Rice, George Felebaum, and Jacob Letler, jun. George Felebaum was shot in the forehead, through a port-hole at tlie second fire of the Indians, and instantly expired, so that in reality the defence of the place was made by only five men." BOTETOURT. Botetourt was formed in 1769 from Augusta, and named from Gov. Botetourt. Its length is 44 miles, with mean breadth of 18 miles. The Blue Ridge forms its e. boundary, and much of the county is mountainous. The James River runs through the n. part. Much of the soil is fertile. Fincastle from Grove Hill. FiNCASTLE, the county-seat, lies 175 miles west of Richmond. This town was established by law in 1772, on forty acres given for the pur- pose by Israel Christian, and named after the seat of Lord Bote- tourt in England. It is compactly built in a beautiful roiling country. It contains 5 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 2 academies ; 1 Presbyterian, 1 Bapti.st, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Methodist church ; and a population of about 700. The above view shows the principal part of the village as it appears from Anderson's or Grove Hill. The public building on the left is the Episcopal, and that on the right the Presbyterian church. The BOTETOURT COUNTV. 203 North mountain, 5 miles distant, appears in the background. Pattonsburg and Buchanon lie immediately opposite each other, on the James River, 12 miles n. of Fincastle. They are connected together by a fine bridge, and in a general description would be considered as one village. They are beautifully situated in a val- ley, between the Blue Ridge and Purgatory mountain, at the head of navigation on James River, though in high water, batteaux go up as far as Covington in Alleghany co. These villages were in- corporated in 1832-3, and contain at present 1 newspaper printing office, a branch of the Va. bank, 5 stores, a tobacco inspection, 2 tobacco factories ; 1 Free, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Episcopal church ; and a population of about 450. Eventually the James River Canal will pass through here to Covington, and probably a mac- adamized road from Staunton to Knoxville, Tennessee. Dagger's Springs are situated in the northern part of the county, near the James River, 18 miles from Fincastle, 16 from Buchanon, 22 from Lexington. The scenery in the vicinity is very fine. Some years since extensive improvements were made there for the accom- modation of the guests. " The most active mineral ingredients in the water are carbonated alkalies. In this it differs materially from the White and Salt Sulphur, and is more nearly assimilated in its qualities to the Red and Gray Sulphur. It is, however, more decidedly alkaline than either of those springs. This peculiarity will ever recommend it to persons subject to acidities of the stomach, and to the other concomitants of dys- pepsia, while the large quantity of hydrogen that it contains will render it useful in all of those com- plaints for which sulphur-water is usually prescribed." At the small village of Amsterdam, 5 miles s. of Fincastle, there is a large brick church, lately built by the Dunkards. The Bun- kers at Amsterdam are descendants of Germans who emigrated to Pennsylvania. The following, regarding the tenets and practices of this sect, is from a published account : The Tunkers are a denomination of Seventh-Day Baptists, which took its rise in the year 1724. It was founded by a German, who, weary of the world, retired to an agreeable solitude, within sixty miles of Philadelphia, for the more free exercise of religious contemplation. Curiosity attracted followers, and his simple and engaging maraiers made them proselytes. They soon settled a little colony, called Ephrata, in allusion to the Hebrews, who used to sing psalms on the border of the river Euphrates. This denom- ination seem to have obtained their name from their baptizing their new converts by plunging. They are also called T«??iWc7-s, from the manner in which they perform baptism, which is by putting the person, while kneeling, head first under water, so as to resemble the motion of the body in the action of tuujbling. They use the trine inunersion, with laying on the hands and prayer, even whf-n the person baptized is in the water. Their habit seems to be peculiar to themselves, consisting of a long tunic or coat, reaching down to their heels, with a sash or girdle round the waist, and a cap or hood hanging from the shoulders. They do not shave the head or beard. The men and women have separate habitations and distinct governments. For these purposes, they erected two large wooden buildings, one of which is occupied by the brethren, the other by the sisters of the society; and in each of them there is a banqueting-room, and an apartment for public worship; for the brethren and sisters do not meet together even at their devotions. .They used to live chiefly upon roots and other vegetables, the rules of their society not allowing them flesh, except upon particular occasions, when they hold what they call a love-feast; at which time the brethren and sisters dine together in a large apartment, and eat mutton, but no other meat. In each of their little cells they have a bench fixed, to serve the purpose of a bed, and a small block of wood for a pillow. Tliey allow of marriages, but consider celibacy as a virtue. The principal tenet of the Tunkers appears to be this — that future happiness is only to be obtained by penance and outward mortifications in this life, and that, as Jesus Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became the Redeemer of mankind in general, so each individual of the human race, by a life of absti- nence and restraint, may work out his own salvation. Nay, they go so far as to admit of works of super- erogation, and declare that a man may do much more than he is in justice or equity obliged to do, and that his superabundant works may, therefore, be applied to the salvation of others. This denomination deny the eternity of future punishments, and believe that the dead have the gospel preached to them by our Saviour, and that the souls of the just are employed to preach the gospel to those who have had no revelation in this life. They suppose the Jewish Sabbath, sabbatical year, and year of jubilee, are typical of certain periods after the general judgment, in which the souls of those who are not then admitted into happiness are purified from their corruption. If any, within those smaller periods, are so far himibled as to acknowledge the perfections of God, and to own Christ as their only Saviour, they are received to felicity; while those who continue obstinate are reserved in torments, until the grand period, typified by the jubilee, arrives, in which aL shall be made happy in the endless fruition of th^ Deity. 204 BOTETOURT COUNTY. They also deny the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity. They disclaim violence, even in cases of self-defence, and suiter tlieniselves to he defrauded, or wronged, rather tiian go to law. Their church govermiient and discipline are the same with other Baptists, e.xcept tliat every brother is allowed to speak in the congregation ; and their best speaker is usually ordained to be the minister. They have deacons and deaconesses from among their ancient widows and exhorters, wiio are all licensed to use their gifts statedly. Tlie Tunkers are not so rigid in their dress and manner of life as formerly; still they retain the faiih of their fathers, and lead lives of great industry, frugality, and purity. , * In 1701, about sixty Shawanee warriors penetrated the settle- ments on James River, committed several murders, and carried off several prisoners, among whom were Mrs. Renix and her five children. The Indians were overtaken in their retreat by a party of whites, and nine of their number killed, after which they pro- ceeded towards their villages without further molestation. The remainder of the story is given by Withers : In Boquet's treaty with the Ohio Indians, it was stipulated that the whites detained by them in cap- tivity were to be brought in and redeemed. In compliance with this stipulation, Mrs. Renix was brought to Staunton in 1707 and ransomed, together with two of her sons, Williain,.the iate Col. Renix, of Green- brier, and Robert, also of Greenbrier — Betsy, her daughter, had died on the Miami. Thomas returned in 1783, but soon after removed, and settled on the Scioto, near Chilicothe. Joshua never came back ; he took an Indian wife, and became a chief among the Miamies — he amassed a considerable fortune, and died near Detroit in 1810. Hannah Dennis was separated from the other captives, and allotted to live at the Chilicothe towns. She learned their language, painted herself as they do, and in many respects conformed to their maimers and customs. She was attentive to sick persons, and was highly esteemed by the Indians, as one well skilled in the art of curing diseases. Finding them very superstitious, and believers in necromancy, she professed witchcraft, and alfected to be a prophetess. In this manner she conducted herself till she be- came so great a favorite with them that they gave her full liberty, and honored her as a queen. Not- withstanding this, Mrs. Dennis was always determined to effect her escape, when a favorable opportunity should occur ; and having remained so lung with them, apparently well satisfied, they ceased to entertain any suspicions of such a design. In June, 17G3, she left tiie Chilicothe towns, ostensililij to procure herbs for medichial purposes, (as she had before frequently done,) but real/yUt attempt an escitpe. As she did not return that night her inten- tion became suspected, and in tlie morning some warriors were sent in pursuit of her. In order to leave as little trail as possible, she had crossed the Scioto River three times, and was just getting over the fourth time, 40 miles below the town, when she was discovered by her pursuers. They tired at her across the river without effect; but, in endeavoring to make a rapid flight, she had one of her feet severely cut by a sharp stone. The Indians then rushed across the river to overtake and catch her, but she eluded them by crawling Into the hollow limb of a large fallen sycamore. They searched around for her some time, frequently stepping on the log which concealed her, and encamped near it that night. On the next day they went on to the Ohio River, but finding no trace of her, they returned home. Mrs. Dennis remained at that place three days, doctoring her wound, and then set off for home. She crossed the Ohio River, at the mouth of Great Kenawha, on a log of drift-wood, travelling only during the niglit for fear of discovery. She subsisted on roots, herbs, green grapes, wild cherries, and river mus- sels — and, entirely exhausted by fatigue and hunger, sat down by the side of Greenbrier River, with no expectation of ever proceeding further. In this situation she was found by lliomas Athol and three others from Clendennin's settlement, which she had passed without knowing it. She had been then upwards of twenty days on her disconsolate journey, alone, on foot; but, till tlien, cheered with the hope of again being with her friends. She was taken back to Clendennin's, where they kindly ministered to her, till she became so far invigor ated as to travel on horseback, with an escgrt, to Fort Young on Jackson's River, from whence she was carried home to her relations. , Gen. Andrew Levv^is resided on the Roanoke, in this county. He was one of the six sons of that Lewis who, with Mackey and Sal- ling, had been foremost in settling Augusta co., and the most dis- tinguished of a family who behaved so bravely in defending tlie infant settlements against the Indians. In Braddock's war, he was in a company in which were all his brothers, the elde.st, Samuel Lewis, being the captain. This corps distinguished themselves at Braddock's defeat. They, with some otlier of the Virginia troops, were in the advance, and the first attacked by the enemy. Severed from the rest of the army, thej' cut their way through the enemy to their companions, with the loss of many men. His conduct at Major Grant's defeat, in his attack upon Fort Duquesne, acquired for him the highest reputa- tion for prudence and courage. He was at this time a major. In this action, the Scotch Highlanders, under Grant, were surrounded by the Indians ; when the work of death went on quite rapidly, and in a mariner quite novel to the Highlanders, who, in all their European wars, had never before seen men's heads skinned. When Major Lewis was advancing to the relief of Grant with his 200 provincials, he met one of the Highland- ers under speedy flight, and inquiring of him how the battle was goiiig, he said they BRUNSWICK COUNTY. 206 were " a' beaten, and he had seen Donald M'Donald up to his hunkers in mud, and a' the skeen af his heed." Bolh Lewis and Grant were made prisoners. Before Lewis was taken into the fort, he was stripped of all his clothes but his shirt. An elderly Indian insisted upon having that ; but he resisted, with the tomahawk drawn over hia head, until a French officer, by signs, requested him to deliver it, and then took him to his room, and gave him a complete dress to put on. While they were prisoners, Grant addressed a letter to Gen. Forbes, attributing their defeat to Lewis. This letter being inspected by the French, who knew the falsehood of the charge, they handed it to Lewis. He waited upon Grant,* and challenged him. Upon Iiis refusal to fight, he spat in his face in the presence of the French officers, and then left him to reflect upon his baseness. Major Lewis was with Washington July 4, 1754, at the capitulation of Fort Necessity, when, by the articles agreed upon, the garrison was to retire and return without molestation to the inhabited parts of the country ; and the French commander promised tbat no embarrassment should be interposed either by his own men or the savages. While some of the soldiers of each army were intermixed, an Irishman, ex- asperated with an Indian near him, " cursed the copper-colored scoundrel," and raised his musket to shoot him. Lewis, who had been twice wounded in the engagement, and was then hobbling on a staff, raised the Irishman's gun as he was in the act of firing, and thus not only saved the life of the Indian, but probably prevented a general massa- cre of the Virginia troops. He was the commander and general of the Virginia troops it the battle of Point Pleasant, (see Mason co.,) fought the 10th of May, 1774. In this campaign the Indians were driven west of the Ohio. Washington, in whose regiment Lewis had once been a major, had formed so high an opinion of his bravery and military skill, that, at the commencement of the revolutionary war, he was induced to recom- mend him to Congress as one of the major-generals of the American army — a recom- mendation which was slighted, in order to make room for Gen. Stephens. It is also said, that when Washington was commissioned as commander-in-chief, he expressed a wish that the appointment had been given to Gen. Lewis. Upon this slight in the ap- pointment of Stephens, Washington wrote to Gen. Lewis a letter, which is published in his correspondence, expressive of his regret at the course pursued by Congress, and promising that he should be promoted to the first vacancy. At his solicitation, Lewis accepted the commission of brigadier-general, and was soon after ordered to the com- mand of a detachment of the army stationed near Williamsburg. He commanded the Virginia troops when Lord Dunmore was driven from Gwynn's Island, in 1776, and announced his orders for attacking the enemy by putting a match to the first gun, an eighteen pounder, himself. Gen. Lewis resigned his command in 1780 to return home, being seized ill with a fever. He died on his way, in Bedford co., about 40 miles from his own house on the Roanoke, lamented by all acquainted with his meritorious services and superior qualities. " Gen. Lewis," says Stuart, in his Historical Memoir, " was upwards of six feet high, of uncommon strength and agility, and^ his form of the most exact symmetry. He had a stern and invincible countenance, and was of a reserved and distant deport- ment, which rendered his presence more awful than engaging. He was a commissioner, with Dr. Thomas Walker, to hold a treaty, on behalf of the colony of Virginia, with the six nations of Indians, together with the commissioners from Pennsylvania, New York, and other eastern provinces, held at Fort Stanevix, in the province of New York, in the year 1768. It was then remarked by the governor of New York, that ' the earth seemed to tremble under him as he walked along.' His independent spirit despised sycophantic means of gaining popularity, which never rendered more than his merits ex. torted." BRUNSWICK. Brunswick was formed, in 1720, from Surry and Isle of Wight. It is nearly a square of 26 miles on a side. The southwest angle * This was the same Col. Grant who, in 1775, on the floor of the British Parliament, said that he had often acted in the same service with the Americans — that he knew them well, and, from that knowledge, ventured to predict " that they would never dara fece an English army, as being destitute of every requisite to constitute good soldiers." (18) 206 BUCKINGHAM COUNTY. touches the Roanoke, and a small section is drained by that stream ; but the bod}^ of the county is comprised in the valleys of Meherrin and Nottoway Rivers and declines to the east. Large quantities of tobacco and corn are raised, together with some cotton. Pop. 1830, 15,770; 1840, whites 4,978, slavey 8,805, free colored 503; total, 14,346. Lawrenceville, the county-seat, is 73 miles w. of s. from Rich- mond. It is a neat village, pleasantly situated on a branch of Meherrin River, and contains 2 churches and about 25 dwellings. Lewisville contains about 15 dwellings. In the upper end of the county, in the vicinity of Avant's and Taylor's creeks, have been found many Indian relics, and this por- tion of the county yet shows traces of having been inhabited by Indians. It is supposed that when the country was first settled, there was a frontier fort, or trading establishment, a few miles below Pennington's Bridge, on the Meherrin : an iron cannon now lies on a hill near the spot, and in the neighborhood runs a road, called to this day " the fort road." There are also excavations in the earth constructed for wolf-pits, by the early settlers. Tradi- tion says they were formed in the following manner : A hole was dug ten or twelve feet deep, small at the top, and growing wider on all sides as it descended, sloping inwards so much that no beast could climb up. Two sticks were fastened together in the middle at right angles ; the longer one confined to the ground, and the shorter — to the inner end of which was attached the bait — swing- ing across the middle of the pit, so that when the wolf attempted to seize it, he was precipitated to the bottom. BUCKINGHAM. Buckingham was formed in 1761, from Albemarle. It is 34 miles long, with a mean breadth of 24, The James River runs on its N. and w. and the Appomattox on its s. boundary. Willis' and Slate Rivers rise in the south part. On the margin of the streams the land is fertile, but the intervening ridges are frequently sterile and desolate, and in many sections uninhabited. The surface is generally level, and the only mountain of note is Willis', from which is an almost uninterrupted prospect over a vast extent of level country. The Buckingham White Sulphur Spring is 12 miles SE. of the court-house, and there are also one or two other mineral springs in the county, none of which have as yet attained any celebrity. Buckingham is rich in minerals ; some dozen gold mines have been in operation, only three or four of which have proved profitable. Limestone found in the county is beginning to be used in agriculture, and iron ore abounds. Upon Hunt's Creek, within 2 miles of James River Canal, is an inexhaustible slate quarry of superior quality. The principal literary institutions of BUCKINGHAM COUNTY. 207 the county are a Collegiate Institute for females, under the patron- age of the Methodist church, and the Slate River Academy, which has two professors, and is liberally supported. Tobacco, corn, w^heat, and oats, are the principal products. Pop. 1830, 18,351; 1840, whites 7,323, slaves 10,014, free colored 449 ; total, 18,780. Maysville, the county-seat, 79 miles west of Richmond, near the centre' of the county, on Slate River, 26 miles from its junction with the James, is a neat village, containing 1 church, 4 stores, ' and about 200 inhabitants. New Canton contains about 40 dwell- ings. Curdsville, a flourishing village, has I Episcopal church, 6 stores, and about 250 inhabitants. Peter Francisco, a soldier of the Revolution, and celebrated for his personal strength, lived and raised his family in Buckingham, where he died a few years since. His origin was obscure. He supposed that he was a Portuguese by birth, and that he was kidnap, ped when an infant, and carried to Ireland. He had no recollection of his parents, and the first knowledge he preserved of himself was in that country when a small boy. Hearing much of America, and being of an adventurous turn, he indented himself to a sea-captain for seven years, in payment for his passage. On his arrival he was sold to Anthony Winston, Esq., of this county, on whose estate he labored faithfully until the breaking out of the revolution. He was then at the age of 16, and partaking of the patriotic enthusiasm of the times, he asked and obtained permission of his owner to enlist in the continental army. At the storming of Stony-Point, he was the first sol. dier, after Major Gibbon, who entered the fortress, on which occasion he received a bayonet wound in the thigh. He was at Brandywine, Monmouth, and other battles at the north, and was transferred to the south under Greene, where he was engaged in the actions of the Cowpens, Camden, Guilford Court-House, (fcc. He was a very brave man, and possessed such confidence in his prowess as to be almost fearless. He used a sword havmg a blade five feet in length, which he could wield as a feather, and every swordsman who came in contact with him, paid the forfeit of his life. His services were so distinguished, that he would have been promoted to an office had he been ena- bled to write. His stature was 6 feet and an inch, and his weight 260 pounds. His complexion was dark and swarthy, features bold and manly, and his hands and feet un- commonly large. Such was his personal strength, that he could easily shoulder a cannon weighing 1100 pounds ; and our informant, a highly respectable gentleman now resid- ing in this county, in a communication before us, says : " he could take me in his right hand and pass over the room with me, and play my head against the ceiling, as though I had been a doll-baby. My weight was 195 pounds!" Tlie following anecdote, illus- trative of Francisco's valor, has often been published : — " W^liile the British army were spreading Jiavoc and desolation all around them, by their plunderings and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, Francisco had been reconnoitring, and while stopping at the house of a Mr. V- , then in Amelia, now Notlov/ay county, nine- of Tarleton's cavalry came up, with three negroes, and told him he was tiieir pris- oner. Seeing he was overpowered by numbers, he made no resistance. Believing him to be very peaceable, they all went into the house, leaving him and the paymaster to- gether. ' Give up instantly all that you possess of value,' said the latter, ' or prepare to die.' ' I have nothing to give up,' said Francisco, ' so use your pleasure.' ' Deliver in- stantly,' rejoined the soldier, ' those massy silver buckles which you wear in your shoes.' ' They were a present from a valued friend,' replied Francisco, ' and it would grieve me to part with them. Give them into your hands I never will. You have the power ; take them, if you think fit.' The soldier put his sabre under his arm, and bent down to take them. Francisco, finding so favorable an opportunity to recover his liberty, stepped one pace in his rear, drew the sword with force from under his arm, and in- stantly gave him a blow across the scull. ' My enemy,' observed Francisco, ' was brave, and though severely wounded, drew a pistol, and, in the same moment that he pulled the trigger, I cut his hand nearly oft'. The bullet grazed my side. .Ben V "■■■. (the man of the house) very ungenerously brought out a musket, and gave it to one of the British soldiers, and told him to make use of that. He mounted the only horse they could get, and presented it at my breast. It missed fire. I rushed on the muzzle of the gun. A short struggle, ensued. I disarmed and wounded him. Tarleton's troop 208 BUCKINGHAM COUNTY. of four hundred men were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, which I increased bj repeatedly hallooing, as loud as I could, Come on, my brave boys; now's your time; we will soon dispatch these few, and then attack the inain body ! The wounded man Francisco's Encounter with Nine British Dragoons. [This representation of Peter Francisco's gallant action with nine of Tarleton's cavalry, in sight of a troop of 400 men, which took place in Amelia county, Virginia, 1781, is respectfully inscribe(i to him, by James Webster and James VVarrell.— Published Dec. 1st, 1814, by James Webster of Pennsylvania.] flew to the troop ; the others were panic struck, and fled. I seized V« , and would have dispatched him, but the poor wretch begged for his life ; lie was not only an ob- ject of my contempt, but pity. The eight horses that were left behind, I gave him to conceal for me. Discovering Tarleton had dispatched ten more in pursuit of me, I made off. I evaded their vigilance. They stopped to refresh themselves. I, like an old fox, doubled, and fell on their rear. I went the next day to W for my hojrses ; he demanded two, for his trouble and generous intentions. Finding my situation dan- gerous, and surrounded by enemies where I ought to have found friends, I went off with my six horses. I intended to have avenged myself of V "••" at a future day, but Prov- idence ordained I should not be his executioner, for he broke his neck by a fall from one of the very horses.' " Several other anecdotes are related of the strength and bravery of Francisco. At Gates' defeat at Camden, after running some distance along a road, he took to the woods and sat down to rest ; a British trooper came up and ordered him to surrender. With feigned humility, he replied lie would, and added, as his musket was empty, he had no further use for it. He tiien carelessly presented it sideways, and thus throwing the sol- dier off his guard, he suddenly levelled the piece, and driving the bayonet through his ab- domen, hurled him off his horse, mounted it, and continued his retreat. Soon he overlook his colonel, William Mayo, of Powhatan, who was on foot. Francisco generously dis- mounted and gave up the animal to his retreating officer, for which act of kindness tlie colonel subsequently presented him with a thousand acres of land in Kentucky. Francisco possessed strong natural sense, and an amiable disposition. He was, withal, a companionable man, and ever a welcome visitor in the first families in this region of the state. He was industrious and temperate, and always advocated the part of the weak CABELL COUNTY. 209 and unprotected. On occasions of outbreaks at public gatherings, he was better in rush- ing- in and preserving public peace, than all the conservative authorities on the ground. Late in life, partly through the influence of his friend, Chas. Yancey, Esq., he was ap. pointed sergeaut-at-arms to the House of Delegates, in which service he died, in 1836, and was interred with military honors in the public burying-ground at Richmond. CABELL. Cabell was created in 1809, from Kanawha, and named from Wm. H. Cabell, Gov. of Va., from 1805 to 1808. It is 35 miles long, with a mean breadth of 20 miles. A considerable portion of the county is wild and uncultivated, and somewhat broken. The river bottoms are fertile, and settled upon. Pop. 1830, 5,884 ; 1840, whites 7,574, slaves 567, free colored 22 ; total, 8,103. Barbours- ville,the county-seat, lies on the Guyandotte river, 7 1-2 miles from its mouth, and 352 miles wnvv. of Richmond. The turnpike, lead- ing from the eastern part of the state, by the great watering-place, to the Kentucky line, passes through this village, which contains about 30 dwellings. Guyandotte lies on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Guyandotte River. It is much the most important point of steamboat embarkation, as well as debarkation, in western Vir- ginia, with the exception of Wheeling. It is a flourishing village, containing 1 church, G or 8 stores, a steam saw-mill, and a popula- tion of about 800. Cabell county was settled at a comparatively late period. Thomas Ilannon was one of the earliest settlers, having removed, in 1796, from Botetourt county to Green Bottom, about 18 miles above Guyandotte, when the first permanent settlement was made. Soon after Guyandotte was settled, at which place Thomas Buf- fington was one of the earliest settlers. A portion of the beautiful flatlalid of what is called Green Bot- tom, lying partly in this and Mason county, a few years since, be- fore the plough of civilization had disturbed the soil, presented one of those vestiges of a city which are met with in central America, and occasionally in the southern and western forests of the United States. The traces of a regular, compact, and populous city with streets running parallel with the Ohio River, and crossing and in- tersecting each other at right angles, covering a space of nearly half a mile, as well as the superficial dimensions of many of the houses, are apparent, and well defined. Axes and saws of an unique form — the former of iron, the latter of copper — as well as other implements of the mechanic arts, have been found. These remains betoken a state of comparative civilization, attained by no race of the aborigines of this country now known to have exist- ed. Who they were, or whence they sprung, tradition has lost in the long lapse of ages. It is a singular fact, that these remains are rarely, if ever, found elsewhere than upon the river bottoms, or flat level lands. 27 (18*) 210 CAMPBELL COUNTY. CAMPBELL.' Campbell was formed from Bedford in 1784. and named in honor of Gen. William Campbell, a distinguished officer of the American revolution. In form, it approximates to a square of about 25 miles on a side ; its surface is broken, and its soil productive. Staunton River runs on its s., and the James on its n\v. bound- ary ; both of these streams are navigable for boats far above the county limits, thus opening a communication with Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. Pop. 1830, 20,330; 1840, whites 10,213, slaves 10,045, free colored 772 ; total, 21,030. Besides the large and flourishing town of Lynchburg, there are in the county several small villages, viz.: Campbell C. IL, 12 miles s. of Lynchburg, Brookneal, Leesville, and New London. Lynchburg, the fifth town in population in Virginia, i^ situated on a steep declivity on the south bank of James River, in the midst of bold and beautiful scenery, within view of the Blue Ridge and the Peaks of Otter, and 116 miles westerly from Richmond. This town was established in October, 1780, when it was enacted " that 45 acres of land, the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's Ferry, are hereby vested in John Clarke, Adam Clement, Charles Lynch, John Callaway, Achilles Douglass, William Martin, Jesse Burton, Joseph Stratton, Micajah Moor- man, and Charles Brooks, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or any six of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Lynchburg." The father of the above-mentioned John Lynch was an Irish emigrant, and took up land here previous to the revolution. His place, then called Chesnut Hill, afterwards the seat of Judge Edmund Wins- ton, was two miles below here. At his death the present site of Lynchburg fell to his son John, by whose exertions the town was established. The original founder of Lynchburg was a member of the denomination of Friends, and a plain man, of strict integrity and great benevolence of character. He died about 20 years since, at a very advanced age. At the time of the formation of the town, there was but a single house, the ferry-house, which stood where the toll-house to the bridge now is, A tobacco warehouse and 2 or 3 stores were thereupon built under the hill, and it was some time before any buildings were erected upon the main street. The growth of the place has been gradual. In 1804, a Methodist Epis- copal church was erected upon the site of the present one, and shortly after a market was established. The first Sabbath-school in the state was formed in the church above mentioned, in the spring of 1817, by George Walker, James McGehee, and John Thurman. The next churches built were the First Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Protestant Episcopal, the Protestant Methodist, the Second Presbyterian, and a Friends' meeting-house in the out- skirts of the town. The Catholic and Universalist churches were erected in 1843. CAMPBELL COUNTY. 211 "The Lynchbtirg Water Works, for furnishing the town with an tinfailin'; supply of pure and whole- some water, were constructed in 1828-2'J, under the direction of Albert Ptein, Esq., engineer, at an ex- pense of .$.50,000. The height— unprecedented in this country— to whicii it was necessary to raise the water, renders this one of the mo>!t interesting undertakings of the kind in the United St;itcs. "An arm of the James, formed by an islanil almut 2 miles in length, is crossed, a short distance above the limits of the corporation, by a dam 10 feet high. A canal of half a mile in length conveys the water to the pump-house on the river bank, at the foot of 3d alley. A double forcing-pump, on the plan of De la Hire, worked by a large breast wheel, impels the water through the ascending pipe, which is 2000 feet long, to a reser\'oir containim! 400,(XI0 gallons, situated between 4th and 5th streets, and nl tlic elerntion of 253 feet above the level of the river.' Fire-plugs are connected with the distributing j.ipes, at every in- tersection of the alleys with 2d and 3d streets, and aft'ord an admirable security against the danger of fire. The height of the reservoir, above these streets, gives a jet of water by means of hose pipes, of from 60 to 80 feet elevation, and throws it, in bold and continuous sUeams, over the roofs of the highest houses. ^ r ■ , " The water-power created by the dam for the water works, is amply sufficient for working a large additional amount of machinery, and waits only for a clearer perception by capitalists, of the manulac- turing advantages of this town, to be brought into extensive use. The cheapness of labor, the abund- ance of provisions, and the extent and wealth of the country looking this way for supplies of domestic, as well as of foreign goods, unite with the vast water-power actually prepared and ready for any appli- cation, in inviting the attention of men of capital and enterprise to this important subject." These works are gradually enlarged, from year to year, to meet the wants of an increasing population. The annexed account of the celebration of laying the corner stone of the water works, is from a news- paper of that date : — Interesting Event.— On Saturday last, [August 23d, 1828,] an event deeply interesting to Lynchburg took place ; one in which the convenience, health, and safety of us all, are involved. The corner stone of the Lynchburg Water Works was laid — works, the magnitude of which e.vceed any ever attempted in Virginia The stone was laid with civic, masonic, and military ceremonies. About 9, a. m., the pro- cession w.as formed at the Presbyterian church, at the lower end of Main street, in the following order : — The military ; the reverend clergy ; the engineer ; the members of the common council, preceded by the watering committee ; the judge of the General Court for the circuit, and mayor of the Corporation ; the recorder and aldermen ; the Slasonic fraternity ; citizens. When the procession, under the directions of the marshals of the day— Major James B. Risque, Col. Maurice H. Langhorne, and Captains R. R. Phelps, Samuel L Wiat, and A. M. Gilliam— reached the ground, the artillery and rifle companies formed a hollow square, within which were the masons, the adjacent banks being thronged with spectators. The impressive ceremonies commenced with a prayer appropriate to the occasion, by the Rev. W. S. Eeid, followed by solemn music. The Rev. F. G. Smith then implored of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, a blessing on the undertaking. The Masonic fraternity proceeded to lay the corner stone ; the plate bears the following inscription : — This Stone, the foundation of a work executed by order of the common council of Lynchburg, for supplying the town with water, was laid under the direction of John Victor, John Thurman, John Early, David G. Murrell, and Samuel Claytor, by the Rt. W. Howson S. White, D.D., G. Master, and the Wor- shipful Maurice H. Garland, M. of Marshall Lodge, No. 39, of Free and Accepted Masons, on the 23J August, A.M. 5828, A.D. 1828, in presence of the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Councilmen, of said Town ; the members of said Lodge ; the Artillery and Rifle Companies, commanded by Captains J. E. Norvell and James W. Pegram, and numerous citizens. Albon McDaniel; Esq., Mayor, John Thur- man, Esq., President of the Council, Albert Stein, Esq., Engineer. Mr. John Victor, the chairman of the watering committee, delivered an address ; after which the piilitary fired a salute, and the gratified beholders returned to their homes, all, we hope, determined to use their ertiirts to carry on the work to a successful termination. We cordially unite with Mr. V. in saying, "Let us join hands, nothing doubting that we too can accomplish what others have so often done." We conclude this sketch of Lynchburg, by giving its statistics, as publi.shed in a communication to the Lynchburg Republican, in 1843: The census of 1840, showed a population of upwards of five thousand. Since that time, there has been a considerable accession to the number of buildings ; from which we may safely assume that otir present population reaches, if it does not exceed 6,000. The extent of the tobacco trade of Lynchburg may be judged of from the fact that upwards of fifteen thousand hogsheads have already been inspected here the present year — a number which far exceeds all previous calculation. We have about 30 tobacco factories and stemmeries, giving emi)loyment to about 1000 hands ; three flouring-mills, manufacturing, I am told, about 20,000 barrels of flour annvially ; 1 cotton factory, operating 1,400 spindles ; iron found- ries, which consume, probably, 100 tons pig-iron anmially. More than 100,000 bushels of wheat are sold here yearly. 300 tons bar-iron ; 200 tons pig metal, sold to the country ; 1000 tons plaster of Paris. About 50 dry-goods and grocery stores — selling, in the aggregate, more than one million of dollars worth of goods. Some of our stores are so extensive and elegant, as not to suffer by a comparison with those of Philadelphia and New York.— 4 apothecaries and druggists ; several cabinet manufactories ; 4 saddle and harness manufactories ; 10 blacksmith-shops ; several excellent hotels ; 5 jewellers' establishments ; 2 printing offices. There are here branches of the Bank of Virginia, and the Farmer's Bank of Virginia, and also 3 Sa- vings' Banks. Seven flourishing Sabbath-schools, with from 700 to 1000 scholars. One debating society, with a library of several thousand volumes, &c. &c. &c. From the hasty view I have presented, and which by no means does justice to the industry and enterprise of our citizens, it will be seen that we have already the elements of a flourishing city. But I have said nothing of the magnificent line of canal now in the " full tide of successful experiment," between this place and Richmond, from which we are distant 147 miles by water. This splendid work, the pride and boast of Virginia, opens to Lynchburg the brightest era which has ever yet dawned upon her fortunes ; securing to us a safe, speedy, and cheap navigation for the immense produce shipped annually to Richmond and the north— and destined, as the writer believes, to furnish a great thoroughfare fpr the countiess thousands of produce and merchandise for the western and southwestern part of our stale, as well as Tennessee, Alabama, &c. 212 CAMPBELL COUNTY. Lynch Law. — Col. Charles Lynch, a brother of the founder oi Lynchburg, was an officer of the American revolution. His resi- dence was on the Staunton, in the sw. part of this county, now the seat of his grandson, Chas. Henry Lynch, Esq. At that time, this country was very thinly settled, and infested by a lawless band of tories and desperadoes. The necessity of the case involved des- perate measures, and Col. Lynch, then a leading whig, apprehend- ed and had them punished, without any superfluous legal ceremo- ny. Hence the origin of the term " Lynch Law." This practice of Lynching continued years after the war, and was applied to many cases of mere suspicion of guilt, which could not be regularly prov- en. "In 1792," says Wirt's Life of Henry, "there were many suits on the south side of James River, for inflicting Lynch's law." At the battle of Guilford Court-House, a regiment of riflemen, rais- ed in this part of the state, under the command of Col. Lynch, be- haved with much gallantr}'. The colonel died soon after the close of the war. Charles Lynch, a governor of Louisiana, wa" bis son. The Old Court-House, at New London. New London is on the Salem turnpike, 1 1 miles sw. of Lynch- burg. It contains 2 churches, a classical academy, and a few dwellings. It was founded several years prior to the American revolution. About the period of the war, it was a place of con- siderable importance, and contained, says the Marquis de Chastel- lux, in his travels, " at least 70 or 80 houses." There was here then, an arsenal, a long wooden structure, which stood opposite Echol's tavern. The establishment has long since been removed to Harper's Ferry. There was also a long building, used as a mag- azine in the war, which was under the guard of some soldiers. In July, 1781, Cornwallis detached Tarleton to this place, for the pur- pose of destroying the stores and intercepting some light troops re- ported to be on their march to join Lafayette. But neither stores n®r troops were found, and on the 15th, he rejoined his lordship in Suffolk county. Eai*ly in the w.ar, there were several Scotch mer- chants largely engaged in business here. Refusing to take the CAMPBELL COUNTY. 213 oath of allegiance, they were compelled to break up and leave the country. This, with the superior location of Lynchburg, gave a permanent shock to its prosperity, and it is now a broken down village, fast going to decay. New London was at first the county-seat of Lunenburg. In 1753, on the formation of Bedford, it was made the county-seat of the latter. Still later, under the old district system, the superior court was held here. There is now standing in thetown,an inter- esting relic of a more prosperous era — the old court-house — which, in its pristine days, was the scene of important events ; but it is now dilapidated, tumbling to ruins, and is used as a barn. Hum- ble as this building is at present, once admiring audiences, moved by the magic eloquence of Patrick Henry, were assembled within its walls. Here it was, that he delivered his celebrated speech in the Johnny Hook case, the account of which is thus given by his biographer : Hook was a Scotchman, a man of wealth, and suspected of beinj^ unfriendly to the American cause. During the distresses of the American army, consequent on the joint invasion of Cornwallis and Philhps in 1781, a Mr. Venable, an army commissary, had taken two of Hook's steers for the use of the troops. The act had not been strictly legal ; and on the establishment of peace. Hook, on the advice of Mr. Cowan, a gentle- man of some distinction in the law, thought proper to bring an action of trespass against Mr. Venable, in the district court of New London. Mr. Henry appeared for the defend- ant, and is said to have deported himself in this cause to the infinite enjoyment of his hearers, the unfortunate Hook always excepted. After Mr. Henry became animated in the cause, says a correspondent, he appeared to have complete control over the passions of his audience : at one time he excited their indignation against Hook ; vengeance was visible in every countenance ; again, when he chose to relax and ridicule him, the whole audience was in a roar of laughter. He painted the distresses of the American army, exposed almost naked to the rigor of a winter's sky, and marking the frozen ground over which they marched with the blood of their unshod feet ; where was the man, he said, who had an American heart in his bosom, who would not have thrown open his fields, his barns, his cellars, the doors of his house, the portals of his breast, to have re- ceived with open arms, the meanest soldier in that little band of famished patriots ? Where is the man ? — There he stands — but whether the heart of an American beats in his bosom, you, gentlemen, are to judge. H6 then carried the jury, by the powers of his imagination, to the plains around York, the surrender of which had followed shortly after the act complained of: he depicted the surrender in the most glowing and noble colors of his eloquence — the audience saw before their eyes the humiliation and dejec- tion of the British, as they marched out of their trenches — they saw the triumph which lighted up every patriotic face, and heard the shouts of victory, and the cry of Wash- ington and liberty, as it rung and echoed through the American ranks, and was rever- berated from the hills and shores of the neighboring river — " but, hark ! what notes of discord are these which disturb the general joy, and silence the acclamations of victory — they are the notes of John Hook, hoarsely bawling through the American camp, beef 1 beef! beef!" The whole audience were convulsed : a particular incident will give a better idea of the effect, than any general description. The clerk of the court, unable to command himself, and unwilling to commit any breach of decorum in his place, rushed out of the court-house, and threw himself on the grass, in the most violent paroxysm of laughter, where he was rolling, when Hook, with very different feelings, came out for relief into the yard also. " Jemmy Steptoe," he said to the clerk, " what the devil ails ye, mon ?" Mr. Steptoe was only able to say, that he could not help it. " Never mind ye," said Hook, " wait till Billy Cowan gets up : Ae'Z/ shniv him the la'.'' Mr. Cowan, however, was so completely overwhelmed by the torrent which bore upon his client, that when he rose to reply to Mr. Henry, he was scarcely able to make an intelligible or audible re- mark. The cause was decided almost by acclamation. The jury retired for form sake, and instantly returned with a verdict for the defendant. Nor did the effect of Mr. Henry's speech stop here. The people were so highly excited by the tory audacity of 214 CAROLINE COUNTY. such a suit, that Hook began to hear around him a cry more terrible than that of beef, it was the cry of tar and feathers ; from the application of which, it is said, that nothing saved him but a precipitate fliglit and the speed of his horse. About half a mile n. of the village is the seat of tke above mentioned "Jemmy Steptoe." He was clerk of Bedford 40 years : an intimate friend of Jefferson, who was a frequent visitor at his residence. He died in 1826, esteemed for his amiable and gener^ ous disposition. " Poplar Forest," 3 miles ne. of New London, is the name of the seat of William Cobbs, Esq., which was originally the property of Jefferson, and occasionally his resi- dence in the summer months. It is an octagonal brick edifice, built by him, on the same plan with Monticello, although mucii smaller. Its situation is commanding, within sight of the Blue Ridge, and the grounds around are beautifully laid out, and adorned with shrubbery. Immediately after Tarleton's incursion to Charlottesville, when Jefferson narrowly espaped being made prisoner, he retired with his family to Poplar Forest, where, riding upon his farm some time after, he was thrown from his horse and seriously injured. " While Mr. Jefferson was confined at Poplar Forest," says Tucker, " in consequence of the fall from his horse, and was in consequence incapable of any active employment, public or private, he occupied himself with answering the queries which Mons. De Mar- bois, then secretary of the French legation to the United States, had submitted to him respecting tiie physical and political condition of Virginia ; which answers were after- wards published by him, under the title of ' Notes on Virginia.' When we consider how difficult it is, even in the present day, to get an accurate knowledge of such details in our country, and how much greater the difficulty must then have been, we are surprised at the extent of the information which a single individual had thus been enabled to ac- quire, as to the physical features of the state — the course, length, and depth of its rivers ; its zoological and botanical productions ; its Indian tribes ; its statistics and laws. After the lapse of more than half a century, by much the larger part of it still gives us the fullest and most accurate information we possess of the subjects on which it treats. Some of its physical theories are, indeed, in the rear of modern science ; but they form a small portion of the book, and its general speculations are marked wilh that boldness, tliat utter disregard for received opinions, which always characterized him ; and the whole is written in a neat, flowing style, always perspicuous, and often peculiarly apt and felicitous." Jefferson's notes were printed in Paris, in 1784, soon after his arrival there as minister to the court of France. Says the same author: " One of the first objects which en- gaged his attention, was the printing his notes on Virginia. He had, for the sake of gratifying a few friends with copies, wished to publisji them in America, but was pre- vented by the expense. He now found they could be printed for about a fourth of what he had been asked at home. He therefore corrected and enlarged them, and had 200 copies printed. Of these he presented a few in Europe, and sent the rest to America. One of them having fallen into the hands of a bookseller in Paris, he had it translated into French, and submitted the translations to tiie author for revision. It was a tissue of blunders, of which only the most material he found it convenient to correct ; and it was thus printed. A London bookseller having requested permission to print the original, he consented, " to let the world see that it was not really so bad as the French translation had made it appear.'' CAROLINE. Caroline was formed in 1727, from Essex, King and Queen, and King William. It is 30 miles long by 20 broad. The Rappahannock flows on its north, the Pamunkey on its south boundary, and the Mattapony runs near its centre. The surface is broken, and the soil various, but the low grounds of these streams are extremely fertile, and admirably adapted to the culture of corn, wheat and CARROL COUNTY. 215 tobacco. Caroline was formerly divided into three parishes ; Drys- dale and St. Mary's, created in 1727, and St. Margaretts in 1744 ; in each of which a church was placed — the latter only remains. The Baptists are now the prevailing denomination. Pop. 1830, 17,774; 1840, whites 6,725, slaves 9,314, free colored 774: total, 17,813. The principal villages are Bowling Green and Port Royal. The first is situated on the main road from Fredericksburg to Richmond, 22 miles from the former, and a short distance only e. of the rail- road between these two places. It is the seat of justice for the county, and was originally called New Hope. Its fine location, on a beautiful level green, has given rise to its present name. It contains 2 churches and about 40 dwellings. Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, 22 miles below Fredericksburg, is a somewhat larger village. It was founded in 1744, and possesses a fine har- bor, capable of admitting vessels drawing 11 feet of water. The Concord Academy is an institution in this county in excellent repute. Edmund Pendleton was born in this county in 1741, and died in Richmond in 1803. He was presi- dent of the Court of Appeals, and of the Virfiinia convention of 1775. He was twice appointed a mem- ber of Congress, hn 1788 he was chosen iiresident of ihc convention of Virginia which met to consider the adoption of the Federal constitution. When the federal government was organized, lie was selected by Congress to be district judge for Virginia, but declined the appointment. Wirt says " He had in a great measure overcome the disadvantages of an extremely defective education, and by the force of good com- pany, and the study of correct authors, had attained to great accuracy and perspicuity of style. . . . His manners were elevated, graceful, and insinuating. His person was spare, but well proportioned, and his countenance one of the tinest in the world ; serene, contemplative, benignant; with that expression of uncloitded intelligence, and extensive reach, which seemed to denote him capable of any tiling that could be effected by the power of the human mind. His mind itself was of a very tine order. It was clear, comprehensive, sagacious, and correct; with a most acute and subtle faculty of discrimination ; a fertility of expedient which never could be exhausted ; a dexterity of address which never lost an advantage and never gave one ; and a capacity for continued and unremitting application which was perfectly invincible. As a lawyer, and a statesman, he had few e(]iials and no superiors. For parliamentary management, he was without a rival. With all these advant;ige< of person, manners, address, and intellect, he was also a speaker of distinguished eminence. He had that silver voice of which Cicero makes such frequent and honorable mention; an articulation unconmionly distinct; a perenni'al stream of transparent, cool, and sweet elocution ; and the power of presenting his arguirients with great simplicity and striking effect. He was always graceful, argumentative, persuasive; never vehement, rapid, or abrupt. He could instruct and delight ; but he had no pretensions to those high powers which are calculated to " shake the human soul." General William Woodford, a revolutionary ofTiccr of high merit, was born in Caroline. He early distinguished himself in the French and Indian war. Upon the assembling of the Virginia troops at Williamsburg in 1775, consequent upon the hostile attitude of Lord Dunmore, he was appointed colonel of the second regiment. In the military operations innnediately subsequent, in that section of the state, his name is honorably mentioned in history, particularly at the battle of Great Bridge, fought Dec. 9th, upon which occasion he had the chief coiumand, and gained a signal victory over the enemy. He waa finally promoted to the conmiand of the 1st Va. brigade, in which station he served through the war. He was in various actions, in one of which, the battle of Brandywine, he was wounded. He was made prisoner by the British in 1780, during the siege of Charleston, and taken to New York, where he died on the 13th of November of that year, in the 46th year of his age. Caroline was also th^ birth-place of Col. .Iohn Taylor, " one of the most zealous of the republican party," and an intimate associate of Jefferson. " He represented Virginia in the United States Senate, and was distinguished among the great and good men which this ancient commonwealth has produced. He did much towards advancing the science of agriculture in his native state, and was ever forward in promoting objects conducive to the public good. As a statesman, he is perhaps better known by his Con- struction Construed ; and an Inquiry into the Principles of the Government of the United States, which he published in 1814. He also published several other treatises on various subjects. He died in this county, Aug. 20th, 1824, ripe in years and honor." A county formed in western Virginia, in the session of 1843-4, was named in honor of him. CARROL. Carrol was formed in 1842, from the southwestern part of Gray- son, and named from Charles Carrol of Carrolton. It is a wild and mountainous tract, and is watered by the New River and some of the head-branches of the Holston. 21G CARROL rODNTV. The (Grayson Sulphur S|)riiii:[s, rorinrrly in Crnyson, nro now within tho limits of this ooimty. The iniproviMuonts at this phiee are quite recent ; but since they have been nmcle, it has u;ro\vu into popular I'avor, and attracts njore visitors than coulil hav(> been expected tVoin its remote situation. "Tlie eilicacy of the waters in dyspepsia and rheumatism is such as to j)romise a certain cure." Grayson Sulphur Springs. The sprinsrs are located immediately on the west side of the Blue l\idi;c. on the bank of New Kiver. about "20 miles s. of Wytheville, in the midst of scenery of a remarkably wild and romantic charac- ter, similar to that of Harper's Ferry, in a rejiion perliajis as healthy as any in our country, abounding with tish and a variety of jjame. An analysis is subjoined, made by Professors Uoircrs, of the Uni- versity of ^'irlrinia, and Aiken, of Baltimore. Anm.vs^is. — Carbonate of soda. 4' ; carbonate of mniinesia. 3; carbonate of lime. 8 ; sulphate of lime. : sulphate of mairnesia, 3 ; chloride of sodium. "J : chloride of calcium. .S : chloride of magnesimn. If : sulphate of soda, 1^ ; sulphureted hydrogen car bonic acid gases. en ABLER CITY COUXTV. 217 CiJAIlLES CITV. CirAEi.KS CiTv was one of the ei{!'ul«nc« of Col. Wrn. IJyrd, whKre he lonj lived. In hit time. It wa» -'a lieautifully i\evmU-A and j>rinc<-ly manxion, which even at thli late ;nt KijiU: of ex()«;nivine of the ro'nt aecompli^hed men in VirBlnia at hi"! 'lay. He wai a worthy inheriUir of the o[iinion-eati( in tluj country round alKii>." Three tirne«, In the c/rtir«c of the revolutionary war, the enemy landed at Wen'jjvet, under Comivallla and Arnold. On the evening of Jan. Sth, 1781, the enemy, who were at Bar- clay and Westover, sent Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, with a detachment of the Queen's Rangers, to Charles City court-house, where they sur- prised a party of 1.00 militia, of whom they killed one, wounded three, and took several prisoners. We here' subjoin the account of this event, as given in the journal of Simcoe : Gen. Arnold directed a patrol to \>c made on the night of the Sth of January towards Lonjr Bridge, in order to procure intellijrcnce. Lieut-Col. Himcoe marched with forty cavalry, for the rno«t part badly mounted, on Biich hofKe» as had been picked up in the country ; but the patrol had not proceeded above two miles before Sergeant Kelly, who waa in arivance, was challenged : he parleyed, with the videtteH till he jrot nearer to thern, when, ru.shing at them, one he j^ot hold of, the other flunj^ himself off his horse and f^. cajicA into the bushe'-. A negro was alHO taken, whom these vidette« had intercepted on hi.s way to the Briti-sh army. From tht-w; people information wa^ obtained that the enemy waH assembled at Charle.s City court-house, and that the corf)s which had ap- peared in the day-time opposite Westover, nearly to the amount of 400 men, lay about 2 miles in advance of their main body, and on the road to Westover. 'I'he party were immediately ordered to the right-about, and to march towards them. Lieut. Holland, who was similar in size to the vidette who had been taken, was placed in advance ; the negro had promised to guide the party so as to avoid the high road, and to conduct them by an unfrequented pathway which led clo.se to the creek, between the body which was Bup[rovincial form of government, and a plan of defence for tlic colony. Mr. Carrington was one of the committee of public safety to whom tliis plan was submitted. He subsequently became a judge of tlie court of appeals, in which office he remained until a few years before his deatli. Red Hill, the Seat of Patrick Henri/. * Red Hill is on the southwest angle of the county. There lived and died Patrick Henry ; the man who, .TelTerson said, " was the greatest orator that ever lived ;" and to whom Randolph applied the M'ords of sacred writ, as being one " who spake as never man spake." Red Hill is now the seat of his son, .Tohn Henry, Esq. The larger j)art of the main building, shown on the left, has been added since the decease of its illustrious occupant.* * Patrick Henry, when governor, resided at Wiiiiumsburg, Ricluuond ; at Salisbury CHARLOTTE COUNTY. 221 It is beautifully siturttfd on an elevated ridge, tiie dividing line of Campbell and Char- lotte, within a quarter of a mile of the junction of falling Jiiver with the Staunton. From it the valley of the Staunton stretches southward about thri'C mileH, varying from a quarter to nearly a mile in width, and of an oval-like form. Through most fertile mead- ows, waving in their golden luxuriance, slowly winds the river, ovi^rhung by mossy foli- age, while on all sides gently sloj)Jng hills, rich in verdure, enclose the whole, and im- part to it an air of seclusion and repose;. From the brow of the hill, west of the house, ia a scene of an entirely different character ; the Blue Ridge, with the lofty Peaks of Otter, appear in the horizon at a distance of nearly sixty miles. At the foot of the garden, un- der a dense cluster of locust and other trees, enclosed by a wooden paling, are the graves of Patrick Henry and his wife, overrun with myrtle, and without any monuments over them. ' Under the trees seen on the left of the picture, in full view of the bcaiitiful valley be- neath, the orator was accustomed in pleasant weather to sit mornings and evcning.s, witli his chair leaning against one of their trunks, and a can of cool si)ring-watcr by his side, from which he took (requciit draughts. Occasionally, he walked to and fro in the yard from one clump of trees to the other, buried in revery, at which times he was never in- terrupted. Among the relics in the house is the arin-chair in which he died, and a knife, given to him when a boy by his uncle, Patrick Henry, which he carried through life, and had in his pocket at the mf)ment of his death. In the parlor hangs his jjor- trait, a masterly production, by Sully, representing him pleading in the British debt cause. The dress is black, cravat white, and a red velvet mantle is throwii over the shoulders.* He appears three-quarters face, leaning j)artly back, with his spectacles thrown over his forehead ; and the expression is one of deep solemnity and impressive, ness. Under the description of Hanover coimty, the reader will find a succinct memoir of Henry ; and in that of New London, Campbell county, and of the city of Richmond, are views of buildings memorable as the scenes of some of his celebrated oratorical ef- forts. Wc now give some reminiscences, collected by us from a reliable source while in this section of the state. I'hey are mainly detached facts, without connection, and must necessarily be given in that manner. When fourteen years of age, Mr. Henry went with his mother in a carriage to the Fork church in Hanover, to hear preach the celebrated Samuel Davies, afterwards pres- ident of I'rinccton college. His eloquence made a deep impression on his youthful mind, and he always remarked, he was the greatest orator he ever heard. When a mem- ber of the Continental Congress, he said the first men in that body were Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Roger Sherman ; and later in life, Roger Sherman and (ieorgo Mason, the greatest statesmen he ever knew. When governor, he had printed and cir. culated in Richmond, at his own expense, Soame Jenyns' View of Christianity, and But- ler's Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion. Sherlock's .sermons, he affirmed, was the work which removed all his doubts of the truth of Christianity ; a copy of which, until a short time since, was in the po.sscssion of his children, filled with marginal notes. He read it every Sunday evening to his family, after which Ihey all joined in sacred mu- sic, while he accompanied them on the violin. He never quoted poetry. His quota- tions were from the Bible, and his illustrations from the Bible, ancient and modern his- tory. He was opposed to the adoption of the Federal constitution, becaase he thought it gave too much power to the general government ; and in conversation with the father of a late venerable senator from Prince Edward, he remarked with emphasis : " The President of the United States will always come in at the head of a party. He will be supported in all his acts by a party. You do not now think much of the patronage of the President ; but the day is coming when it will be tremendoas, and from this power the country may sooner or later fall." In the British debt cause, of which Wirt gives a full account, Mr. Henry made great preparation. He shut himself up in his office for three days, during which he did not see his family ; his food was handed by a servant through the oflice-door. The Countess of Huntington, then in this country, was among the auditors, and remarked, after hear- ing the arguments of the several speakers,! " that if every one of them had spoken in Chesterfield county, and at Leatherwood, Henry co. Afterwards, he dwelt on the Ap- pomattox, in Prince Edward ; at Long Island, Campbell co., and removed to Red Hill in ]l'.}f), four years previous to his death. * His usual dress while in the legislature. t They were, on the part of plaintitl", Messrs. Ronald, Baker, Wickham, and Starke: and on that of the defendant, Messrs. Henry, Marshall, Innis, and Alex. Cajnpbell, a (19*) 222 CHARLOTTE COUNTY. Westminsfcr Hall, they would iiave been hmiorod with a i)eorage." IVIr. Honry had a diamond riiii: on liis tintrer, and, while he was speaking, the Countess exclaimed to the Judg-e, Iredell — who had never before heard hinj — "The diamond is blazin'r !" " Gra- oioiis God I" rejdicd he, •■ he is an orator indeed."' In this cause he injured his voice so that it never recovered its oriijinal power. The following anecdote was related by President JMadison, at the conclusion of the late war, to a party of gentlemen assembled at his residence in Washington. In the revolutionary war, certificates were given by the legislature to the Virginia line on continental establishment, stating the amount due to them, which was to be paid at a future time. The necessities of the soldiers, in many instances, compelled them to part with the certificates to speculators for a trivial sum. ]\Iadison brougiit a bill before the legislature to ()ut a stop to it. He had previously asked ^Ir. Henry if he was willing to support it. The reply was ''yes;"' but having no lurther communication with hiur on tiie subject, Mr. Madison feared he had forgotten the circumstance. After the bdl was read, he turned to where Mr. Henry sat, with an anxious eye, upon which the latter immediately' arose and addressed the house. Mr. Madison said that upon that occasion he was particularly eloquent. His voice reminded him of a trumpeter on the field of battle, calling the troops to a charge. He looked alternately to tiie house and the audi- ence, and saw they were with the orator; and, at the cuncliision, one of the chief specu- lators in tickets, then in the galleries, exclaimed in an audible voice — "That bill ought to pass !" — it did pass, and unanimously. We conclude this article by the subjoined extract from " the Mountaineer," a series of Essays, originally published in 1813 in the Republican Farmer, at Staunton, and written by Conrad Speece, D.D., pastor of the Augusta church : Many years ago, I was at the tri;il, in one of our distrirt court*, of a man charged with imirder. The case was brietiy this: the prisoner had gone, in exocuiion of his otiice as a constable, to arrest a slave who had lieen guilty of some misconduct, and bring liini to justice. Kxpecling opposition in the busi- ness, the constable took several men with him, some of lliem armed. They found the slave on the plantation of his mister, wilhin view of the house, and proceeded to seize and bind him. His mistress, seeing the arrest, came down and rtmonstrated vehemently against it. Finding her elforts unavailing, she went oti' to a barn where her tiusband was, who was |)resently perceived running briskly to the house. It was known he always kept a loaded rille over his door. The const;ible now desired his com- pany to remain where they were, taking care to keep the slave in custody, while he himself would go to the house to prevent mischief. He accordingly ran towards the house. \Vlieu he arrived within a short distance of it, the master api>eared coming out of the door with his ritie in his hand. Some witnesses said that as lie came to the Aoot he drew the cock of the piece, and was seen in the act of raising it to the position of tiring. But upt)n these (xiints, there was not an entire agrefiiicnt in the eviilence. The constable, standing near ii small building in the yard, at this instant tired, and the tire had a fatal ellect. No previous malice was proved against him ; and his plea upon the trial was, that he had taken the life of his assailant in necessary self-defence. A great mass of testimony was delivered. This was commented upon with considerable ability by the lawyer for the commonwealth, and by another lawyer engaged by the friends of the deceased lor the prosecution. The prisoner was also defended, in elaborate speeches, by two respectable advocates. These proceedings brought the day to a close. The general whisper through a crowded house was, that the man was guilty and could not be saved. About dusk, candles were brought, and Henry arose. His tnanner was exactly that which the British Spy describes with so much felicity; plain, simple, and entirely unassuming. "IJentlcmen of the jury," said he, " I dare say we are all very much fitigued with this tedious trial. The prisoner at the bar has been well delended already ; hut it is my duty to oiler you some further observations in behalf of this tinfortunate man. 1 shall aim at' brevity. But should I take up more of your time than you expect, I hope you will hear me with patience, «hen you consider that blood i> concerned." I cannot admit the possibility that any one who never heard Henrj- speak should be made fully to con- ceive the force of impression which he gave to these few words, '■blood is coticemed." I had been on my feet through the day. pushed about in the crowd, and was excessively wcar^'. I was strongly of opinion, too, notwith llio <:[ii(\ui'ti<:(: of Henry ! Ilin reaKonlni? |)OW«;r» were Rwd : hut tlicy have lK;en erjualled, and more thiin (:i)ii:illed, liy those of many other me well pleased with the speech you have just hearri. It does my heart pwd to tliink we have so smart a man raised up among us here. He is a native Kentuckian. I see a good many of you here that I hrought out tf> this country when a wilderness. -At that time we hardly ex[)ecU,'(l we should live to sec such a siinrt man riised up aiiion(: ourselves. You. who were with me in those early times, know we had no tiuie for education, no means of improving from books. We dared not then go about our most common affairs without arms in our hands, to defend ourselves against the In- dians. But we guarded and protected the countr)', and now every one can go where he pleases ; and you now see what smart fellows are growing up to do their country honor. But I think it would be a pity to make this man governor ; I ttiink it would be btion of the appointment, which was e.vtreniely gratifying; he being at the time in necessitous cir- cumstances. DINWIDDIE. DiNvviDDiE was formed in 1752, from Prince George, and named from Robert Dinwiddie, governor of Va. from 1752 to 1758. The surface is rolling, and its form hexagonal, with a diameter of about 28 miles. The Appomattox runs on its \.. the Nottaway on its s. boundary, and the great southern railroad through its eastern por- tion. Pop. 1830, 21,1)01 ; 1810, whites 0,817, slaves 9.1)47, free colored 2,7 G 4 ; total, 22,558. The court-house is centrally situa- ted upon a branch of the Nottaway. The large, wealthy, and nourishing town of Petersburg, is situ- ated at the northeastern angle of the county, on the soiitli bank of the Appomattox, 22 miles s. of Richmond, and 9 s. w. of City Point, on the line of the great southern railroad, with which last- named place there is also a railroad communication. The harbor admits vessels of considerable draught, and even ships come upas far as Walthall's Landing, miles below the town, where there is a branch railroad about 3 miles in length, connecting with the Richmond and Petersburg railroad. It contains 2 Epis., 2 Pres., 2 Meth., 1 Bap., and 1 Catholic church, besides those for colored people. It exports largely tobacco and Hour, and there were, in 1843, belonging to this place, the following cotton manufactories, viz : Merchants co., Matoaca co., Ett ricks co,. Mechanics eo., Bat- tersea co.. Canal Mills, Washington Mill, and the Eagle Mill. The goods here manufactured have a high reputation. There is also a very large number of tobacco factories. There w^ere inspected here in 1843, 11,042 hogsheads of tobacco. Petersburg contains branches of the Bank of Va., Farmers Bank of Va., and the F,x- change Bank of Va. The tonnage in 1810, was 3,008. There were G commercial and 8 commission houses engaged in foreign trade, capital 6875,000; 121 retail stores, capital 6l',020,250 ; 2 lumber yards, cap. 6G,000 ; 1 furnace, G forges, 1 woollen facto- ry, 1 pottery, 2 rope-walks, 2 flouring-mills, 1 grist-mill, 2 saw- mills, 2 printing offices, 1 semi-weekly newspaper. Cap. in manu- facturing !$72G>55. Pop. in 1830, 8,322 ; 1840, 11,13G. As early as 1645-6, a fort called Fort Henry, was established at the falls of the Ap-> * " Old hoss," was a term frequently applied by the soldiers of the revolatioa to their commander In -chief. niNWIDDIE COUNTY. 243 pomattox, where Petersburg now is, for the defence of the inhabitants on the south side of JarneH river. In lfJ7o, war being dfolared ajrainst the Indianw, 500 men were ordf-red to proceed to the frontier, and eight forts garrisoned. Among these was the one near the falls of the Appomattox, at Major General Wood's, " or over against hini at one ffbrt or defensible place at ffl'-el8, of which Major Peter Jones be captain or ciiief commander." In 17^H, hfty-threc years after, Col. liyrd, on his return from the expedition in which he was engaged as one of the Virginia commissioners, in running the line between this Ktate and Is'orth Carolina, mentions the site of Petersburg, as follows : " At the end of thirty good miles, we arrived in the evening at Col. Boiling's, where from a primitive course of life we began to rehix into luxury. This gentleman lives within hearing of the falls of Appomattox river, which are very noisy whenever a flood happens to roll a greater stream than ordinary over the rocks. The river is navigable for sm.ill craft as high as the falls, and, at some distance from them, fetches a compass and runs nearly parallel with James River, almost as high as the mountains." IJy an act pa.ssed in if)46, it appears that (iOO acres of land adjacent to Fort Henry, together with all the " houses and edifices" appurtenant thereto, were at that time granted to Captain Abraham Wood in fee-simple ; yet he was not the earliest settler; for, by the same act, it ajipears that the land on which the fort stood, together with part of the adjacent 600 acres, had heen granted to Thomas Pitt. He may, therefore, be considered the earliest proprietor of the site of Petersburg, it having been granted to him previous to 1646. Tlie town derived its name from Peter Jones, who oi)ened a trading establishment with the Indians at an early day, a few rods we.st of what is now the junction of .Sycamore and Old streets. The locality was called Peter's Faint, sub- eequently changed to Petersljurg. This Peter Jones was an old friend and fellow-traveller of Col. William Byrd, of Westover ; and in 17.3'}, accompanied the latti-r on a journey to Roanoke, on which occasion the plan of establishing Richmond and Petersburg was conceived. JJyrd says, in his journal, " When we got home, we laid the fouridatirm of two large cities — one at Shacco's, to be called Richmond, and the oiher at the point of Appomattox River, to be called Petersburg. These Major Mayo offered to lay off into lots, without fee or reward. The truth of it is, these two places being the uppermost landing of James and ApJ)o- mattox rivf^rs, are naturally intended for marts, where the traffic of the outer inhabitants must centre. Thus we did not build castles only, but cities, in the air." Ill the October session, in 1748, in the 22d year of the reign of King George II., the towns of Petersburg and Ulandford were established. Four years later an act was passed, allowing a bridge to be built by subscription over the Appomattox, at Boiling's Point, " to the land of John Boiling, gentleman ;" which was probably the first bridge ever built over the river. In 176iJ, in the preambje to an act enlarging the town, it is stated that it " had \(;ry greatly increased, and becoi/ie a place of considerable trade." At that time Robert Boiling, Roger Atkinson^, William Eaton, John Bannister, Robert Ruffin, Thomas Jones, Henry Walker, George Turnbull, and James Field, gentlemen, were appoint(;d trustees for laying out the town. In llH-X, Petersburg was incorporated, and Blandford, Pocahontas, and Ravcnscrofts, united with it. In the war of the revolution, Petersburg was twice visited by the enemy. On the 22d of April, 1781, the British, under Gen. Phillips, left Williamsburg, sailed up the James, and on the 24th landed at City Point. " The next day," says Girardin's Hist. of Va., " they marched up to Peter.'sburg, where Baron Steuben received them with a body of militia, somewhat under 1000 men. Although the enemy were 2,.300 strong, Steuben oj)posed their progress. For two hours, he skilfully and bravely disputed the ground with them ; the assailants were twice broken, and precipitately ran back until supported by fresh troops. During the interval of time just stated, they gained hut a mile, and that by inches. The inferiority of the Virginians in numbers obliged them to withdraw about 12 miles up the Appomattox, till more militia should be assembled. They retired in good order over a bridge, which was taken up as soon as the militia passed, so as to secure their retreat. The whole lo.ss of the Virginians, in killed, wounded, and taken, amounted to about 60. That sustained by the enemy, was con- jectured to be more considerable."* From an article entitled " Reminiscences of the British at Bot- * l,ieut.-Co!. Simcoe, in his "Journal of the operations of the dueen's Rangers," states the loss of tlie British at one man fcilletl and 10 wounded, of the light infantry. 244 DINWIDDIE COUNTT. linghrooh"* published in the Southern Literary Mes.senger of January, 1840, we extract some interesting facts : There is, perhaps, no house in Virginia connected with a greater number of militaiy revolutionary recollections, than Bollingbrook, in the town of Petersburg. On the approach of the enemy, a large portion of the people of the town made their escape. General Phillips took up hi.s residence at Bollingbrook. He and the officers of his family are said to have treated Mrs. Boiling with a good deal of courtesy, and (some add) addressed her always as Lady Boiling. Arnold is recollected as a handsome man, that hmped in his gait.t He was fond of caressing the children of the family, and dan- dled them on his knee. Both the houses on Bollingbrook hill were occupied by British officers. t Airs. Boiling was allowed the nse of a room in flie rear of the east building. Two sentinels were placed at each door of the house with crossed bayonets. The British soldiery repeatedly set on fire the fences about Bollingbrook, and frequently " all around was in a light blaze."§ Upon these occasions, Mrs. Boiling was obliged to send her servants to arrest the flames, and she was thus kept in a state of continual apprehension and alarm. On the next day after his arrival, (to wit, the 2Ctli of April,) Genera! Phillips (accord- ing to Arnold's letter to Sir Harry Clinton) burnt 4000 hhds. of tobacco. The ware- houses which belonged to Mrs. Boiling, at her solicitation, were spared on condition that the inhabitants should remove the tobacco from them, which was accordingly done, by extraordinary exertions, during the night of the iiath. This conflagration must have presented a striking and picturesque spectacle. The scarlet-dressed soldiers moving about amidst the flames, scattering the fire-brands, and officiating in the work of de- struction — the burning of the shipping on the river, reflecting its lurid glare on Poca- hontas and Blandford — heightened the efFect of the scene. Arnold, on dit, cautioned Mrs. Boiling to be careful in her intercourse with General Phillips, not to irritate him, as he was a man of an ungovernable temper. This lady, during that period of terror, suffered an intense solicitude and anxiety, which discovered itself in her unconsciously darning the needles, with which she was knitting, into the bed by which she sat. Her conduct during this trying crisis, displayed a heroism which doubtless won the respect of the British officers ; who are in general " men of honor and cavaliers." After committing devastations at Osborne's, Manchester, Warwick, &c., the enemy set sail, and proceeded down James River, until, receiving (near Hog Island) counter- manding orders, they returned up the river. On the 7th of May, tbey landed in a gale of wind at Brandon ; and on the 9th, marched 30 miles, and entered Petersburg late in the night. They came so unexpectedly as to surprise ten American officers, who were there for the purpose of collecting boats to convey the army of the Marquis de Lafayette across the James River. General Phillips entered Petersburg this second time, sick of a bilious fever ; — he ar- rived on the 9th of Ma)', and breathed his last on the 1.3th. at Bollingbrook. He lay sick in the west room front of the east building. During the illness of General Phillips, the town was cannonaded bj' Lafayette from Archer's hill,|| and it is commonly re- ported that he died while the cannonade was going on. It seems, however, more pro- bable, that this cannonade occurred on the 10th, when Lafayette (according to Ar- nold's letter) " appeared with a strong escort on the opposite side of the river, IT and having stayed some time to reconnoitre, returned to Osborne's." Cannon-balls fired upon that occasion, were preserved in the town some years ago, and may be yet extant. The Americans being aware that Bollingbrook was head-quarters, directed their shot -par- * These reminiscences were written by Chas. Campbell, Esq., of Petersburg, a gen- tleman better informed upon the history of eastern Virginia than any one we have met in the course of our investigations, and to whom we are indebted for much valuable in- formation. t From a wound received at Saratoga, where Phillips was made captive with Bur- goyne's army. X There was then a tavern somewhere near the corner of Old and Market streets, called the " Golden Ball," at which a number of the British quartered. § ChastcUux says, speaking of the enclosure, " It was formerly surrounded by rails and she raised a number of fine horses there, but the English burnt the fences, and ear- ned away a great number of the horses." tl On the north side of the river opposite the town. V The Appomattox. DINWIDDIE COUNTY. 245 ticularly at that house,* a measure which, considering the sickness of General Phillips, would hardly have been justifiable, but for the horrid series of devastations in which he had just been engaged, in company with that odious traitor Arnold. This officer, in the early part of the cannonade, was walking across the yard, until a ball having passed very near him, he hastened into the house, and directed all the inmates to go down into the cellar for shelter.t General Phillips was removed down there. Mrs. Boiling also took refuge there, with one or two ladies who were with her. Anbureyt (if memory serves) mentions that during the firing of the American artillery, Phillips, being theu at the point of death, exclaimed — " Wont they let me die in peace?" Gen. Phillips died on the 13lh of May, and was buried in the grave-yard adjoining Blandford church. There reposes one, of whom Mr. Jefferson said — "he is the proud- est man, of the proudest nation on earth." ^.^ On the 20th of May, 1781, just one week after the death of Phillips, Lord Cornwallia entered Petersburg on his route from Wilmington, North Carolina. He remained in Petersburg only three or four days, and, as is understood, made his head-quarters at BoJ- lingbrook. General O'Hara, it appears, was quartered at what is commonly styled the " Long Ornary," — about a mile to the west of Petersburg, on the main road. Mrs. Boiling found it necessary to visit this officer at that place, for the purpose of recovering certain negroes and horses, which had been taken from her, and were then there. The general consented to restore the slaves, but with respect to the horses proved quite in- exorable. He is described as a harsh, uncouth person. He was wounded at the battle of Guilford, and surrendered Lord Cornwallis' sword at Yerktown. At the siege of Toulon, in a sortie made by the youthful Napoleon, a grenadier in the darkness of the night drew a wounded prisoner down into a ditch ; that prisoner was Major-General O'Hara, of " Long Ornary" mcamry, conuuander-in-chief of the British forces. On the 21st of October, 1812, 103 young men from thi.s place and vicinity embarked in the service of their country, and conse- crated their valor at the battle of Fort Meigs, on the 5th of May, 1813. They were extensively known as the '^ Petersburg' Volun- teers." They remained in service one year, and on their discharge received the following highly commendatory testimonial of their gallant and soldier-like conduct. General Orders. Head-Quarters, Detroit, 17th October, 1813. The term of service for which the Petersburg Volunteers were engaged having ex- pired, they are permitted to commence their march to Virginia, as soon as. they can be transported to the south side of the lake. In granting a discharge to this patriotic and gallnnt corps, the General feels at a loss for words adequate to convey his sense of their exalted merits ; almost exclusively com- posed of individuals who had been nursed in the lap of ease, they have, for twelve months, borne the hardships and privations of military life in the midst of an inhospita- ble wilderness, with a cheerfulness and alacrity which has never been surpassed. Their conduct in tiie field has been excelled by no other corps ; and while in camp, they have set an example of subordination and respect for military authority to the whole army. The General requests Capt. M'Rae, his subalterns, non-commissioned officers, and privates, to accept his warmest thanks, and bids them an affi>ctionate farewell. By command, ROBERT BUTLER, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General Herewith is a list of this corps : the italicised letters attached to their nam.cs signify * Two balls struck the house, one of which being spent, lodged in the front wall of the house ; the other passed through the house, and killed a negro woman (old Molly) who was standing by the kitchen door, in the act of reviling the American troops. t On the approach of the enemy, Old Tom, a house servant, was provident enough to bur) certain silver plate, money, &c., in the cellar ; there is also a vague rumor of an earthenware tea-pot, full of gold. While Arnold was down in the cellar, he was not aware that he was in such desirable company. There is still in preservation in tlie town, a set of China-ware, which was interred at this time, t In his travels in the interior of North America. (21*) 246 DINWIDDIE COUNTY. as follows : k. killed at Fort Meigs ; w. wounded at Fort Meigs ; d. died ; p. promoted and p. a. promoted in the army. Captain : Richard M'Rae. Lievtenavts : William Tisdale, 1st. Henry Gary, 2d. d. Ensign : Shirley Tisdale, p. Sergeants : James Stevens, d. Robert B. Cook. p. Samuel Stevens, w. John Henderson, p. a. Corporals : N'bn. B. Spotswood, p John Perry, d. Joseph Scott, w. Thomas G. Scott, w. Joseph C. Noble, G. T. Clough, k. Musicians : — Daniel Eshon, w. ; James Jackson, w. Privates : Andrew Andrews, d. Richard Adams, John Bignall, Edward Branch, p. Richard H. Branch, Thos. B. Bigger, p. a. Robert Blick, w. George Burge, William Burton, Daniel Booker, Richard Booker, p. a. George Booker, k. Joseph R. Bentley, John W. Bentley, Edmund Brown, w. Thomas Clarke, Reuben Clements, Moses Clements, Jas. G. Chalmers, p. Edward Cheniworth, d. James Cabiness, Edward H. Cogbill, Samuel Cooper, w. James Curelon, d. William R. Chives, w. George Craddock, Laven Dunton, Wm. B. Degraffenreidt, George P. Digges, Grieve Drummond, w. A. O. Eggleston, p. a. James Farrar, p. John Frank, Edmund Gee, d. James Gary, Frederick Gary, George Grundy, George W. Grymes, Leroy Graves, Edmund M. Giles, p. a. William Harrison, Nathaniel Harrison, Jacob Humbert, John C.Hill, James Jeffers, William Lacey, d. Herbert C. Lofton, w. Benjamin Lawson, Alfred Lorain, William Lanier, d. William R. Leigh, w, David Rlann, Nich. Massenburg, k. Anthony Mullen, Benjamin Middleton, Roger Mallory, Joseph Mason, zc. Edwd. Mumford, p. a. Samuel Miles, d. James Pace, James Peterson, Richard Pool, Benjamin Pegram, Thomas W. Perry, w. John Potter, p. a. John Rawlings, Wm. P. Rawlings, d. Evans Rawlings, George Richards, Gen. P. Raybourne, d. John Shore, k. John Shelton, Richard Sharp, John H. Smith, John Spratt, Robert Stevens, Edward Stith, w. Thomas Scott, w. John H. Saunders, Daniel Wnrsham, Charles Wynne, Nath. H. Wills, 10. Thomas Worsham, Samuel Williams, k James Williams, John F. Wiley, David Williams. A pleasant anecdote is related of the volunteers in a late num- ber of the Pioneer,* as having occurred at Point Pleasant, while they were passing through that place to the frontier. The author of the story was then on his way from western New York, with his family, bound for Cincinnati. After he had been there about a week, the volunteers arrived. The anecdote we give in his own words : Being unable to pass the Ohio on account of the running of the ice, they encamped near the village, and remained about two weeks, during which time the writer had an opportunity of learning their character, which soon became of great service to him. Soon as the ice permitted, they struck their tents and began to cross the river, rejoicing hi the prospect of soon reaching the post of danger. Some five or six of these soldiers, impatient of delay, were about to take a skiff" which belonged to the writer, who was then young, inexperienced, and of such very fiery temperament as not to be very pas- sive when his rights were invaded, and therefore began rather abruptly, perhaps, to re. monstrate with them ; and on their persisting in taking the skiff", high words ensued, in which he called them a set of scoundrels. The words were scarcely uttered, when he was surrounded by half the company, all of whom seemed to feel that the indignity was offered to the whole company. As more and more still gathered around him, they said : 'We have a right to use any means in our power to get on where our country calls us. We bear the character of gentlemen at home : you have called us scoundrels; this you must retract, and make us an apology, or we will tear you in pieces.' Thinking I knew their character, I instantly resolved on the course to be pursued, as the only means of saving myself from the threatened vengeance of men exasperated to the highest pitch of excitement. Assuming an apjiarent courage, which 1 confess I did not feel as strongly as I strove to evince, I turned slowly round upon, my heels, looking them * The American Pioneer is a monthly periodical, now published at Cincinnati, by John S. Williams. It is devoted to collecting and publishing incidents relative to the early settlement and successive improvement of the country. Its mnteri<'l is furnished by numerous correspondents, interested in historical researches. We take pleasure in directing public attention to this excellent work. DINWIDDIE COUNTY. 247 full in the face, with all the composure I could command, without uttering a word. By this time several of the citizens were standing on the outside of the crowd that surrounded me. The volunteers, not knowing I was a stranger there, thought I had turned round in search of succor from the citizens, and with a view of making my escape — said to me, « You need not look for a place of escape ; if all the people of the county were your friends, they could not liberate you — nothing but an apology can save you.' The citi- zens were silent witnesses of the dilemma in which the Yankee, as they called me, was involved. I replied, ' I am not looking for a place of escape — I am looking on men who say they have volunteered to fight their country's battles — who say they are gen. The Blandford Church. tlemen at home — who doubtless left Petersburg, resolved, if they ever returned, to do so with laurels of victory round their brows. And now, I suppose, their first great victory is to be achieved before they leave the shores of their native state, by sixty or seventy of them tearing one man to pieces. Think, gentlemen, if indeed you are gentlemen, how your fame will be blazoned in the public prints — think of the immortality of such a vic- tory ! You can tear me in pieces ; and, like cannibals, eat me, when you have done. I am entirely in )'our power ; but there is one thing I cannot do. You are soldiers, so am I a soldier ; you ask terms of me no soldier cell accept ; you cannot, with a threat over my head, extort an apology from me ; therefore, I have only to say, the greatest scoun- drel among you, strike the first blow! I make no concession.' The result was more favorable than I had anticipated. I had expected to have a contest with some one of them, for I believed the course I had taken would procure me friends enough from among themselves, to see me have, what is called ' fair play' in a fisticuff' battle. But I had effected more. I had made an appeal to the pride, the bravery, and the noble generosi- ty of Virginians — too brave to triumph over an enemy in their power — too generous to permit it to be done by any of their number. A simultaneous exclamation was heard all around me, ' He is a soldier; let him alone' — and in a moment they dispersed." Blandford is said to be older than Petersburg. It was formerly superior in architecture and fashion, and might properly have been called " the court end" of the town ; but her glory has departed, and her sister settlement, Petersburg, has absorbed her vitality. Its old church, " Lone relic of the past ! old mouldering pile, Where twines the ivy round its ruins gray," is one of the most interesting and picturesque ruins in the country. Its form is similar to that of the letter T with a short column. Its 248 ELIZABETH CITY COUNTY. site is elevated, overlooking the adjacent town, the river, and a landscape of beauty. Within the limits of Petersburg, " on the north bank of the Appomattox, within a few feet of the margin of the river, is a large, dark-gray stone, of a conical form, about five feet ill height, and somewhat more in diameter. On the side which looks to the east, three feet above tlie ground, there is an oval excavation about twelve inches across, and half as many in depth. The stone is solitary, and lifts itself conspicuously above the level of the earth. It is called the Basis of Pocahontas, and except in very dry weaiher, is seldom without water." John Burk, a lawyer, was a native of Ireland, and settled in Petersburg, where he wrote and published, in 1804, three volumes on the history of Virginia, bringing it down to the commencement of the American revolution. While here, he wrote plays for an histrionic society in the town, and on the boards of its amateur theatre, acted parts in them. His work on tlie state he did not live to complete. At a public table Burk used some expressions derogatory to the French nation. A French gentleman accidentally present, named Coburg, a stranger in the country, offended by the remarks, challenged him. They fought at Fleet's Hill, on the opposite bank of the Appomattox, and Burk was killed. The 4th and remaining volume, published in 1816, was written by Skelton Jones and Louis Hue Girardin, the latter of whom was a Frenchman, and, it is stated, wrote under the supervision of Jefferson at Monticello, who, familiar with the era to which it related, imparted valuable information. Gen. Wjnfield Scott, the present commander-in-chief of the U. S. Army, was born near Petersburg, June I3th, 1785. As an officer and a soldier his name stands con- spicuous in the annals of our country. ELIZABETH CITY. Elizabeth City was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634, Its form is nearly a square of 18 miles on a side. The land is generally fertile ; and that portion known as " the back river district," comprising about one-third of its area, is remarkably rich. There were in 1840, whites 1,951, slaves 1,708, free colored 44 ; total 3,706. Hampton, the county-seat, is 96 miles se. of Richmond. It is on Hampton Roads, 18 miles from J>forfolk, 24 from Yorktown, 36 from Williamsburg. Hampton, is the residence of many of the pilots of James River. It contains 2 Methodist, 1 Baptist church, and one Episcopalian church. The Methodist society was estab- lished in 1789, and the Baptist in 1791. It has 18 stores and shops, and a population of about 1200. Hampton is an old town, and one of historic interest. Its site was visited by Capt. John Smith in 1607, on his first exploratory voyage up the Potomac, previous to the settlement of Jamestown. Burk says, " While engaged in seeking a fit place for the first settlement, they met five of the natives, who invited them to their town, Kecoiightan or Kichotan, where Hampton now stands. Here they were feasted with cakes made of Indian corn, and ' regaled with tobacco and a dance.' In return, they presented the natives beads and other trinkets." Hampton was established a town by law in 1705, the same year with Norfolk. The locality was set- tled in 1610, from Jamestown.* The Episcopal church is the old- * Jones' " Present State of Virginia." ELIZABETH CITY COUNT*. 249 est public building in the town, and is said to be the third oldest church in the state. The oldest inscription in the grave-yard at- tached to this venerable edifice, is that of Capt. Willis Wilson, who died Nov. 19th, 1701. Among the public men who lie buried there is Dr. George Balfour, who died at Norfolk, in 1830. He was a member of the medical staff in the U. S. Army ; and " braved the perils of the west under the gallant Wayne, who, at a subsequent period, on Presque Isle, breathed his last in his arms. In 1798, on the organization of the Navy, he was appointed its senior surgeon, and performed the responsible duties of that office until 1804, when he retired to private practice in Norfolk." Major James M. Glassell, who died Nov. 3, 1838, and Lieut. James D. Burnham, who died March 6, 1828, both of whom were of the U. S. Army, are interred there. Tradition says, that anciently, the king's coat-of-arms was placed upon the steeple ; but that in 1776, shortly after the Declaration of Independence, the steeple was rent lengthwise by lightning, and the insignia of royalty hurl- ed to the earth. On the Pembroke farm, near Hampton, are four ancient monu- ments of black marble. Each is 6 feet long and 3 wide, and sur- mounted with a coat-of-arms. Annexed are the inscriptions : Here lies ye body of John Nevill, Esq., Vice Admiral of His Majesty's fleet and com- mander-in-chiefe of ye squadron cruising in ye West Indies, wlio dyed on board ye Cambridge, ye 17 day of August, 1097, in the ninth yeare of the reign of King William ye third, aged 57 years. In hopes of a blessed resurrection, here lies ye body of Thomas Curie, gent., who was born Nov. 24, 1641, in ye parish of Saint Michael, in Lewis, in ye county of Surry, in England, and dyed May 30, 1700. When a few years are come then shall I go ye way whence I shall not return. — Job, 16 eh. 22 V. Here lyeth ye body of ye Reverend Mr. Andrew Thompson, who was born at Stone- hive in Scotland, and was minister of this parish 7 yeares, and departed this life ye 11 Sep. 1719, in ye 46 yeare of his age, leaving ye character of a sober and religious man. This stone was given by His Excellency Francis Nicholson, Esq , Lieutenant and Governor.General of Virginia, in memory of Peter Heyman, Esq., grandson to Sir Peter Heyman of Summerfield in ye county of Kent — he was collector of ye customs in ye lower district of James River, and went voluntarily on board ye king's ship Shoire- ham, in pursuit of a pyrate who greatly infested this coast — after he had behaved him- self 7 hours with undaunted courage, was killed with a small shot, ye 23 day of April, 1700. In the engagement he stood next the governor upon the quarter deck, and was here honorably interred by his order. Hampton was attacked by the British in the war of the revolu- tion, and also invaded by them in the late war. The first was in Oct, 1775, and was, says Burk, dictated by revenge on the part of Lord Dunmore, for two schooners which had been burnt by two enterprising young men of the name of Barron. These men, afterwards distinguished for their courage and success in maritime adventure against the British, commanded, at this time, two pilot boats — a species of vessel constructed chiefly with an attention to sailing — and kept the fleet of Dunmore constantly on the alert by the rapidity of their movements. If pur- sued, by keeping close in with the shore, they took refuge in Hampton. The people of the town, fearing an attack, had applied to the committee of safety for assistance, who sent down " Col. Woodford, with 100 mounted riflemen of the Culpeper battalion, with- out any other incumbrance than their provisions and blankets. But before the arrival 32 250 ELIZABETH CITY COUNTY. of Woodford, captain Squires, with six tenders full of men, appeared In Hampton creek, and coaimeiiced an attack on the town. He imagined that the mere display of hi3 squadron would have paralyzed the courage of the new-raised troops, and that no resist- ance would have been attempted. Under this impression, the boats, under cover of a fierce cannonade, rowed towards the shore for the purpose of setting fire to the houses, and carrying otF vi-hatever property should be spared from the conflagration. A few moments disclosed the vanity of these expectations. A shower of bullets soon compelled the boats to return to the ships, while the riflemen, disposed in the houses and the bushes along the beach, proved that even the tenders were not secure against their fatal preci- sion. Checked by a resistance so fierce and unexpected, the tenders hauled further into the stream, and further operations were suspended* until a reinforcement, which was hourly expected, would render an assault more certain and decisive. " Meanwhile Woodford, who had used the most extraordinary expedition, arrived at daybreak vi^ith his riflemen, and as it was certainly known that the enemy would renew the attack, a new disposition was made of the American troops. The enemy's fleet had spread themselves with the view of dividing the force of the Americans ; and though it was intended perhaps only as a diversion, it was not improbable that an attempt would be made to land troops at a considerable distance in the rear of the Americans. To guard against this, Woodford disposed the minute-men, with a part of the militia, in his rear ; the remainder of the militia was distributed at ditFerent points on the creek, to act as parties of observation, according to circumstances, while he himself took post with the riflemen in the houses, and every other low and covered position that presented itself on the beach. " At sunrise the enemy's fleet was seen standing in for the shore, and having at length reached a convenient position, they lay with springs on their cables, and commenced a furious cannonade. Double-headed and chain shot, and grape, flew in showers through all parts of the towi? ; and as the position of the ships enabled them to enfilade, it was thought impos ible to defend it, even for a few minutes. Nothing could exceed the cool and steady valor of the Virginians ; and altliongh, with very few exceptions, wholly unacquainted v/ith Miilitary service, they dl-])layed the countenance and collection of veterans. Woodford's commands to his riflemen, previous to the cannonade, were sim- ply to fire with coolness and decision, and observe the profoundest silence. The efl'ects of this advice were soon visible ; the riflemen answered the cannonade by a well-directed fire against every part of the line, and it soon appeared that no part of the ship was secure agai'jst their astonishing precision. In a short time the enemy appeared to be in some confusion ; their cannonade gradually slackened, and a signal was given by the commander to slip their cables and retire. But even this was attended with tlie most imminent danger. No man could stand at the helm in safety ; if the men went aloft to hand the sails, they were immediately singled out. In this condition two of the schooners drifted to the shore. The commander of one of these in vain called on his men to assist in keeping her off"; they had all retired to the hold, and declared their utter refusal to expose themselves to inevitable destruction. In this exigency, deserted by his men, he jumped into the water and escaped to the opposite shore. The rest of the fleet had been fortunate enough to escape, although with some difficulty, and returned to Norfolk."* After the British fleet were defeated in their attempt upon Nor- folk, in June, 1813, by the gallant defence of Craney Island, they proceeded to attack Hampton, Avhich was defended by a garrison of 4.50 militia, protected by some slight fortifications. The annexed account of this event is from Perkins' History of the Late War : Admiral Cockburn, on the 25th of June, with his fore "\ advanced towards the town in barges aixi small vessels, throwing shells and rockets, while Sir Sidney Bcckwith efTected a landing below with two thousand men. Cockburn's party were repulsed by the garrison, and driven back behind a point, until General Beckwith's troops advanced and compelled the garrison to retire. The town being now completely in the possession of the British, was given up to pillage. Many of the inhabitants had fled with their valuable effects ; those who remained suft'ered the most shameful barbarities. That rcnegado corjjs, composed of F'rench prisoners accustomed to plunder and murder in Spain, and who had been induced to enter the British service by promises of similar indulgence in America, were now to be gratified, and were let loose upon the wretched inhabitants of Ham})ton without restraint. For two days the town was given up to * Tbe inhabitants had sunk five sloops before the town. ELIZABETH CITY COUNTY. 251 unrestrained pillage ; private property was plundered and wantonly destroyed ; unarmed and unoffending individuals grossly abused ; females violated ; and, in one instance, an aged sick man murdered in the arms of his wife, who, at the same time, was danger- ously wounded. A collection of well-attested fagts, made by a committee of Congress respecting the outrages at Hampton, stand on their journals as lasting monuments of disgrace to the British nation. Hampton has been the birth-place of several distinguished naval officers. Among them were the two Barrons,* of the Virginia navy, who performed several gallant exploits in the revolution. The grandfather of Com. Lewis Warrington, who, in 1814, while in command of the Peacock, captured the Epervier, was pastor of the old Episcopal church in this town. Major Finn, of the army, was from this place. Capt. Meredith and Capt. William Cunning- ham, of the Virginia navy in the revolution, were also born at Hampton. The first was a remarkably bold and enterprising offi- cer, and on one moonlight night ventured to sail out to sea in a small vessel, passing through a British fleet anchored in Hampton Roads. The following notice of the latter is abridged from the U. S. Military and Naval Magazine : At the beginning of the war of the revolution, Capt. Cunningham enlisted in one of the minute companies, and continued in that service until Virginia armed a few fast- sailing pilot-boat schooners. Thus was tiie navy of that state commenced. It, however, varied materially ; sometimes amounting to as many as 50 vessels, and occasionally to only one. Among them was the schooner Liberty, which was never captured, although several times sunk in the rivers to conceal her from the enemy. Capt. Cunningham embarked and remained in the Liberty, as her first lieutenant, until the war assumed a more regular form. Capt. Cunningiiam purchased a small schooner, and engaged in traffic to the West Indies. Sea-officers were encouraged to engage in commerce as the only means of procuring the munitions of war. On these occasions, he encountered great risk from the enemy's fleets. Once, in the month of June, he suddenly came upon an English frigate, off Cape Henry, in a dense fog. The English commander ordered him to strike his colors, and haul down his light sails, or he would sink him. By a judicious and skilful stratagem, he made the enemy believe that he intended to surrender. He, therefore, suspended his threatened firing. At the moment they discovered that Cunninghart^ intended to escape, the jib-boom of the frigate caught in the topping-lift of the schooner's main-boom. Capt. C. sprang up to the stern, with a knife, to free his vessel. While in the act of cutting the rope, a British marine sliot him through the arm. Nothing daunted, he deliberately effected his object, and amid a shower of grape, his ves.sel shot away from the frigate, and was in a few moments out of sight. Some time after, Capt. Cunningham joined the army on the south side of James River, and had the misfortune, while on a foraging expedition, to be taken by the enemy and carried into Portsmouth. He had then been recently married. One day he said to an uncle of his, (also a prisoner,) that he would see his wife the next evening, or perish in the attempt. " My dear Will, are you mad ?" was the reply. The prison in which he was confined was a large sugar-house, at the extreme south end of the town, enclosed by a strong stockade fence. At sunset every evening, the guard, composed of 40 or 50 men, were relieved by fresh troops, and on their arrival, the two guards, with their officers, were paraded in front of the prison, on each side of the path- way to the gate. At this hour, the ceremony observed on the occasion was in progress ; the relieved guard had stacked their arms, and were looking up their baggage ; the fresh guard were relieving sentinels, and, in a degree, at their ease. This was the time selected by Capt. C. The sentinel had just begun to pace his sacred ground, and awful, indeed, was the moment. Capt. C. was justly a great favorite with the prisoners, who all, in silent terror, expected to see their beloved companion pinned to the earth by many bay- onets, for expostulation had been exhausted. " My loife, or death .'"' was his watcliword. The sentinel's motions had been sagaciously calculated upon, and as he turned from * One of these was the father of the present Com. James Barron, of the U. S. Navy. 252 ELIZABETH CITY COUNTY. the prison, Capt. C. darted out, and butted him over at his full length, and ran past him tlirough the gate. It was now nearly dark. All was uproar and confusion. Cunning- liam soon reached a marsh near the liouse, and was nowhere to be found. Volley after volley was fired after him, and some of the balls whistled over his head. Ere long he arrived at the southern branch of Elizabeth River, which he swam over a little below the navy-yard at Gosport, and finally reached the place whither his wife had fled. Lieut. C^hurch, who had served as Capt. C.'s first, was determined that his commander should not alone encounter the danger of an escape. He, therefore, followed him ; and strange as it may appear, he was never heard of, or accounted for. Old Point Comfort, on which stands fortress Monroe, is 2i miles from Hampton, and about 12 in a direct line from Norfolk. It is a promontory, exactly on lat. 37**, ■. with the opposing point, Wil- ioughby, forms the mouth of James River. The name was given to it in 1607 by the first colonists of Virginia, who, on their exploratory voyage up the James, previous to landing at Jamestown, called it Point Comfort " on account of the good channel and safe anchorage it afforded." The prefix of " Old," was afterwards given to distinguish it from " New Point Comfort." A fort was built on the Point a few 3'ears after the first settlement of the country. The following act for its erection was passed in Marcii, 16'i9-30. " Matter of ftbrtilica- tions was againe taken into consideration, and Capt. Samuel Mathewcs was content to undertake the raysing of a ftbrt at Poynt Comfort ; whereupon, Capt. -obert Ffelgate, Capt. Thomas Purfury, Capt. Thomas Graies, Capt. John Uty, 1 . VViHoby, Mr. Tho. Heyrick, and Leu't. Win. Perry, by full consent of the wli<;! n ■. were chosen to view the place, conclude what manner of ftbrte shall bee t ' ti id to compounde and agree with the said Capt. Mathewes for the building, raysing, and finishing the same," &c. Count de Grasse, the admiral of the French fleet, threw up some fortifications on old point Comfort a short time previous to the surrender at York. The salutary experience, dearly bougiit in the lessons of the late war, when these waters were the resort of British fleets, has doubtless had much influence in prom[)tingthe erection of the fortresses of Monroe and Calhoun. The first is one of the largest single fortifica- tions in the world,, and is generally garrisoned by a regiment of U. S. troops. The channel leading in from the Capes of Virginia to Hampton Roads, is at Old Point Com- fort reduced to a very narrow line. The shoal water, which under the action of the sea, and reacted upon by the bar, is kept up in an unremitting ripple, has given the name of Rip Raps to this place. When the bar is passed, Hampton Roads affords one of the finest anchorages, in which navies could ride in safety. Fort Calhoun, or the castle of the Rip Raps, is directly opposite fort Monroe, at the distance of 1900 yards. The two forts are so constructed as to present immense batteries of cannon at an approaching hostile ship ; and the probabilities are, that long before she had com- pleted the bendings of the channel, she would be a wreck, or a conflagration from the hot shot thrown into her. The Rip Raps structure is a monument of the genius of the engineers by whom it was planned. It is formed upon an island, made from the sea by casting in rocks in a depth of 20 feet of water, until, by gradual accumulation, it emerged above the tides. The present aspect of the place is rough and savage ; the music of the surrounding elements of air and sea, is in keeping with the dreariness and desolation of the spot. The beach at Old Point, affords excellent bathing-ground ; this, with a fine hotel, and other attractions, make the place much resorted to in the summer months. The officers' quarters occupy several neat buildings within the area of the fort, where there is a fine level parade-ground, ornamented by clumps of live-oak, which is the most northern point in the Union in which that tree is found. George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in this county in 1726. "His education was principally directed by his mother. The death of both his parents before he became of age, and the uncontrolled possession of a large for- tune, led him for some time into a course of amusement and dissi- pation. At the age of thirty, however, his conduct underwent an ESSEX COUNTY. 253 entire change. He applied himself vigorously to the study of the law ; and soon after his admission to the bar, his learning, indus- try, and eloquence, made him eminent. For several years previous to the revolution, he wsls conspicuous in the House of Burgesses : and in the commencement of the opposition to England, evinced an ardent attachment to liberty. In 1764, he drew up a remon- strance to the House of Commons, in a tone of independence too decided for that period, and which was greatly modified by the Assembly before assenting to it. In 1775, he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In the fol- lowing year he was appointed, in connection v/ith Mr. Jefferson and others, to revise the laws of Virginia — a duty which Avas per- formed with great ability. In 1777, he was appointed Speaker of the House of Delegates, and during the same year judge of the high court of chancery. On a new organization of the court of equity, in the subsequent year, he was appointed sole chancellor — a station which he filled for more than twenty years. In 1787, he was a member of the convention which formed the federal con- stitution, and during the debates acted, for the most part, as chair- man. He was a strenuous advocate of the instrument adopted. He subsequently presided twice, successively, in the college of electors in Virginia. His death occurred on the 8th of .June, 1800, in the 81st year of his age. It was supposed that he was poisoned ; but the person suspected was acquitted by a jury. In learning, industry, and judgment. Chancellor Wythe had few superiors. His integrity was never stained, even by a suspicion ; and from the moment of his abandonment of the follies of his youth, his repu- tation was unspotted. The kindness and benevolence of his heart were commensurate with the strength and attainments of his mind." ESSEX. Essex was formed in 1692, from a part of (old) Rappahannock county. It lies on the s. side of the Rappahannock, about 30 miles NE. of Richmond. Its length is 28 miles; mean breadth 10 miles. In the western part it is slightly hilly, and its soil, except on the margin of the streams, generally sandy. The county, however, produces large crops of corn, considerable wheat and oats, and some cotton and tobacco. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,955, slaves 6,756, free colored 598 ; total, 11,309. Tappahannoc, port of entry and seat of justice for the county, lies on the Rappahannock, 50 miles from its mouth in Chesapeake Bay, and contains about 30 dwellings. It has a good harbor, and all the shipping belonging to the towns on the river is entered at the custom-house in this place; tonnage in 1840, 4,591. Lo- retto is a small village one mile from the Rappahannock, in the NE. part of the county. (22) 254 FAIRFAX COUNTY. FAIRFAX. Fairfax was formed in 1742, from Prince William, and named after Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of " the Northern Neck.'' The part of Virginia included in the District of Columbia was formed from Fairfax, The county is watered by the Potomac and the Occoquan, and their branches. Pop., whites 5,469, slaves 3,453, free colored 448 ; total, 9,370, Fairfax Court House is near the centre of the county, 21 miles from Washington City; it contains the county buildings, and about 200 inhabitants. Centerville is a village of about the same popu- lation, on a high and healthy situation near the southwestern angle of the county. Much of the land of this county, and, indeed, of the whole of the tide-water country of Virginia, is flat and sandy. Some parts, it is true, are very fertile and produce large crops ; but these are so intermixed with extensive tracts of waste land, worn out by the excessive culture of tobacco, and which are almost destitute of verdure, that the country has frequently the aspect of barrenness. A ruinous system has prevailed to a great extent, of working the same piece of land year after year until it was exhausted, \vhen new land was cleared, in its turn to be cultivated a few seasons and then abandoned. In some parts of the country the lands thus left waste throw up a spontaneous growth of low pines and cedars, whose sombre aspect, with the sterility of the soil, oppresses the traveller with feelings of gloom. However, land thus shaded from the rays of the sun, recovers in time its former fertility. Several years since, some of the enterprising farmers of German origin from Dutchess county. New York, commenced emigrating to this county and purchased considerable tracts of worn-out land, which they have, in many instances, succeeded in restoring to their original fertility. Good land can be bought for $8 or $10 per acre ; tolerable fair for about $3 ; which, in a few years, can be brought up with clover and plaster. Some of the finest farms in New York are upon lands, which, a few years ago, were sand, blowing about in the wind. The worn-out Virginian lands are not so bad as this, and, with a fine climate, are as easily restored. The success thus far attending the experiment is encouraging, and emigration still continues. These farmers make this movement better than going west, for they are sure of a good market, without the whole value of their produce being exhausted by the expense of transportation. Slave-labor is not employed in resuscitating land ; the farmers work themselves, with their sons and hired men The following extracts are from Davis's Four and a Half Years in America, published in 1803. Davis was a school-teacher in the section of country which he describes. His work is dedicated, by permission, to Jefferson : — FAIRFAX COUNTY. 255 I prosecuted my walk to Newgate, where, on the piazza of Mr. Thornton's tavern, I found a party of gentlemen from the neighboring plantations carousing over a bowl of toddy, and smoking cigars. No people could exceed these men in politeness. On my ascending the steps to the piazza, every countenance seemed to say, This man has a double claim to our attention, for he is a stranger in the place. In a moment there was room made for me to sit down ; a new bowl was called for, and every one who addressed me did it with a smile of conciliation. But no man asked me where I had come from, or whither I was going. A gentleman in every country is tiie same ; and, if good breed- ing consists in sentiment, it was found in the circle I had got into. The higher Virginians .«eem to venerate themselves as men ; and I am persuaded there was not one in company who would have felt embarrassed at being admitted to the pres- ence and conversation of the greatest monarch on earth. There is a compound of vir- tue and vice in every human ciiaracter; no man was ever yet faultless; but whatever may be advanced against Virginians, their good qualities will ever outweigh their de- fects ; and when the effervescence of youth has abated, when reason asserts her em- pire, there is no man on earth who discovers more exalted sentiments, more contempt of baseness, more love of justice, more sensibility of feeling, than a Virginian. No walk could be more delightful than that from Occoquan to Colchester, when the moon was above the mountains. You traverse the bank of a placid" stream, over which impend rocks, in some places bare, but more frequently covered with an odoriferous plant that regales the traveller with its fragrance. So serpentine is the course of ihe river, that the mountains which rise from its bank maybe said to form anamphitiieatre ; and nature seems to have designed the spot for the haunt only of fairies, for here grow flowers of purple dye, and here the snake throws her enamelled skin. But into what regions, however apparently inaccessible, has not adventurous man penetrated ? THe awful repose of the night is disturbed by the clack of two huge mills, which drown the echoes of the mocking-bird, who nightly tells his sorrows to the listening moon. Art is pouring fast into the lap of nature the luxuries of exotic refinement. After clambering over mountains, almost inaccessible to human toil, you come to the junction of the Occoquan with the noble river of the Potomac, and behold a bridge, whose semi- elliptical arches are scarcely inferior to those of princely London. And on the side of this bridge stands a tavern, where every luxury that money can purchase is to be ob- tained at first summons ; where the richest viands cover the table, and where ice cools tlie Madeira that has been thrice across the ocean. * » * Having slept one night at this tavern, 1 rose with the sun and journeyed leisurely to the mills, catching refresh- ment from a ligiit air that stirred the leaves of the trees. About eight miles from the Occoquan mills is a house of worship, called Poioheek church ; a. name it claims from a run that flows near its walls. Hither I rode on Sundays and joined the congregation of parson Weems, a minister of the Episcopal persuasion, who was cheerful in hisnuen, that he might win men to religion. A Virginian church-yard, on a Sunday, resembles rather a racecourse than a sepidchral ground 5 the ladies come to it in carriages, and the men after dismounting from tlieir horses make them fast to the trees. But the steeples to the Virginian churches were designed not for utility but ornament ; for the bell is always suspended to a tree a few yards from the church. It is also observable, that the gate to the church-yard is ever carefully locked by the sexton, who retires last. * * * . Wonder ana ignorance are ever reciprocal. I was confounded, on first entering the church-yard at Powheek, to hear , Steed threaten steed with high and boastful neigh. Nor was I less stunned with the rattling of carriage-wheels, the cracking of whips, and the vociferations of the gentlemen to the negroes who accompanied them. But the dis- course of parson Weems calmed every perturbation ; for he preached the. great doc- trines of salvation, as one who had experienced their power. * * * In his youth Mr. Weems accompanied some young Americans to London, where he prepared him- self by diligent study for the profession of the church. * * * Of the congregation at Powheek church, about one half was composed of white people, and tjhe other of ne- groes. Among many of the negroes were to be discovered the most satisfying evi- deuces of sincere piety, an artless simplicity, passionate aspirations after Christ, and an earnest endeavor to know and do the will of God. The church described in the foregoing sketch is still standing and an object of interest from having been the one Washington regularly attended for a long series of years while resident at 256 FAIRFAX COUNTY. Mount Vernon, distant some 6 or 7 miles. The particular location of the church is ascribed to him. At a very early age he was an active member of the vestry ; and when its location was under consideration and dispute, surveyed and made a map of the whole parish, and showed where it ought to be erected. The Rt. Rev. Wm. ]\Ieade, Bishop of Va., in an official tour taken three or four years since, thus describes its appearance as it was at that time ; since Avhich it has been repaired : My next visit was to Poliick church, in the vicinity of IVIount Vernon, the seat of Gen. Washington. I desigfned to perform service there on Saturday as well as Sunday, but through some mistalie no notice was given for the former day. The weather, in- deed, was such as to prevent the asscnjbling of any but those who prize such occasions so much as to be deterred only by very strong considerations. It was still raining when I approached the house, and found no one there. The wide opened doors invited me to enter, as they do invite, day and night through the year, not only the passing traveller, but every beast of the field and fowl of the air. These latter, however, seemed to have reverenced the house of (iod, since few marks of their pollution are to be seen through- out it. The inteiior of the house, having been well built, is still good. The chancel, communion-table, tables of the law, etc., are still there and in good order. The roof only is decayed ; and ai the time 1 was there, the rain was dropping on these sacred places, and on oilier parts of the house. On the doors of the pews, in gilt letters, are still to be seen the names of the principal families which once occupied them. How could I, while for an hour traversing those long aisles, entering the sacred chancel, as. cending the lofty pulpit, forbear to ask : And is this the house of God which was built by the Washingtons, the Masons, the McCarties, the Grahams, the Lewises, the Fair- faxes — the house in which they used to worship the God of our fathers according to the venerable forms of the Episcopal Church, and some of whose names are yet to be found on those deserted pews ? Is this, also, destined to moulder piecemeal away — or, when some signal is given, to become the prev of spoilers, and to be carried hither and thither, and applied to every purpose under heaven ? The Rev. M. L. Weems, to whom allusion has been made, was the rector of Mount Vernon parish at the time Washington at- tended this church. He was the author of a life of Washington, and also one of Marion. His memoir of Washington has been a very popular Avork, and has passed through 30 or 40 editions. It is a volinne extremely fascinating to the youthful mind. " He turns all the actions of Washington to the encouragement of vir- tue, by a careful application of numerous exemplifications drawn from the conduct of the founder of our republic, from his earliest life." * From a clerical friend of the late Mr. 'Weems, we have gathered these facts respect- ing him : The wants of a large family occasioned Mr. Weems to abandon preaching for a livelihood, and he became a book-agent for the celebrated Matthew Carey of Phila- delphia. He travelled extensively over the southern states, and met with almost unpre- cedented success — selling, in one year, 3000 coi)ies of a high-priced Bible. He also sold other works, among which were those of his own writing. He was accustomed to be present at courts and other large assemblages, where he mingled with the people : and by his faculty of adapting himself to all circumstances, he generally drew crowds of listen- ers, whom he would address upon the merits of his works, interspersing his remarks with anecdotes and humorous sallies. He wrote and sold a pamphlet entitled " The Drunk, ard's Lookiiig^-Class," illustrated by cuts, showing the progressive stages of the drunk- ard, from his first taking the social glass until the final scene of his death. With this in hand he entered taverns, and addressing the inmates, would mimic the extravagances of an inebriate, and sell the pamphlet. His eccentricities and singular conduct lowered his dignity, and occasioned the circulation of many false and ridiculous tales unbecoming his clerical profession. He was a man of much benevolence, and a great wit. When travelling, he sometimes received and accepted invitations to preach. His sermons were FAIRFAX COUNTY. 257 generally moral essays, abounding with humor. On one occasion, when at Fredericks- burg, he preached from the text, " We are fearfully and wonderfully made," — which ser- mon he abruptly concluded by saying, " I must stop ; for should I go on, some of the young ladles present would not sleep a winii- to-night." Mr. Weems was of the medium stature, his hair white and long, and his countenance expressive and s()rightly. He was energetic in his movements, and polite. He proved useful in his vocation, being careful not to circulate any works but those of a good moral tendency. He died at an advanced age, many years since, leaving a highly respectable and well-educated family. ^83 1 IMM/'^'- Residence and Tomb of Washington, Mount Vernon. An English traveller in this country, about the close of the revo- lution, gives the following list of the seats on the Potomac existing at that time : " On the Virginia side of the Potomac, are the seats of Mr. Alex- ander, Gen. Washington, Col. Martin, Col. Fairfax, Mr. Lawson, near the mouth of Oquaquon, Col. Mason, Mr. Lee, near the mouth of Quantico, Mr. Brent,* Mr. Mercer, IMr. Fitzhugh, Mr. Alexan- der, of Boyd Hole and all Chotank, Col. Frank Thornton, on * Burnt by the enemy early in the revolutionary war. 33 (22*) 258 FAIRFAX COUNTY. Marchodock, Mr. Thacker Washington, Mrs. Blair, Mr M'Carty, Col. Phil. Lee, of Nominey," &c. Mount Vernon is on the Potomac, 8 miljes from Alexandria, and 15 from Washington City. The mansion is built of wood, cut in imitation of free stone. The central part was built by Lawrence Washington, brother to the general ; the wings were added by Gen. Washington. It is named after Admiral Vernon, in whose expedition Lawrence Washington served. The following graphic description of a visit to Mount Vernon, from the pen of a New Englander, we extract from a recent num- ber of the Boston Dail}^ Advertiser and Patriot: I had this morning, for the first time, crossed the Potomac, and was under the full in- fluence of the sense that I was in a new land, and amid all the historical associations of the " Ancient Dominion." The day was soft and balmy, and, tliough early in March, was as warm as our budding days of May. We were in a portion of the great primeval forest of America. The crows cawed from the tops of the ancient, half-decayed trees ; and tiie naked trunks and branches of the sycamore, and the strange spreading forms of the other giants of the wood, were beautifully relieved by the evergreen of the pines and cedars. A solemn stillness filled the air. An ancient, sad, half-degenerate, but most venerable and soul-stirring character was impressed upon all around us. After a few miles of riding through the forest, with occasional openings and cultivated spots, in one of which a negro was following his plough through the furrows, my friend pointed out a stone sunk in the ground by the road-side, which, he said, marked the begin- ning of the Mount Vernon estate. Still, we rode on for a couple of miles of beautiful country, left much in its natural condition, without even a fence to line the road-side, with a delightful variety of surface, before the gate and porter's lodge came in sight. Instead of an iron gate upon stone posts, there was a simple wooden gate, swinging from posts of wood, without paint, turned to a gray color, and shutting with a wooden latch. An aged negro came out from the porter's house, courtesied as we passed, and an- swered civilly the questions as to her health, and whether her mistress was at home. All was characteristic of the domestic institutions of Virginia, even to the woman's stand- ing still, and letting the gate swing to and latch itself. We had still half a mile before us, and the simple carriage-path led us over hills and down dales, with a surface as di- versified as that of j\Iount Auburn, while the trees were more grand and forest-like, though thinly scattered, and with less variety and richness. We crossed a brook, passed through a ravine, and felt ourselves so completely in the midst of aboriginal, untouched nature, that the sight of the house and its cluster of surrounding buildings, came like a surprise upon nie. The approach to the house is towards the west front. The high pi- azza, reaching from the roof to the ground, and the outline of the building, are familiar to us from the engravings ; but its gray and time-worn aspect must be mentioned to those whose eyes are accustomed to the freshness of white walls, green blinds, and painted bricks. We rode up to the piazza, but an unbroken silence reigned, and there was no sign of life, or of any one stirring. Turning away, we passed among the adjoining houses, occupied by the blacks, from one of which a servant, attracted by the sound of our horses' hoofs, came out, and being recognised by my friend, took our horses from us, and we walked towards the house. The door from the piazza opened directly into a large room, which we entered. Tt was no mere habit that lifted the hat from my head, and I stepped lightly, as though upon hallowed ground. Finding that no one had seen us, my friend went in search of the family, and left me to walk through the halls. From the first room I passed into another, from which a door led me out upon the eastern piazza. A warm afternoon breeze shook the branches of the forest which closes in upon the liouse on two sides, and breathed across the lawn and rising knolls with a delicious softness. Under this piazza, upon its pavement of flat stones, Washington used to walk to and fro, with military regularity, every morning, the noble Potomac in full view, spreading out into the width of a bay at the foot of the mount, and the shore of Maryland lining the eastern horizon. By the side of the door hung the spy-glass, through which he watched the passing objects upon the water. Little efibrt was ne- cessary to call up the commanding figure of the hero, as he paced to and fro, while those pure and noble thoughts, which made his actions great, moved with auiiost an equal order through his simple and majestic understanding. FAIRFAX COUNTY. 259 My friend approached and told me he had learned that the family were at dinner, and we left the house privately and walked towards the tomb. At a short distance from the house, in a retired spot, stands tlfe new family tomb, a plain structure of brick, with a barred iron gate, through wliich are seen two sarcophagi of white marble, side by side, containing the remains of Washington and his consort. This had been recently finished, as appeared from the freshness of the bricks and mortar, and the bare spots of earth about it, upon which the grass had not yet grown. It is painful to see change and nov- elty in such connections ; but all has been done by the direction of Washington's will, in which he designated the spot where he wished the tomb to be. The old family tomb, in which he was first placed, is in a more picturesque situation, upon a knoll, in full view of the river ; but the present one is more retired, which was reason enough to determine the wishes of a modest man. While we were talking together here, a person approached lis, dressed in the plain manner of a Virginia gentleman upon his estate. This was the young proprietor. After his greeting with my friend, and my introduction, he conducted us to the old tomb, which is the one represented in the prints scattered through the coun- try. It is now going to decay, being unoccupied, is filling up, and partly overgrown with vines and shrubs. The change was made with regret, but a sacred duty seemed to re- quire it. It is with this tomb that our associations are connected, and to this the British fleet is said to have lowered its flags while passing up the Potomac to make the attack upon the capitol. To one accustomed to the plantation system and habits of Virginia, this estate may have much that is common with others ; but to persons unused to this economy, the whole is new and striking. Of things peculiar to the place, are a low rampart of brick, now partly overgrown, which Washington had built around the front of tlie house, and an underground passage leading from the bottom of a dry well, and coming out by the river side at the foot of the mount. On the west side of the house are two gardens, a green-house, and — the usual accompaniments of a plantation — seed-houses, tool-houses, and cottages for the negroes — things possessing no particular interest, except because they were standing during Washington's life, and were objects of his frequent attention. I would not be one to countenance the making public of any thing pertaining to those who have received a visitor in confidence and good faith. And I hope not to transgress when I say, that if he can judge from what may be seen among those who bear the name and inherit tlie estate of the hero, no Massachusetts man need fear that the bond which united the two ancient historical commonwealths, is at all weakened ; or that those memory-charge, cabalistic words, Massachusetts and Virginia, have lost any of their force with the true sons of either. Among the things of note shown us in the house, was the key of the Bastile, sent to Washington from France at the time of the destruc- tion of the prison. Along the walls of the room hung engravings, which were mostly battle or hunting-pieces. Among them I noticed a print of Bunker Hill, but none of any battle in which Washington himself was engaged. Tlie north room was built by Wash- ington for a dining-room, and for the meetings of his friends and political visitors. The furniture of the room is just as when he used ii, and leads us back to the days when there were met within these walls the great men of that generation who carried the states through the revolution, laid the foundations of the government, and administered it in its purer days. The rooms of the house are spacious, and there is something of elegance in their arrangement ; yet the whole is marked by great simplicity. All the regard one could wish seems to have been shown to the sacredness of these public relics, and all things have been kept very nearly as Washington left them, flloney made in the stocks can purchase the bedizenry of our city drawing-rooms ; but these elevating asso- ciations, which no gold can buy, no popular favor win, which can only be inherited, these are the heir-looms, the traditionary titles and pensions, inalienable, not conferred, which a republic allows to the descendants of her great servants. Let every American, and especially every young American, 'visit this place, and catch, if he can, something of its spirit. It will make an impression upon him which he may keep through life. It will teach him the story and lessons of the past so as no printed page can teach them. From amid the small machinery of day and week poli- tics, he may learn what was once the tone of public life. It will enlarge his patriotism, elefate his notions of the public service, and call out some sense of veneration and loy- alty towards the institutions of his country and the memory of her mighty dead ; so that Young America may, as there is some hope she may, bring back the elements which dignified the first eight years of our constitutional history. As tile afternoon rcw to a close, and we were obliged to take our leave, regret from parting from our courteous entertainers, was lost in the grand and solemn impression 260 FAIRFAX COUNTY. made by all around us. Nothing was real. Every thing acted through the imagina- tion. Each object was dim with associations, and seemed but the exponent of some thought or emotion, the shadow of something great and past. The whole was enchanted ground ; and the occupants seemed privileged persons, whom the guardian spirits of the place allowed to remain its tenants and keepers. AVhcn the young proprietor took leave of us at the piazza, he stood where \Vashingt(jn had stood to welcome and to part from the immortal men of France and America. He stood there his representative to a third generation. It may well be supposed that as we rode slowly home, our thoughts were in no ordinary course. We repassed the gate, the rivulet, and the open field, but still we were on enchanted ground. So impressed was I with this feeling, that had I met a procession of the great men of the past, riding slowly towards the mansion of their com- panion in arms and in the cabinet, it would have seemed only a natural consummation. It was not until we had reached the town, and our liorses' hoofs struck upon the pave- ment, that the illusion was fairly broken. The following was found inscribed on the back of a small por- trait of Washington at Mount Vernon. It was written by some imknown visitor, supposed to have been an English traveller : WASHINGTON, The Defender of his Cuuntrv. — The I'oundcr of Liberty; The Friend of Man. History and Tradition are exphired in vain, For a Parallel to his Clmracter. In the Annals of Modern Greatness He stands alone ; And the noblest names of antiquity. Lose their Lustre in his Presence. Born the Benefactor of Mankind, He united all the qualities necessary To an illustrious career. Nature made him great, He made himself virtuous. Called by his country to the defence of her Liberties, He trium|ihantly vindicated the rights of humanity : And on the Pillars of National Independence Laid the foundations of a great republic. Twice invested with supreme magistracy, By the unanimous voice of a free people He surpassed in the Cabinet The Glories of the Field. And voluntarily resigning the Sceptre and the Sword, Retired to the shades of Private Life. A snectacle so new and so sublime Was contemplated with the profoundest admiration. unie -of VVashinoton, new lustre to humanity. Resounded To the remotest regions of the earth. Magnanimous in youth. Glorious through life, Great in Peath. His highest ambition, the Happiness of Mankind ; His noblest Victory, the conquest of himself. Bequeathing to posterity the inheritance of his fame. And building his monument in the hearts of his countrymen. He Lived— The Ornament of the Wlh Century. He Died — Regretted by a Mourning World. tenimaleu w Anu ttie na Ad^ng nev Gunston Hall, which was the seat of the celebrated George Mason, stands on an elevated and commanding site overlooking the Potomac. Mr. Jefferson said that he was " of the first order of wisdom, among those who acted on the theatre of the revolution, of expansive mind, profound judgment, cogent" in ar- gument, learned in the lore of our former constitution, and earnest for the republican change on democratic principles. His eloquence was neither flowing nor smooth ; but his language was strongs his manner most impressive, and strengthened by a dash of biting criticism when provocation made it seasonable." Mr. Mason was the framer of the constitution of Virginia, and a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution, but he did not sign that instrument. In conjunction witii Patrick Henry, FAUQUIER COUNTY. 261 he opposed its adoption in the Virginia convention, believing that it woult tend to the conversion of tbe government into a monarchy. He also opposed the slave trade with great zeal. He died at his seat in the autumn of 1792, aged 67 years. The annexed epitaph was copied from a tombstone on the banks of Neabsco Creek, in October, 1837. It is, without doubt, the oldest monumental inscription in the United States. From the earliness of the date, 1608, it is supposed that the deceased was a companion of Capt. John Smith on one of his exploratory voyages. Here lies ye body of Lieut. William Herris, who died May ye 16th, 1608: aged 065 years ; by birth a Britain, a good soldier ; a good husband and neighbor. FAUQUIER. Fauquier was created in 1759, from Prince William, and named from Francis Fauquier, Gov. of Va. from 1758 to 1767. Its great- est length is 45 miles, mean breadth 16. The surface is agreeably diversified, and the soil, when judiciously cultivated, susceptible of high improvement, and very productive. In the county exist valuable beds of magnesia and soapstone, and there are several gold mines worked by the farmers with tolerable profit, at inter- vals of leisure from their agricultural labors. Pop., whites 10,501, slaves 10,708, free colored 688; total, 21,891. Warrenton, the county-seat, is 102 miles nnw. from Richmond. It is a beautiful village in the heart of the county, adorned with- shade-trees, standing upon an eminence commanding a fine view of some of the spurs of the Blue Ridge. It contains about a dozei? mercantile stores, 1 Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Methodist church, a fine male academy where ancient and modern languages are taught, a female academy in excellent repute, a newspaper printing office, the county buildings, among which is a handsome court-house, (shown in the annexed view,) and a population of about 1,400. An excellent macadamized road leads from here to Alexandria. Among the anecdotes we have gathered " by the w^ay," the one herewith presented is, perhaps, worthy of insertion. Some thirty or more years since, at the close of a long summer's day, a stranger entered this village. He was alone and on foot, and his appearance was any thing but prepossessing. His gar- ments, coarse and dust-covered, indicated an individual in the humbler M^alks. From a cane resting across his shoulders was sus- pended a handkerchief containing his clothing. Stopping in front of Turner's tavern, he took from his hat a paper and handed it to a gentleman standing on the steps : it read as follows — The celebrated historian and naturalist, Volney, needs no recommendation from G. Washington There are several other villages in Fauquier. Upperville, at the foot of the Blue Ridge, in the nw. angle of the county, is a new and flourishing village in a very rich agricultural country, on 262 FAUaUIER COUNTY. the main road from Winchester to Alexandria. It contains 1 Met., 1 Epis., and 1 Baptist church, and a population of aboftt 500. Paris Ctntral View in \Varrenton. and Somerville contain each about 40, and New Baltimore 20 dwellings. The Fauquier White Sulphur Springs are miles sw. of War- renton. The improvements are very extensive, and the grounds beautifully adorned with shrubbery. These springs are very popu- lar, and of easy access from the eastern cities. John Marshall, late Chief Justice of the United t^tates, was born at a locality called Gcr- maiitowii, in this coun- ty, 9 miles below War- renton. The house in which he was born is not in existence. When he was quite young-, tlie family moved to Goose's Creek, under Manassa's Gap, near the Blue Ridsje, and still later to Oak Hill, where the family ,lived at the commencement of the revolution. His father, Thomas INIarshall. was a planter of limited means and education, but of stronij natural powers, which, cultivated by observation and reflection, crave him the reputation of extraordinary abilit}'. He served with distinction in the revolution, as a colonel in the continental ami}'. Jolin was the eldest of fifteen children; The narrow fortimc of Col. Maishall, and the sparsely inhabited condition of Fauquier, compelled him to be almost exclu- sively the teacher of bis children, and to his instructions the Chief-Justice said, " he owed the solid foundation of all his success in life." He earl)' imjilanted in his eldest son a taste for Enijlish literature, especially for poetry and history. At the aire of twelve, John had transcribed the whole of Pope's Es.'iay on iVIan, and some of his Moral Es- says ; and had committed to memory many of the most interesting passages of that dis- tinguished poet. At the age of 14 he was placed with the Rev. Mr. Campbell, in Westmoreland, where, for a year, he was instructed in Latin, and had for a fellow-student James Monroe. The succeeding year was passed at his father's, where be continued the study under the Rev. I\Ir. Thompson, a Scotch gentleman, which "was the whole of the classical tuition he ever obtained. B)' the assistance of his father, however, and the persevering ell'orts of l)is own mind, he continued to enlarge his knowIed<;e, while he strengthened his body by 'hardy, athletic exercises in the open air. He engaged in field sports ; he indulged his FAtraUIER COUNTY. 263 solitary meditations amidst the wildest scenery of nature; he delighted to brush away the earliest dews of the mominsf.' " To these early habits in a mountain region he owed a vigor^ms constitution. The simple manner of living among the people of those regions of that early day, doubtless contributed its share. He ever recurred with fond- ness to that primitive mode of life, when he partook with a keen relish balm tea and mush ; and when the females used thorns for pins. In the summer of 1775 he was appointed Lieut, in the " Minute'Battalion," and had an honorable share in the battle of Great Bridge. In July, 1776, he was appointed 1st Lieut, in the 11th Virginia regiment, on the continental establishment, which marched to the north in the ensuing winter; and in May, 1777, he was promoted to a captaincy. He was in the skirmish at Iron Hill, and at the battles of Brandywine, Gerrnantown, and Monmouth. He was one of that body of men, never surj)assed in the history of the world, who, unpaid, unclothed, unfed, tracked the snows of Valley Forge with the blood of their footsteps in the rigorous winter of 1778, and yet turned not their faces from their country in resentment, or from their enemies in fear. That part of the Virginia line which was not ordered to Charleston, (S. C.,) being in effect dis.solved by the expiration of the term of enlistment of the soldiers, the officers (among whom was Captain Marshall) were, in the winter of 1779-80, directed to return home, in order to take charge of such men as the state legislature should raise for them. It was during this season of inaction that he availed himself of the opportunity of at- tending a course of law lectures given by Mr. Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the state; and a course of lectures on natural philosophy, given by Mr. Madison, president of Wil- liam and Mary College in Virginia. He left this college in the summer vacation of 1780, and obtained a license to practise law. In October he returned to the army, and continued in service until the termination of Arnold's invasion. After this period, and before the invasion of Phillips, in February, 1781, there being a redundancy of officers in the Virginia line, he rcsis/ned his commission. . During the invasion of Virginia, the courts of law were not reopened until after the capitulation of Lord Comwallis. Immediately after that event, Mr. Marshall com- menced the practice of law, and soon rose into distinction at the bar. In the spring of 1782, he was elected a member of the state legislature, and in the autumn of the same year, a member of the executive council. In January, 1783, he married Miss Ambler, the daughter of a gentleman who was then treasurer of the state, and to whom he had become attached before he left the army. This lady lived for nearly fifty years after her marriage, to partake and enjoy the distinguished honors of her husband. In 1784, he resigned his seat at the council-board in order to return to the bar ; and he was immediately afterwards again elected a member of the legisla- ture for the county of Fauquier, of which he was then only nominally an inhabitant, his actual residence being at Richmond. In 1787 he was elected a member from the county of Henrico ; and though at that time earnestly engaged in the duties of his profession, he embarked largely in the political questions \Vhich then agitated the state, and indeed the whole confederacy. Every person at all read in our domestic history must recollect the dangers and diffi- culties of those days. The termination of the revolutionary war left the country im- poverished and exhausted by its expenditures, and the national finances at a low state of depression. The powers of Congress under the confederation, which even during the war were often prostrated by the neglect of a single state to enforce them, became in the ensuing peace utterly relaxed and inefficient. Credit, private as well as public, was destroyed. Agriculture and commerce were crippled. The delicate relation of debtor and creditor became daily more and more embarrassed and embarrassing; and, as is usual upon such occasions, every sort of ex- pedient was resorted to by popular leaders, as well as by men of desperate fortunes, to inflame the public mind, and to bring into odium those who labored to preserve the pub- lic faith, and to establish a more energetic government. The whole country was soon divided into two great parties, the one of which endeavored to put an end to the public evils by the establishment of a government over the Union, which should be adequate to all its exigencies, and act directly on the people ; the other was devoted to state authority, jealous of all federal influence, and determined at every hazard to resist its increase. It is almost unnecessary to say, that Mr. Marshall could not remain an idle or indif- ferent spectator to such scenes. As little doubt could there be of the part he would take in such a contest. He was at once arrayed on the side of Washington and Madison. In Virginia, as everywhere else, the principal topics of the day were paper money, the 264 FAUQUIER COUNTY. collection of taxes, the preservation of public faith, and the administration of civil jus- tice. The parties were nearly equally divided upon all these topics ; and the contest concerning them was continually renewed. In such a state of things, every victory was but a temporary and questionable triumph, and every defeat still left enough of hope to excite to new and strenuous exertions. The affairs, too, of the confederacy were then at a crisis. The question of the continuance of the Union, or a separation of the states, was freely discussed ; and, what is almost startling now to repeat, either side of it was maintained without reproach. Mr. Madison was at this time, and had been for two or three years, a member of the House of Delegates, and was, in fact, the author of the resolution for the general convention at Philadel[)hia to revise the confederation. He was at all times the enlightened advocate of union, and of an efficient federal govern- ment, and he received on all occasions the steady support of Mr. Marshall. Many have witnessed with -no ordinary emotions, tiie pleasure with which both of these gentlemen looked back upon their co-operation at that pejiod, and the sentiments of profound re- spect with which they habitually regarded each other. Both of them were members of the convention subsequently called in Virginia for the ratification of the federal constitution. This instrument having come forth under the auspices of General Washington and other distinguished patriots of the revolution, was at first favorably received in Virginia, but it soon encountered decided hostility. Its defence was uniformly and most powerfully maintained there by Mr. Marshall. He was then not thirty years old. It was in these debates that Mr. Marshall's mind acquired the skill in political discussion which afterwards distinguished him, and which would of itself have made him conspicuous as a parliamentarian, had not that talent been over- shadowed by his renown in a more soberly illustrious though less dazzling career. Here, too, it was that he conceived tiiat deep dread of disunion, and that profound conviction of the necessity for closer bonds between the states, vi'hicli gave the coloring to the whole texture of his opinions upon federal politics in after-life. The constitution being adopted, Mr. Marshall was prevailed upon to serve in the legislature until 1792. From that time until 1795, he devoted himself exclusively to his profession. In 1795, when Jaj-'s Treaty was " the absorbing theme of bitter contro- versy," he was elected to the House of Delegates, and his speech in its defence, says Judge Story, " has always been represented as one of the noblest eiForts of his genius. His vast powers of reasoning were displayed with the most gratifying success The fame of this admirable argument spread through the Union. Even with his politi- cal enemies it enhanced the estimate of his character ; and it brought him at once to the notice of some of the most eminent statesmen who then graced the councils of the nation." Soon after he, with Messrs. Pinkney and Gerry, were sent by President Adams as envoys extraordinary to France. The Directory refused to negotiate, and though the direct object of the embassy failed, much was effected by the official papers the envoys addressed to Talleyrand, her minister of foreign relations, in showing France to be in the wrong. These papers — models of skilful reasoning, clear illustration, accurate de- tail, and urbane and dignified moderation — have always been attributed to Marshall, and bear internal marks of it. Such was the impression made by the dispatches, that on the arrival of Mr. Marshall in New York, in June, 1798, his entry had the eclat of a tri- umph. A public dinner was given to him by both houses of congress, " as an evidence of affection for his person, and of their gr&teful approbation of the patriotic firmness with which he sustained the dignity of his country during his important mission ;" and the country at large responded with one voice to the sentiment pronounced at this celebra- tion : " Millions for defence, hut not a cent for trihriie.'' Mr. Marshall was elected to Congress in 1799. He had been there not three weeks, when it became his lot to announce tlie death of Washington. Never could such an event have been told in language more impressive or more appropriate. " Mr. Speaker, — The melancholy event, which was yesterday announced with doubt, has been rendered too certain. Our Washington is no more ! The hero, the patriot, and the sage of America ; the man on whom in times of danger every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed, lives now only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people," &,c., &c. That House of Representatives abounded in talent of the first order for debate ; and none were more conspicuous than John Marshall. Indeed, when the law or constitu- tion were to be discussed, he was, confessedly, the first man in the house. When he discussed them, he exhausted them ; nothing more remained to be said ; and the impres- fiien of his argument effaced that of every one else. FAUQUIER COUNTY. 265 In 1800 he was appointed secretary of state, an office which he held but a few months. He was appointed chief-justice of tlie Supreme Court of the United States, January 31, 1801 ; " not only without his own solicitation, (for he had in fact recommended another to the office,) but by the prompt and spontaneous choice of President Adams, upon his own unassisted judgment. The nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. How well he filled that office is known to his countrymen. We shall not attempt to protract our account of the last thirty-five years of Judge Marshall's life. It was spent in the dihgent and upright, as well as able discharge of his official duties; sometimes presiding ia tlie Supreme Court at Washington, sometimes assisting to hold the circuit federal courts in Virginia and North Carolina. His residence was in Richmond, whence it was his frequent custom to walk out, a distance of three or four miles, to his farm. He had also a farm in his native county, Fauquier, which he annually visited, and where he always enjoyed a delightful intercourse with numerous relations and friends. Twice in these thirty-five years, he may be said to have mingled in political life ; but not in party politics. In 1828 he was a member of a convention, held in Charlottesville, to devise a system of internal improvement for the state, to be commended to the legislature. In ly29 he was a meujber of the convention to revise and amend the state constitution, where he delivered a speech regarded as an unrivalled specimen of lucid and conclusive reasoning. " No man more highly relished social, and even convivial enjoyments. He was a member of a club which for forty-eight summers has met once a fortnight near Richmond, to pitch quoits and mingle in relaxing conversation ; and there was not one more de- lightedly punctual in his attendance at these meetings, or who contributed more to their pleasantness ; scarcely one who excelled him in the manly game, from which the ' Quoit Club' drew its designation. He would hurl his iron ring of two pounds weight, with rarely erring aim, fifty-five or sixty feet ; and at some chef-d'oeuvre of .skill in himself or his partner, would spring up and clap his hands with all the light-hearted enthusiasm of boyhood. Such is the old age which follows a temperate, an innocent, and a useful life." Chief.Justice Marshall died at Philadelphia, July 6th, 1835, in his 80th year. " The love of simplicity and dislike of ostentation, which had marked his life, displayed itself also in his last days. Apprehensive that his remains might be encumbered with the vain pomp of a costly monument, and a laudatory epitaph, he, only two days before his death, directed the common grave of himself and his consort, to be indicated by a plain stone, with this simple and modest inscription :" John Marshall, son of Thomas and Mary Marshall, was born on the 24th of September, 1755 ; intermarried with Mary Willis Ambler the 3d of January, 1783 ; departed this lile the day of , 18—. This unostentatious inscription, with the blanks only filled, is carved on the plain white marble monument erected over his remaius, in the grave-yard at Shoccoe Hill, Rich- mond. The late Francis W. Gilmer, a young man of the finest promise, of whom it is said, " had he not prematurely been cut oft' by the hand of death, would have ranked with the foremost men of his age and country," thus described the intellectual character of Judge Marshall : — His mind is not very richly stored with knowledge ; but it is so creative, so well organized by nature, or disciplined by early education, and constant habits of systematic thinking, that he embraces every subject with the clearness and facility of one prepared by previous study to comprehend and explain it. So perfect is his analysis, that he extracts the whole matter, the kernel of inquiry, unbroken, clean, and entire. In this process, such are the instinctive neatness and precision of his mind, that no superfluous thought, or even word, ever presents itself, and still he says every thing that seems appropriate to the subject. This pertiect exemption from needless incumbrance of matter or ornament, is in some degree the effect of an aversion to the labor of thinking. So great a mind, perhaps, like large bodies in the physical world, is with difficulty set in motion. That this is the case with Mr. Marshall's, is manifest from his mode of entering on an argument, both in conversation and in pubUc debate. It is difficult to rouse his laculties ; he begins with reluctance, hesitation, and vacancy of eye ; presently, his articulation becomes less broken, his eye more fixed, until, finally, his voice is full, clear, and rapid ; his manner bold, and his whole face lighted up, with the mingled fires of genius and passion ; and he pours forth the unbroken stream of eloquence, in a current deep, majestic, smooth, and strong. He reminds one of some great bird, which flounders and flounces on the earth for a while, before it acquires impetus to sustain its soar- ing flight. The foregoing memoir of Marshall is abridged from an exceedingly interesting one in the Southern Literary Messenger for February, 1836, which is partly original and partly compiled from the eulogies on his life and character, by Horace Binncy, Judge Story, and Edgar Snowden. We have, in addition, collected a few reminiscences and anec- dotes from different gentlemen, of high respectability, which we presume to be authentic: Marshall was noted for extreme plainness of person and address, and a chUd-like sim- 34 (23) 266 FAUaUIER COUNTY. plicityof character. His carelessness of his personal attire, in early life particularly, is well known, and on one occasion, (as stated in the Literary Messenger,) while travelling', occasioned his being refused admittance into a public house. On the occasion which we are now to relate, it caused him the loss of a generous fee. Marshall, when just rising on the professional ladder, was one morning strolling through the streets of Rich- mond, attired in a plain linen roundabout and shorts, with his hat under his arm, from which he was eating cherries, when he stopped in the porch of the Eagle hotel, indulged in some little pleasantry with the landlord, and then passed on. Mr. P., an elderly gen- tleman from the country, then present, who had a case coming on before the court of appeals, was referred by the landlord to Miirshall, as the best advocate for him to em- ploy ; but the careless, languid air of the young lawyer, had so prejudiced Mr. P. that he refused to engage him. On entering court, Mr. P. was a second lime referred bv the clerk of the court, and a second time he declined. At this moment entered Mr. V., a venerable-looking legal gentlemen, in a powdered wig and black coat, whose dignified appearance produced such an impression on I\Ir. P. that he at once engaged him. In the first case which came on, Marshall and Mr. V. each addressed the court. The Vast inferiority of his advocate was so apparent, that at the close of the case, Mr. P. in- troduced himself to young Marshall, frankly stated the prejudice which had caused him, in opposition to advice, to employ Mr. V. ; that he extremely regretted his error, but knew not how to remedy it. lie had come into the city with one hundred dollars, as his law- yer's fee, which he had paid, and had but five left, which, if Marshall chose, he would cheerfully give him, for assisting in the case. Marshall, pleased with the incident, ac- cepted the otTer, not, however, without passing a sly joke at the omnipotence of a pow- dered wig and black coat. Marshall was accustomed to go to market, and frequently unattended. " Nothing was more usual than to see him returning at sunrise, with poultry in one hand and vege- tables in the other." On one of these occasions, a would-be fashionable young man from the North, who had recently removed to Richmond, was swearing violently because he could hire no one to take home his turkey. Marshall stepped up, and ascertaining of him where he lived, replied, " That is my way, and I will take it for you." When ar- rived at his dwelling, the young man inquired, " What shall I pay you?" " Oh, noth- ing," was the rejoinder, " you are welcome ; it was on my way, and no trouble." " Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey for me ?" inquired the other of a by-stander, as Marshall stepped away. " That," replied he, "is John Mar. shall, Chief-Justice of the United States." The young man, astounded, exclaimed, " Why did he bring home my turkey?" " To give you a severe reprimand, and learn you to attend to your own business,'' was the answer. The venerable Capt. Philip Slaughter, now (May, 1844) living in Culpeper, was a messmate of Marshall's in the revolution. He says Marshall was the best tempered man he ever knew. During their sufferings at Valley Forge, nothing discouraged, noth- ing disturbed him ; if he had only bread to eat it was just as well ; if only meat it made no difference. If any of the officers murmured at their deprivations, he would shame them by good-natured raillery, or encourage them by his own exuberance of spirits. He was an excellent companion, and idolized by the soldiers and his brother officers, whose gloomy hours were enlivened by his inexhaustible fund of anecdote. For sterling honesty no man ever exceeded Marshall. He never would, knowingly, argue in defence of injustice, or take a legal advantage at the expense of moral honesty. A case of the latter is in point. He became an endorser on a bond amounting to several thousand dollars. The drawer failed, and Marshall paid it, although he knew it could be avoided, inasmuch as the holder had advanced the amount at more than legal in- terest. He possessed a noble generosity. In passing through Culpeper, on his way to Fau- quier, he fell in company with Mr. S., an old fellow-oiiicer in the army of the revolution. In the course of conversation, Marshall learned that there was a lien upon the estate of his friend to the amount of ,$3000, about due, and he was greatly distressed at the pros- pect of impending ruin. On bidding farewell, Marshall privately left a check for the amount, which being presented to Mr. S. after his departure, he, impelled by a chival- rous independence, mounted, and spurred on his horse until he overtook his friend. He thanked him for his generosity, but refused to accept it. Marshall strenuously per- sisted in its acceptance, and the other as strongly persisted in not accepting. Finally it resulted ia a comproniise, by which Marshall took security on the lien, but never called for pay. FA\ETTE COUNTT. 267 Gen. Simon Kenton was bom in this county, May 15th, 1755. His parentage was humble, and his education was entirely neglected. At the early age of 16, he became entangled in the snares of a young coquette, and soon had a severe battle with a rival by the name of Leitchman. Supposing he had killed him, he fled to Kentucky, and be- came one of the boldest pioneers of that then wilderness country, and one of the bravest that ever encountered the wiles of the Indians. His life was one of eventful incident. On being taken prisoner by them, on one occasion, he was eight times exposed lo the gauntlet — three times tied to the stake to be burnt, and often thought himself on the eve of a terrible death. But Providence at last interposed in his favor, and he escaped. He was a spy in Dunmore's war. He acted in the same capacity under the gallant Col. George Rogers Clarke, in the revolution. He shared in Wayne's victory, and distin- guished himself through the whole of the Indian wars of that day. He died in Ohio, in 1837, aged 62. His once gigantic form was broken by age ; and his last days, it is said, were spent in poverty and neglect. FAYETTE. Fayette was formed in 1831, from Logan, Greenbrier, Nicholas, and Kanawha. Its greatest length is 47 miles ; greatest width 30. New River, a main branch of the Great Kanawha, runs through the county its whole length. Much of the surface of the county is mountainous. The principal mountains are the Gauley, (a con- tinuation of Cumberland mountain.) Big and Little Sewel. The great tu-rnpike through the Kanawha valley passes over some of the most lofty of these mountains. " There are extensive bodies of good arable land, in some places partaking of the character of what along the Alleghany mountains is denominated glades, and in the west, prairies. The average price of unimproved, or wild lands of good quality, is one dollar per acre. We are satisfied that these land.s, in point of natural fertility, and adaptation to the cul- ture of grain, grasses, fruits, &c., is superior to the best coun- ties east of the Blue Ridge." Pop., whites 3,773, slaves 133, free colored 18; total 3,924. Fayetteville,the county-seat,is 2''^9 miles westerly fromRichmond, and contains a few dwellings. The turnpike leading from Charles- ton, on the south side of the Kanawha River, passes through the place, and terminates at the Red Sulphur Springs in Monroe coun- ty. Gauley Bridge is situated at the falls of the Great Kanawha, just below the junction of the Gauley and New Rivers, 30 miles above Charleston. There are here a store or two and several mills. The Kanawha at this spot is 500 yards wide, and has a fall of 22 feet over a ledge of rocks extending entirely across the stream. This is one of the wildest and most picturesque regions of the state. It is the last navigable point on the Kanawha, and pre- sents one of the best sites for machinery in Virginia. A traveller who visited these falls, thus describes his impressions : We reached the hotel at which we were to pause, about midnight. It is near to the Kanawha Falls ; and from the beauty of the neighborhood has many visitors. I took a hasty cup of coffee, and weary as I was, went with another gentleman to see the Falls We could hear tliem in the distance ; but we had to go round in order to reach them. The chief of our way was over shattered rock, offering a good access by day, but re- 268 FAYETTE COUNTT. quiring' care at night, from tlie sharp i)itohes of some parts, and from the numerous cir- ciihir holes horcd in them by tiie eddies of the water. They are not to be s[)oken of with Niagara, or even with Sliautfaiisen, but the whole scene was striking and interest- ing-, the niore so, undoubtedly, in the still hour of nig^ht. 1 seated myself on a shelf of rock whence the waters made their principal leap. Darkness bad spread its curtain on the sleeping objects in the distance. The pale moon had run her race, and was just falling behind the hills ; her last lights fell faintly on my face and the head of waters, but left the precipices and pools before mc in heavy shadows. At my feet the river was dashing, and lifting up its voice from the depths beneath to Him who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand. It had done so for ages past ; it would do so for ages to come. Here the j)oor Indian had stood, but will never stand again, thinking ho lieard in those waters the voice of Deity, and gazing on the face of that orb with wonder, till the sjiirit of worship was stirred within him. Here also I stood, and shall never stand again, wistfully looking through the visible and audible to the unseen but present object of adoration and praise. On New River, along which passes the Kanawha turnpike, and within 10 m. of its junction with the Gauley, the traveller passes by the summit of a high cliff of rocks, long known as the Haivk's Nest, but more recently called Marshairs Pillar, in honor of the late venerable chief-justice, who, as one of the state commission- ers in 1S12, stood upon its fearful brink, and sounded its exact depth' to the river margin, which is about 1000 ft. Standing upon the verge of this precipice, the river, diminished by distance in the deep valley below to a silvery thread between two borders of green, appears to wash the base of the cliff; yet it requires a powerful arm to cast a stone into its waters. The sublime and elevating emotions which this scene is calculated to inspire, are given in the following chaste and beautiful language of a foreign traveller : We returned to the inn. I had an hour and a half of rest ; and was found vcith my companions on the way, soon after .3 o'clock. Most of the company showed that they tiad only been awakened, like a child, to be put in a new position, and their heads were nodding about in all directions. About 7 o'clock, however, we approached a spot which is of great reputed beauty, and we pledged the coachman to stop, that we might have a fair sight of it. You leave the road by a little by-path, and after pursuing it for a short distance, the whole scene suddenly breaks upon you. But how shall 1 describe it ? The great charm of the whole is greatly connected with the point of sight, which is the finest imaginable. You come suddenly to a spot which is called the Hawk's Nest. It projects on the scene, and is so small as to give standing to only some half dozen persons. It has on its head an old picturesque pine ; and it breaks away at your feet abruptly and in perpendicular lines, to a depth of more than 1000 feet. On this standing-, which, b3^ its elevated and detached character, ati'ects you like the Monument, the forest rises above and around you. Beneath and before you is spread a lovely valley. A peaceful river glides down it, reflecting, like a mirror, all the lights of heaven — washes the foot of the rocks on which you are standing — and then winds away into another valley at your right. The trees of the wood, in all their variety, stand out on the ver- dant bottoms, with their heads in the sun. and casting their shadows at^ their feet y but so diminished, as to look more like the pictures of the things than the things themselves. The green hills rise on either hand and all around, and give completeness and beauty to the scene ; and beyond these appears the gray outline of the more distant mountains, bestowing grandeur to what was supremely beautiful. It is exquisite. It conveys to you the idea of perfect .solitude. The hand of man, the foot of man, seem never to have touched that valley. To you, though placed in the midst of it, it seems altogether in- accessible. You long to stroll along the margin of those sweet waters, and repose undci the shadows of those beautiful trees ; but it looks impossible. It is solitude, but of a most soothing, not of an appalling character — where sorrow might learn to forget her griefs, and folly begin to be wise and happy. 2G9 MAPcSHALL'S PILLAR. (23*) 270 FLUVANNA COUNTY. On Big Beaver Creek, in this count}^ are the remains of an ancient fortification, which occupies an area of about 20 square rods. The walls were built of stone, and, it is supposed, were 6 ft. high, and at the base 7 ft. thick. The reader will find a plan, drawn by A. Beckley, and a description by Isaac Craig, in the American Pioneer for Sept. 1842. FLOYD. Floyd was formed in 1831 from Montgomery, and was named from John Floyd, governor of Virginia from 1829 to 1834. It is 35 m. long, with a mean width of 15 m. It is watered by Little River, a branch of New River. The surface is mountainous, and the soil generally more adapted to grazing than grain. Horses, oxen, hogs, and sheep, are the principal staples. There were in 1840, whites 4,123, slaves 321, free colored 9 ; total, 4,453. Jackson- ville, or Floyd C. IL, is a small village 215 m. sw. of Richmond. The Buffalo Knob, in this county, is a very lofty eminence, from the top of which the view is sublime. On the north, east, and west, the beholder is amazed at the boundless succession of mountains rising beyond mountains — while far away to the south, the plain seems to stretch to an interminable length. On the east, the knob is accessible on horseback, being two miles in height from the beginning of the ascent to the highest point ; on the west it breaks off precipitately, and presents the shape of the animal whose name it bears. This mountain is seen 60 or 80 miles, towering above all others. On the highest point is a space of about 30 acres, which is so elevated that not einy trees grow there ; and in the warmest days of summer, the visitor requires thick clothing to protect him from the cold. The spot is covered with fine grass, strawberry-vines, and gooseberry and currant-bushes. The fruit upon them is of superior flavor, but it does not ripen until two or three months later than that upon the lowlands. FLUVANNA. Fluvanna was formed in 1777, from Albemarle. It is 26 m. long, and 16 wide. The Rivanna enters it from Albemarle, and flowing SE. through the co., divides it nearly equally. The surface is generally broken, excepting between the James and the Rivan- na, where there is a large tract of barren level land. The soil on the rivers is good, and that on the James extremely fertile. Gold has been found and worked near Palmyra. Much tobacco is raised in the county, and of a superior quality. Pop., whites 4,445, slaves 4,146, free colored 221 ; total, 8,812. Palmyra, the county-seat, lies on the Rivanna, 62 miles westerly from Richmond. It contains about 20 dwellings. Columbia, on the Rivanna, at its junction with the James, is a village somewhat larger. At the Union Mills, on the Rivanna, in the mv. part of the county, is an extensive cotton factory, situated in the midst of beautiful mountain and river scenery. FRANKLIN COUNTY. 271 At the confluence of the two branches of the James, in this county, is a point of land called the Point of Fork, where, in the latter part of the revolution, a state arsenal was established, and a large quantity of military stores collected. When the state was invaded by Cornwallis, Baron Steuben had charge of this post. When Tarleton was detached to Charlottesville, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe was sent to destroy the magazines at the Point of Fork, and he was ultimately to be joined by Tarleton, to assist his intended opera- tions. The following details of this excursion are from Girardin : With their accustomed eagerness and activit}^ the two indefatigable and dreaded par- tisans entered upon the execution of their respective tasks. -This double movement ren- dered Steuben's situation unusually perilous. The extreme difficulty of obtaining prompt and correct information respecting the British and their schemes — the severe precautions which Simcoe took for securing every person met or seen on his route, effectually con cealed his march from the baron. The latter, however, became apprized of Tarleton'9 rapid advance. Imagining himself the immediate object of it, he lost no time in trans- porting his stores to the south side of the Fluvanna, intending himself speedily to follow, with the whole division under his command. When Simcoe reached the Point of Fork the American stores had been removed, and Steuben's detachment had crossed the river, except about 30 men, then awaiting the return of the boats to embark and join theii friends. These men unavoidably fell into the hands of the British cavalry. The rivei was deep and unfordable, and all the boats had been secured on the south side of it-. Simcoe's main object was, therefore, frustrated. Under the mortification arising from this disappointment, a singular stratagem occurred to his wily mind. It was to impress the baron with the belief that the troops now at the Point of Fork were the advance of the British army, ready to overwhelm him ; and thus to work upon his fears so far as to induce him to sacrifice most of the stores which had been transported over the Fluvanna. For this purpose he encamped on the heights opposite to Steuben's new station, advan- tageously displaying his force, and by the number of his fires suggesting a probability of the main body, headed by Cornwallis, having actually reached the neighborhood. The baron, who had been informed that the corps under Tarleton threatened his lelt, now fancied himself in imminent danger. Retreating precipitately during the night, he marched near 30 miles from the Point of Fork, abandoning to the enemy such stores as could not be removed. In the morning, Simcoe observing the success of his stratagem, and wishing to give it still farther effect, procured some small canoes, and sent across the river Capt. Stephenson, with a detachment of light infantrj', and Cornet Wolsey with four hussars. The former was directed to destroy the stores and arms which the baron had left behind in the hurry and confusion of his premature retreat ; and the latter, to mount his hussars, who had carried their saddles over with them, on such straggling horses as he was likely to find, to patrol some miles on the route taken by Steuben — in short, to exhibit every appearance of eager and formidable pursuit. Both these orders were successfully executed. Stephenson performed, without delay or annoyance, the task of destruction assigned to him ; and VVolsey so confirmed the belief of Steuben that I ho whole British army was close in his rear, that he accelerated his march, retiring still further from the river. His object was to resume his original destination, and join Gen. Greene ; but he received fresh orders not to leave the state, so long as Cornwallis should continue there. On the militia under Lawson, a similar injunction was laid. British historians have greatly exaggerated the loss sustained by the Americans at the Point of Fork. Of their thrasonic accounts, undoubted evidence is in the hands of the author of this narrative. FRANKLIN. Franklin was formed in 1784, from Bedford and Henry: its length is 30, with a mean breadth of 20 miles. The Roanoke runs on its south boundary, and the county is intersected by numerous 272 FREDERICK COUNTY. small creeks. The surface is rolling, and the Blue Ridge forms its western boundary. The soil is on a clay foundation, and is well adapted to farming. The county produces very large crops of tobacco, Indian corn, oats, wheat, and some cotton. The tanning business is extensively carried on. Population in 1830, 14,911; 1840, 15,832. Rocky Mount, the county-seat, lies 179 miles sw. of Richmond : it derives its name from an abrupt precipice in the vicinity. The town contains about 30 dwellings, and near it is an extensive iron furnace. Union Hall is a smaller post-village, at the intersection of the road from Pittsylvania C. H. to Rocky Mount. Iron ore, some of which is of a superior quality, is found in various parts of the county. FREDERICK. Frederick was formed in 1738, from Orange : it is 25 miles long, with a mean width of 18 miles. The soil is highly productive, and its surface diversified. Opequan, Sleepy, and Back Creeks rise in this county, and flow into the Potomac. A rail-road extends from Winchester to the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-Road at Harper's Ferry. Population, whites 11,119, slaves 2,302, free colored 821 ; total, 14,242. Newtown, or Stephensburg, is a neat and thriving village, 8 miles south of Winchester, on the macadamized road to Staunton. There are about 100 dwellings, 2 churches, a market-house, about a dozen shops for the manufacture of wagons, (for which the place is noted,) together with other mechanical and mercantile establish- ments, and a population of about 800. Stephensburg was estab- lished by law in 1758, and named after Peter Stephens, its founder, who came to Virginia with Joist Hite in 1732. It was settled almost exclusively by Germans, whose descendants long preserved the customs and language of their ancestors. Middletown lies 5 miles s. of Stephensburg, on the same road. It contains 1 Metho- dist and 1 Episcopal church, and about 60 dwellings. Gainsboro', Brucetown, and Whitehall, are small places, the first of which contains 2 churches, and about 30 dwellings. Jordan's White Sul- phur Springs, 6 miles n. of Winchester, have lately come into no- tice, and are growing in popular favor. The waters are said to resemble the celebrated White Sulphur Springs of Greenbrier. Winchester, the county-seat, is 74 miles from Washington city, 14G from Richmond, and 30 from Harper's Ferry. Next to Wheel- ing, it is the largest town west of the Blue Ridge. It is in the beautiful and fertile valley of Virginia, and is surrounded by a rich and abundant country. The town is well and su})stantially built, the streets cross each other at right angles, and are generally paved, and the houses are mostly of brick or stone. As a whole, it is very compact, and has a business, city-like aspect. The pub- lic buildings are a court-house, jail, market-house, masonic hall, rREDERICK COUNTY. 273 and a lyceum. There are 2 newspaper printing offices, an acade- my, 2 banks — the Farmers' Branch Bank and the Bank of the Loudon-street, Winchester Valley — a Savings Institution, about 50 stores of different kinds, and a variety of mechanical and manufacturing establishments, 12 churches — 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal,* 2 Baptist, 2 Methodist, 2 Lutheran, 1 German Reformed, 1 Friends, and 1 Catholic — and a population in 1840 of 3,454. A rail-road connects Winchester with Harper's Ferry. " Tradition informs us tliat the ground on the edge of the present site of Winchester, was occupied by a large and powerful tribe of Indians, called the Shawnees, or Shaw- anees, and some springs at that point are called the Shawnee Springs at this day. The earliest accounts of the settlement of Winchester state that there were two houses on its present location as early as 1738, situated neat the town run ; but its establishment as a town commenced in Feb., 1752, in tiie 25th year of the reign of George II., when the General Assembly passed an 'act for the establishment of the town of Winchester.' In 1758 it was enlarged in consideration of an additional quantity of laud being laid off in lots by Col. James Wood, now called in the plot of the town, Wood's addition. Trus- tees were then appointed, consisting of Lord Fairfa.x, Col. Martin, and others ; vide Henning's Statutes at Large, vol. 7, p. 135. Additions to the town were also made by Lord Fairfa.\-. Col. Wood is therefore entitled to the honor of being the founder. Win- chester is mentioned by General Washington as being one of the points in his route, in his celebrated mission, by order of Governor Dinwiddle, to the French authorities on the Ohio. He came from Alexandria to Winchester, where he procured baggage horses, &c. This was in November, 1753. * The first Episcopal Church, in the Valley of Virginia, was erected in Winchester. The following relating to it is from Hawks' History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia, published in 1836. " Morgan Morgan was a native of Wales, whence he emigrated in early life to the province of Pennsylvania. In the year 1726, he removed to what is now the county of Berkeley, in Virginia, and built the first cabin which wa.s reared on the south side of the Potomac, between the Blue Ridge and the North Moun- tain. He was a man of exemplary piety, devoted to the Church ; and in the year 1740, associated with Dr. John Briscoe and Mr. Hite, he erected the first Episcopal Church in the valley of Virginia. This memorial of his zeal, it is believed, is still standing, and now forms that part of the parish of Winchester which is known as ' Mill Creek Church.' " 35 274 FREDERICK COUNTT. " In the French and Indian warfare tliat succeeded, Washington fixed his head- quarters at Winchester, which was then a frontier settlement, the North mountain, a few miles west of Winchester, beiiifr the boundary. From the fear occasioned by the attacks of the French and Indians, tliis place was almost the only settlement west of the Blue Ridfre, which range of mountains was, as late as 1756, the northwestern fron- tier. At that period, public stores, to a large amount, were deposited at Winchester for the frontier settlement. After the distinguished action at Great Meadows, July 4, 1754, Washington returned with his regiment to Winchester to recruit ; soon after which, he was joined by a few companies from Maryland and North Carolina ; after which rein- forcement they were ordered, by the lieutenant-governor, to march inmiediatcly over the Allegiiany to drive the French from Fort Duquesue, or build one in its vicinity. After the disastrous defeat of Braddock, Wasiiington, with the remains of the bravo Virginia troops, retreated to Westchester. Upon tiie invasion of the frontiers by the French and Indians, Washington, then on his way to Williamsburg, the seat of government, was overtaken by an express, billow Fredericksburg, with the intelligence that the French and Indians had broken in upon the frontier settlements, and were murdering and cap- turing women and children, burning houses, destroying croi)S, ice, and that the troops stationed among them were insuthcient for their protection. He immediately hastened back to Winchester, where the utmost confusion and alarm prevailed. His attem])ts to raise the militia were unsuccessful. He sent urgent orders to the county lieutenants, east of the Blue Ridge, to hasten their militia to Winchester ; but before these orders could be executed, the enemy, which had done .so much injury, and caused so much alarm, had recrossed the Alleghany mountain. Col. Washington, after repeated inef- fectual crtbrts to arouse the government to act on the offensive, and adopt a more ctficient system of warfare, by sending a force sulhcieut to destroy Fort Duquesne, at length prevailed, and Gen. P'orbes was ordered to undertake the campaign for its reduction. On the 24th of May, 175S, orders were issued to Washington's regiment to rendezvous at Wincliester, and be in readiness to march in 15 days. June 24, the Virginia troops, in pursuance to the orders they had received, moved in detachments from Winchester to Fort Cumberland, wliere they assembled early in July. Upon the reduction of Fort Du- quesne — wiicii its name was changed to Pitt, in honor of the then British Minister — • Col. Washington, after furnishing 2U0 men from his regiment to garrison the fort, inarched the rest back to Winchester, wlience he soon (iroceeded to Williamsburg to take his scat in the House of delegates, of which he had been elected a member by the county of Frederick, while at Fort Cumberland. During these contests a fort was built at Win- chester, the remains of which are still visible at the north end of the principal street. In Henning's Statutes, vol. 7, page 33, we tiud the IGth clause of a law passed March, 175ti, which refers to this fort, and the appropriation for its erection, in these words : ' And whereas, it is now judged necessary that a fort should be immediately erected in the town of Winchester, county of Frederick, for the protection of the adjacent inhab- itants against the barbarities daily committed by the French and their Indian allies ; be it therefore enacted, that the governor, or commander-in-cJiief of the colony for the time being, is hereby empowered and desired to order a fort to be built with all possible dis- patch, in the aforesaid town of W^inchester ; and that liis lionor give such orders and instructions for the immediate eflecting and garrisoning the same, as he shall think necessary for the purjxise aforesaid.' The act also appropriates the sum of iJiOOt) for carrying the above provision into effect. Tiiis fort was called Fort Loudon, in honor of the British general, Lord Louaon, who had been appointed to the command of the British troops in America." The annexed sketch is a representation of the ivM from a drawing and L/ C5 hose 96 feet." The dotted lines represei^ the present course of Loudon street. It is stated in the History of the Valley, upon authority entitled to the iiighest respect, the gentleman furnishing the information referred to having been informed by AVashington's officers, that Washington nuirked out the site of this fort and superintended its erection ; that he bought a lot in Winchester, had a blacksmith shop erected on it, and brought from Mount Vernon his own blacksmith to FREDERICK COUNTY. 275 make the necessary iron-work for the fort. The very spot is pointed out where Wash- ington's own residence was situated. It is stated that his chamber was above the gate- way of the fort, in a situation commanding a view of the principal street of the town. This fort covered an area of half an acre, and there is still much of its embankments and mounds remaining. There is also a well, from which water now rises to the surface, sunk through the solid rock 103 feet. The labor of throwing up this fort, and sinking this well, was said to have been performed by Washington's regiment. The fort con- tained a strong garrison ; and it is stated, by one of the oldest inhabitants of Winchester, to have mounted six 18 pounders, six 12 pounders, six 6 pounders, 4 swivels, and 2 how- itzers ; and to this day grape-shot and cannon-halls are found there. These cannon were removed from Winchester early in the war of the revolution. This fort was said to have been once recoimoitred by a French officer, but never was attacked by the enemy. There were a large number of Hessian and German prisoners confined at Winchester in the war of the revolution. In 1780, barracks were erected for them 4 miles west of the town. In 1781, their numbers had increased to 1600. Major Peter Helpuistine, of Winchester, was a native of Germany, and a patriot of the American revolution. He was a major in the 8th Virginia regiment, command- ed by Col. Muhlenberg. This corps was composed of young men of German extraction, and frequently called the German regiment. In a campaign at the south, he contract- ed a disease from exposure, returned, and died in Winchester, and now lies buried in the Lutheran grave-yard. Gen. Daniel Roberdeau, an officer of the revolution, also lies buried in one of the grave-yards in Winchester. His monument states his death as having taken place Jan. 5, 1795, at the age of 68 years. He was from the Isle of France, and a Huguenot. His descendants are scattered over Virginia. He first settled in Pennsylvania, where he built a fort at Wyoming, at his own expense, which was destroyed by the Indians. He was a follower of Whitefield, and a modest and estimable^an. Lord Fairfax was buried under the old Episcopal church, which was on the public square. The land on which it stood was given by him to the society, for the construe- lion of the church. This structure, which was of stone, was taken down about 12 or 14 years since. The bones of Fairfax were removed, and placed under the new Episco- pal church. In this house there is a monumental slab to his memory. At the time of his disinterment, a large mass of silver was found, which was the mounting to his coffin. There is now in Winchester an old building used as a stable, which was once a tavern, in which it is said Fairfax occasionally held levees. His permanent residence was at Greenway Court, 13 miles se. of Winchester. (See p. 235.) The following incident, in the life of Chief- Justice Marshall, is stated to have taken place at McGulre's hotel in Winchester, which stood on the site of the one shown on the right of the foregoing view in Loudon-street. It was a plain, unpainted building, and was destroyed many years since. The account given below was originally published in the Winchester Republican : It is not long since a gentlema|^as travelling in one of the counties of Virginia, and about the close of the day stopMd'at a public house to obtain refreshment, and spend the night. He had been there trat a short time, before an old man alighted from his gig, with the apparent intention of becoming his fellow-guest at the same house. As the old man drove up, he observed that both the shafts of his gig were broken, and that they/ were held together by withes formed from the bark of a hickory sapling. Our traveller observed further, that he was plainly clad, that his knee-buckles were looseijed, and that something like negligence pervaded his dress. Conceiving him to be one of, the honest yeomanry of our land, the courtesies of strangers passed between them, and.they entered the tavern. It was about the same time that an addition of three or four young gentle- men was made to their number — most, if not all of them, of the legal profession. As soon as they became conveniently accommodated, the conversation was turned by the latter upon an eloquent harangue which had that day beeil displayed at the bar. It was replied by the other, that he had witnessed, the same day, a degree of eloquence no doubt equal, but that it was from the pulpit. SomethfTl^ like a sarcastic rejoinder was made to the eloquence of the pulpit ; and a watm and ablfr alterca-tion ensued, in which the merits of the Christian religion became the subject of discussion. From six o'clock until ^> 276 FREDERICK COUNTY. eleven, the young champions wielded the sword of argument, adducing with ingenuity and ability, every thing that could be said pro and con. During this protracted period, the old gentleman listened with all the meekness and modesty of a child ; as if lie was adding new information to the stores of his own mind ; or perhaps he was observing, with philosophic eye, the faculties of the youthful mind, and how new energies are evolved by repeated action ; or, perhaps, with patriotic emotion, he was reflecting upon the future destinies of his country, and on the rising generation upon whom these future destinies must devolve ; or, most probably, with a sentiment of moral and religious feel- ing, he was collecting an argument which — characteristic of himself — no art would be " able to elude, and no force resist." Our traveller remained a spectator, and took no part in what was said. At last one of the young men, remarking that it was impossible to combat with long and established prejudices, wheeled around, and with some familiarity exclaimed, " Well, my old gentleman, what think you of these things ?" If, said the traveller, a streak of vivid lightning had at tiiat moment crossed tlie room, their amazement could not have been greater than it was with what followed. The most eloquent and unanswerable appeal was made for nearly an hour, by the old gentleman, that he ever heard or read. So perfect was his recollection, that every argument urged against the Christian reli- gion was met in the order in which it was advanced. Hume's sophistry on the subject of miracles was, if possible, more perfectly answered than it had already been done by Campbell. And in the whole lecture there was so much simplicity and energy, pathos and sublimity, that not another word was uttered. An attempt to describe it, said the traveller, would be an attempt to paint the sunbeams. It was now a matter of curios- ity and inquiry who the old gentleman was. The traveller concluded it was the preacher from whom tlie pulpit eloquence was heard — but no — it was the Chief Justice of the United States. In the Presbyterian grave-yard, at Winchester, is the grave of Gen. Daniel Morgan. His monument is a horizontal slab, raised a few feet above the ground. It bears the following inscription : Major-General DANIEL MORGAN departed this life On July the 6th, 1802, In the 67th year of his Age- Patriotism and valor were the prominent Features of his character, And the honorable services he rendered to his country during the Revolutionary war, crowned him with Glory, and will remain in the Hearts of his Countrymen a Perpetual Monument to his Memory. The military history of the brave commander of the celebrated rifle corps of the revolution, — whom to confront was almost instant death is generally well known. At the end of the war. Gen. Morgan retired to his estate, named Saratoga, a few miles from Winchester. GILES COUNTY. 277 After the expedition against i^;;_^5t/-v-'^ Cx^-^^^'^^T^^'^^^-n— the insurgents in the Whis- J^ liey insurrection, he was se- (^ lected from this district to Congress, where he serv^ed two sessions. In 1800 he removed to Winchester, where, after a confinement of two years from extreme debility, he expired. The house where he resided and died, was the frame building now (1844) occupied by the Rev. Mr. Boyd, in the nw. part of the town. His widow moved to Pitts burg. His two daughters married officers of the revolution. A writer in a recent number of the Winchester Republican has, in an article descriptive of the Winchester grave-yards, some in- teresting facts respecting Gen. Morgan, which we here annex : This " thunderbolt of war," this " brave Morgan, who never knew fear," was, in camp, often wicked and very profane, but never a disbeliever in religion. He testified that himself. In his latter years General Morgan professed religion, and united him- self with the Presbyterian church in this place, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. (now Dr.) Hill, who preached in this house some forty years, and may now be occasionally heard on Loudon street. His last days were passed in this town ; and while sinking to the grave, he related to his minister tlie experience of his soul. " People thought," said he, " that Daniel Morgan never prayed ;" — " People said old Morgan never was afraid ;" — " People did not know." He then proceeded to relate in his bhnit manner, among many other things, that the night they stormed Quebec, while waiting in the darkness and storm with his men paraded, for tlie word to advance, he felt unhappy ; the enter- prise appeared more than perilous ; it seemed to him that nothing less than a miracle could bring them off safe from an encounter at such an amazing disadvantage. He stepped aside and kneeled by the side of a munition of war — and then most fervently prayed that the Lord God Almighty would be his shield and defence, for nothing less than an almighty arm could protect him. He continued on his knees till the word passed along the line. He fully believed that his safety during that night of peril was from the interposition of God. Again, he said, about the battle of the Cowpens, which covered him with so much glory as a leader and a soldier — he had felt afraid to fight " Tarleton with his numerous army flushed with success — and that he retreated as long as he could — till his men complained — and he could go no further. Drawing up his army in three lines, on the hill side ; contemplating the scene — in the distance the glit- ter of the advancing enemy — he trembled for the fate of the day. Going to the woods in the rear, he kneeled in an old tree-top, and poured out a prayer to God for his army, and for himself, and for his country. With relieved spirits he returned to the lines, and in his rough manner cheered them for the fight ; as he passed along, they answered him bravely. The terrible carnage that followed the deadly aim of his lines decided the vic- tory. Li a few moments Tarleton fled. " Ah," said he, " people said old Morgan never feared ;" — " they thought old Morgan never prayed, they did not know ;" — " old Morgan was often miserably afraid." And if he had not been, in the circumstances of amazing responsibility in which he was placed, how could he have been brave ? The last of his riflemen are gone : the brave and hardy gallants of this valley, that waded to Canada and stormed Quebec, are all gone — gone, too, are Morgan's sharp- shooters of Saratoga. For a long time two, that shared his captivity in Canada, were seen in this village, wasting away to shadows of their youth, celebrating with enthu- siasm the night of their battle, as the year rolled round — Peter Lauck and John Schultz. But they have answered the roll-call of death, and have joined their leader; the hardy Lauck wondering that Schultz, the feeblest of the band, whom he had so often carried through the snows of Canada, should outlive him. There is interest round the last of such a corps. GILES. Giles was formed in 1806, from Monroe and Tazewell, and named from Wm. B. Giles, Gov. of Va. from 1826 to 1829 ; it is 50 miles (24) 278 GILES COUNTY. long, with a mean width of 14 miles. The surface is very moun» tainous ; several lofty ridges of the Alleghany chain pass through the county, and much of the scenery is wild. In the mountain valleys, and the low grounds of the streams, the land is very fer- tile. The New River, one of the main branches of the Kanawha, passes through and fertilizes a large tract in the county. Pop., whites 4,684, slaves 574, free colored 49 ; total, 5,307. Parisburg, or Giles C. H., lies 238 miles southwesterly from Richmond, three-fourths of a mile from the bank of New River, just above where it passes through Peter's mountain. The situa- tion of the town is picturesque, being at the extremity of a moun- tain called " Angel's Rest." It was laid off in 1806, and contains at present about 30 dwellings, mostly built of stone. Nine miles from Parisburg, on New River, are situated the Hygeian Springs, the waters of which are highly spoken of. On the opposite bank of New River, both above and below the springs, the rocks present the most majestic appearance : there being several natural pillars that rise perpendicularly to the height of from thirty to two hundred feet, and natural arches ; one pillar is denominated " Pompey's Pillar," near which is " Casar's Arch ;" the pillar and arch nearly join. The celebrated Salt Pond is five miles from these springs — sometimes known as the White Sulphur Springs of Giles — and ten miles e. of Parisburg. It is a natural and beautiful lake of pure fresh water, on the summit of the Salt Pond mountain, one of the highest spurs of the Alleghany. This pond is about a mile long and one-third of a mile wide. At its termination it is dammed by a huge pile of rocks, over which it runs : but which once passed through the fissures only. In the spring and summer of 1804, immense quantities of leaves and other rubbish washed in and filled up the fissures, since which it has risen full 25 feet. Previous to that time it was fed by a fine large spring at its head ; that then disappeared, and several small springs now fiow into it at its up- per end. When first known, it was the resort of vast numl3ers of elk, bufi'alo, deer, and other wild animals, for drink ; hence its name of " salt pond." It has no taste of salt, and is inhabited by fine trout. The above description of the Salt Pond is from the mss. for the 2d edition of Kercheval's History of the Valley of Virginia. From the same source we derive the annexed particulars of an Indian incursion into this region, and of the captivity of Mrs. Hall : In the year 1774 the Indians commenced their outrages in the vicinity of Sinking Creek, on the New River, in Giles county. In July of this year John Lybrook, (now living, 1836,) with several other children, while at play near the stream were discovered by four Indians. One aliead of his party pursued young Lybrook, who escaped by jump- ing a gully twelve feet wide. The rest of the children sprang into a canoe and were followed by tiie Indians, who killed and scalped five" of them. A sister of Lybrook, a girl of thirteen, jumped out of the canoe and ran, pursued by one of the Indians. Her life was saved by a remarkably fierce dog, who, attracted by her screams, jumped upon the savage and threw him down, hung and jerked violently upon him while the girl got .out of danger. The Indian struck at him with his war club, and finally knocked him down ; the dog then ran to the canoe and guarded- the dead children until the people took them away for burial. The animal refused to follow them — immediately ran ofi", and soon raised a most piteous howl. This attracted some of the party to the spot, who found a little brother of Mr. Lybrook, aged about 6 years, with his scull severely frac- tured and his brains oozing out, and scalped. He lived about 24 hours and then ex- pired. Mrs. Margaret Hall, now living, when about 10 years old was taken prisoner by the Indians on New River and conveyed to their towns, with whom she remained 18 years, GILES COUNTY. 279 until after Wayne's victory. The Shawnese, by whom she was taken, transferred her to the Delaware tribe, where she was adopted into the family of an Indi.tn chief The Indians were somewhat civilized. In this respect the Shawnese were superior to the Delawares. The Indians had a few cattle, and made butter, fritters, and pancakes. Shortly before Mrs. Hall returned home an Indian chief fell violently in love with her, and urged his suit, and upon her refusal to marry him threatened to kill her. Her foster-mother used her persuasions in his favor, and the young squaws presented tiieir con- gratulations upon the offer. Annoyed by his solicitations she fled early one morning, on horseback, to a village about 7U miles distant, where her foster-sister and brother had removed. She arrived about sunset, and found her foster-brother absent. There she was pursued by the young warrior, who told her she must immediately consent to marry him or he would take her- life. She refused, and he made a lunge at her with a long knife ; at which her foster-sister threw herself between them and received a slight wound in the side, the point of the knife striking a rib. The Indian girl instantly seized the knife by the blade, wrenched it from him, broke it, and threw it away. A tight ensued, while the subject of it sat petrified with fear. Her sister bade her run and hide, as he would probably kill them both. The girl proved the conqueror, gave him a severe drub- bing, and drove him from the field. Her foster-brother, on returning home from a hunt- ing excursion, told her not to be uneasy, called him a dog, and threatened to kill him if he made any further attempts. The fellow never annoyed her again, and was subse- quently killed at Wayne's victory. Mrs. Hall is now living in Giles county, about 4 miles from the Troy Sulphur Springs. The following account of " the Lucas family T was written by a gentleman of Christiaiisburg, and published in the Richmond Com- piler in the summer of 1842. It shows in this family a depth of depravity rarely equalled : The scene of the lives and depredations of this notorious family is in Giles county, on Doe Creek, a small branch of New River which heads in the celebrated salt pond moun tain, and from its obscurity and loneliness, and the character of its inhabitants, has al- ways been avoided by civilized man. The father of Lucas is now about 93 years of age, and is, no doubt, a hoary-headed old villain, although he has, during a long life, been adroit enough to commit no crime of which the law could take cognizance. I will give one trait in the character of this old sinner, which will suffice to show what kind of man he is. On the recent trial of his son " Dave" when his life was in jeopardy, this old man, on being asked what was the character of his son David, responded that he believed " Dave would kill any man for twenty-five cents." ^ The first in this family of blood — perhaps unparalleled in civil society — was the first son of " Old Ran," as he is universally called. (His name, perhaps, is Randolph ; but I presume he has never seen or heard of the baptismal fount.) Well, this first-born of " Old Ran," named "Jerry," as long ago as the late war, became criminally connect, ed with a man's wife, who was in the service of his country as a military man at Nor- folk. In a week after the man returned home. " Jerry Lucas," at the earnest solicita- tion of the fiendish woman, under pretence of friendship, invited him home from muster with him. He was afterwards found murdered, behind a log, with about two hundred weight of stone upon his body. Lucas confessed that the evening they left the muster- ground he beat his victim over the head with a club until he supposed he was dead, and went to his house and stayed all night with his wife. To make assurance doubly sure, he returned in the morning to see if the man was dead. He found him sitting, leaning against a tree, and covered with gore. The poor fellow begged for his lite, told Lucas to take his wife, and he would leave the country as soon as he was able, and would never say any thing about what he had done to him. The savage Lucas was in. exorable, murdered, and concealed him. For this murder he was hung at Giles Court House, in the fall of 1814. Old Ran, his father, sat under the gallows when he was hanging, and amused himself by eating gingerbread. Jerry's paramour escaped punish, ment for want of testimony. " Dave," the second son of " Old Ran," the most notorious of these villains, com- menced his career of crime about 18.'30, at the age of 19, by stealing a horse, for which he was sentenced to the penitentiary for five years, during which time he escaped, in company with another convict, to his home, was retaken, and served out his time. 280 GILES COUNTY. Not long after his return home, he robbed a small pedler of all his wares, for which lie was again sentenced to the penitentiary for three years. At the time of his last con- viction, a cousin of Dave's, a lad of sixteen or seventeen years of age, was convicted of some crime and also sent to the penitentiary for three years. They were discharged at the same time, and left the penitentiary together. The boy has never been heard of since ; and Lucas, in some of his drunken frolics, boasted that as they came on home, he killed the boy and threw his body into the river. He told the boy's father, that when he ran his knife into him, he bawled like a calf. 80 it seems he murdered the boy for the wretched piltance given him on leaving the penitentiary to defray his expenses home. On the night Dave returned last iVom the penitentiary, a large slack-yard, and a barn full of grain, were burnt in his neighborhood, belonging to witnesses on belialf of the commonwealth in his several convictions, which he subsequently admitted were set on fire by him. Dave's next exploit was at a militia-muster, in September, 1841. In a quarrel and fight with his sister's son, he killed him with a blow. He was acquitted, on trial, owing to some extenuating circumstances. Since his recent confinement, he has admitted he ought to have been punished for this murder, as he had, at the time iie struck the blow, a pound of lead concealed in his hand. The next crime of which Dave is accused, is founded on the following strong circum- stances : Some years ago, a man who had been on north with a drove of cattle, merely as a driver, was returning home through Dave's neighborhood, on foot. Shortly after he passed, Lucas was seen to follow him with a ritle, and in a i'ew minutes a report of a gun was heard in that direction. Dave returned with blood on his clothes, and there was seen, on the same day, a large quantity of blood in the road. But, as the drover was an entire stranger, no investigation was had. Very recently a man's dog, in the vicinity, came to his master with a human skull in his mouth. Dave's last crime, and for which the world has been freed from the monster, was tho murder of John Poff, a poor laborer, who had been working at the Kanawha salt-works a few nionths, and who, with the proceeds of his labor in his wallet, was travelling alone, and on foot, to his family and home in Floyd county. Dave fell in with him late in the day, and invited him to go home with him, saying he could entertain him as well as any one. Poor Pofi' consented, and soon nut his fate. Dave killed him within 200 yards of his residence, and so obscure is the place, that he lay nearly a week above ground without discovery ; and what was certainly a strange infatuation, apjiarently no pains or care was taken to conceal the foul deed. He was tried, and found guilty by the jury in 15 minutes from their retirement from the court- room. There were 17 witnesses on the part of the commonwealth. The criminal had 110 witness, and refused to employ ccjunsel. The court assigned him counsel, but his case was so plain and flagrant that the counsel submitted it to tlie jury without argu- ment. He was sentenced, and hung, at tiiles Court-House, Friday, June 2 1th, 1812. The wretched man died as he had lived, w-ithout any outward signs of compunction. He made no particular confession when under the gallows; on the contrary, swore when in this awful situation, in answer to something said by one of the attending clergy ; and finally, while the sherity was adjusting the rojie around his neck, attempted to bite his ear. He met death with such a demoniac grin, that among the many thousands present not one tear of sorrow or sympathetic feeling was manifested. The next on the list of this family of criminals is John Lucas, "Old Ran's'' third son. He also has killed his man, and his full cousin too ; for it seems they are like old Cain, their hands appear to be raised against their own kin. John and his cousin engaged in a fight, caused by the cousin tauntingly saying, " Your brother Dave is in the peniten- tiary," which so enraged John that he struck liim a blow with his heavy rifle, with so much force as to cleave his skull to the very teeth, breaking stock and barrel off" in the middle, and causing instant death. Dave being, iu part, cause of tiiis quarrel and its disastrous consequences to John, perhaps accounts for the recklessness of his behavior on hea.ing of Dave's final fate, and may have been strong in his mind when he made the observation, " that it would have been to the credit of the family if Dave had been hung many years ago." John was tried for his life ; but as the murder occurred, on the part of the murdered man, under aggravating circumstaiiees, John was sent to the penitentiary. He is a very good Jac simile of the Lucas family. They are truly a savage-looking race. There are yet two brothers, younger tlian those already mentioned, who have not yet rendered themselves so conspicuous in the anrtals of crime. Wliat their fate will be time only can tell. They promise fair to be genuine chips of the old block, and altliougb j-oung, are already the terror of the neighborhood. " Old Kan" has also daughters, for these GLOUCESTER COUNT V. 281 ill weeds are very prolific ; but they are worse than the sons — save the mark — and there- by hangs a tale. But it is a tale not meet to be told among Christians, and we pass it over. GLOUCESTER. Gloucester was formed in 1642, from York. It lies on Chesa- peake Bay, and on the n. side of York River, Much barley was formerly raised in the county ; but, from some unknown cause, the lands have ceased to be adapted for its cultivation. Indian corn is the principal product. Pop., whites 4,412, slaves 5,791, free colored 012 ; total 10,715. Gloucester, the county-seat, lies immediately opposite Yorktown, on the N. side of York River. It is a small, decayed village, con- taining only a few dwellings. During the siege of York, it was one of the outposts of Cornwallis, and the scene of some minor military operations. There exist remains of redoubts thrown up at that time. The earliest settlers in the co. were from Gloucester- shire in England — who not only transferred the names of places, but the streams also ; hence they have here their Severn, and other rivers, and local denominations. Rose well, the seat of John Page, Esq., governor of Va. in 1802, is on the York, nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's creek. It is perhaps the noblest old mansion in the state, and is a most venera- ble relic of antiquity. It is a cube of 90 feet, is four stories high, and its appearance strikingly massive. The roof is flat, and lead- ed. " It has been said that Mr. Jefferson and Gov. Page, in the summer evenings, sometimes enjoyed conversation and the moon- light scene there. From the top of Rosewell house, the view stretches nearly ten miles up and down the river York, which is there about three miles wide — a superb and lovely sheet of water, as bright, as pure, and as sparkling blue as the waters of the ocean. Before the house spreads a fair lawn — around the house are a few trees : this enhances its simple grandeur, standing, as it were, in the dignified solitude of some antique castle." Gov. Page was distinguished for his talents and patriotism, and fulfilled his numerous trusts, as governor of the state, representative in Con- gress, &c., with honor. He died at Richmond, Oct. 11th, 1808, in the 65th year of his age. Gloucester has connected with its earl}^ history some most inter- esting facts. Nathaniel Bacon, the leader of what has been de- nominated " Bacoii^s Rebellion" died and was buried in this county. The spot is not known, inasmuch as, in the language of a writer (T. M.) of that day, his body " was so made away as his bones were never found, to be exposed on a gibbet as was purposed — - stones being l*aid on his coffin — supposed to be done by Laurence." In a late number of the Southern Literary Messenger, Charles 36 (24*) 282 GLOUCESTER COUNTY. Campbell, Esq., of Petersburg, has an article conclusively proving that it was in this county that Pocahontas rescued Capt. Smith. Beneath is an extract from his communication touching this point: Next to Jamestown, VVerowocomoco is perliaps the spot most celebrated in the early chronicles of Virginia. As .lamestovvii was the scat of the English settlers, so VVero- wocomoco was the residence of the great Indian chief, Powhatan. It was tlie scene of many interviews and rencontres between the settlers and the savages. It was at Wero- wocomoco that supplies for the colony were frequently obtained ; here that Smith once saw suspended on a line between two trees, tlie scalps of 2-1 Payanketanks, recently slain ; here tliat Powhatan was crowned by Newport ; and here that occurred the most touching scene in the whole colonial drama — the rescue of Smith by Pocahontas. We. rowocomoco is on the York River, in the county of Gloucester. It may surprise some readers to hear, that the rescue of Smith took place on the York, since, in the general neglect of our early history, it seems to have been taken for granted by many that it took place on James River. Smith and Stith, in their histories, put the matter beyond dis- pute. Smith, Book II., p. 117, describes the Pamaunkee [now York] River, as fol- lows : " Fourteen myles northward from tlie river Powhatan is the river Pamaunkee, which is navigable fiO or 70 niyles, bul with catches and small barlics 'M or 40 niylns laither. At the ordinary flowing of the salt water, it dividelh itn for warres. On the north branch Mattapanient, who have 30 men. Where this river is divided, tin' country is called Pamaunkee, [now West Point] and nourisheth neare 300 able men. jlhont 25 myles /ower, on the north side of this river, is Wcroicocumoco, where their great king inhabited Wick I was delivered him prisoner." Again, Book II., p. 142, Smith sa)'s : " At Werowoconioco, on the north side of the river Pamaunkee, [York.J was his [Powhatan'sJ resi- dence when I w.is delivered him prisoner, some 14 myles from .lames Towno where, lor the most part, he was resident." Stith, as quoted by Burk's History of Virginia, Vol. I., p. Ill, describes its position as follows : " Werowocomoco lay on the north side of York river, in nioucester county, nearly opposite to the mouth of Queen's creek, and about 2.5 miles below the fork of the river." Upon a short visit made to that part of Gloucester county a year or two ago, I was satistied that Shelly, the seat of Mrs. Mann Page, is the famous Werowocomoco. Slielly is on the north liank of the York River, in the county of (Tloucester, said to be about 25 miles from West Point at the head of the river, and is nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's ci-eek, lying somewhat above. It is true the word " nearly" is indefinite, and it might be supposed tliat Werowocomoco, perhaps, lay a little below the point opposite the mouth of Queen's creek instead of a little above. But the marshy, oozy cliuractcr of the bank of the York below Shelly, rendering it aj)parently uninhaljitable, eecms to forbid the supposition. Werowocomoco, then, it may be taken for granted, was either at Shelly, or at some j)oint above Shelly. But as Shelly is nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's creek, it is obvious that the further you proceed up the river, the less appropriate will become the expression " nearly opposite." Carter's creek, emptying into the York at Shelly, forms a safe harbor for canoes. Smith, in a passage already quoted, mentions that Werowocomoco is 14 miles from Jamestown. In Book III., p. 194, he says, that "he went over land to Werowocomoco some 12 miles : there he i)assed the river of Pamaunkee in a salvage canow." Now, as it was 14 miles from Jamestown to Werowocomoco, and 12 to the point on the south bank of the York where Smith embarked in a canoe, it follows that Werowocomoco was only two miles from that point ; and Shelly, I take it, is just about two miles from where it is probable Smith went into the canoe on that occasion. Shelly adjoins Rosewell, (formerly the seat of John Page, Esq., sometime governor of Virginia,) and was originally part of the Rosewell plantation ; and I learned from ;!Mrs. Page, of Shelly, that Gov. Page always held Shelly to be the ancient Werowoco- moco, and accordingly he, at first, gave it that name, but afterwards, on account of the inconvenient length of the word, dropped it, and adopted the title of Shelly, on account of the extraordinary accumulation of shells found there. The enormous beds of oyster- shells deposited there, particularly just rn front of the Shelly-house, indicate it to have been a place of great resort among the natives. The situation is highly picturesque and beautiful ; and looking, as it does, on the lovely and majestic York, it would seem, of all others, to have been the befitting residence of the lordly Powhatan. GOOCHLAND COUNTY. 283 Charles Mynn Thruston, who was bom in this county in 1738, was a descendant of the old English cavaliers ; and his ancestors were among the first settlers of Gloucester. Mr. Thruston was ed4icated at William and Mary. When 20 years of age, he acted as a lieutenant of provincials, in the campaign which resulted in the evacuation of Fort Duquesue. He afterwards studied for the ministry, and was chosen rector of a parish in his native county. In 1769 he removed to Frederick county, where he continued in the practice of his profession until the commencement of hostilities with the mother country. He had been among the most prominent in repelling the attempt to introduce the Stamp Act in Virginia, and he now embarked in the common cause with an unconquerable zeal. He exerted hims-elf to procure arms and ammunition, and addressed the people at public gatherings by the most spirit-stirring and eloquent ha- rangues. Not content witli this, parson Thruston threw aside the gown, and seizing the sword, raised a volunteer company, composed of the elite of the young men of the countv ; and he being chosen captain, they marched to join Washington in New Jersey. He made a bold and vigorous attack on a strong Hessian picket near Amboy. In thi.s action his arm was shattered by a musket-ball, and he was carried, fainting with the loss of blood, from the field. He was afterwards promoted to the rank of colonel ; but as the regiment to which he was appointed could not be raised, he became a supernu- merary, and was obliged to retire from the service. He never resumed his pastoral func- tions. He held various public offices, among which was that of presiding judge of the court of Frederick county, and member of the legislature. In 1809, the wants of a nu- merous family occasioned him to remove to the west, where he died in 1812, aged 73. The battle of New Orleans was fought upon the place of his burial. The ruthless in- vader perished upon the tomb of the soldier-parson, who had employed tongue, pen, and sword in the cause of American freedom, and perilled fortune and life under the star- spangled banner. The venerable Judge Thruston, of Washington, over whose head tho snows of 80 winters have passed, and left an intellect unscathed and vigorous, is a son of the warrior-parson of Gloucester. GOOCHLAND. GoocHL.\ND was formed in 1727, from Henrico, and named from a colonial governor of Virginia. It lies on the north side of James River, and is 30 miles long, with an average width of 10 miles. The surface is undulating, and in some places broken ; the soil is various, and much of it exhauste\l, though naturally good ; that on the James is of great fertility. It is drained by several small streams, several of which afl'ord water-power. The county produces large crops of tobacco, corn, and oats. Bituminous coal of an excellent quality is extensively mined, and also small quantities of gold. Pop., whites 3,570, slaves 5,500, free colored 690 ; total 9,700. There are no villages in the county of any note. The Court- House, which is 30 miles west of Richmond, and 1 mile n. of James River, contains a few dwellings only. Gen. Nathaniel jNIassie, one of the early pioneers of Kentucky, and a man of indefatigable energy, was a native of this county. He was at the head of a band of atl venturoos spirits who formed, in 1791, the earliest settlement in the Virginia military district, and the fourth in Ohio, at what is now the town of Manchester. The late Gov. James Pleasants, who died in this county in 1836, was a man highly valued both in public and private life. 284 GREENBRIER COUNTY. GRAYSON. Grayson was formed in 1793, from Wythe, and named after a distinguished member of the Virginia convention that ratified the federal constitution. This is a wild and thinly-settled mountainous tract, lying on the North Carolina line, at the southeastern corner of western Virginia. It is draine J by the New River and its branches. Its limits were reduced in 1842 by the formation of Carrol county. Pop. in 1840, whites 8,542, slaves 492, free colored 53 ; total, 9,087. Grayson C. H. lies 281 miles svv. of Richmond, and contains a few dwellings only. GREENBRIER. Greenbrier was formed in 1777, from Botetourt and Montgomery, and named from its principal stream. Its mean length is 46 miles, mean breadth 32}, and area 1409 square miles. The surface is broken, and part of it mountainous. The mountains are infested with reptiles, such as the rattlesnake, copperhead, biacksnake, &c. ; there are some deer, wild turkeys, pheasants, wolves, wild-cats, panthers, bears, and a variety of small game. The horses raised in this region are distinguished for durability. The land on Green- brier River, which runs centrally through the county, is very fer- tile ; the mean elevation of the farms above the ocean is at least 1,500 feet. There was manufactured in this county in 1840, 114,932 pounds of maple sugar. Pop., whites 7,287, slaves 1,214, free colored 194; total, 8,695. Frankfort, 10 miles ne. of Lewisburg, contains a Methodist church and about 50 dwellings. In March, 1669, Col. John Stu- art, Robert McClenachan, Thomas Renick, and Wm. Hamilton, settled here. They, as well as all those that immediately followed, were from Augusta county. This was the first permanent settle- ment in the county. Lewisburg, the seat of justice for the county, lies on the James River and Kanawha turnpike ; 214 miles west of Richmond, 263 from Washington ; about 150 from Guyandotte, on the Ohio River, 9 miles w. of the White Sulphur, and 13 from the Blue Sulphur Springs. This town was established by law in October, 1782, and the act appointed the following gentlemen trustees, viz. : Samuel Lewis, James Reid, Samuel Brown, Andrew Donnelly, John Stu- art, Archer Mathews, Wm. Ward, and Thomas Edgar. It contains 6 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 Baptist, 1 Pres- byterian, and 1 Methodist church, 1 academy, and a population of about 800. It is a flourishing village, the most important in this whole region, and the place where the western branch of the court of appeals hold their sittings. GREENBRIER COUNTY. 285 Lewisburg stands on the site of the old Savannah Fort, and is the place where the army of Gen. Lewis rendezvoused in 1774, pre- vious to the battle of Point Pleasant. They constructed the first road ever made from here to Point Pleasant on the Ohio, distant about IGO miles. The old fort at this place stood about 100 yards sE. of the site of the present court-house, on land now (1843) be- longing to Mr. Thomas B. Reynold, and the v^^idow of Mr. Wm. Mathews. It was erected about the year 1770. The first church — a Presbyterian — erected at Lewisburg, was about the year 1795. It is a stone edifice, and is now occupied by that denomination. Previously, the same society had a log church, about a mile and a half nw. of the village, near the present residence of Mr. Chas. Rogers. Their first clergyman was the Rev John IVrCue. There were then some Baptists in the county ; their clergyman was tli« Rev. John Alderson. Lewisburg derived its name from the Lewis family. In olden time it was called " the Savannah," being a kind of a prairie. The following details respecting the early settlement of the county, the difficulties with the Indians, &c., are from Stuart's " Memoir of the Indian Wars and other Occurrences :" About the year 1749, a person, who was a citizen of the county of Frederick, and subject to paroxysms of lunacy, when influenced by such fits, usually made excursions into the wilderness, and in his rambles westwardly, fell in on the waters of Greenbrier River. At that time, the country on the western waters was but little known to the English inhabitants of the then colonies of America, being claimed by the French, who had commenced settlements on the Ohio and its waters, west of the Alleghany moun- tains. The lunatic being surprised to find waters running a different course from any he had before known, returned with the intelligence of his discovery, which did abound with game. This soon excited the enterprise of others. Two men from New England, of the name of Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell, took up a residence upon Greenbrier River ; but soon disagreeing in sentiment, a quarrel occasioned their separation, and Sewell, for the sake of peace, quit their cabin, and made his abode in a large hollow tree. In this situation they were found by the late General Andrew Lewis, in the year 1751. Mr. Lewis was appointed agent for a company of grantees, who obtained from the gov- ernoi and council of Virginia, an order for one hundred thousand acres of land lying on the waters of Greenbrier River ; and did, this year, proceed to make suryeys to complete the quantity of said granted lands ; and finding Marlin and Sewell liting in the neigh- borhood of each other, inquired what could ii'iduce them to live separate in a wilderness so distant from the habitations of any other human beings. They informed him that difference of opinion had occasioned their separation, and that they had since enjoyed more tranquillity and a better understanding; for Sewell said, that each morning When they arose and Marlin came out of the great house and he from his hollow tree, they sa- luted each other, saying. Good-morning, Mr. Marlin, and Good-morning, Mr. Sewell, so that a good understanding then existed between them ; but it did not last long, for Sew- ell removed about forty miles further west, to a creek that still bears his name. There the Indians found him and killed him. Previous to the year 1755, Mr. Lewis had completed for the grantees, under the order of council, upwards of fifty thousand acres ; — and the war then commencing between England and France, nothing further was done in the business until the year 1761, when his majesty issued his proclamation commanding all his subjects within the bounds of the colony of Virginia, who were living, or who had made settlements on the western waters, to remove from them, as the lands were claimed by the Indians, and good policy required that a peaceable understanding should be preserved with them, to prevent hos- tilities on their part. The order of council was never afterwards carried into effect, or his majesty's consent obtained to confirm it. At the commencement of the revolution, when the state of Virginia began to assume independence, and held a convention in 1776, some efforts were made to have the order of council established under the new order of things tlien beginning to take place. But it was not confirmed ; and commissioners were appointed, in 1777, to grant certificates to each individual who had made settlements on the western waters, in the state of 286 GREENBRIER COUNTY. Virginia, previous to the year 1768 and since, with preference according to the time of improvements ; which certificates gave the holder a right to four hundred acres for his settlement claim, and the pre-t^mption of one thousand more, if so much were fuiind clear of prior claims, and the holder chose to accept it. The following year, 1778, Greenbrier was separated from Botetourt county, and the county took its name from the river, which was so named by old Colonel John Lewis, father to the late General, and one of the grantees under the order of council, who, in company with his son Andrew, exploring the country in 1751, entangled himself in a bunch of green briers on the river, and declared he would ever after call the river Greenbrier River. After peace was confirmed between England and France, in the year 1761, the In- dians commenced hostilities, in 176.3, when all the inhabitants in Greenbrier wore totally cut off by a party of Indians, headed by the Cornstalk warrior. The chief settlements were on Muddy creek. Tiiese Indians, in number about sixty, introduced themselves into the people's houses under the mask of friendship, and every civility was offered them by the people, providing them victuals and accommodations for their entertainment, when, on a sudden, they killed the men, and made prisoners of the women and chil- dren. From thence they passed over into the Levels, where some families were collected at the house of Archibald Clendenin, (where the Hon. Balard Smith now lives.) There were between fifty and one hundred persons, men, women, and children. There the Indians were entertained, as at Muddy creek, in the most liospitable manner. Clendenin having just arrived from a hunt, with three fat elks, they were plentifully feasted. In the mean time, an old woman, with a sore leg, was showing her distress to an Indian, and inquiring if he could administer to her relief; he said he thought he could; and drawing his tomahawk, instantly killed her and all the men almost, that were in the house. Conrad Yolkom only escaped, by being some distance from the house, when the outcries of the women and children alarmed him. He fled to Jackson's River and alarmed the people, who were unwilling to believe him, until the approach of the Indians convinced them. All fled before them ; and they pursued on to Carr's creek. In Rock- bridge county, where many families were killed and taken by them. At Clendenin's a scene of much cruelty was performed ; and a negro woman, who was endeavoring to escape, killed her own child, who was pursuing her crying, lest she might be discovered by its erics. Mrs. Clendenin did not fail to abuse the Indians with terms of reproach, calling them covi^ards, &c., although the tomahawk was drawn over her head, with threats of instant death, and the scalp of her husband lashed about her jaws. The prisoners were all taken over to Muddy creek, and a party of Indians retained them there till the return of the others from Carr's creek, when the whole were taken off together. On the day they started from the foot of Keeney's Knob, going over the niountaln, Mrs. Clendenin gave her infant child to a prisoner woman to carry, as the prisoners were jn the centre of the line, with the Indians in front and rear, and she escaped into a thicket, and concealed herself until they all passed by. The cries of the child soon made the Indians inquire for the mother, who was missing ; and one of them said he would soon bring the cow to her calf. Taking the child by the heels he beat its brains out against a tree, and throwing it down in the path, all marched over it, till its guts were all trampled out with the hor.ses. She told me she returned that night, in the dark, to her own house, a distance of more than ten miles, and covered her husband's corpse with rails, which lay in the yard, where he was killed in endeavoring to escape over the fence, with one of his children in his arms ; and then she went into a corn-field, where great fear came upon her, and she imagined she saw a man standing by her, within a few steps. The Indians continued the war till 1764, and with much depre- dation on the frontier inhabitants, making incursions as far as within a few miles of Staunton. An end was put to the war in the fall of that year by the treaty AA^iich Col. Boquet held with the Indians, near Muskingum. In the spring of 1774, another Indian war — known as Dunmore's war — broke out. In the fall of that year, a portion of the army under Gen. Lewis, destined to act against the Indians, assembled at Camp Union, (now Lewisburg.) and from thence marched on through tho wildeiness to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where they met and defeated the Indians under their famous leader, the brave and generous Cornstalk. For an account of this action, the battle of Point Pleasant, see Mason county. GREENBRIER COUNTY. S{87 In 1778, an attack was made by about 200 Indians, upon Don- nally's Fort. This fort stood about 100 yards e. of the present residence of Mr. Anthony Rader, on Rader's run, 10 miles n. of Lewisburg. It was a double log-house, with a chimney in the centre, and was surrounded by a stockade of split logs. The house was destroyed about the year 1825, at which time many bullets were found in the timbers. Dick Pointer, the old negro who acted so gallantly in its defence, died only a few years since. The state had purchased his freedom in reward for his services. He was buried with the honors of war. The account of the attack on Donnally's Fort is here given from the memoir of Mr. Stuart : Intelligence having' been conveyed to Col. Donnally of the approach of the Indians, he lost no time to collect in all his nearest neighbors that night, and sent a servant to my house to inform me. Before day about twenty men, including Hammond and Prior, were collected at Donnally's, and they had the advantage of a stockade fort around and adjoining the house. There was a number of women and children, making hi all about si.xty persons in the house. On the next day they kept a good look-out, in momentary expectation of the enemy. Colonel Samuel Lewis was at my house when Donnally's servant came with the Intel, ligence ; and we lost no time in alarming the j)eople, and to collect as many men for defence as we could get at Camp Union alltlie next day. But all were busy ; some fly- ing with their families to the inward settlements, and others securing their property, so that in the course of the day, we had not collected near one hundred men. On the fol- lowing day we sent out two scouts to Donnally's, very early in the morning, who soon returned with intelligence that the fort was attacked. The scouts had got within one mile, and heard the guns firing briskly. We determined to give all the aid we could to the besieged, and every man who was willing to go was paraded. They amounted to sixty-eight in all, including Colonel Lewis, Captain Arbuckle, and myself. We drew near Donnally's house about two o'clock, P. M., but heard no firing. For the sake of expedition we had left the road for a nearer way, which led to the back side of the house, and thus escaped falling into an ambuscade, placed on the road some distance from the house, which might have been fatal to us, being greatly inferior to the enemy in num- bers. We soon discovered Indians, behind trees in a rye-field, looking earnestly at the house. Charles GatlitF and I fired upon them, when we saw others running in the rye, near where they stood. We all ran directly to the fort. The people, on hearing the guns on the back side of the house, supposed that it was another party of Indians, and all were at the port-holes ready to fire upon us ; but some discovering that we were their friends, opened the gate, and we all got in safe. One man only was shot through his clothes. When we got into the fort, we found that there were only four men killed. Two of them who were coming to the fort, fell into the midst of the Indians, and were killed. A servant of Donnally's was killed early in the morning on the first attack ; and one man was killed in a bastion in the fort. The Indians had commenced their attack about daylight in the morning, when the people were all in bed, except Philip Hammond and an old negro. The house formed one part of the fort, and was double, the kitchen making one end of the house, and there Hammond and the negro were. A hogshead of water was placed against the door. The enemy had laid down their guns at a sta- ble, about fifty yards from the house, and made their attacks with tomahawks and war- clubs. Hammond and the negro held the door till they were splitting it with their toma- hawks : they suddenly let the door open, and Hammond killed the Indian on the threshold, who was splitting the door. The negro had a musket charged with swan- shot, and was jumping about in the floor asking Hammond where he should shoot ? Hammond bade him fire away among them ; for the yard was crowded as thick as they could stand. Dick fired away, and I believe, with good effect ; for a war-club lay in the yard with a swan-shot in it. Dick is now upwards of eighty years old, has long been abandoned by his master, as also his wife, as aged as himself, and they have made out to support their miserable existence, many years past, by their own endeavors. This is the negro, to whom our Assembly, at its last session, refused to grant a small pension 1o i*upport the short remainder of his wretched days, which must soon end, although his humble petition was supported by certificates of the most respectable men in fha 288 GREENBRIER COUNTY. county, of his meritorious service on this occasion, which saved the hves of many citi- zens then in the house. The firing of Hammond and Dick awakened the people in the other end of the house, and ^ stairs, where the chief of the men were lying. They soon fired out of the win- dows on the Indians so briskly, that when we got to the fort, seventeen of them lay dead in the yard, one of whom was a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old. His body was so torn by the bullets that a man might have run his arm through him, yet he lived almost all day, and made a most lamentable cry. The Indians called to him to go into the house. After dark, a fellow drew near to the fort and called out in English that he wanted to make peace. We invited him in to consult on the terms, but he declined our civility. They departed that night, after dragging eight of their slain out of the yard ; but we never afterwards found where they buried them. They visited Greenbrier but twice afterwards, and then in very small parties, one of which killed a man and his wife, of the name of Munday, and wounded Capt. Samuel McClung. The last person killed was Thomas Griffith ; his son was taken, but going down the Kenawha, they were pursued, one of the Indians was killed, and the boy was relieved, which ended our wars in Greenbrier with the Indians, in the year 1780. The White Sulphur Spring of Greenbrier, the most celebrated of all the watering-places of Virginia, is 9 miles easterly from Lewisburg, about 170 from the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, 242 sw. of Washington City, and 205 w. of Richmond. It is thus described by a late visitor : The White Sulphur Spring is situated some 6 or 8 miles from the height of the Alleghany, on the western declivity, in an extensive valley beaulifully embosomed with hills and mountains. It was known to the Indians as one of the most important lick* of the deer and the elk. As early as 1772, a woman was brought here on a litter 4C miles, whose disease had baffled all medical skill. A tree was felled, and a trough dug and filled with tlie mineral water, which was heated by putting hot stones into it. Ir this the patient was bathed, while, at the same time, she drank freely of the fountain In a few weeks she went from her bark cabin perfectly restored. The fame of this curt attracted many sick persons to the spring, and they soon commenced throwing up rude og cabins. But the dreariness of the mountains, the badness of the roads, and the Doverty of the accommodations, repelled all but the desperate from these health-giving waters till 1818, when they fell into the hands of Mr. Calwell, the present enterprising owner. From that time the place has continued rapidly to improve. Mr. Calwell's estate includes from ten to twelve thousand acres, much of which is fine interval soil. All the buildings, for one or two miles around the spring, belong to him. Nature has done every thing to make tliis an enchanting spot. The valley opens about half a mile in breadth, winding in length from east to west, with graceful undulations, beyond the eye's reach. The fountain issues from the foot of a gentle slope, terminating in tiie low interval upon a small and beautiful river. The ground ascends from the spring east- ward, rising to a considerable eminence on the left, and spreading east and south into a wide and beautiful lawn. The lawn and walks cover perhaps fifty acres. A few rods from the spring, at the right, are the hotel, the dining-hall, the ball-room : all the rest of the ground is occupied mainly with cabins. These are rows of contiguous buildings, one story high, mostly of wood, some of brick, and a few of hewed logs white-washed. The framed cabins are all painted white. Directly to the right of the spring, and very near it, is Spring row ; further eastward, with a continuous piazza shaded with vines, is Virginia row ; at right-angles with this, crossing the lawn in the middle, is South Caro- lina row ; heading the eastern extremity of the lawn is Bachelor's row ; on the north side of the lawn, beginning nearest the spring, are Alabama, Louisiana, Paradise, and Baltimore rows — the last of which is the most elegant in the place. Without the enclo- sure, southward from the fountain, is Broadway ; and a little west from this, on the Guyandot road, is Wolf row. The appearance of these cabins, painted, decorated, looking forth from the green foliage, and tastefully arranged, is beautiful and imposing. I have an analysis of the spring by Professor Rogers, the distinguished state gcolo. gist, but am not permitted to communicate the proportions, as he wishes to reserve that fraction of interest for his forthcoming work. The solid matter procured by evaporation from 100 cubic iaches, weighs 63.54 grains, composed of sulphate of iim^, sulphate of GREENSVILLE COUNTY. 289 magnesia, sulphate of soda, carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, chloride of mag- nesium, chloride of sodium, chloride of calcium, peroxide of iron, phosphate of lime, sul- phate and liydrate of sodium, organic matter, precipitated sulphur, iodine. The gaseous matter consists of sulphurated hydrogen, carbonic acid, nitrogen, and oxygen. It is obvious, from this analysis, that the water must exert a very positive agency upon the system. Its remedial virtues extend chiefly to diseases of the liver, kidneys, alimentary canal, and to scrofula, rheumatism, and neuralgia. The fountain is covered with a stately Doric dome, sustained by twelve large pillars, and surmounted witli a colossal statue of Hygeia, looking towards the rising sun. The Blue Sulphur Spring, in this county, is also quite popu- lar. The improvements are extensive, and the location one of much natural beauty. The water tastes like that of the White Sulphur. Subjoined is the analysis : Analysis. — Solid ingredients in the Blue Sulphur Water. — Sulphate of lime; sul- phate of magnesia ; sulpliate of soda ; carbonate of lime ; carbonate of magnesia ; chlo- ride of magnesium ; chloride of sodium ; chloride of calcium ; hydro-sulphate of sodium and magnesium ; oxide of iron, existing as proto-sulphate ; iodine, sulphur, organic mat- ters. Gaseous ingredients. — Sulphurated hydrogen ; carbonic acid ; oxygen ; nitrogen. The spring is a very bold one, furnishing fifteen gallons of water to a minute ; there is a great deal of red, white, and black, and otlier deposites from the water. GREENE. Greene was formed in 1838, from the western part of Orange, and named after Gen. Nathaniel Greene, of the revolution. It is 15 miles long, and 10 wide. The Blue Ridge runs on its western line. It is watered by branches of the Rivanna and the Rapid Ann. Its surface is mountainous and broken, and the soil in the valleys fertile. The principal products are tobacco, Indian corn, and wheat. A small quantity of cotton is produced. Population in 1840, whites 2,447, slaves 1,74Q, free colored 45; total, 4,232. Stanardsville, the county-seat, is in the western part, 95 miles northwesterly from Richmond, and 18 miles w. of Orange C. H. The village is pleasantly situated, and contains about 35 dwellings. GREENSVILLE. Greensville was formed in 1784, from Brunswick. It is 28 miles long, with a variable breadth of from 8 to 24 miles. The Notto- way River runs on its n. boundary, and the Meherrin through it centrally. On the first-named stream anciently dwelt the Notto- way Indians ; on the last, the Meherrins and Tuteloes, " who were connected with the Indians of Carolina, probably with the Chow- anocs." Large quantities of cotton are raised in this county. Population in 1840, whites 1,928, slaves 4,102, free colored 136; total 6,366. Hicksford, the county-seat, lies 62 miles south of Richmond, on 37 (25) 290 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY. the line of the ^reat southern rail-road, which here crosses the Me- herrin by a bridge 300 feet long, supported by stone piers. Besides the public buildings, it contains from 12 to 20 dwellings, and seve- ral stores and hotels. In the march of Cornwallis into Virtrinia, after the battle of Guilford Court-House, a company of militia niicler a Cuptiiin Robinson were marie prisoners on tlie Melierrin, below Hicksford, wilhout firing a shot, by a body of cavalry under Lieut. -C'ol. Simcoe, who had been detached from Petersburg by Arnold, to jrain information of Cornwallis. The whole party, the captors and captured, repaired to an adjacent tavern, where, in a conference among the British officers, it was announced to tiie prisoners that they were to be paroled. " Pray, gentlemen," demanded one of tliem, iu great consternation, " what kixid of a death is that ?" HALIFAX. Halifax was formed in 17.52, from Lunenburg. Its length is 33 miles, and mean breadth 23 miles. The Roanoke runs on its n. and NE. boundary, and the Dan and its branches flow^ through it centrally. The soil is fertile, and large quantities of excellent to- bacco, corn, and oats, are raised. Population in 1840, whites 11,145, slaves 14.210, free colored 575 ; total, 25,936. Banister, or Halifax C. H., lies 127 miles southwesterly from Richmond. It is a long, scattering village, well elevated by a gradual ascent of three quarters of a mile from Banister River ; it contains a population of about 800. Brooklyn, Meadsville, Scotts- burg, and Barksdale, contain each a few dwellings. HAMPSHIRE. Hampshire was established in 1754, from Frederick and Augusta. Its mean length is about 33 miles, and mean breadth 30 miles. A large proportion of the county is mountainous, and much of the high mountain-land is untillable. The principal streams are the South and the North Branch of Potomac, the Potomac, and the Great Cacapon. On all of these there are extensive and fertile low grounds. Near the Maryland line are immense fields of bitumi- rous coal, and deposites of iron ore in various parts of the county. Population, whites 10,703, slaves 1,403, free colored 189; total 12,295. Romney, the countj^-seat. is situated in the heart of the county, on the South Branch of Potomac, 188 miles sw. of Richmond, and 39 miles from Winchester. It is a small village, yet one of con- siderable business, and has a branch of the Bank of the Valley, several stores, and about 3.")0 inhabitants. It Avas established by law^ in 17G2, and laid off by Lord Fairfax, its founder, into streets and half-acre 'lots. The Parkersburg turnpike passes through it. HAMPSHIRE t-OUNTy. 291 Frankfort, Springfield, Cold Stream Mill, and Paddy town, aro small villaores. The Ice Mountain. The Ice Mountain of Hampshire is one of the greatest natural curiosities in Virginia. It rises from the eastern bank of the North River, a branch of the Capon, and is distant 26 miles nw. from Winchester, and 16 miles e. of Romney. It is in height 400 or 500 feet- The west side of the mountain, for about a quarter of a mile, is covered with a mass of loose stone of a light color, which reaches down to the bank of the river. This part of the mountain is represented in the accompanying engraving. By removing the loose stone, pure crystal ice can always be foimd in the warmest days of summer. It has been discovered even as late as the 15th of September; but never in October, although it may exist throuji^hoiit the entire year, and hh found, if the rocks were excavated to a sufficient depth. The body of rocks where the ice is found is subject to the full rays of the sun from nine o'clock in the morning until sunset. The sun does not have the effect of melting the ice as much as continued rains'. At the base of the mountain is a spring of water colder by many degrees than spring water generally is. " Very near this spring," says Kercheval, " the owner of the property has removed the stone, and erected a small log dairy, for the preservation of his milk, butter, and fresh meats. When the author saw this little building, wiiich was late in the month of April, the openings be- tween the logs, (on the side next the cavity from which the stone had been taken out,) for eighteen inches or two feet from the floor, were completely filled wltli ice, and about one-half the floor was covered with ice several inches thick. Mr. Deevers, who is the owner of the property, informed the author that milk, butter, or fresh meats of every kind, are perfectly safe from injury for almost any length of time, in the hottest weather If a fly venture in, he is immediately stiffened with the cold and becomes torpid. If a snake in his rambles happens to pass over the rocks covering the ice, he soon loses all motion, and dies. Christopher Heiskell, Esq., informed the author that several instances had occurred of the ."^nakes being found dead among the rocks covering the ice. An intelligent young lady at the same time stated that she had seen instances of this character. In truth, it was upon her first suggesting the fact, that the author was led to make inquiry of Mr. Heiskell. And Mr. Deevers stated that he had several times removed torpid flies from his dairy into a more temperate atmosphere, when they soon recovered life and motion, and flew off." Mr. C. B. Hayden, in a recent number of Silliman's Journal, 292 HANOVER COUNTY. thus accounts for the phenomenon of the preservation of ice in this mountain : The solution, I conceive, is to be found in the large and unusual collection of rocks, which from their porous homogeneous texture are extremely poor conductors of heat. One side of the mountain consists of a massive wall many hundred feet in thicltness, and heaped up against this as an abutment, is a mass of rocks containing several thousand cubic feet. As the mountain has a general direction from ne. to sw., the talus heap con- taining the ice has a nw. exposure. Tlie cavernous nature of this heap would admit the free entrance of atmospheric waters, which during the winter would form ice in the interior of the mass. The ice thus situated would be protected from external heat by the sur- rounding rocks, as ice in a refrigerator is isolated and protected from the external tem- perature, by the non-conducting sides of the refrigerator. The Ice Mountain only requires for the explanation of its phenomenon, the application of the familiar principle upon which is constructed the common refrigerator, which temporarily effects what the Ice Mountain permanently does — a temperature independent of external causes. The Ice Mountain is, in fact, a Iiuge sandstone refrigerator, whose increased and unusual effects beyond those of the ordinary refrigerator, are due to the increased and unusual collection of poor conducting materials which form its sides. There are several other curiosities of nature in this county. They are Gaudy's Castle, the Tea-Table, and the Hanging Rocks. Caudy^s Castle was so named from having been the retreat of an early settler when pursued by the Indians. It is a fragment of a mountain in the shape of a half cone, with a very narrow base, which rises from the banks of the Capon to the height of about 500 feet, and presents a sublime and majestic appearance. The Tea-Table is about 10 miles below Gaudy's Castle, in a deep ragged glen, three or four miles east of the Capon. This table is of solid rock, and presents the form of a man's liat standing on its crown. It is about 4 feet in height and the same in diameter. From the top issues a clear stream of water, which flows over the brim on all sides, and forms a fountain of exquisite beauty. The Hanging Rocks are about 4 miles north of Romney. There the Wappatomka River has cut its way through a mountain of about 500 feet in height. The boldness of the rocks, and the wildness of the scene, excite awe in the beholder. A bloody battle, says tradition, was once fought at the Hanging Rocks, between con- tending parties of the Catawba and Delaware Indians, and it is believed that several hundred of tlie latter were slaughtered. Indeed, the signs now to be seen at this place exhibit striking evidences of the fact. There is a row of Indian graves between the rock and public road, along the margin of the river, of from 60 to 70 yards in length. It is believed that but very few of the Delawares escaped. HANOVER. Hanover vras formed in 1720, from New Kent. Its length is 45 miles ; main width, 14 miles. It is watered by the Pamunkey, the Chickahominy, and their branches. The surface is generally level, and the soil of every extreme, from the best river alluvion to barren sand. Inexhaustible beds of marl exist in the county, and are extensively used in agriculture, now in an improving condition. The Fredericksburg and Richmond rail-road runsN. ands. through the central part. The Louisa rail-road commences at the " Junc- tion" on the line of the above-mentioned raihroad, 24 miles n. of Richmond, and runs through the western part of Hanover. Pop., whites 6,262, slaves 8,394," free colored 312; total, 14,968. Hanover C. H. is 20 miles n. of Richmond. Hanover town, on the Pamunkey, in the e. part of the county, was settled before Rich- HANOVER COUNTY. 293 mond, and anciently called Page's Warehouse. It once had a large population, and was a place of considerable business, even within the memory of those living. At one time there were 1600 hogshefids of tobacco annually exported from it. Then the Pa- munkey was navigable lor sloops and schooners, since which the channel has much filled up. When the Assembly of the state were agitating the subject of removing the capitol from Williams- Birthplace of Henry Clay. burg, they came within a few votes of deciding upon Hanover Town instead of Richmond. The site is now a cultivated field, and shows but a few traces of its having been a town. Newcastle, which is 4 or 5 miles lower down on the Pamunkey, was also, at the same time, a considerable village. It now consists of a single house. It is the spot where Patrick Henry assembled his volunteers at the time Dunmore took the gunpowder from the magazine at Wil- liamsburg. This section of the county is a beautiful agricultural tract, on which there was once much tobacco raised. Patrick Henry, Henry Clay, and Col. Baylor, were all natives of Hanover county. The tetter was at one time aid to Washington. His regiment of light dragoons, which were from Virginia, while sleeping in a barn near the line of New Jersey and New York, were surprised, Sept. 28th, 1778, and nearly all of them cruelly massacred. Col. Baylor was dangerously wounded, and made prisoner. He was noted for his bravery. The birthplace of Henry Clay is in a poor piny region, called the Slashes of Hanover, about 3 miles from the court-house, on the turnpike to Richmond. The Rev. Samuel Davies, " the father* of the Presbyterian church in Virginia," was * We take this expression, " father of the Presbyterian church in Virginia," from a periodical. Mr. Davies was not so, strictly speaking ; but lie did more than any other person in disseminating the doctrines of, and making converts to this church, at an early day. The father of the Presbyterian church in America was the Rev. Francis Makemie. He was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, " from the neighborhood of Ramelton, in Donegal, ia the north of Ireland, and was first introduced to tiie presbytery in January, 1680." Reid's History oi the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, from whicii the above is derived, also says : " He settled in Accomac county, on the eastern shore of Virginia, where he died in 1701. He was the first Presbyterian mmister who settled in America, and with a 294 HANOVER COUNTY. bom in Delaware, in 1724, in humble circumstances. In 1748, he accepted a call from the Presbyterians of this neighborhood to settle among them. He gained great credit for his knowledge, address, and eloquence, in an argument which he had with Peyton Randolph, the king's attorney-general, on the subject of the rights of Protestant dissenters from the established church in Virginia. When he went to England in 17.53, he obtained from the king and council a declaration, under authority, that the provisions of the act of tolera- tion did extend to Virginia. The Old Fork Church in whith he preached is, or was lately, standing on the South Anna Branch, near Ground Squirrel Bridge, in this county. The home of Mr. Davies was iu this county, about 12 miles from Richmond ; but his occasioral labors were greatly extended over a considerable part of the colony ; and he acquired an influence greater, probably, than any other preacher of the gospel in Virgi- nia ever possessed It was the influence of fervent piety and zeal, directed l>y a mind of uncommon compass and force. He took no little pains to instruct the negroes, and to this day the descendants of his negro converts manifest the happy effects of the pious instructions of their parents. In 11^)3, Mr. Davies accompanied the Rev. Gilbert Tennent on a mission to England, to solicit donations for the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, where he met with a Buccess that astonished himself. He preached frequently, and with great applause. The following anecdote is related of him : The king, (George IJ.,) being curious to hear a preacher from the wilds of America, attended on one occasion, when he was so much struck with his commanding eloquence that he expressed his astonishment loud enough to be heard half-way over the house. Davies observing that the king was attracting more attention than himself, paused, and looking his majesty full in the face, gave him, in an emphatic tone, the following rebuke : " When the linn roareth, let the beasts of the forest tremble ; and ivhen the Lord speaketh, let the kings of the earth keep silence." The king shrunk back in his seat and remained quiet during the remainder of his dis- course ; and the next day sent for Mr. Davies, and gave him fifty guineas for the college, ■observing at the same time to his courtiers : " he is an honest man .' an honest man .'" Shortly after the return of Mr. Davies, in 1755, the presbytery of Hanover was erected, and he was appointed to open the presbytery, which was directed to meet in Hanover, on the 3d of December of that year. The limits of the presbytery originally compre- hended the whole of Virginia, and a considerable part, if not the whole, of North Caro- lina. Through this extensive region there were scattered numerous settlements of Pro- testant dissenters, besides many who had originally belonged to the established church, but had chosen to leave it and to join the dissenters. Of this whole dissenting interest, Mr. Davies was the animating soul. He made his influence to be felt everywhere ; he transfused his own spirit into the bosoms of his associates, and roused them by the force of his example. His popularity in Virginia was almost unbounded ; so that he was in- vited and urged to preach in almost all the settled portions of the colony. But he did not content himself merely with the discharge of pastoral duties. The country was alarmed and agitated to the highest degree, by the French and Indian war. At this time he delivered several patriotic sermons, one of which, under the title of " Religion and Patriotism the constituents of a good soldier," was addressed in Hanover to Capt. Overton's company of independent soldiers. In it he uttered the prophetic re- mark respecting Washington. (See p. 99.) On another occasion he preached a ser- mon " to the militia of Hunover county, in Virginia, at a general muster, May 8th, 1759, with a view to raise a company for Gapt. Samuel Meredith." At its close, a company was made up in a few minutes, and many more offered their names than the law al- lowed. As Mr. Davies left the muster-ground for the tavern, to get his horse, the whole corps followed him, pressing around to catch every word that fell from his lips. Ob- serving their desire, he again addressed them from the tavern porch until he was ex- hausted with speaking. Tiie celebrated Patrick Henry has spoken in terms of enthusiasm of Mr. Davies. It has been supposed that he lirst kindled the fire, and afforded the model of Henry's elocu- tion, as he lived from his lltli to his 2'ld year in the neighborhood where the patriotic sermons of Mr. Davies were delivered, which produced as powerful effec'.s as those as- cribed to the orations of Demosthenes. In 1759, Mr. Davies accepted the appointment of president of New Jersey College, few other brethren from Ulster, constituted the first re' awkwardly, and faltered much in his exordium. The people hung their heads at so unpromising a commencement ; the clergy were observed to exchange sly looks with each other ; and his father is described as having almost sunk with confusion from his seat. But these feelings were of short duration, and soon gave place to others of a very dilferent character. For now were those wonderful faculties which he possessed for the first time developed ; and now was first witnessed that mysterious and almost supernatural trans- formation of appearance, which the tire of his own eloquence never failed to work in him. For as his mind rolled along, and began to glow from its own action, all the exuviw of the clown seemed to shed themselves spontaneously. His attitude by degrees became erect and lofty. The spirit of his genius awakened all his features. His countenance shone with a nobleness and grandeur which it had never before exhibited. There was a lightning in his eyes which seemed to rivet the spectator. His action became graceful, bold, and commanding; and in the tones of his voice, but more especially in his em- phasis, there was a peculiar charm, a magic, of which any one who ever heard him will speak as soon as he is named, but of which no one can give any adequate description. Tliey can only say that it struck upon the ear and upon the heart, in a maimer which lavguage cannot tell. Add to all these, his wonder-working fancy, and the peculiar phraseology in which he clothed its images; for he painted to the heart with a force that almost petrified it. In the language of those who heard him on this occa- sion. " he made their blood run cold, and their hair to rise on end." It will not be difiicult for any one who ever heard this most extraordinary man, to believe the whole account of this transaction which is given by his surviving hearers ; and from their account, the court- house of Hanover county must have exhibited, on this occasion, a scene as picturesque as has been ever witnessed in real life. They say that the people, whose countenances had fallen as he arose, had heard but a very few sentences before they began to look up ; then to look at each other with surprise, as if doubting the evidence of their own senses ; then, attracted by some strong gesture, struck by some majestic attitude, fascinated by the spell of his eye, the charm of his emphasis, and the varied and commanding expression of his countenance, they could look away no more. In less than twenty ^iiinutes they might be seen, in every part of the house, on every bench, in every window, stooping forw&rd from their stands, in death-like silence; their features fixed in amazement and awe, all their senses listening and riveted upon the speaker, as if to catch the last strain of some heavenly visitant. The mockery of the clergy was soon turned into alarm, their triumph into confusion and despair, and at one burst of his rapid and overwhelming invective, they fied from the bench in precipitation and terror. As for the father, such was his surprise, such his amazement, such his rapture, that, forgetting where he was, and the character which he was filling, tears of ecstasy streamed down his cheeks, without the power or inclina- tion to repress them. The jury seem to have been so completely bewildered, that they lost sight not only of the act of 1748, but that of 1758 also ; for, thoughtless even of the admitted right of the plaintiff, they had scarcely left the bar when they returned with a verdict of one penny damages. A motion was made for a new trial ; but the court, too, had now lost the equipoise of their judgment, and overruled the motion by a unanimous vote. The verdict, and judgment overruling the motion, were followed by redoubled acclamation, from with>n and without the house. The people, who had with difficulty kept their hands off their champion from the moment of closing his harangue, no sooner saw the fate of the cause finally sealed than they seized him at the bar, and, in spite of his own exertions and the continued cry of "order," from the sheritf-i and the court, they bore him out of the court-house, and raising him on their shoulders, carried him about the yard in a kind of electioneering triumph. From this time Mr. Henry's star was in the ascendant, and he at once rose to the head of his profession in that section. In the autumn of 1764, having removed to Round- about, in Louisa county, he was employed to argue a cas% before a committee on elec- tions of the House of Burgesses. He distinguished himself by a brilliant display on the right of suffrage. Such a burst of eloquence from a man of so humble an appearance, struck the committee with amazement, and' not a sound but from his lips broke the deep silence of the room. In 1765, he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses, when he introduced his celebrated resolutions on the Stamp Act. Among his papers there was found, after his decease, one sealed and thus endorsed : " Enclosed are the resolutions of the Virginia Assembly, in 1765, concerning the Stamp Act. Let my executors open this paper." On the btick of the paper containing the resolutions was the following endorsement: ''The within passed the House of Burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first opposi- tion to the Stamp Act, and the scheme of taxing America by the British parliament. All the colonies, either through fear, or the want of opportunity to form an opposition, or from influence of some kind or other, had remained silent. I had been for the first time elected a burgess a few days before, was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the forms of the house and the members who composed it. Finding the men of weight averse to opposition, and the commencement of the tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step forth, I determined to venture ; and alone, unaided and unassisted, on the blank leaf of an old law-book, wrote the within. Upon offering them to the house, violent debates ensued. Many threats were uttered, and much abuse cast on me by the parties for submission. After a long and warm contest, the resolutPons passed by a very small majority, perhaps one or tw-o only. The alarm si)read throughout- America with astonishing quickness, and the ministerial party were overwhelmed. The great point of resistance to British tixition wis universally est iblished in the colonies. This brought on the war, which finally separated the two countries, and gave independence to ours. Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse, will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation. Reader, whoever thou art, remember this ; and in thy sphere, practise virtue thyself, and encourage it in others. "P. HENRY." It was in the midst of the above-mentioned debate that he exclaimed, in tones of thunder, " Caesar had his Brutus — Charles the First his Cromwell — and George the 38 298 HANOVER COUNTY. Third — (' Treason I' cried the speaker — ' Treason ! treason !' echoed from every part of the house. Henry faltered not for a moment ; taking a loftier attitude, and fixing on the speaker an eye of fire, he finished his sentence with the firmest emphasis) — " may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." Henceforth Mr. The old Court-IIovse, Hanover. [The Hanover Court-House is over a century old, and is built of imported brick. It Is the building in which Patrick Henry made his celebrated speech in " Tlie Parsons' Cause."] Henry was the idol of the people of Virginia, and his influence as one of the great champions of liberty, extended tliroughout America. In 1769 he was admitted to the bar of the general court. Without that legal learning which study alone can supply, he was deficient as a mere lawyer. But before a jury, in criminal cases particularly, his genius displayed itself most brilliantly. His deep knowledge of the springs of human action, his power of reading in the flitting expre.ssions of the countenance what was pass- ing in the hearts of his hearers, has rarely been possessed by any one in so great a de- gree. In 1767 or '68, Mr. Henry removed back to Hanover, and continued a member of the House of Burgesses until the close of the revolution, acting upon its most im- portant committees, and infusing a spirit of bold opposition in its members to the pre- tensions of Britain. He was a delegate to the first Colonial Congress, which assembled Sept. 4, 1774, at Philadelpliia. Upon Lord Dunmore's seizing the gunpowder at Williamsburg, in the night after the battle of Lexington, Henry .summoned volunteers to meet him ; and marching down to- wards the Capitol, compelled the agent of Dunmore to give a pecuniary compensation for it. This was the first military movement in Virginia. The colonial convention of 1775 elected him the colonel of the firs; regiment, and the commander of " all the forces raised and to be raised for the defence of the colony." Soon resigning his command, he was elected a delegate to the convention, and not long after, in 1776, ihe first gov- ernor of the commonwealth, an office he held by successive re-elections until 1779, when, without an intermission, he was no longer constitutionally eligible. While hold- ing that office he was signally serviceable in sustaining public spirit during the gloomiest period of the revolution, providing recruits, and crushing the intrigues of the tories. On leaving the office of governor, he served, until the end of tlie war, in the legisla- ture, when he was again elected governor, until the state of his afffairs caused him to resign in the autumn of 1786. Until 1794 he regularly attended the courts, where his great reputation obtained for him a lucrative business. " In 1788 he was a member of the convention of Virginia which so ably and eloquently discussed the constitution of the United States. He employed his masterly eloquence, day after day, in opposition to the propo.sed constitution. His hostility 'o it proceeded entirely from an apprehension that the federal government would swallow the sovereignty of the slates; and that ultimate- ly the liberty of the people would be destroyed, or crushed, by an overgrown and pon- derous consolidation of political power. The constitution having been adopted, the gov- ernment organized, and Washington elected President, his repugnance measurably abated. The chapter of amendments considerably neutralized his objections : but, nevertheless, it is believed that his acquiescence resulted more from the consideration of HARDY COUNTY. 299 a citizen's duty, confidence in the chief magistrate, and a hopeful reliance on the wis- dom and virtue of the people, rather than from any material ciiange in his opinions." In 1794 Mr. Henry retired from the bar. In 1796 the post of governor v\ras once more tendered to him, and refused. In 1798 the strong and animated resohitions of the Virginia Assembly, in opposition to the alien and sedition laws, which laws he was in favor of, " conjured up the most frightful visions of civil war, disunion, blood, and anar- chy ; and under the impulse of these phantoms, to make what he considered a virtuous effort for his country, he presented himself in Charlotte county as a candidate for the Hou-eof Delegates, at the spring election of 1799," although he had retired to private life three years previously. His speech on this occasion, before the polls were opened, was the last effort of his eloquence. " The power of the noon-day sun was gone ; but its setting splendors were not less beautiful and touching." Mr. Henry was elected by his usual commanding majority, and the most formidable preparations were made to oppose him in the Assem- bly. But " the disease which had been preying upon him for two years now hastened to its crisis ; and on the 6th of June, 1799, this friend of liberty and man was no more." By his first wife he had six children, and by his last, six sons and three daughters. He left them a large landed property. He was temperate and frugal in his habits of living, and Seldom drank any thing but water. He was nearly six feet in height, spare, and raw-boned, and with a slight stoop in his shoulders ; his complexion dark and sal- low ; his countenance grave, thoughtful, and penetrating, and strongly marked with the lines of profound reflection, which with his earnest manner, and the habitual knit- ting and contracting of his brows, gave at times an expression of severity. " He was gifted with a strong and musical voice, and a most expressive countenance, and he ac- quired particular skill in the use of them He could be vehement, insinuating, humor- ous, and sarcastic, by turns, and always with the utmost effect. He was a natural ora- tor of the highest order, combining imagination, acuteness, dexterity, and ingenuity, with the most forcible action, and extraordinary powers of face and utterance. As a statesman, his frincipal merits were sagacity and boldness His name is brilliantly and lastingly connected with the history of 'his country's emancipation." " In private life, Mr. Henry was as amiable as he was brilliant in his public career. He was an exemplary Christian, and his illustrious life was greatly ornamented by the religion which he professed. In his will he left the following testimony respecting the Christian religion : ' I have now disposed of all my property to ray family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they have that, and I had not given one shilling, they would be rich ; and if they have not that, and I had given therrrthe whole world, they would be poor.' " HARDY. Hardy was formed in 178G, from Hampshire, and named from Samuel Hardy, a member of Congress from 1783 to 1785. He was a young man of promising talents, who died suddenly. Its mean length is 42, breadth 17 miles. The surface of the county is traversed, in a ne. direction, by the South Branch and other tri- butaries of the Potomac ; with lateral chains of mountains inter- vening, and extending in the same direction with the livers. The surface is much broken, and, for the most part, very rock}"" and sterile ; but tracts of excellent land lie on the streams, and in the mountain-valleys. There are .some valuable banks of iron ore in the countv. Pop., whites 6,100, slaves 1,131, free colored 391 ; total, 7,622. Trout Run, or Wardensville, is a small village on Trout Run, in the eastern section of the county, 26 miles from the county-seat. It was laid off in 1827. In the place and vicinity are several 300 HARDY COUNTY. flour mills and iron works. Moorefield, the county-seat, is 178 miles Nvv. of Richmond, and 50 miles southwesterly from Win- chester. This village is situated on the South Branch of the Poto- mac, at the junction of the south fork, in a valley of surpassing fertility, and contains a population of about 400. It was estab- lished by law, in 1777, on land belonging to Conrad Moore, from whom it derived its name. The act appointed, as trustees to lay out the town. Garret Vanmeter, Abel Randall, Moses Hutton, Jacob Read, Jonathan Heath, Daniel M'Neil, and Geo. Rennock. Peters- burg is a small village on the South Branch of the Potomac. On the Wappatomaka have been found numerous Indian relics, among which was a highly finished pipe, representing a snake coiled around the bowl. There was also dis- covered the under jaw-bone of a human being (says Kercheval) of great size, which contained eight jaw-teeth iu each side, of enormous size ; and, what is more remarkable, the teeth stood transversely in the jaw-bone. It would pass over any man's face with entire ease. The Fairfax Stone, the southern point of the western boundary between Mary- land and Virginia, is on the westerly angle of this county. It was planted Oct. 17, 1746 There are several natural curiosities in this county worthy of note. They are the Regurgitary Spring, the Lost River, and the Devil's Garden. The Regurgitary Spring is on the summit of a high mountain, a few miles from Petersburg. It flows and ebbs every two hours. When rising, it emits a noise similar to the gurgling of liquor from the bung-hole of a barrel, which continues two hours, and sends out sand and pebbles. It then ebbs two hours, at the end of whicli time the water entirely disappears. The Devil's Garden. A strip of ground between two lofty ranges of mountains, rises gradually for about three miles, when it abruptly terminates at its southern extremity by an isolated and perpendicular pile of granitic rocks, of about 500 feet in height. At this place there is a figure in solid rock, resembling, in its upper part, the bust of a man. It is on a piece of ground thickly strewn with rocks, which, from the dark frowning appear- ance of the image, standing as the presiding deity of this sa\)'!ige sjjot, has given rise to the name it bears. Near his " Satanic majesty," a door opens into a cavern, containing about a dozen rooms. The Lost River is so called from having, in the aggregate, a sub- terranean passage of three miles under several mountains. This section of the country suffered severely in the Indian wars, previous to the revolution. Some incidents of bravery deserve a record : Near Petersburg, a party of Indians attacked, just before daybreak, the dwelling of Samuel Bingham. Himself, wife, and parents, slept below, and a hired man in the loft above. A shot was first fired into the cabin, wounding his wife. Bingham sprang to his feet, bade the others to get under the bed, and requested the hired man to come down to his assistance, who, however, did not move. As the Indians rushed in at the door, he laid about liini, with his rifle, with so much desperation that he finally cleared the room. Dayligiit appearing, he discovered that he had killed five, and the remaining two were Been retreating. He having broken liis rifle in the melee, seized one which had been left by the Indians, and wounded one of the fugitives. Tradition relates that the other fled to the Indian camp, and reported that they liad a fight with a devil, who had killed six of his companions, and that if they went, he would kill them all. There was a memorable battle fought with the Indians, called the battle of Trough Hill. The whites were surrounded, and greatly outnumbered, but they fought with Spartan-like bravery ; and cutting their way through the savages, retreated to Fort Pleasant with the loss of many killed and wounded. In retreating, they were obliged to swim a river. Some, too badly wounded for this, loaded their rifles and deliberately awaited the approach of the savages from behind some cover, and dealt certain death to the first wiio approached, and then calmly yielded to the tomahawk. HARRISON COUNTY. 301 When Cornwallis entered Virginia, a party of tories, at the head of whom was a Scotchman named Claypole, and his two sons, raised the British standard, and gained a large party on Lost River, and on the south fork of the VVappatomaka. It was their intention to join Cornwallis. It was, however, crushed in the bud by a force from Win- chester, under General Daniel Morgan ; and several of the young men, ashamed of their conduct, volunteered and marched to aid in the capture of the British at Yorktown. HARRISON. Harrison was created in 1784, from Monongalia, and named in honor of Benjamin Harrison, governor of Virginia from 1781 to 1784, and father of the late President of the U. States. The sur- face is much broken, and much of the soil on the streams fertile. The bounds have been reduced within a few years by the for- mation of Marion. Ritchie, Barbour, and Taylor counties. Pop. in 1840, whites 16,850, slaves G03, free colored 126 ; total, 17,699. Bridgeport, 6 miles east of Clarksburg, contains 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church, and 25 dwellings. Lewisport, Milford, and Shinnston, are small villages in the county. Clarksburg, the county-seat, lies 253 miles northwesterly from Richmond, and 70 east of the Ohio River, at the junction of Elk creek with the west fork of the Monongahela. The village stands on a rolling table-land, surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, while Elk creek, meandering through and around the town, imparts additional beauty to the scene. Clarksburg was estab- lished by law, Oct., 1785, and William Carpenter, John Myers, William Haymond, John M'Ally, and John Davisson, gentlemen, were appointed the trustees. It is now a flourishing town, and contains 7 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, 2 fine classical academies, 1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian church, and a population of about IICO. There are inexhaustible supplies of coal in the immediate neighborhood; and being in the midst of a fertile country, possessing great mineral M^ealth in its iron, salt, &c., it possesses the elements of prosperity. This immediate vicinity was settled a few years before the commencement of the revolutionary war. The early settlers in this region of country suffered greatly in the wars with the Indians, until Wayne's treaty in 1795. Withers' Chronicles of Border Warfare and History of Northwestern Virginia, published at Clarksburg in 1831, details many soul-harrowing cases of savage barbarity. Jesse Hughs was one of the bold pioneers who acted a conspicuous part against the Indians. He was bred from infancy in the hotbed of Indian warfare, and resided in Clarksburg. He was a light-built, spare man, and remarkably active on foot, and from his constant practice of hunting, became one of the best woodsmen and Indian hunters of his day. The annexed anecdotes we derive from the American Pioneer : About the year 1790, the Indians one night came secretly upon the settlement at Clarksburg, and stole some horses. Next morning at daylight a party of about 25 men started in pursuit, and came upon the Indian trail, and judged from appearances there were only 8 or 10 of them. The captain and a majority, in a hasty council, were for pursuing the trail. Hughs opposed it, and advised them to let him pilot them by a near (26) 302 HENRICO COUNTY. Way to the Ohio, and intercept the Indians in tlieir retreat. But this they would not listen to. He then showed them the danger of following their trail ; and that in that case they would be waylaid, — that the Indians woidd choose a secure position, shoot two or three of them, and escape. The commander, jealous of Hughs' influence, broke up the council, by exclaiming : " All the vien may follow me — let the cowards go home !" and dashed ott" at full speed. Hughs felt the insult, but followed with the rest. The result i>rovcd as he had predicted. Two Indians in ambush on the top of a cliff, fired and mortally wounded two of the party in the ravine, and escaped. Now convinced of their error, they put themselves under Hiiglis ; but on arriving at the Ohio, they saw that the savages had crossed it. Hughs then got some satisl'action of the captain for his insult to him. He told them lie wanted to find who the cowards were ; that if any would go with him, or even one, he would cross the river in the pursuit. They all refused. He then said he would go alone, and get a scalp, or leave his own with them. Alone he crossed the river, and the next morning came upon their camp. They were all ab- sent hunting except one Indian, who was left to guard the camp. He, unsuspecting danger, was fiddlmg on some dry bones, and singing, to pass the time, when Hughs crept up and shot him ; and, with the poor fellow's scalp, returned to his home some 70 miles distant, through the wilderness. At a time of great danger from the incursions of the Indians in Virginia, when the citizens of the neighborhood were in a fort at Clarksburg, Hughs one morning observed a lad very intently fixing his gun. " Jim," said he, " what are you doing that for ?" " I am going to shoot a turkey that I hear gobbling on the hillside," said Jim. " I hear no turkey," said Hughs. "Listen," says Jim; "there, didn't you hear it? listen again." " Well," says Hughs, after hearing it repeated, •' I'll go and kill it." " No you won't," says Jim, '■ it is iny turkey ; I heard it first." " Well," says Hughs, "but you know I am the best marksman ; and besides, I don't want the turkey, you may have it." The lad then agreed to let Hughs go and kill it for him. Hughs went out of the fort on the side that was farthest from the supposed turkey, and taking along the river, went up a ravine and came in on the rear ; and, as he expected, he espied an In- dian sitting on a chestnut stump, surrounded by sprouts, gobbling, and watching to see if any one would come from the fort to kill the turkey. 'Hughs crept up behind him, and shot him, before the Indian knew of his approach, tie took off the scalp and went into the fort, where Jim was waiting for his prize. " There, now," says Jim, " you have let the turkey go. I would have killed it if I had gone." " No," says Hughs, " I didn't let it go ;" and taking out the scalp, threw it down. " There, take your turkey, Jim, I don't want it." The lad was overcome, and nearly fainted, to think of the certain death he had escaped, purely by the keen perception and good manage- ment of Mr. Hughs. HENRICO. Henrico was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634. Its mean length is 27 miles ; mean breadth lOf miles. Excepting the lands on the James and Chickahominy, the soil is generally light and unproductive. The suri'ace is mode- rately undulating, terminating in abrupt precipices, both on the Chickahominy and James River bottoms. Over one million of bushels bituminous coal are annually mined in the western section of the county. A rail-road connects the mines Avith James River. Population, including Richmond, whites 10,900, slaves 13,237, free colored 2,939 ; total, 33,076. As early as 1611, Sir Thomas Dale established a town on the Jamc'^ River, which, in honor of Prince Henry, he called Henrico. From this originated the name of the county. It contained three streets of framed houses, with a good church, be- sides storehouses, watchhouses, &c., and was defended by a palisade and several forts. " Upon the verge of the river bank," says Btith, in his History of Virginia, published about a century since, " stood five houses inhabited by the, better sort of people, who kept continual sentinel for the town's security. " About two miles from the town, into the main, he ran another palisade, from rive' HENRICO COUNTY. 303 to river, near two miles in length, guarded with several forts, with a large quantity of corn ground impaled, and sufficiently secured. Besides these precautions, there may still be seen, upon the river bank, within the island, the ruins of a great ditch, now over- grown with large and stately trees; which, it may be supposed, was defended with a palisade, to prevent a surprise on that side, by crossing the river ; and for a still further security to the town, he intended, but never quite finished, a palisade on the south side of the river, as a range for the hogs ; and he called it Hope in Faith and Coxendale. It was about two miles and a half long, and was secured by five of tlieir sort of forts, called Cliarity fort, Elizabeth fort, fort Patience, and Mount Malady, with a guest-house for sick people, upon a high and dry situation, and in a wholesome air, m the place where Jefferson church now stands. On the same side of the river also, Mr. Whitaker, their preacher, chose to be seated ; and he impaled a fine parsonage, with a hundred acres of land, calling it Rock Hall." Richmond, the metropolis of Virginia, is situated on the north side of James River, at the Great /^«//s, distant 117 miles from Washington City, 342 from New York, 557 from Boston, 520 from Cincinnati, 1055 from New Orleans, 423 from Charleston, 351 from Wheeling, 116 from Lynchburg, 62 from Fredericksburg, 106 from Noriblk, 146 from Winchester, and 23 from Petersburg. Although Richmond is comparatively a modern town, yet its site is frequently alluded to in the early history of Virginia. The first mention of it is in 1G09, when Master West, in a scarcity of provisions, went up from Jamestown to the Falls of James River, as the place was then called, to procure food, but found nothing edible except acorns. In the same year West was sent with a colony of 120 men, to settle at the falls. Capt. John Smith, then president of the colony, visiting West's settlement found his people planted " in a place not only subject to the river's inundation, but round environed with many intolerable inconveniences." This was, perhaps, where Rockett's now is, just below Richmond. "To remedy these inconveniences. Smith, by means of a messenger, proposed to Powhatan to purchase from him the place of that name.* The settlers, however, dis- dainfully rejected Smith's plan, and became so mutinous upon the occasion that Smith landed among them and committed the ringleaders to confinement. At length, how- ever, overpowered by their numbers, he being only supported by five, was forced to retire to a vessel in the river. At this time the savages daily supplied Smith with provisions, in requital for which tlie disorderly English stole their corn, plundered their gardens, beat them, broke into their wigwams and made them prisoners, so that the poor Indians com- plained to Smith that those vvhom he had panted there as their protectors were worse than their enemies tlie Monocans. Smith embarked for Jamestown. No sooner had he sailed, than a handful of Indians assaulted West's people, and slew many of them. However, before Smith had proceeded a mile and a half down the river, his vessel ran aground, whereupon he summoned the malecontents to a parley, and with such a panic were they struck at the assault of a few savages, that they submitted themselves to the president's mercy. He arrested the ringleaders, and established the rest at Powhatan in the Indian palisade fort there, which was so well fortified with poles and bark of trees as to defy all the savages of Virginia. Tliey found, also, there, dry wigwams, and near 200 acres of land ready to be planted. And from the strength and beauty of the place, they called it ' Nonsuch.' Smith being now on the eve of his departure, West arrived, which renewed all the troubles, and the upshot was that they abandoned Nonsuch and returned to the Falls. Smith, finding all his efforts frustrated, embarked for Jamestown in his boat, for the vessel had sailed two days before." In 1644-5, the Assemblj' of Virginia ordered a fort to be erected at the Falls of James River, to be called " fforte Charles." In 1646 an act was passed, of which the follow- ing is an extract :-i- " And, whereas, there is no plantable land adjoyning to ffort Charles, and therefore no encouragement for any vndcrtiker to niaintaine the same, It is, therefore, thoiipht fin and inacted, That if any person or persons purchasing the right of Capt. Thomas Itarris shall or will seate or inhabitt on the south side of James River right opposite to the said tforte, soe it be done this or the ensuoins yeare. That hee or they so vndertHkeing as aforesaid shall have and enjoy the houseing belonging to the said ftbrt for the vse of timber, or by burning them for the nailes or otherwise, as also shall be exempted from the publique taxes for the term of three years, provided that the number exceed not tenn, as also shall have and enjoy the boats and ammunition belonging to the said tibrt.'' * The town where this monarch resided was called after him, Powhatan. It consisted of about a dozen houses, anil stood about two miles below the site of Richmond. 304 HENRICO COUNTY. In March, 1675-G, war was declared ag^ainst the Indians. Five hundred men wer« ordered to proceed to the frontier, and eight forts garrisoned. " Fifty-five men out of James City county to be garrisoned neare the fFalls of James River, at Captain Byrd's, or at one ffort or place of defence over against him at Newletts, [or Hovvletts,] of which fForte Coll. Edward Ramsay be captaine or cheife commander." In 1676, a party of Indians, evacuating a fort on the Potomac where they had been besieged by the colonists, " took their route over the head of that river, and thence over the heads of Rappahannock and York Rivers, killing whom tliey found of the upmost plantatipns, until they came to the head of James River, where (with Bacon and others) they slew Mr. Bacon's overseer, whom he much loved, and one of his servants, whose blood he vowed to avenge, if possible "* " Bacon's Quarter Branch and Bloody Run, near Richmond, still call to mind Bacon and his rebellion. The term Bacon's Quarter, indicates that his plantation lay there. Bloody Run, according to tradition, is so called from a bloody battle Bacon fought there with the Indians. We have not been able to find any thing in the history of those times to confirm this tradition, and it would seem more probable that Bloody Run de- rived its name from the battle in which Hill was defeated, and Totopotomoi sluin. The stream is a small one, and is said during the battle to have run blood. "t In 1679, certain privileges vi'ere granted Capt. Wm. Byrd,upon the condition that he should settle fifty able-bodied and well-armed men in the vicinity of the falls, to act as a protection to the frontier against the Indians. In the Westover niss. Col. Byrd mentions his plantations at the falls, as follows : " September 18th, (1732,) for the pleasure of the good company of Mrs. Byrd and her little governor, my son, I went about half-way to the falls in my chariot. There we halted not far from a purling stream, and upon the stump of a propagate oak picked the bones of a piece of roast beef. By the spirit which it gave tme, I was the better able to part with the dear companions of my travels, and to perform the rest of my journey on horseback by myself. I reached Shacco's before two o'clock, and crossed the river to the mills. I had the grief to find them both stand as still for the want of water, as a dead woman's tongue for want of breath. It had rained so little for many weeks above the falls, that the Naiads had hardly water enough left to wash their faces. How- ever, as we ought all to turn our misfortunes to the best advantage, I directed Mr. Booker, my first minister there, to make use of the lowness of the water for blowing up the rocks at the mouth of the canal. * * * The water now flowed out of the river 60 slowly, that the miller was obliged to pond it up in the canal, by setting open the flood-gates at the mouth, and shutting those close at the mill. By this contrivance, he was able at any time to grind two or three bushels, either for his choice customers or for the use of my plantations. Then I walked to the place where they bioke the flax, which is wrought with much greater ease than the hemp, and is much better for spin- ning. From thence I paid a visit to the weaver, who needed a little of Minerva's in- spiration to make the most of a piece of cloth. Then I looked in upon my Caledonian spinster, who was mended ^7iore in her looks, than in her humor. * * On the next day, after I had swallowed a few poached eggs, we rode down to the mouth of the canal, and from thence crossed over to the broad-rock island in a canoe. Our errand was to view some iron ore, which we dug up in two places. That on the surface seemed very spongy and poor, which gave us no great encouragement to search deeper, nor did the quantity appear to be very great. However, for my greater satisfaction, I ordered a hand to dig there for some time this winter. We walked from one end of the island to the other, being about half a mile in length, and found the soil very good, and too high for any flood less than Deucalion's to do the least damage. There is a very wild pros- pect both upwards and downwards, the river being full of rocks, over which the stream tumbled with a murmur loud enough to drown the notes of a scolding wife. This island would make an agreeable hermitage for any good Christian, who had a mind to retire from the world." Richmond was established a town by law in the reign of George II., May, 1742, on land belonging to Col. William Byrd, who died in 17-14. The locality was anciently called Byrd's Warehouse. That gentleman, at the time, had a warehouse near where the Exchange Hotel now is. The seat of a Col. Byrd is thus described in Burnaby's Travels in North America in 1759-60. He " has a small place called Belvidere, upon a hill at the lower end of these falls, (James River,) as romantic and elegant as any thing I have ever seen. It is situated very high, and commands a fine prospect of the * T- M.'s account of Bacon's Rebellion. t From niss, of Charles Campbell, Esq. ■5 ^ ^b t^ f^ HENRICO COUNTY. 305 river, which is half a mile broad, forming cataracts in the manner above described. There are several little islands scattered carelessly about, very rocky and covered with trees, and two or three villages in view at a small distance. Over all these you discover a prodigious extent of wilderness, and the river winding majestically along through the midst of it." In 1777, the assailable situation of Williamsburg to the aggressions of the enemy, occasioned the Assembly of the state to remove the troops, arms, and ammunition, toge- ther with the public records, to Richmond ; and, partially from the same cause, and the extension of the population westward, an act was passed. May, 1779, to remove the seat of government here. At this time, Richmond was an insignificant place, scarcely affording sufficient accommodations for the officers of government. The legislature bestowed upon it the name of a city ; but it was then only a city in embryo, with scarcely any thing of interest except the grandeur of its natural scenery. The analo- gy of the situation of the place to that of Richmond-on-the-Thames, in England, sug- gested the name the town bears. The public buildings were temporary. The old capi. tol, which was private property, stood on the site now occupied by the custom-house, and some of the adjacent buildings. It was a wooden structure, long since destroyed. Richmond was invaded by the traitor Arnold in 1781. The sub- joined account is from Tucker's Lite of Jefferson : On the 3d of January the fleet came to anchor at Jamestown, and on the 4th it reached Westover, where about 900 men, but then supposed to be a much larger force, landed under the command of the notorious Arnold, and proceeded on their march to- wards Richmond. Until then, it was not known whether that town or Petersburg was the object of attack. The governorj [Jefferson,] on the same day, called out the lohole of the militia from the adjacent counties ; but having no means of present resistance, he endeavored to secure that part of the public property which could be removed, by having it transported to the south bank of James River. Such of it as had been pre- viously sent to Westham, six miles above Richmond, was also ordered to cross the river. That night the enemy encamped at Four-mile creek, 12 miles below Richmond. At half after seven o'clock at night, the governor set out for Westham, and, having stopped to hasten the transportation of the arms and stores, he proceeded to join his family at Tuckahoe, eight miles further, which place he reached after midnight. The next morning, having taken his family across the river, and sent them to a place of safety, he rode down to Britton's, opposite to Westham, and gave further orders con- cerning the public property, the transportation of whicli had been continued through the whole night, and part of the next day, until the approach of the enemy. He then pro- ceeded to Manchester, from whence he had a full view of the invading force. They had reached Richmond at 1 o'clock in the afternoon of that day, at which time there M'ere only 200 militia, including those of the' town, embodied. The governor wishing to advise with Baron Steuben, then commanding the new levies in the state intended for the south, and which then amounted to 200 recruits, went to Chetwood's, his head-quarters, a few miles from Manchester, but learning he was at Col. Fleming's, the governor proceeded to that place, where he continued that night. While there, some of the citizens of Richmond waited on him, to tender an offer from Arnold not to burn the town, provided British vessels were permitted to come to it un- molested, and take oft' the tobacco there deposited. The offer was unhesitatingly re- jected. As soon as Arnold reached Richmond, he sent a detachment under Col. Sim- coe to destroy the cannon foundry above the town — wliich having done, tliey advanced to Westham ; but finding that all the public property sent thither had been transported over the river, they returned to Richmond the same day. On the 6th, the governor re- turned to Britton's, and having given orders respecting the public archives, rejoined his family in the evening at Fine creek. Tlie British, after burning some public and some pri- vate buildings, as well as a large quantity of tobacco, left Richmond about 24 hours after they entered it, encamped at Four-mile creek, and on the 7th, at Berkley and Westover ; having thus penetrated 33 miles into the country from the place of debarkation, and completed their incursion, without loss, in 4S hours from the time of their landing. On the 7th, the governor went to Manchester, where he remained that night, and the next day returned to Richmond. The bare communication of the fact, that a force of 1,000, or at most 1,500 men, was able to invade a country containing at that time a population of more than half a million, and 50,000 enrolled militia — march to its metropolis — destroy all the public and much of the private property found there, and in its neighborhood — and to leave the 39 306 HENRICO COUNTY. country with impunity, is, at first, calculated to excite our surprise, and to involve both the people, and those who administered its affairs, in one indiscriminate reproach. But there seems to be little ground for either wonder or censure, when it is recollected that these 50,000 militia were scattered over a surface of more than as many square miles ; that the metropolis, which was thus insultcdj was but a village, containing scarcely 1,800 inhabitants, half of whom were slaves ; and that the country itself, intersected by several navigable rivers, could not be defended against the sudden incursions of an enemy whose naval power gave it the entire command of the water, and enabled it to approach within a day's inarch of the point of attack. Skirmish at Richmond, Jan. 5th, 1781. A. Rebel Infantry. — B. Rebel Cavalry. — C. Queen's Rangers. — D. Queen's Rangers' Cavalry. — E. Yagers. — F. British Army. — W. Warehouses. We here give a narration of the invasion of Richmond, from Simcoe's Journal. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe was the celebrated com- mander of a partisan corps called the Queen's Rangers. Late in life he was lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. Although a gentlemanly man, he was noted for his prejudices against the United States. The engraving given is mainly important as de- lineating Richmond as it then was : On the arrival at Wcstover, the troops were immediately disembarked : at first, from the reports of the country of tiie force that was assembling to defend Richmond, Gen. Arnold hesitated whether he should proceed thither or not, his positive injunctions being not to undertake any enterprise that had much risk in it ; but Lieut. -Cols. Dundas and Simcoe, concurring that one day's march might be made witli perfect security, and that by this means more perfect information might be obtained, the troops were immediately put in motion, and proceeded towards Richmond, where the enemy was understood to have very considerable magazines. It was above 30 miles from Westover ; several trans, ports had not arrived, and Gen. Arnold's force did not amount to 800 men. On the second day's march, while a bridge was replacing over a creek, the advanced guard only having passed over, some of the enemy's militia, who had destroyed it the evening before, and were to assemble with others to defend it, were deceived by the dress of the Rangers, and came to Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, who immediately reprimanded them for not coming sooner, held conversation with them, and then sent them prisoners to Gen. Ar- nold. Within seven miles of Richmond, a patrol of the enemy appeared, who, on being discovered, fled at full speed : the Queen's Rangers, whose horses were in a miserable condition from the voyage, could not pursue them. .Soon after, Lieut.-Col. Simcoe halted, having received the clearest information that a road, made passable by wood HENRICO COUNTY. 307 carts, led through the thickets to the rear of the heights on which the town of Rich- mond was placed, wiiere they terminated in a plain, although they were ahnost inacces- sible by the common road. On giving this information to Gen. Arnold, he said it was not worth wliile to quit the road, as the enemy would not fight. On approaching the town, Gen. Acnold ordered the troops to march as open, and to make as great an appearance, as possible ; and the ground was so favorable, that a more skilful enemy than those who were now reconnoitring, would have imagined the numbers to have been double. The enemy at Richmond appeared drawn up on the heights to the number of two or three hundred men : the road passed through a wood at the bottom of these heights, and then ran between them and the river into the lower town. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe was ordered to dislodge them : he mounted the hill in small bodies, stretching away to the right, so as to threaten the enemy with a design to outflank them ; and as they filed oft", in ap- pearance to secure their flank, he directly ascended with his cavalry, where it was so steep that they were obliged to dismount and lead their horses. Luckily, the enemy made no resistance, nor did they fire ; but on the cavalry's arrival on the summit, re- treated to the woods in great confusion. There was a* party of horsemen in the lower town, watching the motion of Lieut. -Gol. Dundas, who, the heights being gained, was now entering it. Licut.-Col. Simcoe pushed on with the cavalry, unnoticed by the enemy in the lower town, till such time as he began to descend almost iu their rear, when an impassable creek stopped him, and gave the enemy time to escape to the top of another hill beyond the town. Having crossed over lower down, he ascended the hill, using such conversation and words towards them as might prevent their incliuation to retreat. However, when the Rangers were arrived within twenty yards of the summit, the enemy, greatly superior in numbers, but made up of militia, spectators, some with and soihe without arms, galloped otF; they were immediately pursued, but without the least regularity : Capt. Shank and Lieut. Spencer, who had met with good hor.^cs in the country, far distanced the rest of the cavalry. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe left an officer to mark the position he meant his infantry to take on their arrival, and collecting all the men he could overtake, followed Capt. Shank, anxious lest his ardor should prove fatal : he had pursued the enemy four or five miles, six or seven of whom he had taken, with several horses — a very well-timed capture. On Lieut.-Col. Simcoe's return, he met with orders from Gen. Arnold to march to the foundry at Westham, six miles from Richmond, and to destroy it ; the flank companies of the 80th, under Major Gordon, were sent as a reinforcement. With these, and his corps, he proceeded to the foundry : the trun- nions of many pieces of iron cannon were struck off"; a quantity of small arms, and a great variety of military stores, were destroyed. Upon consultation with the artillery- oSicer, it was thought better to destroy the magazine than to blow it up. This fatiguing business was effected, by carrying the powder down the cliff's, and pouring it in the water ; the warehouses and mills were then set on fire, and many explosions happened in different parts of the buildings, which miglrt; ha^^ been hazardous, had it beeu relied on that all the powder was regularly deposited in one magazine ; and the foundry, which was a very complete one, was totally destroyed. It was night before the troops returned to Richmond ; the provisions which had been made for them were now to be cooked : fatigued with the march, the men in general went to sleep ; some of them got into pri- vate houses, and there obtained rum. Morse, the geographer, thus describes Richmond in 1789, ten years after it was made the capital : It " contains about 300 houses. The new houses are well built. A large and elegant State-house, or capitol, has lately been erected on the hill. The lower part of the town is divided by a creek, over which there is a bridge which, for Virginia, is elegant. A handsome and expensive bridge, between 300 and 400 yards in length, has lately been thrown across James River at the foot of the falls, by Col. John Mayo, a respectable and wealthy planter, whose seat is about a mile from Richmond. This bridge connects Richmond with Manchester ; and as the passengers pay toll, it produces a handsome revenue to Col. Mayo, who is the sole proprietor. The falls above the bridge arc seven miles in length. A canal is cutting on the north side of the river, which is to terminate in a basin of about two acres, in the town of Richmond. The opening of this canal promises the addition of much wealth to Richmond." In the year 1794, the canal was so far completed that the difficulty of passing the rapids was removed. At this period, the principal merchants of Richmond, and, indeed, of all the large towns in Eastern Virginia, were Scotch and Scotch Irish. The inhabitants of this town have been described by Paulding as being then generally " a race of most ancient and respectable 308 HENRICO COUNTY. planters, having estates in the country, who chose it for their residence for the sake of social enjoyment. They formed a society now seldom to be met with in any of our cities. A society of people not exclusively monopolized by money-making- pursuits, but of liberal education, liberal habits of thinking and acting ; and possessing both leisure and inclination to cultivate those feelings, and pursue those objects which exalt our nature, rather than increase our fortune." Richmond has increased steadily in population and wealth since it became the metropolis of the state. The population, in 1800, was 5,737; in 1810, 9,785; in 1820, 12,067; in 1830, 16,000; in 1840, 20,153. "Its situation is beautiful, and even romantic. Shockoe and Richmond Hills stand opposite to each other, with Shockoe creek, a bold and lively stream, between them. The city is spread over those hills ; and along the margin of the river the hills have been thrown into various undulations, and present a great many points from which different views may be taken, highly beautiful. " The picturesque falls and rapids of the river, which extend more than six miles ; the islands ; the town of Manchester, connected by two bridges with Richmond ; the rich plantations adjoining the town ; the river, winding and stretching below to a great extent ; the waving hills on its north side, and the valley through which Shockoe creek passes, are the principal objects on which the eye fixes ; and from every eminence they are seen in some new form, and under some new coloring of light and shade ; the whole presenting the three great requisites of landscape, viz., grandeur, beauty, and variety. Besides, Richmond is one of the healthiest cities in the United States. The annual amount of deaths, on an average, is one in eighty-five." With some trifling exceptions, the streets of Richmond intersect each other at right angles. The city plot has been greatly extended within a few years, and it now has an outline of 7^ miles in length, and an area of 3^ square miles, the larger portion of which is unoccupied by buildings. James River, immediately in front of the principal improve, rnents, is interrupted by a ledge of rocks, which occasions a considerable fall in the stream. Some of these rocks rise into beautiful little islands. The navigable commu- nication around the falls, by means of a canal and locks, opened many years since, now forms the outlet of James River Canal, with which it is connected by a capacious basin, situated near the centre of business in the city. In the western division of the city, on Shockoe Hill, stands the capitol, on a com- manding situation, in the centre of a beautiful square of about eight acres. It is a spacious and showy building. The statue of Washington, in the area of the capitol, was the work of Iloudon, a French sculptor. It was made by the order of the Virginia Assembly, at Paris, under the direction of Jefferson, a ievr years after the close of the American revolution. The costume of this statue is the military dress of the revolu- tion. One hand holds a cane, tiie other rests upon the fasces, with which are united the sword and ploughshare, and over it a martial cloak. The inscription, by James Madison, on the pedestal, is as follows : George W-vshington. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this statue to be erected, as a monument of affection and gratitude to George Washington; who, uniting to the endowments of the hern the virtues of the patriot, and exerting both in establishing the liberties of his country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow- citizens, and given the world an immortal example of true glory. Done in the year of Christ, one thou- sand seven hundred and eighty-eight, and in the year of the commonwealth the twelfth. Near the statue of Washington is a marble bust of Lafayette. In one angle of capi- tol square stands the city-hall, decorated at each end by a fine Doric portico of four columns. Near the eastern part of capitol square is a house erected for the residence of HENBICO COUNTY. • 309 the governor of the state. In another part of Richmond is seen the county court- house. In the western suburbs of the city is the state penitentiary, a large building in the form of a hollow square, 300 feet long and 110 feet broad, with several acres of ground connected with it. In the suburbs of the city, on the n., is the almshouse, a spacious building, surrounded by extensive grounds. Among the other public buildings are a county and city jail, an orphan asylum, a theatre, a museum, two markets, an armory 32U by 280 feel, an academy, and a masonic hall. The city is supplied by water, which is elevated, by water-power and two forcing-pumps, into three large reser- voirs, containing 1,000,000 gallons each, from which it is distributed over the city, and forms a great resource in case of fire, as well as a supply for the inhabitants. The cost of these works was about .$120,000. There arethree banks in the city. Richmond is well situated for commerce. Vessels drawing 10 feet of water come to Rocket's, about a mile below the centre of the city ; and those drawing 15 feet, to War. wick, 3 miles below the city. The falls in James River are obviated by the canal, and above them it is navigable to Lynchburg. Regular lines of packets connect this city with New York and other places, and it is connected by steamboats to Norfolk. The principal articles of exportation are wheat, flour, and tobacco. The exports amount to about $3,000,000 annually. The tonnage of this port in 1840, was 6,911. The manufactures of Richmond are also extensive. The falls of the James River afford a water-power of unlimited extent. There were in 1840, 17 foreign commercial and 29 commission-houses, cap. $3,062,000; 256 retail stores, cap. $1,646,450; 3 lumber-yards, cap. $24,000 ; 4 furnaces, and 8 forges, &.C., cap. $317,900 ; machinery produced amounted to $128,000; 1 cotton factory, 5,810 sp., cap. $175,000; tobacco manufactories, cap. $492,250; 1 paper factory, cap. $75,000 ; 3 flouring-mills, 2 grist- mills, 3 saw-mills, total cap. $61,000; 8 printing-offices, 1 bindery, 2 daily, 6 weekly, and 2 semi-weekly newspapers, and 1 periodical, cap. $48,700. Total cap. in manu- factories, $1,372,950. Richmond contains 23 churches — 4 Protestant Episcopal, 4 Baptist, 4 Methodist, 3 Presbyterian, (one of them a Bethel,) 1 Catholic, 1 German Lutheran, 1 Disciples, or Campbellite, 1 Universalist, 1 Friends, or Quakers, 1 African, 2 Jewish Synagogues. The Monumental (Episcopal) Church is a handsome octagonal edifice, erected upon the spot once occupied by the Richmond Theatre, which was burnt in 1811. The remains of the unfortunate victims in that sad catastrophe, are deposited in a marble urn which stands in the front portico of the church, and from which it derives its name. The Right Rev. Bishop Moore preached here during his whole residence in Richmond. The Monumental congregation are now building a new structure, to which they in- tend removing, to be called St. Paul's Church. Its model is St. Luke's, in Philadelphia, of the Corinthian order, much elaborated. The spire is to be 208 feet high. The subjoined account of the burning of the Richmond Theatre, was published in the Richmond Standard the following day. Last night the play-house in this city was crowded with an unusual audience. There could not have been less than 600 persons in the house. Just before the conclusion of the play, the scenery caught fire, and in a few minutes the whole building was wrapped in flames. It is already ascertained that sixty-one persons were devoured by that most terrific element. The editor of this paper was in the house when the ever-to-be-remem- bered deplorable accident occurred. He is informed that the scenery took fire in the back part of the house, by the raising of a chandelier ; that the boy who was ordered by some of the players to raise it, stated that if he did so, the scenery would take fire, when he was commanded in a peremptory manner to hoist it. The boy obeyed, and the fire instantly communicated to the scenery. He gave the alarm in the rear of the stage, and requested some of the attendants to cut the corcJs by which the combustible materials were suspended. The person whose duty it was to perform this became panic- struck, and sought his ow^n safety. This unfortunately happened at a time when one of the performers was playing near the orchestra, and the greatest part of the stage, with its horrid danger, was obscured from the audience by a curtain. The flames spread with almost the rapidity of lightning ; and the fire falling from the ceiling upon the performer, was the first notice the audience had of their danger. Even then, many supposed it a part of the play, and were a little time restrained from flight by a cry from the stage that there was no danger. The performers and their attendants. in vain endeavored to tear down the scenery ; the fire flashed in every part of the house with a rapidity horrible and astonishing ; and, alas ! gushing tears and unspeakable anguish deprived me of utterance. No person who was not present can form any idea 310 HENRICO COUNTY. of this unexampled scene of distress. The editor, having none of his family with him and not being far from the door, was among the first who escaped. Burning of the Richmond Theatre. [The above engraving of the burning of the theatre at Richmond, on the night of December 26th, 1811, is a reduced copy from one published at Philadelphia, by B. S. Tanner, in the February following.] No words can express his horror when, on turning round, he discovered the whole building to be in flames. There was but one door for the greatest part of the audience to pass. Men, women, and children were pressing upon each other, while the flames were seizing upon those behind. The editor went to the different windows, which wero very high, and implored his fellow-creatures to save their lives by jumping out of them. Those nearest the windows, ignorant of their danger, were afraid to leap down, while those behind them were seen catching on fire, and writhing in the greatest agonies of pain and distress. At length those behind, urged by the pressing flames, pushed those who were nearest to the window, and people of every description began to fail one upon another, some with their clothes on fire, some half roasted. Oh, wretched me ! Oh, aflSicted people ! Would to God I could have died a thousand deaths in any shape, could individual suffering have purchased the safety of my friends, my benefactors, of those whom I loved ! . . . The editor, with the assistance of others, caught several of those whom he had begged to leap from the windows. One lady jumped out when all her clothes were on fire. He tore them burning from her, stripped her of her last rags, and, protecting her nakedness with his coat, carried her from the fire. Fathers and mothers were deploring the loss of their children, children the loss of their parents ; husbands were heard to lament tlieir lost companions, wives were bemoaning their burnt husbands. The people were seen wringing their liands, beating their heads and breasts ; and those that had secured themselves, seemed to suffer greater torments than those enveloped in the flames. Oh ! distracting memory I Who that saw this can tliink of it again, and yet retain his senses ! Do I dream ? No, no ! Oh, that it were but a dream. My God .' who that saw his friends and nearest connections devoured by fire, and laying in heaps at the door, will not regret that he ever lived to see such a sight ? Could savages have seen this memorable event it would even soften their hearts. 4 sad gloom pervades this place, and every countenance is cast down to the earth HENRICO COUNTY. 311 The loss of a hundred thousand friends on the field of battle could not touch the heart hke this. Enough. Imagine what cannot be described. The most distant and impla- cable enemy, and the most savage barbarians, will mourn our unhappy lot. All of those in the pit escaped, and had cleared themselves from the house, before those in the boxes could get down ; and the door was for some time empty. Those from above were pushing each other down the steps, wiien the hindermost might have got out by leaping into the pit. A gentleman and lady, who otherwise would have perished, had their lives saved by being providentially thrown from the second boxes. There would not have been the least difficulty in descending from the first boxes into the pit. St. John's Church. In addition to the list now given, it is believed that at least sixty others perisheJ, whose names are not yet ascertained : George W. Smith, governor, A. B. Venable, president of the bank, Benjamin Botts, wife, and niece, Mrs. Tayloe Braxton, Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Gallego, Mix's Conyers, Lieut. J. Gibbon, in attempting to save Miss Conyers; Mrs. E. Page, Miss Louisa Mayo, Mrs. William Cook, Miss Elvina Coiut^, Mrs. John Les- ley, Miss M. Nelson, Miss Nelson, Miss Page, Wm. Brown, Miss Julia Hervey, Miss Whitlock, George Dixon, A. Marshall (of Wythe) broke his neck in attempting to jump from a window, Miss Ann Craig, Miss Stevenson, (of Spottsylvania,) Mrs. Gihson, Miss Maria Hunter, Mrs. Mary Davis, Miss Gerard, Thomas Lecroix, Jane Wade, Mrs. Picket, Mrs. Heron, Mrs. Laforest and niece, Jo. Jacobs, Miss Jacobs, Miss. A. Bausman, Miss M. Marks, Edward Wanton, jr., two Misses Trouins, Mrs. Gerer, Mrs. Elicott, Miss Patsey Griffin, Mrs. Moss and daughter, Miss Littlepage, Miss Rebecca Cook, Mrs. Girardln and two children. Miss Margaret Copeland, Miss Gwatlnney, Miss Clay, daughter of M. Clay, member of Congress, Miss Gatewood, Mrs. Thomas Wilson, Wm. Southgate, Mrs. Robert Greenhow, Mrs. Convert and child, Miss Green, Miss C. Raphael. At a meeting of the commissioners appointed by the Common Hall to superintend the interment of the remains of their friends and fellow-citizens, who unfortunately lost their lives in the conllagration of the theatre, the following resolutions were adopted : 1st. That the citizens of Richmond and Manchester, and the citizens at present residing in either of those places, be requested to assemble to-morrow, the 28th inst., at 10 o'clock, P. M., at the Baptist meet- ing-house, for the purpose of attending the funeral. 2d. That the following be the order of procession : — corpses, clergy, mourners and ladies, executive council, directors of the bank, judiciary, members of the legislature, Court of Hastings, Common Hall, citizens on foot, citizens on horseback. Wm. Hay, Jr., John Adams, J. G. Gamble, Gab. Ralston, St. John's Church, on Richmond Hill, is the oldest colonial place of worship in the town. It is preserved with religious care, and has been somewhat modernized by the addition of a tower. This church stands in the centre of a grave-yard, embosomed by trees, where all around in crowded hillocks are the mansions of the dead. 312 HENRICO COUNTY. It was here, in the Virginia convention of '75, that Patrick Henry thundered against the common oppressor of America, and uttered that immortal sentence, " Give me lib.' erty, or give me death .'" The celebrated Virginia convention of '88, that met to ratify the federal constitution, assembled within its walls. The transcendent talents engaged in its discussion, " tempted industry to give up its pursuits, and even dissipation its objects," for the high intellec- tual feast here presented. Among the crowd from far and near, who filled the hall, " no bustle, no sound was heard, save only a slight movement when some new speaker arose, whom they were all eager to see as well as to hear ; or when some master-stroke of elo- quence shot thrilling along their nerves, and extorted an involuntary and inarticulate murmur. Day after day was this banquet of the mind and the heart spread before them, with a delicacy and variety which could never cloy." Among its illustrious membera were Madison, Marshall, and Monroe; and " there were those sages of other days, Pen- dleton and Wythe ; there was seen the Spartan vigor and compactness of George Nicho- las ; and there shone the radiant genius and sensibility of Grayson ; the Roman energy and the Attic wit of George Mason was there ; and there also the classic taste and harmony of Edmund Randolph ; ' the splendid conflagration' of the high-minded Innis ; and the matchless eloquence of the immortal Henry !" The medical department of Hampden Sidney College was established in the year 1838, and has succeeded beyond the expectations of its most sanguine friends. The ne- cessity of an institution where the young men of Virginia might prosecute the study of medicine without incurring the expense of a winter's residence in a northern city, had long been keenly felt, and tiie jirojet was carried into effect by a few enterprising mem- bers of the faculty resident in Richmond. Unassisted by legislative appropriation, this college struggled nobly through an infancy of six years, and " now presents to the stu- dent of the healing-art advantages not to be surpassed by any other establishment in the Union." The hospitals of the penitentiary and almshouse are under the supervision of the professors ; and the most abundant opportunities for clinical study are thus afforded. Attached to the college building is an extensive infirmary.^ The college building recently erected, is a fine specimen of the Egyptian style of architecture, admirably arranged for the purposes of lecture and dissection. The following is the faculty : — Augustus L. Warner, M. D., Dean of the faculty, John Cullen, M. D., Jeffi-ies Wyman, M. D., S. Maupin, M. D., L. W. Chamberlayne, M. D., R. L. Bohannan, M. D. St. Vincent's College, under the control of the Catholic clergy, is pleasantly situated about a mile east of the city. The Rev. Bishop Whelan is president. There is a very respectable number of students, who attend mass every morning at the chapel in Rich- mond. Richmond College, a Baptist institution, was incorporated by act of legislature in the year 1832. The Rev. Robert Ryland is president of the institution. It contains five or six professors, and about one hundred students. The buildings are delightfully situated, about a mile west of the city, on the Fredericksburg rail-road. The Richmond Academy, Wm. Burk principal, is a school for the preparation of youth for college in the higher branches of classical and mathematical education. There are five teachers, and some ninety or one hundred pupils. The pupils are allowed the privilege of being enrolled in a corps of cadets, at their option, in which the exercises of drill and military tactics are taught by a competent professor. The Orphan Asylum is an institution under the direction of the " Ladies' Humane Association," for tlie education and support of female orphans. A large number of this unfortunate class are maintained there annually. A commodious and elegant building has been recently erected, out of a munificent bequest of the late Edmund Walls, Esq. There is also, in Richmond, a Lancasterian free school for the use of the poor. The following are slips cut from newspapers. The first was published a few years since, under the signature of C. C, and is a graphic sketch of the Virginia convention of 1829-80. The sec- ond is an inscription on a monainent at Turkey island, in this county. The last is from the Virginia Gazette of August — , 1770 : Convention of Virginia. — I attended the debates of this body a fortnight. The capi- tol, in which the convention sat, is a fine building, nobly situated — more so than any HENRICO COUNT V. 313 other I have seen in this country. Richmond is a picturesque place ; the James looks beautiful there in a spring morning ; the rocks and islands, and foaming rapids, and mur- muring falls, and floating mists, all light and glorious, under a clear blue sky. The convention boasted several men of distinction — Madison, Monroe, Giles, Marshall, Ran- dolph, Leigh, Tazewell, &c. Mr. Madison sat on the left of the speaker, Mr. Monroe on the right. Mr. Madison spoke once for half an hour ; but although a pin might have been heard to drop, so low was his tone, that from the gallery I could distinguish only one word, and that was, " Constitution." He stood not more than six feet from the speaker. When he rose, a great part of the members left their seats and clustered around the aged statesman, thick as a swarm of bees. Mr. Madison was a small man, of ample forehead, and some obliquity of vision, (I thought the effect probably of age,) his eyes appearing to be slightly introverted. His dress was plain ; his overcoat a faded brown surtout. Mr. Monroe was very wrinkled and weather-beaten — ungraceful in atti- tude and gesture, and his speeches only common-place. Mr. Giles wore a crutch — was then governor of the state. His style of delivery was perfectly conversational — no ges- ture, no effort ; but in ease, fluency, and tact, surely he had not there his equal ; his words were like honey pouring from an eastern rock. Judge Marshall, whenever he spoke, which was seldom, and only for a short time, attracted great attention. His ap- pearance was revolutionary and patriarchal. Tall, in a long surtout of blue, with a face of genius, and an eye of fire, his mind possessed the rare faculty of condensation; he distilled an argument down to its essence. There were two parties in the house ; the western or radical, and the eastern or conservative. Judge Marshall proposed something in the nature of a compromise. John Randolph was remarkably deliberate, distinct, and emphatic. He articulated excellently, and gave the happiest effect to all he said. His person was frail and uncommon — his face pale and withered — but his eye radiant as a diamond. He owed, perhaps, more to his manner than to his matter ; and his mind was rather poetical than logical. Yet in his own peculiar vein, he was superior to any of his cotemporaries. Benjamin Watkins Leigh cut a distinguished figure in the conven- tion, as the leader of the lowland party. His diction is clear, correct, elegant, and might be safely committed to print just as spoken. Yet high as he stands, he is not perhaps in the highest rank of speakers. He never lightens, never thunders; he can charm, he can convince, but he can hardly overwhelm. Mr. Tazewell I never saw up but once, for a moment, on a point of order ; a tall, fine-looking man. P. P. Barbour presided over the body with great dignity and ease. Of these seven extraordinary men, four have since died, to wit : Monroe, Giles, Randolph, and Marshall. Mr. Leigh is now a Uni- ted States senator, and Mr. Tazewell governor of Virginia., The foundation of this pillar was laid in the calamitous year 1771, when all the great rivers of this country were swept by inundations never before experienced ; which changed the face of nature, and left traces of their violence that will remain for ages. On Monday last, being court-day, the Declaration of Independence was publicly proclaimed in the town of Richmond, before a large concourse of respectable freehold- ers of Henrico county, and upwards of 200 militia, who assembled on that grand occa- sion. It was received with universal shouts of joy, and re-echoed by three volleys of small-arms. The same evening the town was illuminated, and the members of the committee held a club, where many patriotic toasts were drunk. Although there were near one thousand people present, the whole was conducted with the utmost decorum, and the satisfaction visible in every countenance, sufficiently evinces their determination to support it with their lives and fortunes. Now will America's sons her fame increase, In arms and science, with glory, honor, and peace. " Edmund Randolph was an eminent lawyer, and a warm friend of the revolution. After having filled several honorable stations in the state, he was, in 1779, elected to a seat in Congress, and held it until 1782. In 1787, he was a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution, but voted against its adoption. The next year he was chosen governor of Virginia, and in 1789, was appointed attorney-general of the United States ; and in 1794, secretary of state, which office he resigned the succeeding year. He died Sept. 12th, 1813." His personal and intellectual characteristics are described in the British Spy. 40 (27) 314 HENRY COUNTY. " The old Stone House," Main-street. "The old Stone House," is situated on the northern side of Main- street, a few rods below the market. It is the oldest dwelling standing in Richmond, and among the first ever built in the town. It is the residence and property of Mrs. Elizabeth Welsh, and has been in the same family for six generations. Mr. Jacob Ege, her great-grandfather, was a native of Ger- many, who settled npon this spot when there were few or no inhabitants on the site of the town, and previous to the erection of Byrd's warehouse. Mr. Ege had originally intended to have settled further up the country, but was so well pleased with the place, that he took up some land for a garden, and built this house. When President Monroe was a young man, attending school in Richmond, he boarded here. Mr. Samuel Ege, the father of Mrs. Welsh, resided in this house during the revolution. At that time it was one of the best houses in Richmond. It has been honored by the visits of Wash- ington, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Henry, and other distinguished personages. This part of the town was first settled, and it gradually extended to the capitol, which build- ing was commenced in 1780, and was several years in constructing. It was a ques- tion whether it should be on Richmond Hill, or where it now is. It was decided by a gentleman's giving all the land included in the capitol square. When the British, under Arnold, invaded Richmond in 1781, Mr. Ege was absent on dut}', as a commissary in the American army. The firbt his wife (Mrs. Welsh's mother) knew of their approach, was the seeing a body of their cavalry galloping down Richmond Hill, then much steeper than at present. She described it as the most beau- tiful sight she ever witnessed. One of their otficers quartered with her. The enemy broke open the stores, and emptied the liquors and provisions into the gutters. The spirits ran into the creek and gutters. The cows and hogs, having partaken of the liquid, were seen staggering about the streets. HENRY. Henry was formed in 1776, from Pittsylvania, and named in honor of Patrick Henry. It is in form approaching a square of about 18 miles on a side. Its extreme sw. angle is crossed by the two branches of Mary's River ; but the greater part of the area of the county is included in the valley of Smith's River, which en- ters the county near its nw. angle, and forms a junction with the ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY. 315 Dan near its se. angle. Tobacco, Indian corn, oats, and wheat, are the principal staples. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,243, slaves 2,852, free colored 240 ; total, 7,335. Martinsville, the county-seat, lies near the n. bank of Smith's River, about 70 miles sw. of Lynchburg, and 194 miles from Rich- mond. It is but a small village, situated on a beautiful eminence, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country, and well supplied with excellent springs. ISLE OF WIGHT. Isle of Wight was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634. Its name originally was Warros- quyoake shire, which it retained three years only, when its present one was given to it. The county is 37 miles long, with a mean width of 11 : it has many creeks and swamps upon its surface, and a great variety of soil, though it is generally thin and sandy. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,918, slaves 3,786, free colored 1,268 ; total, 9,972. Smithfield is in the northern part of the county, 65 miles south- easterly from Richmond, 15 above Hampton Roads, and 3 miles from James River. It lies on an elevated bank on the margin of Pagan creek, a bold and navigable stream, commanding a beauti- ful view of both land and water scenery — the country for 10 miles on the opposite bank of the James is in full view. This town was established in February, 1752, ten years after the founding of Richmond. Arthur Smith, Esq., the original owner of the land, had then laid it out into streets and lots, and being " an healthy place, and open to trade and navigation," it had begun to be built and settled upon. By the provisions of the act, Robert Burvvell, Arthur Smith, William Hodsden, James Baker, James Dunlop, James Arthur, and Joseph Bridger, gentlemen, were appointed trustees. Smithfield at present contains 10 or 12 stores, 1 Episco- palian, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 1000. The village is ornamented with shade-trees ; and the numerous porches to the dwellings impress the stranger favorably as to the social and neighborly habits of its people. Several ves- sels sail from Smithfield with the exports of the county. Among these is bacon, cured here, which has long been celebrated, and commands the preference in all markets. Mayfield is a small vil- lage in the western part of the county. Within an hour's ride from Smithfield, near the road to Suffolk, in the depths of the forest, stands an ancient church in ruins. It is alike an object of interest from its secluded situation, and its great antiquity. We have before us a communication from a highly respectable gentleman of this vicinity, which gives strong evidence that it was built in the reign of Charles I,, between the years 1630 316 JACKSON COUNTY. and 1G35. Tradition, too, states that it was the second church erected in Virginia. The brick, lime, and timber, were imported from England. The timber is English oak, and was framed be- Ancient Church, near Smithjield. fore shipment. The whole structure was built in the most sub- stantial manner ; and even now, the wood-work, where not exposed to rain, is perfectly sound, and the mortal' sufficiently hard to strike fire when in collision with steel. The structure, is of brick, has a lofty tower, and is in good preservation. Its walls are overrun with a delicate net- work of vines. In its day, it was a splendid edifice. One window, of about 25 feet in height, was composed of painted glass, representing scrip- tural subjects. It was probably abandoned about the period of the American revolution, when the Episcopal church, for a time, be- came nearly extinct in Virginia. Within the last twenty-five years it has been temporarily occupied by a sect called O'Kcliyites. There is a project, which may be carried into elfect, to repair it. If successful, generations yet unborn will meet within its time-hal- lowed walls, where, even now, more than two centuries have elapsed since their forefathers first raised the hymn of praise to the living God. JACKSON. Jackson was formed in 1831, from Mason, Kanawha, and Wood* Its length is 33, and its mean breadth 24 miles. The surface is JAMES CITY COUNTY. 317 hilly, and the soil well adapted to grazing. The bottom lands on Mill creek and its branches are of the first quality. From the interior of the county, the principal exports are cattle and pork ; along the Ohio, which bounds it on the west, the people export large quantities of staves, hoop-poles, and lumber of all kinds. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,803, slaves 87; total, 4,890. Kipley, the county-seat, lies 33G miles northwesterly from Rich- mond, and 12 from the Ohio River, on the Great Mill creek, at its confluence with Sycamore creek. Although but recently estab- lished, it is a thriving village, containing 2 mercantile stores, and about 30 dwellings. Ravens wood, 10 miles ne. of Ripley, on the Ohio, contains 1 church, 1 store, 1 steam saw-mill, and about 15 dwellinss. JAMES CITY. James City was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia was divided in 1034. It has York River on its northern, and the James on its southern boundary. Its length is 23 miles, mean breadth 8 miles. Pop., whites 1,325, slaves 1,947, free colored 507 ; total, 3,779. Ruiris at Jamestown. Jamestown, the first settlement in British America, was settled by Capt. John Smith and his companions, May 13th, 1607. The site is a point of land projecting into the James. The water is gaining on the shore, and the time may arrive when the waves will roll over it. Of this deeply interesting spot, little remains but a church-yard, and the tower of an ancient church — a venerable memento of antiquity, carrying back the mind of the traveller, as (27*) 318 JAMES CITY COUNTY. he hurries by in a passing steamer, to scenes long since vanished " down time's lengthening way." How appropriate and beautiful are the reflections of the British Spy at this spot : It is difficult [says he] to look at tliis venerable steeple, surrounded as it is with these awful proofs of the mortality of man, without exclaiming, in the pathetic solemnity of our Shakspeare, " The cloiid-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe Itself, Yea, all which it inherits, shall dissolve; And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a wreck behind.'' Whence, my dear S , arises the irrepressible reverence and tender affection with which I look at this broken steeple ? Is it that my soul, by a secret, subtle pro- cess, invests the mouldering ruin with her own powers ; imagines it a fellow-being ; a venerable old man, a Nestor, or an Ossian, who has witnessed and survived the ravages of successive generations, the companions of his youth, and of his maturity, and now mourns his own solitary and desolate condition, and hails their spirits in every passing cloud ? Whatever may be the cause, as I look at it, I feel my soul drawn forward as by the cords of gentlest sympathy, and involuntarily open my lips to offer consolation to the drooping pile. Where, my S ..'...., is the busy, bustling crowd which landed here two hundred years ago? Where is Smith, that pink of gallantry, that flower of chivalry? I fancy that I can see their first slow and cautious approach to the shore ; their keen and vigi- lant eyes piercing the forest in every direction, to detect the lurking Indian, with his tomahawk, bow and arrow. Good heavens ! what an enterprise ! how full of the most fearful perils ! and yet how entirely profitless to the daring men who personally undertook and achieved it ! Through what a series of the most spirit-chilling hardships had they to toil I — How often did they cast their eyes to England in vain ! and with what delusive hopes, day after day, did the little famished crew strain their sight to catch the white sail of comfort and relief ! But day after day the sun set, and darkness covered the earth ; but no sail of comfort or relief came. How often in the pangs of hunger, sick- ness, solitude, and disconsolation, did they think of London ; her shops, her markets groaning under the weight of plenty ; her streets swarming with gilded coaches, bustling hacks, with crowds of lords, dukes, and commons, with healthy, busy, contented faces of every description ; and, among them, none more healthy, or more contented, than those of their ungrateful and improvident directors ! But now — where are they all ? the little famished colony which landed here, and the many-colored crowd of London — where are they, my dear S ? Gone, where there is no distinction ; consigned to the common earth. Another generation succeeded them ; which, just as busy and as bustling as thai which fell before it, has sunk down into the same nothingness. Another, and yet another billow, has rolled on, each emulating its predecessor in height ; lowering for its moment, and curling its foaming honors to the clouds; then roaring, breaking, and perishing on the same shore. It is not known, precisely, when the church, the tower of which remains, was built. A church was erected very soon after its first settlement, which the Westover ms. says " cost no more than £50." The following extracts from Smith's History, M^ill throw some light upon the subject : And so we returned all well to lames towne, where this new supply being lodged with the rest, accidentally fired their quarters, and so the towne, which being but thatched with reeds, the fire was so fierce as it burnt their pallisado's, (though eight or ten yards distant,) with their armes, bedding, apparell, and much priuate prouision. Good Master Hunt, our preacher, lost all his liberary, and all he had but the cloathes on his backe : yet none neuer heard him repine at his losse. This happned in the winter, in that extreame frost, 1607. — Smith, book 3, {Richmond edition,) p. 168. The spring approaching, and the ship departing, Mr. Scrivener and Captaine Smith divided betwixt them the rebuilding lames towne ; the repairing our pallisadoes ; the cutting downe trees ; preparing our fields ; planting our come, and to rebuild our church, and to recover our store-house. All men thus busie at their severall labors, Master Nel son arrived with his lost Phoenix. — Book 3, p. 170. JAME3 CITY COUNTY. 319 The PhoBnix arrived, says Sparks, in his Life of Smith, in the spring of 1608. Smith says, under the chapter headed " The gouernment deuolued to Captaine Samuel Argall 1617 :" In March they set saile, 1617, [from England,] and in May he [Argall] arrived at lames towne, where hee was kindly entertained, by Captaine Yearley and his companie, in a martiall order, whose right-hand file was led by an Indian. In lames towne he found but fine or six houses, the church downe, the pallizado's broken, the bridge in pieces, the well of fresh water spoiled, the storehouse vsed for the church ; the market- place and streets, and all other spare places planted with tobacco ; the saluages as fre- quent in their houses as themselues, whereby they become expert in our armes, and had a great many in their custodie and possession ; the colony dispersing all about, planting tobacco. From the above, it is evident that previous to 1617, or 10 years after the first settlement of Jamestown, there were two churches destroyed. This tower now standing may have belonged to the second church, and survived its destruction. It could not have been part of the first, for that " cost no more than £50 ;" or it may have been the tower of a third. We can only surmise that the tower has been standing about. 230 years. It is unnecessary to detail further the early history of Jamestown, as it is delineated in the general history of Virginia in this volume. Two actions were fought in this vicinity in the revolution. The first was June 25th, 1781, and took place at Spencer's ordinary, in the forks of the roads leading to Jamestown and Williamsburg. The subjoined account is from Girardin : Lafayette, attentive to the movements of his adversary, no sooner observed his retreat from Richmond, than he himself moved onward ; displaying, however, the same salutary circumspection as before, and uniformly keeping his main body at the distance of about twenty miles from the foe. Cornvvallis reached Williamsburg on the 25th of June. During his halt in that place, hearing that the Americans had some boats and stores on Chickahominy River, he charged Lieut.-Col. Simcoe with the destruction of these. The latter, attended by his corps and a party of yagers, easily performed the task. Lafayette, after passing through Richmond and New Kent Court House in pur- suit of Cornwallis, had taken post on Tyre's |>lantation, about twenty miles from Wil- liamsburg. There he was informed, by his exploring parties, of Simcoe's expedition to the Chickahominy, and immediately detached Lieut.-Col. Butler, of the Pennsylvania line, with orders to strike the British partisan on his return. Butler was well known for his skill and courage. His achievements at Saratoga had placed him by the side of Morgan, and he had uniformly and gloriously maintained this high ground. The con- fidence of Lafayette could not be better placed. On the present occasion, where only a partial engagement was sought, the detachment confided to him consisted, besides his continentals, of the rifle-corps under the Majors (-all and Willis, and about one hun- dred and twenty horsemen. This last force was commanded by Major MTherson, of Pennsylvania. He mounted some infantry behind his dragoons, and, seeking Simcoe with unusual ardor and speed, overtook him near Spencer's plantation, six or seven miles above Williamsburg. A sharp conflict immediately ensued, in which the British yagers and the American cavalry were alternately repulsed. The arrival of the riflemen, headed by Call and Willis, gave to the action additional fierceness ; but the superiority of the hostile cavalry, compelled Butler's van to fall back upon the body of continentals stationed in the rear. Here the contest ended ; Simcoe resuming his retreat, and Butler not choosing to pursue him because he was informed that Cornwallis, upon hearing the first fire, had ordered his main body to the support of the returning detachment. The official accounts of the two generals widely differ as to the loss sustained by each party in this action. Lafayette states the enemy's loss at sixty killed and one hundred wounded. Cornwallis says that three officers and thirty privates only were killed and wounded. Among the killed, a Lieutenant Jones seems to have excited peculiar regret. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded has not been recorded ; but if we credit tha 320 JAMES CITY COUNTY. statement of the British commander, three of their officers, with twenty-eight privates, were taken prisoners. When Coniwallis first arrived in this vicinity, he prepared to cross over the James, at Jamestown, and march to Portsmouth. After halting nine days at Williamsburg, his lordship advanced, on the 4th of July, 1781, to Jamestown Island. The 5th and 6th were employed in transporting his baggage, &c., while the main army still continued in their encampment. Lafayette having received false information that only a covering party remained on this side of the river with Cornwallis, determined to make an attack, the success of which was deemed, infallible. The events are thus detailed by Girardin : The British commander received information of Lafayette's approach about noon on the 6th, aniL took every measure in his power to confirm the belief that his rear-guard only now remained. He drew up the major part of his army in compact order on the main land, deployed a few troops on the island so as to magnify their apparent numbers, drew in his light parties, and directed his piquets to suffer themselves to be insulted and driven in. By this coincidence of circurmstances calculated to delude, an error was per- petuated which exposed the American ^my in Virginia to the most imminent peril of utter anniliilation. About three in the afternoon, Lafayette's army began to move from Greenspring. This late hour was judiciously and happily fixed upon. If only a strong hostile party should be found at Jamestown, the rejnaining part of the day would suffice for its destruction ; if, on the contrary, the main body of Cornwallis's troops should be encoun- tered, the intervening shades of the approaching night would shield the Americans from ruin. In their advance to the enemy, not more than one mile and a half distant, Lafay- ette's troops had to pass over a causeway, extending from the house at Greenspring to the Williamsburg road, through a tract of low and sunken ground impracticable to either infantry or cavalry. The time consumed in the passage of this defile retarded the approach of the Americans to the British till near sunset. The rifle corps under Call and Willis, and a patrol of dragoons, formed the front of the assailants. These were fol- lowed by the cavalry of Armand and Mercer's troop, headed by Major M'Pherson. The continental infantry, under Wayne, supported the whole. Steuben was left at Greenspring with the militia, forming a reserve obviously too remote from the acting corps for any efficient purpose. When the advancing column reached the road, parties of riflemen were thrown on its flanks, while the cavalry continued to move in front. The action was soon commenced by a desultory fire of the enemy's yagers. M'Pherson and Mercer being then ordered to take the command of the rifle corps, rapidly led them on to the attack, and drove in the hostile piquets, with much confusion and some loss on the side of the British. This advantage was keenly pursued by the American rifle- men, who, taking post in a ditch covered by a rail fence, recommenced their fire with considerable effect. Two battalions of continental infantry, led on by Majors Galvan and Willis, supported by two pieces of artillery under the direction of Captain Savage, now joined the riflemen, and assisted them in successfully maintaining for some time a most arduous conflict against the enemy, who now advanced in a body headed by Lieut.-Col. Yorke on the right, and Lieut.-Col. Dundas on the left. The superiority of the foe, however, was too great to be long resisted . the riflemen first gave way, then the cavalry, and finally the light infantry. They all fell back upon Wayne, as did also Capt. Savage with his two field-pieces. The brave leader of the Pennsylvania line had drawn up his men in compact order, under cover of an adjacent wood. . He repeatedly directed them to charge the enemy with fixed bayonets, but local circumstances prevented the execu- tion of this order, and allowed only a close and murderous fire. Lafayette, who by this time had discovered his mistake, and became convinced that he had to contend with the main body of the British army, observing that Wayne was nearly outflanked on both sides, ordered him to retreat to the second line of continentals, drawn up about half a mile in his rear. The darkness of the night favored this retreat. It was, however, found necessary to abandon the two field -pieces ; after which the morass in front of Greenspring was recrossed, and the acting corps, together with the reserve, proceeded to a more remote and safer encampment. Whether from his apprehension of some am- buscade, or from what was with him a more powerful consideration than fear, a desire JAMES CITY COUNTr. 321 of quickly transmitting to Sir Henry Clinton the required assistance, Cornwailis attempted no pursuit, but in the course of the night crossed over into Jamestown Island, and soon afterwards proceeded to Portsmouth. In this atiair, one hundred and eighteen of the continental troops, among whom were ten officers, were killed, wounded, or taken. The British state their loss, both in killed and wounded, at five officers and seventy privates. Williamsbui'g, the seat of justice for the county, is 58 miles from Richmond, 12 from Yorktown, G8 from Norfolk, and 7 Irom Jamestown. It is finely situated, on a level plain, between the York and James, immediately on the division line between James City and York counties. It is laid out in parallel streets,^with a square in the centre of several acres, containing the county build- ings. Through it runs the principal street, which is very wide, and about a mile in length ; at one end of which is the college, and at the other the ruins of the old capitol. Williamsburg, in its most palmy days, contained only a population of about 2,000. It has at present 1 Episcopal, 1 Bap- tist, and 1 Methodist church, and about 1,600 inhabitants. The Eastern Lunatic Asylum is located here. It consists of a lofty and extensive pile of brick buildings, enclosed by a wall, in a pleasant area of several acres. The number of patients is gen- erally over one hundred ; and the institution is ably conducted, under the superintendence of Dr. John M. Gait. There is an air of repose about this village city, so interest- ing from its historic associations. It is the oldest incorpo- rated town in Virginia. This immediate vicinity was first known; as the Middle Plantations, and the town was first settled in 1632,', from the adjoining settlements, principally from Jamestown. In 1698, the seat of government was removed here from that place. From a work* published a short time after, we make the follow- ing extract, principally relative to this place : The first metropolis, Jamestown, was built in the most convenient place for trade, and security against the Indians ; but often recVived much damage, being twice burnt down, after which it never recovered its perfection — consisting at present of nothing but abundance of brick rubbish and three or four good inhabited houses, though the parisli is of pretty large extent, but less than others. When the state-house and prison were burnt down, Governor Nicholson removed the residence of the governor, with the meetings of the general courts and general assemblies, to Middle Plantation, seven miles from James- town, in a hefilthier and more convenient place, and freer from the annoyance of mos- chetoes. Here he laid out the city of Williamsburg — in the form of a cipher, made of W and M — on a ridge at tlie head springs of two great creeks, one running into James, and the other into York River, which are each navigable for sloops within a mile of the town ; at the head of which creek are good landings, and lots laid out, and dwelling-houses and warehouses built ; so that this town is most conveniently situated, in the middle of the lower part of Virginia, commanding two noble rivers, not above four miles from either, and is much more commodious and healthful than if built upon a river. Public buildings here of note are, the college, the capitol, the governor's house, and the church. • The college front, which looks due east, is double, and is 136 feet long. It is a lofty pile of hrick buildings, adorned with a cupola. At the north end runs back a large wing, which is a handsome hall, answerable to which the chapel is to be built ; and * " The Present State of Virginia, by Hugh Jones, A. M., chaplain to the honorable Assembly, and lately minister of Jamestown, &c., in Virginia." This work is a small 12mo. of about 150 pages. It is very scarce. The only copies we have seen are in the libraries of Gov. Tazewell, and Peter Force, Esq, of Washington city. 41 322 JAMES CITY COUNTY. ' there is a spacious piazza on the west side, from one wing to the other. It is approached by a good walk, and a grand entrance by steps, with good courts and gardens about it, with a good house and apartments for tlie Indian master and his scholars, and out- houses ; and a large pasture enclosed like a park, with about 150 acres adjoining, for occasional uses. The building is beautiful and commodious, being first modelled by Sir Christopher Wren, adapted to the nature of the country by the gentlemen there ;" and since it was burnt dowii it has been rebuilt, nicely contrived, altered, and adorned, by the ingenious direction of Governor Spotswood ; and is not altogether unlike Chelsea Hospital. This royal foundation was granted and established by charter, by King William and Queen Mary, and endowed by tiiem with some thousand acres of land, with duties upon furs and skins, and a penny a pound for all tobacco transported from Virginia and Maryla«d to the other plantations ; to which have been made several additional bene- factions : as that handsome establishment of Mr. Boyle, for the education of Indians, with the many contributions of the country, especially a late one of £1000 to buy negroes for the college use and service. The society is a corporation, established for a president, six masters, or professors, with a hundred scholars, more or less. The salary of the president, Mr. James Blair, has been lately ordered to be reduced from X150 to .£100 per annum. The salary of the fellows — one of which I have been for several years — is .£80 per annum each ; with 20s. entrance, and 20s. a year for pupilage, for each scholar. The payments arc sometimes made in current Spanish money, and sometimes in sterling bills. When the college shall be completely finished, and scholarships founded, then is the trust to be transferred from the trustees to the president and masters ; but at present it is managed by a certain number of governors or visitors — one of which is yearly chosen rector — appointed first by the trustees, elected out of the principal and worthiest inhabitants. These appoint a person to whom they grant several privileges and allow- ances, to board and lodge the masters and scholars at an extraordinary cheap rate. This office is at present performed in the neatest and most regular and plentiful manner by Mrs. Mary Stith, a gentlewoman of great worth and discretion, in good favor with the gentry, and great esteem and respect with the common people. The Indians who are upon Mr. Boyle's foundation have now a handsome apartment for themselves and their master, built near the college. The young Indians, procured from the tributary or foreign nations with much difficulty, were formerly boarded or lodged iu the town, where abundance of them used to die, either through sickness, change of provision, and way of life ; or, as some will have it, often for want of proper necessaries, and due care taken with them. Those of them that have escaped well, and been taught to read and write, have, for the most part, returned to their home, some with, and some without baptism, where they follow their own savage customs and hea-^ thenish rites. A few of them have lived as servants among the English, or loitered and idled away their time in laziness and mischief. But it is a great pity that more care is not taken of them after they are dismissed from school. They have admirable capaci- ■ ties when their humors and tempers are perfectly understood. Fronting the college, at near its whole breadth, is extended a whole street, mathemat- ically straight — for the first design of the town's form is changed to a much better — just three quarters of a mile in length, at the other end of which stands the Capitol, a noble, beautiful, and commodious pile, as any of its kind, built at the cost of the late queen, and by direction of the governor. In this is the secretary's office, with all the courts of law and justice, held in the same form, and near the same manner, as in Eng- land, except the ecclesiastical courts. Here the governor and twelve counsellors sit as judges in the general courts, in April and October, whither trials and causes are re- moved from courts held at the court-houses, monthly, in every county, by a bench of justices and a county clerk. Here are also held tiie Oyer and Terminer courts, one in summer and the other in winter, added by the charity of the late queen, for the preven- tion of prisoners lying in jail above a quarter of a j^ear before their trial. Here are also held court martials, by judges appointed on purpose for the trial of pirates ; likewise courts of admiralty, for the trial of ships for illegal trade. The building is in the form of an H nearly ; the secretary's office and the general court taking up one side below stairs; the middle being a handsome portico, leading to the clerk of the assembly's office, and the House of Burgesses on the other side ; which last is not unlike the House of Commons. In each wing is a good staircase, one leading to the council-chamber, where the governor and council sit in very great state, in imitation of the king and coun- JAMES CITY COUNTY. 323 cU, or the lord chancellor and House of Lords. Over the portico is a large room where conferences are held, and prayers are read by the chaplain to the general assembly ; which office I have had the honor, for some years, to perform. At one end of this is a lobby, and near it is the clerk of the council's office ; and at the other end are several chambers for the committees of claims, privileges, and elections ; and over all these are several good offices for the receiver-general, for the auditor, and treasurer, &c. ; and upon the middle is raised a lofty cupola with a large clock. The whole is surrounded with a neat area, encompassed witli a good wall, and near it is a strong sweet prison for criminals ; and on the other side of the open court another for debtors, when any are removed from the other prisons in each county ; but such prisoners are very rare, the creditors being there generally very merciful, and the laws so favorable for debtors that some esteem tliem too indulgent. The cause of my being so particular in describing the capitol, is because it is the best and most commodious pile of its kind that I have seen or heard of. Because the State-house, James Town, and the college have been burnt down, there- fore is prohibited in the capitol, the use of fire, candles, and tobacco. Parallel to the main street mentioned is a street on each side of it, but neither quite so long nor so broad ; and at proper distances are small cross-streets, for the convenience of communication. Near the middle stands the church, which is a large strong piece of brick-work in the form of a cross, nicely regular and convenient, and adorned as the best churches in London. This from the- parish is called Bruton church, where I had the favor of being lecturer. Near this is the large octagon tower, which is the maga- zine, or repository of arms and ammunition, standing far from any house except James Town court-house ; for the town is half in James Town county, and hulf in York county. Not far from hence is a large area for a market-place ; near wliich is a play- house and good bowling-green. From the church rans a street northward, called Palace-street; at the other end of which stands the palace, or governor's house, a magnificent structure, built at the public expense, finished and beautified with gates, fine gardens, offices, walks, a fine canal, orchards, &,c., with a great number of the best arms, nicely posited, by the ingenious contrivance of the most accomplished Colonel Spotswood. This likewise has the orna- mental addition of a good cupola or lantern, illuminating most of the town upon birth- nights, and other nights of occasional rejoicings. At the capitol, at public times, may be seen a great number of handsom, well-dressed, compleat gentlemen ; and at the gov- ernor's house, upon birth-nights, and at balls and assemblies, I have seen as fine an ap- pearance, as good diversion, and as splendid entertainments in Governor Spotswood's time, as I have seen anywhere else. These buildings here described are justly reputed the best in all English America, and are exceeded by few of their kind in England Williamsburg is now incorporated and made a market-town, and governed by a mayor and alderman ; and is well stocked with rich stores of all sorts of goods, and well furnished with the best provisions and liquors. Here dwell several very good fami- lies, and more ceside here at tjieir own houses in public times. They live in the same neat manner, dress after the same modes, and behave themselves e.xactly as the gentry in Loudon ; most families of any note having a coach, chariot, berlin, or chaise. The number of artificers here is daily augmented, as are the convenient ordinaries or inns, for the accommodation of strangers. The servants here, as in other parts of the county, are English, Scotch, Irish," or negroes. The town is regularly laid out in lots or square portions, sufficient each for a house and garden, so that they don't build contiguous, whereby may be prevented the spreading danger of fire ; and this also affords a free passage for the air, which is very grateful in violent hot weather. Here, as in other parts, they build with brick, but most commonly with timber lined with ceiling, and cased with feather-edged plank, painted with white-lead and oil, cov- ered with shingles of cedar, &.C., tarred over at first ; with a passage generally through the middle of the house, for an air-draught in summer. Thus their houses are lasting ; dry and warm in winter, and cool in summer ; especially if there be windows enough to draw the air. Thus they dwell comfortably, genteelly, pleasantly, and plen- tiful, in this delightful, healthful, and, I hope, thriving city of Williamsburg. The foregoing description of Williamsburg, published 120 years since, in many points resembles it at the present time. From then until 1779, when the seat of government was removed to Richmond, the town was the centre of the fashion, wealth, and learning of 324 JAMES CITY COUNTY. the " Old Dominion ;" the influence of which has left its impress upon the place, and the manners and characteristics of its present inhabitants. Being then " the residence of the governor — the im- mediate representative of the sovereign — the royal state in which he lived, the polite and brilliant circle which he always had about him, diffused their influence through the city and the circumja- cent country, and filled Williamsburg with a degree of emulation. William and Mary College, Williamaburg, taste, and elegance, of which we can form no conception by the appearances of the present day. During the session of the House of Burgesses, too, these stately modes of life assumed their richest forms ; the town was filled with a concourse of visitors, as well as citizens, attired in their gayest colors ; the streets exhibited a continual scene of animated and glittering tumult ; the houses, of costly profusion." Several of the buildings above described are yet standing: among which is the church and the octagon tower known as the " old magazine." In the church, a few years since, was to be seen the gubernatorial pew of Sir Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1723. It was raised from the floor, cov- ered with a canopy, around the interior of which his name was written in gilt letters. William and Mary College, now the principal support of the town, is, with the exception of Harvard University, the oldest lit- erary institution in the Union. It is distinguished for the very large proportion of its graduates who have arisen to eminence ; some of whom have held the highest stations in the nation. " The college library contains somewhat less than four thousand volumes, of which many are theological. Some of the books were presented by Robert Dinwiddle, and have his coat of arms aflixed, the crest, an eagle, and the motto, ' Ubi lihertas, ihi pairia.^ In JAMES CITY COUNTY. 325 others was inscribed the name of Major-General Alexander Spots- wood. Some were the gift of the former presidents of the college, and others of the Assembly of Virginia. Catesby's Natural His- tory of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, was given (as appears from a note on the first page, in the hand-writing of Thomas Jefferson) on condition that it should never go out of the college. This work was printed London, 1754, with colored plates, in two volumes folio, in English and French." The college was founded in 1692, in the reign of William and Mary, who granted it a donation of 20,000 acres of land. In i;^93, the Assembly ordered that it should be built at Wil- liamsDurg. " The college received a penny a lb. duty on certain tobaccos exported from Virginia and Maryland, which had been levied by the statute of the 25th of Charles II. The Assembly also gave it, by temporary laws, a duty on liquors imported, and skins and furs exported. From these resources it received upwards of 3000 pounds, communibus annis. The buildings are of brick, and sufficiently large for the accommodation of 100 students. By its charter, dated the 8th of February, 1692, it was placed under the direction of not less than twenty visitors, and to have a pres- ident and six professors, who were incorporated. It was formerly allowed a representative in the General Assembly. Under this charter, a professorship of the Greek and Latin languages, a pro- fessorship of mathematics, one of moral philosophy, and two of divinity were established. To these were annexed, for a sixth professorship, a considerable donation, by Mr. Boyle of England, for the instruction of the Indians and their conversion to Chris- tianity. This was called the professorship of Brafferton, from an estate of that name in England purchased with the moneys given. The admission of the learners of Latin and Greek filled the college with children. This rendering it disagreeable, and degrading to young men already prepared for entering on the sciences, they were discouraged from resorting to it, and thus the school for ma- thematics and moral philosophj^ which might have been of some service, became of very little The revenues, too, were exhausted in accommodating those who came only to acquire the rudiments of science. After the revolution, the visitors, having no power to change those circumstances in the constitution of the college, which were fixed by the charter, and being, therefore, confined in the number of professorships, undertook to change the object of the professorships. They excluded the two schools for divinity, and that for the Greek and Latin languages, and substituted others. At present it has nineteen acting visitors, and is under the super- intendency of a president and five professors, embracing the pro- fessor of humanity, who has charge of the classical department. There is also a law department in this institution ;" and in the town a flourishing male and female boarding-school. The Rev. James Blair, D. D., was named president of William and Mary College in the charter, but is said not to have entered (28) 326 JAMES CITY COUNTS'. upon the duties of his office until 1729 ; he died in 1742, and was succeeded by the Rev, William Stith, (author of a history of Vir- ginia,) who died in 1750. The Rev. James Madison, D. D., (Bishop of Va..) was president from 1777 to 1812. His successors have been the Rev. W. H. Wilmer, Dr. J. Augustine Smith, Rev. Dr. Adam Empie, and Thomas R. Dew, A. M., the present incumbent. There were, in 1840, in the college 98 students ; in the law school 32 students. In the beautiful square, fronting the college, stands the statue of Lord Botetourt, one of the colonial governors. It is much muti- lated, though still presenting a specimen of elegant sculpture. He appears in the court-dress of that day, with a short sword at his side. It was erected in 1774, at the expense of the colony, and removed in 1797 from the old capitol to its present situation. Its pedestal bears the following inscription : — The Right Honorable Norborne Berkley, Baron de Botetourt, his Majesty's late Lieutenant : and Governor-General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Right side. — Deeply impressed with the wannest sense of gratitude lor his Excellency's, the Right Honorable Lord Botetourt's, prudent and wise administration, and that the re- membrance of those many public and social virtues which so eminently adorned his illustrious character might be transmitted to posterity, the General Assembly of Virginia, on the XX. day of July, Ann. Dom., mdcclxxi. resolved with one united voice to erect this statue to his Lordship's memory. Let wisdom and justice preside in any countiy, the people must and will be happy. Left side. — America, behold your friend, who leav- ing iiis native country declined those additional honors which were there in store for hiui, that he might heal your wounds and restore tranquillity and happiness to this ex- tensive continent. With what zeal and anxiety he jjursued these glorious objects, Vir- ginia thus bears her grateful testimony. Lord Botetourt was distinguished for love of piety and litera- ture. His arrival as governor of the colony, in Oct., 1768 — as is shown in the subjoined extract from the Virginia Gazette of that date — was greeted with public rejoicings becoming the loyal sub- jects of his majesty : — Last Tuesday evening arrived in Hampton Poads, in eight weeks from Portsmouth, the Rippon man-of-war, of GO guns, Samuel 'I'hompson, Esq., commander, having on board his Excellency, the Right Hon. Norbohne 13aron de Botetourt, his majesty's Lieut, and Gov.-General of this Colony and Dominion. Next morning his Excellency landed at Little England, and was saluted witii a discharge of the cannon there. After tarrying a few hours and taking a repast, his Excellency set out about noon for this city, where he arrived about sunset. His Excellency stopped at the Capitol, and was received at the gate by his Majesty's Council, the Hon. the Speaker, the Attorney-Gene- ral, the Treasurer, and many other gentlemen of distinction, after which, being con- ducted to the Council Chamber and having his commissions read, was qualified to exercise his high office by taking the usual oaths. His Excellency then swore in the members of his Majesty's Council, after which he proceeded to the Raleigh Tavern, and supped there with his Majesty's Council. His Excellency retired about ten, and took up his lodgings at the palace, which had been put in order for his reception. Im- mediately upon his arrival the city was illuminated, and all ranks vied with each other in testifying their gratitude and joy, that a Nobleman of such distinguished merit and abilities is appointed to preside over and live among them. In the succeeding paper the following Ode was published : — JAMES CITY COUNTY. 327 Recitative. VIRGINIA, see, thy GOVERNOR appears ! The peaceful olive in his brow he wears ! Sound the shrill trumpets, beat the ratthng drums ; From Great Britannia''s isle his Lordship comes. Bid Echo from the waving woods arise. And joyful acclamations reach the skies ; Let the loud organs join their tuneful roar, And bellowing cannons rend the pebbled shore : Bid smooth James River catch the cheerful sound, • And roll it to Virginia'.* utmost bound ; While Rappahannock and York's gliding stream, Swift shall convey the sweetly pleasing theme To distant plains, where pond'rous mountains rise, Whose cloud-capp'd verges meet the bending skies. The Lordly prize the Atlantic waves resign, And now, Virginia, now the blessing's thine: His listening cars will to your trust attend, And be your Guardian, Governor, and Friend. Air. He comes : his Excellency comes, To cheer Virginian plains ! Fill your brisk bowls, ye loyal sons, And sing your loftiest strains. Be this your glory, this your boast, Lord Botetourt's the favorite toast ; Triumphant wreaths entwine ; Fill full your bumpers swiftly round, And make your spacious rooms rebound With music, joy, and wine. Recitative. Search every garden, strip tlie shrubby bowers, And strew his path with sweet autumnal flowers ! Ye virgins, haste, prepare the fragrant rose. And with triumphant laurels crown his brows. Duet. Enter Virgins with flowers, laurels, <^c. See, we've stript each flowery bed ; Here's laurels for his lordly «ead ; And while Virginia is his care. May he protect the virtuous fair. Air. Long may he live in health and peace. And ev'ry hour his joys increase. To this let ev'ry swain and lass Take the sparkling, flowing glass ; Then join the sprightly dance, and sing. Health to our Governor, and God save the King. Virgins Health to our Governor. Bass Solo. Health to our Governor. Chorus. Health to our Governor, and GOD save the KING! Facing the public square is the house — shown on the right of the annexed view — in which, a few years since, resided Pres- ident Tyler. On the square stands the Old Magazine, built about 120 years ago, and memorable as being the building from which Lord Dunmore, in 177 5, removed the powder belonging to the 328 JAMES CITY COUNTY. colony on board the Magdalen man-of-war, which arbitrary act threw the whole of Virginia into a state of ferment, and occa- The Old Magazine. sioned the first assembling of an armed force in the colony in od- position to royal authority. At the head of a small, but beautiful grassy court, called the Palace Green, are two small brick structures, the remains of the Palace of Lord Dunmore, the last of the colonial governors. That on the right was the office, and the one on the left the guard-house. The main building occupied the space between them ; it was of brick, 74 feet long, and 68 feet wide. Here Lord Dunmore resided Remains of Lord Dunmore's Palace. in great state, surrounded by the pomp and pageantry of vice- royalty. At that time the adjacent grounds, comprising 360 acres, were beautifully laid out, with carriage-roads winding through JAMES CITY COUNTY. 329 them. Numerous lindens were imported from Scotland and planted ; one or two of which now remain, and are almost unrivalled in magnificence and beauty. The palace was accidentally destroyed by fire during its occupancy by some French troops, immediately after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The first building erected in Williamsburg for a capitol was burnt in the year 1746, and shortly after another" was built, which in its turn was consumed by fire, in April, 1832. Of this structure, now known as the " old capitol," nothing remains but a few scat- tered bricks. Fortunately, we are enabled to present an engra- ving, from a drawing preserved by a lady of the place. Within its walls did the great and patriotic of Virginia's sons deliberate in the darkest period of the nation's history. There were those re- solves made, and that course of action pursued, which made Vir- ginia foremost in opposition to the arbitrary measures of Britain. It was there that Patrick Henry made his dehut in the House of Burgesses, when, attired in a coarse apparel, with the air of " an obscure and an unpolished rustic," he arose and astonished all by " the rugged might and majesty of his eloquence," teaching " the proud aristocracy" of that body the superiority of native talent over the learning of schools and the glitter and assumptions of high life. It was there, also, that occurred that touching incident in the life of Washington, who, (says Wirt,) after closing his glorious career in the French and Indian war, was complimented by the speaker, Mr. Robinson, for his gallantry; but in such glowing terms, that when he arose to express his acknowledgments for the honor, he blushed, and stammered, and trembled, unable to give distinct utterance to a single syllable ; when the speaker, observing his 42 (28*) 330 JAMES CITY COUNTY. trepidation, relieved him by a masterly stroke of address, saying, with a conciliating smile, ''Sit down, Mr. Washington; your mod esty is equal to your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess." The " Old Raleigh Tavern" is yet occupied as a public-house ; over the portico of which is the bust of Sir Walter Raleigh. It is memorable from being the place " where many important com- mittees of the legislature met, where some of our most distinguished patriots concerted measures for aiding in the arduous struggle for liberty, and where it is said Richard Henry Lee and others origi- nated the plan to establish corresponding committees throughout many or all of the colonies." The subjoined description of the characteristics of Virginians about 120 years since, is from the work of Hugh Jones, previously quoted. He appears pleased with every body and every thing around him, while the colonies more remote, instead of looming up brightly by " the enchantment of distance," are presented to his imagination in the most sombre and forbidding hues. The de- scription is a curiosity in its way, and is written in a quaint, hy- perbolical style, quite amusing: Trie habits, life, customs, computations, &.C., of the Virginians, are much the same as about London, which they etiteem their home ; and for the most part, have con- temptible notions of England, and wrong sentiments of Bristol and the other outports, whicii they entertain from seeing and hearing the common dealers, sailors, and servants, that come from these towns, and the country-places in England and Scotland, whose language and manners arc strange to them. For the planters, and even the native negroes, generally talk good English, without idiom or tone, and can discourse hand- somely on most common subjects. Conversing with persons belonging to trade and navigation from London, for the most part, they are much civilized, and wear the best of cloatlis, according to tlicir stations ; nay, sometimes too good for their circumstances, being for the generality comely, handsome persons, of good features and tine com- plexions — if they take care — of good manners and address. The climate makes them bright, and of excellent sense, and sharp in trade ; an idiot or deformed native being almost a miracle. Thus they have good natural notions, and will soon learn arts and sciences ; but arc generally diverted, by business or inclination, from profound study and prying into the depth of things ; being ripe for management of their affairs before they have laid so good a foundation for learning, and had such instructions and acquired such accomplfshments, as mi-ght be instilled into such naturally good capacities. Never- theless, through their quick ap])rehensioTi, they have a sutHeiency of knowledge and fluency of tongue, though their learning for the most part be but superficial. They are more iiieliiuible to read men by business and conversation, than to dive into books, and are, for the most part, only desirous of learning what is absolutely necessary, in the shortest and best method As for education, several are sent to England for it, though the Virginians, being naturally of good parts, as I have already hinted, neither require nor admire as much learning as we do in Britain ; yet more would be sent over, were they not afraid of the small-pox, which most commonly proves fatal to them. But indeed, when they come to England, they are generally put to learn to persons that know little of their temper, who kri'i) them drudging on what is of least use to them, in pedantiek methods too tedious for their vuhitile genius If New England be called a receptacle of Dissenters and an Amsterdam of religion, Bennsylvania a nursery of Quakers, Maryland the retirement of Roman Catholics, North Carolina the refuge of runaways, and South Carolina the delight of Buccaneers and Pyrates, Virginia may be iustly esteemed the happy retreat of true Britons, and true Cliurchmen for the most part; neither soaring too high, nor dropping loo low, consequently sliould merit tho greater esteem and encouragement. JAMES CITY COUNTY. 331 The common planters leading- easy lives, don't much admire labor, or any manly ex- ercise, except horse-racing, nor diversion, except cockfigliting, in which some greatly delight. This easy way of living, and the heat of the summer, makes some very Ipy, who are then said to be climate-struck. The saddle-horses, though not very large, are hardy, strong, and fleet ; and will pace naturally and pleasantly at a prodigious rate. They arc such lovers of riding, that almost every ordinary person keeps a horse : and I have known some spend the morning in ranging several miles in the woods to find and catch their horses, only to ride two or three miles to church, to the court-house, or to a horse-race, where they generally appoint to meet upon business, and are more certain of finding those that they want to speak or deal with, than at their home. No people can entertain their friends with better cheer and welcome ; and strangers and travellers are here treated in the most free, plentifnl, and hospitable manner, so that a few inns or ordinaries on the road are sufficient. The fir.st newspaper printed in British America was in Boston, in 1704, and in 1719 the .second was issued, in the same city. In 1725 a newspaper was first printed in New York ; from this time they were gradually extended through the continent. "In 1671, Sir William Berkeley ' thanks God there are no free schools nor printing, [in Virginia,] — and hopes we shall not have these hundreds of years to come.' The first printing-press erected in Virginia, in 1682, was .shortly after put down." The first newspaper published in Virginia was the Virginia Gazette, the first number of which was issued at Williamsburg, August 6th, 1736. It was then a sheet about 12 inches by six, and wJis printed and published by W. Parks, at 15s. per annum. In his introduction, after mentioning that papers had been established elsewhere in the colonies, as well as in Europe, he says : " From these examples, the encouragement of several gentlemen, and the prospect I have of success in this ancient and hest-settled colony, Virginia, I am induced to set forth weekly newspapers here ; not doubting to meet with as good encouragement as others, or at least such as may enable me to carry them on." This same Win. Parks printed, in 1729, Stith's History of Virginia and the Laws of Virginia, at this place. His paper was under the influence of the government. Parks died in 1750, and the paper was discontinued for a time. In Feb., 1751, this paper was renewed by Wim. Hunter. He died in 1761. It was then enlarged, and published by Joseph Roylc ; after whose death it was carried on by Purdic and Dixon, who continued it until the commencement of the revolution ; and Purdie, alone, published it several years during the revolutionary contest. ^ Mr. Jefferson in answer to an inquiry observes, " till the beginning of our revolution- ary disputes we had but one press ; and that having the whole business of the govern- ment, and no competitor for public favor, nothing disagreeable to the governor could find its way into it. We procured Rind to come from Maryland to publish a free paper." Accordingly, in May, 1766, a second paper, entitled also "The Virginia Gazktte," " published by authority, open to all parties, but influenced by none," was issued at this place by Win. Rind. The clause, " published by authority," was omitted at the end of the first year. Rind dying in August, 1773, the paper was continued by his widow, Clementina Rind, and at her death by John Pinckney. Another " Virginia Gazette" was first published at Williamsburg in 1775, and continued weekly, for several years, by John Clarkson and Augustine Davis.* From these papers we make the subjoined extracts : Williamsl/urg, Nov. 12, 1736. — On this day sen'night, being the 5th of November, the president, masters, and scholars, of William and Mary college went, according to their annual custom, in a body, to the governor's, to present his honor with two copies of Latin verses, in obedience to their charter, as a grateful acknowledgment for two valu- able tracts of land given the said college by their late K. William and Q. Mary. Mr. President delivered the verses to his honor ; and two of the young gentlemen spoke them. It is further observed there were upwards of 60 scholars present ; a much great- er number than has been any year before since the foundation of the college. * For most of the facts above stated we are indebted to Thomas's History of Printing. 332 JAMES CITY COUNTY. Sept. 10, 1736. — This eveninfr will be performed at the Theatre, by the young gen- tlemen of the college, The Tragedy of Cato ; and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next, will be acted the following comedies, by the gentlemen and ladies of this country, viz : The Busy Body, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux Stratagem. Williamsburg, Sept. 21, 1739.— An epitaph on Miss M. Thacker, (daughter of CoL Edwin Thacker, of Middlesex,) who died at Williamsburg, on Wednesday last : Pensively pay the triliute of a tear. For one that claims our common grief lies here. Good-natured, prudent, aflUble, and mild, In sense a woman, in deceit a child. Angels, like us, her virtues shall admire. And chant her welcome thro' the Heavenly choir. Sept. 21, 1739. — Edward Morris, BreecJies. Maker and Glover, from London, is set up in his business, near the college, in Williamsburg, where he makes and sells the best buckskin breeches, either of the common tanned color, black, or other cloth colors, after the English manner. Also buckskin gloves with high tops. Any persons that have oc- casion to make use of him, in any of the above particulars, may depend upon kind usage, and at very reasonable rates. Williamsburg, March 3, 1768. — Early this morning, died at the palace, after a tedious illness, which he bore with the greatest patience and fortitude, the Hon. Francis Fauquier, Esq., Lieut. Gov. and commander-in-chief of the colony, over which he has presided near ten years, much to his own honor, and the ease and satisfaction of the in- habitants. He was a gentleman of the most amiable disposition, generous, just, and mild, and possessed, in an eminent degree, of all the social virtues. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and died in his 65th year.* May 26, 17|)8. — For the benefit of Mrs. Parker, by permission of the worshipful the Mayor of Williamsburg, at the Old Theatre, near the Capitol, by the Virginia Com- pany OF Comedians, on Friday, the 3d of June, will be presented the Beggar's Opera, and the Anatomist, or Sham Doctor. Williamsburg, April 13, 1768. — A hog was brought to town this week, from Sussex, as a show, raised by Mr. Henry Tyler there, who, though only four years old, is near three feet and a half high, about nine and a half long, and, it is supposed, weighs near twelve hundred pounds. He much exceeds any animal of the kind ever raised on this conti- nent, and, indeed, we do not remember to have heard of any so large in England. Oct. 5, 1768. — Yesterday, Peyton Randolph, Esq., our worthy representative, gave a genteel dinner at the Raleigh Tavern, to the electprs of this city, after which many loyifaTrid patriotic toasts were drank, and the afternoon spent with cheerfulness and de- corum. From the Virginia Gazette of 1776 are extracted the following marriage notices, which, according to the custom of the time, are accompanied with a few poetic lines : Edmund Randolph, Esq., Attorney-General of Virginia, to Miss Betsey Nicholas, a young lady whose amiable sweetness of disposition, joined with the finest intellectual accomplishments, cannot fail of rendering the worthy man of her choice completely liappy. Fain would the aspiring muse attempt to sing The virtues of this amiable pair; But how shall I attune the trembling string. Or sound a note which can such wortli declare t Exalted theme ! too high for common lays! Could my weak verse with beauty be inspired, In numbers smooth I'd chant my Bktsey's prai.se, And tell how much her Randolph is admired. To light the hymeneal torcli since they've resolved. Kind Heaven I trust will make them truly blest ; Ami \\ hen the Gordian knot shall be dissolved, Translate them to eternal ps-^ce and rest. ♦ A paper of a latev lafe «;avj- he was buried in the north aisle of the church. JAMES CITY COUNTY. 333 Mr. William Derricoat, of Hanover, to Miss Suckey Tomkies, of Gloucester, daughter of Col. Francis Tomkies. Her's the mild lustre of the blooming mom, And his the radiance of the rising day. > Long may they live, and mutually possess, * A steady love and genuine happiness. On Sunday last, Mr. Beverly Dixon to Miss Polly Saunders, a very agreeable young lady. Hymen, thy brightest torch prepare. Gild with light the nuptial bower, With garlands crown this lovely pair, On them thy choicest blessings shower Cupids lightly sport and play. Hymen crowns the happy day; Sprightly graces too descend. And the beauteous bride attend. Here no sordid interest binds, But purest innocence and love Combined unite their spotless minds, And seal their vows above. Captain Samuel Denny, of the artillery, to Miss Fallen, of Northumberland. May peace and love the sacred band unite, And equal joy, yield equal sweet content. James Madison, D. D., Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, and President of William and Mary College, was born near Port Republic, in Rockingham county, in 1749. His father was the district clerk of West Augusta. He graduated with the highest honors at William and Mary, then studied law with the celebrated George Wythe, and after being licensed to practise, turned his attention to theology, and was admitted to holy orders. He was chosen profe.;sor of mathematics, in William and Mary, in 1773. In 1777, at the early age of 28, he was elected president, and soon after visited England. " In 1788, as Bishop elect of Virginia, he went again to Eng- land for Episcopal ordination, and was consecrated at Lambeth, Sept. 19, 1790. On his return, he united the performance of his duties of bishop with those of president and professor. Until the close of his life, such were his literary and scientific pursuits, that he was occupied in lectures from four to six hours every day. After a severe illness, he died, March 6, 1812, in the 63d year of his age. His published works are, a Thanks- giving Sermon, 1781 ; a letter to J. Morse, 1795 ; an address to the Episcopal Church, 1799 ; and an able and very eloquent discourse on the death of Washington. The reputation of Bishop Madison is that of a refined gentleman, an accomplished scholar, and an enlightened and liberal Christian philanthropist." " Peyton Randolph, first president of the AVnerican Congress, was a native of Vir ginia, and one of the most distinguished lawyers and patriots of the state. He was, as early as 1756, appointed king's attorney of the colony, and held the office for many years. In 1766, he was elected speaker of the House of Burgesses, and in 1773, a member of the committee of correspondence. The following year, he was appointed a delegate to the Congress which assembled at Philadelphia, and was elected its president ; and also presided in the Congress of 1775, till obliged to return to Virginia, when Han- cock was chosen his successor. He soon resumed his seat in Congress, but died sud- denly of an apoplectic fit on the 22d of October, 1775, aged 52 years." In speaking of his death, Girardin observes: " That illustrious citizen, distinguished at first by the eminence of his forensic station, and afterwards by the ability, zeal, in- tegrity, and dignity, which he displayed in the higher offices of public life, had several times been elected speaker of the House of Burgesses. On the 20th of March, he was unanimously appointed president of the first convention; and on the 11th of August following, first nominated one of the delegates for Virginia to the general Congress. A new and well-merited honor awaited him there; without one dissentient voice, he was called to preside over that great and venerable body. . ,. . The remains of this worthy ^ patriot were afterwards brought from Philadelphia to Williamsburg by Edmund Ran- dolph, his nephew, and in NSvember, 1776, deposited in the family vault in the college chapel, with suitable funeral ceremonies. A short time before his departure for the general Continental Congress, the convention, observing with great concern that he was very much indisposed, recommended him to retire for the present from the fatigues of public duty, tendering to him at the same time their unfeigned thanks for his unre. 334 JEFFERSON COUNTY. mitted attention to the important interests of his country, and his unwearied application to, and able, faithful, and impartial discharge of the duties of his office ; and assuring him that he had the warmest wishes of the convention for a speedy return to health, and an uninterrupted enjoyment of every felicity." JEFFERSON. Jefferson was formed in 1801, from Berkeley; its mean length is 22 miles, breadth 12 miles. The Potomac forms its northeastern boundary ; the Shenandoah enters the county near its southeast- ern border, and flowing in a northeast direction, parallel with the Harper's Ferry, from the Blue Ridge. Blue Ridge, enters the Potomac at Harper's Ferry. The face of the country is rolling, and the soil almost unequalled in fertility by any other county in Virginia. " It was settled principally by old Virginia families from the eastern part of the state ; and the inhabitants still retain that high, chivalrous spirit, and generous hospitality, for which that race was so remarkable in the palmy days of their prosperity." Pop. in 1840, whites 9,323, slaves 4,157, free colored 602; total, 14,082. Middleway, 7 miles southwest of Charlestown, contains 1 Pres- byterian, and 1 Methodist church, 3 mercarftile stores, and about 500 inhabitants. Leetown is at the western end of the county, and contains a few dwellings. It derives its name from the celebrated Gen. Charles Lee, who once resided there. JEFFERSON COUNTY. 335 Harper's Ferry is distant 173 miles from Richmond, 57 from Washington city, and 30 from Winchester, with which it is con- nected by a rail-road. This thriving manufacturing village is sit- uated at the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Its name is derived from a ferry, long since established acroSfe the Potomac, where the river breaks through the Blue Ridge ; at this place it is about 1200 feet in height. The name of the place was originally Shenandoah Falls. " The scenery at Harper's Ferry is, perhaps, the most singularly picturesque in America. To attain the view here given, it was necessary to climb the Blue Ridge by a narrow winding path immediately above the bank of the Potomac. The view from this lofty summit amply repays the fatigue incurred by its ascent. The junction of the two rivers is immediately beneath the spectator's feet; and his delighted eye, resting first upon the beautiful and thriving village of Harper's Ferry, wanders over the wide and woody plains, extending to the Alleghany mountains. President Jefferson, who has given the name to a beautiful rock immediately above the village, has left a powerful description of the scenery of Harper's Ferry. He says : " ' The passage of the Potomac through the Bkie Ridge, is, perhaps, one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of land ; on your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of a mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac, in quest of a passage also ; in the moment of their junction, they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opin- ion that this earth has been created in time ; that the mountains were formed first ; that the rivers began to flow afterwards ; that in this place particularly, they have been dam- med up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley ; that, continuing to rise, they have at length broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, particularly on the Shenandoah — the evident marks of their disrupture and avul- sion from their beds by the most powerful agents of nature, corroborate the impression. But the distant finishing which nature has given to the picture, is of a very different character ; it is a true contrast to the foreground ; it is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous ; for the mountain being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the clefts, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult warring around, to pass through the breach and participate of the calm below. Here the eye ultimately com- poses itself; and that way, too, the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Poto- mac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments over you, and within about twenty miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country round that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic ; yet here, as in the neighborhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre.' " There are many points of view from which the scenery appears romantic and beauti- ful. Among these, that seen from Jefferson's Rock, which is on a hill overhanging the town, is very fine. The top of; this rock is flat, and nearly twelve feet square ; its base, which does not exceed five feet in width, rests upon the top of a larger rock ; and its height is about five feet. The whole mass is so nicely balanced, that the application of a small force will cause it to vibrate considerabl3^ On this rock once reposed another rock, on which Mr. Jefferson, during a visit to this place, inscribed his name. In the extraordinary political excitement of 1798-9, between the federal and the democratic parties, a Capt. Henry, who was stationed here with some U. S. troops, at the head of a band of his men hurled off the apex of this rock. At Harper's Ferry, on the Maryland side, " there is said to be a wonderful likeness of Washington in the stupendous rocks which overhang the Potomac. The nose, lips, and chin are admirably formed, and bear the semblance of studied art. The forehead is obscure ; yet there is sufficient to give the mind a just idea of the noble form and digni- fied carriage, with the mildness of feature, which the original possessed so pre-eminently as to inspire all men with a profound reverence towards this august personage." 336 JEFFERSON COUNTY. Harper's Ferry is compactly, though irregularly built, around the foot of a hill ; but the engraving annexed shows but a small portion of it. It contains about a dozen mercantile stores, several mechanical and manufacturing establishments, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Cathdlic, 1 Methodist, and 1 Free Church ; and, including the suburbs, has a population of over 3,000. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal passes along the left bank of the Potomac, and the Baltimore and Ohio rail-road passes through the tovi^n. The town is connected with the Maryland side by a fine bridge across the Potomac, of about 800 feet in length. The United States Armory and the National Arsenal, at Harper's Ferry, are worthy of atten- tion. In the latter, 80,000 or 90,000 muskets are usually kept, which, as they are sent away, are replaced by others from the factories. Dwelling of Rumsey, the first Steamboat Inventor. Shepherdstown is situated on the Potomac, in the northwestern part of the county, 5 miles north of the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road, and about 12 miles above Harper's Ferry. It was estab- lished by law in November, 1762, laid off by Capt. Thomas Shep- herd, and named Mecklenburg : its first settlers were German mechanics. It contains 6 or 8 mercantile stores, 3 merchant mills, 1 Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 German-Reformed, and 1 Lutheran church, and a population of about 1,600. There is a small stream, of considerable fall, which runs through the town, immediately opposite to M^iich is an inlet-lock to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This town is remarkable as being the place where the first steamboat was constructed and navigated. Previous to detailing the experiments at this place, we shall introduce a brief historical sketch of navigation by steam : " Who invented the steamboat ?" is a (question which has occasioned much contro versy — an achievement of which nations, as well as individuals, have been covetous. JEFFERSON COUNTY. 337 Several of the early experimenters in steam appear to have conceived of the idea. The first account we have on the subject, is given in a work recently published in Spain, contaiiiinff original p;i[)ers relating to the voyage of Columbus, said to have been pre- served in the royal archives at Samancas, and among the public papers of Catalonia, und those of the secretary at war for the year 1543. This narrative stales that " Blasco de Garay, a sea-captain, exhibited to the emperor and king Charles V., in the year 1543, an engine by which ships and vessels of the largest size could be propelled, even in a calm, without the aid of oars or sails. Notwithstanding the opposition which this pro- ject encountered, the emperor resolved that an experiment should be made, as in fact it was, with success, in the h.irhor of Barcelona, on the 17thof .lune, 1513. Caray never publicly exposed the couhtruclion of his engine ; but it was observed, at the time of his experiment, that it consisted of a large caldron, or vessel of boiling water, and a movea- ble wheel attached to each side of the ship. The experiment was made on a ship of 209 tons, arrived from Calibre to discharge a cargo of wheat at Barcelona ; it was called the Trinity, and the captain's name was Peter de Scarza. By order of Charles v., and the prince Philip the Second, his sou, there were present at the time, Henry de Toledo, the governor, Peter Cardona, the treasurer, Kavago, the vice-chancellor, Francis Gralla, aud many other persons of rank, Iwth Caslilians and Catalonians ; and among others, several sea-captains witnessed the operation — some in the vessel, and others on the shore. The emperor and prince, and others with them, applauded the engine, and especially the expertness with which the ship could be tacked. The treasurer, iiavago, an enemy to the project, said it would move two leagues in three hours. It was very complicated and expensive, and exposed to the constant danger of bursting the boiler. The other commissioners affirmed, that the vessel could be tacked twice as quick as a galley served by the common method, and that, at its slowest rate, it would move a league in an hour. The exhibition being finished, Garay took from the ship his engine, and having deposited the wood-work in the arsenal of Barcelona, kept the rest to him- self. Notwithstanding the difliculties and opposition thrown in the way by Ravage, the invention was approved ; and if the expedition in which Charles V. was then engaged had not failed, it would undoubtedly have been favored by him. As it was, he raised Garay to a higher station, gave him a sum of money (200,000 maravedies) as a present, ordered all the expenses of the experiment to be paid out of the general treasury, and conferred upon him other rewards." The editor of the Franklin .Journal, from which this extract has been made, observes, "when the ' Public Records' shall ai»pear in an authentic form, their evidence must be admitted ; nntil then, he should not be inclined to commence the history of the invention of the steamboat so far back as I.MS. For, circumstantial as the account is, it seemd to have been written since the days of Fulton." He is not alone in this opinion, as it is generally regarded as a mere fiction, the off- spring of an individual jealous of his country's reputation. This, too, it must be re- membered, is stated to have occurred 54 years previous to the birth of the Marquis of Worcester, to whom history assigns the credit of being the original inventor of the steam-engine. When we consider how slow is the progress of invention — how it took several generations of ingenious men, each of whom successively contributed his share in improving upon the first crude conception of Worcester, ere it could be successfully applied — how rude the state of mechanic arts three centuries since, and the difficulties of perfecting so complicated a work of mechanism as the steam-engine — it seems incredi- ble tliat one mind alone should have overcome them all^and, at a single leap, done that which has taken the successive ligiit and talent of generations of men, and all the me- chanical skill and knowledge of the IJith century, to consnmrnate. The most prominent and authentic account of the early projects of applying steam as a motive power to the propelling of vessels, is given ip a treatise printed in London in 1737, entitled " Description and draught of a new-invented machine, for carrying ves- sels out of, or into any harbor, port, or river, against wind and tide, or in a calm : for which his majesty George II. has granted letters patent for the sole benefit of the au- thor, for the space of 14 years ; by .Jonathan Hulls." The draught or drawing prefixed, is a plate of a stout boat, with chimney smoking, a pair of wheels rigged out over each side of the stern, moved by means of ropes passing around their outer rims ; and to the axis of these wheels are fixed six paddles to propel the boat. From the stern of the boat a tow-line passes to the foremast of a two-decker, which the boat thus tows through the water. There is no evidence that Hulls ever applied his conceptions to practice. Previous to the great and successful experiment of Fulton, in 1807, several attempts 43 (29) 338 JEFFERSON COUNTY. were made in this country and in Europe, to navigate vessels by steam. The first in order of time, vsras made by the subject of this sketcii ; the second was John Fitch, who, in 1789, succeeded in propelling his steamboat by paddles, at the rate of eight miles an hour, on the Delaware. In his autobiography lie says, " I know of nothing so perplexing and vexatious to a man of feelings, as a turbulent wife and steamboat building. I experi- enced the former, and quit in season ; and had I been in iny right senses, I should un- doubtedly have treated the hitter'in the same manner. But for one man to be teased with both, he must be looked upon as the most unfortunate man of this world." Fitch died at Bardstown, Kcntiicli}', about the year 1796. It was his wish to be buried on the banks of the Ohio, that he might repose '' where the song of the boatman would enliven the stillness of his resting-place, and the music of the steam-engine sooth his spirit." How melancholy is the sentiment found in his journal : " The day will come when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention ; but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do any tiling worthy of attention." As early as 1783, both Rumsey and Fitch liad exhibited models to Gen. Wasliington. Shortly after the experiment of Fitch, a Mr. Symington succeeded in propelling a steamboat on the Clyde, in Scotland. John Stevens, of Hoboken, commenced his experiments in 1797. With various forms of vessels and machinery, he impelled boats at the rate of five or six miles an hour. In the year 1797, Chancellor Livingston built a steamboat on the Hudson, and he applied to the legislature of New York for an exclusive privilege. Being unable to comply with the conditions of their grant — viz., that he should propel a vessel by steam at the rate of three miles an hour, within a year — the project was, for a time, dropped. He afterwards associated with Stevens, and being aided by Nicholas Rosevelt, they car- ried on their experiments until Livingston was sent minister to France. Mr. Stevens continued his experiments until several years later, when Mr. Livingston obtained a renewal of the exclusive grant from the legislature of New York. Mr. Stevens, with the assistance of his son, now applied himself with increased assiduity to the project, and succeeded in 1807, only a few days later than Mr. Fulton's convincing experiment, in propelling a steamboat at the required velocity. Mr. P'ulton had, in 1803, made a successful experiment upon the Seine, with a boat which moved at the rate of four miles per hour. Another of these indefatigable experimenters in navigation by steam, was Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, the inventor of the high-pressure steam-engine, the only one which can be successfully applied to locomotives. " In the year 1804, Mr. Evans, by order of the board of health of Philadelphia, constructed at his works, situated a mile and a half from the water, a machine for cleaning docks. It consisted of a large flat, or scow, with a steam-engine of the power of five horses on board, to work machinery in raising the mud into scows. This was considered a fine opportunity to show the public that his engine could propel both land and water conveyances. When the machine was finished, he fixed, in a rough and temporary manner, wheels with wooden axletrees, anB, of course, under the influence of great frict,ion. Although the whole weight was equal to 200 barrels of flour, yet his small engine propelled it up Market-st., and round the circle to the water-works, where it vitas launched into the Schuylkill. A paddle-wheel was then applied to its stern, and it thus sailed down that river to the Delaware, a distance of 16 miles, leaving all vessels tJiat were under sail at least half way, (the wind being ahead,) in the presence of thoi\gands of spectators — which he supposed would have con- vinced them of the practicabirity of steamboats and steam-carriages. But no allow- ance was made by t!ie public for the disproportion of the engine to its load, nor for the rough manner in which the machinery was fixed, or the great friction and ill form of the boat; but it was supposed that this was the utmost it could perform. In 1802, Evans built a steamboat to ply on the A^ssissippi between New Orleans and Natchez. The boat being ready, a drought left it high and dry, and the steam-engine was placed tem- porarily in a saw-mill. The mill was like to deprive some who sawed lumber of profit- able jobs ; and, on the third attempt, it was burnt by incendiaries. Thus were the pro- jectors ruined, and a laiulable attempt to establish steamboats on the Mississippi, three or four years before Fulton's experiment, defeated." James Rumsey, who is believed to be the first person that ever succeeded in propelling a boat by steam, was a native of Maryland. When a young man, he removed to Shep- herdstown, where he devoted much of his time to mechanics. ^ He was, at one period of his life, engaged as a merchant in company with a Mr JEFFERSON COUNTY- 339 Orrick, at Bath, in Morgan county. In September, 1781, it appears from a letter of his, now before us, that he was employed by the Potomac company, of which Washing. ton was a member, to improve the navigation of the Potomac River. In the summer of the year 1783, he directed his attention to the subject of steamboats ; and in the autumn of 1784 succeeded in a private, but very imperfect experiment, in order to test some of the principles of his invention. In the October session of that year, he obtained Ihe passage of an act from the Virginia Assembly, guarantying to him the ex- elusive use of his invention in navigating tlie waters of that state, for the space of 10 years from date.* In January, 178.5, he obtained a patent from the General Assembly of Maryland, for navigating their waters. Through the whole of this year he was en- gaged in working at his boat, but was not ready for a public trial until 1786, the year following. In this experiment he was eminently successful. He succeeded in propelling his boat, by steam alone, at Shepherdstown, against the current of the Potomac, at the rate of Jour or Jive miles an hour. There are now several persons living who were on board at this time : among these is Mrs. Ann Baker, the mother-in-law of the late Gov. Gilmer. Washington, it is said, was also among the passengers. In his correspondence, compiled by Sparks, is a letter to Rumsey, dated anterior to the public experiment in 178H, advising him to hasten the construction of his boat, so as to prevent being forestalled by another individual, and to convince the public of its practicability. Also, in a letter to Hugh Williamson, ]\I. C, dated Mount Vernon, March 15th, 1785, Washington says, in alluding to Rumsey's boat : " If a model of a thing, in miniature, is a just representation of a greater object in practice, there is no doubt of the utility of the invention. A view of his model, with the explanation, removed the principal doubt I ever had of the practicability of propel- ling against a stream, by the aid of mechanical power ; but as he wanted to avail him- self of my introduction of it to the public attention, I chose, previously, to seethe actual performance of the model in a descending stream, before I passed my certificate, and having done so, all my doubts are satisfied." While at Shepherdstown, Mr. Rumsey dwelt in a small log-house, now standing near the town jail in the outskirts of the village. It is the same building represented in the engraving. He was supplied with funds for the undertaking by his brother-in-law, Charles Morrow, which proved the ruin of the latter. The boat was built upon the banks of the Potomac, about half a mile above the town. She was called by the towns- people, not the steamboat, but " the Jlying.hoat ;" and Mr. Rumsey himself received, from the same source, the appellation of " Crazy Rumiiey." There is a place. upon the banks of the Potomac, formerly called " Rumsey's Walk," where Rumsey was often seen for hours walking to and fro, in deep meditation upon his favorite project. A por- tion of the boiler of his boat is now in the possession of Alexander R. Boteler, Esq., of Shepherdstown, to whose kindness we are indebted for some of the facts in this ar- ticle. " Stuart's Anecdotes of the Steam-Engine,'^ an English publication, thus describes his boat : " Rumsey's boat was about 50 feet in length, and was propelled by a pump worked by a steam-engine, which forced a quantity of water up through the keel ; the valve was then shut by the return of the stroke, which at the same time forced the water through a channel or pipe, a few inches square, (lying above or parallel to the kelson,) out at the stern under the rudder, which had a less depth than usual, to permit the exit of the water. The impetus of this water forced through the square channel against the exterior wafer, acted as an impelling power upon the vessel. The reaction of the efflu- ent water propelled her at the rate above mentioned, when loaded with three tons in ad dition to the weight of her engine, of about a third of a ton. The boiler was quite a curiosity, holding no more than five gallons of water, and needing only a pint at a time. The whole machinery did not occupy a space greater than that required for four barrels of flour. The fuel consumed was not more than from four to six bushels of coal in twelve hours. Rumsey's other project was to apply the power of a steam-engine to long poles, which were to reach the bottom of the river, and by that means to push a boat against a rapid current." " After the experiment above alluded to, Rumsey being under the strong conviction that skilful workmen and perfect machinery were alone wanting to the most perfect sue * See Henning's Statutes, Vol. II., p. 502 340 JEFFERSON COUNTY. cess, and sensible that such could not be procured in America, resoleed to go to Eng- land. With slender means of his own, and aided, or rather mocked, by some timid and unsteady patronage, he there resumed with untiring energy his great undertaking. He proceeded to procure patents of the Britisii government for steam navigation : these patents bear date in the beginning of the year 1788. Several of his inventions, in one modified form or another, are now in general use ; as, for instance, the cylindrical boiler, so superior to the old tub or still-boiler.s, in the presentation of fire surface, and capacity for holding highly rarefied sleain, is described, both single and combined, in his specifi- cations, and is identical in principle with the tub-boiler which he used in his Potomac experiment. " Difficulties and embarrassments of a pecuniary nature, and such as invarie^bly ob- struct the progress of a new invention, attended him in England. He was often com- pelled to abandon temporarily his main object, and turn his attention to something else, in order to raise means to resume it. He undertook, with the same power, but by its more judicious application, to produce higher results in several water-works, in all which he succeeded, realizing thereby some reputation as well as funds to apply to his favorite project. " At another time, in order to avoid a London prison, and the delay, if not the de- feat of all his high hopes, he was compelled to transfer, at what he considered a ruinous sacrifice, a large interest in his inventions, — a contract which entangled and embarrassed him through life. Still, however, he struggled on, undismayed, and had constructed a boat of about one hundred tons burden, and pushed forward his machinery so near to the point of completion, as to be able to indicate a day not very distant for a public ex- hibition."* Death, however, put an end to his career, in Liverpool, at a most flattering point in his life, and under circumstances of the most touching character. Rum,sey had consented, at the suggestion of some gentlemen, to give a public exposi- tion of his projet, for the purpose of enlisting the patronage of the public in his behalf. The evening came, and, to his astonishment, the hall was filled to overflowing with the learning, and fashion, and beauty of Liverpool. He was overwhelmed at this unlooked- for token of interest ; and he seems to have been so conquered by his feelings, as to be tmequal to the occasion. He saw that his most ardent hopes were upon the eve of ac- complishment, and that the helping hand of power was to be extended to him in his penury, and carry through in triumph the cherished object of his life. He arose to begin his lecture — his agitation was observed by a gentleman, who handed him a glass of water — he returned his thanks in a few incoherent sentences, sank in his chair, and never spake more. He was seized with an apoplectic fit, and died within two days after. Thus died poor Rumsey, another of those martyrs of civilization, of which those bene- factors of the human race who have labored in the department of mechanical invention — whose works constitute the peculiar glory of our time — form so long a roll. Rumsey had obtained the patronage of some enterprising individuals, and the boat Ae constructed was set in motion after his death, on the Thames, in 1793. A sharp controversy, at one time, existed between Rumsey and Fitch, as to the origi- nality of their respective inventions. Neither, however, can claim originality as to the idea, as has been shown. The Hon. Robert Wicklitfe, Sen., of Kentucky, in a comm'a- nication on tiiis subject to the American Pioneer, (Vol. I., p. 34,) says that about_the year 1780, Fitch accidentally met Rumsey in Winchester, and imparted to him his idea of propelling boats by steam. Admitting the fact, it proves nothing more than that from Fitch, Rumsey derived the bare idea : the principles of their machinery were dif- ferent. Without deciding upon the respective merits of either, both certainly claim ad- miration for their perseverance, as well as sympathy for their misfortunes. Gen. William D.\rke was born in Pennsylvania, in 1736. When he was five years of age, he removed with his parents to Virginia, within five miles of Shepherdstown. * The last quotation is from the speech of Mr. Rumsey, of Kentucky, before the Congressional House of Representatives, on the occasion of offering the lollnwing resolution, afterwards unanimously passed, Feb. 9, 1839. " Resolved, by the Senate and tlouse of Representatives, &c. &c., That the President bo, and he is hereby requested, to present to James Rumsey, jun., the son and only surviving child of James Rumsey, deceased, a suitable gold medal, commemorative of his father's services and high agency i« giv ing to the world the benefit of the steamboat." For the speech above referred to, see the National In telUgencer of that date. m JEFFERSON COUNTY. 341 He was gifted by nature with an herculean frame ; his manners were rough ; his mind was strong, but uncultivated ; and his disposition frank and fearless. In his 19th year, he was with the Virginia provincials at Braddock's defeat. He then returned and con- tinued engaged in agricultural pursuits. When the revolutionary war broke out, he joined the American army. He was taken prisoner at Germantown, and remained so until Nov. 1, 1780. In the succeeding spring he repaired to Winchester to recruit his regiment. He was colonel-commandant of the Hampshire and Berkeley regiments at the siege of York, and nobly sustained the character he had previously won for bravery and heroic daring. After the war he returned to agriculture. He was chosen, with Gen. Stevens, to represent Berkeley county in the Virginia convention of 1788, and voted for the federal constitution. Subsequently, he was repeatedly elected to the legis- lature. At St. Clair's defeat; Col. Darke commanded tiie left wing of the army. When the Indians were making their most desperate onsets, and the whites were falling in heaps before his eyes, St. Clair at this crisis ordered Darke to charge with the bayonet, who drove the enemy from his position with his usual gallantry, but, for want of rifle- men, could not continue the pursuit. The Indians again penetrated to the camp ; Darke, assisted by Butler and Clarke, made a second charge, with success — recovered the artillery, and drove the enemy before tliem. But these exertions were not sustained, so that a concentrated effort could not be made, and the loss of ofticers increased every moment. Among these was Capt. Joseph Darke, his youngest son, who was mortally wounded. His father saw him fall, paused for a moment, and tiien rushed to the con- test. The retreat soon commenced, and Darke arrived that evening at Fort Jefferson, distant 30 miles, with his son on a horse-litter, although he himself was wounded in the thigh, and liable to be overtaken and slam. A council of war was held at Fort Jeffer- son, and Darke urged the expediency of an immediate attack, and contended that the Indians might be beaten, because they were flushed with victory and unprepared for the contest. But he was overruled. Darke died Nov. 20th, ISQl. Charlestown, the seat of justice for the county, is on the line of the rail-road from Winchester to Harper's Ferry, 8 miles from the latter, and 22 from the former. This town was established in Oc- tober, 1786, and named from the Christian name of its first proprie- tor. Col. Charles Washington, a brother of George Washington. Eighty lots were divided into lots and streets, and the following named gentlemen were appointed trustees : John Augustine Wash ington, William Drake, Robert Rutherford, James Crane, Cato Moore, Magnus Tate, Benjamin Rankin, Thornton Washington, William Little, Alex. White, and Richard Ranson. Col. Charles Washington resided in a log-house, which stood a short distance from the town. A fine spring marks the spot. The whole of the land in the vicinity of Charlestown originally belonged to the Washington family, and a considerable portion still remains in the possession of their descendants. Col. Chas. Washington was the only brother of Washington that settled west of the Blue Ridg^. He was an amiable, modest, and dignified gentleman, and in his appearance, as well as character, resembled his illustrious brother. Braddock's army, in their route to the west, passed through this region ; one mile west of the village, on the land of Bushrod Wash- ington, Esq., there is a well dug by them. The annexed view was taken in the central part of the village, looking down the principal street; the public building on the right, is the court-house, recently erected. The town is flourishing, and contains 1 1 mercantile stores, a branch of the Bank of the Val- ley, an academy, newspaper printing-office, 1 Presbyterian, I Epis- copal, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 1,400 (29*) 342 JEFFERSON COUNTY. Central view in Charlestown, Jefferson co. Washington's Masonic Cave is two and a half miles southeast of Charlestown. It is divided into several apartments, one of which is called the lodge-room. Tradition informs us that Washington, with others of the masonic fraternity, held meetings in this cavern. In the spring of 1844 the masons in this vicinity had a celebration there. Ruins of Trinity Church, Norborne Parish. About two miles southwest of Charlestown, near the line of the rail-road to Winchester, in an open, cultivated field, stand the re- mains of an ancient church. It is a venerable and picturesque ruin, overrun with vines, which, clinging in their beauty and ver- dure to the crumbling walls, gently wave in the passing winds. The cedar- wood of the windows is yet sound and fragrant, and on the walls are carved the names of visitors. Its age is unknown. The dead of other generation^, who repose at its base, are despoiled of the monuments that once marked their resting-place, and gave token to the stranger of the names, and ages, and virtues of the departed. The Shannondale Springs arc situated upon the Shenandoah River near the Blue Ridge. They are easier of access from the KANAWHA COUNTY. 343 Atlantic cities, than any others in Virginia. The cars from Balti- more will convey the traveller, in seven hours, through Harper's Ferry to Charlestown, at which place coaches run to the springs, a distance of five miles. The scenery of this place is most beau- tiful and magnificent, to which the engraving annexed by no means does justice. The late Dr. De Butts analyzed the Shannondale water in 1831. An examination was made from a quantity of the solid contents of both springs, obtained by evapora- tion. One hundred grains from the principal foiiutuia afFoi-ded the following results : — sulphate of lime, G.'l ; carbonate of lime, lit. 5 ; sulphate of magnesia, (epsom salt,; 23.5 ; muriate of magnesia, 1 ; muriate of soda, 1 ; sulj)hate of iron, U..3 ; carbonate of iron, 0.7. Gaseous contents : — sulphuretcd hydrogen, quantity not ascertained ; carbonic acid, quantity not ascertained. Solid contents : 30 grains to the pint. Temperature : 55^ of Fahrenheit. Conformably to the preceding analysis, the Shannondale water may be properly classed with the Saline Chalyheales, a combination of the most valuable description in the whole range of mineral waters, and closely resembling the celebrated Bedford waters in composition, operation, and efficacy. KANAWHA. Kanawha was formed in 1789, from Greenbrier and Montgomery : it is about 60 miles long, with a mean breadth of 40 miles. Gauley River unites with New River, and forms the Great Kanawha upon the eastern border of the county. The Kanawha then flows through the county in a nw. direction, receiving in its passage through the county, Elk, Pocatalico, and Coal Rivers. The sur- face of the county is much broken. It is famous for its mineral treasures, salt, coal, &c. Pop., in 1840, whites 10,910, slaves 2,560, free colored 97 ; total, 13,567. The first settlement in what is now Kanawha county, was made about twenty miles above Charleston, at Kelly's creek, by a man after whom that creek was named. One of the first settlers was Lewis Tachet, concerning whom, and the marauding parties of Indians that harassed the early settlers, there are many traditions in the Kanawha val- ley. He erected a fort at the mouth of Cole River, which was destroyed by a party of Indians from the towns on the Scioto, in 1788, when his family were made prisoners. In 1798 there was a fort built immediately above the mouth of Elk, on the site of Charles- ton. Among the earliest settlers were also the Morrisses from Culpeper, whose descend- ants, mostly of the first respectability, now form perhaps nearly a tenth of the popula- tion of the county. Joseph Carroll, the Clcndenins, John Young, William Droddy, Andrew Donnally, Michael See, and John Jones, were also very early settlers. For many years they subsisted chiefly on buffalo, bear, elk, deer, and raccoon meat, and In- dian corn broken in stone mortars. In the Indian dialect, Kanawha signifies " river of the looods." Pocatalico, a considerable tributary of that stream, signifies " plentij of fat doe." Charleston, the seat of justice for the county, is 308 miles w. of Richmond, and 46 miles e. of the Ohio River. It is a neat and flourishing village on the north bank of the Kanawha. Charles- ton was named after Charles Clendenin, an early settler, and an owner of the soil forming its site. The first house of worship was built by the Methodists, the second by the Presbyterians, in 1830, and the third by the Episcopalians, in 1835. There are in the 344 KANAWHA COUNTY. place, 1 1 dry-goods and G grocery stores, 2 saw and grist mills, a newspaper printing-office, a branch of the Bank of Virginia, and a population of about 1,500. The district court of the United States is held at this place twice a year. Within the present cen- tury Charleston has arisen from the wilderness. Where, within the memory of man, a few scattered log-huts once arrested the traveller's eye, he now sees commodious and, in some instances, elegant buildings, the abodes of comfort and refinement. The View in Charleston, Kanawha county. Kanawha is here a beautiful sheet of water, more than 300 yards wide, and is navigated by steamboats. The state turnpike, the principal thoroughfare from Richmond to Guyandotte on the Ohio, passes through the town. Fine sandstone and bituminous coal abound in the vicinity. Terra Salis, or Kanawha Salines, is a flourishing town about 6 miles above Charleston, containing 4 dry-goods and 2 grocery stores, an extensive iron-foundry, 1 Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 800. The Kanawha salt-works commence on the river, near Charles- ton, and extend on both sides for about 15 miles, giving employ- ment, directly and indirectly, to about 3,000 persons. The view annexed was taken opposite the residence of Col. Reynolds, 6 or 8 miles above Charleston, and gives an idea of the character of the scenery in which the salt-works are situated. The description below (written several years since) is from the pen of a gentle- man, now occupying a prominent office in the government of the state. It is nearly 20 miles below the falls before the Kanawha valley widens into some- thing like a" plain, and opens its beautiful vista to the eye. The mountains which enclose it on cither side become gradually depressed into hills ; and, for Ihc first time, the dense, dark volumes of smoke which ascend from the salt-furnaces, announce the KANAWHA COUNTY. 345 busy and bustling scene which enhvens the highway to the village of Charleston. What a scene of animation, indeed, contrasted with the deep solitudes from which the traveller has but just emerged. Here he is feasted with a continued succession of green meadows and cultivated fields, teeming with flocks and herds, and adorned by commodious and even elegant mansions. The chimneys of the salt manufactories pour View of the Salt-Works on the Kanawha. forth, at short intervals of space, their curling masses of black vapor, while swarms of laborers, and others connected with these establishments, are continually passing to and fro, presenting a pleasing coup d'aeil of incessant activity and industry. Nature, indeed, seems to have been prodigal in her bounties to this interesting region. The contiguous forests having been almost stripped to supply fuel to the salt-furnaces ; the precious mineral so necessary to human comfort, must have remained for ever useless but for the discovery of inexhaustible beds of coal, so convenient of access as to make the cost of procuring it scarcely worth considering. Sometimes, by suitable platforms and in clincd culverts, it is thrown from the mountain-side immediately to the door of the manufactory, and when more remote from the place of consumption, it is transported with equal ease, in wagons or cars, over rail-roads constructed for the puri)osc. The whole product of the salt district is estimated at 1,200,000 bushels annually ; and this product must continue to swell with the increasing demand, and with the employ- ment of additional capital. It is a curious fact, and worthy of philosophical inquiry, that while the salt water is obtained by boring at a depth of from 3 to 500 feet below the bed of the Kanawha, it invariably rises to a level with the river. When the latter is swollen by rains, or the redundant waters of its tributaries, the saline fluid, enclosed in suitable gums on the shore, ascends like the mercury in its tube, and only falls when the river is restored to its wonted channel. How this mysterious correspondence is pro- duced, is a problem which remains to be solved. Theories and speculation I have heard on the subject, but none seem to me to be precisely consonant with the principles of science. The discovery of salt water in this region was led to by a large buffalo-lick on the ne. side of the river, 5 miles above Charleston. In this lick the first salt-well was sunk, in 1809. Several vestiges remain on the Kanawha, which show that the Indians were ac- quainted with and made use of the salt water. Remains of rude pottery are found in abundance in the neighborhood, respecting which there is but little doubt that they are the remains of vessels used by them for the evaporation of the salt water. That the neighborhood of the Big Lick waS their favorite resort, is evinced by the traces of their idle hours to be found upon the neighboring rocks. A short distance below the Big 44 346 KANAWHA COUNTY. Lick was, some years since, a rock called the pictured or calico rock, on which the natives had sculptured many rude figures of animals, birds, &c. This rock was finally destroyed to make furnace chimneys. Another similar sculptured rock is, or was lately, on the sw. side of the river, upon the summit of the nearest hill. The article aimexed, ori'ginally published in the Lexington Gazette in 1843, above the signature of H. R., describes a curiosity peculiarly interesting to the scientific, and promising to have a wonderful influence upon tlie prosperity of this region. TnE Gas Wells of Kanawha. — Tiiese wonderful wells have been so lately discov- ered, that as yet only a brief and imperfect notice of them has appeared in the news- papers. But they are a phenomenon so very curious and interesting, that a more com- plete description will doubtless be acceptable to the public. They are, in fact, a new thing under the sun ; for in all the history of the world, it does not appear that a fountain of strong brine was ever before known to be mingled with a fountain of inflammable gas, sufficient to pump it out in a constant stream, and then, by its combustion, to evaporate the whole into salt of the best quality. We shall introduce our account of these wells by some remarks on the geological structure of the country at the Kanawha salt-works, and on the manner in which the salt water is obtained. The country is mountainous, and the low grounds along tlie river are altogether allu- vial, the whole space, of about a mile in width, having been at some time the bed of the river. The rocks are chiefly sandstone of various qualities, lying in beds, or strata, from two inches to several feet in thickness.. These strata are nearly horizontal, but dipping a little, as in other parts of the country, towards the nw. At the salt-works they have somehow been heaved up into a swell above the line of general direction, so as to raise the deep strata nigherto the surface, and thus to bring those in which the salt water is found within striking-distance. Among the sand-rocks are found layers of slate and coal ; this latter being also, by the same upheaving, made more conveniently accessible than in most other parts of the country. The salt water is obtained by sinking a tight curb, or gum, at the edge of the river, down about twenty feet, to the rock which underlies the river, and then boring into the rock. At first the borings did not exceed two hundred feet in depth, but the upper strata of water being exhausted, the wells were gradually deepened, the water of the lower strata being generally stronger than the upper had ever been. Until last year, (1842,) none of the wells exceeded six or seven hundred feet in depth. Mr. Tompkins, an enterprising salt-maker, was the first to extend his borings to a thousand feet, or more. His experiment was attended with a most unexpected result. He had somewhat exceeded a thousand feet, when he struck a crevice in the rock, and forth gushed a powerful stream of mingled gas and salt water. Generally, the salt water in the wells was obtained in rock merely porous, and rose by hydrostatic pressure to the level of the river. To obtain the strong water of the lower strata, unmixed with the weak water above, it is the practice to insert a copper tube into the hole, making it fit tightly below by means of wrapping on the outside, and attaching the upper end to the pump, by which the water is drawn up to the furnaces on the river bank. When Mr. Tompkins inserted his tube, the water gushed out so forcibly, that instead of applying the pump, he only lengthened his tube above the well. Tlie stream followed it with undiminished velocity to his water-cistern, sixty feet above the level of the river. In the next place, he inserted the end of the spout from which the water and gas flowed, into a large hogshead, making a hole in the bottom to let out the water into the cistern. Thus the light gas was caught in the upper part of the hogshead, and thence conducted by pipes to the furnace, where it mingled with the blaze of the coal fire. It so increased the heat as to make very little coal necessary ; and if the furnace were adapted to the economical use of this gaseous fuel, it would evaporate all the water of the well, though the quantity is sufficient to make five hundred bushels of salt per day. The same gentleman has since obtained a second gas-well, near the former, and in all respects similar to it. Other proprietors of wells have also struck gas-fountains by deep boring. In one of these wells the gas forces the water up violently, but by fits, the gush continuing for some two or three hours, and then ceasing for about the same length of time. In another of these wells there has been very recently struck, a gas- fountain that acts with such prodigious violence as to make the tubing of the well in the usual way impossible ; when the copper tube was forced down through the rushing stream of brine and gas, it was immediately flattened by the pressure ; and the auger- hole must be enlarged to admit a tube sufficiently strong and capacious to give vent to KANAWHA COUNTY. 347 the stream without being crushed. In another well, a mile and a half from any gas- well, a powerful stream of gas has been recently struck. It forces up the water with great power ; but, unfortunately for the proprietor, the water is too weak to be profitably worked. It appears from this fact, that the gas is not inseparably connected with strong brine. When struck before good salt water is reached, it will operate injuri- ously, for no water obtained below it can rise at all, unless the pressure of the gas be taken off by means of a strong tube extending below it. Several wells have been bored to a depth equal to that of the gas-wells, without striking the gas ; the source of whicli seems to lie below, perhaps far below, the depth of the wells. This light, elastic substance, wjieresoever and howsoever generated, naturally presses upwards for a vent, urging its way through every pore and crevice of the superincumbent rocks ; and the well-borer's auger must find it in one of the narrow routes of its upward passage, or penetrate to its native coal-bed, before it will burst forth by the artificial vent. The opinion just intimated, that the gas originates in deep coal-beds, is founded on the fact that it is the same sort of gas that constitutes the dangerous fire-damp of coalpits, and the same that is manufactured out of bituminous coal for illuminating our cities. It is a mixture of carbureted and sulphureted hydrogen. Philosophers tell us that bituminous coal becomes anthracite by the conversion of its bitumen and sulphur into this gas, and that water acts a necessary part in the process. Whether the presence of salt water causes a more rapid evolution of the gas, the present writer will not undertake to say ; but, somehow, the quantity generated in the salt region of Kanawha is most extraordinary. It finds in this region innumerable small natural vents. It is seen in many places bubbling up through the sand at the bottom of the river, and probably brings up salt water with it, as in the gas-wells, but in small quantity! The celebrated burning spring is the only one of its natural vents apparent on dry land. This stream of gas, unaccompanied by water, has forced its way from the rocks below, through seventy or eighty feet of alluvial ground, and within eighty yards of the river bank. It is near this burning spring where the principal gas-wells have been found. But, twenty-five years ago, or more, a gas-fountain was struck in a well two hundred feet deep, near Charleston, seven miles below the Burning Spring This blew up, by fits, a jet of weak salt water twenty or thirty feet high. On a torch beinor ap- plied to it, one night, brilliant flames played and flashed about the watery column in the most wonderful manner. The Hon. Lewis Summers, (says a Kanawha paper,) was born of highly respectable parentage in Fairfax co., Nov. 7th, 1778. He entered upon the duties of active life during the presidency of the elder Adams. With the ardor which distinguished the Virginia youth at that period, he used his inflilence to achieve the civic victory which bore Mr. Jefferson into the presidential chair ; and, through a long life, adhered to the political principles of his younger days with an undeviating constancy. In 1808, here- moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, and served for several years in the senate and letrislature of that state. In 1814, he took up his permanent residence in this county. In 1817-18, he served in the legislature of Virginia, and in Feb., 1819, he was chosen one of the judges of the general court, and a judge of the Kanawha judicial circuit. For some time he was a member of the board of public works of Va. ; and in 1829 he was Elected a member of the convention to revise the constitution of the state. In all these relations his own strong, original, and vigorous mind, has been indelibly impressed upon the times and events with which he was connected. As a judge, he was most able and faithful. As a statesman, his efforts were perseveringly directed to the best interests of his country. Most of all that Virginia has accomplished in the great work of internal improvement, has been ascribed to his exertions. In that most remarkable assemblage, the state convention for the amendment of the constitution of Va., which sat in 1829-30, the sterling, vigorous, and practical character of Judge Summers' mind made him, before the close of its deliberations, one of the most useful, if not one of the most conspicuous members of that illustrious body. As the able champion of the true principles of elective government, he, in that assembly, performed services and acquired a reputation which will ever cause his memory to be cherished with warm and respectful affection by the people of we.stern Virginia. Mr. Summers died at the White Sulphur Springs, August 27th, 1843,\fter having been for more than 24 years one of the judges of the general court of Va. He wa;* interred in Charleston. 348 KING AND QUEEN COUNTY. KING AND QUEEN. King and Queen was formed from New Kent in 1691, the third year of the reign of William and Mary. The Mattapony runs on its sw. and the Piankatank on a portion of its ne. boundary. Its length is 40 miles, mean width 1 1 miles. Immense beds of marl run through the county, and furnish an inexhaustible source of im- provement to the soil. No county in the state contains memorials of greater magnificence. On the Mattapony, a beautiful stream, are the vestiges of many ancient and once highly-improved seats, among which are Laneville, Pleasant Hill, Newington, Mantapike, Mantua, Rickahoe, White Ilall, &c., known as the former resi- dences of the Braxtons, Corbins, Robinsons, &c. Cotton and In- dian corn are extensively produced. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,426, slaves 5,9.37, free colored 499; total, 10,862. The Court-House is near the Mattapony, 53 miles ne. from Rich- mond. Newtown in the n., and Little Plymouth in the s. part of the county, are small places ; the former, which is the largest, has about 20 dwellings. Dunkirk, now a post-office only, was, 30 or 40 years since, a village of considerable trade ; but its unhealthi- ness and other causes have nearly obliterated it. This county is the birthplace of Carter Braxton, one of the signers of the Decla- ration of Independence. He was born at Newington, September lOth, 1736. His father was a wealthy planter, and his mother a daughter of Robert Carter, at one time president of the council of the colony. Mr. Braxton, having graduated at William and Mary at the age of nineteen, married Miss Judith Robinson, an accomplished lady, and daughter of a wealthy planter of Middlesex. His style of living was according to the general mode of southern hospitality of that day, and subjected him to great expense. As early as 1765, he was a member of the House of Burgesses when Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions were passed. In 1769, when Gov. Botetourt, in consequence of the bold and spirited measures introduced, suddenly dissolved the Assembly, Mr. Braxton was one of the members who retired to a private room and signed a written non-im- portation agreement. In the next house, he was on three of the standing committees. He was elected a mem.ber from King William to the first Virginia convention, in 1774. At the period of the disturbance caused by the removal of the gunpowder from the magazine at Williamsburg by Lord Dunmore, Mr. Braxton was essentially instrumental in effecting a settlement on the part of his lordship which pacified the excited populace. He was a very active and useful member of the last House of Burgesses ever convened in Virginia by royal authority, and was employed upon the committees of the house to whom were referred the subjects of dispute between hr§ lordship and the legislature. Mr. Braxton was a member of the convention chosen by the people which met in Richmond in July, 17 75, and was placed upon the committee of public safety. In December of the same year, he was appointed the successor of Peyton Randolph in Congress, that gentleman having died a short time previous. He was omitted in the election of mem- bers to Congress subsequent upon the Declaration of Independence. But on a meeting of the General Assembly, the first under the new constitution, of which he was a mem- ber, he, with Mr. Jefferson, received a vote of thanks from the Assembly, " for the elo. quence, ability, and integrity with which they executed the important trust reposed in them, as two of the delegates of the count' ii'iikt vvnunni in the general Congress." He was a member of Congress from 1777 to 1783, and in 1785. From 1786 to 1791 he was a member of the council of the state, and from 1794 until the day of his death, Oct. 6th, 1797. Mr. Braxton's services, it will be seen, were highly important. The confidence and attachment of his constituents were unequivocally manifested in every vicissitude of circumstance, some of which were of the most afflictive kind, even to the close of his life. KING WILLIAM COUNTY. 349 KING GEORGE. King George was formed in 1720, from Richmond county. It lies between the Potomac and the Rappahannock, and is 18 miles long, with a mean breadth of 10; its surface is hilly, and its soil diversified. Its principal products are Indian corn, oats, wheat, tobacco, and some cotton. Pop. in 1840, whites 2,269, slaves 3,382, free colored 276 ; total, 5,927. King George C. H., situated near the centre of the county, 82 miles NNE. from Richmond, and 76 sw. of Washington, contains about a dozen houses. Port Conway, on the Rappahannock, op- posite Port Royal, and Millville on the line of this and Westmore- land counties, are small villages KING WILLIAM. King William was formed in 1701 from King and Queen. The mean length of the county is 32 miles ; mean breadth 8i miles. The county lies between the Pamunkey and Mattapony, which unite at the se. angle of the county, and form the York. The land on the borders of these streams is very fertile, and their waters afford convenient navigation, as well as fine shad and herring fisheries. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,150, slaves 5,780, free colored 338 ; total, 9,258. King William C. H. lies 27 miles ne. of Rich- mond, 2 miles from the Mattapony. It contains but a few dwell- ings beside the public buildings, which are of brick, and stand in a handsome square. Ayletts is a small village at the head of navigation, on the Mattapony, 30 miles above its junction with the Pamunkey. The Pamunkey and the Mattapony meet at the southerly angle of the county, and form York River. The place of their junction is named West Point. It was the place of habitation of Opechan- canough, the brother of Powhatan, and king of Pamunkee. "He was the author of the great massacre in 1622, the 'Sicilian Ves- pers' of the colony. When very old and infirm, and nearly blind, he headed his people in battle, borne on a litter ; he was at length captured by Governor Berkeley, with a party of horse, and finally assassinated by a private hand while a prisoner at Jamestown, displaying to the last moment the fortitude of a 'stoic of the woods,' unimpaired by age, and unshaken by calamity." In " Ba- con's Rebellion," the followers of Bacon occupied West Point, and strongly fortified it. West Point was, anciently, a large village : it has now but one good house, and the ruins of several others. There is the rem- nant of the Mattapony tribe of Indians, now dwindled down to only 15 or 20 souls. Further up on the Pamunkey, at what is call- (30) 350 LEE COUNTY. ed Indian Town, are about 100 descendants of the Pamunkeys, Their Indian character is nearly extinct, by intermixing with the whites and negroes. Their land is in the hands of trustees ap- pointed to hold it for the tribe. They manufacture pottery and baskets very neatly. A traveller, as long ago as 1759, thus speaks of this Indian settlement : On the north side of Pamunkey River stands the Pamunkey Indian town, where at present are the few remains of that large tribe ; the rest having dwindled away through intemperance and disease. They live in little wigwams, or cabins, upon the river ; and have a very fine tract of land of about 2000 acres, which they are restrained from alien, ating by act of Assembly. Tlieir employment is chiefly hunting or fishing for the neigh- boring gentry. They commonly dress like the Virginians, and I have sometimes mista- ken them for the lower sort of that pepple. On the banksofMoncuen creek, just above Warranuncock island, now known as Goodwin's island, are two Indian mounds or tumuli, somewhat reduced in size by cultivation, yet eight or ten feet high, and about sixty feet in diameter. Evident traces exist of an Indian settlement in the vicinity, on the Pampitike estate. LANCASTER. Lancaster was formed in 1652. It lies on the n. side of the Rappahannock, at its mouth, and is 24 miles long, with a mean breadth of 8 miles. Pop. in 1840, whites 1,903, slaves 2,478, free colored 247 ; total, 4,628. Lancaster C. H., situated near the centre of the county, 83 miles NE. of Richmond, contains a population of about 100. Kilmarnock is a small village on a creek putting up from Chesapeake Bay. Pain's Cross Roads, in the se. part of the county, was, 20 years since, a place of considerable trade ; but at present it has a few dwellings only. In the year 1762, James Waddel, the Blind Preacher described in Wirt's British Spy, was settled over the churches of Lancaster and Northumberland. His residence in the latter part of his time here, was on Curratoman River. For a more full notice of this extraordinary divine, see Orange county. LEE. Lee was formed in 1792, from Russell, and named after Henry Lee, Gov. of \a. from 1791 to 1794 ; it lies in the southwestern angle of the state, bordering on Tennessee and Kentucky. Its greatest length is 75 miles ; breadth 10 miles. The Cumberland mountains run on the Kentucky line, the Powell mountain is on a part of the se. boundary, and there are several other ridges in the county, known as Stone, Chesnut, Wallens, &c. Powell's River LEWIS COUNTY. 351 runs lengthwise through the county into Tennessee. Much of the land is of a very black, rich soil. The staples are beef, pork, and horses. The people of this county make their own sugar and mo- lasses from the maple sugar tree, which grows in great abun- dance. Pop. in 1840, whites 7,829, slaves 580, free colored 32 ; to- tal, 8,441. Jonesville, the county-seat, lies 284 miles from Richmond, 65 from Knoxville, Tenn., and 60 from Barboursville, Kentucky, on one of the branches of Powell's River. It stands on a beautiful eminence, in the midst of wild mountain scenery. It Avas founded in 1793, and contains a church, 5 stores, and about 40 dwellings. The following account of a duel which took place in this county in the year 1823, is from a newspaper of the time : A remarkable duel took place in Lee county, on Sunday, Dec. 7th, which has been the subject of much conversation here Two negro men, belonging to two gen- tlemen, had been smitten by the charms of a sable beauty, and neither being willing to yield to the other, they determined, like gentlemen, to decide their pretensions by a duel. The arrangement was accordingly made, and they met in a distant and retired wood, unattended by seconds, and without the knowledge of any other person — each armed with a trusty rifle. Their proceedings appear to have been conducted with a strict honor, the more remarkable in such case, as it was exhibited by slaves. The ground was meas- ured oflT about fifteen paces ; the antagonists took their posts ; the word was given by one of them, and both instantly fell — one shot through the heart, and the other through the right breast. The former expired immediately ; the latter, with great difficulty and pain, crawled to a small path not far from the scene of combat ; but unable to go fur- ther, he remained by it in the hope that some one would pass and find him. He lay there, under all the suffering which his wound and exposure inflicted, until the followmg Tuesday, before he was found. Depressed and debased as that unfortunate race is, there are occasional instances in which they exhibit traits of character which elevate them above the sphere to which our policy compels us to confine them. The strict ob. servance of honorable conduct, and the cool, determined courage of these negroes, af- ford an example which ought to make some gentlemen of high condition blush LEWIS. Lewis was formed in 1816, from Harrison, and named in honor of Col. Charles Lewis, who fell at the battle of Point Pleasant. It is 60 miles long, with a mean width of about 20 miles. It is w^atered by the Little Kanawha and west fork of Monongahela ; the surface is rocky, hilly, and in some parts mountainous: on the streams there is considerable fertile land. Stone-coal of an ex- cellent quality abounds in some parts of the county. In 1843, portions of its territory were set off to the neM^ counties of Barbour and Ritchie. Large quantities of sugar, and some tobacco, are raised in this county ; the greatest staple is Indian corn. Pop. in 1840, whites 7,989, slaves 124, free colored 38 ; total, 8,151. Weston, the county-seat, is situated at the west fork of Monon- gahela, 281 miles northwesterly from Richmond, and 50 from the Ohio River, and contains about 60 dwellings. 352 LOUDON COUNTY. LOGAN. Logan was formed in 1824, from Giles, Kanawha, Cabell, and Tazewell, and named from the Mingo chief It is about 70 miles long, with a mean width of 35 miles. It is watered by Guyan- dotte, Tug Fork of Big Sandy, and branches of the Great Kanawha. The surface is generally mountainous, and the soil adapted to gra- zing. It is one of the largest, wildest, and most sparsely inhabited counties in the state, with a population of less than 2 persons to a square mile. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,159, slaves 150 ; total, 4,309. Lawnsville, or Logan C. H., is 351 miles west of Richmond, in a fertile bottom in a bend of the river Guyandotte, surrounded by mountains abounding in stone-coal and iron ore. It was laid off in 1827, and contains a few dwellings only. The destruction of the Roanoke settlement in the spring of 1757, by a party of Shawnees, gave rise to a campaign into this region of country, called by the old settlers " the Sandy creek voyage." This expedition was for the purpose of punishing the In- dians, and to establish a military post at the mouth of the Great Sandy, to counteract the influence of the French at Gallipolis with the Indians. It was composed of four companies, under the command of Andrew Lewis. The captains were Audley Paul, Wm. Preston, (ancestor of the late Gov. P.,) Wm. Hogg, and John Alexander, father of Archibald Alexander, D. D., president of Princeton Theological Seminary. The party were ordered, by a messenger from Gov. Fauquier, to return. They had then penetrated nearly to the Ohio, without accomplisjiing any of the objects of their expedition. When the army on their return arrived at the Burning spring, in the present limits of this county, they had suflered much from extreme cold, as well as hunger : their fear of alarming the Indians having prevented them from either hunting or kindling fires Some buffalo hides, which they had left at the spring on their way down, were cut into tuggs or long thongs, and eaten by the troops, after having been exposed to the heat from the flame of the spring. Hence they called the stream near by, now dividing Ken- tucky from Virginia, Tiigg River, which name it yet bears. Several who detached themselves from the main body, to hunt their way home, perished. The main body, un- der Col. Lewis, reached home after much suffering ; the strings of their moccasins, the belts of their hunting-shirts, and the flaps of their shot-pouches, having been all the food they had eaten for several days. LOUDON. Loudon was formed in 1757, from Fairfax, and named in honor of the Earl of Loudon, commander of the military affairs in America during the latter part of the French and Indian war. It is about 28 miles long, and 22 broad. The Blue Ridge, forming its western boundary, rises to an altitude of 1000 to 1400 feet above tide- water, and from 300 to 700 above the adjacent country. Another range, of equal height, called the Short Hills, in the nw. part of the county, runs parallel with the Blue Ridge about 12 miles. The Kittoctan mountain runs centrally through the county, parallel with the above. This county contains all varieties of soil, from rich alluvion to an unproductive clay. The eastern por- tion is most unproductive, in consequence of a wretched system of farming hitherto practised, of cropping with corn and tobacco, without endeavoring to improve the soil ; some of it, formerly fer- LOUDON COUNTY. 353 tile, is now thrown out to common as useless. The middle and western portion of the county has generally a good soil. Plaster of Paris and clover act finely in improving the soil. Pop. in 1840, whites 13,840, slaves 5,273, free colored 1,318 ; total, 20,431. Central View in Leesburg. Leesburg, the county-seat, lies in the northern part of the county, S4 miles nw. of Washington, and 153 miles n. of Richmond. It was named from the Lee family, who were among the early set- tlers of the county: it was established in September, 1758, in the 32d year of the reign of George 11. Mr. Nicholas Minor, who owned 60 acres around the court-house, had then laid it off into streets and lots, some of which, at the passage of the act, had been built upon. The act constituted the Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Esq., Thomas Mason, Esq., Francis Lightfoot Lee, James Hamil- ton, Nicholas Minor, Josias Clapham, ^Eneas Campbell, John Hugh, Francis Hague, and William West, gentlemen, trustees. for the town. Leesburg is well and compactTy built, its streets are well paved, and it is supplied with fine water, conducted into the town in pipes from a neighboring spring at the base of a moun- tain. It contains the county buildings, (of which the court-house is shown in the above view,) 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian, and 1 Methodist church, a bank, a very handsome academy recently erected, 1 newspaper printing-office, and a population of about 1500. During the French and Indian war, Braddock's army passed through here. Traces of the road cut by them are still discernible, about a mile s. of the village. Braddock remained in Leesburg several days ; the house he occupied (now down) stood in Loudon street. Washington, who was here, also put up in that portion of the town. Middleburg, near the line of Fauquier county, 16 miles ssw. of Leesburg, is a flourishing village, surrounded by a fertile country. It contains 6 or 8 mercantile stores, 1 Epis., 1 45 (3U*) 354 LOUDON COUNTY. Met., and 1 free church used by Baptists, and a population of about 500. Waterford, 6 miles nvv. of Leesburg, contains 4 mercantile stores, 1 Friends' meeting-house, 1 free church, and about 70 dwell- ings. There are, beside these, several small villages in the county, containing from 6 to 25 dwellings ; among them are Aldie, Bloom- field, Hillsborough, Lovettsville, Mount Gilead, Montville, Phil- mont, Snickersville, and Union. " A very considerable contrast is observable in the manners of the inhabitants in the different sections of the county. That part lying Nw. of Waterford was originally settled by Germans, and is called the German settlement ; and the middle of the county, svv. of Waterford and w. of Leesburg, was mostly settled by emigrants from the middle states, many of whom were Friends. In these two sections the farms are small, and cultivated by free labor." The Quakers in this state, as well as elsewhere, suffered much persecution at an early day. By referring to page 151 of this volume, the reader will perceive the severity of the laws passed against them in the early history of Virginia. In the revolution, their non-conformity to the military laws of the state, from con- scientious motives, brought them' into difficulty, as will be seen in the annexed extract from Kercheval : — At the beginning of the war, attempts were made to compel them to bear arms and serve in the militia ; but it was soon found unavailing. They would not perform any military duty required of them : not even the scourge would compel them to submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore abandoned, and the legislature en. acted a law to levy a tax upon their property, to hire substitutes to perform militia duty in their stead. This, with other taxes, bore peculiarly heavy upon them. Their per- sonal property was sold under the hammer to raise these public demands ; and before the war was over, many of them were reduced to great distress in their pecuniary cir- cumstances. This selling of Quakers' property afforded great opportunity for designing individuals to make profitable speculations. They continued to refuse to pay taxes for several 3'ears after the war, holding it unlawful to contribute their money towards discharging the war debt. This being at length adjusted, no part of our citizens pay tlieir public demands with more punctuality, (except their muster-fines, which they still refuse to pay.) Owing to their industrious and sober habits, they soon recovered from their pe- cuniary distress produced by the war, and are, generally speaking, the most independent part of our community. Vast numbers of them have migrated to the western country, and several of their meetings are entirely broken up. They continued their ancient practice of depending upon their household manufactures for their clothing ; and it was a long time before they gave in to the practice of purchasing European goods. A few of them entered into the mercantile business; several others erected fine merchant mills ; others engaged in mechanical pursuits ; but the great body of them are farmers, and are generally most excellent cultivators of the soil. All who have read Lee's " Memoirs of the War," will doubtless recollect the thrilling narration of the pretended desertion of John Champe, sergeant-major of Lee's celebrated, partisan legion. He perilled his life, and, what was far more sacred to this high-minded soldier, his reputation, to bring the traitor Arnold into the power of the Americans, and thus save the life of the unfortunate Andre ; but his well-laid plans were frustrated. Champe was a native of this county. Near the close of the revolution he returned to Lou- LOUDON COUNTY. 355 don, but removed thence after some j^ears to Kentucky, where he died. When Champe arrived in New York', he was placed in the company of a Captain Cameron, in Arnold's legion. A portion of Cameron's private journal, published in the British United Service , Journal, gives some interesting anecdotes of Champe. { Amor^ otKers, it seems that his old captain after the war married in Vi" ginia, and while travelling through Loudon with his servant, was benighted in a severd thunder-storm in the woods. Their situation was one of peril. They at last descried a light glimmering through the trees, and found it to proceed from a log-house, in which they sought shelter. They were most cordially received by its owner, as will be seen in the annexed extract from the journal of Capt. Cameron : He would not permit either master or man to think of their Iiorses, but insisting that we should enter the house, where fire and changes of apparel awaited us, he himself led the jaded animals to a shed, rubbed them down, and provided them with forage. It would have been aftectation of the worst kind to dispute his pleasure in this instance, so I readily sought the shelter of his roof, to which a comely dame bade me welcome, and busied herself in preventing my wishes. My drenched uniform was exchanged for a suit of my host's apparel ; my servant was accommodated in the same manner, and we soon afterwards found ourselves seated beside a blazing fire of wood, by the light of which our hostess assiduously laid out a well-stocked supper table. I need not say that all this was in the highest degree comfortable. Yet I was not destined to sit down to supper with- out discovering still greater cause for wonder. In due time our host returned, and the first glance which I cast towards him satisfied me that he was no stranger. The second set every thing like doubt at rest. Sergeant Champe stood before me ; the same in com- plexion, in feature, though somewhat less thoughtful in the expression of his eye, as when he first joined my company in New York. I cannot say that my sensations on recognising my ci-devant sergeant were altogether agreeable. The mysterious manner in which he both came and went, the success with which he had thrown a veil over his own movements, and the recollection that I wa3 the guest of a man who probably entertained no sense of honor, either public or private, excited in me a vague and undefined alarm, which I found it impossible on the instant to conceal. I started, and the movement was not lost upon Champe. He examined niy face closely ; and a light appearing to bufst in all at once upon his memory, he ran forward towards the spot where I sat. " Welcome, welcome. Captain Cameron," said he, " a thousand tin)cs welcome to my roof ; you behaved well to me while I was under your command, and deserve more of hospitality than I possess the power to offer ; but what I do possess is very much at your service, and heartily glad am I that accident should have thus brought us together again. You have doubtless looked upon me as a twofold traitor, and I cannot blame you if you have. Yet I should wish to stand well in your cstiniation, too ; and tlierefore I will, if you please, give a faithful narrative of the causes which led both to my arrival in New York, and to my abandonment of the British army on the shores of the Chesapeake. But I will not enter u])on the subject now. You are tired with your day's travel ; you stand in need of food and rest. Eat and drink, I pray you, and sleep soundly ; and to- morrow, if you are so disposed, I will try to put my own character straight in the esti- mation of the only British officer of whose good opinion I am covetous." There was so much frankness and apparent sincerity in this, that I could not resist it, so I sat down to supper with a mind perfectly at ease ; and having eaten heartily, I soon afterwards retired to rest, on a clean pallet which was spread for me on the floor, Sleep was not slow in visiting my eyelids : nor did I awake until long after the sun had risen on the morrow, and the hardy and active settlers, to whose kindness I was indebted, had gone through a considerable portion t>f their day's labor. I found my host next morning the same open, candid, and hospitable man that he had shown himself on first recognising me. He made no allusion, indeed, during breakfast, to what had fallen from him over night ; but when he heard me talk of getting my horses ready, he begged to have a few minutes' conversation with me. His wile, for 356 LOUDON COUNTY. such my hostess was, immediately withdrew, under the pretext of attending to her household affairs, upon which he took a seat beside me and began his story. ' i>. '-irxrf Oak Hill, the Seat of President Monroe. Oak Hill, the seat of the late James Monroe, President of the United States, is situated 9 miles s. of Leesburg, on a commanding eminence enveloped in a beautiful grove of oaks, locusts, and poplars. The place is now in the possession of Samuel L. Gover- neur, Esq., a son-in-law of Mr. Monroe. The main building, with a Grecian front, is of brick, and was built by Mr. Monroe while in the presidential chair. The one on the left is a wooden dwell- ing of humble pretensions, and was occupied by him previous to his inauguration. The memoir annexed is from the Encyclopaedia Americana. Facsimile of the signature of James Monroe. James Monroe, the fifth President of the United Stales, was born in Westmoreland county, April 28th, 1758. He graduated at William and Mary, and having entered as a cadet in the American army in 1776, he was soon after appointed lieutenant. He was in the battle of Harlaem Heights, White Plains, and Trenton. At the latter, perceiving that the enemy were endeavoring to form a six-gun battery at the head of King-street, Lieut. Monroe, with Capt. Wm. Washington, rushed forward with the advance-guard, drove the artillerists from tlieir guns, and took two pieces which they were in the act of firing. These officers were both wounded in this successful enterprise, and for his gal- lant conduct, Lieut. Monroe was promoted to a captaincy. He was aid to Lord Stirling in the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, and was at Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon- mouth, in which actions he distinguished himself. By the recommendation of Washing- ton, he was appointed to raise a regiment, of which he was to be given the command ; but in the exhausted state of Virginia, he failed to raise his regiment, and therefore re- sumed the study of the law under Jefferson, then governor of the state. He was active as a volunteer in the militia, and in the subsequent invasions of Virginia, and in 1780 LOUDON COUNTY. 357 risited the southern army, under De Kalb, as a military commissioner, at the request of Mr. Jefferson. In 1782, he was a member of the Virginia legislature, and of the executive council, and in 1783, at the age of 24, a member of Congress, in which he served three years. He was always at his post, and engaged in the most arduous duties. He introduced a resolution to vest in Congress the power to regulate the trade with all the states, and other important resolutions. He was appointed a commissioner to settle the bound|g* between New York and Massachusetts. In 1787 he was again a member of the W ginia legislature, and in 1788, of the Virginia convention. From 1790 to 1794 he was a member of the United States senate. From 1794 to 1796 he was minister plenipo- tentiary to France, and he was recalled by Washington, under an implied censure. In 1799, under the nomination of Mr, Madison, he was appointed governor of Virginia. In 1803 he was minister extraordinary to France, to act in conjunction with Mr. Liv- ingston, the resident minister. This mission was of the utmost consequence, as it terminated in the acquisition of Louisiana. In the same year, he was appointed minister to London, and in 1804, to Spain. In 1806, in conjunction with the late William Pinckney, he was appointed min- ister to London, where he pursued the negotiations with the Fox ministry. Mr. Monroe having been prominently brought forward as a candidate for the presidency, as the suc- cessor of Mr. Jefferson, returned from London ; but soon after withdrew from the can- vass. In 1810 he was again elected to the legislature, and again appointed governor. He was appointed secretary of state, Nov. 26, 1811. The war department being in a very embarrassed state, on the departure of its head, Gen. Armstrong, Mr. Monroe un- dertook it, and made extraordinary and very useful exertions to help the war on the lakes, and the defence of New Orleans. After he had reduced to order the war depart, ment, he resumed the duties of the department of state ; which he continued to exercise until, in 1817, he was chosen successor to James Madison in the presidency. In 1821, he was re-elected by a vote unanimous, with a single exception, one vote in New Hamp- sJiire having been given to J. Q. Adams. Mr. Monroe was wise and fortunate in the selection of his ministers. He went fur- ther than either of his two immediate predecessors, in maintaining the necessity of an efficient general government, and in strengthening every arm of the national defence. He encouraged the army, increased the navy, and caused those foreign naval expeditions to be sent out to the West Indies, the Mediterranean, the coast of Africa, and the shores of South America, which have given instruction to our officers, augmented our seamen, protected the national commerce, and caused the country to be universally respected by distant nations. He ordered the principal headlands, and exposed points along our bor- ders and sea-coasts, to be accurately surveyed, plans of fortifications drawn, and the re- ports made up, with a view to the ultimate complete defence of the frontiers of the Uni- ted States, both on the land and sea-side. He directed inquiries, surveys, and plans, as to the most suitable sites for the northern and southern naval depots for the repair and accommodation of our fleets, in time of war and peace. The cession of Florida, by Spain, to the United States, was efiected during his administration. It was during his administration, that the emancipated Spanish and Portuguese colonies were formally re- cognised by the United States. He assumed high constitutional ground in favor of in- ternal improvement and the United States Bank. He was mainly instrumental in pro- moting the pension law for the relief of indigent revolutionary soldiers. During his administration the illustrious Lafayette visited these shores as the guest of the nation. He took the most energetic measures in favor of the abolition of the slave-trade, and continued to encourage the establishment of the principles of commerce with all nations, upon the basis of free and equal reciprocity. It is a high compliment to the firmness, judgment, and sagacity of Mr. Monroe, that he proclaimed to the world the determination of the United Slates not to suffer any Eu- ropean government to interfere with the internal concerns of the independent South American governments. The well-timed expression of this sentiment put an end to all rumors of any armed intervention in the affairs of Spanish America Col. Monroe re- tired from the office of president at the end of his second term. In the late stages of his life, he was associated with the ex-presidents Jefferson and Madison, in founding the University of Virginia. Subsequently, he was chosen a mem- ber of the convention of 1829-30, for revising the state constitution, and presided over its deliberations. He did not disdain to act as justice of the peace in Loudon. Mr. Mouroe died at New York, July 4th, 1831, the anniversary of American Inde- pendence, like the ex-presidents Jefferson and Adams. Col. Monroe's biography is inti- 358 LOUISA COUNTY. mately and honorably connected with the civil and military history of the United States. He was one of the leaders of the democratic or Jefferson party, and involved in most of the party questions and occurrences by which the country was divided and agitated. He possessed a very energetic, persevering spirit; a vigorous mind, and extraordinary powers of application. In his unlimited devotion to public business, he neglected his private af- fairs. He retired from office extremely deep in debt ; a situation from which he was re- tjved, though when almost too late, by liberal appropriations of Congress to satisfy the rge claims which he preferred on the government for moneys disbursed, and debts in- curred on its account. LOUISA. Louisa was formed from Hanover in 1742: its mean length is 30, mean breadth 18 miles. The county is watered by the North and South Anna Rivers and their numerous branches. The sur- face is hilly ; the soil, originally of middling fertility, has been in- jured by injudicious agriculture. Several gold mines have been opened in the county, but not worked with much profit: in 1840 the gold mined was worth $3,000. Pop. in 1840, whites 6,047, slaves 9,010, free colored 376 ; total, 15,433. Louisa C. H., 60 miles nw. of Richmond, on the line of the Louisa rail-road, is a small village containing a few dwellings only. There are no places of note in the county. Louisa has been the scene of no important historical incident. Its citizens bore their full share in the Indian and French war of 1755, and in the war of the revolution. Tarleton with his cavalry passed up by the court-house in 1781, on his expedition into Albe- marle : and when Lafayette had united with Wayne at the Raccoon Ford, on the Rapid Ann, and turned to pursue the British general from M'hom he had been retreating, he made a forced and rapid march across this county, from Brock's bridge on the North Anna, to the Fluvanna line, in order to intercept the enemy. The road which he opened for this purpose is still known as " the Mca^quis's road ;" passing southwesterly three or four miles above the Green Spring. In the same year, two tories who had attached them- selves, as marauders, to the British army, were summarily hung by one Holland and another man, near the Goochland boundary, twenty-one miles south from Louisa C. H., with the countenance and before the eyes of the neighboring people. Louisa first sent Patrick Henry as a delegate to the House of Burgesses in 1765, soon a,fter his removal from Hanover ; and she again elected him in 1776-7, till he returned to his native county. As the Virginia House of Burgesses had the merit of originating that powerful engine of resistance — corresponding committees be- tween the legislatures of the diflerent colonies — so Louisa had the honor of furnishing the member, in the person of Dabney Carr, Esq., who introduced the measure March 12th, 1773. The resolu- tions adopted were entered upon the public journals, one of which placed Mr. Carr on the standing committee of correspond- ence and inquiry. Wirt says of him : LUNENBURG COUNTY. 359 In supporting these resolutions, Mr. Carr made his debut, and a noble one it is said to have been. This gentleman, by profession a lawyer, had recently commenced his practice at the same bar with Patrick Henry ; and although he had not yet reached the meridian of hfe, he was considered by far the most formidable rival in forensic eloquence that Mr. Henry had ever yet had to encounter. He had the advantage of a person at once dignified and engaging, and the manner and action of an accomplished gentleman. His education was a finished one ; his mind trained to correct thinking ; bis conception*' quick, and clear, and strong ; he reasoned with great cogency, and had an imagination which enlightened beautifully, without interrupting or diverting the course of his argu- ment. His voice was finely toned, his feelings acute ; his style free, and rich, and vari- ous ; his devotion to the cause of liberty verging on enthusiasm ; and his spirit firm and undaunted, beyond the possibility of being shaken. Witli what delight the House of Burgesses hailed this new champion, and felicitated themselves on such an access to their cause, it is easy to imagine. But what are the hopes and expectations of mortals I " Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra " Esse sinenl — " In two months from the time at which this gentleman stood before the House of Bur- gesses, in all the pride of health, and genius, and eloquence — he was no more : lost to his friends and to liis country, and disappointed of sharing in that noble triumph which awaited the illustrious band of his compatriots. LUNENBURG. Lunenburg was formed in 1746 from Brunswick : its length is 25, mean breadth 16 miles. The Meherrin runs on its southern bound- ary, and the Nottoway on its northern. Pop. in 1840, whites 4,132, slaves 6,707, free colored 216; total, 11,055. Lewiston, the county-seat, situated in an elevated and healthy part of the county, 78 miles sw. of Richmond, was laid off in 1817 by act of Assembly, when there was but one family residing here. It now contains about 20 dwellings. When the British invaded Virginia in 1781, Tarleton, with his legion, .passed through this county and committed depredations upon the people. His men entered private dwellings, and wan- tonly ripped open beds and scattered their contents, notwithstand- ing the tears and remonstrances of the females, whose husbands and brothers were mostly with the army. The Rev. Mr. Craig, a strenuous whig, owned a fine mill a few miles from the C. H., where flour was manufactured for the American troops. To this mill Tarleton was guided by a young tory. The old parson, hear- ing of the proximity of the enemy, was busily engaged in rolling the last barrel of flour with the U. S. mark into the mill-pond, when Tarleton appeared at the head of his men. They burnt the mill, a trace of the dam of which is now to be seen, and compelled the good old pardon to off with his coat and assist in slaughtering his pigs for their use. They carried off his slaves, but they, with a single exception, returned, reporting that they were harshly used by the enemy.* * From mss. of R. F. Astrop, Esq., containing historical and descriptive matter re- lating to this section of the state. 360 MASON COUNTY. MADISON. Madison was formed in 1792, from Culpeper. It is about 23 miles long, and 13 miles wide. It lies at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge, from which extend several mountains into the west- ern part of the county, some of the smaller of which are very fertile. The tobacco raised on the highlands is of a superior quality: between the mountains are fine valleys of rich bottom land. The county is watered by the Rapid Ann and its branches. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,729, slaves 4,308, free colored 70 ; total, 8,107. Madison, the county-seat, is 97 miles nnw. of Richmond. It is situated in the heart of the county, on a high and elevated ridge, and commands a beautiful and picturesque view of the Blue Ridge and the neighboring mountains. It contains 4 mercantile stores, 1 Baptist and 1 Episcopal church, and about 50 dwellings. At the post-offices of Rapid Ann Meeting-House and Leon are a few dwellings ; the first contains a Baptist and a Free church. The late Hon. Linn Banks, of this county, " for 20 successive years was speaker of the House of Delegates, an office for which he was so peculiarly qualified, that he was selected to fill it in all the mutations of party. He retired from the legislature in 1838, and was elected to Congress in that year, to complete the unexpired term of Mr. Patton, who was chosen counsellor. He was re-elected in 1839, and again in 1841. He served in the extra session of 1841, and then agreed with his competitor, to submit their cause to the people of his district. He consequently resigned his seat, which was obtained by his opponent, the majority against him being small. He was found drowned (Feb. 24th, 1842) in a stream which he had to cross in going from Madison Court-House to his residence, a few months after he was thus consigned to private life." MASON. Mason was formed in 1804 from Kanawha, and named from the celebrated statesman George Mason. It is about 30 miles long and 22 broad. The Ohio forms its western boundary, and the Great Kanawha passes centrally through it. The surface is bro- ken, and much of the soil of a good quality. Pop., whites 5,923, slaves 808, free colored 40 ; total, G,777. Buffalo, in the se. part of the county, on the e. bank of the Kanav^ha, 21 miles from its mouth, contains a Presbyterian church and about 20 dwellings. Point Pleasant, the county-seat, is situated at the junction of the Great Kanawha with the Ohio, 370 miles west of Richmond. It contains 1 Episcopalian and 1 Presbyterian church, 3 mercantile stores, 1 steam flour, and 1 steam saw-mill, 2 tanneries, and about 50 dwellings. There was once an Indian town of the Shawnee tribe at the mouth of Old Town creek, near Point Pleasant, on the land of Thomas Lewis, Esq., the clerk of the county It was deserted by them, it is supposed, about the year 1760. In ploughing there in 1798, about 80 gun-barrels were found. An anvil, a vice, hammers, and other black- MASON COUNTY. 361 smith's tools have been disinterred. Mr. Lewis, the county clerk, has opened several of the small mounds which abound in this section, and found a gun-barrel, a camp kettle, a butcher knife, tomahawk, a pewter basin, a variety of beads, and human skeletons. Point Pleasant is on the site of the bloodiest battle ever fought with the Indians in Virginia, — the battle of Point Pleasant — which took place in Dunmore's war, Oct. 10th, 1774. To illustrate more clearly this desperate action, we present our readers with a plan of the battle-ground, with explana- tory references, obtained by us while at Point Pleasant, in the autumn of 184.3: a. A small pond and ravine where the action com- menced, and where Col. Charles Lewis was mortally wounded. From this place, at right angles to the Ohio, to Crooked creek, both armies, early in the action, were extended through the woods. Af- ter a while the Indian line extend- ed further down on the creek, d. Position of the fort built after the battle. All the officers who fell in the battle were buried at or near this spot, in what is now known as the Point Lot. h. The court-house. c. Cornstalk's grave. He was ori- Plan of the battle of Point Pleasant. ginally buried near the Kanawha ; but a few years since his remains were disinterred, and removed to their present resting-place. The subjoined account of this action, is from the work of Withers : The army destined for this expedition was composed of volunteers and militia, chiefly from the counties west of the Blue Ridge, and consisted of two divisions. The northern division, comprehending the troops collected in Frederick, Dunmore, (now Shenandoah,) and the adjacent counties, was to be commanded by Lord Dunmore in person ; and the southern, comprising the different companies raised in Botetourt, Au- gusta, and the adjoining counties east of the Blue Ridge, was to be led on by Gen. An- drew Lewis, 'i'hese two divisions, proceeding by different routes, were to form a junction at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, swid from thence penetrate the country northwest of the Ohio River, as far as the season would admit of their going, and de. stroy all the Lidian towns and villages which they could reach. About the first of September, the troops placed under the command of Gen. Lewis rendezvoused at Camp Union, (now Lewisburg,) and consisted of two regiments, com- manded by Col. William Fleming of Botetourt, and Col. Charles Lewis of Augusta, and containing about four hundred men each. At Camp Union they were joined by an in- dependent volunteer company under Col. John Field of Culpeper, a company from Bedford under Capt. Buford, and two from the Holstein settlement, (now Washington county,) under Capts. Evan Shelby and Harbcrt. These three latter companies were part of the forces to be led on by Col. Christian, who was likewise to join the two main divisions of the army at Point Pleasant, so soon as the other companies of his regiment could be assembled. The force under Gen. Lewis, having been thus augmented to eleven hundred men, commenced its march for the mouth of Kanawha on the llth of September, 1774. From Camp Union to the point proposed for the junction of the northern and south- ern divisions of the army, a distance bf one hundred and sixty miles, the intermediate country was a trackless forest, so rugged and mountainous as to render the progress of the army at once tedious and laborious. Under the guidance of Capt. Mattjiew Ar- buckle, they, however, succeeded in reaching the Ohio River, after a march of nineteen days ; and fixed their encampment on the point of land immediately between that river and the Big Kanawha. The provisions and ammunition, transported on pack-horseB, and the beeves in droves, arrived soon after. 46 (31) 362 MASON COUNTY. When the southern division arrived at Point Pleasant, Governor Dunmore, with the forces under his command, had not readied there; and unable to account for his failure to form the preconcerted junction at that place, it was deemed advisable to await tha:t event ; as by so doinjr a better opportunity would be afforded to Col. Christian of com- ing up with that portion of the army which was then with him. Meanwhile Gen. Lewis, to learn the cause of tlie deljy of the northern division, dispatched runners by land in the direction of Fort Pitt, to obtain tidings of Lord Dunmore, and to conimu- nicate them to him immediately. In their absence, however, advices were received from his lordship, that he had determined on proceeding across the country, directly to the Shawnee towns ; and ordering Gen. Lewis to cross the river, march forward, and form a junction with him near to tiiem. These advices were received on the iJth of October, and preparations were immediately begun to be made for the transportation of the troops over the Ohio River. Enrly on the morning of Monday, the tenth of that month, two soldiers left the camp, and proceeded up the Ohio River, in quest of deer. When they had progressed about two miles, they unexpectedly came in sight of a large number of Lidians rising from their encampment, and who, discovering the two hunters, fired upon them and killed one ; the other escaped unhurt, and running briskly to the camp, communicated the intelligence, " that he had seen a body of the enemy, covering lour acres of ground, as closely as they could stand by the side of each other." The main part of the army was immediately ordered out under Cols. Charles Lewis,* and William Fleming ; and having formed into two lines, they proceeded about four hundred yards, when they met the Lidians, and the action commenced. At the first onset. Col. Charles Lewis having fallen, and Col. Fleming being wounded, both linfs gave way and were retreating briskly towards the camp, when they were met by a reinforcement under Col. Field,! and rallied. The engagement then became gen- eral, and was sustained with the most obstinate fury on both sides. The Indians per- ceiving the " tug of war" had come, and determined on atiording the colonial army no chance of escape, if victory should declare for them, formed a line extending across the point, from the Ohio to the Kanawha, and protected in front by logs and fallen timber. In this situation they maintained the contest with unabated vigor, from sunrise till to- wards the close of evening ; bravely and successfully resisting every charge wliich was made on them ; and withstanding the impetuosity of every onset, with the most invin- cible firmness, until a fortunate movement on the part of the Virginia troops decided the day. Some short distance above the entrance of the Kanawha River into tlie Ohio, there is a stream called Crooked creek, emptying into the former of these, from the northeast, whose banks are tolerably high, and were then covered with a tliick and luxuriant growth of weeds. Seeing the impracticability of dislodging the Indians by the most vigorous attack, and sensible of the great danger which must arise to his army, if the contest were not decided before night, Gen. Lewis detached the three companies which were commanded by Capts. Isaac Shelby, George Matthews, and John Stuart, with or- ders to proceed up the Kanawha River and Crooked creek, under cover of the banks and weeds, till they should pass some distance beyond the enemy ; when they were to emerge from their covert, march downward towards the point, and attack the Indiana in their rear. The manoeuvre thus planned was promptly executed, and gave a decided victory to the colonial army. The Indians finding themselves suddenly and unexpect- edly encompassed between two armies, and not doubting but that in their rear was the looked-for reinforcement under Col. Christian, soon gave way, and about sundown com- menced a precipitate retreat across the Ohio, to their towns on the Scioto. The victory, indeed, was decisive, and many advantages were obtained by it ; but they were not cheaply bought. The Virginia army sustained in this engagement a loss of seventy-five * Few ofticers were ever more, or more deservciUy, endeaved to thnse under their coinm;ind than Col. Charles Lewis. In the many skirmishes which it was his fortune to have with the Indian?, he was uncommonly successful ; and in the various scenes of life through which he passed, his conduct was invariably marked by the distinguishing characteristics of a mind of no ordinary stamp. His early fall on this bloody field was severely ftdt during the whole engagement; and to it has been attributed the partial advantages gained by the Indian army near the commencement of the action. When the fatal ball struck him, he fell at the root of a tree ; from whence he was carried to his tent, ag;iinst his wish, by Capt. William Morrow and a Mr. Bailey, of Capt. Paul's company, and died in a lew hours after- wards. t An active, enterprising, and meritorious officer, who had been in service in Braddock's war, and profited by his experience of the Indian mode of fighting. His doath checked for a time the ardor of his troops, and spread a gloom over the countenances of those who accompanied him on this campaign. MASON COUNTY. 363 killed, and one hundred and forty wounded — about one-fifth of the entire number of the troops. Among the slain were Cols. Lewis and Field ; Capts. Buford, Morrow, Wood, Cundiff, Wilson, and Robert McClannahan ; and Lieuts. Alien, (joldsby, and Dillon, with some other subalterns. The loss of the enemy could not be ascertained. On the morning after the action. Col. Christian, who had arrived after the battle was ended, marched his men over the battle-ground, and found twenty-one of the Indians lying dead ; and twelve others were afterwards discovered, wliere they had been attempted to be con- cealed under some old logs and brush. From the great facility with which the Indians either carry off or conceal their dead, it is always difficult to ascertain the number of their slain ; and hence ajises, in some measure, *the disparity between their known loss and that sustained by their opponents in battle. Other reasons for this disparity are to be found in their peculiar mode of war- fare, and in the fact that they rarely continue a contest, when it has to be maintained with the loss of their warriors. Il would not be easy otherwise to account for the cir- cumstance, that even v/hcn signally vanquished, the list of their slain does not, fre- quently, appear more than hull as great as that of the victors. In this particular instance, many of th.e dead were certainly thrown into the river. Nor could the number of the enemy engaged be ever ascertained. Their army is known to have been composed of warriors from the difl'erent nations north of the Ohio, and to have comprisoil the flower of the Shawanee, Delaware, Mmgo, Wyandotte, and Cayuga tribes ; led on by men whose names were not unknown to fame,* and at the head uf whom was Cornstalk, sachem of the Shawaaees, and king of the northern con- federacy. This distinguished chief and consummate warrior, proved himself on that day to be justly entitled to the prominent station which he occupied. His plan of alternate retreat and attack was well conceived, and occasioned the principal loss sust:iined by the wliiles. If at any time his warriors were believed to waver, his voice could be lieard above the din of arms, exclaiming, in his native tonsrue : " Be strong I be strong I" and when one near him, by trepidation and reluctance to procc d to the charge, evinced a dastardly disposition, fearing the example might have a pernicious influence, with one blow of his tomahawk he severed his skull. It was, perhaps, a solitary instance in which terror predominated. Never did men exhibit a more conclusive evidence of bravery in making a eh irge, and fortitude in withstanding an onset, than did these un- disciplined soldiers of the forest in the field at Point Pleasant. Such, too, was the good conduct of those who composed the army of Virginia on that occasion, and such the noble bravery of many, that high expect;itions were enterta ned of their future distinc- tion. Nor were those expectations disappointed. In the various scenes thiougli which they subsequently passed, the pledge of after eminence then given was fully redeemed • and the names of Shelby, Campbell, Matthews,,, Fleming, Moore, and others, their com. patriots in arms on the memorable tenth of October, 1774, have been inscribed in bril- liant characters on the roll of fame.t Having buried the dead, and made every arrangement which their situation ad- mitted, for the comfort of the wounded, iutrcnchments were thrown up, and he army commenced its inarch to form a junction with the northern division, under Lord Dun- inore. Proceeding by the way of the Salt Licks, Gen. Lewis pressed forward with as- tonishing rapidity, (considering that the march was through a trackless desert ;) but before he had gone far, an express arrived from Diinmore with orders to return imme- diately to the mouth of the Big Kanawha. Suspecting the integrity of his lordship'a motives, and urged by the advice of his officers generally, Gen. Lewis refused to obey * Such were Redhawli, a Delaware chief, — ScDppathu^, a Mingo, — Elinipiico, a Shawanee, and sou to Cnr.iaill^, — Chiy.iwpe, a VVy^indotte, and Lng'ui, a C lyugi. t The t'ullowing gentlemen, with others dt' high reputation in private life, were othcers in the b ittle at Toint Pleasant. Qeri. Isaac Shelliy, the first governor of Kentucky, and aftervvard-i secretiny of war , Gen. William Oampliell, and Col. John Camphell, heroes of King's Mountiin and Long Island; Gen. Evan Shelby, one of the most f ivored citizens of Tennessee, often honored with the confidence ol that sttte; Col. William Fleming, an active governor of Virginia during the revolutionary war ; Gen. Andrew Moore, of Rockbridge, the only inm ever elected by Virginia lioin the country west of the Blue Uidge, to the senate of the United States; Col. John Stu irt, of Greenbrier ; Gen. Tate, of Washington cnunty, Virginia; Col. William McKee, of Lincoln county, Kentucky ; Col. John Steele, .since a governor of the Mississippi Territory; Col. Charles Cameron, of B ilh ; Gen. Bazaleel Wells, of Ohio ; and Gen. George Matthf-ws, a distinguished officer in the war of the revolution, the hero of Brandywine, Germantown, and of Guilford, a governor of Georgia, and a senator from that state in the Congress of the United States. 'J"he salvation of the American army at Germantown is ascrilied, in Johnstone's life of Gen. Greene, to the bravery and good conduct of two regiments, one of which was commanded by Gen., tUea Col. Matthews. 364 MASON COUNTY. these orders, and continued to advance till he was met (at Kilkenny Creek, and in sight of an Indian village, which its inhabitants had just fired and deserted) by the governor, (accompanied by White Eyes,) who informed him that he was negotiating a treaty of peace, which would supersede the necessity of the further movement of the southern division, and repeating the order for its retreat. The army under Gen. Lewis had endured many privations and suffered many hard- ships. They had encountered a savage enemy in great force, and purchased a victory with the blood of their friends. When arrived near to the goal of their anxious wishes, and with nothing to prevent the accomplishment of the object of the campaign, they received those orders with evident chagrin, and did not obey them without murmuring. Having, at his own request, been introduced severally to the officers of that division, complimenting thein for their gallantry and good conduct in the late engageiJent, and assuring them of his higli esteem, Lord Dunmore returned to his camp ; and Gen. Lewis conmienced his retreat. This battle (says Col. Stuart, in his historical memoir) was, in fact, the beginning of the revolutionary war, that obtained for our country the liberty and independence enjoyed by the United States — and a good presage oi' future success ; for it is well known that the Indians were influenced by the British to commence the war to terrify and confound the people, before they commenced hostilities themselves the following year at Lexing ton. It was thought by British politicians, that to excite an " Indian war would pre- vent a combination of the colonies for opposing parliamentary measures to tax the Americans." The blood, therefore, spilt upon this memorable battle, will long be re- membered by the good people of Virginia and the United States with gratitude. The brave and noble Shawanee chief, Cornstalk, was atrociously murdered at Point Pleasant, in the summer of 1777. The gover- nor of Virginia offered a reward for the apprehension of the mur- derers, but without effect. Point Pleasant, w hich was first settled in 1774, did not flourish for many years. It had no church, the state of society was bad, and it was the popular superstition that the place was cursed for this fiend-like act. The particulars here detailed of this event, are from the modest, unostentatious memoir of Col. John Stuart : — In the year 1777, the Indians, being urged by British agents, became very trouble- some to f^rontier settlements, manifesting much appearance of hostilities, when the Cornstalk warrior, with the Redhawk, paid a visit to the garrison at Point Pleasant. He made no secret of the disposition of the Indians ; declaring that, on his own part, he was opposed to joining in the war on the side of the British, but that all the nation, except hirii^^elf and his own tribe, were determined to engage in it ; and thut, of course, he and his tribe would have to ruri with the stream, (as he expressed it.) On tills Cap- tain Arbuckle thought proper to detain him, the Redhawk, and another fellow, as hos- tages, to prevent the nation from joining the British. In the course of that summer our government had ordered an army to be raised, of volunteers, to serve under the command of General Hand ; who was to have collected a number of troops at Fort Pitt, with them to descend the river to Point Pleasant, there to meet a reinforcement of volunteers expected to be raised in Augusta and Botetourt counties, and then proceed to the Shawanee towns and chastise them so as to compel them to a neutrality. Hand did not succeed in the collection of troops at Fort Pitt ; and but three or four companies were raised in Augusta and Botetourt, which were under the command of Colonel George Skillern, who ordei'ed me to u.se my endeavors to raise all the volunteers I could get in Greenbrier, for that service. The people had begun to see the difficulties attendant on a state of war and long campaigns carried through wil- dernesses, and but a few were willing to engage in such service. But as the settlements which we covered, though less exposed to the depredations of the Indians, had showed their willingness to aid in the proposed ])lan to chastise the Indians, and had raised three companies, I was very desirous of doing all I could to promote the business and aid the service. I used the utmost endeavors, and proposed to the militia officers to volunteer ourselves, which would be an encouragement to others, and by such means to raise all the men who could be got. The chief of the officers in Greenbrier agreed to the proposal, and we cast lots who should command the company. The lot fell on An MASON COUNTY. 365 drew Hamilton for captain, and William Renick lieutenant. We collected in all, about forty, and joined Colonel Skillern's party, on their way to Point Pleasant. When we arrived, there was no account of General Hand or his army, and little or no provision made to support our troops, other than what we had taken with us dowa the Kanawha. We found, too, that the garrison was unable to spare us any supplies, having nearly exhausted, when we got there, what had been provided for themselves. But we concluded to wait there as long as we could for the arrival of General Hand, or some account from him. During the time of our stay two young men, of the names of Hamilton and Gilmore, went over the Kanawha one day to hunt for deer ; on their re- turn to camp, some Indians had concealed themselves on the bank among the weeds, to view our encampment ; and as Gilmore came along past them, they fired on him and killed him on the bank. Captain Arbuckle and myself were standing on the opposite bank when the gun fired ; and while we were wondering who it could be shooting, contrary to orders, or what they were doing over the river, we saw Hamilton run down the bank, who called out tliat Gil- more was killed. Gilmore was one of the company of Captain John Hall, of that part of the country now Rockbridge county. The captain was a relation of Gilmore's, whose family and friends were chiefly cut off by the Indians in the year 1763, when Greenbrier was cut off. Hall's men instantly jumped into a canoe and went to the re- lief of Hamilton, who was standing in momentary expectation of being put to death. They brought the corpse of Gihnore down the bank, covered with blood and scalped, and put him into the canoe. As they were passing the river, I observed to Captain Ar- buckle that the people would be for killing the hostages, as soon as the canoe would land. He supposed that they would not offer to commit so great a violence upon the innocent, who were in nowise accessary to tlie murder of Gilmore. But the canoe had scarcely touched the shore until the cry was raised, Let us kill the Indians in the fort ; and every man, with his gun in his hand, came up the bank pale with rage. Captain Hall was at their head, and leader. Captain Arbuckle and I met them, and endeavored to dissuade them from so unjustifiable an action ; but they cocked their guns, threatened us with instant death if we did not desist, rushed by us into the fort, and put the Indians to death. On the preceding day, the Cornstalk's son, Elinipsico, had come from the nation to see his father, and to know if he was well, or alive. When he came to the river oppo- site the fort, he hallooed. His father was at that instant in the act of delineating a map of the country and the waters between the Shawanee towns and the Mississippi, at our request, with chalk upon the floor. He immediately recognised the voice of his son, got up, went out, and answered him. The young fellow crossed over, and they embraced each other in the most tender and affectionate manner. The interpreter's wife, who had been a prisoner among the Indians, and had recently left them, on hearing the uproar the next day, and hearing the men threatening that they would kill the Indians, for whom she retained much affection, ran to their cabin and informed them that the people were just coming to kill them ; and that, because the Indians who killed Gilmore had come with Elinipsico the day before. He utterly denied it ; declared that he knew nothing of them, and trembled exceedingly. His father encouraged him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man above had sent him there to be killed and die with him. As the men advanced to the door, the Cornstalk rose up and met them ; they fired upon him, and seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell the great Cornstalk warrior, — whose name was bestowed ujjon him by the consent of the nation, as their great strength and support. His son was shot dead as he sat upon a stool. The Redhawk made an at- tempt to go up the chimney, but was shot down. The other Indian was shamefully mangled, and I grieved to see him so long in the agonies of death. The Cornstalk, from personal appearance and many brave acts, was undoubtedly a hero. Had he been spared to live, I believe he would have been friendly to the Ameri- can cause ; for nothing could induce him to make the visit to the garrison at the critical time he did, but to communicate to them the temper and disposition of the Indians, and their design of taking part with the British. On the day he was killed we held a coun- cil, at which he was present. His countenance was dejected ; and he made a speech, allot which seemed to indicate an honest and manly disposition. He acknowledged that he expected that he and his party would have to run with the stream, for that all the Indians on the lakes and northwardly, were joining the British. He said that when he returned to the Shawanee towns after the battle at the Point, he called a council of the nation to consult what was to be done, and upbraided them for their ibily in not suf- fering him to make peace on the evening before the battle. " What," said he, " will you do now? The Big Knife is coming on us, and we shall all be killed. Wow you (31*) JJ66 MASON COUNTY. must fight, or we arc undone." But no one made an answer. He said, " then let as kill all our women and children, and go and fight till we die." But none would answer. At length he rose and struck his tomahawk in tlie post in the centre of the town-house: " 111 go," said he, " and make peace ;" and then the warriors all grunted out, " ough, ough, ough," and runners were instantly dispatched to the governor's army to solicit a peace, and the interposition of tlie governor on their behalf. When he made his si)eech in council with us, he seemed to be impressed with an aw- ful premonition of his approaching fate ; for he repeatedly said, '' VVhen I was a young man and went to war, I thought that might be tlie last time, and I would return no more. Now I am here among you ; you may kill me if you please ; I can die but once ; and it is all one to me, now or another time." This declaration concluded every sentence of his speech. He was killed about one hour after our council. There is living upon Thirteen Mile creek, Mr. Jesse Van Bebber, an aged pioneer in this county. Ilis life, like his own mountain- stream, was rough and turbulent at its commencement ; but as it nears its close, calm and peaceful, beautifully reflecting the Chris- tian virtues. From conversation with him, we gathered many in- teresting anecdotes and incidents, illustrating the history of this region, some of which here follow : Battle of Point Pleasant. — During the action, those troops from the more eastern part of the state, unaccustomed to fighting with the Indians, were all the day engaged in making a breastwork at the junction of the Kanawha with the Oliio, so that the army, if defeated, should have a secure retreat. Ignorant of how the action would terminate, they worked as if for their lives, and before the day was finished had a strong fortifica- tion erected. When the alarm was given that the Indians were near. Hen. Lewis delib- erately lighted his pipe, and then coolly gave the orders to his brother, Col. Chas. Lewis, to advance upon them. The soldiers in Col. Flcniing's regiment used a stratagem that proved very etfectual. They concealed themselves behind trees, and then held out their iiats, which the Indians mistakingly shot at. The hat being at once dropped, the In- dian would run out from his covert to scalp his victim, and thus met a sure death from the tomahawk of his adversary. The whites in this action being all backwoodsmen, were more successful marksmen than the savages ; a fact in part owing to the want of the mechanical skill in the Indians, requisite to keej)iiig their rifies in order. At the close of the action, the Indians went ofi" hallooing, as if coming on to renew the attack. This stratagem deceived the whites, and enabled them to retreat in more safety. They recrossed the Ohio on rafts, three miles above, near the old Shawanee town. Fort at Point Plpusant. — A fort was erected at Point Pleasant just after the battle, at the mouth of the Kaiuiwha. It was a rectangular stockade, about eighty yards long, with blockhouses at two of its corners. It was finally destroyed, and a smaller one erected about fifty rods further u() the Ohio, on the site of the store of James Capehart. It was composed of a circle of cabins, in which the settlers lived. Eulens Ltuip. — In the spring of "88 or '8i), ^lin Eulen, who was then insane, was out hunting in the woods below Point Pleasant, when he was discovered and pursued by an IndiaUi He threw away his ride, au elegant silver-mounted piece, to arrest the atten- tion of the Indian, and gain time. The Indian stopped to pick it up. Eulen unexpect- edly came to a precipice, and fell head foremost through a buckeye, struck a branch, which turned him over, and he Ciune upon his feet. The fall was fifty-three feet perpen- dicular. He then leaped another precipice of twelve feet in height, and escaped. Aiicrdolc.^ (if th(> Vnn Btliher.s. — A few years after the close of the revolution, a daughter of Capt. John Van Bebber, named Kl.oda, aged 17, and Joseph Van Bebber, a young lad of 1'^, a brother of our informant, had crossed over in a canoe one morning, to the west side of the Ohio, opposite Point Pleasant, on an errand to Rhoda's father, then living tem]iorarily in a house that side of the stream, when a party of Indians sud- denly made their appearance. Dave, a black man belonging to (."apt. Van Bebber, gave the alarm, and rnshed into the house. The Indians attacked the house, but were driven oil' by Dave and Capt. Van Bebber, with the loss of two or thiee of their miuiber. Jo. seph and Ivhoda, in llieir terror, hastened to the canoe, whither the Indians pursued them, killed and scalped the young lady, and took Josejjh a prisoner to Detroit. Rhoda's scalp tlie Indians divided into two, and sold them to the Indian traders at Detroit for ^30 MARSHALL COUNTY. 367 each ; their object in purchasing them was to encourage the savages in their incursions, so as to prevent a settlement of the country by the whites, and thus monopolze the In- dian trade. Joseph afterwards stated that tlie barrel in which the scalps were put was nearly full of the horrid trophies. He remained with the Indians two yrars, during which he learned their language, and acted as interpreter between them and the traders. He at length made his escape, and lived with a trader until after Wayne's victory, when he returned home. While at Detroit, he became acquainted with the notorious Simon Girty, then a British pensioner for services in the revolution. He said Girty was an af- fable man, but extremely intemperate. Girty denied to him that he was the instigator of the death of Col. Crawford ; but that he went so far to save him that his own life was in danger. In the fall of '88 or '89, Matthias Van Bebbcr, aged 18, and Jacob, aged 12 years, were out a short distance from I'oint Pleasant, with a horse, when they were waylaid by four Indians. Jacob was leading the horse, and Matthias was a short distance ahead, with a rifle across his shoulder, when the Indians fired two guns at Matthias. One of the balls struck him over the eyes, and rendered him momentarily blind ; he sprang one side, and fell into a gully. The boy Jacob, on hearing the report of the guns, fled, and three of the Indians went in pursuit. Matthias, in tlie mean lime, sprang up and took to a tree. The remaining Indian did the same. Matthias brought up his gun to an aim, the Indian dodged, and the former took the opportunity and escaped into the fort. 'The Indians, after a tight chase of half a mile, caught the lad, who, being very active, would have escaped had his moccasins not been too large. The Indians retreated acro.ss the Ohio with their prisoner. He was a sprightly little fellow, small of his age, and the Indians, pleased with him, treated him 'kindly. On the first night of their cncanipment, they took him on their knees, and sang to him. He turned away his head to conceal his tears. On arriving at their town, while running the gauntlet between the children of the place, one Indian boy, much larger than himself, threw a bone, which struck him on the head. Enraged by the pain, Jacob drew back, and running with all his force, butted him over, much to the amusement of the Indian warriors. He was adopted into an Indian family, where he was used with kindness. On one occasion his adopted father whipped him, though slightly, which affected his Indian mother and sister to tears. Af- ter remaining with the Indians about a year, he escaped, and for five days travelled through the wilderness to his home. When he had arrived at maturity, he was remark- able for his flcetness. None of the Indians who visited the Point could ever equal him in that respect. Indian incursion. — In May, 1791, a party of eighteen whites were attacked by about thirty Indians, about one mile north of the fort at Point Pleasant, near the field now be- longing to David Long. The whites were defeated. Michael See and Robert Sinclair were killed. Hampton and Thomas Northrop, and a black boy, belonging to See, were taken prisoners. This boy was a son of Dick Fointer, who acted so bravely a few years before at the attack on Donnally's fort, in Greenbrier. He became an Indian chief, and in the late war with Great Britain took part with the friendly Indians against the enemy. MARSHALL. Marshall was formed in 183.5, from Ohio county, and named from Chief-Justice Marshall : it fs about 20 miles long and 18 wide. The surface is uneven and mountainous ; the mountains rise, in many places, 800 and 400 feet above the level of the Ohio, and are cultivated frequently on their summits and part way down their slopes — the soil there being often nearly as rich as the river bottoms. The wild lands of the county are valued from $3 to $8 per acre; the cultivated mountain, from $15 to i20 ; and the river bottom, on the Ohio and the streams generally, from $30 to $40. Pop., whites 6,854, slaves 40, free colored 37 ; ^total, 6,937 368 MARSHALL COUNTY. Grave Creek is situated upon a plain on the Ohio, 12 miles be- low Wheeling, at the mouth of Grave Creek. It is divided into two distinct villages. Elizabethtown, the upper village, is the county-seat ; the lower village is called Moundsville. Unitedly they contain 1 newspaper printing office, 2 mercantile stores, a classical academy, an extensive steam flouring-mill, and a popula- tion of about 1,200. West Union, 16 miles ne. of the C. H., near the Pennsylvania line, contains a few dwellings. Grave Creek was first settled in 1770, by Joseph Tomlinson, an emigrant from Maryland, In 1772, he discovered the mammoth mound at this place ; and about this time several other families from Maryland emigrated here. During the succeeding years, the inhabitants suffered considerably from the Indians, and erected forts for their security. About four miles above the village of Grave Creek, on the bank of the Ohio, is a monument bearing the following inscrip- tion : This humble stone is erected to the memory of Capt. Foreman and twenty-one of his men, who were slain by a band of ruthless savages — the allies of a civilized nation of Europe— on the 25th of Sept., 1777. So sleep the brave who sink to rest. By all their country's wishes blest. I MAKSHALL COUNTY. 369 The account of the massacre which the monument is designed to commemorate, is thus given in a communication to the Ameri- can Pioneer : About the time of the attack at Wheeling, which occurred in September, (1777,) Capt. Foreman and his men were surprised at the head of Grave creek narrows ; the account of which event, as given in tiie Border Warfare, differs somewhat from the way Robin Harkness, my uncle, related it, who was with Capt. Foreman at the time. I will, therefore, give it as related by him. A smoke was discovered down the river in the di- rection of the fort at Grave creek, which induced those at Wheeling to believe that the Indians had not yet left the country, and that the fort at Grave creek had been set on fire. In order to make discoveries, on the 25th of September Capt. Foreman, with 45 men, set out for Grave creek. Having arrived there, and seeing the fort standing, and discovering no signs of the Indians, they returned. On arriving at the foot of the Nar- rows, a contention arose between Capt. Foreman and a man by the name of Lynn, who had been sent with him as a spy, about which road they should take, the river or ridge. Lynn urged the probability of the Indians having been on the opposite shore, and had more than likely seen them pass down ; and the most likely place for waylaying them was in the narrows, and therefore urged the necessity of going the ridge road. Foreman, being indisposed to take the counsel of Lynn, proceeded along the base of the hill. During tlie contention, Robin Harkness sat upon a log, having very sore eyes at the time, and took no part in the dispute ; but when Capt. Foreman started, he followed him. Lynn, however, with seven or eight other frontiers-men, went the ridge road. While passing along a narrow bottom at the head of the narrows, the foremost of Capt. Foreman's men picked up some Indian trinkets, which immediately excited a suspicion that Indians were near, which caused a halt. Before them some five or six Indians stepped into the path, and behind them about the same number ; and at the same mo- ment a fire was poured in upon them from a line of Indians under cover of the river bank, and not over fifteen steps from the white men. Those that escaped the first fire fled up the hill ; but it being steep and difficult to climb, they were exposed for some time to the fire of the Indians. Lynn and his comrades, hearing the fire when they were below them on the ridge, ran along until opposite. They then proceeded to the brink of the hill, where they saw a man ascending near them, who had got nearly to the top when he received a shot in his thigh, which broke it. Lynn and his comrades ran down and lifted him up, carried him over the hill, and hid him under a cleft of rocks, and then proceeded to Wheeling. As Robin Harkness was climbing the hill near the top, and pulling himself up by a bush, a ball struck it and knocked the bark off against him, which alarmed him, as he supposed it to be the ball ; he however proceeded on and escaped unhurt. In this fatal ambuscade, twenty-one of Capt. Foreman's party were killed, and several much wounded : among the slain were Capt. Foreman and his two sons. The Indian force was never ascertained ; but it was supposed to have been the same party that attacked Fort Henry, at Wheeling, which was supposed to have been upwards of 300 strong. On the ensuing day, the inhabitants of the neighborhood of Wheeling, under the direction of Col. Zane, proceeded to the fatal spot to bury those who had fallen, and at the same time to get the man who was wounded and hid under the rocks, who was still alive and finally recovered. Within a quarter of a mile from the Ohio, on the river flats at Grave Creek, in full view of the passing steamers, is the mam- moth mound. On the summit is an observatory, erected b}^ Mr. A. B. Tomlinson in 1837. From his communication in the Ameri- can Pioneer, we derive the following facts : The Mammoth Mound is 69 feet high, and about 900 feet in circumference at its base. It is a frustum of a cone, and has a flat top of about 50 feet in diameter. This flat, until lately, was slightly depressed — occasioned, it is supposed, by the falling in of two vaults below. A iew years since a white oak, of about 70 feet in height, stood on the summit of the mound, which appeared to die of age. On carefully cutting the trunk transversely, the number of concentric circles showed that it was about 500 years old. In 1838, Mr. Tomlmson commenced at the level of the surrounding ground, and ran in an excavation horizontally 111 feet, when he came to a vault that had been excavated in the earth before the mound was commenced. This vault was 12 feet long, 8 wide, and 7 in height. It was dry as any tight room. Along each side and the two ends, 47 370 MARSHALL COUNTY. stood upright timbers, whicb had supported transverse timbers formins[ the ceiling;. Over tiie timbers had been placed unhewn stone ; but the decay of the timbers* occasioned the fall of the stones and the superincumbent earth, so as to nearly fill the vault. In this vault were found two skeletons, one of which was devoid of ornament — the other was surrounded by G50 ivory beads, rescmblinjr button-moles, and an ivory ornament of about six inches in length, which is cue inch and five eighths wide in the centre, half an inch wide at the ends, and on one side flat and on the other oval-shaped. A singular wiiite exudation of animal matter overhangs the roof of this vault. The Mammoth Mound at Grave Crcelc. Another excavation was commenced at the top of the mound downwards. Midway between the top and bottom, and over the vault above described, a second and similar vault was discovered, and, like that, caved in by the falling of the ceiling, timbers, stones, &c. In the upper vault was foiuid tlie singular hieroglyphical stone hereafter described, 1700 ivory beads, 500 sea-shells of the involute species, that wore worn as beads, and iive copper bracelets about tiie wrists of the skeleton. The shells and beads were about the neck and breast of the skeleton, and there were also about 150 pieces of isinglass strewed over the body. The mound is composed of the same kind of eartli as that around it, being a fine loamy sand, but dilFers very mucii in color from that of the natural ground. After pene- trating about eight feet with the tirst or horizontal excavation, blue spots began to appear in the earth of which the mound is composed. On close examination, these spots were found to contain ashes and bits of burnt bones. These spots increased as they approached the centre : at the distance of 120 feet within, the spots were so numerous and con- densed as to give the earth a clouded appearance, and excited the admiration of all who saw it. Every part of the mound presents the same appearance, except near the sur- face. The blue spots were probably occasioned by depositing the remains of bodies consumed by fire. In addition to the relics in the mammoth mound, there has been a great number and variety of relics found in the neighborhood : many of them were discovered with skele- tons which were nearly decayed. Mr. Tomlinson has some beads, found about two * At the top ;\nii hottoni, where the timbers h:ul been pluccd, were particles of ch'irciral — an evidence that lire, instead ot" iron, had boon tKc-d in severing the wood. This goes to show that the constructors of the mound were not acquainted with the use of iron ; and the fict that none of that metal whs found in the vault, strongly corroborates the opinion, ^ome of the stones were water-worn, probably from the river ; others were identical witli a whet-stone quarry on the Ohio side of the river, two miles north.— II. H. MARSHALL COUNTY. 371 miles from this great mound, that are evidently a kind of porcelain, and very similar, if not identical in substance with artificial teeth set by dentists. He has also an image of stone, found with other relics about eight miles diftant. It is in human shape, sitting in a cramped position, the face and eyes projecting upwards. The nose is what is called Roman. (»n the crown of the head is a knot, in which the hair is concentrated and tied. The head and features particularly is a display of great workmanship and inge- nuity. It is eleven inches in height, hut if it were straight would he double that height. It is generally believed to have been an idol. Mr. Henry II. ColcraCt, [Schoolcraft,] whose researches upon the Indian antiquities of the west have placed him at the head of the list of scientific inquirers upon this subject, visited Grave Creek in August, 1843, and devoted several days to the examination of the antique works of art at that place. The result of his investigation.s is partially given in a communication to the New Y(jrk Commercial Advertiser, copied below. We were subsequently at Grave Creek, and obtained an impression in wax of the hierogly])hical stone to which he alludes. An accurate engraving from this impression we insert in its proper place in his article : I have devoted several days to the examination of the antiquities of this place and its vicinity, and find them to be of even more interest than was antiei|jated. The most prominent object of curiosity is the great tumulus, of which notices have apj)eared in western papers ; but this heavy structure of earth is not isolated. It is but one of a, series of mounds and other evidences of ancient occupation at this point, of more than ordinary interest. I have visited and examined seven mounds situated within a short distance of each other. They occupy the sunmiit level of a rich alluvial plain, stretch- ing on the left or Virginia bank of the Ohio, between the junctions of IJig and Little Grave creeks with that stream. They appear to have connected by low earthen intrench- rnerits, of which plain traces are still visible on some parts ol' the commons. They included a well, stoned up in the usual manner, which is now filled with rubbish. The summit of this jjlain is probably 13 feet above tlie present summit-level of the Ohio. It constitutes the second bench or rise of land above the water. It is on thia summit, and one of the most elevated parts of it, that the great tumulus stands. It is in the sha|)e of a broad cone, cut off at the apex, where it is some fifty feet across. This area is quite level, and commands a view of the entire plain, and of the river above and below, and the west shores of the Ohio in front. Any public transaction on this area would h<- visible to multitudes around it, and it has, in tliis resjieci, all the advan- tages of the Mexican and Yucatanese teocaili. 'The circumference of the base has been stated at a little under 900 feet ; the height is fj!) feet. The most interesting object of antiquarian intjuiry is a small flat stone, inscribed with antique alphabetic characters, which was disclosed on the openiiig of the mound. These characters are in the ancient rock alphabet of Hi right and acute-angled single strokes, used by the Pela.sgi and other early Mediter- ranean nations, and which is the parent of the modern Runic as well as the Bardic. ^ It is now some four or five years since the completion of the excavations, so far as they have been made, and the discovery of this relic. Several copies of it soon got abroad which dirt'ered from each otiier, and, it was supposed, from the original. This conjec- ture is true. Nciliier the print published in the C'incinnati Gazette in 1839, nor that in the American Pioneer in 184.'J, is correct. I have terminated this uncertainty by taking copies by a scientific process, which does not leave the lines and figures to the uncer- tainty of man's pencil. The existence of this ancient art here could hardly be admitted, otherwise than as an insulated fact, without some corroborative evidence in habits and customs, which it would be reasonable to look for in the existing ruins of ancient occupancy. It is thought 372 MARION COUNTY. some such testimony has been found. I rode out yesterday three miles, back to the range of high hills which encompass this sub-valley, to see a rude tower of stone stand- ing on an elevated point, called Parr's Point, which commands a view of the whole plain, and which appears to have been constructed as a watch-tower, or lookout, from winch to descry an approaching enemy. It is much dilapidated. About six or seven feet of the work is still entire. It is circular, and composed of rough stones, laid with- out mortar, or the mark of a hammer. A heavy mass of fallen wails lies around, cover- ing an area of some forty feet in diameter. Two similar points of observation, occupied by dilapidated towers, are represented to exist, one at the prominent summit of the Ohio and Grave creek hills, and another on the promontory on the opposite side of the Ohio, in Belmont county, Ohio. It is well known to all acquainted with the warlike habits of our Indians, that they never evinced the foresight to post a regular sentry, and these rude towers may be regarded as of contemporaneous age with the interment of the inscription. Several polished tubes of stone have been found in one of the lesser mounds, the use of which is not very apparent. One of these now on my table is twelve inches long, one and a fourth wide at one end, and one and a half at the other. It is made of a fine, compact, lead-blue steatite, mottled, and has been constructed by boring, in the manner of a gun-barrel. This boring is continued to within about three-eighths of an inch of the larger end, through which but a small aperture is left. If this small aperture be looked through, objec s at a distance are more clearly seen. Whether it had this telescope or others, the degree of art evinced in its construction is far from rude. By inserting a wooden rod and valve, this tube would be converted into a powerful syphon or syringe. I have not space to notice one or two additional traits which serve to awaken new interest at this ancient point of aboriginal and apparently mixed settlement. MARION. Mar[on was formed in 1842, from Harrison and Monongalia, and named Irom General Francis Marion. It is about 40 miles long, with a mean width of 13 miles. It is watered by the west fork of the Monongahela and its branches. The county is well timbered, and adapted to grazing ; its surface is hilly, and much of the soil fertile. Fairmont, formerly called Middletown, is the county-seat ; it is 278 miles nw. of Richmond, 40 miles e. of the Ohio, 22 N. of Clarksburg, and 18 s. of Morgantown. It was estab- lished by law in 1820, and is now a flourishing village, pleasantly situated on the w^est bank of the Monongahela, near the southern line of the county. It contains 5 mercantile stores, 1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian church, several flouring and other mills in it and vicinity, and about 70 dwellings. The face of the surrounding country is somewhat hilly ; the soil is generally of a rich loamy clay, producing all the staples common to the middle states. The forests abound with the finest timber, and the earth is stored with iron ore, and the best stone-coal, the latter of which is largely ex- ported. Palatine lies opposite Fairmont, on the Monongahela. It is a new and flourishing village, containing 2 stores, some mills, and about 2.3 dwellings. Iloltsville, Newport, and Milford, are small but flourishing places on the Monongahela, below Fairmont. As this county comes within the limits of the tract described in Doddridge's Notes, we make an extract depicting the customs of those primitive times : / MARION COUNTY. 373 The settlements on this side of the mountains commenced along the Monongahela, and between that river and the Laurel ridge, in the year 1772. In the succeeding year they reached the Oliio River. The greater numher of the first settlers came from the upper parts of the then colonies of Maryland and Virginia. Braddock's trail, as it was called, was the route by which the greater number of them crossed the mountains. A less irumber of them came by the way of Bedlord and Fort Ligonier, the military road from Pennsylvania to Pittsburg. They effected their removals on horses furnished with pack-saddles. This was the more easily done, as but few of these early adventurers into the wilderness were encumbered with much baggage. Land was the object which invited the greater number of these people to cross the mountain, for, as the saying then was, " It was to be had here for taking up ;" that is, building a cabin and raising a crop of grain, however small, of any kind, entitled the occupant to four hundred acres of land, and a pre-emption right to one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secured by a land-office warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so much vacant land, or any part thereof, adjoining the tract secured by the settlement right. At an early period the government of Virginia appointed three commissioners to give certificates of settlement rights. These certificates, together with the surveyor's plat, were sent to the land-office of the state, where they lay six months, to await any caveat which might be offered. If none was offered, the patent then issued. There was, at an early period of our settlements, an inferior kind of land title de- nominated a " tomahawk right," which was made by deadening a few trees near the head of a spring, and marking the bark of .some one or more of them with the initials of the name of the person who made the improvement. I remember having seen a number of those " tomahawk rights" when a boy. For a long time many of them bore the names of those who made tiiem. I have no knowledge of the efficacy of the toma- hawk improvement, or whether it conferred any right whatever, unless followed by an actual settlement. These rights, however, were often bought and sold. Those who wished to make settlements on their favorite tracts of land, bought up the tomahawk improvements, rather than enter into quarrels with those who had made them. Other improvers of the land, with a view to actual settlement, and who happened to be stout veteran fellows, took a very different course from that of purchashig the " tomahawk rights." When annoyed by the claimants under those rights, they deliberately cut a few good hickories, and gave them what was called in those days a " laced jacket," that is, a sound whipping. Some of the early settlers took the precaution to come over the mountains in the spring, leaving their families behind to raise a crop of corn, and then return and bring them out in the fall. This I should think was the better way. Others, especially those whose families were small, brought them with them in the spring. My father took the latter course. His family was but small, and he brought them all with him. The Indian meal which he brought over the mountain was expended six weeks too soon, so that for that length of time we had to live without bread. The lean venison and the breast of wild turkeys we were taught to call bread. The flesh of the bear was denomi- nated meat. This artifice did not succeed very well. After living in this way for some time we became sickly, the stomach seemed to be always empty and tormented with a sense of hunger. I remember how narrowly the children watched the growth of the potato tops, pumpkin and squash vines, hoping from day to day to get something to answer in the place of bread. How delicious was the taste of the young potatoes when we got them! What a jubilee, when we were permitted to pull the young corn for roasting ears. Still more so, when it had acquired sufficient hardness to be made into ionny-cakes by the aid of a tin grater. We then became healthy, vigorous, and con- tented with our situation, poor as it was. My father, with a small number of his neighbors, made their settlements in the spring of 1773. Though they were in a poor and destitute situation, they nevertheless lived in peace ; but their tranquillity was not of long continuance. Those most atrocious murders of the peaceable, inoffensive Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek, brought on the war of Lord Dunmore in the spring of the year 1774. Our little settlement then broke up. The women and children were removed to Morris's Fort, in Sandy Creek glade, some distance to the east of Uniontown. The fort consisted of an assemblage of small hovels, situated on the margin of a large and noxious marsh, the effluvia of which gave the most of the women and children the fever and ague. The men were (Com- pelled by necessity to return home, and risk the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Indians, in raising corn to keep their families from starvation the succeeding winter, (32) 874 MARION COUNTY. Those sufferings, dangers, and losses, were the tribute we had to pay to that thirst for blood which actuated those veteran murderers who brought the war upon us I The memory of the sufferers in this war, as well as that of their descendants, still looks back upon thetn with regret and abhorrence, and the page of history will consign their names to posterity with tlie full weight of infamy they deserve. My father, like many others, believed that, having secured his legal allotment, the rest of the country belonged of right to those who chose to settle in it. There was a piece of vacant land adjoining his tract, amounting to about 200 acres. To this tract of land he had the pre-emption right, and accordingly secured it by warrant ; but his conscience would not permit him to retain it in his family ; he therefore gave it to an apprentice lad whom he had raised in his house. This lad sold it to an uncle of mine for a cow and a calf, and a wool hat. Owing to the equal distribution of real property directed by our land laws, and the sterling integrity of our forefathers in their observance of them, we have no districts of "sold land," as it is called, that is, large tracts of land in the hands of individuals, or companies, who neither sell nor improve them, as is the case in Lower Canada, and the northwestern part of Pennsylvania. These unsettled tracts make huge blanks iu the population of the country where they exist. 'J'he division-lines between those whose lands adjoined, were generally made in an amicable manner, before any survey of them was made, by the parties concerned. In doing this they were guided mainly by the tops of ridges and water-courses, but par- ticularly the former. Hence the greater number of farms in the western parts of Penn- sylvania and Virginia bear a striking resemblance to an amphitheatre. The buildings occupy a low situation, and the tops of the surrounding hills are the boundaries of the tract to which the family mansion belongs. Our forefathers were fond of farms of this description, because, as they said, they are attended with this convenience, " that every thing comes to the house down hill." Must of the early settlers considered their land as of little value, from an apprehension that alter a few years' cultivation it would lose its fertility, at least for a long time. I have often heard them say that such a field would bear so many crops, and another so many, more or less than that. The ground of this belief concerning the short-lived fer- tility of the land in this country, was the poverty of a great proportion of the land in the lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, which, after producing a few crops, became unfit for use, and was thrown out into commons. My reader will naturally ask where were their mills for grinding grain ? Where their tanneries for making leather ? Where their smith-shops for making and repairing their farming utensils ? Who were their carpenters, tailors, cabinet workmen, shoemakers, and weavers ? The answer is, those manufacturers did not exist, nor had they any tradesmen who were professedly such. Every family were under the necessity of doing every thing for themselves as well as they could. The hommony-block and hand-mills were in use in most of our houses. The first was made of a large block of wood about three feet long, with an excavation burned in one end, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, so that the action of the pestle on the bottom threw the corn up to the sides towards the top of it, from whence it continually fell down into the centre. In consequence of this movement, the whole mass of the grain was pretty equally subjected to the strokes of the pestle. In the fall of the year, while the Indian corn was solt, the block and pestle did very well for making meal for jonny-cake and nmsh, but were rather slow when the corn became hard. The sweep was sometimes used to lessen the toil of pounding grain into meal. This was a pole of some spring)' elastic wood, thirty feet long or more ; the butt end was placed under the side of a house, or a large stump. This pole was supported by two forks, placed about one-third of its length from the butt end, so as to elevate the small end about fifteen feet from the ground ; to this was attached, by a large mortise, a piece of a sapling, about five or six inches in diameter, and eight or ten feet long. The lower end of this was shaped so as to answer for a pestle. A pin of wood was put through it at a proper height, so that two persons could work at the sweep at once. This simple machine very nmch lessened the labor, and expedited the work. I remember that, when a boy, I put up an excellent sweep at my father's. It was made of a sugar-tree sapling. It was kept going almost constantly, from morning till night, by our neigh- bors for several weeks. In the Greenbrier country, where they had a number of salt- petre caves, the first settlers made plenty of excellent gunpowder by the means of those sweeps and mortars. A machine still more simple than the mortar and pestle, was used for making meal. MARION COUNTY. 375 while the corn was too soft to be beaten. It was called a grater. This was a half, circular piece of tin, perforated with a punch from tlie concave side, and nailed by its edges to a block of wood. The ears of corn were rubbed on the rough edges of the holes, while the meal fell through them on the board or block to which the grater was nailed, which, being in a slanting direction, discharged the meal into a cloth or bowl placed for its reception. This, to be sure, was a slow way of making meal, but neces- sity has no law. The hand-mill was better than the mortar and grater. It was made of two circular stones, the lowest of which was called the bed-stone, the upper one tlie runner. These were placed in a hoop, with a spout for discharging the meal. A staff was let into a hole in the upper surface of the runner, near the outer edge, and its upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above, so that two persons could be employed in turning the mill at the same time. The grain was put into the opening in the runner by hand. These mills are still in use in Palestine, the ancient country of the Jews. To a mill of this sort our Saviour alluded, when, with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, he said: "Two women shall be grinding at a mill, the one shall be tiken and the other left." This mill is much preferable to that used at present in Upper Egypt for making the dhoura bread. It is a smooth stone, placed on an inclined plane, upon which the grain is spread, which is made into meal by rubbing another stone up and down upon it. Our first water-mills were of that description denominated tub-mills. It consists of a perpendicular shaft, to the lower end of which a horizontal wheel of about four or five feet in diameter is attached ; the upper end passes through the bed-stune, and carries the runner after the manner of a truuilehead. These mills were built with very little expense, and many of them answered the purpose very vvt-ll. Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in general use. They were made of deerskins, in the state of parchment, stretched over a hoop, and perforated with a hot wire. Our clothing wa.s all of domestic manufacture. We had no other resource for cloth- ing, and this indeed was a poor one. The crops of flax often failed, and the sheep were destroyed by the wolves. Linsey, which is made of flax and wool — the former the chain, and the latter the filling — was the warmest and most substantial cloth we could make. Almost every house contained a loom, and almost every woman was a wci^ver. Every family tanned their own leather. The tan-vat was a large trough sunk to the upper edge in the ground. A quantity of bark was easily obtained every spring in clearing and fencing land. This, after drying, was b. ought in, and in wet days was shaved and pounded on a block of wood, with an axe or mallet. Ashes were umJ in place of lime, for taking off the hair. Bears' oil, hogs' lard, and tallow, answered the place of fish oil. The leather, to be sure, was coarse ; but it was substantially good. The operation of currying was performed by a drawing-knife with its edge turned, after the manner of a currying-knife. The blacking for the leather was made of soot and hogs' lard. Almost every family contained it? own tailors and shoemakers. Those who could not make shoes, could make shoepacks. These, like moccasins, were made of a single piece of leather, with the exception of a tongue-piece on the top of the foot. This was about two inches broad, and circular at the lower end. To this the main piece of leather was sewed with a gathering stitch. The seam behind was like that of a moccasin. To the shoepack, a sole was sometimes added. The women did the tailor-work. They could all cut out and make hunting-shirts, legglns, and drawers. The state of society which existed in our country at an early period of its settlement, is well calculated to call into action every native mechanical genius. This happened in this country. There was in almost every neighborhood some one, whose natural in- genuity enabled him to do manj' things for himself and his neighbors, far above what could have been reasonably expected. With the i'ew tools which they brought with them into the country, they certainly performed wonders. Their ploughs, harrows with wooden teeth, and sleds, were in many instances well made. Their cooper-ware, which com- prehended every thing for holding milk and water, was generally pretty well executed. The cedar-ware, by having alternately a white and red stave, was then thought beauti- ful ; many of their puncheon floors were very neat, their joints close, and the top even- and smooth. Their looms, although heavy, did very well. Those who could not exer- cise these mechanic arts, were under the necessity of giving labor or barter to Iheil neighbors in exchange for the use of them, so far as their necessities required. 376 MATHEWS COUNTY. MATHEWS. Mathews was created in 1790, from Gloucester, and named in honor of a meritorious oflicer of tlio Virginia troops in the revolu- tion, and subseijuentiy governor of (loorgia. This county is a pen- insula, extending into Chesaj)eake Jiay, united to the main by a nar- row neck of land scarcely a mile wide, and its boundaries are almost entirely of w^ater. It is 20 miles long, and in its widest section not nine miles. The principal streams are the Piankatank, East, and North Rivers. About ()0,000 acres of the land are of a medium fertility. Marl exists in some pai'ts. Formerly ship-build- ing was carried on to such an extent, that agriculture was almost entirely neglected. The county is suj)plied with meal by wind and tide mills. Owing to tlu; land being almost a dead level, there are no streams of fresh water running through the county; hence in long dry seasons every cattle hole, at which the stock water, dry up, and they sulfer much IVom thirst. Pop., in 1840, whites 3,1)09, slaves 3,309, free colored 174 ; total, 7,442. Mathews C. IL, or Westville, is near the centre of the county, on a small stream putting up irom East River, 100 miles e. of Rich- mond. It is a port of entry, and contains about 30 dwellings. Gwyn's Island is on the east side of the county, in Chesapeake Bay, at the mouth of Piankatank River ; it contains about 2000 acres, and a ])opulation of about 200. There is a tradition that Pocahontas, in attempting to swim across the Piankatank, was near drowning, but was rescued by an individual, to whom, as a token* of her gratitude, she gave this island. Several months after the burning of Norfolk, Lord Dunmore left Hampton Roads with his whole lleet, landed about the 1st of June at Gwyn's Island, where he Ibrtilied himself. His force, consisting of about 500 men, including nc^groes, whom he had induced by- false promises to leave their masters, was attacked by the Virgin- ians under Gen. Lewis, and compelled to abandon the place. Shortly after, Dunmore left the coast of Virginia forever. The annexed account of the attack upon Dunmore, and his ex- pulsion from Gwyn's Island, is from the Virginia Gazette of July 20th, 1770:— We got to the island on Monday, tlie 8tli, and noxt mnrninsj, at 8 o'clock, bcfjan a furious aUacl< upon tlio enemy's slii|)|)iii}r, cani|), and fortifications, from two batteries, one of five, six, and ninc-ponnders ; tlie otlier nionntinfr two eigliteen-pounders. What forces the enemy had, were encamped on a j)oint of the island nearly opposite to our five-jirnn battery, covered by a battery of four embrasures, and a breastwork of con- siderable extent, liesides this, they had two other batteries, and a stockade fort hijs;her np the haven, where troops were stationed to ])revent our landing. In the haven were three tenders ; one a slooj), (the Lady Charlotte,) mounting six carriage-guns ; a schooner of two carringes, six swivels and cohoru ; and a |)ilot-boat, badly armed, who had orders from Captain Hammond, of the lioehnck, to prevent our boats passing over to the island, and to annoy the rebels l)y every means in their power. (Jen. Lewis announced liis orders for attacking the enemy, by putting a match to the lirst gun, an eighleen- pouuder, himself; and the Dunmore l)eing then nearest to us, at the distance of about 500 yards, it passed through her hull, and did considerable damage. Our five-gun bat- MATHEWS COUNTY. 377 tery likewise began playing on the fleet, the enemy's camp, and works ; and the fire Boon became so hot that the Uunmore was obliged to cut her cables and haul off, after receiving ten shot, some of which raked iier fore and aft. The Otter lay next to her, and it was expected would have taken her birth, but the first shot we gave her, took place supposed between wind and water, and she immediately slipped iier cable likewise, and hauled out on a careen, without firing a gun. By this time ail the fleet any way near the shore, began to slip their cables in the utmost confusion ; and had tlie wind set in with a flood-tide, we must have taken great numbers of them. Our cigiitcen-pouudera did great execution from the upper battery, which raked the whole fleet ; and Captain Denny, who commanded the other battery, soon silenced the enemy at the jroint, knock- rng down several tents, which put their camp into a great confusion. At half after 9 Ihe firing ceased, which was renewed again at 12, with double vigor, from both bat- teries ; and nothing prevented our pushing to the island, during the cannonade, but the want of vessels. The general being determined to cross the next day, gave orders for all the small crafts to be collected together from the neighboring creeks that night, and two brass field-pieces, six-pounders, to be carried to a place called Lower Wind Mill Point, to at- tack the tender that lay there, and facilitate our crossing. Accordingly, in the morning Captain Harrison, who had the direction o( those field-pieces, began playing upon the tenders, which he galled so much, that the schooner ran up a small creek which in. dented the island, where the crew abandoned her, and the sloop got aground in reach of our cannon; upon which the general ordered ('aplain Snnth, of the 7lh regiment, with his company, to man the canoes and board her, wiiich was done with alacrity. How- ever, before our men came up with her, the crew got into their boa(, and pushed for the island. But Captain Smith, very prudently passing the tender, pursued them so close, that before they could reach the shore, he exchanged a few shot with them, and took part of them prisoners. The enemy's look-outs, perceiving our men close upon the lower part of the island, cried out, " The shirt-mcu are coming !" and scampered off. Tlje pilot-boat made no resistance. General Lewis then ordered two hundred men, under Colonel M'Clanahan, to land on the island, which was performed as expeditiously as our small vessels would admit of. On our arrival, we found the enemy had evacuated tlie place with the greatest precipita- tion, and were struck with horror at the number of dead bodies, in a state of putrefac- 1 tion, strewed all the way from their battery to Cherry Point, about two miles in length, with a shovel full of earth upon them ; others gasping for life ; and some had crawled to the water edge, who could only make known their distress by beckoning to us. By the small-pox, and other malignant disorders which have raged on board the fleet for many months past, it is clear they have lost, since their arrival at Gwyn's Lsland, near five hundred souls. I myself counted one hundred and thirty graves, or rather holes loosely covered over with earth, close together,^ many of them large enough to hold a corporal's guard. One in the middle was neatly done up with turf, and is supposed to contain the remains of the late Lord Gusport. Many were burnt alive in brush huts, which, in their confusion, had got on fire. In short, such a scene of misery, distress, and cruelty, my eyes never beheld ; for wliieli the authors, one n)ay reasonably conclude, never can make atonement in this world. The enemy b^ft behind tiu^m, in tlu^ir bat- tery, a double fortified nine-poundin-, a great i)art of their baggaj^c, wilii several tents and marquees, beside the three tenders, with their cannon, small arms, &c. Also the anchors and cables of the Dunmore, Otter, and many others, to the amount, it is sup- posed, of twelve hundred pounds. On their leaving the island, they burnt some valua- ble vessels which had got aground. Mr. John Grymcs' eflects on the island have fallen into our hands, consisting in thirty-five negroes, horses, cattle, and furniture. Major Byid, on the approacii of our canoes to the island, was huddk'd into a cart in a very siek and low condition, it is said, and carried down to CJJiorry Point, where he embarked. The second shot the Dunmore received, cut her boatswain in two, and wounded two or three others ; and she had scarcely recovered from the shock, when a nine-pounder from the lower battery entered her quarter, and beat in a large timber, from tlie splinters of which Lord Dunmore got wounded in the legs, and had all his valuable china smashed abojit his ears. It is said his lordship was exceedingly alarmed, and roared out, " Good God, that ever I should come to this I" We had our information from one of his peoi)le that came ashore after the engage- ment, and was taken by our scouts. He likewise said, that many were killed in the fleet, which had sustained some thousand pounds worth of damage. The Fowey and Roebuck were the lowermost ships, besides which there were one liundrod and odd sail 48 378 MERCER COUNTY. of large vessels, which took their departure on Thursday afternoon, and are supposed to have gone into Potomac. In this affair, we lost not a man but poor Captain Arundel, who was killed by the bursting of a mortar of his own invention, although the general and all the officers were against his firing it. His zeal for the service cost him his Ufe. MECKLENBURG. Mecklenburg was created in 1764, from Lunenburg. Its length is 36, mean width 18 miles. The Meherrin runs on its northern line, and the Roanoke through its southern portion. On the Roan- oke is much extremely fertile land. The soil of the county is generally fertile, and although the ridges are thin and poor, yet it is a free soil, and annually produces about four millions of pounds of tobacco. Pop., whites 7,754, slaves 11,915, free colored 1,055 ; total, 20,724. Boydton, the county-seat, is 109 miles sw. of Richmond, and 6 from the Roanoke River, on an elevated and healthy site. It con- tains 4 mercantile stores, 17 mechanic shops, 1 tannery, 1 jeweller, 1 apothecary, 1 Methodist, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Presbyterian church, and a population of about 400. About a mile from Boydton is Randolph Macon College, an institution in high repute, estab- lished in 1832, and under the superintendence and patronage of the Methodist Episcopal church. It has 4 professors and about a hundred students. L. C. Garland, A. M., is the president. A pre- paratory school is attached to the college, under the control and management of the faculty. Clarksville is 12 miles sw. of Boydton, at the junction of Dan and Staunton Rivers. It has increased more in the last ten years than any other village in Virginia. In 1835 it had but 14 dwell- ings : it nov/ contains 10 mercantile stores, 20 mechanic shops, 2 tobacco inspections and warehouses, 1 tannery, 1 Baptist, 1 Meth- odist, and 1 Presbyterian church, and about 1000 inhabitants. Over 2000 hogsheads of tobacco are annually inspected here, and a large number of batteaux are constantly plying on the river, loaded with the products of the country. MERCER. Mercer was formed in 1837, from Giles and Tazewell, and named from Gen. Hugh Mercer, who fell at Princeton. It is 40 miles long, with a mean breadth of about 15 miles. It is watered by New River and its branches ; the main stream being its ne. boundary. It is a wild and thinly settled tract, and much of the surface is mountainous and hilly. It is principally a stock-raising county ; the woodlands affording a fine range for cattle. Pop., whites 2,127, slaves 98, free colored 8 ; total, 2,233. MroDLESEX COUNTY. " 379 At the formation of the county there was not a village in it : the erection of the county buildings has formed the nucleus of a small village called Princeton, situated 28 miles from Giles C. H., 35 from Tazewell C. H., and 42 from Monroe C. H., and containing 1 Baptist and 1 Methodist church, 1 store, and about a dozen dwell- ings. MIDDLESEX. Middlesex was formed in 1675, from Lancaster. This county is a long narrow strip of land lying between its two boundary rivers ; its greatest length is 39 miles, its mean breadth is 5 miles. The lands immediately on the Rappahannock, Piankatank, and Dragon, are fertile. Many branches of the ilappahannock make up into the county, aHbrding convenience to the farmer in sending his pro- duce to Baltimore and Norfolk, the usual markets for the produce of this section. Pop. in 1840, whites 2,041, slaves 2,209, free color- ed 142 ; total, 4,392.. Urbanna, the county-seat, is a sea-port, located about 18 miles above the mouth of the Rappahannock, near the entrance of Ur- banna creek into that stream, and 84 miles northeasterly from Richmond. It was established a town by law the same year with 'Norfolk, 1705. It is a small village, containing several stores and about a dozen dwellings. This village was the residence of the celebrated botanist and physician, John Mitchell, who emigrated to this country from England in the early part of the last cen- tury, and distinguished himself by his philosophical and medical essays, and historical writings. The prevailing religious denomination of this county is the Baptist : indeed, for the last sixty years, Virginia has been distinguished foi- containing a larger number of Baptists than any other state in the Union. It is not known that any of the original settlers of Virginia were of this denomination. The first church gathered in the colony was at Burley, in the county of the Isle of Wight, about the year 1714, more than a century after the landing at Jamestown, which church is supposed to have continued 40 or 50 years, when many of its members removed to North Carolina, and soon increased great- ly. They were ail General Baptists ; but in a few years after their removal they began to embrace the Calvinistic sentiments. The next appearance of the Baptists in this state was in the counties of Berkeley, Rockingham, and Loudon, from the year 1743 to 1756. This period dates the origin of the Regular Baptists in Virginia; but they did not flourish to any considerable extent until 1760. " Their first preachers came from the north, and some few arose in the south : all met with opposition from those in power. ' The ministers (says Leland) were imprisoned, and the disciples bufl:eted.' This is but too true. No dissenters in Virginia experienced for a time harsher treatment than did the Baptists. They were beaten and imprisoned ; and cruelty taxed its ingenuity to devise new modes of punishment and annoyance." Outrageous mobs disturbed their congregations and preachers. A snake and a hor- net's nest were thrown into their meetings, and even in one case fire-arms were brought to disperse them. " When the Baptists first appeared in Virginia and North Carolina they were received by men in power as beneath their notice ; and in some places perse- cution in a legal shape was never resorted to. But in many others, alarmed by their rapid increase, the men in power strained every penal law in the Virginia code to obtain ways and means to put down these disturbers of the public peace, as they were culled. It 380 MIDDLESEX COUNTY. seems by no means certain, that any law in force in Virginia authorized the imprison- ment of any person for preaching. The law for the preservation of the peace was so in- terpreted as to answer this purpose ; and accordingly, whenever the preachers were ap- prehended it was done by a peace-warrant. About thirty preachers were honored with a dungeon, and a few others beside."* Among the first, if not the first Baptist preacher in this county, was John Waller, born in Spotlsylvania in 1741, and a descendant of the honorable family of that name in England. In his youth he let himself loose to every species of wickedness, and ac- quired for himself the infamous appellation of Swearing Jack Waller, and was some- times called the Devil's Adjutant. He was furious against the Baptists. He was a member of a grand jury who presented one of their ministers for preaching. The jury being dismissed, the clergyman thanked them for the honor they had done him, and added : " While I was wicked and injurious you took no notice of me ; but since I have altered my course of life, and endeavored to reform my neighbors, you concern yourselves much about me. I shall take the spoiling of my goods joyfully." The meekness of spirit manifested by this man towards his persecutors, so touched the heart of Waller that it finally resulted in his conversion. In 1770 he was ordained pastor of a church established in his neighborhood. Accompanied by a companion he travelled into this county, preaching wherever he went. " His name sounded far and wide. By the un- godly he was considered as a bold, inexorable fanatic, that would do much mischief un- less restrained. The Baptists and their adherents looked upon him as sent for the de- fence of their cause, and with much confidence rallied around him as their leader. His persecutions in several counties were of the most painful character." He was confined in the jail of Urbanna, in this county, forty-six days. Mr. Waller continued laboring with great success in the cause. In 1773 he removed to South Carolina, where he died in 1802, at the age of 62. He had been " a minister of God's word for about 35 years, and in that timer had been in four different jails 113 days, besides receiving reproachings, buffetings, stripes, &c. Nor was his labor in vain in the Lord. While in Virginia, he baptized more than 2,000 persons, assisted in the ordination of 27 ministers, and in the constitution of 18 churches. "t " The usual consequences followed ; persecution made friends for its victims ; and the men who were not permitted to speak in public, found willing auditors in the sympa- thizing crowds who gathered around the prisons to hear them preach from the grated windows. It is not improbable that this very opposition imparted strength in another mode, inasmuch as it at least furnished the Baptists with a common ground on which to make resistance ; and such common ground was in a great degree wanting in their creed ; for, not to speak oi their great division into Regulars and Separates, some ' held to predestination, others to universal provision ; some adhered to a confession of faith, others would have none but the Bible ; some practised laying on of hands, others did not ;' and in fact the only particular in whicli there seems to have been unanimity, was in the favorite exclusive opinion of the sect, that none but adult believers are fit sub- jects of baptism, and that immersion is the only effectual or authorized mode of admin- istering that sacrament."! At the commencement of the American revolution, the Baptists had gained consider- able influence and power among the people. The dissenters, both the Baptists and Presbyterians, were generally republicans. The Baptists addressed the convention of the state, " and informed that body," says Hawks, " that their religious tenets presented no obstacle to their taking up arms and fighting for the country ; and they tendered the services of their pastors in promoting the enlistment of the youth of their religious per- suasion." It was owing partlj' to the efforts of the Baptists that the established church was abolished in Virginia. In 1785, just previous to the passage of "the Act for establishing Religious Freedom," Mr. Madison's able remonstrance was presented to the General Assembly •' against the general assessment," pointing out the dangers to reli- gious liberty and to religion that lurked in the scheme. It was not until this time that the dissenting clergymen were allowed bj' law to perform marriage or funeral rites ; although many, presuming on a future sanction of government, had, by the advice of Patrick Henry, done so, as being the best means of obtaining a law to that end. Many petitions had been and were presented to the legislature, in many dilferent forms. Among the rest, the following lines accompanied the petition sent by the Baptists. It was addressed " To the Honorable General Assembly," as * Benedict's " History of the Baptist^." t Taylor's " Lives of Virginia Baptist.Ministers.* J Hawlcs' " History of tlie Prot. Ep. Cli. in Va." MONONGALIA COUNTY. 381 " THE HUMBLE PETITION OF A COUNTRY POET." Now liberty is all the plan, The chief pursuit of every man, Whose heart is right, and fills tiie mouth Of patriots all, from north to south ; May a poor bard, from bushes sprung, Who yet has but to rustics sung, Address your honorable House, And not your angry passions rouse ■? Hark I for awhile your business stop ; One word into your ears I'll drop : No longer spend your needless pains, To mend and poli>h o'er our chains ■ But break them oft" before you rise, Nor disajjpoint our watchful eyes. What say great Washington and Lee t "Our country is, and ma